Intra Club Game

[Demon Revival]

Wise Guy, how did Lawrence & Evans go???

 

[Wise Guy Sam]

Wise Guy, how did Lawrence & Evans go???

Lawrence is very quick but I didn't see him get much of it from my end. Evans was good. Managed a goal apparently and got a few quality touches. He isn't afraid to go for the contested ball.


From the rookies I liked Johnson's effort. Really hard at it. Made some really good plays in the 2nd.

Speaking of goals, twitter just told me Watts got 2 and Howe got 1. Must of been up the other end but that means watts just missed 3 (had a poster) and by my count had four or five scouring shots.

 

[Captain Jack]

Top work WGS, I'll add my own observations to yours when I get home this arvo.

 

[Andy_Mac]

I must put some context around my comments re: Spencer. Whilst he was better than the Spencer of old (in the warm up i watched him and he didn't miss one target by foot. A miracle), I was hoping that by some of the positive training reports he may have developed a little more.

Also I liked the look of Cook. Is no doubt under sized, but already looks bigger than when he was drafted and moves around the ground with ease.

Edit.

Blease didn't seem to do a great deal, however he was involved in a contest with Grimes directly in front of me and he did all right but most importantly seemed to move/change direction with ease.

 

[eskimo]

Good job WGS. Spelling was pretty good coming off the iPhone


A few of my observations before I do a whole write up.

First 15 seconds of the game, Watts ran in off the square and laid a big tackle. Was very good to see.

Sylvia is in top nick! If he stays on the ground for 22 games not only will he be AA, he will be top 5 in the Brownlow.

This is the first time I have looked at Stef Martin on the ground and he looked like a footballer. He moved to the right places, looked pretty good in the ruck. Spencer probably had him covered in ruck work, but Martin was much better around the ground IMO. It is out of them 2 for the 2nd ruck spot, and at the moment I would have Martin slightly ahead, because of the option of playing him elsewhere. At best Spencer will only ever be a Mark Blake style ruckman.

Scully and Trenners are going to make a forbidible combination for years to come (piss off GWS!!)

At half time the teams switched around to somewhat represent our starting 21 (excluding those not playing).

I was quite impressed with Struass. He looked comfortable out there. His kicking was fantastic, and his defensive work has improved a lot.

Rivers was by far the best defender of the two sides. He got to every contest he could, and always killed the contest. He rebounded pretty well also.

Bartram was very good. One kick just before the final siren sliced the defence open and hit big Spence on the tit!

Last one - Cookie was very good. He is obviously talented. He made very good position, but was moved off the ball far too easily, purely because of his size. He will be a very good footballer, as soon as he is the size of a footballer.


Will write a full report for demon blog shortly, and also post it up here.

 

[Ausyid]

My thoughts from today:

Watts was playing high up the ground in the first half, almost on a wing, but was constantly involved. Probably had 15 touches in the first half including a couple of good inside 50s which hit targets. Second half he moved deeper forward and was the standout forward for the A team. Mcnamara couldn't stay with him and he took about 4 marks inside 50 (none contested) and kicked a couple. Good signs I think.

Scully was one of the best for the day. Goes so hard at the ball.

Sylvia was very good, probably the best player out there.

Grimes was also very good. Played mainly defence with some runs through the middle. Constantly outclassed his opponent.

Cale Morton has put on weight through the chest and core. Arms still quite skinny though. I think he's in for a good year. Was playing on the wing all game.

Rohan Bail and Neville Jetta both were put in the B team in the 2nd half which isn't a good sign but Bail really impressed once that occurred. Was the only B team player who really did anything at all and was quite good.

Lucas Cook played the first half. He pushed up the ground and did some good things including beating Scully in a contest at ground level. Didn't play the second half.

Max Gawn looked strong in the ruck and also played deep forward in the first half and snagged a goal. He didn't play the second half.

Sam Blease started very deep in defence. Got a few touches on the rebound though and looked OK. He also didn't play the second half.

