What Would U Like See Against the Dees On Monday 8th March

[adogsfan5]

Wallis was the concerning one yesterday. Not sure he fits in that deep forward anymore especially if we have 3 talls down there. I’m happy to play him deep on his own but not if we have Tim, Naughton and Bruce playing forward too.

 

[Mattdougie]

Early candidate for worst call of the year?

Yeah his first half(which this refers too) was fantastic wasnt it ??


Pathetic

 

[Golden_6]

Yeah his first half(which this refers too) was fantastic wasnt it ??


Pathetic

He started off 'quiet' but still had 8 tackles by half time. A few people said he wasn't trying which is absolutely ridiculous. Dunks was giving it his all in a typical performance. When Bont kicked a goal (from a Dunkley handpass), he was the first to run over with a massive smile on his face to celebrate with him.

 

[Dale4captain]

Yes. Against an opposition without their starting midfield, I’m looking at whether we’ve improved our deficiencies from last year.

1. Ruck - yes. Well done dogs. This is big.

2. Dangerous small forward - no

3. Delivery inside 50 - no

4. Effective/functioning tall forwards - no

5. Intercept marking key defender - no

Our mids and half backs will overwhelm a lot of teams, but there’s still glaring holes that need addressing.


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I think I see the genuine effort from the coaching staff to fix this in particular. Lip playing on a wing and delivering inside 50 is a completely different looking beast. He actually lowers his eyes and hits bullets out in front of our forwards for them to lead onto. No long bombs to the top of the square. Magic.
Similarly, Dale playing half back/wing was an interesting development. He’s skilled and can hit targets. I liked it.

as for small forwards, West and McNeil are a good start down there. They’re toey, have awesome agility and great pressure. Probably not as goal hungry as we need nor are they the natural forwards we crave but again, it’s a praccy match. We tried something different there.
Reports from the VFL were inconsistent but I believe a few said CAV and Weightman were great so hopefully one of them come in as our pressure small.

I know you’re a huge advocate for Naughts to move to CHB and if it gets to round 5 and we’re shockingly desperately I probably will be, too. However, I’d rather keep our potentially elite game breaker at FF and move the older, less effective Bruce to FB and see what he’s got. Even if Bruce gets dropped from the 1’s this year, first thing I’d be doing with him is plonking him in the backline for Footscray.

 

[doggies ftw]

Oppo wasn’t much chop but I was really happy with that game, wouldn’t mind watching it back as didn’t have the best view from level 1 at marvel.

Croz is a big loss, he was great as per usual early. Still just about first picked in my team.

Bont and Macrae top tier, that was honestly one of the best games I think I’ve seen Macrae play he was so damaging.

Dunks brilliant, that’s what he offers let’s play him like that and hopefully get that output every week!

Daniel and Williams just fantastic, will be two of the best players in the comp in their position. Along with Croz still our biggest strength.

Bruce was okay, I agree with the concerns about him and Naughty but if one moves out of the forward line it’s Bruce every day of the week. Naughtys leading and forward craft is fine, also he still showed how important he is his follow up work at ground level is elite. he wasn’t really on with his marking, especially up the ground, early but every other week he has 4 or 5 contested grabs on that first half and there’s no stress whatsoever. Bruce still doesn’t do a whole lot tor me, he’s definitely better than he showed last year but he’s just not a very good footballer tbh, Schache is coming hard!

Schache, Naughty and Timmy will be brilliant, Maybe Bruce and Naughty can gel it needs time it’s not gonna happen over night. But Bruce needs to get the * out of the way. It’s Naughtys forward line, Bruce needs to be dragging his man away from the hotspot. He’s just unable or unwilling to do this!!

 

[Mattdougie]

He started off 'quiet' but still had 8 tackles by half time. A few people said he wasn't trying which is absolutely ridiculous. Dunks was giving it his all in a typical performance. When Bont kicked a goal (from a Dunkley handpass), he was the first to run over with a massive smile on his face to celebrate with him.

Never said he wasn’t trying, his first half was poor and un Dunks like.

Second resume normal service which was great to see.

Poster tried to make it look like I said that of his whole game just to score points with the clique like they do and I’m calling it out

 

[doggies ftw]

Also Hunter to half forward is a shocking move he’s just terrible inside 50. There was once early where Naughty has his man Absolutey beat on a strong lead directly at Hunter and all he had to do was pop it up out in front, and he just blazes away to no one. You could literally see it on his face that he has no confidence in his ability to hit that very easy target. And his set shots... great player, keep him out of the forward line please

 

[doggies ftw]

Gardner and Scott really good too. I don’t think Scott plays round one there’s still a few ahead of him for mine but he was impressive. Definitely the best game I’ve seen Gardner play, I’d still like him to be a bit more aware you don’t need to try and kill every single ball but he’s definitely improved and hopefully he keeps getting better.

