2nds 2018 Stand Alone VFL - Inaugural season over. Time for reviews.

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roojor said:
Gets to the right spots has the right leading patterns will be he next important forward in the next few years. For me I would like to see wood play on the wing.
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Me too. He's certainly got the tank and he's hard to beat one on one. I'd favour Ziebell as the '3rd tall'.... then 3 smalls out of Simpkin, Hrovat, Garner and Turner
 
Did Murphy play today ?
 
Jesslc said:
As expected, Mcdonalds a level above. Doesnt show any stress around the ball. Basic business.
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Everytime North has kicked a goal I've seen him chug a beer.

When the team celebrated a goal he shouted out "go isotopes". I told him to pull his head in and he said "you're right steve, you're always steve"
 
I'm not very good at this stuff but since I went along and always value everyone's updates - I better do a little report from what I saw;

What looked good!
- josh Williams back and forward looked great - some quality work and took a hit and came back on which was good to see
- Willy Walker - this guy seemed to be all over the ground winning the ball, laying tackles and kicking a couple of goals I think
- Xerri - firstvtime ive noticed him - excellent today , very Goldy when he is in good form ; kicked a goal, laid tackles and did a bit of everything
Luke, Ahern, Jy Jed, all did well - lots were ok without dominating

What I didn't see much of;
- very few tackles in the forward line and they ran it easily out of the back but it was a practice match!

- I'm alway hoping to see EVW, Dustin or Nielsen smash it. It while I think they were all ok on a very windy day - I wasn't able to highlight one as dominating the game
- I would have liked to see Mason really smash it but he was pretty good - took a great mark and was busy
- Maj missed an easy tackle that resulted in a goal which would have elevated his otherwise ok game to very good - he chased and lost a couple of others too
- no sausage sizzle!!! Bleeding

Overall I loved it and the ground was great - I hope more get there during the season
 
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Hojuman said:
Listed VFL boys showing anything ?
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It was a bit hard to know who was who. I think I'm correct in saying Liam Whelan was 33 and was the pick of the bunch. 37 Maxy played the second half across the backline and was good, will be their Tarrant I reckon. Number 2 in the guts looked alright but I don't know who it was.
 
Ok, home and lunched so here is my full report.

Firstly, i had a chat to the dad of one of the young VFL lads. He is a saints fan but bought a membership today as he has been really impressed in the vfl program and thinks North are doing right by his son. So thats a positive.

Anyway, the players looking at AFL next week.

Luke: killed it as you would expect. One issue i have with luke is his continued inability to kick set shot goals. Does he practice this?

Simpkin: Played the whole game as a centre square mid. very good. not as eye catching as when he plays forward but would have had to have had it over 20 times. Plenty of in close hands at the contest. Infront of Luke IMO as a clearance mid.

Wood: Very good IMO. Worked very hard up and back down the ground. Still needs to tidy up his finishing infront of goal but had a real focus today which he has when he plays his best footy.

Preuss: Probably not his best game. Didnt take many marks but it was tough with the wind. He would have given away 7-8 frees i think. And had trouble in boundary throw ins with the lack of penetration in the throw ins. Should have trued harder to get front spot. Needs to work on his ruckman IQ.

Dumont: He isn't an eye catching player so i wont say he didn't do much because maybe i couldn't see clearly. But certainly didn't seem to get much of it.

I think you can lock EVW, Turner and LDU in for next week.

The rest

Will walker: Like what i see. Knows how to find the footy. Confident running with it. And as i mentioned during the game, goes in very hard for a skinny kid. played all over the place, forward, back, in the midfield.

Jed: did ok in the first half, but came out like a man possessed in the third. And his hardness certainly got his teammates up and about.

Larkey: Looked ultra dangerous early and then late. Sort of went out of it in the middle. We were playing heaps of big guys so that would have had some impact.

Durdin: Played the whole game up forward. Worked very hard, got to the right positions but didn't have a great day. positive is that his average day would have seen him get it close to 15 times.

Maj: probably best on? Only conceded 1 goal. but kicked one himself. pretty dominate really.

Mckay: Battled hard down back. Didn't do alot wrong save for getting done on the lead a few times.

Neilson: Battled hard down back. Didn't do alot wrong save for some poor footskills early.

Hibberd: Played down back, did some nice things including a very hard at it bit of play where he one an important contested footy.

Williams: Very dangerous when he got it. Did seem to get hurt but came back on. Development appears to be going in the right direction.

Xeri: Real surprise packet. Played very well as a ruck and did some nice things up forward. Like his follow up work in particular. Him and Larkey rrally do seem to be some late selection gems.

Ahern: PLayed off half back. Started really well then seemed to fade out of the game. He is always looking to create by foot which i like. Sort of like Wells in that he can take a dangerous option and split the ground, but isn't really that great of a kick. he can kick it a mile but he shanked a few.

