Game Day Dees vs. Hawks

[ThePuppetMaster]

One more point - Watts doesnt look ready to be a deep forward yet.

If Neeld doesnt play him higher, I think he'll lose his spot in the side.

I agree, he doesn't look confident deep.

Having Watts higher would also avoid him and Clark going for the same ball, they literally spoiled each other 3-4 times in a contest.

I don't think we are seeing the whole game plan to be honest; but one area that slightly concerns me is that all our talls seem to be playing deep (Martin, Watts, Clark) at the same time.

 

[old_clint]

Dislocated figure that pierced the skin requiring 6 stitches. Will miss 1 week at most.

The HS now reports a severe break to the right index finger. Go figure.

 

[Demon Revival]

I agree, he doesn't look confident deep.

Having Watts higher would also avoid him and Clark going for the same ball, they literally spoiled each other 3-4 times in a contest.

I don't think we are seeing the whole game plan to be honest; but one area that slightly concerns me is that all our talls seem to be playing deep (Martin, Watts, Clark) at the same time.

If Neeld had of moved Watts on to Franklin in the last quarter, I reckon he would have learned more about playing as a forward in that 25 mins than he has for the last 3 years...

 

[demonfan9]

Out's for us .....all based on opion's
Mitch , Shiel's , Ruff , Gilham , Burgoyne , Gibbo , Ossie , Guerra AND you may or may noy count Ellis......

That has made me even more depressed about the result.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Loved Neeld's press conference though, he was absolutely simmering with rage.

Port @ AAMI is a good result for us; they've had a really strong pre-season and it will be a good test for us.

I bet the boys are absolutely wrecked this week though...

Absolutely spot on about Neeld's press conference. Loved seeing him angry as our previous coach would have just said "competitive" 25 times.

He clearly knows the way we should be playing and, while we stuck to the game plan, the execution and ability under pressure was also very poor.

I also like the fact he has said his idea for a Round 1 side has changed again based on today's performance. Putting the pressure on them to perform and knowing your spot is not guaranteed is just what we need.

 

[demonfan9]

It's funny how we have been competitive against Collingwood for the last few years, but against sides like Hawthorn and Geelong you just know they are going to kill us for 120 minutes.

Will try to watch the replay and assess the game a bit more than what I could at the ground.

 

[Crimson Azure]

I'm not sure if Neeld was holding back some of the intended plays or plans tonight but compared to the other games we lacked set game plan tonight. whether thats due to pressure or not I'm not sure but the intensity is something we hadn't seen against anyone this pre season.

As I mentioned earlier the effort in the contest & desire was there without quest (including Davey - Still not the Davey of old but looked better tonight & everyone is only going on about him because of that idiot Frawley in the commentary box) We just couldn't withstand the pressure & our skills went to crap.

What I really didn't like was the inability to find space, to me thats a work rate thing. It was rare to have a player mark on the lead, even in the midfield. I try to tell myself that it was a plan of the coaching staff to make sure the game was one of high contested possessions to get them ready for round one but I'm not so sure.

I just hope our game plan isn't to kick to a contest at all times & this really was an exercise in winning contested footy. Which we did well at it was just the disposals that followed.

 

[Demon Revival]

Our kick in strategy was exactly as previous years, CRAP... What happened to the changes in that area & also the person kicking it was a lucky dip...

 

[stickman11]

our forwardline didn't look well-balanced - not sure we have seen how our forwardline will function as of yet. Neeld needs to forget Watts as a deep forward. He is going to be a much better player u the ground - just because he was recruited as a forward doesn't mean that is where he should play.

I think we recruited for the Bailey plan which probably was never much of a plan in the first place. We are going to have to really make some tough decisions about who goes and stays.

I predict we will have an up-and down start but will begin to form a more solid structure and level of performance later in the season. Progress takes time but there is plenty of that.

 

[stickman11]

Did Grimes play yesterday? Green and Morton were missing. We really need Tapscott.

 

[Crimson Azure]

Did Grimes play yesterday? Green and Morton were missing. We really need Tapscott.

No Grimes didn't play, he is out until round one with a shoulder injury.

 

[Spirit of 39]

Grimes, Green, Petterd, Tapscott, and perhaps Morton were missed last night.

I agree with Stickman. Our forward line looked too top-heavy and did not apply enough pressure in our forward 50. Rioli strolled down there from a wing/hff and did as he pleased.

We did try to set up our defensive press. The boys got to the right spots a lot of the time. But the hawks were able to pierce holes in it with their precise kicking and their run and carry. They also broke our tackles far too easily.

As DR mentioned our kicking out and rebound from the defensive 50 was woeful. Don't under-estimate the role Grimes will play here. He may turn it over a bit, but he clears the area more often than not.

 

[Demon Revival]

Just glad I didn't have to pay to watch that last night...

 

[wowlace]

I'm also on the Watts up the ground bandwagon. Hell, he could be our Goddard.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Grimes, Green, Petterd, Tapscott, and perhaps Morton were missed last night.

I agree with Stickman. Our forward line looked too top-heavy and did not apply enough pressure in our forward 50. Rioli strolled down there from a wing/hff and did as he pleased.

We did try to set up our defensive press. The boys got to the right spots a lot of the time. But the hawks were able to pierce holes in it with their precise kicking and their run and carry. They also broke our tackles far too easily.

As DR mentioned our kicking out and rebound from the defensive 50 was woeful. Don't under-estimate the role Grimes will play here. He may turn it over a bit, but he clears the area more often than not.

We can add Trengove and McKenzie to that list... sort of. Both were below par due to it being their first game for the season. We still have some handy players to welcome back.

