I was wrong

[thrillhouse]

Thanks for making me look like a fool, MARK BLAKE. He's stepped up the past 2 weeks. Congrats on his current form.

Time for me to crawl back under a rock

 

[CF]

He still made few "Blakey" mistakes here and there. But he is playing like he knows his spot is in jeopardy when Ottens is fit.

 

[footymissionary]

well done big fella.

 

[thrillhouse]

He still made few "Blakey" mistakes here and there. But he is playing like he knows his spot is in jeopardy when Ottens is fit.

My jaw dropped when be banged it outside 50 into the goal square!

 

[InnocentBystandr]

Great game from Mark Blake tonight, and not just in the ruck.

Do you reckon that Pods is making Hawk step up, and Hawk in the ruck is making Blake step up?

 

[barmy44]

Thanks for making me look like a fool, MARK BLAKE. He's stepped up the past 2 weeks. Congrats on his current form.

Time for me to crawl back under a rock

good on you, mate

 

[InnocentBystandr]

My jaw dropped when be banged it outside 50 into the goal square!

Blake has delivered some nicely weighted kicks of late.

 

[CF]

I seem to recall certain Blake Haters saying through the week that Blakey has never delivered in a big pressure cooker game....I wonder what excuse they will come up with this week.

 

[thehoff]

For me, especially in the first half, Blake was Best of Ground. He slowed in the second but was still in our top two or three players.

Byrnes surely has to make way for Hogan or Duncan though.

 

[Copernicus]

The big lug was important today. Really controlled the ruck in the first half, and some good hands too.

 

[noclashjumpers]

I think Blake's confidence has grown in proportion to the confidence the other players now have in him.

They will actually use him as a first option now.

 

[TheMightyAchilles]

jolly has been shite all year

blake was ok, nice handball

hawkins is awesome as a running ruckman

he and otto in the ruck will be awesome, just ask leigh matthews

 

[winty]

I seem to recall certain Blake Haters saying through the week that Blakey has never delivered in a big pressure cooker game....I wonder what excuse they will come up with this week.

They'll ignore all the good things he did, and just focus on that errant handball that resulted on a Collingwood goal.

 

[shizzle]

Great game from Blake seemed to get quite alot of taps to advantage, I was actually just as impressed with Hawkins, dealt with Jolly quite easily at times.

 

[AM]

They'll ignore all the good things he did, and just focus on that errant handball that resulted on a Collingwood goal.

Or wait 'til he gets towelled and dig out some quotes from this thread.

 

[Brasil2007]

Thanks for making me look like a fool, MARK BLAKE. He's stepped up the past 2 weeks. Congrats on his current form.

Time for me to crawl back under a rock

I reckon he's had three good games in a row - remember the one he belted in from the boundary down at skilled? In that game he was free a bunch but wasn't used much. Clearly the instruction has gone out to make teams pay for not giving him any respect.

Very good coaching.

 

[Pivo]

jolly has been shite all year

blake was ok, nice handball

hawkins is awesome as a running ruckman

he and otto in the ruck will be awesome, just ask leigh matthews

So even when Blake plays well you still manage to give him a backhander by saying Jolly has been shit all year??

What does the guy have to do to win your respect? The board wants to know.

Yes, he made mistakes but he performed in a big game which you have been calling for.

 

[Turbocat]

Good game MB. Not great but certainly good.

Blake should not handball to a guy just for the sake of it. The opposition fall off him, and are under pressure when receiving the ball. He looks far better when used and the KICKs the ball. Worst bang the crap out it the boundary and we reset.Next step is far him to a couple of grabs forward of centre and get a goal or two.

Its taken a while , probably too long but he starting to show something like what one expects from an AFL Ruckman. If he could start hit to our advantage now he would actually be a worry for the other side.

 

[Selective Retention]

Blake was good. I'm a little bit of a fence sitter on Blake. I'm a realist in that he is one of our best two rucks and he will play so I tend not to get caught up in the slanging matches.

Hawkins rucking I haven't been keen on but there was an evident benefit tonight. The thing that shone out in the first quarter tonight was the Hawk dropping back and filling the space in defensive 50, he took two or three saving marks back there. That is something different again to what both Ottens and Blake offer as ruckman. It's an old school ruckman tactic but still very useful.

 

[David the Cat]

Yes Blake was very good tonight in a high pressure game. Good on you for giving credit where its due.

He certainly was better than Jolly tonight I thought. And had an influence around the ground.

Good job big fella.

 

[GFC1859]

His incompetence in being around the ball besides in ruck contests is the type of thing which can get found out and cost us dearly in a close final

I can't wait for Ottens we will be hard to beat without him

 

[Catdog]

Impressive Blakey

Its never been easy 4 you, but you keep producing in the best ways!

Gotta love the way he is playing team Geelong!

We are Geelong

 

[Brasil2007]

Blake was good. I'm a little bit of a fence sitter on Blake. I'm a realist in that he is one of our best two rucks and he will play so I tend not to get caught up in the slanging matches.

Hawkins rucking I haven't been keen on but there was an evident benefit tonight. The thing that shone out in the first quarter tonight was the Hawk dropping back and filling the space in defensive 50, he took two or three saving marks back there. That is something different again to what both Ottens and Blake offer as ruckman. It's an old school ruckman tactic but still very useful.

Nice observations.

I reckon Tomahawk is a bit more comfortable playing up the ground because when he takes a mark he really only has one option: move it forward as quickly and efficiently as he can. As such he tends just to get on with it. When he marks in front of goal, it's like the weight of expectation falls on him. He seems to stiffen up. All those doubts come into his mind, and he starts at times looking for options that I think aren't there. I think he'll be alright in the long run though - the time he's spending on the ball will be building his confidence.

 

[Vdubs]

I'm a self-admitted non-optimistic supporter of this great team, having this problem of not being able to recognise our strengths compared with the opposition but have always supported our maligned ones. Not out of pity. I truly believe Blake will end up being more than a 2nd ruck, and will be a dominant classical ruckman.Confidence seems to be so critical for Blakey and the responsibility of being #1 seems to sit well with him so far.

 

[CF]

So even when Blake plays well you still manage to give him a backhander by saying Jolly has been shit all year??

What does the guy have to do to win your respect? The board wants to know.

Yes, he made mistakes but he performed in a big game which you have been calling for.

Blakes wayward handball that cost us a goal will be a learning opportunity for him. But we had other players do stupid mistakes last night as well. Some of Josh Hunts kick in's that were shite. James Kelly in the first quarter was kicking atrociously and Byrnes kicking on goal was terrible last night.

But none of that matters to Blakeys critics