Game Day Brisbane V Gold Coast NAB ROUND 2

[POBT]

So am I the only one who thinks it might have been more interesting to see us try that gameplan vs the Hawks with a 75% full squad instead of the Auskick kids that played?

We prob still would have been rolled (Hawks seem ON already) but it might have been a better test than a team playing without most of their only true strength (midfield gutted; also slightly worrying is their only decent guy, Bennell, still managed to cherry pick 4 with minimal support).

The true test of the 'U-bend' (back-across-up) will be a team that presses up and takes away our space at every opportunity. I feel the Hawks just got the Round 1 heads up as to what they will be planning for...

A bit contradictory to say that we should have played the Hawks with a closer to full strength side and then worry about giving them the heads-up on our game plan?

I agree with karix - the pre-season is for getting our own backyard sorted rather than worrying about the opposition.

This gameplan is new for us but it isn't new for the competition. In fact, there is a lot of Hawthorn in the way we moved the ball at times yesterday. Interestingly, Hawthorn themselves seem to be moving away from that slightly and look, to me anyway, like a side that wants to run and carry a bit more than they did last year.

 

[Ray Button]

Michael Whiting's story on the AFL website states "Draftees James Aish, Tom Cutler and Nick Robertson were all relatively quiet, although Aish showed some nice touches in close quarters", then goes on to say "Once again Jack Martin showed he is ready for the big time. Playing primarily on-ball in the absence of his bigger name teammates, the outsized Martin competed hard, particularly in the first half. He finished with 11 disposals, nine of them contested and never once shirked his task."

A look at the stats shows Martin spent 72% time-on-ground, while Robertson spent only 33% time-on-ground for his 12 disposals, eight of them contested. Similarly, Cutler spent only 27% time-on-ground for his 9 disposals.

Pretty happy with the potential of both these guys.

 

[Ray Button]

Also, yesterday I particularly watched Lester - he's very easy to overlook since he's always at the bottom of the ruck. He's a real workhorse and is rapidly moving into my "walk-up-starters" list.

Only problem at this stage is that we look like replacing Black with Lester in the clinches and Aish for the silky-smooth, all-the-time-in-the-world outside work.

 

[POBT]

Michael Whiting's story on the AFL website states "Draftees James Aish, Tom Cutler and Nick Robertson were all relatively quiet, although Aish showed some nice touches in close quarters", then goes on to say "Once again Jack Martin showed he is ready for the big time. Playing primarily on-ball in the absence of his bigger name teammates, the outsized Martin competed hard, particularly in the first half. He finished with 11 disposals, nine of them contested and never once shirked his task."

A look at the stats shows Martin spent 72% time-on-ground, while Robertson spent only 33% time-on-ground for his 12 disposals, eight of them contested. Similarly, Cutler spent only 27% time-on-ground for his 9 disposals.

Pretty happy with the potential of both these guys.

I get what Whiting is saying there, although he probably shouldn't have quoted possession stats to make his point. Martin did look right at home, particularly in tight. The big ? on Martin has been whether his lack of size would hold him back in the tough stuff - he's showing this pre-season that it won't worry him. He's winning a large %age of contested possessions and his defensive efforts are really good. He's ready for round 1, absolutely.

 

[POBT]

One of the things I noticed yesterday was that, when we went for that long, deep forward entry, our tall blokes were often stationed behind their opponent. Close at least looked to try and battle his way into the front spot (Lisle obviously didn't) but that's where Brown will come in handy - he reads the play and the flight of the ball better than most and won't allow the defender front spot as often.

 

[TheJaegerBomb]

Hey guys with all due respect the guy who said we won't rise up the ladder because of that game is a bit delusional. You try win a game against a full strength side without your whole midfield and almost whole defence bar Warnock...

Should know what that's like after the Hawks game. I thought you guys would beat us by 100pts to be honest and was alright with the end result. A few straight kicks and it would have been close.

Good win though by Brissy. Loved some of your draftees especially Robbo.

 

[Haso]

Hey guys with all due respect the guy who said we won't rise up the ladder because of that game is a bit delusional. You try win a game against a full strength side without your whole midfield and almost whole defence bar Warnock...

