Review Fremantle vs. Essendon

[freoextra]

Sandilands, Mundy, Fyfe and Barlow/Neale did not contest a single centre bounce together from about the half way mark of the third onwards. Or at least, not that I noticed. They contested almost all of the centre bounces before then. Definite tactical ploy.

Yes I noticed this as well. Sandi spending a lot of time up forward in the last along with Fyfe. People may not like it but we are going into preservation mode when the game has been won. It is a long season and RTB uses the last quarter to experiment.

Not saying the players don't try just that RTB has moved players out of their structures (which he has admitted).

 

[freoextra]

And if Lyon had have said what you just said, then we wouldn't be talking about this.

Instead he chose to belittle the journalist and act like a diva. Totally unnecessary.

Isn't time the journos over here asked a few more in depth questions rather than crap like that??

Seriously, if you can't work out that the coaches don't really want to be there and only want to talk about game related questions. I can't believe most journos went to university.

 

[Lost_Deputy]

And if Lyon had have said what you just said, then we wouldn't be talking about this.

Instead he chose to belittle the journalist and act like a diva. Totally unnecessary.

Think these are pretty strong words to be saying about our coach after his 200th mate.

 

[Crippa]

Think these are pretty strong words to be saying about our coach after his 200th mate.

Never mind, plenty of Richmond fans are loving Ross's post-match pressers:

i listened to SRL(Lyon) presser early this morning.I just was reminded how far off DH is .it was like listening to a professor of Humanities compared to a Bronx homeless kid.
SRL was told they were fav for the flag.

He replied yes ,but people didn't rate us at the start of the year,
we haven't achieved anything yet
6-0 who cares AS there have been teams like the Swans who were 2-3 last year and made a GF
THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS WORK HARD AND CONTINUE TO PLAN

imagine us at 6-0 there would be almost a doco done every week telling us nothing

This is the coach i want to listen to and when he rattles of stats he only mentions relevant ones and at what time in the game they took place.
I'D pay the earth for any coach who partially resembled SRL

 

[tacopavlich]

Would it really hurt for him to say (as he has in the past) that its nice for our members and supporters to enjoy being top of the ladder and undefeated but that he and the players have bigger things on their minds? He knows its an entertainment business and those of us that don't live and breathe the game 24/7 are entitled to take a bit of pleasure out of it on a week by week basis.

We already have players that will give you boring censored answers like you just wrote, I'm much happier Lyon speaks his mind and treats shallow questions with contempt, makes him worth actually listening to.

It's not like you need Lyon to validate your enjoyment for being top of the ladder, he doesn't need to state the obvious.

 

[Arcassius]

It turns really quickly - if we start celebrating wins and talking ourselves up, the corollary of that is that we make excuses the second we lose. Either way, the media will lap us up one minute and crucify us the next. So Ross does neither - focuses on a single clear message all throughout. If we get through the season and win the premiership I think we'll see him open up more. Until then, it's all business.

 

[Kram]

That's right, we don't get involved in the yo-yo.

 

[E Shed]

Never mind, plenty of Richmond fans are loving Ross's post-match pressers:

He was quoted in the Port presser as well. Hinkley was complaining that his team are being selective about turning up switched on for games and the journo asked him if he agreed with Lyon's mantra of anywhere anytime and he said yes absolutely, thats the way it should be.

We already have players that will give you boring censored answers like you just wrote, I'm much happier Lyon speaks his mind and treats shallow questions with contempt, makes him worth actually listening to.

It's not like you need Lyon to validate your enjoyment for being top of the ladder, he doesn't need to state the obvious.

The intent of my post wasn't that I need someone to validate my enjoyment. It was to highlight that Lyon is a very smart guy who knows he could mouth a few platitudes without doing any harm therefore his decision not to is quite deliberate or alternatively because he is still hyped up. He is quite happy to have a laugh and let his guard down later in the week on radio shows.

 

[StingBitten]

From start to finish I felt there was no way we were going to lose that game.

I'm very happy with the way we're playing at the moment, and without sounding too negative that's been without a number of our key players at their peak, including;

- Small crumbing duo Walters and Ballantyne (although Ballantyne seems to be shifting gears slowly)
- MDB - somewhat due to being sub, but is giving us 50-50 atm
- Barlow - hasn't been too bad in some games but not the 30+ and ferocious tackling we've been used to seeing in the past.
- Sandilands - still dominating clearances/hitouts but not taking those big contest pack marks anymore; this is OK because Zaarke has picked up here.
- Jonhson - the helicopter chops aren't as precise as before.

Again this isn't a complaint just an acknowledgment that we're currently the top team in the comp and not everyone yet has his peak form. It's not too important as other players have lifted where these guys have dropped off... it'll just be amazing if all these guys hit their peak later this year and everyone else maintains there's.

