MT. BARKER TRIAL
For those who weren’t at the game or have pay TV here are my observations on the match.
These matches are best used to trial new talent and players in other positions and to that end it was ok though for the first part there wasn’t a lot of experimenting going on. When you have your best starting midfield playing and they struggle to get a clearance I must admit it’s also a little worrying.
It was always going to be a struggle defensively with not only missing Zerk-Thatcher but Ratugolea as well. Still that gave an opportunity to trial other talls in the backline and Finlayson will be better for the experience and a possible option amongst others.
SPP and Kane Farrell looked to be injury free now which is great news and will build with confidence. Burton had an injury scare but retuned to the field and hoping no real damage done.
Berry was the obvious stand out amongst the new names and Richards did ok. Lukosius showed he can kick a country mile into the wind but struggled to make much of an impact other than that.
Amongst the regulars JHF was prolific and DBJ, Bergman and Burgoyne did well but overall the Crows dominated when both sides had their A graders on. I also didn’t see any real fast flowing football that was meant to be the theme this year except for maybe for a couple of plays. Most of the structures looked stagnant and the forward entries weren’t any more precise than last year in my observations.
Having said all that I watched a practice match a few years back in Perth where WCE defeated Port easily. Port went on to a prelim and the Eagles won the spoon so it’s not unusual for Port to be sluggish this time of year.
Onto the next trial and hope to see a much more polished performance to give us some better hopes for the season ahead.
Admin Dave
Be careful Admin. I have been called brain dead for stating "Years ago Carlton won the preseason NAB cup and the Wooden spoon in regular season in the same year"
For those who weren’t at the game or have pay TV here are my observations on the match.
These matches are best used to trial new talent and players in other positions and to that end it was ok though for the first part there wasn’t a lot of experimenting going on. When you have your best starting midfield playing and they struggle to get a clearance I must admit it’s also a little worrying.
It was always going to be a struggle defensively with not only missing Zerk-Thatcher but Ratugolea as well. Still that gave an opportunity to trial other talls in the backline and Finlayson will be better for the experience and a possible option amongst others.
SPP and Kane Farrell looked to be injury free now which is great news and will build with confidence. Burton had an injury scare but retuned to the field and hoping no real damage done.
Berry was the obvious stand out amongst the new names and Richards did ok. Lukosius showed he can kick a country mile into the wind but struggled to make much of an impact other than that.
Amongst the regulars JHF was prolific and DBJ, Bergman and Burgoyne did well but overall the Crows dominated when both sides had their A graders on. I also didn’t see any real fast flowing football that was meant to be the theme this year except for maybe for a couple of plays. Most of the structures looked stagnant and the forward entries weren’t any more precise than last year in my observations.
Having said all that I watched a practice match a few years back in Perth where WCE defeated Port easily. Port went on to a prelim and the Eagles won the spoon so it’s not unusual for Port to be sluggish this time of year.
Onto the next trial and hope to see a much more polished performance to give us some better hopes for the season ahead.
Admin Dave
Be careful Admin. I have been called brain dead for stating "Years ago Carlton won the preseason NAB cup and the Wooden spoon in regular season in the same year"
