JLT-2 Crows v GWS - Post Match Thoughts

I’ve said the same for some time. Won’t be long until a younger player takes his spot.

As long as the defense is there, Knight is best 22 lock for a damn long time as a small forward or a tagger. Providing he doesn't get injured of course, that's probably the only danger point to being overtaken.

He may not have the polish, however, he doesn't need it at all to have a long career. Cheap salary cap wise and offering a high level of defence in roles that are defined by defence is a very good combination.
 

hey shorty

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As long as the defense is there, Knight is best 22 lock for a damn long time as a small forward or a tagger. Providing he doesn't get injured of course, that's probably the only danger point to being overtaken.

He may not have the polish, however, he doesn't need it at all to have a long career. Cheap salary cap wise and offering a high level of defence in roles that are defined by defence is a very good combination.
With his injury record, guys are going to have opportunities to make his spot their own.
 
With his injury record, guys are going to have opportunities to make his spot their own.

It is the only thing that will stop Knights career, especially now with us having some temporary depth (seeing a lot of our small forward options are just using this role as a stepping stone for midfield) in small forwards. Stays fit however, and he'll be in our best 22 for a long time.
 

hey shorty

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It is the only thing that will stop Knights career, especially now with us having some temporary depth (seeing a lot of our small forward options are just using this role as a stepping stone for midfield) in small forwards. Stays fit however, and he'll be in our best 22 for a long time.
I respectfully disagree, I expect a few recent draftees to go past him by years end.
 
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As long as the defense is there, Knight is best 22 lock for a damn long time as a small forward or a tagger. Providing he doesn't get injured of course, that's probably the only danger point to being overtaken.

He may not have the polish, however, he doesn't need it at all to have a long career. Cheap salary cap wise and offering a high level of defence in roles that are defined by defence is a very good combination.

Defensive effort couldn’t save Petrenko or Wright, and this is the thing I think gets Murphy in the end. It’s all well and good to be a gun defensively, but as a forward, if you’re lacking offensively, you’ll always be on the edge. The coaches are always going to wonder if someone else with better offensive skills could “do enough defensively” or could they rotate an extra genuine mid through your spot?

Knight has the offensive ability in this regard, he just needs to remain fit enough to settle into his role I think. Murphy I worry about a little, especially with Jones, McHenry, Gallucci, Stengle, McAdam and Davis hanging around.

Injury has no doubt been the Achilles heel of Knight thus far in his career. Build up some continuity and he’s a fair chance of locking down his spot.
 
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Gibbs looked a touch off the pace, although 27 touches at 74%, 7 clearances, 4 i50’s, 4 d50’s, 4 tackles, 6 score involvements is a pretty decent game in anyone’s book. He’ll be better for the run and I think will benefit significantly from a fit Brad Crouch, plus a fit Matt and Sloane as well for that matter. He was brought in as the cream on top of the cake for our midfield and ended up being the chief cog in our engine room for much of last year.
 
Defensive effort couldn’t save Petrenko or Wright, and this is the thing I think gets Murphy in the end. It’s all well and good to be a gun defensively, but as a forward, if you’re lacking offensively, you’ll always be on the edge. The coaches are always going to wonder if someone else with better offensive skills could “do enough defensively” or could they rotate an extra genuine mid through your spot?

Knight has the offensive ability in this regard, he just needs to remain fit enough to settle into his role I think. Murphy I worry about a little, especially with Jones, McHenry, Gallucci, Stengle, McAdam and Davis hanging around.

Injury has no doubt been the Achilles heel of Knight thus far in his career. Build up some continuity and he’s a fair chance of locking down his spot.

I'd argue Petrenko and Wright are two examples of players appearing before their era, seeing they left here before we started to see a real importance placed on defensive pressure (there was a bit, but we hadn't hit the dogs/tigers premierships which was built off of that facet).

I reckon that pendulum has gone the other way in that it's a case of a good offensive player being much more likely to get pushed out because someone else is better on defence. The Menzel, and Stengle trades really stick out in this regard seeing both were much better offensive threats then what either club had as their incumbent small forwards. If I also had to get my crystal ball out I'd also have some confidence defense work on a small forward is going to become a lot more important in the next 2-3 years.
 
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Gibbs looked a touch off the pace, although 27 touches at 74%, 7 clearances, 4 i50’s, 4 d50’s, 4 tackles, 6 score involvements is a pretty decent game in anyone’s book. He’ll be better for the run and I think will benefit significantly from a fit Brad Crouch, plus a fit Matt and Sloane as well for that matter. He was brought in as the cream on top of the cake for our midfield and ended up being the chief cog in our engine room for much of last year.
He worries me. The possessions in total don't seem to hurt the opposition. I would say he is under pressure.
 

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I know it was only JLT with little pressure, but has anyone mentioned our precision kicking, working it out of defence and actually around the entire ground. There were some absolute pinpoint Dennis Comettis (centimetre perfect). I've never seen us hit targets like that before.

A product of an evolution of gameplan and training, tempo football. We tried last year but just didn't have the cattle on the park to do it due to our nightmarish pre-season and generally resorted to bombing it long back into traffic for a quick rebound into our D50 and a goal against. Brad Crouch and Brodie Smith, as well as the development of Milera will do us massive favours this year. I'm predicting an 8-10 goal win against Hawthorn.
 
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I know it was only JLT with little pressure, but has anyone mentioned our precision kicking, working it out of defence and actually around the entire ground. There were some absolute pinpoint Dennis Comettis (centimetre perfect). I've never seen us hit targets like that before.

Actually, there was a lot of pressure. Sure, we did some good longer kicks, but the shorter pulled kicks were pretty ordinary overall. Gibbs was a major contributor to this. Our decision making and performance on the short stuff, kicks and handballs,
must improve considerably. Most, but not all of these, were under some pressure.
 