 

[Dale4captain]

Also Hunter to half forward is a shocking move he’s just terrible inside 50. There was once early where Naughty has his man Absolutey beat on a strong lead directly at Hunter and all he had to do was pop it up out in front, and he just blazes away to no one. You could literally see it on his face that he has no confidence in his ability to hit that very easy target. And his set shots... great player, keep him out of the forward line please

I agree here. He’s not a half forward. His skills aren’t good enough. However, I can see why he was moved off the wing for Lip. Lips delivery inside 50 was awesome and he got the freedom to roam the wing and use far more angles than he’s usually afforded in his half forward role.

What we do with Hunter is a mystery. He’s a great wingman but his disposal is so, so bad. The high loopy kicks are his 1Wood and it’s frustrating.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

Early candidate for worst call of the year?

I think you’ve gone early, Libba. MD has a whole season of bad calls ahead of him!!

 

[Optimistic Dog]

I have been a big critic of Gardner but will have to concede if his job is to be a pure stopper to punch the ball and bring it to ground he is ok but if you want someone to give some drive and marking strength forget. Imagine if we had a Steven May

1

Steven May

Age

32

Ht

193cm

Wt

101kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.7

4star

K

10.5

4star

HB

4.2

3star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.5

3star

MG

307.3

4star

D

15.5

4star

K

12.1

5star

HB

3.4

2star

M

3.4

3star

T

0.5

1star

MG

378.4

5star

D

12.4

4star

K

8.8

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

. Hang on we may have one in Naughton. The big decision is coming quickly does Bevo move Naughton to be a potential star in defence or to we leave him forward to play the odd good game. I favour a move to defence and try other forward options until JUH can fill that role.

 

[doggies ftw]

I agree here. He’s not a half forward. His skills aren’t good enough. However, I can see why he was moved off the wing for Lip. Lips delivery inside 50 was awesome and he got the freedom to roam the wing and use far more angles than he’s usually afforded in his half forward role.

What we do with Hunter is a mystery. He’s a great wingman but his disposal is so, so bad. The high loopy kicks are his 1Wood and it’s frustrating.

I think he can play the defensive winger role really well, he’s a great link up player through the middle of the ground and he’s super strong around the contest especially when he’s helping out in defence. Always provides an option coming out of defence and always works super hard. But yeah you want Lip up ahead of him delivering inside 50.

 

[Martyn_30_]

Naughton’s still only 21 and hasn’t played a huge amount forward but is still the best key forward prospect the clubs had for 30 years. It’s daylight between a quality key forward and a quality key defender in terms of impact on the game. The one area the side was really poor last year wasn’t key forwards kicking goals it was the inability to stop the opposition in transition where the side was right near the bottom.


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[VitalDread]

Tbh Melbourne defensive set up is suited to stop players like Naughton
May and Lever love those long bombs in so they can crash the packs

Once we started to hit players on the lead, we started to break away

 

[Bro_Pro]

Tbh Melbourne defensive set up is suited to stop players like Naughton
May and Lever love those long bombs in so they can crash the packs

Once we started to hit players on the lead, we started to break away

Why it takes 2 quarters of footy to figure that out is ridiculous, it happens all the time.
There mine frame now is we have tall timber let’s just bomb it and get burnt on the rebound more times then not.

 

[Dogsman16]

Steven May

1

Steven May

Age

32

Ht

193cm

Wt

101kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.7

4star

K

10.5

4star

HB

4.2

3star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.5

3star

MG

307.3

4star

D

15.5

4star

K

12.1

5star

HB

3.4

2star

M

3.4

3star

T

0.5

1star

MG

378.4

5star

D

12.4

4star

K

8.8

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

in my opinion is probably the best one on one key defender in the competition. He plays Naughton better than anyone.

Whereas an elite defender like Andrews gives Naughton space. And Naughtons got a hold of him a couple of times.

I want to see more than just a half of footy to properly evaluate the Naughton and Bruce combination. Naughton needs to be more the CHF imo though. He often plays better up the ground.

Whilst he's not going to be a star for us, Bruce does look better this year.

 

[Golden_6]

I agree here. He’s not a half forward. His skills aren’t good enough. However, I can see why he was moved off the wing for Lip. Lips delivery inside 50 was awesome and he got the freedom to roam the wing and use far more angles than he’s usually afforded in his half forward role.

What we do with Hunter is a mystery. He’s a great wingman but his disposal is so, so bad. The high loopy kicks are his 1Wood and it’s frustrating.

