Review Hawks v Dogs Practice Match, Wednesday 24th Feb 10.30am

[KermitJagger]

Ollie was great in the first half, a bit of a tease is Ollie but showed some really good signs today.
CJ is CJ. Exciting and great at the 1%'s however still lets himself down with his kicking. Keep persisting though Hawks.
Greaves had a bit of a dirty day but did some good things in the 2nd half.

On these points, Ollie's half was good but he's always struggled with 4 quarters. That's the barrier he needs to get through.

As much as I hate to shut the door on kids we did look better with CJ off the field. His errors just seem to have so much impact going the other way - for as bad as Greaves' day was to start the game it never felt like every stuff up was a shot on goal against. Plus he was genuinely unlucky in a lot.

The great part about Greaves was that he didn't drop his head - really stood out in the last quarter with his ball use and he set up the second last goal to O'Brien with his poise in pulling the trigger down the middle of the ground. That was always the issue with Glass, who we wanted to play a similar role, if he made an error his day was ruined and his head dropped. Greaves stays focused.

 

[WWSD]

Are Callow, Bravo and Bramble playing in the practice game?

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Lock Downie in for Round 1.

Have to. He's looked ready from day one.

 

[Nastyfish]

Great win hawks after a slow start. Seemed to out run them as the quarters and game wore on.

Yes we looked clearly the fitter of the two sides which was good to see, albeit probably not an advantage that will be sustained over the season. We made A lot of skill errors under the dogs early pressure eg CJ and others. Of the oft maligned players i thought Howe and TOB looked pretty good, especially early when other players were not coping with the pressure. Of the new players downie, Phillips and brockman give us something to look forward to. All in all above expectations for me! My main concern for the season is our ability to consistently execute skills cleanly under pressure.

And the man on the mark rule seemed ok.

 

[rei154]

Lock Downie in for Round 1.

I get the feeling if we had had a regular 2020 development season we would have had to cough up SIGNIFICANTLY more to get him through the draft.

 

[LMGjr]

Why no Shiels?

 

[Lickmesocks]

Impey
Hartigan
Worpel after qtr time
Ceglar/McEvoy
Downie
Ollie early
Breust
Attempted quick ball movement
Pressure and tackling after qtr time

 

[Milkshaker]

New players:

Hartigan: Handy pick up. Solid all day.
Downie: In the best. Ran all day. Courageous and tough as well.
DGB: Only played a half. Did not notice him much.
Brockman: Not involved a real lot but looked composed with the ball. Made good position a few times but not used.
Took one great mark.
Phillips: Ok for first outing. Took me a little while to work out who he was initially.


The good:

Worpel: Beast mode. Say no more.
Breust: Typical day out. Just class.
Greaves: Started shakily but kept his head and improved as the game went on. Good game.
Ceglar/McEvoy: Had a great battle with English and Martin and shared the ruck duties between them. Big Boy was tireless. Ceglar good.
Impey: A bit rusty early but classy most of the game.
Day: Developing nicely. Will be a very good player.
Hardwick: Good
Ollie: Bobbed up for 3 in quick succession but did not see him much after that. Will take 3 a game.
Frosty: Typical Frost game. Looks set for a solid season. Kicked a nice goal on the run.
TOB: Plays a bit of the Gunston role. Love it when he gets it in range. Is a magnificent kick. Kicked 3.
Morrison: If he was a bit bigger he would be a real handful. Gets pushed around a bit easily. Played well though.
O'Meara: Typical game. In amongst it but not really damaging.
Cousins: Not sure how much game time he got (half). He is one of my favourites. Linked up well and could have ended up with two or three.



Average:

CJ: Pretty quiet. Missed a few field passes. Did nail one nice kicked on to the chest of a leading forward which was promising.
Moore: Hardly sighted
Howe: Maybe a bit under done still.
Kosi. Quiet but needed the hitout imo.


Apologies if I missed anyone. Good signs today. Particularly, the work ethic. Foot skills improved as the game went on as did delivery by hand.


(Boxhill off to a slow start too.)

 

[KermitJagger]

Watching a bit of the VFL practice match, and boy if they were struggling with the names before they've all but given up now. A big mark to... hawks. Good kick by the... hawks there.

 

[rei154]

Beautiful passage of play in the twos down the wing there, kicked it freely down the wing (starting in traffic) before I believe Bramble hit up Finn for his first.

 

[LMGjr]

Was that Jeka to Finn

 

[Changa10]

New players:

Hartigan: Handy pick up. Solid all day.
Downie: In the best. Ran all day. Courageous and tough as well.
DGB: Only played a half. Did not notice him much.
Brockman: Not involved a real lot but looked composed with the ball. Made good position a few times but not used.
Took one great mark.
Phillips: Ok for first outing. Took me a little while to work out who he was initially.


