Elephant in room....Mitch Wallis

[VitalDread]

Wallis is being affected by how good Naughton and Bruce have been
Last season he was the number 1 target because he was on fire. Now Bruce and Naughton are taking almost every mark

So our mids are always looking to hit them up on the lead

 

[Dazb86]

People are being oddly harsh on Hunter. That half forward role is the hardest position to impact the game in our team. He's doing well. One of the league leaders with goal assists so far. He's managing to find the ball in that role which is something others have struggled with.

Wallis needs to take his chances. Structurally he's a bit lost with English taking the 3rd tall role.

 

[BEaston]

Hunter at his best is in discussions as the best wing in the league. Wallis at his absolute best is a pretty good forward.

Hunter is not one of our primary wings in the team though.
He's a BOG average forward.

 

[Igloo]

Everyone is prepared to discuss his embarrassing set shot attempts or non-attempts yesterday. But what about the out on the full? That was a complete howler too.

He absolutely torched Dale on that kick. Dale was in a really good position only about 20m away, but would have been able to cut into a more central spot inside 50 since he had a bit of space. He's screaming at Wallis to pass him the ball, but was completely ignored. He wasn't happy.

 

[CarnTheScray]

Don't think he's best 22 NEXT year. Unless he proves me wrong, but he's too slow and we need a quick crumber in that forward line.

 

[Dazb86]

Hunter is not one of our primary wings in the team though.
He's a BOG average forward.

26 touches a game going at nearly 80%. Averaging 2 goal assists. He's fine.

Wallis with 0 goals and 0 assists is more of a concern. It's still very early in the season though. If you include the practice games it's not a good start to the year.

 

[whyBulldogs]

As flagged by Bevo before 2021 season started, everyone needs to earn his spot in best 22 this year, that should apply to every player. Based on his output (efforts count but output speaks louder) in the 4 last games (incl 2 practice), some other player like West, Cavara might deserve a chance in that position. That'd flourish healthy competition within the club

 

[Dancing Dougy]

26 touches a game going at nearly 80%. Averaging 2 goal assists. He's fine.

Wallis with 0 goals and 0 assists is more of a concern. It's still very early in the season though. If you include the practice games it's not a good start to the year.

Hunters decline isn’t just the last couple of games due to a change of role. His disposal and game sense isn’t complimentary to our current team. Yep he clocks up a tonne of two way running, but it’s counterbalanced with continual incorrect choices.

Hunters kicking has always been hit and miss, but you could typically see what he was trying to do, now you don’t, he seems lost.

 

[BEaston]

26 touches a game going at nearly 80%. Averaging 2 goal assists. He's fine.

Wallis with 0 goals and 0 assists is more of a concern. It's still very early in the season though. If you include the practice games it's not a good start to the year.

Said it last week after his 30+ disposals also. I'd rather someone damaging that gets only 20 than Hunter's fluff. I don't pay much attention to DE% when it comes to ball use, very limited stat.
One of his goal assists yesterday was him shitting himself in front of goal, luckily Smith had run hard on the outside to receive. I'm not putting money on Hunter kicking that goal on his own.

Hunter on the wing is fine, but he's in line behind Smith and Treloar at this point. Wedging him into this forward role, I'd just prefer a more damaging player. If Lipinski gets moved or loses his spot, then Hunter's mintues on the wing increase and that would be fine but currently he's not playing there much.

Wally is a little concerning but he's a smart adaptable player so I think he will be OK. Missed some shots yesterday, if he gets his 1 to 2 goals per game its fine.

 

[ScragCity]

Weaknesses:

He's slow
Not a good crumber
Not tall enough to be a real contested marking threat
Doesn't apply great pressure
Can't kick the ball very far

Strengths:

Good clubman
Used to be fairly reliable at kicking high percentage set shots

 

[Dazb86]

Said it last week after his 30+ disposals also. I'd rather someone damaging that gets only 20 than Hunter's fluff. I don't pay much attention to DE% when it comes to ball use, very limited stat.
One of his goal assists yesterday was him shitting himself in front of goal, luckily Smith had run hard on the outside to receive. I'm not putting money on Hunter kicking that goal on his own.

Hunter on the wing is fine, but he's in line behind Smith and Treloar at this point. Wedging him into this forward role, I'd just prefer a more damaging player. If Lipinski gets moved or loses his spot, then Hunter's mintues on the wing increase and that would be fine but currently he's not playing there much.

Wally is a little concerning but he's a smart adaptable player so I think he will be OK. Missed some shots yesterday, if he gets his 1 to 2 goals per game its fine.

I'll agree to disagree. That half forward spot has been a blackhole for our players. They go missing from the game when played there. Maclean, Lipinski, Richards etc etc they are all good players but disappear in that role. I don't mind what Hunters doing at the moment.

 

[JJHunter]

26 touches a game going at nearly 80%. Averaging 2 goal assists. He's fine.

Wallis with 0 goals and 0 assists is more of a concern. It's still very early in the season though. If you include the practice games it's not a good start to the year.

He had three shots on goal in the game yesterday and had one slip from the tips of his fingers at the top of the square.
Last year he made the very most of his opportunities and was very reliable.
Lets not jump to smashing the guy off yesterdays game where the radar was off.

