Preview Changes vs Cats (Rnd4)-In: Melksham, Out: Sparrow(omitted)

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Don't think the weather should have too much of an effect on the game but it will be interesting to see how the stadiums deal with a downpour. There's not supposed to be any standing room and all the bars have capacity limitations.
 
Bluelegs said:
Don't think the weather should have too much of an effect on the game but it will be interesting to see how the stadiums deal with a downpour. There's not supposed to be any standing room and all the bars have capacity limitations.
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See this astounds me. Last weekend at Manuka felt like it was pre-pandemic.
 

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Great test for the players and coaches this week. Geelong pretty clearly are looking to go slow with their ball movement and be very careful, they beat us doing a similar thing last year in a horrific game. Our next three games are against the three best coaches in the competition, I'm not a Goodwin fan at all but so far this year his coaching seems to be very good and hoping for more of the same.
 
Bluelegs said:
Weather forecast getting worse as the week goes on. Cold miserable and wet. Might just turn into a slog.
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That should make it harder for them to go slow and chip the ball around, but also harder for us to run with link up handball. In that sense it's probably even but I feel like we always take at least a quarter to adjust to the conditions so that might give them an edge. Let's hope the increased pressure we've been bringing so far this year allows us to force turnovers and keep the ball locked in at our end
 
I think the Cats gameplan of parking the bus in the backline is actually hinders their potential and they could be a better team if they were more attacking

So don't like the rain forcing them to be more direct. We also lose our structure when its wet and look extra fumbly.
 
Bluelegs said:
Don't think the weather should have too much of an effect on the game but it will be interesting to see how the stadiums deal with a downpour. There's not supposed to be any standing room and all the bars have capacity limitations.
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better than at Etihad where half of the bar/stores were closed
 
I love you nuffies with all my being. Truly I do. And I promise that’s real. It’s deep. It’s definitely not the massive quantities of good, old American bourbon talking here. Truth.

But the absolute truth is that I’ve run the numbers. I’ve watched all the tape. I’ve done the calculations.

And we can’t win. Maxie will shank one at the siren. Trac will bomb one into the middle with the clock winding down.

Gelong are just too good. They were too good when Chris Scott was raging in the booth with his run of the mill clean cut style. Me? I can’t fathom what we are up against now that he has those amazing, flowing locks.

F&&& me. Gelong by 12 goals.
 
AmericanAFL said:
I love you nuffies with all my being. Truly I do. And I promise that’s real. It’s deep. It’s definitely not the massive quantities of good, old American bourbon talking here. Truth.

But the absolute truth is that I’ve run the numbers. I’ve watched all the tape. I’ve done the calculations.

And we can’t win. Maxie will shank one at the siren. Trac will bomb one into the middle with the clock winding down.

Gelong are just too good. They were too good when Chris Scott was raging in the booth with his run of the mill clean cut style. Me? I can’t fathom what we are up against now that he has those amazing, flowing locks.

F&&& me. Gelong by 12 goals.
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Welcome to the MFC. Your initiation is complete.
 
AmericanAFL said:
I love you nuffies with all my being. Truly I do. And I promise that’s real. It’s deep. It’s definitely not the massive quantities of good, old American bourbon talking here. Truth.

But the absolute truth is that I’ve run the numbers. I’ve watched all the tape. I’ve done the calculations.

And we can’t win. Maxie will shank one at the siren. Trac will bomb one into the middle with the clock winding down.

Gelong are just too good. They were too good when Chris Scott was raging in the booth with his run of the mill clean cut style. Me? I can’t fathom what we are up against now that he has those amazing, flowing locks.

F&&& me. Gelong by 12 goals.
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You've just thrown the optimism/pessimism scale all out of whack now. Gotta balance it.
Geelong r s**t and are full of boomers who need hip replacements and play a stupid chip mark game style so that one of their oldies doesn't have a stroke. Chris Scott is a terrible coach experiencing a mid life crisis who thinks he's cool now he has long hair.
Easy win right here, if we don't win in the same fashion as the last 3 weeks imma be pissed.
 
Hibberd named in the VFL side, no melksham, and interesting is Mitch brown playing Full back
 

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Jamurp said:
BBrown just slotted his first goal of the game for Casey.
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Alright pull him out of the game and put him in tomorrow, I've seen enough
 
Reviews of the Casey game from Demonland.

Sounds like Brown is a chance for next week, Weideman was terrible, and Lockhart, Hibberd and Bedford all pretty good in tough conditions.

Thankfully we got there in the end, despite a few concerns along the way with certain elements (skill errors were a killer!). But here is my break down of what I thought of our players.

