Autopsy 2023 Rd 16 Blues don't give a ruck but thrash Hawks anyway

Who played well for the Blues in Round 16 vs the Hawks?

  • Total voters
    125
  • Poll closed .

Remove this Banner Ad

Log in to remove this ad.

jj1978 said:
Hawks just keep rebuilding beautifully and they've been spoilt over the last 40-50 years. They need a good 20+ years of solid bottom 4 finishes to complete the circle. I think they're in for a good 5 years of worth of pain and would be interesting if they can time things again with their list with the introduction of Tassie as they did to aplomb with GC and GWS.

I was very concerned about Mitchells continuous hints recently about Hawks returning to unsociable football and did fear to see some nasty behind the scenes tactics, even thought a few of their after our post mark shoves and niggles during the game were in merit of a 50m.
Click to expand...


I don’t think Sam Mitchell has been involved in too many games where Carlton have thumped Hawthorn- so it was nice to wipe that smarmy s**t eating grin off his face.


Except of course when he theatrically taps his forearm looking for a vein to the Essendon huddle.

:p
 
CJMB said:
I don't think I've ever heard/read anyone say that.

In the preseason he looked slow when they were doing those '2 min for as far as you can around the oval' race/session things. From memory O'Brien was putting about half a lap between himself and Dow in that time and even Fish was getting a pretty healthy lead on Paddy.

Paddy has a bit of a burst, but after that I wouldn't call him quick and I'd hardly call him a great 'distance' runner (in the realm of AFL, ie 3/4 or full field runs, etc)
Click to expand...
Watch the 2s game, he put in 3-4/full field efforts to create an option multiple times, it was very impressive.
He doesn’t have Ed’s tank but few do. Running is not a Dow issue these days, goes both ways & his kicking is highly underrated. Slotting 2 set shots from 40&45 on a bit of angle & 1 on the run from 45 was gold.
Most impressive was watching him lace it 60m while running at a fair clip - the team gets a whole lot faster when u have players who can make that kick & our key forwards then become near unstoppable with quick, open entries
 
Bamboo Harvester said:
Also the title of a great album by Thorpey and the Aztecs from back in the early 70's...a blast from the past for all the fellow fossils amonsgt us :thumbsu::cool:
Click to expand...
I remember seeing Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs in the early 70’s. Great era for Aussie bands. Be Bop a Lula, Ooh Poo Pa Doo…they don’t write songs like that anymore. :D

My older brothers went to Sunbury ‘72 where Thorpey played. I was only 14 and too young to go. ☹️
 
GoBlues! said:
I remember seeing Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs in the early 70’s. Great era for Aussie bands. Be Bop a Lula, Ooh Poo Pa Doo…they don’t write songs like that anymore. :D

My older brothers went to Sunbury ‘72 where Thorpey played. I was only 14 and too young to go. ☹️
Click to expand...
sunbury 72 - legendary concert - finally something around here I was too young for!!
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Revenant1965 said:
Just a question re tactical sub, and Charlie being subbed out: could Charlie have been subbed out with win assured to see how we go without him, or was it about protecting him from unnecessary injury? I found it an interesting choice...
Click to expand...

No, Ed was meant to come off but the runner got mixed up.....:D


just kidding....I think Charlie earned a rest and did land heavily early on.
I doubt very much Vossy would consider any game won till the siren.
 
Last edited:
gbatman said:
It's nice to win and it's nice to win by a lot. End of the day we beat a team who tried hard but they are a bottom side with key players missing so you would expect we would win by a lot being any good at all. Played a good brand of footy, tackled well and applied pressure well.

I've given the coach a hammering recently on here and there is no doubt it's justified but he's got some thing right which is good, more than he has been so far in his time at Carlton. The real test will be playing some half decent teams in the coming weeks. See whether it's real or whether it's just that we have played a couple of very weak sides. Voss has made mountains of mistakes but he's started to get more right recently. Perhaps his tenure at Carlton is going to be a slow burn. A lot of coaches have had to adapt to the new style of play and some have been slow to the show, unfortunately we're one of those teams.

