Game Day Crows Vs Cats: Tex's 200th. 12:35pm Adelaide Oval

[footy4ever]

I mean, man-child at 198 cm at lower levels is still going to find it relatively easy to excel due to the likelihood of being bigger than his direct opponent even with the step up to AFL. People do seem to have this misconception that the AFL is taller than what it actually is.

Still, holding his own in two positions in the equal worst side in the SANFL is certainly a tick in Thilthorpe case.

It would be interesting to know where he sits on other teams’ radar. Not sure he’s up there at number one.

 

[Golumless]

It would be interesting to know where he sits on other teams’ radar. Not sure he’s up there at number one.

I'd assume top 5. It's decently hard to turn down a key forward/ruck early in the draft who is holding their own in a league side. Especially in a draft that lacks a standout player that isn't tied to an academy.

 

[Big Crow]

One absolute highlight today was not having to listen to Dwayne Russell talk about Port Adelaide and take gleeful stabs at the Crows for once this season.

 

[FR0GGY]

You reckon someone on the coaching staff is telling our tall forwards to stand still and wait for the ball to come in high? Oh, and that Nicks, as head coach signs off on this?
Until we find forwards and mids that can get the ball in our forward line and kick goals we will not win a game. 5 goals for 4 quarters. We have kicked more than 10 once this season--1st game against the Swans when we got 11.
Walker, 3 touches. Yeah, it's all about the delivery.
At least we showed some spirit today and that's something we haven't done much this season.

So why are they all not doing it?
It’s not as if we have one or two doing “the right thing” and one out of form.
And yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if that was harts game plan.

 

[Apsaalooke]

Nowhere near perfect but our best effort this year.
Add Doedee, Milera, the old B Crouch, McPherson plus an AFL-standard fitness base to that side and we'd have had a shot at winning the game

 

[dylan123]

Is there one passage of play where one of Tex, Fog or Himmelberg is running toward a mid in a lead to meet the ball.


Hawkins did it multiple times.

Our guys?



For all the talk of poor forward delivery, what are they delivering it to?

A disorganised mess of players with little movement to meet the ball.

Here's a few from the first 3 quarters as I don't recall much from the 4th.


Good kicks, mark not taken:

Mackay's nice run down the middle to Himmelberg on the lead, fails to take it -



At least gives us a solid crack, Walker with first hands to it but drops it -



Kick to the right spot by Laird, Walker has to beat two men which he doesn't but brings the ball to ground which is a win -



Poor kicks:

Tex open with space, ball goes right over his head-



Again, wide open with an easy kick in front which goes right over his head -



Walker wide open on the wing but Keays fails to look as he opts to take the play on instead -



Walker wide open and another butcher kick -



Sholl has a great kick to Stengle who fails to execute a low pressure kick to Crocker on the lead -

 

[dylan123]

Part 2 -

This is high pressure possession so you can't be too judgemental. That being said, we've got two talls in front in 1v1 contests however it's a butcher of a kick that is to Geelong's advantage -



Poor kick/poor position:
Smith kicks it directly to a Geelong man, it's such a terrible kick. Could argue Tex should be where that guy is, hard to see off frame but if that's the kick you're going to take, don't bother. Very lucky it got to ground without giving away a free -



Tex could maybe be goal square here, however he is open on the boundary line but Keays fails to see him and ends up with a terrible kick -



Play of the day -
Himmelberg brings it to ground, great gather and kick by McAdams to Tex on the lead. Tex doesn't * around, boots it forward to 1 on 1 opportunities and it results in a goal. This is the kind of stuff we've lost post 2017, at least when Walker gets it here he looks to move it quick and usually is to advantage if he can avoid getting smothered (right mentality, poor execution last week with this) -

 

[StonesThrow]

Here's a few from the first 3 quarters as I don't recall much from the 4th.


Good kicks, mark not taken:

Mackay's nice run down the middle to Himmelberg on the lead, fails to take it -



At least gives us a solid crack, Walker with first hands to it but drops it -



Kick to the right spot by Laird, Walker has to beat two men which he doesn't but brings the ball to ground which is a win -



Poor kicks:

Tex open with space, ball goes right over his head-



Again, wide open with an easy kick in front which goes right over his head -



Walker wide open on the wing but Keays fails to look as he opts to take the play on instead -



Walker wide open and another butcher kick -



Sholl has a great kick to Stengle who fails to execute a low pressure kick to Crocker on the lead -

He's been putting up with this for 2 years now.