 

[yebiga]

Not only is Hunter an Elite Winger - he can't play anywhere else - and we are a much better team with him on the wing.
Moreover, guys like Lipinski and Treloar are also better half forwards then wingmen. Playing Hunter forward is one of those strange trips Bev likes to take - it's not working. Instead of improving as a forward, we saw yesterday that Hunter is now too afraid to even have a shot at goal. When he found himself on the wing v the eagles he was his imperial self - forward he
I get it would be nice to add strings to his bow - if he could slot the odd goal he would elevate his game to another level. Unfortunately, the changed role is threatening to derail his entire game.

 

[LondonBulldog]

Not only is Hunter an Elite Winger - he can't play anywhere else - and we are a much better team with him on the wing.
Moreover, guys like Lipinski and Treloar are also better half forwards then wingmen. Playing Hunter forward is one of those strange trips Bev likes to take - it's not working. Instead of improving as a forward, we saw yesterday that Hunter is now too afraid to even have a shot at goal. When he found himself on the wing v the eagles he was his imperial self - forward he
I get it would be nice to add strings to his bow - if he could slot the odd goal he would elevate his game to another level. Unfortunately, the changed role is threatening to derail his entire game.

Apart from the centre bounce (6, 6, 6), wing and half forward are interchangeable. Players run the whole ground. Don't think it matters at all if Hunter starts wing or half forward, he will be judged on form. His ball use has always been average. I've never been a massive fan yet I think he is doing o.k at HF and covering a fair bit of ground. Thought he had a good last quarter.

 

[who_let_the_dogs_out]

Let him get some confidence against North first.

 

[Sharkey66]

Bont was on sen this morning and when asked if after that mark in the last quarter where he kicked the sealer, if he had thought about passing to English who was running into the open goal.
He said he thought about it momentarily but to be honest he was just too stuffed after running the length of the ground.

I really wonder if we are seriously underestimating the effect fatigue is having on the boys at the moment.
Could go some way towards explaining some of the inaccuracy since we have such an intensive style of play. Some of the boys have looked dead on their feet at times especially towards the end of quarters.

 

[Cadillac]

The fact he has the title of VC should buy him a few more weeks. But if he keeps this form up over the next two weeks he should definitely be looking over his shoulder. He’s not much use to the side if he’s unable to convert his set shots. Playing like a shorter version of last years Bruce at the moment.

 

[dogwatch]

Surprisingly there's no mention here of the other Mitch: Mitch Hannan.

Medical report says he's now available for selection. I wouldn't expect him to go straight into the seniors without at least one reserves game but it would be very un-Bevolike to trade a player from another AFL club and not give him early games.

He averages 1.10 goals a game which is not as much as Wally managed last year (1.39) but is better than most players on our list. He is more of a natural forward than the re-purposed midfielders we usually play there and his availability will surely increase the pressure on Wallis.

 

[Cadillac]

Surprisingly there's no mention here of the other Mitch: Mitch Hannan.

Medical report says he's now available for selection. I wouldn't expect him to go straight into the seniors without at least one reserves game but it would be very un-Bevolike to trade a player from another AFL club and not give him early games.

He averages 1.10 goals a game which is not as much as Wally managed last year (1.39) but is better than most players on our list. He is more of a natural forward than the re-purposed midfielders we usually play there and his availability will surely increase the pressure on Wallis.

If we are a serious premiership contender, I seriously doubt Hannan is anything more than insurance to cover an injury. If he's not good enough for a full time gig at Melbourne than he isn't going to be here either. I really hope West, Cavarra and JUH will be ahead of him in the pecking order.

 

[dogwatch]

If we are a serious premiership contender, I seriously doubt Hannan is anything more than insurance to cover an injury. If he's not good enough for a full time gig at Melbourne than he isn't going to be here either. I really hope West, Cavarra and JUH will be ahead of him in the pecking order.

The logic sounds good but there are lots of exceptions. Tony Liberatore wasn't good enough for a gig at Norf ... NORF!

283 games and a Brownlow later he's a club legend.

 

[Cadillac]

The logic sounds good but there are lots of exceptions. Tony Liberatore wasn't good enough for a gig at Norf ... NORF!

283 games and a Brownlow later he's a club legend.

I get that. But Tony Liberatore wasn't good enough for North at 19. Hannan is 27.

 

[Bulldogs85]

If we are a serious premiership contender, I seriously doubt Hannan is anything more than insurance to cover an injury. If he's not good enough for a full time gig at Melbourne than he isn't going to be here either. I really hope West, Cavarra and JUH will be ahead of him in the pecking order.

Hannan had injury problems in his last 2 years at Melbourne that’s why he didn’t play as much

 

[W W Biscuit]

It's become a well established pattern that our leading goalkicker drops off a cliff the following year so we shouldn't be too surprised.

The Jason Watts Medal?

 

[ScragCity]

After watching the replay I think Wallis' game was even worse than I thought it was watching it live. It was a Gowers-esque performance. He did a fantastic job coming back from that horrible broken leg but I think he's done.

 

[Morris Major]

Wally put himself into positions to make an impact v Eagles, he just scuffed his lines. Which is already an improvement on his being invisible against Collingwood.

He's on the right trajectory, and against North he can play himself out of the funk.