Zuhaar: Did some things that made you go wow but then shanked the kick.

Peace
 
Kangaroos4eva said:
It's because we pidegon-holed him as a small forward with tiny spurts in the midfield. It should be the other way around.
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While I agree with his role description, I'm not convinced that's what we did. He couldn't get any continuity in his body and therefore his game. I think we wanted exactly that out of him but we just couldn't get him going to build any fitness and confidence. Here's hoping eh?


the big lebowski said:
Ok, home and lunched so here is my full report.

Simpkin: Played the whole game as a centre square mid. very good. not as eye catching as when he plays forward but would have had to have had it over 20 times. Plenty of in close hands at the contest. Infront of Luke IMO as a clearance mid.

Jed: did ok in the first half, but came out like a man possessed in the third. And his hardness certainly got his teammates up and about.

Larkey: Looked ultra dangerous early and then late. Sort of went out of it in the middle. We were playing heaps of big guys so that would have had some impact.

Maj: probably best on? Only conceded 1 goal. but kicked one himself. pretty dominate really.
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Simpkin re: better as a clearance mid seems right to me too. Couple of years of muscle. I think I compared him to SJ last year as a type of player and I still think that's a viable road.

Jed - Great to read that kind of commentary around Q3 in particular. Great for him (and us) that he's at least going to give it his best shot.

Maj - The puzzle continues...
 
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roos_fanatic08 said:
Wood is going to have Larkey breathing down his neck within 6 months. Bookmark it
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Larkey has looked likely from day dot. Amazes me where guys get picked up in the draft and then they walk into a club and you think this guy will have a career.

Put 2-3 years of muscle and development and he is literally Petrie Mk2.
 
I got there at 1/4 time and some observations - albeit I struggled a bit at times to work out who was who:
Maj - worked into the game well, took some good marks (almost took an absolute screamer in the last), still gets pushed around a bit under the ball but as we know is good if he can get a run at it.
Jed Anderson - really surprised me with his attack on the man and the ball. Got a lot of it at the bottom of packs pretty cleanly but then got caught a lot. Not sure what it is with him, whether he doesn't have the evasive skills or lacks that yard of pace but certainly can find it. Kicked a goal and went hard all day.
Luke McDonald - as someone else said was cruising most of the day. Was on the massage bench at the end of the game with what appeared to be a bit a strain to the groin but said he was good.
Jy - was in amongst a fair bit of it but a bit scrappy I thought, struggled to find space at times.
Trent Dumont didn't spend a lot of time in the ground but was hard in and under digging the ball out when he was.
Paul Ahern - looked ok when on the ground, not a stand out to me but good disposal across half back. I asked Robbie at 3/4 time why we didn't see him in the JLT and he just said that he hadn't played for 2 years so still trying to ease him back in. Haven't really seen enough but not sure we don't have another mid paced half back flanker??
Mitchell Hibberd - looked composed is a good size and looks a good athlete. Despite all of the doubters on here I think he could be a player.
Nick Larkey - Gets to good spots, I must have been down the wrong end as I didn't see him do a hell of a lot. Hands didn't look great (like a lot of others).
Ben Mackay - did some good things in defence, couple of good marks, real good size and moves well
Sam Durdin - played forward all day and was very frustrated. Got to good positions and worked his player but dropped a lot of balls. Got hit hard in the 2nd qtr in a marking contest, I could hear him sucking them in from 30m away...
Daniel Nielson - bigger than I thought and has some mongrel, will be a good player. Has had his hair cut short and for some reason reminded me a bit of Daniel Merrett today.
Will Walker - showed promise with some good dash, strange build and needs to fill out a bit.
Braydon Preuss - I disagree witha few other posters here and from limited game time thought he did what he normally does when in the ruck, monstered his opponent, had soem good tapwork and kicked a goal from a boundary throw in as no-one appeared to want to go near him! Really does need to take marks around the ground though to add to his game, and as long as Todd does will still be second in line.
Mason Wood - did what Mason does, some good things some not so good. Was surprised to see him out there today to be honest, but does need to find some touch.
Tristian Xerri - Looks to have good smarts and skills, needs to fill out still but showed good signs. As per a number of the other talls dropped a few marks (although was blustery)
Josh Williams - really do like the look of this kid. Had a really good intercept in the 3rd and was tackled, went down and didn't move, thought he had done a knee but eventually walked off and came back on a bit later and played out the game ok. Really like the way he moves and his touch with the ball in hand is nice.
Tom Murphy - looks composed and like an AFL player. Promising.
Gordon Narrier - Has some wheels but is a very outside, outside, outside player and didn't do a hell of a lot to impress me today (may have missed some stuff in the first qtr). One piece of play in the 3rd or 4th stood out when he had to go on the wing against a Willy player and didn't go hard - put a hand out to try and slap the ball whereas the Willy player be-lined it and took the ball out. The Willy boys on the bench all let him know about it too, telling him he didn't want it. Luke also gave him a bake at one stage for being lazy when he put a ball out of bounds on the full.
Cam Zurhaar - I know some people here have bagged his disposal but whenever he was on he made something happen, he is like a bull and had some great passages when he burst through packs where 3 or 4 other guys were struggling to get the ball out. I thought from his game time he was really good and should be in round 1.
A few other points of note:
Max Hayes (number 37) stood out for me. VFL defender but good size, moves really well and nice kick. Thought he showed as much as some of our AFL listed players today.
Jack Ziebell, Benny Brown and Robbie Tarrant all signed my daughters cap. Not sure about the ripped 3/4 jeans though Jack.
Coffee Cart was doing reasonable business at half time.
Taylor garner is taller than I thought.
Ed Vickers-Willis looks thinner than I expected.
Robbie looks in ripping nick - said his kidney was fine.
 