James Strauss impressed me. He took all the kick-ins and barely missed a target and got plenty of the ball especially in the 2nd half playing for the A team. He wasn't really ever under pressure when kicking but he still was very accurate. I think he's close to getting a best 22 gig from round 1. At the 3 qtr time break Bailey came up to him and gave him a lot of encouragement and seemed pleased.

Addam Maric was also in the A team which is interesting and he did OK. I don't think he's an AFL standard player but I think he may get an opportunity or two this season.

Bate looks like he's slimmed down slightly whereas Dunn looks like he'll start this season exactly how he ended last.

No idea why Nathan Jones was the runner but he is very vocal and definitely a leader.

Can't really think of anything else worth noting but I'm happy to answer any questions?

 

[eskimo]

Oh and Demon Revival -

Lawrence didn't get a whole lot of the ball, but when he got it he looked pretty good. A couple of times he tried to do too much, as if he were trying too hard to impress, but he got up, dusted himself off and went again.


Evans was ok I thought. I didn't see a whole lot of him, but what I did see I liked, as a prospect. He is a fair way off being AFL ready IMO, but will slot in nicely into Casey, and will be able to do some good things down there.

 

[Crimson Azure]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

[BigSexc]

How was Nicholson? very excited for this guy, IMO he will be looking for the rookie upgrade spot.

 

[Capt_Concussion]

M. Evans impressed me, reminds me of the Gys in his first game against Geelong. Just floated around and found himself in the right spots. Good skills as well.

I didn't notice Nicholson much but when I did it was because he was sidestepping anything in his path. That's what helped me identify him at first, his agility.

The ranger bloke went hard but ran himself into trouble a fair bit.

Scully is a machine, just cuts the game apart.

Sylvia and Moloney had fun with the Casey blokes and the rookies. Just ran through half of them.

In the second half Watts dominated the forward line. However, he was playing on a Casey bloke who couldn't get near him and he had a dominant midfield kicking to him. His kicking 90% of the time amazing and 10% disgusting. Nothing in between.

Gawn seemed to move ok. At one point him gathered a bouncing ball one handed and quickly dished off the hand ball to a runner. A feat with a high degree of difficulty for a 200cm giraffe in greasy conditions.

Dunn was the general of the forward line in the absence of Green.

I couldn't recognise number 45 for White with the purple boots but I thought he was soft and lazy. At one point he gave the hands to a team mate then just watched two opponents run past him to put on the tackle/smother. Didn't even make an effort to sheppard. Hopefully he was a Casey boy. EDIT: the only no. 45 out there on the day was Lawrence apparently.

Bail really stood out when he was put into the middle for the B team. Looked like he wanted it.

Maric didn't impress me. 50/50 skills, doesn't go hard, below average awareness.

Howe took a nice mark at the top of the square for his goal. Also did some decent stuff through the middle, nothing special though.

Morton is a bit bigger, still lanky but not a giraffe. Importantly he's bigger in the areas that count which are the legs and core.

Blease looks massive compared to when he was drafted. Has a good old fashioned barrel chest. Definitely no Beamer though.

Grimes controlled the game from the Backline.

Bartram was good. I'd say his kicking was just as good as most today.

Jordie McKenzie is probably my favourite player. Hard at it, hard running just a competitor. At one point he tackled a bloke and when most tacklers just spoon the player on the ground waiting for the ump to blow his whistle. Jordie quickly got around and ripped the ball out of the player's hands and was off.

Trengove = Bartel. It was said before he was drafted and the similarities are definitely there. You don't notice him until he's diving at the ball or taking a great overhead mark.

Nathan Buckley wandered over from AAMI about 5 minutes after I got there was was having a good look.


Here are some pictures I took on my phone so they're pretty distant (no zoom) and I was playing around with the settings so some of them are blury and crap.



Dunn kicking a goal



Howe taking a nice mark



A team huddle



Joel MacDonald running the ball out of defence.



