Autopsy Bulldog's effort and Jamarra's brilliance too much for Freo - (102 - 73)

[The Slitherin' Snake]

Watched the game back last night.

One player whose influence I underappreciated at the time (and has been generally underrated I reckon) was Tim English.

Although his disposals were down, he seemed to continually position himself down the line , where Freo refused to go

Their ball movement was so ugly, having 90 possessions more than us but so much going nowhere.

What English did do was very blue collar and wholehearted.

10 tackles is huge for a Ruckman. He had more I50 tackles than any player on the ground, and wasn't even forward that much.

Also had 4 clearances and his disposals went at 90%.

All in all, a much bigger game than the casual observer may appreciate against quality opposition.

He is putting together a fantastic season

The other 2 players I really appreciated much more watching the game a 2nd time were Bailey Dale and Adam Treloar.

Dale was so incisive and bold with his touches and runs, exactly what the team needed given the outs, and Treloar's defensive workrate has quietly come a long way.

I thought the same with Treloar. He's really upped the defensive side of his game... love seeing it

 

[GetDimmaBack]

I thought the same with Treloar. He's really upped the defensive side of his game... love seeing it

Losing Dunkley seems to have had a positive effect on Adz, and on his teammates as a result. Team "body language" around him - and from him - is fantastic.

He's playing like he's bought in totally.

 

[JTCWBFC]

How do we just replicate that last quarter over & over again for the rest of the year?

Pretty simple.

 

[Libbaaaa]

How do we just replicate that last quarter over & over again for the rest of the year?

Pretty simple.

Take advantage of the other teams 2nd/back up ruck. If the other team rests their #1 when we rest Timmy make sure our starting mids stay on the park and try take advantage out of the middle for some easy clearances.

 

[TiAn_]

Weird that Freo used Treacy in the ruck instead of Jackson. Jackson had a pretty anonymous game up forward.

 

[Golden_6]

Take advantage of the other teams 2nd/back up ruck. If the other team rests their #1 when we rest Timmy make sure our starting mids stay on the park and try take advantage out of the middle for some easy clearances.

Probably won't be possible this week with Cameron & Cox.

 

[doggies ftw]

The use of both Marra & Naughty was nice, this needs to be the preferred set up - try to isolate Marra inside 50 as much as possible and just get Naughty on his bike up the ground.

Naughty is so elite in a ground ball situation, does all his best work on the move even his kicking inside 50 is fine when he’s playing on instincts. I still standby my opinion that he should be taking turns at the centre bounces - just 3 - 5 times a game nothing crazy, who would an opposition player not went to see walking up to a CB? I’d suggest Naughty would be top of that list.

But yeah for the most part just play him high CHF, Marras not gonna play like that every week and will struggle at times so when he needs to get his hands on the ball or if Naughty is having a blinder aerially we can rotate them as required - but that set up should absolutely be plan A from here on out.

And no I don’t think this means Marra has necessarily gone past him yet as the ‘number 1 fwd’ - they’re just very different players with very different skill sets who could not be more suited to complimenting each other, should we play them to their strengths which we may have finally realised after 15 rounds…

 

[Libbaaaa]

Probably won't be possible this week with Cameron & Cox.

Neither are the type of ruckman that has historically troubled English, if anything Tim will be able to overpower them if he chooses to engage the body. Lobb should more than hold his own too on the few occasions he goes in the middle.

 

[Golden_6]

Neither are the type of ruckman that has historically troubled English, if anything Tim will be able to overpower them if he chooses to engage the body. Lobb should more than hold his own too on the few occasions he goes in the middle.

More suggesting we won't be able to take advantage of them in that area this week. At best, we'll be neutral in the ruck/hit out department.

 

[maddog37]

We should be looking to isolate the Pies third tall defender deep via Lobb Astro and JUH.

 

[Next Waiting]

Weird that Freo used Treacy in the ruck instead of Jackson. Jackson had a pretty anonymous game up forward.

Was Gardner responsible for Jackson up forward or was he nullified by the system?

 

[bobs head soup]

Was Gardner responsible for Jackson up forward or was he nullified by the system?

The match ups chopped and changed a bit, but for the most part it was Keath on Jackson, Gardner on Amiss and O'Donnell on Treacy.