Sloane should know better than that. Had time to ower the eyes and Walker was clearly in space with no one in front of him.

 

[glengowan]

I found it odd when Fogarty was interviewed at one of the breaks and he referred to the forwards making a contest and said “us smalls”, referring himself to the role of one of the smalls.

Can we get Jack Cahill or equivalent to the club to make the players at least think they’re superman when they go out there?

If Fogarty is developing with the role of small forward in his mind, then god help us.

 

[Jonno393]

I’m a port supporter so I don’t tend to follow your extended team to much. But is there a reason butts hasn’t really played until now? I thought he slotted in well back there, it was a tough opponent for his first game but he did well. I feel like he would have been handy in a few of your games, has he been injured or something?

 

[dylan123]

He's been putting up with this for 2 years now.

Sloane should know better than that. Had time to ower the eyes and Walker was clearly in space with no one in front of him.

That's what annoys me in that I don't think it's fair to say Tex is cooked just yet when this is the kind of service he gets. He's past his best (and played when he shouldn't have), I won't argue against that but no forward has been given a fair run in our side in recent years. It's no surprise they all look terrible with the way we play as a team.

I’m a port supporter so I don’t tend to follow your extended team to much. But is there a reason butts hasn’t really played until now? I thought he slotted in well back there, it was a tough opponent for his first game but he did well. I feel like he would have been handy in a few of your games, has he been injured or something?

Nope, been pushing for selection for 12 months now but we just haven't given him a chance yet for whatever reason.

 

[Jonno393]

That's what annoys me in that I don't think it's fair to say Tex is cooked just yet when this is the kind of service he gets. He's past his best (and played when he shouldn't have), I won't argue against that but no forward has been given a fair run in our side in recent years. It's no surprise they all look terrible with the way we play as a team.


Nope, been pushing for selection for 12 months now but we just haven't given him a chance yet for whatever reason.

That’s a real shock, I feel like his going to be a good handy player for you guys

 

[spexau]

That left footed kick from Sholl was so pure

 

[dylan123]

That left footed kick from Sholl was so pure

Yeah I've loved the kicks we've seen from him in the few games he's played so far. Willing to back himself on either foot and they're aggressive, forward pushing kicks.

Likes of him, Hamill and McPherson is pretty exciting to go with the likes of Milera, Smith etc. Mightn't be the best defensively but the rebound power will make up for it with these line breakers.

 

[jenny61_99]

Part 2 -

This is high pressure possession so you can't be too judgemental. That being said, we've got two talls in front in 1v1 contests however it's a butcher of a kick that is to Geelong's advantage -



Poor kick/poor position:
Smith kicks it directly to a Geelong man, it's such a terrible kick. Could argue Tex should be where that guy is, hard to see off frame but if that's the kick you're going to take, don't bother. Very lucky it got to ground without giving away a free -



Tex could maybe be goal square here, however he is open on the boundary line but Keays fails to see him and ends up with a terrible kick -



Play of the day -
Himmelberg brings it to ground, great gather and kick by McAdams to Tex on the lead. Tex doesn't fu** around, boots it forward to 1 on 1 opportunities and it results in a goal. This is the kind of stuff we've lost post 2017, at least when Walker gets it here he looks to move it quick and usually is to advantage if he can avoid getting smothered (right mentality, poor execution last week with this) -

Thank you for this.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Yeah I've loved the kicks we've seen from him in the few games he's played so far. Willing to back himself on either foot and they're aggressive, forward pushing kicks.

Likes of him, Hamill and McPherson is pretty exciting to go with the likes of Milera, Smith etc. Mightn't be the best defensively but the rebound power will make up for it with these line breakers.

Sholl, Hamill, Smith, Milera is a great attacking combo. All are possibly best suited to the HBF role so we'll need to be shrewd in terms of structure to utilise the strengths of this whole group.

McPherson is really the only one you would say looks completely adept with the one-on-one defensive duties. We won't be able to play the four others (or even three of them) in the backline at the same time.

