Review JLT Community Series | Game 2 | NM vs Hawthorn @ Arden Street | Postmatch discussion & review

[naturally north]

The only problem with the day was that it was an AFL run event.

If they gave us control it would've been much better.

I will assume "us" is BF and I agree......

Clay pigeon shooting at the qrt time breaks..........up the Hawks end of course. Pole dancing, just a couple of starters for our consideration.

 

[LT Smash]

Happy to be corrected am sure that knocked off some of the ground a few years back.

No they actually extended the ground a few years back to match Etihad. Consider that the fence to the street on the outer wing was maybe only 5 metres or so whereas in the old days there was a stand on that side.

However they brought the boundary line in for today's game for safety reasons so it was probably 10 metres narrower than Etihad. For training, the boundary line is set to match Etihad.

 

[Black2Blue]

Brilliant day at the old home ground. Could almost picture the old grandstand in the background when Cunners took the hanger.

The standard of footy was high and for the second week in a row we had an impressive team effort. The style of footy and degree to which they are working together is bloody encouraging.

I think all the players performances of note have been well covered i.e.. Cunners, Froggy, Higgo, LT, Preuss, JMac, etc and the debuts of Simpkin and Zurhaar. And it was important to get that run into Maj, Goldy, Taz, and Thommo. But one surprising thing that stood out for me was how solid our defence is looking. The inclusions of Williams, Durdin, and EVW give our back six a very different feel....Marley's speed and tight defensive game on the small forward, EVW and Durdin both read the play beautifully and have neat disposal, really like EVW's cool head and footy smarts. All told, our defence is looking more dynamic while still playing tight.

And after blitzing the 2015 draft, we have doubled up with the draft and trading of 2016. Williams and Hrovat and potentially the best of the three of them in Ahern, all for a pittance could be one of the best trading coups in memory. And Simpkin and Zurhaar have upstaged Larkey, Watson, and Taylor who impressed so much last week. And still have J Williams to unveil. Kudos to the recruiting team.

I have seen enough to know we are the real deal with this mob. Really looking forward to the season ahead regardless of the expected ups and downs.

 

[The Filth Wizard]

It's probably becoming more obvious to the knockers that those hard decisions last year were the best ones.

 

[scottywiper]

Was also good to see Luvthekangas, Kangalicious, Zondor, Black Shadow and Royal Blue in their natural environment.

 

[Orange Peanut]

 

[kangaspurs]

I will assume "us" is BF and I agree......

Clay pigeon shooting at the qrt time breaks..........up the Hawks end of course. Pole dancing, just a couple of starters for our consideration.

Every North supporting attendee given a stick for a game of pinata at half time with James Sicily taking the place of the lolly-stuffed papier-mache.

 

[Heaps of fun]

I had a fantastic time.
Couple of things that I think has been overlooked or not mentioned:

Thought Majak was impressive for his first hit of the year. Didn't read the flight of the ball perfectly and impact wasn't big but got to the ball a lot and looks to be playing a much more traditional key forward game. Reckon his football smarts and discipline have really come on in the last two years. Plus how exciting was that run on the boundary?

Durdin played beautifully. Love how he moves when he has the ball. Has real speed and agility. Hope he can keep it as he puts on the weight he needs to.

Marley looks free and unencumbered playing at North. Must be a relief not having to deal with FIGJAM every day of your life.

Zurhaar and Simpkin both candidates to take Wood's spot on the HFF.

Atley looked like Harvey when he slotted that goal. Loved it.

 

[Jimmy's Hot Dogs]

 

[Pykie]

Lots and lots of questions as of the result of the last 2 weeks.

I'll start with the main one:

Pruess: Unbelievable development over the last 24 months. The coaches should be commended. When he took that mark using his body in the 3rd qtr it got me pretty excited, when he led straight out to the ball and saluted in the last even more so.

I think people need to remember that Preuss is 21 years old it's easy to forget given his size, but he's a year younger than Brodie Grundy, a guy that Glenn Luff from champion data repeatedly says is about 3-4 years ahead of the bell curve for a ruckman statistically. This guy has a mighty big future in front of him based on today, he's in my round 1 side. Clubs would be circling big time based on his age, if he was wearing the opposite jumper today, he'd be playing 22 games. Majak's in a fair bit of trouble.

The game itself, Goldy and Preuss worked together beautifully imo, they both almost had over 100 ranking points from low time on grounds, combined for a 70% obliteration in hitouts and kicked 5 goals between them, it was an annihilation, if we can get the same output from both, consistently, it would be the best combination in the league. Both have different strengths. Super exciting.


I thought Dumont was BOG, his ball use was first class. Hrovat will finish top 5 in the B&F based on the pre-season, Mountford gives us zip around the contest, I've got him in the Rnd 1 side as well.

Our defence looks sensational tbh. EVW and Durdin have looked fantastic, Williams looks a bargain and exactly what we need, Tarrant and Thompson are just pro's. Hibberd had a good second half.