I think he got three things very wrong that to me seem really obvious. Again you need to use players traits when selecting them for roles. Dow should have played ahead of Ed Curnow. Curnow is slow and not damaging in the least. They ran off him. He played half forward for no goals and no impact. Dow who has been playing the forward game really well in the VFL for two seasons and has the skills and leg speed would be ideal for this role. He kicked 3 goals straight for 29 disposals carrying a hard tag in the VFL, Ed Can't do that at VFL level anymore let alone AFL. Dow would have kicked goals in that AFL side, his pace would have added a lot. He's fitter than Fogarty and Cuningham so no issue with his tank. Dow would have also game us a genuine midfield rotation. He's a better onballer than Cuningham and Fogarty who were our midfield rotations for the day. This was a dumb decision by the coach. The other was how we used the ruckmen. Young is a strong overhead mark who has become too negative and indecisive as a defender to go for his marks. Silvagni is a very poor overhead mark but a strong competitor. Silvagni should have played defence, Young should have played forward. You would think after DeKoning, Curnow and McKay being such a good combination the game prior we might want to go back to the three tall structure forward. I'm also far more comfortable with Silvagni in the backline than Young. Those goals young had kicked on him because his awareness is terrible and he let forwards stand on their own, there is no way that happens to Silvagni. That one goal Silvagni kicked as a forward, I bet Young could have kicked 1 goal. You get away with these mistakes playing weak sides, you don't get away with them playing better sides like Fremantle for example. And this is why we have failed all season. Bad coaching. It's getting better but it's still a problem.

The brand of footy we are playing is modern finally, there is an effort to move the ball forward quicker and more direct. We are rotating the midfielders more and we are picking more quick players. However we aren't going to the full extent when it comes to getting team selecting right and embracing pace. The Ed Curnow selection over Dow or Binns was a howler. Hewett being the sub was ok but not a great deal better. These are two players we need to make a concerted effort to move on from if we are to be fully embracing the modern game and to move forward.

One thing about the modern game is that playing fast and going up the middle of the ground is in big time, it's a must. Good kicking is a must. This means leg speed is super important for defenders as they can't rely on team defence as much as they have in the past, they have to be able to defend one on one and that has brought some of the slower defenders undone. Young and Newman for example. It's also meant leg speed around the midfield is more important than ever. The ability to run ahead of the ball quickly to setup team defence to match the fast ball movement of teams as well as chase players quickly to effectively apply pressure and to break away from congestion for run and carry to generate fast ball movement has become very important to the modern game which is far more open, outside and quick. Voss not picking up on this, not embracing this and not moving on from favouring slow and old blokes towards favouring fast blokes is why we will probably miss finals this season.

We've added some speed to our team, our defence is better for it, our defenders can intercept and attack more. Our midfield applies a lot more pressure and tackles a lot more, we run and carry a lot more which supplies the forwards with better feed. So we have improved but it's probably too late. Let's hope not.

So the game plan in terms of how we move the ball and apply pressure is better but our team selection remains questionable. You can't keep picking slow legs if you wish to generate a modern game plan which involves fast pressure, fast ball movement, run and carry and a team which has the speed to run ahead and get behind the ball quickly. Cripps and Kennedy is borderline too many slow legs. Adding Curnow and Hewett. Weak teams we get away with it, playing the top 10 we won't get away with getting our team selection wrong like that.

No rucks and lack of genuine third tall forward was an issue but it was evened out by having a little more run and ground level play with Silvagni. Would controlling the hitouts and having that extra overhead marking option have been better? I still think so. I still think we would have been better off with TDK and Pittonet over Young and Silvagni.

Can't take too much away from belting a very weak team but we did play well, starting to play the right way and half getting the team selection right. Let's see what happens next week.