Should know what that's like after the Hawks game. I thought you guys would beat us by 100pts to be honest and was alright with the end result. A few straight kicks and it would have been close.

Good win though by Brissy. Loved some of your draftees especially Robbo.

We got the feeling that both teams dropped down to about 50% after half time to conserve energy in that humidity. At the same time though, our kicking was also wonky late in the game and we ended up with 13 behinds. Had we kicked straighter, the margin may have been a little wider.

 

[TheJaegerBomb]

That is true too. Like our Essendon win I read nothing in to NAB Challenge besides individual efforts.

 

[TheJaegerBomb]

Oh and I like your new game plan, looks good.

 

[knaf]

Also, yesterday I particularly watched Lester - he's very easy to overlook since he's always at the bottom of the ruck. He's a real workhorse and is rapidly moving into my "walk-up-starters" list.

Only problem at this stage is that we look like replacing Black with Lester in the clinches and Aish for the silky-smooth, all-the-time-in-the-world outside work.

I also watch Lester closely as I am a real fan of his approach and attitude. He is doing really well in contested situations but still appears at least a season off the strenght and fitness to realise his full potential. I am hoping his outside game improves with further pre-seasons.

 

[Quigley]

Okay some evidence of a game plan this week. Still kinks to be worked out but at least the senior guys seem to have some idea about where they are supposed to go.

Skills still disappointing especially when GC started to put some pressure on. I accept that conditions were far from ideal but we were still too scrappy.

On some of hte players:

Aish - better than last week. I liked that he was working around the packs a bit and his disposals were a lot better than last week. Not any wow moments but overall he made a bit happen. I watched the game live and then a little bit of the replay and noticed him shirking the contest a bit and getting brushed on more than a couple of tackles. He is slighter than Martin but needs to up his physicality. On Martin he is aggressive and has some classy moments but he is not consistent with the class and I am not convinced he will be the big ball winner many expect.

Robinson - love his attack on the ball at the contests and that is not something we have seen from our young players for a while. He is very scrappy atm though and does not do much with it when he gets his hands on it. Still I like the start and I am sure he will improve as he plays more. It is worth remembering how much he has missed over the last 18 months or so. Looks like the replacement for Moloney.

Cutler - shows some flashes of class in there but makes some errors as well. I am liking him but think a year in the NEAFL will be a good idea for him. Let him find his feet and get his confidence up.

Hanley - with Aish and Mayes on the wings, Hanley has moved back. I like him controlling things at the back and think we are strongest with him back there. I like him kicking into 50 as well but unfortunately we can't have two of him.

Rocky - played behind the ball in the first quarter before moving to the midfield and exploding. Looks ready to go.

Rich - struggled to get the ball and time to use it.

West - provides some rest for Leuey but nothing else. Solid ruck technician who gives us nothing anywhere else.

Beams - looked a little tentative but probably to be expected in his first hit out back. Looked solid enough though.

Harwood - again was a rock at the back. Strong, clean and his disposal skills were good. I thought he was better than Adcock and Golby.

Adcock - happy to seem him going short most of the time. His long kicking remains a problem and the couple of times he just pumped it long it invariably came straight back.

Golby - better than last week but still a bit below what most would have hoped from him.

Green - continues to develop and is looking pretty good. Playing a little bit onball which is good.

Zorko - another who was better this week. Did most of his better work in the second half but worked hard all day. I liked his effort.

Mayes - got a bit of it but I would have liked to see him attack it a bit more. Had a few disposals that brought back memories of last year which is a good thing. Personally I think he would be better as a flanker as he is a real goal scoring threat but it doesn't look like we are going that way.

McGuane - good game from him I thought although admittedly the early goals helped a lot in that assessment. He showed again that he can convert chances but what I probably like most was his defensive work. He worked very hard and was far and away our best tall defensive runner. That alone gets him games I think. He had a couple of poor disposals which I would hope he improves on.

Lisle - was the focus of a lot of ball coming in but did nothing to suggest that he has improved over the offseason enough to warrant games. Looking like he will have another year starring in the NEAFL atm.