12. Toby Bedford: Showed a bit today, especially in the 2nd half and was a factor in us wrestling back control from Williamstown. Kicked a nice goal, provided plenty of forward pressure and also gave us some run when we were lacking it for a good quarter and a half in the middle part of the game.

14. Michael Hibberd: Probably our best and most consistent player across the 4 quarters. Used the ball well, spoilt strongly and was safe as houses one on one while generating drive from defense. I can't see anyway he can stay out of the seniors any longer. One of Jetta, Hunt or Rivers will have to make way.

16. Bailey Laurie: Started the game quite lively and also kicked the opening goal of the match. I also thought he showed a bit in the 3rd term when Willy were getting on top. But I barely noticed him in the 2nd or 4th terms. Maybe he got more of it on the other side of the field to where I was? But what I did see I thought looked promising.

17. Jake Bowey: Played in defense and early on I wasn't overly impressed. Fumbled a bit, ran over the ball a few times and got pushed off the contest a little too easily as well. However he was always cracking in and getting involved in the game. So much that after half time I thought he was arguably our best and a big part of why we won. The mistakes dried up and he looked a lot more assured of himself. After what was a nervous start, I thought Jake showed a lot of maturity in his performance.

19. Fraser Rosman: Couple of mistakes here and there, but overall I thought it was a pretty solid game from Fraser. He showed his running ability and used the ball pretty well. I thought he really lifted in the last term also. Probably only had about 14 touches, but I reckon at least half would have been in the final term.

22. Aaron Vandenberg: Classic Vanders game today. Tough in the contest, won plenty of the ball, but some coach killer skill errors also. I think when it comes to Vanders you just need to take the bad with the good, but there's a lot worse midfield depth options then this guy should we need him.

26. Sam Weideman: Had a shocker. Couldn't get near the ball, couldn't seem to time or fly for his Mark's and I think only had one kick which went nowhere. Got pulled halfwaythrough the 3rd and I think you can lock him in at FF for Round 1 of the VFL next week.

28. Majak Daw: He played a good game and got better as it went. Mainly shared ruck duties 50% with Bradtke, but also played sometime forward in the final term where he kicked a goal. Outside of the ruck contests early he seemed to struggle getting involved in general play, though at least his tap work was very good. However after halftime, he seemed to improve there and started taking more marks around the ground. Based on today's game, it wouldn't shock me to see him play seniors at some point this year.

33. Oskar Baker: I thought he was one of our best players in the first quarter and a half, but then he really seemed to drift out of the game and his early run disappeared. Not sure if Willy deployed a tagger (I didn't notice one) or if he only touched the ball on the other side of the ground? But that was just how I saw his game.

34. Deakyn Smith: First time I've seen him play and I really liked the look of this kid. Has some toe, spoils well and has a touch of class how he goes about it. Needs to tidy up a couple of little things, but I was really impressed. Between this kid, Bowey and Rivers we don't have anything to worry about with Jetta and Hibberd getting older.

35. Harrison Petty: Safe as houses in defense. Was looking strong and marking everything in the first half. Was then pulled, likely so he can be the sub. I really like Petty, but I fear whether we can hold onto him given our current tall stocks. Don't want another Matthew Bishop scenario!

37. Kade Chandler: Played a solid game without starring. Didn't trouble the scoreboard, but he seemed to rotate between half forward and midfield. I think his development is coming along pretty good.

38. Mitch Brown: Looked really good in the first quarter, then disappeared for two whole quarters, but then stood up in the final term with some telling marks and booting another 2 goals to finish with 3 for the game. Smoky to win the goal kicking award in the VFL this season maybe?

41. Jay Lockhart: After Hibberd, I thought Lockhart was our next best. Made a couple more mistakes, but he defended really well and provided plenty of run from our backline. No doubt he'll find his way back into the seniors at some point.

44. Joel Smith: Very solid game from Smith. Really had to Marshall the backline after Petty went off, but he did this without much issue. Don't recall him being beaten in a one on one and you can see there's plenty of talent there. Just don't know if he'll ever fully realize that talent?

46. Angus Bradtke: The good news is I think his ruck craft has come a long way. A lot of the taps he got I thought were very well directed. The bad news is he was physically bullied by the Williamstown ruck and he still doesn't do much around the ground. Not sure he'll make it?

50. Ben Brown: He'll play next week. Could have had 3 goals in the first term, but one hit the post and another that was online fell short (misread the breeze). Took some very good marks and got his hands to a lot of contests. Didn't get as much of it in the 2nd term, though Casey barely got it forward to center then. So a most encouraging performance.