Spencer vs Tom McDonald I think.



You guessed it, Scully burns away from this contest.





JAMAR! Oh wait, Tommy Macnamara managed to spoil this. I suppose that's a good thing.



Watts' mark



Watts' Goal.

 

[melbournemartin]

melbournemartin's day (morning) at the footy:

After getting out of bed at the ridiculous time of 7.45, I car/trained it into Richmond excited for my first taste of live football in a few months. After walking briskly through the ticket gate to avoid being asked for concession ID, I waltzed on over to the paddock. At first sight, there seemed to be very few people there at 9am. I was worried that it might just be me with only my notepad and camera to keep myself company. The crowd slowly started filling in though, which was a bit relieving. The setup by the end was actually rather professional, with a stall there selling merchandise, a mascot entertaining the kids and ladies walking around handing out printed teamsheets. Even little things like that matter, I reckon.

Both teams did full (and identical) warmups, very similar to those seen on match day last year. Nathan Jones, dressed like a firefighter, was very vocal during the warmups even though he was just a runner today (I later found out that he was just a bit sore, nothing major). It seems like he's really taking his new leadership role very seriously. I did compile a list of non-playing players and possibly reasons why:

Frawley: Arm in sling, we all know he's injured.
Gysberts: Walking freely, no injury detected.
Newton: Forearm in brace, apparently he injured his wrist.
Fitzpatrick: Walking on crutches but players snap their toenail and use crutches these days.
Green: Didn't appear to be anything wrong with him but Bailey in his interview said he was crook.
Jones: Was a runner and was apparently a little sore.
Wona: Didn't seem to be anything wrong with him.
Tapscott: Same as Wona, and there is DEFINITELY nothing wrong with the size of his arms and shoulders...wowie.
Robert Campbell: He appeared to be fine and Bailey said he had a small injury but was a fantastic trainer and probably trained too much even. He did a lot of chatting with our ruckmen.

When looking through the teamsheets I thought to myself: wow, White is going to dominate. That was true to a certain extent because the White midfield was much stronger with Jamar, Sylvia, Scully and Trengove all working nicely, although Scully started on the wing for most of the game which was a bit disappointed. Young Evans seemed to get a gig in the middle instead of Tom. Moloney was left to fight on his own for the Blue team. The White team also had a stronger forward line with Watts, Bate and Petterd but Blue had a strong defence to counter them with Morton, Grimes and Garland controlling things and Blease in the thick of it early. The game was pretty much played in the White half yet they only got 2 goals to 0. I never really had full confidence when the ball was moved forward as the 50 always seemed to be very congested.

Some key matchups:

Garland vs Bate
Jamar, Sylvia, Trengove, Evans vs Spencer, McKenzie, Moloney and Jetta
Bartram vs Petterd
Macdonald vs Dunn
Grimes vs Watts (a very loose matchup though)

Moving the ball out of defence was interesting. It really was play on at all costs. Bartram and Grimes were always running past each other. It's great to watch when it comes off but against strong tackling sides, how will it go? Do we have a plan B? Until Watts or someone else becomes a big presence at CHF, I doubt we will.

At one point Howe (White) went for a speccie (although he didn't get all that high) on top of two Blue players, one of whom was running back with the flight of the ball. Beamer was nearby and told him to cut that out. I'm sure it was because you don't want injuries in a practice match but perhaps Howe is a bit of a show-pony? Whatever it is, he looked rather confident out there.

Matthew Bate still has the same horrible set shot action. It makes me cringe whenever I see it. Beamer talks sooooo much out there, he definitely adds a reassuring presence and doesn't seem to be pissed off about the lack of captaincy. Dunn is another very vocal players, talking often to the forwards about "the three Cs, remember the three Cs". I assumed they stood for "courage, commitment and being a c..." but didn't care to ask.

