Autopsy AAMI Community Series - Hawthorn vs Richmond, Devonport Oval, Saturday 5 March 1:10pm AEDT

[RobsJourney]

Not sure. Can't remember seeing him

He definitely did, cause I was messaging my mate saying s**t, we might have lost Prestia and he was onscreen with ice on his hand, then in the next quarter there he was on the field, and he played a good chunk of time after that.

Just had a look and he had 24 touches in 70% time on ground, so yeah all good. If there was a genuine worry he wouldn't have come back on you wouldn't have thought, not in a practice game.

 

[NZ_Tiger]

In WA though?

Nah. We’ve got one bloke, he’s a friend of an acquaintance from my sons school. I always wanted to meet him and thank him for Baker and organising for us to grab Stack.


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[Grrr]

I think this crackdown on dissent is going to work in our favour. We were getting nothing from the umps in the first part of the game but when we started to actually play footy and not carry on when 50:50s went against us (Lynch and Jack spring to mind), the frees started to appear. I was a bit disappointed with our forward entries in the latter part of the match when we reverted to long bombs to a well covered Lynch but that could well be just tiredness taking over. Oddly, Lynch actually got a blocking free when he was one out against four. As others have said, our forward entries for the main part of the game were structured and disciplined. Could be a very good year coming up.

For much of the last quarter Jack was on the pine, so we went back to just 2 key forwards rather than one. Also a bit of fatigue and natural slackening off by key players meant that our system was pretty average later in the game. A lot of young Hawks were playing for rd.1 still, so they had plenty of reasons for playing out the game.

 

[Football Tragic]

From the practice games, I am most excited about some players flourishing in new positions, older players being revitalized after a full preseason and the return of injured stars.

New Positions
Baker up forward is truly mouthwatering. We have always prioritized our backline (and still do) but with the emergence of new 'smalls' such as Ralph-smith and Rioli have allowed the Baker move. Baker is a natural footballer, with beautiful skills by hand and foot. Below is feet he is exceptional. He creates goals out of nothing and sets up others making him both unpredictable and excellent for team confidence. He is also deceivingly quick and shuts down opposition players with his fierce tackling. What I most love about Baker is his versatility - he can lockdown a dangerous rebounding defender just as easily as he can swoop on packs to create goals out of nothing. I think this move (& the Balta move) will make us a far more offensive team.

Balta reminds me a much more attractive and intelligent version of Kouda. His athleticism is a tremendous asset around the ball but in the forwardline it allows for us to play three talls because he can succeed at ground level as much as he can in the air. Jack can do this too but lacks Balta's speed. I'm genuinely excited to see if this forwardline will work with the support of Bolton, Edwards and Martin resting in there at ground level. Add Soldo and Nank dropping back and most opposition will probably call in sick the night before the game.



Old Dogs
Cotchin looks determined to prove the critics wrong yet again but having one of his best seasons when everyone was ready to put him out the pasture. He had an uninterrupted preseason and relinquishing the captaincy has allowed him to purely focus on his game. He looked like the Cotch of old and I'm excited by what he can do this year without having to shoulder all the responsibility like he has for years now.

Edwards looks to have returned with flair and vision, truly compliments Bolton with the way he set up play. I love the way Edwards seems sight unseen but inevitably finds the ball in congestion and steps or handballs his way out of trouble.

Jack looked the goods once again. He doesn't need speed - he has smarts. He just reads the play, and uses his leading patterns to find a small amount of space to lead into. He is still one of premier set shots for goal in the game and his unselfish leadership will help develop players like Baker and Balta into a formidable force.


Returning Injured Stars
Prestia - You would be hard pressed to find a season where Prestia hadn't been injured. I hope this year is one of them. He used the preseason to strength his body and the medical staff decided to increase his muscle mass rather than slim him down and the results have been clear to date. He looks confident in his body and eager to show the competition just how good he can be this season.

Soldo has never looked better. Around the ground, in the center, up forward, he looks fierce and dangerous. I am excited to see how he works with Nank and if both end up becoming regular contributors up forward. Soldo looked particularly impressive going for hangers and kicks accurately for goal in the practice games. Long may it continue.

Dusty looked nervous early but as the weeks progress he appears to be getting his confidence back crashing packs and tackling. He looks fit and ready to spend more time in the middle this year. In the past we needed multiple Dusty's to fill holes but with Bolton, Baker, Edwards and the two rucks dangerous up forward, we may have the luxury of having the ball in his hands more this year...and when Dusty gets the ball something almost always happens!

 

[_RT_]

Didn't get the chance to watch the game and won't get a chance to see the replay, but I did read that Balta had a much better performance in the ruck/forward role, which I'm happy about, but what I want to see is a consistency of output. Not saying he has to have the same scoreboard impact each week, but more that he needs to be involved in the play and take the heat off of Jack and Tom and truly create problems for opposition back lines.

 

[Grrr]

Didn't get the chance to watch the game and won't get a chance to see the replay, but I did read that Balta had a much better performance in the ruck/forward role, which I'm happy about, but what I want to see is a consistency of output. Not saying he has to have the same scoreboard impact each week, but more that he needs to be involved in the play and take the heat off of Jack and Tom and truly create problems for opposition back lines.

Well given that he was our best forward by quite some way the heat is going to go to him no worries.

 

[_RT_]

Well given that he was our best forward by quite some way the heat is going to go to him no worries.

Lets not get carried away by him performing well against Hawthorns back line.

 

[Grrr]

Lets not get carried away by him performing well against Hawthorns back line.

Watch the game I suggest. The way he moved and attacked the ball in the air and on the ground, he made it look pretty easy. Of course the opposition wasn't great, but it was only a practice match so he himself wasn't probably going as hard as he could. Lynch didn't do much and Jack did pretty well, but as a unit they it worked.

 

[Rayzorwire]

Lets not get carried away by him performing well against Hawthorns back line.

One thing Hawthorn did have last year (the only thing) was a well functioning and well performed backline.

And while Jiath was out, the return of Sicily was an adequate replacement.

These quick highlights of 2/3 of Balta's goals don't go anywhere near showing how impressive other aspects of his forward craft were (especially leading outside 50 and creating space for others), but I thought I'd add them seeing you don't have time to watch the replay:

Balta turning heads in new forward role

Richmond's Noah Balta kicks two superb goals to make an impression in the forward line

www.afl.com.au

 

[Rioli2Rioli]

Not only was his goals and marking and pressure extremely good , I thought he was fantastic in the Ruck and extremely good following up after the tap
effectively becomes another mid once the tap is done and runs rather than a traditional ruck.

Very Nic Nat like his follow ups and tackling

 

[roacheee]

That was 3 years ago bro.

You said 'never' ........ Never includes 3 years ago

 

[Tackle Bag]

I was very happy with what Biggy Nyuon showed. There was more there than just his athletic strengths. I can now see why the club continues to put work into him.