Cripps - Had a par game from him, thought he was running really well. He looks fit. Still got caught standing and wrestling at stoppages which he needs to try and avoid, a decent midfield coach would have be all over this with him. Just because your big and strong does not mean you stand and wrestle, use it with momentum to be hard to tackle and hard to stop. Cripps with his feet moving is dynamite, with him standing still he's run of the mill. He's getting better with this but work needs to be done. IMO he was probably standing and wrestling more because of the lack of a genuine ruckman in there so will let him off this week. But going forward, lets get those feet moving and disengage the contact a bit more.

Cerra - He's matured and he's taking advantage over us trying to be less Cripps focused in there. He's become a top level inside midfielder. Love him drifting forward, he's a terrific kick for goal. He's bigger and stronger than he was last season, lovely skills and strong tackler. He's proven to be worth every penny.

Docherty - Looked to play wing and back pocket. Thought he had a really good game. Loves to kick a goal. Strong over head and was solid as a rock when in defence. Found plenty of it and was neat with his disposal which isn't always the case.

Walsh - I've been critical of him in the past for accumulating possessions and having no impact on the game. Last few weeks he's been getting a little less of it but having a far greater impact on the game. His run and carry game is his bread and butter. Using his speed to apply pressure. This is much better football from Walsh. Starting at the back of contests moving through them running forward. Been calling for this for months and here we are. Nothing better than seeing Walsh running with the footy and hitting targets. This is him at his best.

Saad - Another player who has been down this season who is back to his best. Finding plenty of it, using it extremely well, run and carry. No doubt our more offensive game plan with more midfield pressure has helped him as it has all our defenders.

Acres - Thought it wasn't his best football, but it was still good. He's a top line wingman, he still had an impact, took a strong mark and kicked a goal, he kept making good position all day, not always the best user of the ball but by far not the worst. Thought he was solid and he's a competitor which I like about him.

McGovern - Thought he started a little slow on intensity then it built. He's someone who needs something to get him going. Looks like the operation he had has worked, haven't had a run of games out of him like this ever. Reckon we could get his brother over for a few seasons and fix him? McGovern is the ideal modern defender. He's super important for us because he has the leg speed and ability to defend one on one. This is something that has come back into the game this season with the fast ball movement. Gov has the height, speed and leap that is so so valuable to our side. On the flip side he brings ball winning, game sense, good kicking and intercept marking. Any idea he should be moved on is nuts IMO. These guys who can defend one on one and attack have become gold. As I said earlier the players who rely on team defence are getting caught out more and more and the ones who can defend one on one are becoming far more valuable.

McKay - Thought he was good. Did a lot of ground level stuff, marked well, presented well and kicked a few goals. One thing we are doing better is putting it out in front of our forwards who are on the move and not putting it on their heads. Harrys is near impossible to stop if you put it out in front of him and let him run and jump at it.

Kemp - What I said about McGovern I will say about Kemp. Another tallish defender who has the leg speed to defend one on one. He was not as prolific as he was last week but he held up a role and when the ball spills lose he makes up ground quick and gets to it. His kicking game was good. Gave us a bit of run and carry. Liked his game. He's a real modern day defender.

Fogarty - He's not the best player going around, he's been out of the team for a long time and earmarked to be delisted IMO. However he's hard at it, he can go on the ball for spurts and he gives us forward pressure. He was good. He's not a good kick, that's always going to be an issue but with players out and a forward line looking for guys who can apply pressure, lay a tackle and kick the odd goal he brings what we need. He's ahead of Fisher because of this. He's on his way to another contract.

Weitering - Another defender who is loving that we have more pace and pressure in the middle of the ground. He's back to intercepting. He's back to playing good football. Enjoyed seeing him display some aggression and play with his tail up. This is when he is at his best. Still find that when he takes a mark he takes too long to dispose of it. Would be saying to him not to ignore the runners past or the short side ways kicks, he's slow to move it at times.

Silvagni - We know what we will get from him and that is effort and competitiveness. Had a good day at ground level with his pressure and he found a few ground ball gets as a ruck. But. He gave away quite a few too many free kicks in the ruck and only took one overhead mark for the day. I don't think he's in the team with Pittonet and DeKoning. I think he is solid backup and would make a solid Sub. I think he had a solid game in this one but against the stronger sides with genuine rucks in close games this is not going to work for us.