Throughout the day I took an interest in the kickins as that's an area in which we've long struggled. Blease took them early but didn't do much more than the standard kick to the pocket. Garland often takes them in games but Moloney once vetoed him to take it himself, perhaps he wanted a tall target to kick to. James *shudder* Strauss (I shudder when he gets the ball) did a couple of torps which came off alright. I guess there will be a Tyson Goldsack in every team now.

At half time the teams were changed to essentially be Melbourne A vs a Melbourne B + Casey. I was a little disappointed that what was a reasonably strong side only kicked 4 goals to 2 in the second half. Rohan Bail and Neville Jetta were notable B players and Bail was, in my opinion, the best player on the ground in the second half. He dominated off half back (okay, maybe not domination, but he was pretty good) and through the middle. It was almost as if his middle finger was permanently raised in Bailey's direction. Jetta was pretty average though. Gawn sat out the second half but I don't think he was injured. Blease had ice on his foot/ankle and I didn't even think about Petterd until it was mentioned here that he was injured.

Sylvia was interesting. Some people here have said he was the best and, while I thought he played quite well and was explosive in parts, his disposal and ball handling was a bit sloppy. The ball was quite wet and "like a cake of soap" according to Dean Bailey, but others like Scully and Trengove were better. There was one awesome play where the ball was tapped to Sylvia out of the centre bounce who then ran to 50...and missed. He missed at least two more shots for the day.

Okay fine, I'll do the whole "let's talk in depth about Jack Watts" thing because that's really all you guys want to hear. Let me start off by saying I was rather impressed. He has lots of speed and seems to use it more now. He needs a bit of arrogance in his play, without forgetting to be a team member. He kicked 2 for the day, both in the second half, but should have kicked 4 as he missed two pretty easy ones. His first goal came from a kick pickup and snap from about 20 out. It was a very crowded area but he looked as if he had all the time and space in the world. He moved very well across half forward and even up to the wing. Grimes didn't seem to pay him too much attention in the first half and I can't even recall who his opponent was in the second. Dunn was the other good forward on the day, kicking 2 and providing a good presence. At all times we had a resting ruckman up forward but I'm not sold on anyone but Jamar being a decent target, although Gawn moves pretty well for someone his size. Spencer looks a little better and did manage to kick the ball successfully to a teammate once. He had a shot on the final siren and missed (of course).

Now for the Tom Scully show. Man I love this kid. He is all class and seems to always be where the ball is. I can't recall him ever being benched. I actually did a possession count for him and while he was on pace for 30 early, he had to settle with 23. I'm pretty sure the final quarter only went for ten minutes though. I'd like to see him more in the centre than on a wing, as that's where I reckon he'll play for most of his career, but the wing lets him use his speed more I suppose. Trengove is being groomed more for an inside role, as evidenced by his added bulk. I didn't notice anything special about his game though.

Cale Morton continues to be used in a half back role. I hope it's purely for attacking purposes though because I've never rated him as a defender. He was in the action a lot today and one of the best. Grimes played a similar game and wasn't as good but was still in the top handful of players probably, as if we expect anything less?

At the end of the day, here are the goal kickers in the first and second halves:

First:

White: Bate, Gawn, Evans
Blue: Dunn, Fieldsend (Casey)

Second:

White: J Costigan (Casey), McKenna (Casey)
Blue: Watts 2, Dunn, Howe

The skill level overall wasn't too bad. It got better in the second half but that was probably because the better players were all playing together. I was a bit disappointed though that the Melbourne A team couldn't dominate. Still a bit too much pissing around with the ball around half forward.

Some other observations: it seemed like most opposition teams had a scout there to check things out. I noticed Nathan Buckley, Matthew Lappin and Wayne Campbell. Jimmy was there in the thick of things but gee he looks skinny. He has tiny legs these days but his hair is growing back! David Neitz was there and there's nothing tiny about this bloke. He isn't fat or anything, he's just the same man mountain as he always was. All players who were asked seemed more than happy to sign autographs and take photos at the end which was nice. The crowd was about 1 thousand and I must say many of those would have liked a barbeque so its absense was a little annoying.