Yes it's a conundrum for Bevo. Hunter is one of the best wingmen in the comp but given our accumulating midfield, we need direct players on the outside which makes Hunters role a little redundant. Lipinski isn't a linebreaker with pace, but he always looks to take the inside route on his kicks and options which really opens up the play. He also has the ability to finish off on the scoreboard and inside 50 which Hunter doesn't have.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

I imagine Keath was simply played forward to enable us to continue to look at the 2 forwards + 1 ruck forward setup, as that’s what we’ll be heading into round 1 with. If Naughton doesn’t get up, I think Schache will play.

Melbourne didn't have a tall forward on the ground and we were dominating inside 50's. Keath was surplus to requirements by this point.

 

[Leon]

I went along yesterday (yay, actually attending the footy!)


These were my thoughts:


Wallis - Quietest game I’ve seen from him for a while. He had a ripper 2020 so not too fussed.

Bonti - Just insanely good. That 3rd quarter goal was extraordinary.

Dunkley - Seems to be copping some stick from a few places but I thought he was terrific.

Smith - As always, excellent.

Hunter - In a team and club that has been renowned for poor goal kicking, it says a bit that he is probably the worst set shot we have. He belongs on the wing.

Stef Martin - Yay, a ruckman!! Aren’t they great!! Three cheers for ruck men. Hip hip hooray.

Crozier - Really like him and important part of our defence so hope he’s not out for too long.

Macrae - Always reliable and excellent, just racks up possessions every week.

West - Really want to see him in the side regularly, he provides a lot of defensive effort

Bruce - I always like how even when he’s struggling he always works his ass off and doesn’t drop his head. His lead and goal in the 3rd quarter was nice. He’s a confidence player more than anything so hopefully with a bit of luck he can get on a roll.

Libba - Hopefully injury and selection dramas are well behind him after 2020. Very important.

VanDerMeer - I rate him very highly, love how he takes on the game. Agin like crozier hopefully he pulls up ok.

Khamis - Fantastic to finally see him in the seniors and although he didn’t have a lot of it I like what I saw.

Lipinski - Very silky, hopefully now a permanent part of the senior side.

Scott - Lovely goal and a decent game, Bevo loves trying the newbies so I’m sure we’ll see a bit of him.

McNeill - See Scott (minus the goal)

Dale - Dunno about him on the half back - he wasn’t bad, but there’s plenty better options. His goals were good and showed he’s still a good finisher, in a side that desperately needs one.

Naughton - Took a great mark in the first quarter but don’t recall much else. Not worried at all though.

Williams - Improved out of sight in the past couple of years and now one of the best kicks in our side.

Daniel - Speaking of good kicks

Keath - Hoping him going forward was just an experiment once Naughton went off. He belongs in the backline

Gardner - Was solid enough. He cops a bit - not unreasonably, from myself included. He still worries me though. I’d love for him to improve out of sight and prove us all wrong but I’m far from convinced.

English - Looked very good up forward, still can’t beat a player like Gawn in the ruck but his own ruck work was decent enough



All in all we looked pretty solid. It’s always tricky with pissy practise matches like this to read too much into things either way, but we were pretty good.

Looking forward to round one, and hopefully being in attendance again!

 

[yebiga]

Oppo wasn’t much chop but I was really happy with that game, wouldn’t mind watching it back as didn’t have the best view from level 1 at marvel.

Croz is a big loss, he was great as per usual early. Still just about first picked in my team.

Bont and Macrae top tier, that was honestly one of the best games I think I’ve seen Macrae play he was so damaging.

Dunks brilliant, that’s what he offers let’s play him like that and hopefully get that output every week!

Daniel and Williams just fantastic, will be two of the best players in the comp in their position. Along with Croz still our biggest strength.

Bruce was okay, I agree with the concerns about him and Naughty but if one moves out of the forward line it’s Bruce every day of the week. Naughtys leading and forward craft is fine, also he still showed how important he is his follow up work at ground level is elite. he wasn’t really on with his marking, especially up the ground, early but every other week he has 4 or 5 contested grabs on that first half and there’s no stress whatsoever. Bruce still doesn’t do a whole lot tor me, he’s definitely better than he showed last year but he’s just not a very good footballer tbh, Schache is coming hard!

Schache, Naughty and Timmy will be brilliant, Maybe Bruce and Naughty can gel it needs time it’s not gonna happen over night. But Bruce needs to get the fu** out of the way. It’s Naughtys forward line, Bruce needs to be dragging his man away from the hotspot. He’s just unable or unwilling to do this!!

Naughton lacks forward craft and forward instinct. You may teach him some craft but instinct is difficult to change.
His leading patterns are wrong, too early, too late and rarely right. As a result, when the ball is kicked forward he is usually in the wrong position and flying in from a poor position. The problem is not Bruce getting in his way. Bruce's movement is spot on - he is just dropping balls he shouldn't.