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the big lebowski said:
Ok, home and lunched so here is my full report.

Firstly, i had a chat to the dad of one of the young VFL lads. He is a saints fan but bought a membership today as he has been really impressed in the vfl program and thinks North are doing right by his son. So thats a positive.

Anyway, the players looking at AFL next week.

Luke: killed it as you would expect. One issue i have with luke is his continued inability to kick set shot goals. Does he practice this?

Simpkin: Played the whole game as a centre square mid. very good. not as eye catching as when he plays forward but would have had to have had it over 20 times. Plenty of in close hands at the contest. Infront of Luke IMO as a clearance mid.

Wood: Very good IMO. Worked very hard up and back down the ground. Still needs to tidy up his finishing infront of goal but had a real focus today which he has when he plays his best footy.

Preuss: Probably not his best game. Didnt take many marks but it was tough with the wind. He would have given away 7-8 frees i think. And had trouble in boundary throw ins with the lack of penetration in the throw ins. Should have trued harder to get front spot. Needs to work on his ruckman IQ.

Dumont: He isn't an eye catching player so i wont say he didn't do much because maybe i couldn't see clearly. But certainly didn't seem to get much of it.

I think you can lock EVW, Turner and LDU in for next week.

The rest

Will walker: Like what i see. Knows how to find the footy. Confident running with it. And as i mentioned during the game, goes in very hard for a skinny kid. played all over the place, forward, back, in the midfield.

Jed: did ok in the first half, but came out like a man possessed in the third. And his hardness certainly got his teammates up and about.

Larkey: Looked ultra dangerous early and then late. Sort of went out of it in the middle. We were playing heaps of big guys so that would have had some impact.

Durdin: Played the whole game up forward. Worked very hard, got to the right positions but didn't have a great day. positive is that his average day would have seen him get it close to 15 times.

Maj: probably best on? Only conceded 1 goal. but kicked one himself. pretty dominate really.

Mckay: Battled hard down back. Didn't do alot wrong save for getting done on the lead a few times.

Neilson: Battled hard down back. Didn't do alot wrong save for some poor footskills early.

Hibberd: Played down back, did some nice things including a very hard at it bit of play where he one an important contested footy.

Williams: Very dangerous when he got it. Did seem to get hurt but came back on. Development appears to be going in the right direction.

Xeri: Real surprise packet. Played very well as a ruck and did some nice things up forward. Like his follow up work in particular. Him and Larkey rrally do seem to be some late selection gems.

Ahern: PLayed off half back. Started really well then seemed to fade out of the game. He is always looking to create by foot which i like. Sort of like Wells in that he can take a dangerous option and split the ground, but isn't really that great of a kick. he can kick it a mile but he shanked a few.

Zuhaar: Did some things that made you go wow but then shanked the kick.

Peace
Click to expand...
Great summary. I was pretty disappointed in Preuss as I thought he would monster their ruckman but that wasn't really the case. I don't think his tapwork isn't as good as either Goldy or Majak despite his massive size. Sandilands he aint. He can make the odd eye catching tackle but most of the time he is a 115kg witches hat and he can't get to many contests. His hacked kicks out of congestion were often pretty wasteful. As much as I have been very frustrated with Goldy over the past 2 years I can see why Brad considers him miles ahead as first choice. He may look soft but he gets to a stack more contests and often can get into space on his own and function as a linkman. Plus he uses it very well by foot and rarely wastes a kick. And he's a good goal kicker. Goldy is way better suited to the modern game, he's almost like another midfielder when he's up and going. It's a shame that hasn't happened for 2 years.
 