A note on the new jumpers though: they are pink. I was honestly shocked. I thought to myself "maybe they just had to use the cancer foundation guernseys" but I realised they auctioned those off. While the blue is nice and dark, any attempt to get back to the fire engine red of the old days has failed. I must say, I'm a little disappointed. The logos (Hankook and AFL) are also too big and too close so you can barely see the tip of the V. This is more of an issue on the away top. Maybe you won't notice these little things from the top of the great southern or on tv but it made me reconsider buying one.

All in all, a good bit of fun but far from top quality football. I'd be interested to watch a Geelong or Collingwood (not St Kilda, I'm not into that sort of stuff) intraclub match and compare the quality. The real test of how good today was will come when we know the extent of the injuries, especially to Petterd.

Bring on the NAB Cup!

Oh, and I thought I should list a "best":

Scully, Bail, Watts, Sylvia, Morton, Jamar, Grimes, Moloney

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

i'll try to be very succinct and to the point, it's all too easy to go overboard

from my view the best players were, in order;

Grimes, super impressed with him all day, great work ethic, clean skills apart from one or two skill errors and really competitive

Sylvia, explosive and generally very sure with his skills, a little rusty but that's to be expected from all players

Bartram, has really improved his intensity and decision making, generally very composed with the footy today and really winning most of his one on ones

Bail, great speed off half back, looked very dangerous today, used the ball well on most occasions

Watts, was really good today, kicked 2.3 with one hitting the post, and the other two ones he would kick 8/9 out of 10 times, presented well and he also set up a couple of goals and opportunities as well with some nice delivery from outside 50... his first goal was really quite brilliant, a one handed pick up and snap out of congestion from 20-25 metres out, he did well in a lot of the contests today, especially at ground level, i am backing him to have a solid year

was really impressed with strauss, maric and (on occasion) jetta

scully and trengove were quite composed all day and would have been in the top 10 players on the ground, trengove has really bulked up as well, he is a beast of a (young) man

i was a little disappointed with cale morton to be honest, thought he didn't really show that much today, made some good defensive efforts which was pleasing, but on the whole i'm not sure this year will be his break out

jamar was dominant, but against those rucks i can't see who wouldn't be... SME really impressed me actually, looks like the next jamar in the making (no joke) looked really skilfull for a big man, his basketball background is really coming through

garland and rivers were our best defenders

 

[eskimo]

Quick update on the injury front -

Greeny out with a cold. Nothing serious, but no point playing him.
Robbie Campbell - Will be into full training as early as tomorrow, the latest next week.
Warlock - Rolled his ankle 2 weeks ago or so at training. Was running and stood on a ball, and over he went.
Gys and Tappy - Just managing their loads. No injury to speak of, just not rushing them back into anything competitive.
Jonesy - Still a bit sore in his back from the incidient in Rd22 last year. Has been doing full training, but has been pulling up sore. Didn't want to put him through the game without it being neccessary.
Ricky P - Has torn his hammy. Looking at 6 weeks on the sideline.
Chippa - Going better than expected. Rd1 not likely, but a possibility. Looking more like Rd3 or so.

I think that covers most of it.

 

[Mijhaa]

Quick update on the injury front -

Greeny out with a cold. Nothing serious, but no point playing him.
Robbie Campbell - Will be into full training as early as tomorrow, the latest next week.
Warlock - Rolled his ankle 2 weeks ago or so at training. Was running and stood on a ball, and over he went.
Gys and Tappy - Just managing their loads. No injury to speak of, just not rushing them back into anything competitive.
Jonesy - Still a bit sore in his back from the incidient in Rd22 last year. Has been doing full training, but has been pulling up sore. Didn't want to put him through the game without it being neccessary.
Ricky P - Has torn his hammy. Looking at 6 weeks on the sideline.
Chippa - Going better than expected. Rd1 not likely, but a possibility. Looking more like Rd3 or so.