Close - for someone with his running power I would have expected him to have made more opportunities for himself. He had a few good leads and marks which he finished well but he didn't do enough other things or provide those leads enough. I am not convinced he is a natural forward although perhaps a role like Brown played in our premiership years might suit him. As a second year KP there seems to be a bit to work with but I am not seeing him more as a second banana type.

Paparone - I thought he was more involved than his disposal count indicated. He was around it a bit when it moved forward although I would have liked to see him get to space more than he did. He took a couple of nice marks and overall he had a decent game.

Bourke - did not look out of place and if needed I think he could play AFL football this year which is great for a second year KP rookie. Our KPD depth is suddenly looking very good.

 

[winged1]

I thought McGuane got caught behind a few times, he isn't a guy who is going to tear a game apart, but a solid worker.

Lisle was trying to impose himself but it just didn't happen, dropped marks he should of taken. I have never seen it in him and nothing has changed that opinion.

Close is very raw, kicked well for goal but needs to work to get his hands on it. Only a kid though and we need to remember that.

Paparone will be a good player, needs to hit the curls though, he has arms like my 11 year old daughter, actually she might have him covered, I thought he showed some good defensive pressure

Harwood looking like a big year, ran well, was very clean again.

 

[jackess]

Close - for someone with his running power I would have expected him to have made more opportunities for himself. He had a few good leads and marks which he finished well but he didn't do enough other things or provide those leads enough. I am not convinced he is a natural forward although perhaps a role like Brown played in our premiership years might suit him. As a second year KP there seems to be a bit to work with but I am not seeing him more as a second banana type.

I thought Close seemed to play mainly inside 50 which probably doesn't play to his greatest strength which is endurance but considering he spent so much time inside 50 he managed to get about 5 shots on goals which isn't bad given the delivery inside 50 was fairly poor.

And how good was his goal kicking. Obviously very confident but the two he kicked from deep in the pocket were amazing considering the strong wind.

Looks a natural and hungry.

 

[winged1]

Also Ablett, O'meara, prestia, swallow, rischitelli would make a hell of a difference to that side. So just like the sky wasn't falling last week, this week isn't as rosy as it could be either.

 

[cotter101]

Zorks only played just over half a game didn't he?

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Hanley off half back needs to happen this year.

 

[KissKiss]

Zorks only played just over half a game didn't he?

With out checking ToG stats I thought he was up forward for most of the game and only really went in the middle more later in the match

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Zorks only played just over half a game didn't he?

67%

 

[KissKiss]

Sumner with only a reprimand

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-02-24/mcginnity-charged-by-mrp

 

[a mayes ing]

are u effing serious.

 

[Hollow Knight]

One week reduced to a reprimand with the early plea. A little on the light side of the equation but within the bounds of acceptability.

 

[jackess]

Looks like I'll still be comparing suspensions to the Maguire/Bolton headclash this season. Probably about fair. I was thinking a week.

 

[KissKiss]

Im guessing that Rocky playing out the game helped him but yes it does seem a little light

 

[Ironmonger]

Sumner with only a reprimand

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-02-24/mcginnity-charged-by-mrp

Here's the MRP report: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-02-24/mrp-full-statement-feb-1823

So it's been assessed as negligent rather than reckless, which is very generous considering he leapt up off the ground to lay the bump.

It's been assessed as low impact, which is again very generous seeing as Rockliff remained on the ground for several seconds after the incident.

This is just a bad call. I normally think the MRP are okay at interpreting these sorts of incidents, and normally the penalties are fairly predictable. But this should have been a level 3 offence, 3 weeks plead down to 2.

Let's just hope we get the same kind of generosity.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Here's the MRP report: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-02-24/mrp-full-statement-feb-1823

So it's been assessed as negligent rather than reckless, which is very generous considering he leapt up off the ground to lay the bump.

It's been assessed as low impact, which is again very generous seeing as Rockliff remained on the ground for several seconds after the incident.

This is just a bad call. I normally think the MRP are okay at interpreting these sorts of incidents, and normally the penalties are fairly predictable. But this should have been a level 3 offence, 3 weeks plead down to 2.

Let's just hope we get the same kind of generosity.

Whilst you are correct here I hope these types of incidents are all assessed similarly throughout the year.