I would say the system, and Freo's ball movement, largely made it hard for him in that Freo forwards struggled to get many one on ones.

 

[GetDimmaBack]

How do we just replicate that last quarter over & over again for the rest of the year?

Pretty simple.

Keep Westy in the side?

 

[Next Waiting]

The match ups chopped and changed a bit, but for the most part it was Keath on Jackson, Gardner on Amiss and O'Donnell on Treacy.

I would say the system, and Freo's ball movement, largely made it hard for him in that Freo forwards struggled to get many one on ones.

As TiAn_ said above, it was a little weird that they didn't put him in the ruck to get him in the game. He's been successfull against us in the past. Not complaining though.

 

[immortalmike]

Was Gardner responsible for Jackson up forward or was he nullified by the system?

From being at the game Keath blanketed him.

 

[Next Waiting]

From being at the game Keath blanketed him.

That's encouraging. Maybe he's got a bit left in him. Pressure on entries would also be a factor I presume.

 

[immortalmike]

That's encouraging. Maybe he's got a bit left in him. Pressure on entries would also be a factor I presume.

Defensively I think he's been pretty good all year. His problem has been ball in hand.

 

[TiAn_]

Was Gardner responsible for Jackson up forward or was he nullified by the system?

I couldn’t go to the game, so will defer to others that were there and had a full view of the match ups.

Jackson is still very young and pretty hit and miss as a forward imo. He’s only about 6 months older than Jamarra. Also, he’s strangely been pretty crap against us, other than having some impactful CBAs in the second half of the GF.

 

[immortalmike]

I couldn’t go to the game, so will defer to others that were there and had a full view of the match ups.

Jackson is still very young and pretty hit and miss as a forward imo. He’s only about 6 months older than Jamarra. Also, he’s strangely been pretty crap against us, other than having some impactful CBAs in the second half of the GF.

Our backline talls were mostly good.

Keathy especially was good. He didn't allow Jackson much room to jump at it and ran him around so much he was knackered most of the game. He also ran to support O'Donnell and covered several smalls at times.

O'Donnell has good defensive instincts and would often peel off his man to help others and has really good judgement of the ball in flight. Think he's a chance to be an All Australian if it all comes together for him in future.

Gardner was the weak link with our talls. He trailed his man to contests, allowed Amiss space to lead, put no body on him and was often seen wandering around without a man. His intensity when the ball hit the deck was embarrassing, looked like a deer in headlights. I'm not sure where the guy from the back end of last year has gone but Gardner is no longer him.

 

[Next Waiting]

Our backline talls were mostly good.

Keathy especially was good. He didn't allow Jackson much room to jump at it and ran him around so much he was knackered most of the game. He also ran to support O'Donnell and covered several smalls at times.

O'Donnell has good defensive instincts and would often peel off his man to help others and has really good judgement of the ball in flight. Think he's a chance to be an All Australian if it all comes together for him in future.

Gardner was the weak link with our talls. He trailed his man to contests, allowed Amiss space to lead, put no body on him and was often seen wandering around without a man. His intensity when the ball hit the deck was embarrassing, looked like a deer in headlights. I'm not sure where the guy from the back end of last year has gone but Gardner is no longer him.

Perhaps not him at the moment.

I'd give some credit to Amiss who looks like a player and is quite elusive.

Gardner seems to play pretty well on lead up forwards and has had some good outings against Cameron and Curnow, 2 not to be seized at forwards. Arguably he forced Cameron upfield in our Geelong clash. That didn't necessarily work to our advantage on that occasion but he did influence the decision and there's always R24 to work out how to counter that. I imagine he would also be our preferred match up on Lynch if he turns out to be a factor this year. This would largely be due to his closing speed and willingness to put his body on the line.

However, pragmatism also comes into it, and if there isn't a good match up for him selection might not go his way. Horses for courses.

 

[immortalmike]

Perhaps not him at the moment.

I'd give some credit to Amiss who looks like a player and is quite elusive.

Gardner seems to play pretty well on lead up forwards and has had some good outings against Cameron and Curnow, 2 not to be seized at forwards. Arguably he forced Cameron upfield in our Geelong clash. That didn't necessarily work to our advantage on that occasion but he did influence the decision and there's always R24 to work out how to counter that. I imagine he would also be our preferred match up on Lynch if he turns out to be a factor this year. This would largely be due to his closing speed and willingness to put his body on the line.

