Review Round 2 v Geelong - Sunday 24 August @ Thomas Farms Oval (Unley)

[Firewalker]

Ponter bounced back strong this game, which was good to see. Same with EJ and Niamh Kelly. Thought Niamh was very good today. As an Irish recruit, I really like how she bounces the ball on the run. Very natural. Although, she does drop the ball with her hands underneath the ball, which is odd. Watching some of the other Irish recruits at North bounce the ball on the run is terrifying. Leaves them completely open to be tackled assuming the ball even comes back up to them. They might as well just do the small kick up to themselves on the run.

Thought our midfield was not great. Jess Allan had the most clearances for the team and she's the tap ruck.

Shows how games in this league can still be so talent reliant, Jones and Ponter start getting their hands on the football and the team amazingly automatically look a much classier unit.

Agree the midfield again much like last week weren’t much chop, Morrison and Prespakis had their way in there but them both being hacks with ball in hand and Maloney missing chances certainly made the possibility to comeback very possible.

 

[cmndstab]

Strange match - it was a totally different side in Q4 compared to the three quarters prior (and last week, and the two preseason matches before that). So much less fumbly, suddenly looked to be outworking their opponents, and nailing kicks on goal. Where has that been for the last few weeks?

A few scattered thoughts...

Jones, Randall and Rasheed looks like a pretty nice medium-size combo up forward. We don't miss Martin there, and Munyard's loss won't be felt too bad if Randall and Jones can keep the pressure up. Rasheed already looks like she belongs at the level, even if she's not dominant yet. Gould is a good focal point up forward, but looks out of form at the moment. Ponter struggled to get involved in offensive player, but ironically her defensive work was pretty good today. Glad she got some reward right at the end.

Our players really need to work out their kicking distance. It shits me how often players kick for goal and have it land just short. It's a wasted shot. Find a closer target, or else set it up 15m out from goal and let the likes of Gould or Randall fly for a mark.

Defence held up after a shaky start. That was just about the worst I've seen Biddell's kicking. Hopefully just a blip, as she's usually one of our best kicks. She was decent otherwise. Mueller was great in the first half, kept us alive back there at times. I don't understand why she has been in the wilderness for the last eighteen months, but hopefully that match was the start of her return. Goodwin is also quality back there.

On Irish watch, Cronin is nothing special, but capable of filling a spot down back as needed. At this stage I think that's all she is. The Borlase of the women's side. I was starting to get concerned about Niamh Kelly, but her second half was great. Grace has been alright without being special. Boyle-Carr did a couple of nice things early, but just seems lost at times. The game does not seem at all natural to her in the way it is to many of the Irish players.

Was it just me, or did Hatchard, Jones, etc look slimmer today than last week? I have a pet theory about the vantage point for the cameras on certain grounds making players look squatter than at others. In any event, Hatchard was better than last week but still a little down. Perhaps at some point she can rotate with Randall?

We were one again incredibly fumbly (until the last quarter when we handled everything well), which really hurt us early on. And I lost count of how many handballs went nowhere near a teammate. Need to tidy up on that, no excuse for a handball not to at least go in the vicinity of a teammate. If you can't do that, may as well just bomb it forward and take the space.

SLT seemed to do one bad thing for every good thing, but at least she was able to use her pace a few times. Marinoff quality as always. Jess Allan good in the ruck but still struggling to get involved through the ground. Newman strong by foot as always.

Good to get a strong win, even if it was hard work for three quarters! That felt a bit more like the 2022/23 seasons, grinding matches out and holding players goalless for a half of football.

 

[brucetiki]

Well…that escalated quickly

 

[JP Sauce]

Our players really need to work out their kicking distance. It shits me how often players kick for goal and have it land just short. It's a wasted shot. Find a closer target, or else set it up 15m out from goal and let the likes of Gould or Randall fly for a mark.

Absolutely! There was a period in the 2nd where Gould, Hatch and maybe Gould again alll had shots that landed 1m out and were spoiled through. So frustrating.

 

[cmndstab]

Absolutely! There was a period in the 2nd where Gould, Hatch and maybe Gould again alll had shots that landed 1m out and were spoiled through. So frustrating.

