Autopsy Round 12, 2025: Positives and Negatives vs Geelong

[D-N-R]

The pile on for Hutch is a bit OTT here. He looks a bit out of sorts, maybe needs a rest, but writing him off is ridiculous. Has clearly shown in other games that he has potential.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

5-6 years?? Shirley not. God help us if so. 2 years max, a year captaining the Beagles?
Or a complete footy brain transplant during preseason?
Hunt's days are numbered anyway because of his age to talent ratio. But he's not all bad, handy depth...until he's not.

He's only 28. Conceivable that physically he'll be up to it until he's 33-34.

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

A bizarre game in alot of ways. We competed well til we didnt, we had a few put in career worst performances (Hutch and Hough), we had a few actually play like champions until last 10 minutes (Ginbey and Long). Alot of the positives got taken away at the end. Before Jeremy went all junktime on us, Ginbey had a blinder against him as a example. Long had his best game until he forgot to keep running also.

I almost feel the negatives outweighed the positives yet I dont get how

Hutchinson and Hough just look lost in the midfield. They dont know where to run or how to impact the contest. I think id persist but with 2 changes being

1. A full game from Hutch as a in and under midfielder, none on the wing
2. A full game from Hough on the wing, none in the centre.

I think Hough may show more as a defensive winger and Hutch may be better with his head over the ball trying to get the ball out or lay a tackle. Either way its time to move some chess pieces around again and see what happens

 

[KERRPOW]

- Thought Hutchinson was pretty bad tbh. Very bad. Cooked so many opportunities. If Chesser was match fit I'd make that change this week.

I think he needs a spell in the wafl. Sort of just coasted this season.

The pile on for Hutch is a bit OTT here. He looks a bit out of sorts, maybe needs a rest, but writing him off is ridiculous. Has clearly shown in other games that he has potential.

I think the opposite, he isnt a clean grab player...quite fumbly grabbing the ball. He'll get games for now given the list but i thought it was a bizzare decision to extend him till 2029.

 

[WCErevival]

Can someone please gif the crazy Allen face when he tackled that Geelong player.

 

[ConcreteWaters]

A bizarre game in alot of ways. We competed well til we didnt, we had a few put in career worst performances (Hutch and Hough), we had a few actually play like champions until last 10 minutes (Ginbey and Long). Alot of the positives got taken away at the end. Before Jeremy went all junktime on us, Ginbey had a blinder against him as a example. Long had his best game until he forgot to keep running also.

I almost feel the negatives outweighed the positives yet I dont get how

Hutchinson and Hough just look lost in the midfield. They dont know where to run or how to impact the contest. I think id persist but with 2 changes being

1. A full game from Hutch as a in and under midfielder, none on the wing
2. A full game from Hough on the wing, none in the centre.

I think Hough may show more as a defensive winger and Hutch may be better with his head over the ball trying to get the ball out or lay a tackle. Either way its time to move some chess pieces around again and see what happens

Hough career worst?
His work on Smith after he had run riot was one of the reasons we got back in the game!

 

[Seadog]

Other teams use a similar game style, but its not all go all the time, they choose when to hit the speed dial and when to slow down. I presume Mini will fine tune this as we proceed. But everyone we're drafting now has pace as a requirement. The same with skills and other components of the game, another preseason will show further improvements, then another, and we'll be flying high in the sky like a meat pie!

Is it childish to be amused by your comment about a meat pie being liked by someone called lunchtime?
Yeah I know... it is.

 

[D-N-R]

I think he needs a spell in the wafl. Sort of just coasted this season.

I think the opposite, he isnt a clean grab player...quite fumbly grabbing the ball. He'll get games for now given the list but i thought it was a bizzare decision to extend him till 2029.

He can read the play and isn't afraid to take the game on. I don't see him as fumbly in general but I'll look at that in the future. I thought he just looked a bit tired last night.

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Hough career worst?
His work on Smith after he had run riot was one of the reasons we got back in the game!

His first 50 odd have been damn good, lets be honest.

Smith still beat him around the ground though comfortably. My issue was with the amount of times in the overall game that he was caught stationary at the clearance contest as Smith and Holmes ran away from him. The 3 on 2 contests in the centre solely occured around Hough being caught on the wrong side of the contest and unable to keep up the other way as a guy who isnt blessed with pace being flat footed at the contest will hurt you. To me this game he showed he isnt yet ready to be in the centre. Not without a full pre season at it. For now I think wing will be the easiest spot for him to play where he can use his reading of the ball aerially to impact the game a bit more/better

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

I think he needs a spell in the wafl. Sort of just coasted this season.