Newman - He had a hand in their first 4 goals with the ball getting past him, he leaked badly in this game. He's one of these slow defenders who is getting caught out by the fast ball movement of the modern game and his lack of ability to defend one on one. Team defence is not something that can be relied on when the opposition move it quick and these slower defender, they get caught out and IMO Hawthorn were aware of this. I watched Cowan play in the VFL and gee he has come a long way this season. He's quick, he's a terrific kick, a long kick and very hard at it. Plays pretty tall too. Williams will be back next season. Newman is not far off falling out of the best 22 side as Plowman has the last few years. Smart player, leader and someone who was a lot more effective in the old style of the game but it's moved past him.

Kennedy - I thought he as ok but nothing special. Again a slower player who is just getting caught with the speed of the game going past these guys. I am really not convinced Kennedy should be ahead of Dow who to me is more of a modern game player. Thought Kennedy was ok, competed well but the game has changed and slow players on an AFL field get exposed.

Ed Curnow - He's been a great servant of the club but he is finished. This was a poor inclusion from the coach. Played half forward and the defenders just ran away from him. He's done. He's slow. I think every supporter knew that Binns or Dow would have been a far better selection than Ed. We have been pretty much proven correct. Dow with his pace and ability to kick goals playing half forward in this game could have sat at half forward then added insult to injury by going on the ball and giving us even more run and carry out of the middle. I can see it, I don't see how the coaches can't. The game has moved past Ed Curnow and towards Paddy Dow types. I do not get a lot of the team selection decisions.

Cuningham - He's half fit and playing just the sort of footy we need at half forward. Found a bit of it, used it nicely, used his leg speed to run carry and defend. Put his body in when he had to. Tackled and gave us a midfield rotation. He's a massive upgrade. Kicked 2 nice goals. He's a terrific kick.

Boyd - I Had Boyd as one of our BOG players. One on one defending was excellent. Spoils well, marks well, run and carry and he's a ripping good tackler. He was in everything, everything about his game was outstanding.

Young - Not a good game. Took 1 good overhead mark for the day, I thought playing ruck he would have taken more. Again he showed his lack of awareness with lose players in his area not getting covered. His spoiling looked weak. His body looks in terrible shape, he looks weak and built like a 2nd year player still. He's a good overhead mark but we saw none of it. Was a liability in defence. IMO the coach got this wrong. Young should have gone forward and Silvagni should have gone back.

Curnow - Early on he looked super dangerous. But he didn't kick straight early and that probably put him off a bit other wise this was going to be a 5 goal day for sure. Played a good game but it was good to not have to rely on he or Harry to kick all the goal.

Martin - His first halves are great but he disappears. If only we could get him fit. Loved watching him go in hard and hit bodies, this is Martin at his best. Lovely kick for goal, fast legs, smart player. Liked his game, can't wait to see him fit.

Cincotta - Started like a house on fire, looked a million bucks but went missing for a lot of the game. Not sure whether he was putting on a hard tag or not. I like him as a player. Good kick, strong body, can defend one on one, tackles well and has the leg speed to close in on a man and run and carry. Just has a habit of going to ground which I want to see out of his game. IMO still has some things to do educational wise at AFL level but the more we play him the better he will get. He's been a good selection.

Owies - He was the star the game before but a quiet game this week. Can't always have massive games as a small forward but he did little wrong. I do like how he plays.

Hewett - Came on for the last quarter and had very very minimal impact. I hope the coaches can see Dow is the better player. Out played him in his 1 quarter displays and at VFL level the other week. Hewett is a good natural footballer but, Sydney saw the game was changing as did a lot of other sides, they let him go and the game has moved past these big slow immobile mids. You can carry 1, maybe 2 but not 3 or 4 like we have been trying to do. Game has moved past him. He needs to find another club looking for a grunt mid or he will remain a VFL player waiting for Cripps or Kennedy to get injured. Coach needs to get this right or that slim hope of finals is gone.
Click to expand...
GB I have watched an enormous amount of running drills at the club over the last few years. Cuners half fit would murder Dow at his fittest in any running contest further than 15m. Cuners would 400 in close to 50. Dow would be lucky to break 57. It’s not close. Not even underdone.
 
