AAMI pre-season game v Lions - Monday March 8th @ Metricon.

[NOBBYS]

Went along not sure what to expect ,came away with mixed feelings.
First half was good , third quarter deplorable simply not AFL standard ,last quarter was ok with sting out of the game.

POSITIVES

Young players Budarick, Powell ,Rowell,Anderson showed the way , improvement already there.
Sexton best game for a long time.
Brodie showed he deserves a chance.
Markov terrific first half
Collins the rock of the team (so reliant on him staying on the park)
Weller excellent game.

NEGATIVES
Inability to stop the Lions run on in the third quarter, lack of pressure concerning.
Our lack of players to take a strong mark apart from Collins is a worry.
The form of Ben King

34

Ben King

Age

23

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

3.5

4star

T

0.5

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

5.6

2star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.5

5star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

0.2

3star

G

1.0

4star

is a major concern ,appears to be lacking in any confidence at all.
Turnovers by foot still exists .
Our ability to clear the ball out of defence from kick ins is very poor.(jack Bowes

12

Jack Bowes

Age

26

Ht

189cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.3

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

6.6

4star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.5

4star

MG

318.1

4star

D

18.0

4star

K

11.8

5star

HB

6.3

4star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.1

2star

MG

318.1

4star

D

11.6

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.4

4star

should never kick in.)

I feel the first six weeks will define our season lets hope it is positive.
Have a good week all Suns Supporters.

 

[kreglze]

I think King may need to be cut a little bit of slack with playing on Harris Andrews

31

Harris Andrews

Age

27

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.8

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.6

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

151.7

2star

D

17.0

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.0

3star

D

9.8

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.4

4star

T

1.6

4star

MG

94.0

2star

, still snagged 2 goals.

Will come across defenders nowhere near as good and get a much better look in.

 

[Young_Guns]

It doesn’t help King that our gameplan is to continuously kick it on his head and ask him to create contest after contest and constantly get battered by more mature key defenders and extra defenders flying in over the top.

At some stage our midfield is going to have to learn how to kick so we can take advantage of Kings speed on the lead and give him a chance to mark. Our forward line also has to learn how to work together and create space to lead into instead of packing the forward 50 and launching it in like we do.

 

[Sun Stormer]

Atkins and Rankine need to come into that team I suspect Harbrow and Mcpherson most likely to make way. With Graham, Burgess, Fiorini and Holman being cut from the extended squad.

Spot on....with Sharp and Flanders standing by with Fiorini.

 

[Sun Stormer]

Major issues with small forwards not hitting scoreboard like McCarthy and Cameron , some of them have shocking career goal kicking stats

Rankine missing didn't help not did Touk's shocking miss in 3rd quarter.

 

[Jirik13]

Atkins and Rankine need to come into that team I suspect Harbrow and Mcpherson most likely to make way. With Graham, Burgess, Fiorini and Holman being cut from the extended squad.

I am pretty sure Atkins is not ready. Only recently joined the main group after foot complain.

 

[OB11]

The problem with King are his hands are rubbish with any sort of heat around him because he closes his eyes for every contested mark. His mate Luko does the same thing as well.

Needs to wear some goggles or something and watch the ball into his hands.

 

[eighties]

Pretty much similar thoughts to most on here.

Lack of marking ability definitely an issue across the ground. I think there is a place for Corbett in the team as he was quite good late last season at providing that target up the ground. Just dont know who would come out for him.

Also kick- ins were noticeably average especially in the 3rd term. Really stagnant whereas the Lions were much better at creating some movement and run from their kick-ins.

Brodie was good, not afraid to hold on to the ball in tight and love his little fakes that create time and space. Hope they give him a run at it this year.

looking forward to footy being back

 

[Goodguy72]

Not as bad. It's always driven by midfield performances and I50 deliveries. But yes, we wasted a lot of opportunities yesterday. As for small forwards, both Ainsworth (played only 50% time against Lions) and Rankine look primed to become elite and deliver. Sexton showed he can kicks goals. Then it's up to Flanders, Macpherson, Holman. Does Flanders progress this year and take the spot? One would hope so.

I wish my favorite Rosas gets opportunity this year. It looks like he played well in VFL practice games.

Sexton is more a mid forward , tbh MacPherson, Lemmens and Holman wouldn't keep their jobs at other clubs given their goal kicking records although decent in other areas

 

[briztoon]

Tell Hamilton to do his job. I may missed it but there seems to be no Lions reports on the VFL practice game - no team list, which academy players played, no report. What happened to Ballenden and Madden? I did not see them in AFL game. Did they play in VFL game?

Ballenden and Madden were in the senior team of 26 last night.