I think the opposite, he isnt a clean grab player...quite fumbly grabbing the ball. He'll get games for now given the list but i thought it was a bizzare decision to extend him till 2029.

Keeping him til 2029 is fine I think providing its on low coin on us giving him job security. I think he needs a rest perhaps but not in the WAFL, just in general.

I think the fumbly aspect is just the fact he isnt confident in his pace or decision making but that comes from the fact its probably not his go yet. Its a completely foreign position for him that a bit like Hough is going to take time to learn. I think he will learn it though as do the club. He has shown a strong work ethic and desire to get better so lets just let him do that rather then pretending that the Hutch we see today is the one we will see in 2029

 

[Coasters7]

Hehe, I'm all for potting Duggan but this level of mayonnaise might be taking it a tad too far.

At the ground it was clear he was looking to get the ball moving forward as looked a fair bit more composed than Duggan ever has.

Could be a lot to do with having fresher legs too but it just looked like he had a spark that I haven’t seen from Duggo in a long time. I think he’s the natural replacement. Maybe not immediately but we need to be getting games into him.

 

[Bender_]

Got to say, I'm getting sick Duggans 35mtr, around the corner dump kicks.

If you're going to dump kick, at least clear the back of the zone and roost that mutha fecker

Duggan and whoever else does it, they snap and keep it low so it inevitably gets marked by a unmanned opponent. Instead if they have to do a dump kick then f*cken try to sky it the same distance and then that allows for one of our guys to make a contest of it and bring it to ground.

 

[Astro7]

Is it childish to be amused by your comment about a meat pie being liked by someone called lunchtime?
Yeah I know... it is.

Well tbh, my comment about a meat pie was pretty childish, but it's ok to be silly now and again, shirley?

 

[Balls In]

If you had said last year we'd run Geelong deep into the final quarter without McGovern, Yeo, Cripps and Waterman I'd have thought you nuts. For the first time in years I'm not as pessimistic about our mid term future. We still don't have the personnel but what we are getting now is consistently of effort, a clear attempt to move to ball forward at speed and we are starting to see improved contested ground level play.

After Simpson the style is a breath of fresh air. We obviously have a glaring issue in the ruck that needs to be fixed with priority, we still lack depth in the midfield and we just lack class all over the ground. Hopefully can be resolved over the next couple of seasons through the draft and through natural improvement. As for Geelong imagine being a top four fixture and being able to draft prime age Coleman and Brownlow medalists every couple of years. Yeah nothing to see there.

 

[eagles rule]

“Real time coaching” is the phrase they use.

To me that just sounds like there’s a bloke having far too much input for someone that’s not out on the ground and watching from elsewhere.

Sums up WCE B/F game day

Duggan and whoever else does it, they snap and keep it low so it inevitably gets marked by a unmanned opponent. Instead if they have to do a dump kick then f*cken try to sky it the same distance and then that allows for one of our guys to make a contest of it and bring it to ground.

Teams know that under pressure WCE defenders panic dump kicks worth at least 2 or 3 goals a game when executed right ..

 

[Wce17]

I found it interesting that Scott mentioned Brockman when he was talking about tagging Reid & other players who could have got off the chain. Seems like teams are now seeing him as a legitimate midfield option so he’s on the right path.

 

[UseR2006]

Bo Allan 4 possies in 16% game time averages out to 25 possies if he plays 100%

91 metres gained in 16% game time averages out to 568 metres gained if playing 100%

Give him more than 8 minutes or whatever

This presumes he operates at the same intensity for the full match. He's likely to fade and make errors that would temper those numbers a bit.

 

[THE A5]

Yep agreed Allen was impacting more at same age
Was in a much much better side though

Yeah but he he was impacting in the ruck and around the ground with a lightish frame compared to the other two

 

[Oxirane]

Sums up WCE B/F game day


Teams know that under pressure WCE defenders panic dump kicks worth at least 2 or 3 goals a game when executed right ..

I've wondered why the stats people don't have an analysis available comparing the impact of distance vs hang time of dump kicks on resulting turnover scores. There must be a mountain of data. I feel even deliberate OOB may be a better option at times.

 

[eagles rule]

He can read the play and isn't afraid to take the game on. I don't see him as fumbly in general but I'll look at that in the future. I thought he just looked a bit tired last night.