 

[Arcassius]

Probably still in boss mode from the game. Would love to be a fly on the wall in the coaches box to see how he goes in there

 

[TheInjuryFactory]

From start to finish I felt there was no way we were going to lose that game.

I'm very happy with the way we're playing at the moment, and without sounding too negative that's been without a number of our key players at their peak, including;

- Small crumbing duo Walters and Ballantyne (although Ballantyne seems to be shifting gears slowly)
- MDB - somewhat due to being sub, but is giving us 50-50 atm
- Barlow - hasn't been too bad in some games but not the 30+ and ferocious tackling we've been used to seeing in the past.
- Sandilands - still dominating clearances/hitouts but not taking those big contest pack marks anymore; this is OK because Zaarke has picked up here.
- Jonhson - the helicopter chops aren't as precise as before.

Again this isn't a complaint just an acknowledgment that we're currently the top team in the comp and not everyone yet has his peak form. It's not too important as other players have lifted where these guys have dropped off... it'll just be amazing if all these guys hit their peak later this year and everyone else maintains there's.

I reckon you can probably add Spurr to that list IMO. Had a lot of it on Saturday (heaps in fact) but he is the #1 step ladder at the club, makes some terrible decisions with his disposal and his mistakes are costing us goals at the moment. He also gets beaten one on one a fair bit at the moment, but is probably saved from looking silly more often by the others. I love the team things he does, he puts his body on the line and clearly gives his all but I think he is yet to recapture his 2012-13 form. An improvement on last year but can definitely lift for mine. He's probably the last bloke in our current backline set up that we want disposing of it out of D50.

 

[poshman]

From start to finish I felt there was no way we were going to lose that game.

I'm very happy with the way we're playing at the moment, and without sounding too negative that's been without a number of our key players at their peak, including;

- Small crumbing duo Walters and Ballantyne (although Ballantyne seems to be shifting gears slowly)
- MDB - somewhat due to being sub, but is giving us 50-50 atm
- Barlow - hasn't been too bad in some games but not the 30+ and ferocious tackling we've been used to seeing in the past.
- Sandilands - still dominating clearances/hitouts but not taking those big contest pack marks anymore; this is OK because Zaarke has picked up here.
- Jonhson - the helicopter chops aren't as precise as before.

Again this isn't a complaint just an acknowledgment that we're currently the top team in the comp and not everyone yet has his peak form. It's not too important as other players have lifted where these guys have dropped off... it'll just be amazing if all these guys hit their peak later this year and everyone else maintains there's.

Agree with some of those, not on sandi though. In my eyes his marking is as good if not better than ever and his around the ball work may have improved. He value is increasing with the skill of our midfield also. Watching Fyfe, Mundy and Neale run onto his taps and clear contests with ease 3-5 times per game is amazing and must be demoralising for opposing teams.

 

[Steinfreo]

After watching the replay I noticed a few things.
-Walters didnt really have a to bad game. It seemed worse at the ground.
-I feel we have a weakness in dealing with elite speed small defenders. Its lucky there arent to many of them floating around.
-It was a pretty tough game, lots of heavy hits.
-Duffman was a bit average but having Ibbo means our other backmen that set up play can have an average day.
-Neale literally didnt even know it was greasy out there at all.

 

[Arcassius]

Agree with some of those, not on sandi though. In my eyes his marking is as good if not better than ever and his around the ball work may have improved. He value is increasing with the skill of our midfield also. Watching Fyfe, Mundy and Neale run onto his taps and clear contests with ease 3-5 times per game is amazing and must be demoralising for opposing teams.

Sandilands in isolation, I disagree. He's getting into good positions to help out, but statistically speaking he's down across the board so far this year. 1 tackle this year, between 26-29% hitouts to advantage (if I recall), below the 30-32% you see with other dominant rucks. He's a mammoth to go up against, so other rucks struggle against him - which works in his favour, but around the ground he's not as effective this year. Less marks, less disposals, less goals.

What's making him look better is that our midfield has chemistry right now and good systems so we win the clearance even if the tap isn't perfect. The taps you remember are the few that work out. Not the ones where he puts it down the throat of an opposition player, or to nobody in particular and we win the clearance anyway through the grunt of our mids.

 

[Frank J Moose]

Sandilands in isolation, I disagree. He's getting into good positions to help out, but statistically speaking he's down across the board so far this year. 1 tackle this year, between 26-29% hitouts to advantage (if I recall), below the 30-32% you see with other dominant rucks. He's a mammoth to go up against, so other rucks struggle against him - which works in his favour, but around the ground he's not as effective this year. Less marks, less disposals, less goals.

