Opinion Changes vs Port

[The Sloane Ranger]

I was never in favour of getting him. IMO it was always going to be a mistake.

To early to make a judgement

 

[Huntercrow]

I was never in favour of getting him. IMO it was always going to be a mistake.

I was the same but I think their is a bigger picture regarding his signing. Could be a very good decision as his mentoring of Smack seems to be bearing fruit. How much did Pods have to do with the emergence of Hawkins from a lame duck to a power forward?
When he retires I expect he will take on a coaching role with the club. We need a forward coach and not just a fill in.

 

[azza77]

On what planet is Otten not in our best 22?

Or Lynch for that matter as well. Yes he had the 1 breakout season last year but he was so instrumental in linking our midfield play to attack. Missing him badly.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

On what planet is Otten not in our best 22?

On what planet is Otten not in our best 22?

FFS read my post I said the trio had struggled to make our best 22

Coming into season 2013 Otto was not cemented into our best 22 and even though he started the season well he also had a patch of 4-6 games that we well below par and IMO he is far from being a consistent and reliable best 22 player and he also has some flaws which are exposed including leg speed and going to ground in a 1+1 contest too easily and too often, not to mention he is one of the worse tacklers on our list

My point is this it is extremely rare during a season that a club plays its best 22, footy is a combatant sport and injuries are part and parcel with the game and this is why clubs have extended lists with rookie promotion options

Dermie Bereton made an excellent point last week pre game to the Geelong game, he mentioned yes the Crows had injuries however our midfield is largely in tact and the fact that we have largely our engine room all available except for Douglas your flankers are easily replaceable and won't be the difference between a win or loss

With this in mind we did not lies against Geelong because we had no Otten or Lynch we lost because our midfield got smashed during different times during the game and it will be no different this Saturday.

We win the midfield, we win the game and with Douglas likely to be back and Crouch better for last weeks run our midfield brigade will be almost full strength

 

[hey shorty]

So how do we fit them in ?? Assuming LJ keeps hitting the scoreboard and Tex comes back in 4 weeks or so. Porps out for Lynch ?? Does Otten go back ?? We look pretty tall if thats the case.

 

[Jumbo]

If Douglas plays I don't think too many of the trainers will be lining up to do his rub down, taping and bandaging.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Or Lynch for that matter as well. Yes he had the 1 breakout season last year but he was so instrumental in linking our midfield play to attack. Missing him badly.

Breakout yes however still went missing throughout the year, take out his 10 against GWS and he averaged a goal a game so AGAIN not a reason why we lost against Geelong

All I'm saying people look at our injury list as an easy excuse, it is very rare during a season when you get to play your best 22, the majority of clubs at any given time have 3-6 players not available through injury or suspension

What is important is that you keep your engine roo in tact and this is where we list the game against Geelong, we had Douglas missing, they were missing Motlop and Christensen and different times during the game especially first half if every qtr and the entire last qtr there midfield beat up on ours, this is where we lost the game and Lynch or Otto would not have changed this result

Fast forward to this Saturday and a possible Douglas inclusion we will quite possibly have our full on ball brigade playing which is a massive plus and again it's in the midfield where the game will be won or loss so for those looking at no Otten or No Lynch for a reason to a potential loss are looking in the wrong place

Midfield. Midfield. Midfield.

 

[azza77]

Breakout yes however still went missing throughout the year, take out his 10 against GWS and he averaged a goal a game so AGAIN not a reason why we lost against Geelong

All I'm saying people look at our injury list as an easy excuse, it is very rare during a season when you get to play your best 22, the majority of clubs at any given time have 3-6 players not available through injury or suspension

What is important is that you keep your engine roo in tact and this is where we list the game against Geelong, we had Douglas missing, they were missing Motlop and Christensen and different times during the game especially first half if every qtr and the entire last qtr there midfield beat up on ours, this is where we lost the game and Lynch or Otto would not have changed this result

Fast forward to this Saturday and a possible Douglas inclusion we will quite possibly have our full on ball brigade playing which is a massive plus and again it's in the midfield where the game will be won or loss so for those looking at no Otten or No Lynch for a reason to a potential loss are looking in the wrong place

Midfield. Midfield. Midfield.

Understand what you're saying and probably agree with you on the Otten front. However disagree with Lynch. People seem to underrate his importance to our ball movement and structural set up. Ranked 8th in the AFL for scoreboard impact since coming into our side from round 4 onward, ranked 5th for winning % in 1v1 contests and was 2nd behind Brent Harvey in ball retention rate when kicking inside 50. So not only does he give us a tall bail out option to kick to down the wing, he's also a very damaging player when kicking inside 50, that can also impact the scoreboard when given the ball inside 50. I noticed that happened quite a lot against Geelong, often we would win the ball back and begin to rebound, however we had no options to kick to going forward and often went to Eddie Betts one out with Harry Taylor.