And a few Casey players.

James Munro: As consistent as ever. Got plenty of it and was more than handy.

Mitch White: Has turned into a very good VFL player. Kicked 2 goals, but spent time forward and back. Never realized how good his hands were when he was on our list.

Zac Foot: The big signing coming from Sydney Swans. I didn't notice him once in the first half. But he worked his way into the game in the 2nd half playing in the forward line a nd kicked a goal.

Freeman: Not 100% sure of his first name, but I thought this kid looked really good. Probably the most consistent for providing run through the middle (more than Baker or Rosman) and could be one to keep an eye on.

So while there were concerns with basic skill errors, Weideman not getting near it, getting outmarked in the 2nd term despite having both Brown's, Weideman, Daw and Petty on the field and nearly losing to an ameature team despite us having 17 AFL players, there were certainly positive.

Outside of what I've already listed above as individual positive, Williamstown are a very strong and well ran VFL club. Plus once again we were headed and got the game back on our terms. Winning when kicking into a strong breeze in the final quarter when only having a 2 point lead.

Our brand seems to be an ability to absorb hits and then re-assert the way we want to play the game. And as far as brands go, I could think of a few worse...
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Arriving at 11.05 in pouring rain at Casey Fields is never a great start but that is exactly what Casey got off to in the first quarter. The rain stopped a few minutes before the game started and it was dry for the duration but the wind howled and it was slippery. The ground was in great condition and the wind blew across to the outer side and favoured the northern end. That's where I headed.

It's nice to win any match but it was the young kids and one old kid I wanted to see and I didn't have to wait long. BBB was dominant early holding two contested chest marks and kicking one goal with the other falling just short. He presented well and judged the ball better than others in the windy conditions and I started to get excited about seeing him next week on the G. He moved all over the ground and was involved in the play regularly but sadly only played a half. He ran along the outer boundary at half time with Burgo looking over him doing multiple sprints and frankly looked pretty stuffed! But he was a class above and something to look forward to when he does get to the G.

Weid on the other hand couldn't get close to it. He couldn't judge the wind nor could he find any space and apart from playing a half and a bit had a forgettable day. He ran the outer boundary for much of the third under the supervision of a physio and while he struggled on the field he looked very fit off it.

I wanted to play particular attention to Bowey, Laurie and Rosman not having seen them live before. Bowey was the first to catch the eye. He's easy to pick out with his red hair and although the wasn't involved much in the first half what his did do he did well. He's small and slight and struggled in contested situations against bigger bodies but when he got the ball he delivered well and took good options. He got more involved as the game went on but there is nothing there yet pushing for a spot in the seniors.

Laurie started in the midfield and moved forward later in the game and worked his way into it a bit but wasn't in the better players. He clearly has class but needs time and experience. He'd be behind Bedford and Chandler for a spot at this stage.

Rosman played a lot of the game on the other side of the ground so I found it harder to judge his game but in the last he was on my wing and was involved. He's not a "smooth mover" but very effective with a few rough edges. He's got a much more AFL ready body than the other two but I suspect all three to play most of the season at Casey and learn their game.

The one who did surprise was DSmith. He's slight but he's nimble with clean hands and good skills. He held his own against bigger bodies and had no trouble being involved in the game. He's brave and seemed to make good decisions with the ball. He played as a small back and I was impressed with this game. Again, he's not pushing for a spot but he's got some really good attributes to develop.

JSmith played full back and did a servicable job but the pick of the tall backs was Harry Petty until he was sub'd out after half time. I've always been impressed with this kid and he could slot straight into the AFL side and hold his own.

Jay Lockhart was good in patches and Hibbo grew into the game without dominating. MBrown took some good marks and kicked a few goals but was overshadowed by Majak who took multiple marks in defence and attack while running in the ruck. His ruckwork wasn't all that good but he was good around the ground. I think he could play AFL and be relied on to do a job.

Chandler had patches and Bedford was busy. They appeared to me to be just off the pace of Charlie but if they are called on they wouldn't be out of their depth at AFL level. Oscar was a disappointment and for a bigger body didn't play as strongly as I'd have liked.

Austin Bradtke is a long way off. He was poor in the ruck and didn't do much around the ground. He seems like he's been around for ages but he's only 20 but at some stage he'll have to show some more AFL attributes for my liking. Having said that it was awful conditions for big blokes so perhaps I'm being a little harsh.

All in all it was a good hit out. Willy are a mature team and while they don't have the class of AFl lists they have and even contribution from all players and are no easybeats.
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