VFL Past #65: Shaun McKernan 🐴 - Returns to the Dons

[JayJ20]

This will sound dumb I understand this, but I was in delerium last night while looking after a sick kid, my brain cooked up a scenario at 3am on no sleep.

It seems our great strength at the minute is our 'playing on the counter attack' or the creative ping off HB, getting over the back and catching the opposition on the hop while their defensive pack or zone isnt settled and has been sucked up the ground in the mode of keeping it in their half.

We are deadly at it this year.

But for this to happen you need to actually take possession off the opponent's fwd entry

If you win the centre clearance and move forward often you are moving into a pack of defenders in their ideal formation

So maybe having smack as ruck and losing the tap/clearance may not actually be the death of us? Might play into our hands if our rebounders are our strength.

Straws I know...

Interesting theory.

But that will only work against sides that turnover the ball a lot (Collingwood, Brisbane, Port etc).

It will definitely not work against Adelaide, Bulldogs, Sydney, West Coast and GWS. Keep losing first possession against these teams and we will get thrashed so badly.

Nevertheless, I really hope this is his breakout year (some people are late bloomers).

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It's a midfielder.

Seriously, every time he's shown a fair bit, it's been in the middle. He's usually ordinary to rank as far as actual hitouts go, but great when the ball hits the deck. He links up through the middle really nicely, and weirdly, kicks way more goals when he doesn't start forward.

Maybe how we have to play him.

He's not a first ruck, though he may sometimes have to play there.

He's not a forward. He's not a backman.

Midfield or bust for him I guess.

 

[blitzer]

McKernan will play round 1 and then will probably get dropped almost automatically for structural reasons if our other ruckman are available. I think we should have delisted him and picked up a genuine 200cm state league ruck. We already have plenty of guys with the size to play forward/ruck with all of Daniher/Hooker/Stewart being easily able to do that role if required so McKernan is surplus in that regards. More importantly though when our 2 injury prone rucks in Bellchambers and Leuenberger go down we don't have a 3rd ready made replacement.

Literally the only other guy on our list with real ruck size is an 18 year old rookie ruck that is miles off a senior AFL game. I hope we go shopping next year with a second round pick for a decent ruck that is being starved of opportunities at his current club that is around the age of 22-23.

I don't think McKernan is a terrible player but he kind of fills a very specific niche that is hard to fit into a structure. He simply can't hold down #1 ruck because he can't win enough hitouts. He would be best in a team that has a dominant #1 ruck but lacks forward/ruck types.

 

[eth-dog]

This. He might not win a heap of hitouts but he becomes another midfielder as soon as the ball hits the deck. He was by far our best clearance player yesterday.
Leuey wasn't dominating the ruck yesterday, our mids just wanted the pill more. When Smack started rucking we continued to dominate clearances from stoppages.
It wasn't till after half time that the tide turned. It wasn't down to Smack rucking, but due to our mids losing their intensity.

Leuey competed in like 3 stoppages

 

[Jade]

Has to be close to the most frustrating player in the game.

If he was 5cm taller he'd be a bloody superstar.

 

[BrunoV]

Has to be close to the most frustrating player in the game.

If he was 5cm taller he'd be a bloody superstar.

Either that or he'd then lose the characteristics of a big guy and would play like a really tall small.

It will never be a straight forward scenario with McKernan.

 

[Howard Moon]

Let's get to the Nitty gritty, it's not physical, it's mental.

You either have mentality and drive to make it or you don't.

 

[daffo]

Has a big chance in the opening rounds now. He can do it.

 

[Drummer_19]

We all know how this story goes, 3 rounds of below standard AFL games followed by him getting 20 possies and 4 goals a game in the VFL looking a million bucks. I hope for the opposite since he does have the talent to be a competent AFL player, but it's also a rough spot for him to have to come in as the number 1 ruck since it's just not something he's suited for but who knows maybe he'll actually finally use his talent to exploit opposition rucks around the ground and at ground level.

 

[habib1984]

Intriguing. In what way?

Trying to find his place in a team but in the end not really fitting in anywhere

 

[Laverde2Smack]

Leuey competed in like 3 stoppages

Rubbish! When he was injured it was 11-5 in favor of Geelong and Geelong well in front in HO to advantage also.

He was getting smashed but it went unnoticed because our mids wanted it more than Geelong.

McKernan was best on ground for us and it is not his fault that we were smashed in the midfield in the second half.

 

[eth-dog]

Rubbish! When he was injured it was 11-5 in favor of Geelong and Geelong well in front in HO to advantage also.

He was getting smashed but it went unnoticed because our mids wanted it more than Geelong.

McKernan was best on ground for us and it is not his fault that we were smashed in the midfield in the second half.

He was off the ground about 10 minutes into the first quarter. There is no way that there were 16 stoppages in that time, considering there were 87 in the match where either side won a hit out. Smack played a good game, yes. However you don't need to make stuff up about Leuey.

 

[Laverde2Smack]

He was off the ground about 10 minutes into the first quarter. There is no way that there were 16 stoppages in that time, considering there were 87 in the match where either side won a hit out. Smack played a good game, yes. However you don't need to make stuff up about Leuey.

He went off in the 16th minute not the 10th. I'm not making anything up.

 

[eth-dog]

He went off in the 16th minute not the 10th. I'm not making anything up.

He was confirmed as icing his hamstring after 13 minutes after being in the rooms for 3-4 minutes. He was off very early in the first, there's no way he competed for 16 stoppages in that time.

 

[Whispering_Jack]

He had 5 hitouts. He was on the ground for 10% of the match time so I guess around 12-15mins.

EDIT: 13 min mark (nailed it)

 

[Mootsy]

That goal from the kickout in the goal square was just incredible!
He is like a very agile Steve Alessio..

Good 1st/2nd ruck and kicks goals..

 

[Don Won]

Yay - he has slain his mental dragons and finally become the player I thought he could be.

Welcome S.Mack Version 17.9


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Laverde2Smack]

He had 5 hitouts. He was on the ground for 10% of the match time so I guess around 12-15mins.

EDIT: 13 min mark (nailed it)
View attachment 345497

I said 16th minute, he said 10 minutes.

I also said he had 5 hitouts.

I will watch the replay and count the stats, I guarantee what I said is much closer to the mark then what he is saying.

Happy to put any wager on it?

 

[eth-dog]

I said 16th minute, he said 10 minutes.

I also said he had 5 hitouts.

I will watch the replay and count the stats, I guarantee what I said is much closer to the mark then what he is saying.

Happy to put any wager on it?

Really? It's a pre-season game. Does it really matter that much?

 

[Laverde2Smack]

Really? It's a pre-season game. Does it really matter that much?

I wouldn't have thought so but if you want to knit pick and say i'm making stuff up....

 

[Whispering_Jack]

Really? It's a pre-season game. Does it really matter that much?

 

[Mootsy]

He kicked 3 goals gosh darn, fifteen minutes on the ground, thats mighty fine.

 

[eDPS]

 

[eth-dog]

Completely unsurprising.

 

[Capt Hindsight]

Going to be his 50th AFL game on the weekend.