Intensely frustrating, and in each case I knew in advance that there was no chance they were going to make the distance. I can tell, some idiot sitting watching on a screen! Why can't the professional footballers?

 

[JP Sauce]

Intensely frustrating, and in each case I knew in advance that there was no chance they were going to make the distance. I can tell, some idiot sitting watching on a screen! Why can't the professional footballers?

If only they'd listen to us!

 

[cmndstab]

If only they'd listen to us!

Get a bluetooth earpiece for Gould, I'll let her know when she needs to pass off.

I'm often watching on delay so she may need to hold up the ball for a while.

 

[cmndstab]

On low TOG% watch, we have Kustermann with 44%, Boileau with 45%, Boyle-Carr with 48%, and Tonon with 56%.

Not as bad as some of the numbers last year, although it's tough for players to get in the game. Boileau probably the pick of the litter, eight touches including five contested possession and two clearances isn't bad for less than 50% game time. Tonon did alright. Kustermann got that ridiculous goal but did almost nothing else. Boyle-Carr the same except without the goal.

 

[LC40]

In the first half we look very sub par, the moment Randell went into the forward line we had a target and an intensity that was missing previously.
Her presence their helps Gould and the half forwards in Jones and Rasheed
We looked impotent last week and were never going to kick a winning score.
I really think Chelsea has to play the majority of her footy this year up forward, we look so much more dangerous when she's there.

 

[Coopers]

I don't actually really know what changed at 3/4 time.

Like... the midfielders just started midfielding properly?

Really odd.

 

[Coopers]

Also, Boileau "looks like" she should be a good player.

Thought she moved well... and then didn't really get that much of it. Hope it clicks soon.

Cronin, you could be forgiven for thinking she wasn't playing.

 

[cmndstab]

Also, Boileau "looks like" she should be a good player.

Thought she moved well... and then didn't really get that much of it. Hope it clicks soon.

Cronin, you could be forgiven for thinking she wasn't playing.

Boileau has a game, for sure. Eight touches in less than 50% game time isn't bad.

Cronin is a strange one. She moves well, good pace, seems to get into the right spots, and decent user - but just can't seem to actually get the ball. It just bounces off her hands, or she fumbles it, or whatever. Similar story with Boyle-Carr.

 

[cmndstab]

Lol at the coaches votes for this week. Other than Prespakis neither coach could agree on a single player!

Adelaide v Geelong​

9 Georgie Prespakis (GEEL)
5 Ebony Marinoff (ADEL)
4 Niamh Kelly (ADEL)
3 Rebecca Webster (GEEL)
3 Danielle Ponter (ADEL)
2 Nina Morrison (GEEL)
2 Jessica Allan (ADEL)
1 Chelsea Randall (ADEL)
1 Eloise Jones (ADEL)

So I guess that breaks down to:

5 Prespakis
4 Kelly
3 Webster/Ponter
2 Morrison/Allan
1 Randall/Jones

5 Marinoff
4 Prespakis
3 Ponter/Webster
2 Allan/Morrison
1 Jones/Randall

Would you really name Kelly ahead of Randall and Jones? She had a decent second half, but that seems crazy to me.

 

[jimvic]

Lol at the coaches votes for this week. Other than Prespakis neither coach could agree on a single player!

Adelaide v Geelong​

9 Georgie Prespakis (GEEL)
5 Ebony Marinoff (ADEL)
4 Niamh Kelly (ADEL)
3 Rebecca Webster (GEEL)
3 Danielle Ponter (ADEL)
2 Nina Morrison (GEEL)
2 Jessica Allan (ADEL)
1 Chelsea Randall (ADEL)
1 Eloise Jones (ADEL)

So I guess that breaks down to:

5 Prespakis
4 Kelly
3 Webster/Ponter
2 Morrison/Allan
1 Randall/Jones

5 Marinoff
4 Prespakis
3 Ponter/Webster
2 Allan/Morrison
1 Jones/Randall

Would you really name Kelly ahead of Randall and Jones? She had a decent second half, but that seems crazy to me.

I'm pretty surprised Chelsea wasn't MUCH higher in the votes. She pretty much picked up the team and carried them across the line - her impact was giant