Accidental genius said:
Dow would have been a much better option than Ed regardless of the role. Ed is finished. Dow is future. No brainer.
Click to expand...
Personally i could see debates about Ed Vs Dow. One can run. I would have picked Dow above Ed if forced but in direct comparison there are at least things Ed has that Dow doesn’t.

BUT it is beyond belief that they couldn’t find a role for Binns against a s**t Hawks young side. Blows my mind. He already beats Ed in running drills. And he’s better than Ed (is now) at footy.

Ed has experience. Give a s**t. Binns knows where the footy is going as well as Walsh. Runs ALL day. Smart player. Has imrovoed his ball use out of sight.

Should have been played.
 
gbatman said:
It's nice to win and it's nice to win by a lot. End of the day we beat a team who tried hard but they are a bottom side with key players missing so you would expect we would win by a lot being any good at all. Played a good brand of footy, tackled well and applied pressure well.

I've given the coach a hammering recently on here and there is no doubt it's justified but he's got some thing right which is good, more than he has been so far in his time at Carlton. The real test will be playing some half decent teams in the coming weeks. See whether it's real or whether it's just that we have played a couple of very weak sides. Voss has made mountains of mistakes but he's started to get more right recently. Perhaps his tenure at Carlton is going to be a slow burn. A lot of coaches have had to adapt to the new style of play and some have been slow to the show, unfortunately we're one of those teams.

I think he got three things very wrong that to me seem really obvious. Again you need to use players traits when selecting them for roles. Dow should have played ahead of Ed Curnow. Curnow is slow and not damaging in the least. They ran off him. He played half forward for no goals and no impact. Dow who has been playing the forward game really well in the VFL for two seasons and has the skills and leg speed would be ideal for this role. He kicked 3 goals straight for 29 disposals carrying a hard tag in the VFL, Ed Can't do that at VFL level anymore let alone AFL. Dow would have kicked goals in that AFL side, his pace would have added a lot. He's fitter than Fogarty and Cuningham so no issue with his tank. Dow would have also game us a genuine midfield rotation. He's a better onballer than Cuningham and Fogarty who were our midfield rotations for the day. This was a dumb decision by the coach. The other was how we used the ruckmen. Young is a strong overhead mark who has become too negative and indecisive as a defender to go for his marks. Silvagni is a very poor overhead mark but a strong competitor. Silvagni should have played defence, Young should have played forward. You would think after DeKoning, Curnow and McKay being such a good combination the game prior we might want to go back to the three tall structure forward. I'm also far more comfortable with Silvagni in the backline than Young. Those goals young had kicked on him because his awareness is terrible and he let forwards stand on their own, there is no way that happens to Silvagni. That one goal Silvagni kicked as a forward, I bet Young could have kicked 1 goal. You get away with these mistakes playing weak sides, you don't get away with them playing better sides like Fremantle for example. And this is why we have failed all season. Bad coaching. It's getting better but it's still a problem.

The brand of footy we are playing is modern finally, there is an effort to move the ball forward quicker and more direct. We are rotating the midfielders more and we are picking more quick players. However we aren't going to the full extent when it comes to getting team selecting right and embracing pace. The Ed Curnow selection over Dow or Binns was a howler. Hewett being the sub was ok but not a great deal better. These are two players we need to make a concerted effort to move on from if we are to be fully embracing the modern game and to move forward.