Waynesworld said:
I got there at 1/4 time and some observations - albeit I struggled a bit at times to work out who was who:
Maj - worked into the game well, took some good marks (almost took an absolute screamer in the last), still gets pushed around a bit under the ball but as we know is good if he can get a run at it.
Jed Anderson - really surprised me with his attack on the man and the ball. Got a lot of it at the bottom of packs pretty cleanly but then got caught a lot. Not sure what it is with him, whether he doesn't have the evasive skills or lacks that yard of pace but certainly can find it. Kicked a goal and went hard all day.
Luke McDonald - as someone else said was cruising most of the day. Was on the massage bench at the end of the game with what appeared to be a bit a strain to the groin but said he was good.
Jy - was in amongst a fair bit of it but a bit scrappy I thought, struggled to find space at times.
Trent Dumont didn't spend a lot of time in the ground but was hard in and under digging the ball out when he was.
Paul Ahern - looked ok when on the ground, not a stand out to me but good disposal across half back. I asked Robbie at 3/4 time why we didn't see him in the JLT and he just said that he hadn't played for 2 years so still trying to ease him back in. Haven't really seen enough but not sure we don't have another mid paced half back flanker??
Mitchell Hibberd - looked composed is a good size and looks a good athlete. Despite all of the doubters on here I think he could be a player.
Nick Larkey - Gets to good spots, I must have been down the wrong end as I didn't see him do a hell of a lot. Hands didn't look great (like a lot of others).
Ben Mackay - did some good things in defence, couple of good marks, real good size and moves well
Sam Durdin - played forward all day and was very frustrated. Got to good positions and worked his player but dropped a lot of balls. Got hit hard in the 2nd qtr in a marking contest, I could hear him sucking them in from 30m away...
Daniel Nielson - bigger than I thought and has some mongrel, will be a good player. Has had his hair cut short and for some reason reminded me a bit of Daniel Merrett today.
Will Walker - showed promise with some good dash, strange build and needs to fill out a bit.
Braydon Preuss - did what he normally does when in the ruck, monstered his opponent. Kicked a goal from a boundary throw in as no-one appeared to want to go near him! Needs to take marks around the ground to add to his game.
Mason Wood - did what Mason does, some good things some not so good. Was surprised to see him out there today to be honest, but does need to find some touch.
Tristian Xerri - Looks to have good smarts and skills, needs to fill out still but showed good signs. As per a number of the other talls dropped a few marks (although was blustery)
Josh Williams - really do like the look of this kid. Had a really good intercept in the 3rd and was tackled, went down and didn't move, thought he had done a knee but eventually walked off and came back on a bit later and played out the game ok. Really like the way he moves and his touch with the ball in hand is nice.
Tom Murphy - looks composed and like an AFL player. Promising.
Gordon Narrier - Has some wheels but is a very outside, outside, outside player and didn't do a hell of a lot to impress me today (may have missed some stuff in the first qtr). One piece of play in the 3rd or 4th stood out when he had to go on the wing against a Willy player and didn't go hard - put a hand out to try and slap the ball whereas the Willy player be-lined it and took the ball out. The Willy boys on the bench all let him know about it too, telling him he didn't want it. Luke also gave him a bake at one stage for being lazy when he put a ball out of bounds on the full.
Cam Zurhaar - I know some people here have bagged his disposal but whenever he was on he made something happen, he is like a bull and had some great passages when he burst through packs where 3 or 4 other guys were struggling to get the ball out. I thought from his game time he was really good and should be in round 1.
A few other points of note:
Max Hayes (number 37) stood out for me. VFL defender but good size, moves really well and nice kick. Thought he showed as much as some of our AFL listed players today.
Jack Ziebell, Benny Brown and Robbie Tarrant all signed my daughters cap. Not sure about the ripped 3/4 jeans though Jack.
Coffee Cart was doing reasonable business at half time.
Taylor garner is taller than I expected.
Ed Vickers-Willis looks thinner than I expected.
Robbie looks in ripping nick - said his kidney was fine.
Click to expand...
Jed isn’t slow, but I think it is a confidence thing with him, firstly whether he can succeed as an afl mid and secondly, whether his body would hold up in the process.
 
shintemaster said:
Larkey has looked likely from day dot. Amazes me where guys get picked up in the draft and then they walk into a club and you think this guy will have a career.

Put 2-3 years of muscle and development and he is literally Petrie Mk2.
Click to expand...
A few of us, me included, have said the same. He took plenty of big marks last year though.

And to repeat what I said, what he did in VFL last year was amazing in his first year.
 
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Positives.

Xerri. Our ruck stocks are good for the next 10 years.

Jed. Was angry. Played a ferocious inside game.

Will Walker. This kid has something. Was good all day.

Ahern. Good user of the ball. Great to see him playing but definitely needs to lose 5 kg


Negatives.

Durdin. After four years this guy at VFL level still doesn’t show much.

Narrier. Needs to be proactive instead of reactive.

Zuharr. Hard at it but putrid disposal.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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