This is why I consider Lynch so instrumental and a different structural player to LJ. LJ did his job against Geelong, kicked goals with minimal possessions. Could have upped his defensive pressure, but still. He thrives on spur of the moment opportunities and his best work is done close to goal. He's a smart customer LJ and can hit the scoreboard crumbing the contest or from his renowned set shots. Lynch on the other hand works his backside off to create space and a tall target to kick to outside of the attacking 50, delivering lead after lead, something LJ doesn't provide.

This is why I always beg the question, can we fit LJ, Lynch, Walker and Mckernan/JJ in the same side. Walker at CHF, Lynch our linkman or very high half forward, with another Ruck/Forward and then LJ playing as that 3rd tall / Gunston role / Shawdow forward or whatever you like to call it.


Ive become a little distracted, but what I was also going to touch on is that our midfield was still affected to a certain degree. Its not like our engine room was running hot heading into round 1.
- An unfit Crouch who shouldn't have played or at least been sub
- Thommo, a seasoned veteran but still had little pre season
- Douglas going on last year was our 2nd most damaging midfielder behind Danger and we missed him badly
- Bernie gone who I would include, but feel free to also add VB to that list if you wish.
- Inexperience in Grigg and Kerridge. Yes they are going to be good players and were amongst our best on the night but they still made mistakes and it still all adds up.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Understand what you're saying and probably agree with you on the Otten front. However disagree with Lynch. People seem to underrate his importance to our ball movement and structural set up. Ranked 8th in the AFL for scoreboard impact since coming into our side from round 4 onward, ranked 5th for winning % in 1v1 contests and was 2nd behind Brent Harvey in ball retention rate when kicking inside 50. So not only does he give us a tall bail out option to kick to down the wing, he's also a very damaging player when kicking inside 50, that can also impact the scoreboard when given the ball inside 50. I noticed that happened quite a lot against Geelong, often we would win the ball back and begin to rebound, however we had no options to kick to going forward and often went to Eddie Betts one out with Harry Taylor.

This is why I consider Lynch so instrumental and a different structural player to LJ. LJ did his job against Geelong, kicked goals with minimal possessions. Could have upped his defensive pressure, but still. He thrives on spur of the moment opportunities and his best work is done close to goal. He's a smart customer LJ and can hit the scoreboard crumbing the contest or from his renowned set shots. Lynch on the other hand works his backside off to create space and a tall target to kick to outside of the attacking 50, delivering lead after lead, something LJ doesn't provide.

This is why I always beg the question, can we fit LJ, Lynch, Walker and Mckernan/JJ in the same side. Walker at CHF, Lynch our linkman or very high half forward, with another Ruck/Forward and then LJ playing as that 3rd tall / Gunston role / Shawdow forward or whatever you like to call it.


Ive become a little distracted, but what I was also going to touch on is that our midfield was still affected to a certain degree. Its not like our engine room was running hot heading into round 1.
- An unfit Crouch who shouldn't have played or at least been sub
- Thommo, a seasoned veteran but still had little pre season
- Douglas going on last year was our 2nd most damaging midfielder behind Danger and we missed him badly
- Bernie gone who I would include, but feel free to also add VB to that list if you wish.
- Inexperience in Grigg and Kerridge. Yes they are going to be good players and were amongst our best on the night but they still made mistakes and it still all adds up.

Let's not forget Bernie didn't play much midfield last year however your assessment on Lynch is good however IMO with or without Lynch the result against Geelong would have been the same

Crouch will most definitely be better for the run however I thought that Kerridge really stood up and Grigg got value for his touches, in terms of Thompson well if Selwood could have impacted the contest with a less than favourable pre-season Thompson should have been able to do the same

IMO even with Otto and Ranga missing we should feel positive about this week as I expect our midfield to crack in pretty hard

 

[Paladin]

Understand what you're saying and probably agree with you on the Otten front. However disagree with Lynch. People seem to underrate his importance to our ball movement and structural set up. Ranked 8th in the AFL for scoreboard impact since coming into our side from round 4 onward, ranked 5th for winning % in 1v1 contests and was 2nd behind Brent Harvey in ball retention rate when kicking inside 50. So not only does he give us a tall bail out option to kick to down the wing, he's also a very damaging player when kicking inside 50, that can also impact the scoreboard when given the ball inside 50. I noticed that happened quite a lot against Geelong, often we would win the ball back and begin to rebound, however we had no options to kick to going forward and often went to Eddie Betts one out with Harry Taylor.