One thing about the modern game is that playing fast and going up the middle of the ground is in big time, it's a must. Good kicking is a must. This means leg speed is super important for defenders as they can't rely on team defence as much as they have in the past, they have to be able to defend one on one and that has brought some of the slower defenders undone. Young and Newman for example. It's also meant leg speed around the midfield is more important than ever. The ability to run ahead of the ball quickly to setup team defence to match the fast ball movement of teams as well as chase players quickly to effectively apply pressure and to break away from congestion for run and carry to generate fast ball movement has become very important to the modern game which is far more open, outside and quick. Voss not picking up on this, not embracing this and not moving on from favouring slow and old blokes towards favouring fast blokes is why we will probably miss finals this season.

We've added some speed to our team, our defence is better for it, our defenders can intercept and attack more. Our midfield applies a lot more pressure and tackles a lot more, we run and carry a lot more which supplies the forwards with better feed. So we have improved but it's probably too late. Let's hope not.

So the game plan in terms of how we move the ball and apply pressure is better but our team selection remains questionable. You can't keep picking slow legs if you wish to generate a modern game plan which involves fast pressure, fast ball movement, run and carry and a team which has the speed to run ahead and get behind the ball quickly. Cripps and Kennedy is borderline too many slow legs. Adding Curnow and Hewett. Weak teams we get away with it, playing the top 10 we won't get away with getting our team selection wrong like that.

No rucks and lack of genuine third tall forward was an issue but it was evened out by having a little more run and ground level play with Silvagni. Would controlling the hitouts and having that extra overhead marking option have been better? I still think so. I still think we would have been better off with TDK and Pittonet over Young and Silvagni.

Can't take too much away from belting a very weak team but we did play well, starting to play the right way and half getting the team selection right. Let's see what happens next week.

Cripps - Had a par game from him, thought he was running really well. He looks fit. Still got caught standing and wrestling at stoppages which he needs to try and avoid, a decent midfield coach would have be all over this with him. Just because your big and strong does not mean you stand and wrestle, use it with momentum to be hard to tackle and hard to stop. Cripps with his feet moving is dynamite, with him standing still he's run of the mill. He's getting better with this but work needs to be done. IMO he was probably standing and wrestling more because of the lack of a genuine ruckman in there so will let him off this week. But going forward, lets get those feet moving and disengage the contact a bit more.

Cerra - He's matured and he's taking advantage over us trying to be less Cripps focused in there. He's become a top level inside midfielder. Love him drifting forward, he's a terrific kick for goal. He's bigger and stronger than he was last season, lovely skills and strong tackler. He's proven to be worth every penny.

Docherty - Looked to play wing and back pocket. Thought he had a really good game. Loves to kick a goal. Strong over head and was solid as a rock when in defence. Found plenty of it and was neat with his disposal which isn't always the case.

Walsh - I've been critical of him in the past for accumulating possessions and having no impact on the game. Last few weeks he's been getting a little less of it but having a far greater impact on the game. His run and carry game is his bread and butter. Using his speed to apply pressure. This is much better football from Walsh. Starting at the back of contests moving through them running forward. Been calling for this for months and here we are. Nothing better than seeing Walsh running with the footy and hitting targets. This is him at his best.

Saad - Another player who has been down this season who is back to his best. Finding plenty of it, using it extremely well, run and carry. No doubt our more offensive game plan with more midfield pressure has helped him as it has all our defenders.

Acres - Thought it wasn't his best football, but it was still good. He's a top line wingman, he still had an impact, took a strong mark and kicked a goal, he kept making good position all day, not always the best user of the ball but by far not the worst. Thought he was solid and he's a competitor which I like about him.

McGovern - Thought he started a little slow on intensity then it built. He's someone who needs something to get him going. Looks like the operation he had has worked, haven't had a run of games out of him like this ever. Reckon we could get his brother over for a few seasons and fix him? McGovern is the ideal modern defender. He's super important for us because he has the leg speed and ability to defend one on one. This is something that has come back into the game this season with the fast ball movement. Gov has the height, speed and leap that is so so valuable to our side. On the flip side he brings ball winning, game sense, good kicking and intercept marking. Any idea he should be moved on is nuts IMO. These guys who can defend one on one and attack have become gold. As I said earlier the players who rely on team defence are getting caught out more and more and the ones who can defend one on one are becoming far more valuable.