I think that covers most of it.

Really? Where did you get this information from?

According to Bailey's press conference it was a 'real minor strain.. I’m not even sure you’d grade it'

 

[dutchy12]

Quick update on the injury front -

Greeny out with a cold. Nothing serious, but no point playing him.
Robbie Campbell - Will be into full training as early as tomorrow, the latest next week.
Warlock - Rolled his ankle 2 weeks ago or so at training. Was running and stood on a ball, and over he went.
Gys and Tappy - Just managing their loads. No injury to speak of, just not rushing them back into anything competitive.
Jonesy - Still a bit sore in his back from the incidient in Rd22 last year. Has been doing full training, but has been pulling up sore. Didn't want to put him through the game without it being neccessary.
Ricky P - Has torn his hammy. Looking at 6 weeks on the sideline.
Chippa - Going better than expected. Rd1 not likely, but a possibility. Looking more like Rd3 or so.

I think that covers most of it.

6 weeks to Petterd???

Bailey has come out today and said it's the equivalent of a grade .5 tear, meaning and this is taking a cautious approach that it would be only 3-4 weeks???

I could be wrong however

 

[Captain Jack]

Really? Where did you get this information from?

According to Bailey's press conference it was a 'real minor strain.. I’m not even sure you’d grade it'

I was standing right near the play when he did it, and it didn't seem bad at all. I recall noticing him pull up slightly gingerly from an attempt to mark on the lead, but it was only a minor limp, and I didn't think much of it at the time. So very unlikely to be 6 weeks I reckon.

 

[eskimo]

I'm not 100% on it, but I spoke to someone I know at the club literally about 2 minutes before I posted it.

 

[Biffinator]

Comrades, check out the photos on the Herald Sun.



Thank you Lethal. Thank you Brisbane. Thank you TJ

 

[eliasd82]

I took some pics with my crappy camera... I dunno how to post on BF so I put em on my facebook and open to all... feel free to have a looksy!!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?id=593012482&pid=6581594#!/album.php?aid=266264&id=593012482

 

[melbournemartin]

Comrades, check out the photos on the Herald Sun.



Thank you Lethal. Thank you Brisbane. Thank you TJ

Do you guys agree that the red is a little too pink for our liking? It looked even pinker in person.

But yes, thank you to all of the above. Grimes didn't have much to do in the second half though given the ball wasn't down there a heap.

 

[AllenJakovich13]

^ link: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/gallery-e6frf9o6-1225999604981?page=1

 

[AllenJakovich13]

interesting to see Gary there.

 

[Crimson Azure]

HS is saying Petterd has injured his hammy.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...-intra-club-game/story-e6frf9jf-1225999585826

 

[eliasd82]

By the way, a few of my thoughts:
Please bear in mind it was tough to see on the other side of the ground at times.

BOG?
Bail

Mark of the day?
Spencer in a pack situation in the centre of the ground with a wet ball.

Who has improved?
Spencer without a doubt. The kid could really turn it around and has a huge rig now!
Could prove a lot of people wrong. Including me!

Rookies?
Evans was super clean when he had it.
I just love to watch Howe - very Robo like...

Good to see out there?
Gawn kicked a goal (was from a free but should have taken the mark anyway) - very mobile big man.

Injures?
Ricky Petterd - hamstring tweak.

Game Notes - All ruckman had a spell at Full Forward - It looked very threatening!

 

[eliasd82]

Do you guys agree that the red is a little too pink for our liking? It looked even pinker in person.

But yes, thank you to all of the above. Grimes didn't have much to do in the second half though given the ball wasn't down there a heap.

Funny you say that cause Jimmy Stynes came up to myself and a friend and was complaining about the tracksuit top he was wearing - saying that it wasnt 'blood red' the way it was suppose to be.. he seemed very annoyed about it actually.