A complete lack of ingenuity will see us try to shoehorn Smith or Milera in on a half forward flank as we've done in the past. A clued up coaching panel will see these four players rotating through the half back line and across the wing so that we get the best out of each player.

Our slavish devotion to a fixed back 7 with absolutely no wriggle room for the likes of Laird to push into the midfield will hopefully be out the door and we adjust our structure based on the talent we do have at our disposal.

Our Back 7 becomes a back 9, which includes the two wings.

Defensive minded - Talia, Butts, Brown
Attack minded - Smith, Milera, Hamill, Sholl

With Doedee & McPherson as the hybrids who can shuffle between defensive and attack minded roles depending on who's off the ground.

 

[maxlilly]

Sholl, Hamill, Smith, Milera is a great attacking combo. All are possibly best suited to the HBF role so we'll need to be shrewd in terms of structure to utilise the strengths of this whole group.

McPherson is really the only one you would say looks completely adept with the one-on-one defensive duties. We won't be able to play the four others (or even three of them) in the backline at the same time.

A complete lack of ingenuity will see us try to shoehorn Smith or Milera in on a half forward flank as we've done in the past. A clued up coaching panel will see these four players rotating through the half back line and across the wing so that we get the best out of each player.

Our slavish devotion to a fixed back 7 with absolutely no wriggle room for the likes of Laird to push into the midfield will hopefully be out the door and we adjust our structure based on the talent we do have at our disposal.

Our Back 7 becomes a back 9, which includes the two wings.

Defensive minded - Talia, Butts, Brown
Attack minded - Smith, Milera, Hamill, Sholl

With Doedee & McPherson as the hybrids who can shuffle between defensive and attack minded roles depending on who's off the ground.

But you forgot Kelly, he must be in there somewhere

 

[conVINCEd]

dylan123 - thanks for those clips. I’m clearly a doofus but I’m having trouble watching them - I click play and they open up a imgur browser that does nothing. Please halp.

(in the first ten seconds of the game, Tex already stuffed up. Laird won the clearance and kicked into 50, Tex chose not to even attempt an attack on the ball yet his direct opponent was able to spoil)

 

[dylan123]

conVINCEd have you given them some time to load? Should be playable through bigfooty let alone following the link which should also work.

 

[conVINCEd]

conVINCEd have you given them some time to load? Should be playable through bigfooty let alone following the link which should also work.

Thanks - holding down on the video (using my phone) worked for me.

Much appreciated; shows how many more touches Tex would have if only we lowered the eyes and could kick.

Also demonstrates that he is still getting free on the lead at times, we’re just not good enough to get it to him.

 

[dylan123]

Thanks - holding down on the video (using my phone) worked for me.

Much appreciated; shows how many more touches Tex would have if only we lowered the eyes and could kick.

Also demonstrates that he is still getting free on the lead at times, we’re just not good enough to get it to him.

That with the McAdam advantage could have easily resulted in a few shots on goal to go with his 2-3 goal assists.

Just think he's unfairly judged on here by many. Sure, I'd love him to be touching it 15 times a game but the opportunities to do so aren't really there for any of our key forwards. He's not perfect by any means, he over runs some contests/too slow to get to others but no key forward is perfect, they'll mess up some contests. Probably agree that playing 3 tall forwards is an overkill given we're unable to get it to them in a way they can have an impact. It's also hard to argue that Fogarty shouldn't be the one being played given he's the future and Himmelberg has played alright lately and certainly better than Walker in the ruck (given we're not willing to throw Hartigan or anyone else like the Doggies do with Dunkley, Jong etc).

And for as much as Hart cops it (not defending him as I think our forwards could be much better), our delivery to the forwards is awful. I think the quicker we can transition from one end of the ground the better, it'll burn us when it doesn't work (this kind of risk/reward worked great for us in 2017 and we haven't tried it since the grand final imo). Less skilful kicking is required going into the forward 50 as there's genuine space for that 1 v 1 contest that we want. Looking at the replays Fox was showing of Hawkins, Hawkins yard or whatever they were calling it, he had the whole 50 to himself to operate and it's no wonder he's in ripping form with that kind of opportunity. Does feel like Geelong move it a little slower (at least from watching that game) but with constant switching which we don't have the back half aggressive enough to transition from one side to the other with the likes of Kelly/Talia/Hartigan/Brown.