McKay - Thought he was good. Did a lot of ground level stuff, marked well, presented well and kicked a few goals. One thing we are doing better is putting it out in front of our forwards who are on the move and not putting it on their heads. Harrys is near impossible to stop if you put it out in front of him and let him run and jump at it.

Kemp - What I said about McGovern I will say about Kemp. Another tallish defender who has the leg speed to defend one on one. He was not as prolific as he was last week but he held up a role and when the ball spills lose he makes up ground quick and gets to it. His kicking game was good. Gave us a bit of run and carry. Liked his game. He's a real modern day defender.

Fogarty - He's not the best player going around, he's been out of the team for a long time and earmarked to be delisted IMO. However he's hard at it, he can go on the ball for spurts and he gives us forward pressure. He was good. He's not a good kick, that's always going to be an issue but with players out and a forward line looking for guys who can apply pressure, lay a tackle and kick the odd goal he brings what we need. He's ahead of Fisher because of this. He's on his way to another contract.

Weitering - Another defender who is loving that we have more pace and pressure in the middle of the ground. He's back to intercepting. He's back to playing good football. Enjoyed seeing him display some aggression and play with his tail up. This is when he is at his best. Still find that when he takes a mark he takes too long to dispose of it. Would be saying to him not to ignore the runners past or the short side ways kicks, he's slow to move it at times.

Silvagni - We know what we will get from him and that is effort and competitiveness. Had a good day at ground level with his pressure and he found a few ground ball gets as a ruck. But. He gave away quite a few too many free kicks in the ruck and only took one overhead mark for the day. I don't think he's in the team with Pittonet and DeKoning. I think he is solid backup and would make a solid Sub. I think he had a solid game in this one but against the stronger sides with genuine rucks in close games this is not going to work for us.

Newman - He had a hand in their first 4 goals with the ball getting past him, he leaked badly in this game. He's one of these slow defenders who is getting caught out by the fast ball movement of the modern game and his lack of ability to defend one on one. Team defence is not something that can be relied on when the opposition move it quick and these slower defender, they get caught out and IMO Hawthorn were aware of this. I watched Cowan play in the VFL and gee he has come a long way this season. He's quick, he's a terrific kick, a long kick and very hard at it. Plays pretty tall too. Williams will be back next season. Newman is not far off falling out of the best 22 side as Plowman has the last few years. Smart player, leader and someone who was a lot more effective in the old style of the game but it's moved past him.

Kennedy - I thought he as ok but nothing special. Again a slower player who is just getting caught with the speed of the game going past these guys. I am really not convinced Kennedy should be ahead of Dow who to me is more of a modern game player. Thought Kennedy was ok, competed well but the game has changed and slow players on an AFL field get exposed.

Ed Curnow - He's been a great servant of the club but he is finished. This was a poor inclusion from the coach. Played half forward and the defenders just ran away from him. He's done. He's slow. I think every supporter knew that Binns or Dow would have been a far better selection than Ed. We have been pretty much proven correct. Dow with his pace and ability to kick goals playing half forward in this game could have sat at half forward then added insult to injury by going on the ball and giving us even more run and carry out of the middle. I can see it, I don't see how the coaches can't. The game has moved past Ed Curnow and towards Paddy Dow types. I do not get a lot of the team selection decisions.

Cuningham - He's half fit and playing just the sort of footy we need at half forward. Found a bit of it, used it nicely, used his leg speed to run carry and defend. Put his body in when he had to. Tackled and gave us a midfield rotation. He's a massive upgrade. Kicked 2 nice goals. He's a terrific kick.

Boyd - I Had Boyd as one of our BOG players. One on one defending was excellent. Spoils well, marks well, run and carry and he's a ripping good tackler. He was in everything, everything about his game was outstanding.