What's making him look better is that our midfield has chemistry right now and good systems so we win the clearance even if the tap isn't perfect. The taps you remember are the few that work out. Not the ones where he puts it down the throat of an opposition player, or to nobody in particular and we win the clearance anyway through the grunt of our mids.

Sandilands is spending a lot less time on the ball. That's why his numbers are down. The number of pure clearances sems at an all time high as midfielders just cruise untouched through pack. His body use in clearing space has improved.

And Sandilands concedes the least hit outs to advantage. So beneficial to the half backs.

And still averages more contested (2.33) marks than any other ruckman. Zac Clark is second (1.83)

 

[poshman]

Sandilands in isolation, I disagree. He's getting into good positions to help out, but statistically speaking he's down across the board so far this year. 1 tackle this year, between 26-29% hitouts to advantage (if I recall), below the 30-32% you see with other dominant rucks. He's a mammoth to go up against, so other rucks struggle against him - which works in his favour, but around the ground he's not as effective this year. Less marks, less disposals, less goals.

What's making him look better is that our midfield has chemistry right now and good systems so we win the clearance even if the tap isn't perfect. The taps you remember are the few that work out. Not the ones where he puts it down the throat of an opposition player, or to nobody in particular and we win the clearance anyway through the grunt of our mids.

See below... his positioning and bringing the ball down in front from marks has improved considerably. It looks to me like we are giving sandi active rest once the game is iced. Which give Clarke more opportunity.

Sandilands is spending a lot less time on the ball. That's why his numbers are down. The number of pure clearances sems at an all time high as midfielders just cruise untouched through pack. His body use in clearing space has improved.

And Sandilands concedes the least hit outs to advantage. So beneficial to the half backs.

And still averages more contested (2.33) marks than any other ruckman. Zac Clark is second (1.83)

Those two stats combined with his less time on ball is huge. We have never seen sandi in the forward line as much as we are seeing right now. And he is producing second efforts. How good was his first quarter contested pack mark and kick to clarks advantage for a goal.

 

[Scham]

The poor bugger still gets r*ped in the marking contests up forward too. Saw him blatantly held, blatantly pushed in the back and blatantly have his arms chopped this week and I'm only up one end!

 

[Taylor]

Clarke taking contested marks has been huge for us this season.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Clancee is having an enormous impact in the team.
When Gu returns I can see Clancee becoming a strategic weapon.

 

[freoextra]

Sandi and Clarke are combining beautifully. But it is still noticable the difference it makes when Sandi goes off the ball, Clarke competes well and has some great taps to advantage but it is just not the total domination that Sandi provides.

I have no doubt that they are managing Sandi (for the first time) and he is rucking much less in the last quarter. My hope is that this is management and not a slight injury management.

Love how organised RTB seems this year with player management.

We have potentially another level to go to in the forward line if Fyfe and Sandi start taking even more grabs in the forward fifty and converting!

 

[freoextra]

Clancee is having an enormous impact in the team.
When Gu returns I can see Clancee becoming a strategic weapon.

Massive impact from Clancee, even those little fumbles and poor handballs from yesteryear have gone from his game. A real physical presence.

 

[Arcassius]

Sandilands is spending a lot less time on the ball. That's why his numbers are down. The number of pure clearances sems at an all time high as midfielders just cruise untouched through pack. His body use in clearing space has improved.

And Sandilands concedes the least hit outs to advantage. So beneficial to the half backs.

And still averages more contested (2.33) marks than any other ruckman. Zac Clark is second (1.83)

Conceding least hitouts to advantage is as much a result of his raw size and positioning. That part will never change as he's not going to get any shorter. Translating his dominance to an advantage is where he needs to improve.

Averaging more contested marks than the competition is a good stat, but I was looking at whether Sandi has improved against himself.

I agree with you that his body use has improved though - especially laying blocks for others to help the mids out.

We have never seen sandi in the forward line as much as we are seeing right now. And he is producing second efforts. How good was his first quarter contested pack mark and kick to clarks advantage for a goal.

Spending more time up forward should result in an increase in goals, and in marks/contested marks don't you think?

 

[MadDocker]

Mrs bought the new baby to his first ever AFL game. Was a ripper. If you were in or around block 334 and saw a cute little baby with his parents, that was us.

 

[democritus]

Sandilands might not be going full beast mode this season, but I'm ok with that. I'd rather take a very effective duo than an excellent Sandilands and an average Clarke. It's working well and with the emergence of Clarke as a more viable option Sandi's load can be managed.

 

[Arcassius]

Clarke taking contested marks has been huge for us this season.

Yeah definitely Our positioning and movement in the forward 50 is much better, and it looks like Clarke is reading the ball better (and backing himself) to take the pack marks.