Was a strange game time bounce down 5:20 on a Sunday night ..

 

[UseR2006]

His first 50 odd have been damn good, lets be honest.

Smith still beat him around the ground though comfortably. My issue was with the amount of times in the overall game that he was caught stationary at the clearance contest as Smith and Holmes ran away from him. The 3 on 2 contests in the centre solely occured around Hough being caught on the wrong side of the contest and unable to keep up the other way as a guy who isnt blessed with pace being flat footed at the contest will hurt you. To me this game he showed he isnt yet ready to be in the centre. Not without a full pre season at it. For now I think wing will be the easiest spot for him to play where he can use his reading of the ball aerially to impact the game a bit more/better

Tagging is a slightly different skill to shutting down a small forward. Bailey taught him a few lessons in midfield work rate. Overall I thought Houghy had a good night, not his best work but still good. Should be better for the experience.

 

[Astro7]

He's only 28. Conceivable that physically he'll be up to it until he's 33-34.

Yep his age suggests that, but he's not a Yeo or even a TK, hopefully he'll be phased out in due course, albeit his leadership is good. (unless they can train the panic dump kick thing out of him asap)

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Tagging is a slightly different skill to shutting down a small forward. Bailey taught him a few lessons in midfield work rate. Overall I thought Houghy had a good night, not his best work but still good. Should be better for the experience.

I can see that point of view still. I just thought his poor positioning led to a ton of Geelongs clearance work. Football is a grander aspect then the 1 vs 1 battle people like to make it out to be for those playing defensive minded roles. Someone got 13 possessions instead of 20 odd isnt a flex if the other areas of your game fall away and lead to negative results. I mean Sandy Brock can keep his opponent goalless but if his turnovers cause 4 goals do we want to celebrate his game or see it as a poor one? (random example., no idea how many goals Brocks poor kicking caused) . Same logic applies to Hough here I think

 

[eaglesnutcase]

Got off my arse and went to the game.
+ public transport.
-We hung in there God knows how at times.
-Not a lot of love on here for AReid but I thought he was really good.His attack on the body and ball was first rate.People complaining about him getting a game over JW are way outta line. He’s a gun!!!
-Ginbey deserves a better bottom line.
-HEd was good but I would like him to keep the speed up when hitting contests.Just seems to slow down when he arrives at some contests.Hit hard mate, people will learn to get out of your way.
-Hewett so clean below his knees.
-Plenty of positives
Negs—
-I have no idea why people rated Flynn’s game so high. He was awful.Running in and just hitting the ball in front of you is meh!!
He was against two crabs and should have dominated.plus a couple of shit kicks straight to opposition.I think BBW would have been much better.
-Hunt needs to go.
-Brockman has all the talent in the world but can’t pick and choose when to have a good day.Harder for longer.
-I hope we are doing a LOT of work on our short passing.
Lolly passes killed us.If you are going to bite off a iffy kick then do it quickly and kick to the side of the intended that is away from the opposing player.
Hewett,Baker,Cole, Flynn all shitty floaters.
JW can really only play FF with short stints in the ruck.Lot of work to do on that tank. Got lots of talent.
-Umpires hate us.
Ump No3 is a biased little c**t.
They Micro manage Harley.
Harley had a player hanging off him with his back to play with the ball metres away.Really?? That’s footy?
-Skills skills skills.Training and recruiting need to be heavily focused on skills.

 

[bombard]

Overall it's a positive, and it's a luxury to think this way, but gee what a missed opportunity.

Nail the Long goal and the crowd could have lifted us to victory. Needed to do more to curb the influence of Holmes and Miers, felt like nobody went near either of them all night and their effectiveness is hardly a secret.

I thought the midfield really failed Ginbey in the last. Kid was superb and then the hole in front of Cameron was left open by too many players focused on one-way running in the last. I guess as Mini suggested in his presser that'll happen when you're going for the win, but I thought it demonstrated a (still) present mindset of I'll go when it suits me.

Harry was also excellent down back.

I'm a staunch Maric (amazing) defender but I can see both himself and Hutch having a spell. Allan full game and McCarthy good options there.

Hewett and Harley are going to be fun to watch together for (hopefully) many years. Thought Reid played an excellent game under close attention.

Protected area 50s are an embarrassment to the game and need to be relaxed.

I don't trust Flynn. Need to figure out our ruck situation going forward, and fast.

100% bang on with all of this