He worries me. The possessions in total don't seem to hurt the opposition. I would say he is under pressure.

It's his first hit out of the year, he'll be fine.
 
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Actually, there was a lot of pressure. Sure, we did some good longer kicks, but the shorter pulled kicks were pretty ordinary overall. Gibbs was a major contributor to this. Our decision making and performance on the short stuff, kicks and handballs,
must improve considerably. Most, but not all of these, were under some pressure.
No. Just no.
 

Betts are off

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Did anyone watch the Dogs vs Saints game yesterday? Wowsers, after watching our footskills on Friday night, that game looked like an Amateur league bout... And not a top of the table Amateur league bout either!

I can’t remember seeing a game with more fumbled balls, and missed kicks/handballs in my life.

To be honest it makes me happy that our biggest issue right now is What role Dougie plays, or is Hartigan better the Keath...

If anyone is feeling particularly angry/frustrated I would suggest watching that replay for 20mins... It will do you wonders!
 
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Did anyone watch the Dogs vs Saints game yesterday? Wowsers, after watching our footskills on Friday night, that game looked like an Amateur league bout... And not a top of the table Amateur league bout either!

I can’t remember seeing a game with more fumbled balls, and missed kicks/handballs in my life.

To be honest it makes me happy that our biggest issue right now is What role Dougie plays, or is Hartigan better the Keath...

If anyone is feeling particularly angry/frustrated I would suggest watching that replay for 20mins... It will do you wonders!
I watched it. I noticed the likes of Macrae and Hunter going back behind the mark and then choosing to kick off their right foot a number of times and it not come off. To me it looked like the Dogs were coming off a heavy training load. They are a much better side than that. Saints have a lot of work to do.
 

Betts are off

Norm Smith Medallist
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I watched it. I noticed the likes of Macrae and Hunter going back behind the mark and then choosing to kick off their right foot a number of times and it not come off. To me it looked like the Dogs were coming off a heavy training load. They are a much better side than that. Saints have a lot of work to do.
You could be right about the dogs training load. They looked like 22 blokes with heavy legs and even heavier mind sets. And it wasn’t just their players from 15-22, even their stars looked a mile off the pace.

I think both those 2 teams will start the season 1-3 (both’s only win against the Suns).
 
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You could be right about the dogs training load. They looked like 22 blokes with heavy legs and even heavier mind sets. And it wasn’t just their players from 15-22, even their stars looked a mile off the pace.

I think both those 2 teams will start the season 1-3 (both’s only win against the Suns).

They'd bloody hope its the training load. That was a pretty strong side they put out there, especially through the midfield. I'd worry about how the message is being received from Beveridge. Things have gone very sour, very quickly after their premiership. They seem to rely on their midfield dominating and its just not enough.
 

Betts are off

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They'd bloody hope its the training load. That was a pretty strong side they put out there, especially through the midfield. I'd worry about how the message is being received from Beveridge. Things have gone very sour, very quickly after their premiership. They seem to rely on their midfield dominating and its just not enough.
I know right. I couldn't believe how disjointed they looked across all lines. If we were drinking at the pub and you told me they had won a flag 3 seasons ago I would get the bouncer to kick you the hell out. Cause you be talkin' crazy now!

Side note, I couldn't help thinking about how the commentators kept waxing lyrical about their MASSIVE need for a KPF who can score, and a ruck who isn't Jackson Trengrove. And a little part of me kept thinking... "Oh really, so how much would you give for a guy who over the last 5 years has averaged 51 goals/season and played as second ruck? Cause I may just know a team who has 1 of those for the right price"

(Psst, if anyone from the Dog's comes over here this year, don't tell them how bad JJ is at rucking, wink wink)
 
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I'd argue Petrenko and Wright are two examples of players appearing before their era, seeing they left here before we started to see a real importance placed on defensive pressure (there was a bit, but we hadn't hit the dogs/tigers premierships which was built off of that facet).

I reckon that pendulum has gone the other way in that it's a case of a good offensive player being much more likely to get pushed out because someone else is better on defence. The Menzel, and Stengle trades really stick out in this regard seeing both were much better offensive threats then what either club had as their incumbent small forwards. If I also had to get my crystal ball out I'd also have some confidence defense work on a small forward is going to become a lot more important in the next 2-3 years.

Richmond has certainly swung it in the favour of such a player, but I don't think its going to swing any further. At the end of the day, games are still decided by the sum of goals/points. Goals are still the ultimate statistic, you need to kick more than your opposition, if you've got your forward line stacked with guys who struggle to kick more than a goal a game you'll struggle to kick a winning score.

Richmond essentially found a glitch in most clubs gameplans, almost by accident mind you as they just had s**t forwards in general, whereby they were vulnerable to extreme pressure. The correction I suspect is now in, whereby clubs have had over 12 months to adjust and will have trained as such and prepared strategies to deal with it. Note how we appear to have worked significantly on a "tempo" style gameplan which maintains ball by foot and short kicking. Tackling pressure means nothing if you can maintain possession by foot. Its nothing new, we had similar under Craig at times, Hawthorn at their best were absolutely elite at it. If they were under pressure, would just possess, possess, possess until they took a mark inside 50, we lacked this a bit in 2017, we were either gung ho attack, or stuck in 1st gear.

What I think we will no doubt see more of, and its been happening for a while anyway, is the classic "offensive" small forwards will need to have defensive games. These guys will naturally have that defensive game as well and will again be naturally preferenced over the guys who lack goal scoring ability, either that, or clubs would rather an extra midfielder in that spot to rotate through.
 
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