This is why I consider Lynch so instrumental and a different structural player to LJ. LJ did his job against Geelong, kicked goals with minimal possessions. Could have upped his defensive pressure, but still. He thrives on spur of the moment opportunities and his best work is done close to goal. He's a smart customer LJ and can hit the scoreboard crumbing the contest or from his renowned set shots. Lynch on the other hand works his backside off to create space and a tall target to kick to outside of the attacking 50, delivering lead after lead, something LJ doesn't provide.

This is why I always beg the question, can we fit LJ, Lynch, Walker and Mckernan/JJ in the same side. Walker at CHF, Lynch our linkman or very high half forward, with another Ruck/Forward and then LJ playing as that 3rd tall / Gunston role / Shawdow forward or whatever you like to call it.


Ive become a little distracted, but what I was also going to touch on is that our midfield was still affected to a certain degree. Its not like our engine room was running hot heading into round 1.
- An unfit Crouch who shouldn't have played or at least been sub
- Thommo, a seasoned veteran but still had little pre season
- Douglas going on last year was our 2nd most damaging midfielder behind Danger and we missed him badly
- Bernie gone who I would include, but feel free to also add VB to that list if you wish.
- Inexperience in Grigg and Kerridge. Yes they are going to be good players and were amongst our best on the night but they still made mistakes and it still all adds up.

Quality write-up Lynch is underrated imo and was a huge find for us last year. Hopefully back in the next few weeks.

 

[zaca275]

Can we give Dogga a call to give Schulz a sneaky poke in the eye again?

 

[azza77]

Crouch will most definitely be better for the run however I thought that Kerridge really stood up and Grigg got value for his touches, in terms of Thompson well if Selwood could have impacted the contest with a less than favourable pre-season Thompson should have been able to do the same

IMO even with Otto and Ranga missing we should feel positive about this week as I expect our midfield to crack in pretty hard

Yeah agree that we had to get the legs into Crouch as unfortunate as it was. Thommo didn't start full training to late January from memory after hip surgery, so would have been affected more than what Selwood was. Our 2nd oldest midfielder age wise was David Mackay.... Like I said Kerridge and Grigg are still learning despite their good performances, and the experienced heads of Bartel, Selwood, Stevie J, Kelly, Enirght and Stokes all got the better of us Thursday night.

But yeah definitely agree, what better way for our midfield to redeem themselves than with a Showdown coming up. Douglas in would be a huge boost but im not sure we would risk him considering how rough showdowns can get. Im also optimistic about our chances unlike others who seem to have written us off already.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Yeah agree that we had to get the legs into Crouch as unfortunate as it was. Thommo didn't start full training to late January from memory after hip surgery, so would have been affected more than what Selwood was. Our 2nd oldest midfielder age wise was David Mackay.... Like I said Kerridge and Grigg are still learning despite their good performances, and the experienced heads of Bartel, Selwood, Stevie J, Kelly, Enirght and Stokes all got the better of us Thursday night.

But yeah definitely agree, what better way for a midfield to redeem themselves than with a Showdown coming up. Douglas in would be a huge boost but im not sure we would risk him considering how rough showdowns can get. Im also optimistic about our chances unlike others who seem to have written us off already.

Let's not forget Thompson has 10-12 years of fitness base under his belt so the impact of a late start should be minimal

 

[WaynesWorld19]

First I heard of a performance clause, think you are wrong on that one.

Might be wrong but i thought i heard someone talk about the 2nd year not being automatic

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...scuss-afl-future/story-fn69a32t-1226740972948

I find your last comment bizarre, where have you pulled that one from? You can either take a good contested mark or you can't. You don't need to fine tune it especially if you are a good contested mark. Besides you said he still had a good contested mark, there has been nothing shown this year to support that

Well it's a fact that's why Geelong recruited JPod ....http://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/2013-10-03/feature-james-podsiadly

Mmm your comments on contested marking suggest you haven't played the game ......starting each season, irrespective of whether you are a good mark or not you have to accustom yourself to the flight & timing of your leaping .....particularly as this is not trained anymore in kick to kick.
Add the element of bodies around you in game situation and it does take a while to get back into the groove of reading flight, leap, and factoring in bodies around you.

Thats why bigmen take the longest each PS to get in form

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I'm not having a go at the decision to pick him up, I'm just saying that if a developing tall in jj is fit and pods isn't performing, then he should be dropped. Not delisted, just sent to the 2's.