Simpkin, kid is just a jet, and I'm glad people got to see a look at his obvious talent. He moves like a cat, Cyril like in that respect, has a big bag of tricks as well. I hope Bon bloods him in Rnd 1.

 

[Arden]

Hrovat will finish top 5 in the B&F based on the pre-season,

I reckon his deal was all but agreed to before we made the call on Boomer.

 

[Pykie]

Forgot to mention, was talking to North's S&C coach before the game, Preussy is clocking in at 114kg's atm, let that sink in for a bit for a 21 year old that is bordering 6"10.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

I'd love for us to finish above Footscray so they have to pay us for Hrovat.

That'd be brilliant.

 

[giantroo]

All the goals

 

[Arden]

Hawks poster on their board reckons we played our grand final today.

In a practice match.........

 

[darko]

Just finished watching the game. Dumont clearly best on ground.

 

[muttley45]

Forgot to mention, was talking to North's S&C coach before the game, Preussy is clocking in at 114kg's atm, let that sink in for a bit for a 21 year old that is bordering 6"10.

Pykie, your take on Preussy's completely legit, bone rattler of a shepherd on Liam Shiels in the 1st Q ? i thought it was a ripper.

 

[Jindrrk]

How good was the Preuss lead, mark and goal in the last quarter. This boy can play the game and has a future.

Also I've decided that I would rather pick a fight with Majak than Brayden. Brayden looks to be one seriously tough hombre.

(Not that I will be picking a fight with anyone soon.)

Thats good. You can fight Majak while I run away from both of them. I wont outrun Majak but sure will get away from big Preussy.

 

[darko]

Improvement in Preuss' game is massive. Last year in VFL he looked borderline lost when pushing forward thus questioning if him and Goldy can play together. After today I'm convinced they can.

 

[Missing The 90s]

Brilliant day at the old home ground. Could almost picture the old grandstand in the background when Cunners took the hanger.

Please can someone make this image happen on Photoshop?

On Pixel XL using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[R00StaR]

Hawks poster on their board reckons we played our grand final today.

In a practice match.........

Damn so we're back into preseason then?

 

[darko]

Hawks poster on their board reckons we played our grand final today.

In a practice match.........

Typical comment made when fans expect to steamroll a team but wind up losing.

 

[Tas]

Lots and lots of questions as of the result of the last 2 weeks.

I'll start with the main one:

Pruess: Unbelievable development over the last 24 months. The coaches should be commended. When he took that mark using his body in the 3rd qtr it got me pretty excited, when he led straight out to the ball and saluted in the last even more so.

I think people need to remember that Preuss is 21 years old it's easy to forget given his size, but he's a year younger than Brodie Grundy, a guy that Glenn Luff from champion data repeatedly says is about 3-4 years ahead of the bell curve for a ruckman statistically. This guy has a mighty big future in front of him based on today, he's in my round 1 side. Clubs would be circling big time based on his age, if he was wearing the opposite jumper today, he'd be playing 22 games. Majak's in a fair bit of trouble.

The game itself, Goldy and Preuss worked together beautifully imo, they both almost had over 100 ranking points from low time on grounds, combined for a 70% obliteration in hitouts and kicked 4 goals between them, it was an annihilation, if we can get the same output from both, consistently, it would be the best combination in the league. Both have different strengths. Super exciting.


I thought Dumont was BOG, his ball use was first class. Hrovat will finish top 5 in the B&F based on the pre-season, Mountford gives us zip around the contest, I've got him in the Rnd 1 side as well.

Our defence looks sensational tbh. EVW and Durdin have looked fantastic, Williams looks a bargain and exactly what we need, Tarrant and Thompson are just pro's. Hibberd had a good second half.

Simpkin, kid is just a jet, and I'm glad people got to see a look at his obvious talent. He moves like a cat, Cyril like in that respect, has a big bag of tricks as well. I hope Bon bloods him in Rnd 1.

I remember watching him do some ruck work early on after we recruited him and I really liked his technique and he has always been aggressive at the contest which I rate highly in ruckmen. I am just tempering my excitement because we have played against a couple of complete pancake clubs in terms of ruckmen. While Goldy does struggle on Tippett, for whatever reason, I liked that Preuss did well against him.

I think based on form alone, assuming he has a good game against GWS then we should go in with a Goldy/Preuss combo for round 1 and I would like to see Daw get some time in the VFL due to his pre-season injury.

With Petrie gone I think we should definitely play Goldy/Preuss or Goldy/Daw. We shouldn't put Brown in the ruck with his history of knee problems. Brown is also incredibly bad in the ruck.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Brown's stints in the ruck are the most infuriating thing ever.

 

[DrZaius]

Hawks poster on their board reckons we played our grand final today.

In a practice match.........

So did we also play our grand final last week then?