 

[briztoon]

I think King may need to be cut a little bit of slack with playing on Harris Andrews, still snagged 2 goals.

Will come across defenders nowhere near as good and get a much better look in.

Jack Payne played on King. Andrews played as a free interceptor.

 

[Jirik13]

Ballenden and Madden were in the senior team of 26 last night.

I am aware of that but both of them did not play. SUNS listed in the senior team Fiorini and Holman but both played in the VFL practice game and Holman also in AFL game. It could be similar with Ballenden and Madden. It does not make sense not to play them.

 

[Suns of Anarchy]

The problem with King are his hands are rubbish with any sort of heat around him because he closes his eyes for every contested mark. His mate Luko does the same thing as well.

Needs to wear some goggles or something and watch the ball into his hands.

He’s not a natural fwd like Max. With his closing speed and long arms he’d be an absolute gun defender. Might be why we tried to grab Josh Kennedy in the trade period

 

[OB11]

He’s not a natural fwd like Max. With his closing speed and long arms he’d be an absolute gun defender. Might be why we tried to grab Josh Kennedy in the trade period

I think you might be on to something there. Him and Collins would be a great pair. Only problem is that we have no key forwards.

On a side note just watching the replay now - Harbrow is ******* useless (great servant of the club but he spent all his credits with last year's crap)

 

[Iva Bigun]

It doesn’t help King that our gameplan is to continuously kick it on his head and ask him to create contest after contest and constantly get battered by more mature key defenders and extra defenders flying in over the top.

At some stage our midfield is going to have to learn how to kick so we can take advantage of Kings speed on the lead and give him a chance to mark. Our forward line also has to learn how to work together and create space to lead into instead of packing the forward 50 and launching it in like we do.

Agree, the lack of composure is soooooo frustrating. Teams with half the talent manage to do it and I know people will say we are young which is true but cmon 11 years of it is too long to wait to see players hit a target

Sam Day and Dave Swallow as much as they have been warriors are just not up to it, neither would get a game at any of the successful clubs

 

[GC2015]

He’s not a natural fwd like Max. With his closing speed and long arms he’d be an absolute gun defender. Might be why we tried to grab Josh Kennedy in the trade period

I think you might be on to something there. Him and Collins would be a great pair. Only problem is that we have no key forwards.

On a side note just watching the replay now - Harbrow is ******* useless (great servant of the club but he spent all his credits with last year's crap)

It should be pointed out that we recruited Kingy as a key defender and Luko as a key forward. They both debuted for us at the opposite end of the ground...

Kingy has had an abnormal journey where he played as a very capable key defender for his bottom age junior year and was swung forward in his draft year because Max tore his ACL and Ben became an All Australian forward in his draft year. Then we played him as a key defender in the first three rounds of the 2019 NEAFL season before swinging him forward in round 4 where he thrived by kicking three goals. He kicked a further seven goals in the following two rounds before we called him up for an AFL debut against Port Adelaide.

Ben has played his entire AFL career to date as a forward but swinging him into the backline isn't a move that would be completely unexpected given his history. As OB11 pointed out, we really don't have any other capable key forwards on our list to replace Kingy but that may be addressed pretty quickly with the impending recruitment of academy forwards Jye Lockett (190cm) and Will Bella (195cm) later this year. I understand those two probably won't be ready for a few years but at least we'll have some depth in the key forward department.

For what it's worth, I think we should keep Ben in the forward line and recruit another capable key defender like Jack Payne to give Sam Collins adequate support in the defensive 50.

 

[Jirik13]

with the impending recruitment of academy forwards Jye Lockett (190cm) and Will Bella (195cm) later this year

Stevens (195cm) Hofert (201cm) and Pickering (199cm). Somebody will miss out.

 

[Jirik13]

IMHO, it's a way too premature claiming that Ben is not a natural forward.

Watching most of Ben and Max AFL games, I don't see really any significant difference between them. Both get hands on the ball, both still drop the ball, both are fast, both are still missing in physical department. Max seems to get more space in forward line but I suspect it has more to do with how St Kilda plays and their forward line up and structure than different skillset to Ben.

Against Lions, Payne was often helped by Andrews while the ball was dropping on Ben's head. In most contests, Ben managed to bring the ball to the ground. SUNS need to improve I50 delivery.

I am pretty confident that Ben will kick bags in some games this year.

 

[Iva Bigun]

The delivery into the forward line was deplorable, and this was in the first half so fatigue is not an excuse, the players seem to be headless chooks, blazing away, not kicking to advantage. The lions however when push came to shove were composed and hit targets. It seems like Groundhog Day