And that will happen ......JPod has no Gold pass

If JJ is the better option then he'll get selected .....but IMO JPod straightens us up better than Jenkins, also think McKernan does as well.
Jenkins likes to roam the forward line and use his speed & athleticism .....not sure that is great for structure
Often that get out kick to the square finds Jenkins out of position.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Douglas and Laird available, Radar to put his hand up

We can certainly cover Lynch, Hendo and Otten a trio that have struggled to cement themselves in our best 22 over the past two seasons

Not sure Otten is replaceable ......we lacked tall utilities last week and wasn't Otten 6th in B&F?
In the past the trio have struggled, i agree .....but right at this point they are part of the best 22 and their height is something we are missing .....makes Shaw pretty important ATM

 

[Rory Walkerfield]

FFS read my post I said the trio had struggled to make our best 22

Coming into season 2013 Otto was not cemented into our best 22 and even though he started the season well he also had a patch of 4-6 games that we well below par and IMO he is far from being a consistent and reliable best 22 player and he also has some flaws which are exposed including leg speed and going to ground in a 1+1 contest too easily and too often, not to mention he is one of the worse tacklers on our list

My point is this it is extremely rare during a season that a club plays its best 22, footy is a combatant sport and injuries are part and parcel with the game and this is why clubs have extended lists with rookie promotion options

Dermie Bereton made an excellent point last week pre game to the Geelong game, he mentioned yes the Crows had injuries however our midfield is largely in tact and the fact that we have largely our engine room all available except for Douglas your flankers are easily replaceable and won't be the difference between a win or loss

With this in mind we did not lies against Geelong because we had no Otten or Lynch we lost because our midfield got smashed during different times during the game and it will be no different this Saturday.

We win the midfield, we win the game and with Douglas likely to be back and Crouch better for last weeks run our midfield brigade will be almost full strength

Ok, ok. No need for us to take it out to the car park.

I'm worried about being up against the powa's midfield, lots of quality and depth.

 

[Elite Crow]

Might be wrong but i thought i heard someone talk about the 2nd year not being automatic

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...scuss-afl-future/story-fn69a32t-1226740972948



Well it's a fact that's why Geelong recruited JPod ....http://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/2013-10-03/feature-james-podsiadly

Mmm your comments on contested marking suggest you haven't played the game ......starting each season, irrespective of whether you are a good mark or not you have to accustom yourself to the flight & timing of your leaping .....particularly as this is not trained anymore in kick to kick.
Add the element of bodies around you in game situation and it does take a while to get back into the groove of reading flight, leap, and factoring in bodies around you.

Thats why bigmen take the longest each PS to get in form

So there is no contested marking in all the trials games and in the first rounds of the season, thanks for educating me.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

So there is no contested marking in all the trials games and in the first rounds of the season, thanks for educating me.

there's always a dunce in the class ...congrats

We're not past the first round and JPod played 1 1/2 trial games ........so on that basis no not enough

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Ok, ok. No need for us to take it out to the car park.

I'm worried about being up against the powa's midfield, lots of quality and depth.

Our midfield on paper is better .......but the games not played on paper, and Port have a faster side than us which is where, if we don't get our hands on the ball first, we'll get sliced thru like butter

 

[Sanders]

Mmm your comments on contested marking suggest you haven't played the game ......starting each season, irrespective of whether you are a good mark or not you have to accustom yourself to the flight & timing of your leaping .....particularly as this is not trained anymore in kick to kick.
Add the element of bodies around you in game situation and it does take a while to get back into the groove of reading flight, leap, and factoring in bodies around you.

Thats why bigmen take the longest each PS to get in form

Might just be me, but this looks pretty bizarre to me.

You make it sound like players don't compete in training, don't work with coaches play pre-season games or have internal trials.

 

[King Elvis]

Have you actually considered taking the grief out of your life.

You'll struggle to believe this, but I'm a very happy, quite laid back guy in real life.

The Crows just frustrate the absolute shit out of me at present; we're mismanaged and constantly make obvious mistakes, often repeatedly.

 

[Elite Crow]

there's always a dunce in the class ...congrats

We're not past the first round and JPod played 1 1/2 trial games ........so on that basis no not enough

And there's always someone who pretends to not what they are talking about but ultimately they are shown to be talking shit......congrats

 

[King Elvis]

He was top 10 in the afl over the last 4 years for contested marks.

You don't just lose that ability in the blink of an eye. Let's give him more than one uninjured, fully fit quarter to plead his case hey?

Last 4 years?

What about the last 2 years?

What about the last year?

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Ok, ok. No need for us to take it out to the car park.

I'm worried about being up against the powa's midfield, lots of quality and depth.

All teams we face that are genuine finals contenders have midfield quality and depth however it's time for our A Graders to step up and lead from the front

Again total respect to Port however I would back in Danger, Sloane, Thompson, Crouch and Douglas against Boak, Ebert, Cornes, Broadbent and Cassisi

Before anyone throws in Wingard and Hartlett these two traditionally play more of a High HF and Sweeping HB role respectively