Young - Not a good game. Took 1 good overhead mark for the day, I thought playing ruck he would have taken more. Again he showed his lack of awareness with lose players in his area not getting covered. His spoiling looked weak. His body looks in terrible shape, he looks weak and built like a 2nd year player still. He's a good overhead mark but we saw none of it. Was a liability in defence. IMO the coach got this wrong. Young should have gone forward and Silvagni should have gone back.

Curnow - Early on he looked super dangerous. But he didn't kick straight early and that probably put him off a bit other wise this was going to be a 5 goal day for sure. Played a good game but it was good to not have to rely on he or Harry to kick all the goal.

Martin - His first halves are great but he disappears. If only we could get him fit. Loved watching him go in hard and hit bodies, this is Martin at his best. Lovely kick for goal, fast legs, smart player. Liked his game, can't wait to see him fit.

Cincotta - Started like a house on fire, looked a million bucks but went missing for a lot of the game. Not sure whether he was putting on a hard tag or not. I like him as a player. Good kick, strong body, can defend one on one, tackles well and has the leg speed to close in on a man and run and carry. Just has a habit of going to ground which I want to see out of his game. IMO still has some things to do educational wise at AFL level but the more we play him the better he will get. He's been a good selection.

Owies - He was the star the game before but a quiet game this week. Can't always have massive games as a small forward but he did little wrong. I do like how he plays.

Hewett - Came on for the last quarter and had very very minimal impact. I hope the coaches can see Dow is the better player. Out played him in his 1 quarter displays and at VFL level the other week. Hewett is a good natural footballer but, Sydney saw the game was changing as did a lot of other sides, they let him go and the game has moved past these big slow immobile mids. You can carry 1, maybe 2 but not 3 or 4 like we have been trying to do. Game has moved past him. He needs to find another club looking for a grunt mid or he will remain a VFL player waiting for Cripps or Kennedy to get injured. Coach needs to get this right or that slim hope of finals is gone.
Click to expand...
There is a lot of doubt as far as I am concerned.............but no problem its an opinion...............everyone is entitled to one
 
Arr0w said:
CC, CBA
Cripps 2, 20
Cerra 1, 19
Walsh 0, 16
Kennedy 4, 15
Young 0, 15
Jsos 1, 13
Cuners 0, 6
Hewett 1, 5
Fog 1, 3
Doc 1, 0 (Would have been from turnover)

You will need to watch the game again to see who was part of the exiting chains
Click to expand...
You got the spread you have been craving all year. Wouldn’t mind seeing Martin in there for a few if his body holds up.
 
windows1 said:
Is the gap between my best and worst narrowing or still a gulf?

I’m aiming for ‘s**t, to fairly s**t’ status per post now.
Click to expand...
Stay positive where you can, all I ask anyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Old Dark Navy's
  • Poll
Autopsy 2024 Rd 5 Blundering Blues give game away to Crows
24 25 26 27 28
Replies
693
Views
23K
skadoosh
skadoosh
The Old Dark Navy's
  • Poll
Autopsy 2023 Rd 9 Blues tease but go down again
30 31 32 33 34
Replies
831
Views
36K
BM123
BM123
The Old Dark Navy's
MVP 2024 Rd 7 POTY Votes - Blues v Cats
Replies
0
Views
4
The Old Dark Navy's
The Old Dark Navy's
The Old Dark Navy's
  • Poll
Autopsy 2024 Rd 4 Blues win in miraculous escape
31 32 33 34 35
Replies
871
Views
30K
LanceRomance
LanceRomance
The Old Dark Navy's
MVP 2023 Rd 24 POTY Votes - Blues vs Giants
Replies
14
Views
699
Jell
Jell
The Old Dark Navy's
  • Poll
Autopsy 2023 Rd 24 Giants end Blues winning streak
11 12 13 14 15
Replies
361
Views
14K
Aphrodite
Aphrodite
The Old Dark Navy's
  • Poll
Autopsy 2023 Rd 22 Blues win a thriller. Finals closer.
44 45 46 47 48
Replies
1K
Views
44K
Blue and Blue
Blue and Blue
Back
Top