When Naughton takes a mark high up the ground/wing and Bruce is one out with a opponent, what is required is a quick kick to Bruc's advantage. This situation occurred on 3 occasions yesterday and Aaron missed the moment each time - displaying no instinct for the situation and instead chipped the ball around. Naughton is courageous but careless, charging into packs without respect for potential injuries - has no idea how to protect himself and as a result is likely to be regularly injured and his kicking for goal remains shaky.

In short, Naughton can be a dangerous forward because he has elite marking ability but his instincts are that of a defender. In defence he runs the right patterns, instantly covers the most dangerous space and is elite one on one in the air and the ground. In defense he is poised. We moved him forward out of desperation - because we really lacked any forward options at the time, we had just trialed Eastern Wood as a forward. We didn't move Aaron forward because it was a natural position for him.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Some random player thoughts.

Williams - Could potentially be heading to the next level. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him in the AA team, or squad.

How about those dodges in the last quarter - 4 or 5 I reckon!


Lipinski - Potential breakout year ahead. I’ve always thought he could reach a Mitch Duncan level and he looks a lot more powerful now.

With the reduced interchanges, endurance has become an essential trait. Lippi was intercepting at both ends of the ground, in defence one minute, up forward the next. Didn't do his selection chances any harm at all.

 

[Doggy]

I went along yesterday (yay, actually attending the footy!)


These were my thoughts:


Wallis - Quietest game I’ve seen from him for a while. He had a ripper 2020 so not too fussed.

Bonti - Just insanely good. That 3rd quarter goal was extraordinary.

Dunkley - Seems to be copping some stick from a few places but I thought he was terrific.

Smith - As always, excellent.

Hunter - In a team and club that has been renowned for poor goal kicking, it says a bit that he is probably the worst set shot we have. He belongs on the wing.

Stef Martin - Yay, a ruckman!! Aren’t they great!! Three cheers for ruck men. Hip hip hooray.

Crozier - Really like him and important part of our defence so hope he’s not out for too long.

Macrae - Always reliable and excellent, just racks up possessions every week.

West - Really want to see him in the side regularly, he provides a lot of defensive effort

Bruce - I always like how even when he’s struggling he always works his ass off and doesn’t drop his head. His lead and goal in the 3rd quarter was nice. He’s a confidence player more than anything so hopefully with a bit of luck he can get on a roll.

Libba - Hopefully injury and selection dramas are well behind him after 2020. Very important.

VanDerMeer - I rate him very highly, love how he takes on the game. Agin like crozier hopefully he pulls up ok.

Khamis - Fantastic to finally see him in the seniors and although he didn’t have a lot of it I like what I saw.

Lipinski - Very silky, hopefully now a permanent part of the senior side.

Scott - Lovely goal and a decent game, Bevo loves trying the newbies so I’m sure we’ll see a bit of him.

McNeill - See Scott (minus the goal)

Dale - Dunno about him on the half back - he wasn’t bad, but there’s plenty better options. His goals were good and showed he’s still a good finisher, in a side that desperately needs one.

Naughton - Took a great mark in the first quarter but don’t recall much else. Not worried at all though.

Williams - Improved out of sight in the past couple of years and now one of the best kicks in our side.

Daniel - Speaking of good kicks

Keath - Hoping him going forward was just an experiment once Naughton went off. He belongs in the backline

Gardner - Was solid enough. He cops a bit - not unreasonably, from myself included. He still worries me though. I’d love for him to improve out of sight and prove us all wrong but I’m far from convinced.

English - Looked very good up forward, still can’t beat a player like Gawn in the ruck but his own ruck work was decent enough



All in all we looked pretty solid. It’s always tricky with pissy practise matches like this to read too much into things either way, but we were pretty good.

Looking forward to round one, and hopefully being in attendance again!

McNeil kicked a lovely goal

 

[Leon]

McNeil kicked a lovely goal

You are correct, my apologies.

Too early in the morning right now (11am), I need more coffee

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

Naughton’s still only 21 and hasn’t played a huge amount forward but is still the best key forward prospect the clubs had for 30 years. It’s daylight between a quality key forward and a quality key defender in terms of impact on the game. The one area the side was really poor last year wasn’t key forwards kicking goals it was the inability to stop the opposition in transition where the side was right near the bottom.


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I assume that Naughton will have to cut his Dermi hair if he plays back - that's disappointing

 

[maddog37]

Hunter will get better and become more and more important as the reduced interchange and 20 minute quarters create an accumulation of fatigue on players.

When he was out last year it was very noticeable imho.