The good:

Worpel: Beast mode. Say no more.
Breust: Typical day out. Just class.
Greaves: Started shakily but kept his head and improved as the game went on. Good game.
Ceglar/McEvoy: Had a great battle with English and Martin and shared the ruck duties between them. Big Boy was tireless. Ceglar good.
Impey: A bit rusty early but classy most of the game.
Day: Developing nicely. Will be a very good player.
Hardwick: Good
Ollie: Bobbed up for 3 in quick succession but did not see him much after that. Will take 3 a game.
Frosty: Typical Frost game. Looks set for a solid season. Kicked a nice goal on the run.
TOB: Plays a bit of the Gunston role. Love it when he gets it in range. Is a magnificent kick. Kicked 3.
Morrison: If he was a bit bigger he would be a real handful. Gets pushed around a bit easily. Played well.
O'Meara: Typical game. In amongst it but not really damaging.
Cousins: Not sure how much game time he got (half). He is one of my favourites. Linked up well and could have ended up with two or three.



Average:

CJ: Pretty quiet. Missed a few field passes. Did nail one nice kicked on to the chest of a leading forward which was promising.
Moore: Hardly sighted
Howe: Maybe a bit under done still.
Kosi. Quiet but needed the hitout imo.


Apologies if I missed anyone. Good signs today. Particularly, the work ethic. Foot skills improved as the game went on as did delivery by hand.


(Boxhill off to a slow start too.)

Yeah, kept seeing the number 16 and thinking it was Smith lol.....

 

[VandoHawk]

Maginness very prominent early in the ressies. Kicked the first goal. Can also see why they call Josh Morris

35

Josh Morris

Age

22

Ht

186cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

6.3

2star

K

3.7

1star

HB

2.7

2star

M

1.3

2star

T

2.0

4star

MG

81.0

1star

D

6.3

1star

K

3.7

1star

HB

2.7

2star

M

1.3

1star

T

2.0

3star

MG

81.0

1star

D

6.3

2star

K

3.7

2star

HB

2.7

3star

M

1.3

2star

T

2.0

4star

MG

81.0

2star

tank he's thrown himself at all the contests and half-forward. It's also pretty ridiculous how much better we look when Reeves is in the ruck.

If someone can tell me the numbers of Callow, Bravo & Bramble (if they're even playing) I'd appreciate it because they commentators really don't know.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

I get the feeling if we had had a regular 2020 development season we would have had to cough up SIGNIFICANTLY more to get him through the draft.

100%

I've probably parroted this a million times already - but considering he was just voted captain and was moving to become more of an inside midfielder, if he had shown he could handle the inside role he'd have moved right up the board. Versatile, good size, quick, clean, leader, absolve rocket of a boot and great skills to match? He'd have been top 15.

A few years ago he was being talked about as a top 10 prospect from memory.

 

[RoughysMullet]

Ressies had enough chances but pretty sloppy going forward..
Dogs making the most of their chances.. Ugle Hagan given a charity goal

 

[KermitJagger]

Ressies had enough chances but pretty sloppy going forward..
Dogs making the most of their chances.. Ugle Hagan given a charity goal

Wind has been horrible that end

 

[PT Bar None]

Who is #12 for Box Hill - because he just bought zero candy and fubared the Dogs player trying to sell it

 

[VandoHawk]

Man I really wish I knew who most of these players were

 

[cryptor]

Curious to all the watchers... firstly thanks to all the ongoing commentary. Very much appreciated.

Was there anything notably different with the way we played and our structure?

Eg, was there a notable effort to move the ball out of the back 50 with more run and carry? Compared with last years slow, chip sideways stuff.

Did some of our forwards hold the structure and stay in the forward 50? Instead of them all pushing up the ground?

Thanks again.

Looked like a completely different team to what we saw for most of last year. Always looking to move the ball on quickly and forward. When we did go backwards it tended to be with the intention of moving the ball into a position from which we could immediately start moving it forward.

It was hard to tell due to the single camera setup what the forward structures were when the ball wasn't inside 50. I'd still confidently say we didn't have a forward staying inside 50 at all times, but I can't really recall an instance where our ball movement was clearly hampered by there not being any options to kick to (I didn't see everything though so not saying there weren't instances).

I know at least a few times we seemed to have kicked inside 50 with the knowledge/belief that by the time the ball arrived there would be forwards arriving to run onto it. Not a bad strategy given the players we've added to the list in recent years. That said, when we did have players up forward already we were kicking it to them on leads and there were some fantastic marks as a result.

Overall playing with an attacking mindset which seemed to breed the confidence to come back and win it. Obviously it's a nothing game and maybe the Bulldogs took the foot off the pedal, but the main takeaway is we were in a poor position and fought it out anyway - which was one of the major things we struggled with last year.

 

[perrdan09]

Looked like a completely different team to what we saw for most of last year. Always looking to move the ball on quickly and forward. When we did go backwards it tended to be with the intention of moving the ball into a position from which we could immediately start moving it forward.