I don't think we can underestimate the importance that Tapscott will also play for us across half back and even in the clinches. Neeld wants the big bodies and Tapscott has the biggest of the lot, not to mention that booming kick inside 50 that can beat the press.

Agree that we set up the press well but the Hawks were SO precise with their foot skills! They will be the team to beat this year.

 

[CM Sean]

I think Bailey took over again yesterday. That was painful to watch ='(

 

[fushy]

Was chip rested in the 2nd half?

 

[Tulip]

I think Bailey took over again yesterday. That was painful to watch ='(

Would've done better yesterday under Bailey...

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Would've done better yesterday under Bailey...

This is the same Bailey who we ALWAYS got smashed by the Hawks under and coached us to a 186 point loss to Geelong?

Great logic that.

 

[CM Sean]

....lmao

 

[Tulip]

It was hardly serious.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

It was hardly serious.

Sorry mate, didn't read that way at all. A or something would have been nice!

 

[syl]

That was a game of baileyball if ever I've seen one, only NAB cup etc, so lets just relax. Watched it with SuburbanMe up here in Cairns, which was a positive, at least I had someone to talk to as that shitfest unfolded.

Howe: legend, will overtake watts this year. Has a lot of heart to go with his ability.

Clark: legend, absolute first guy picked in our forward line round 1

Magner: legend, how has a rookie pick up become so integral to our line up in the space of a few practice matches? Shows you just how shit we've been for years in clearances. Hope to **** he is back in round 1 because it would be embarrassing to lose to the lions first up

Davey: effort way up, chill out guys, you will all be wet over his tackles and goals by midseason

Watts: where's the pre-emptive panic button? 5 metres off it, my mates sitting on the wing were closer to getting a touch half the time!

Moloney: ****ing rubbish, tough guy. Ball watching, lift your shit, Magner ain't going to do all the tough work from here on out.

Bate: found out? I hope not. Want to see him get a gig round 1 of the real stuff.

Davis: shit bucket, I know people think he will make it. I don't.

I haven't seen the clearance count, but **** our midfield was woeful. Bunch of pussies.

Cheers SuburbanMe for looking after me in Cairns when the missus wouldn't have a bar of the footy! She lucked out, was hard to watch.

*I haven't had a coffee yet as I just woke up, so my opinion here is completely unadulterated, cynical, grumpy, hungover me.

 

[demonfan9]

Just watched the replay, made some mental notes. Starting from the forward line:

Clarks presence and his attack on the footy is great, but he dropped a few too many marks last night. If he can get those hands sticking, he'll be a genuine threat for all opposition defences. Kicked 3.3 goals and I would expect that 45-50 goals is a realistic target this season.

I love everything about Jeremy Howe. This kid has real excitement but he works very hard, does all the 1%'s at the right time (spoils, tackles, smothers) and obviously his marking is a real feature. Expect to see him play as a high half forward this season where his high marking will be vital as we kick long to contests to try clear the opposition defensive zone.

Watts had a much more positive game than his last two weeks. He did a lot of 1%'s as well which will no doubt go unnoticed by the critical masses. Took a lovely mark in the forward line and kicked two goals. There have been calls to push him into the backline or midfield to get his hands on the ball and build his confidence. I think we need to persist with him at centre half forward. Bailey moved him around enough, now just let him settle in the one position and allow him to prosper.

Davey is definately needed up forward but I think he'll take a bit of time to adapt to the role again. It's been at least 5 years since he's played up forward, so he just needs to work back into it. But his defensive pressure (most of the time) and crumbing ability will be invaluable. I think he needs to push deeper forward a bit more to crumb the Clark/Martin packs, as too often the ball was rebounded out of our forward line too easily.

Our midfield got destroyed by one of the premier midfields in the competition. The Hawks outran us all over the ground, pressured us incredibly effectively and then sliced us up with their silky foot skills. Our guys were not accountable, fumbled and panicked too much, and did not work hard enough to find and create space. I can't be bothered making individual assessments as they all contributed to this.

Our defence also copped a pasting with Hale and Franklin combining for 11 goals. Troy Davis was given the task on Hale for most of the game and simply wasn't big or good enough. I believe Neeld would have persisted with that match up though to give young Davis a bit of an education. In the real thing, I reckon Sellar would have been a perfect match up. Frawley went off at half time so he didn't spend much time on Franklin. When Franklin played forward, he either had Frawley (good match up) or Garland (not strong enough). When he moved into the midfield, no one ran with him and he chopped us up.

We tried to stick to our game plan, implementing the forward press/zone, but it's still new to us and we left a lot of gaps which the Hawks cleverly exploited. This will improve but it will take time. We also stuck to our long kicks to contests. I'd like to see a bit more of a run and carry, but at least they are doing what the coach asks.

We copped a good old fashioned belting, but it's only NAB Cup so hopefully Neeld can take on board a few areas for improvement. Better to find them out now than during the season. The following players are borderline or not in our best 22.

Bail (maybe)
Bate (maybe)
Bennell (maybe)
Couch (no)
Davis (no)
Dunn (no)
Fitzpatrick (no)
Magner (maybe)
Nicholson (no)
Tynan (no)

Green, Petterd and Grimes are three definates who did not play, Tapscott a fourth pending fitness. We also had guys like Jones, Rivers, Frawley and Martin spend periods on the bench, so no doubt the team balance will be a lot better come Round 1.

 

[Blackas87]

We tried to stick to our game plan, implementing the forward press/zone, but it's still new to us and we left a lot of gaps which the Hawks cleverly exploited. This will improve but it will take time.

Teams have been working out how to beat the forward press over the last couple of years. By the time it takes us to master it, it's going to be out dated. Bailey tried to copy Geelong and now Neeld is copying Collingwood. I hope he knows what he is doing.