However, pragmatism also comes into it, and if there isn't a good match up for him selection might not go his way. Horses for courses.

If you thought his games against Cameron and Curnow were in any way good we have very different definitions of good.

I won't belabour the point but Amiss was not who I thought we should be worried about heading into the game. And it wasn't even specifically gifting him goals that was the problem, it was the inability of Gardner to apply pressure on ground balls and getting lost in transition that was amateurish.

 

[Dogsman16]

The use of both Marra & Naughty was nice, this needs to be the preferred set up - try to isolate Marra inside 50 as much as possible and just get Naughty on his bike up the ground.

Naughty is so elite in a ground ball situation, does all his best work on the move even his kicking inside 50 is fine when he’s playing on instincts. I still standby my opinion that he should be taking turns at the centre bounces - just 3 - 5 times a game nothing crazy, who would an opposition player not went to see walking up to a CB? I’d suggest Naughty would be top of that list.

But yeah for the most part just play him high CHF, Marras not gonna play like that every week and will struggle at times so when he needs to get his hands on the ball or if Naughty is having a blinder aerially we can rotate them as required - but that set up should absolutely be plan A from here on out.

And no I don’t think this means Marra has necessarily gone past him yet as the ‘number 1 fwd’ - they’re just very different players with very different skill sets who could not be more suited to complimenting each other, should we play them to their strengths which we may have finally realised after 15 rounds…

Naughton at CHF means the best opposition defender is further away from goal and is going to play less of a hard check up field.

The continued development of JUH means that opposition teams simply can't just play there best defender and circle Naughton with numbers anymore.

JUH's growth will also mean more easy scoring opportunities for Naughton. He's always had to generate them primarily from contested situations. He will get more space and more one on ones as a result.

 

[D Mitchell]

This year, Ugle-Hagan has kicked 20 goals in 15 games, 1.3 per game. 9 of those have come in 2 games, fewer than a goal a game for the rest. He's averaging 8 kicks a game and 5 marks, up from 6 and 3.5 last year, improvement ? 13 tackles in 15 games, 18 from 17 games last year, minimal and inconsequential but no improvement, so far. He had a 5 goal game last year. 2023, he's had 2 well, a 5 and a 4 so fa. His primary skill is the run, jump and mark, on Saturday he excelled at that. Next is ability to get away, either by himself or with minimal opposition. If you watch his play, he doesn?t chase and second efforts are poor, see the tackle stats.,Ugle-Hagan stays outside packs waving his arms "kick it to me", that's OK, not everyone is Libba, a pity he doesn't kick accurately. Last year and the 2 times, this year, the same hubris but, in both cases, followed by weeks of mediocre performance. Let's keep calm and hope. Leave hero worship to groupies.

AFL Tables - 2023 Stats - Player Lists

 

[Sentinel]

This year, Ugle-Hagan has kicked 20 goals in 15 games, 1.3 per game. 9 of those have come in 2 games, fewer than a goal a game for the rest. He's averaging 8 kicks a game and 5 marks, up from 6 and 3.5 last year, improvement ? 13 tackles in 15 games, 18 from 17 games last year, minimal and inconsequential but no improvement, so far. He had a 5 goal game last year. 2023, he's had 2 well, a 5 and a 4 so fa. His primary skill is the run, jump and mark, on Saturday he excelled at that. Next is ability to get away, either by himself or with minimal opposition. If you watch his play, he doesn?t chase and second efforts are poor, see the tackle stats.,"gle-Hagan stays outside packs waving his arms "kick it to me". That?s OK, not everyone is a Libba, a pity he doesn't kick accurately. Last year and the 2 times, this year, the same hubris but, in both cases, followed by weeks of mediocre performance. Let's keep calm and hope. Leave the other nonsense to the groupies.

AFL Tables - 2023 Stats - Player Lists

Yep cool the perfect time to criticise him is after what he displayed on the weekend

 

[D Mitchell]

Yep cool the perfect time to criticise him is after what he displayed on the weekend

Evaluation isn't criticism. Footy isn't a Taylor Swift concert.