It was hard to tell due to the single camera setup what the forward structures were when the ball wasn't inside 50. I'd still confidently say we didn't have a forward staying inside 50 at all times, but I can't really recall an instance where our ball movement was clearly hampered by there not being any options to kick to (I didn't see everything though so not saying there weren't instances).

I know at least a few times we seemed to have kicked inside 50 with the knowledge/belief that by the time the ball arrived there would be forwards arriving to run onto it. Not a bad strategy given the players we've added to the list in recent years. That said, when we did have players up forward already we were kicking it to them on leads and there were some fantastic marks as a result.

Overall playing with an attacking mindset which seemed to breed the confidence to come back and win it. Obviously it's a nothing game and maybe the Bulldogs took the foot off the pedal, but the main takeaway is we were in a poor position and fought it out anyway - which was one of the major things we struggled with last year.

That's awesome, thanks for that.

I reckon we hit a player on the lead in our forward 50 5 times all last year.... so that is great to hear. It really sounds like the penny dropped in terms of needing to adjust our ball movement and create the chance to kick to a leading forward, rather than constant long bombs that landed on their head.

It's got me even more excited to watch the first game of the year. I can handle us maybe not winning as much being in a development stage when we are at least playing a good brand of footy.

Thanks again mate.

 

[VandoHawk]

I believe Jackson Callow is in number 7

 

[Blackhawk42]

New players:

Hartigan: Handy pick up. Solid all day.
Downie: In the best. Ran all day. Courageous and tough as well.
DGB: Only played a half. Did not notice him much.
Brockman: Not involved a real lot but looked composed with the ball. Made good position a few times but not used.
Took one great mark.
Phillips: Ok for first outing. Took me a little while to work out who he was initially.


The good:

Worpel: Beast mode. Say no more.
Breust: Typical day out. Just class.
Greaves: Started shakily but kept his head and improved as the game went on. Good game.
Ceglar/McEvoy: Had a great battle with English and Martin and shared the ruck duties between them. Big Boy was tireless. Ceglar good.
Impey: A bit rusty early but classy most of the game.
Day: Developing nicely. Will be a very good player.
Hardwick: Good
Ollie: Bobbed up for 3 in quick succession but did not see him much after that. Will take 3 a game.
Frosty: Typical Frost game. Looks set for a solid season. Kicked a nice goal on the run.
TOB: Plays a bit of the Gunston role. Love it when he gets it in range. Is a magnificent kick. Kicked 3.
Morrison: If he was a bit bigger he would be a real handful. Gets pushed around a bit easily. Played well though.
O'Meara: Typical game. In amongst it but not really damaging.
Cousins: Not sure how much game time he got (half). He is one of my favourites. Linked up well and could have ended up with two or three.



Average:

CJ: Pretty quiet. Missed a few field passes. Did nail one nice kicked on to the chest of a leading forward which was promising.
Moore: Hardly sighted
Howe: Maybe a bit under done still.
Kosi. Quiet but needed the hitout imo.


Apologies if I missed anyone. Good signs today. Particularly, the work ethic. Foot skills improved as the game went on as did delivery by hand.


(Boxhill off to a slow start too.)

Howe was good I thought. Not a standout by any means but solid for a first hit out coming off a limited pre-season.

Moore also did a bit more in close than people probably noticed. I can remember a couple of instances where he stripped the ball from a dogs player within a pack and fed out a deft handball to a team mate.

Also has a few moments he is known for where he linked up through the middle then turned and surged forward. Certainly didn't play a great game but I'd say the coaching staff will be reasonably pleased that he played his role.

 

[Pessimistic]

Reeves shows enough to stay on AFL lists (at very least somewhere as back up) for several years

 

[PT Bar None]

They never seem to pay those high contact...

For those not watching - Ugle-Hagar flew for a speccy and drove his knee into a Box Hill players head (#14 - don't know name. Blonde fellah) hurting him a bit. Stretcher came out, but he was able to walk himself off. Concussion protocol

 

[cryptor]

That's awesome, thanks for that.

I reckon we hit a player on the lead in our forward 50 5 times all last year.... so that is great to hear. It really sounds like the penny dropped in terms of needing to adjust our ball movement and create the chance to kick to a leading forward, rather than constant long bombs that landed on their head.

It's got me even more excited to watch the first game of the year. I can handle us maybe not winning as much being in a development stage when we are at least playing a good brand of footy.

Thanks again mate.

No worries. Yeah I reckon once the real stuff starts I still wouldn't be expecting us to win too much as we're still quite raw in terms of executing skills which will break down many possession chains and cost us scoring opportunities. But if we don't give up trying we should stay close in most games, and I'm sure we'll scare a few good sides along the way if they don't come prepared to battle it out to the end.