News Mark Blicavs

[The Casey Cat]

Miles better in the ruck than West (who was absolutely hopeless). Was great really. You can literally see him learn before your very eyes and be better at the next contest.

 

[meto]

Like I said in the review thread, was an outstanding effort from the young fella today.
The kid is as green as a granny smith apple, give him some time and we will have a pretty good player on our hands

When you consider the background it's amazing!.....he's also a courageous fellow with no self considerations, goodness he's hardly played since 14yr old, how can that be done?
We have ourselves a genuine senior player here for beans!!

 

[THE CAT WRANGLER]

I think

When you consider the background it's amazing!.....he's also a courageous fellow with no self considerations, goodness he's hardly played since 14yr old, how can that be done?
We have ourselves a genuine senior player here for beans!!

I think he has a long way to go however he has some good traits and we will give him plenty of time to develop

 

[meto]

I think
I think he has a long way to go however he has some good traits and we will give him plenty of time to develop

Of course you are right, but nevertheless he gets involved and he turns the contest his way, I thought some of the pushing or shoves on him was deliberate by the Hawk rucks and he should've been free kicked 3 or 4 times.

 

[krisholio14]

He's shown more in 10 games than Dawson Simpson has shown in 6 years on the list.

 

[meto]

He's shown more in 10 games than Dawson Simpson has shown in 6 years on the list.

I'd hoped Simpson would come through his injury problems but not only that I think the game has passed him by, it's just to quick for him now.
From his perspective at least he's had 6years the club's been good to him, and I know I'd rather swap my bank account for his.

 

[manboob]

Stick a fork in him. He's done. 3 games. 24 years of age. If we don't see him this year we never will.

 

[topic97]

Tonight Chris Scott stated that based on form Blitz was ahead of all of the other ruckmen. Surprised me.

Gee thats a bold call.
He was certainly our better ruck on the day, but if HMac was fit & West was in form, would you put Mark in over one of them if you were playing West Coast?!
He would get monstered on physical strength, especially from Cox.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Gee thats a bold call.
He was certainly our better ruck on the day, but if HMac was fit & West was in form, would you put Mark in over one of them if you were playing West Coast?!
He would get monstered on physical strength, especially from Cox.

It's not all that big a call, seeing as the other 4 are all injured or, in West's case, recovered but unfit.

 

[topic97]

It's not all that big a call, seeing as the other 4 are all injured or, in West's case, recovered but unfit.

Yeah but he said they are ahead of all the other ruckmen.
I guess he didnt specify if he was ahead of all the other ruckmen if they were fit, he certainly is ahead of them at the moment, but when the others are fit no hes not.

Has tremendous potential though - he may well be ahead of them regardless come the end of the season.

 

[jazzee]

It's not all that big a call, seeing as the other 4 are all injured or, in West's case, recovered but unfit.

Scott said he would have picked Blitz if all were fit and available.

 

[dazbroncos]

Its not just Blitz that has to adjust to the game, its the other guys out there having the faith in his ability to use him as an option.
Its one thing to run all day and get a kick in training, but in the kitchen that was yesterday's cooker he ran his arse off to no avail to see the ball go the other way to another Cats option. Not saying it was deliberate but its important that his running to provide an option and take a player with him is honored. And in time it will be im sure....

Everyone is learning, not just Blitz....and after 6 games.... wow....

Go Catters

 

[Footy Smarts]

Really needs to get comfortable kicking though. Only had one today and that was accident as he was slung in a tackle. I don't want another Mark Blake who will only kick as a last option. Let's get him out of that bad habit asap.

The big difference compared to Blake though is that Blicavs is a phenomenally good handballer. His vision and execution are simply staggering for a guy who's almost never played. He wasn't just handballing to the first free guy he was actually checking for the best option when he had time to do so. As a result his handballs were not just panicked but actually created stuff.

Of course he needs to work on his kicking but with his ability to handball that will always be the first option and he's far from a liability when he gets the ball.

Also saw at one stage in the last quarter Isaac Smith had to put in big yards to man him up on the wing. Absurd running ability for a bloke of his size. He's got a massive amount to learn but he's got the potential to give us a type of player nobody in the league has. It'll take 2-3 years minimum but it's a scary prospect if that sort of running ability can be used in the most effective way.

 

[The rabbi]

Solid debut all things considered.

Certainly not disgraced.

Considering that he debuted against the nastiest most unsociable style team in the competition.

 

[Monniehawk]

"The forces of niceness overcome the forces of..."

 

[Boxhead_31]

Just remember he was never meant to be a ruckman, the club have said they see him being a wingman which I believe is where he played in the few VFL games he played last year.

Re-watched the game late last night and noted there were a few times where he got sucked into ball chasing especially when the ball went deep into our forward line, when he should have stayed out a kick behind play. But these are things he will learn over time, Blitz was instrumental in the Duncan goal in the 4th as it was him getting some quick hands in at the contest that caused the turnover.

About him not kicking I see it more as a player knowing his limitations an using the better option that was available, he has shown in the NAB that he isn't afraid to but the slipper into the pill it was just that yesterday there were better options via hand when he got the ball

 

[meto]

Its not just Blitz that has to adjust to the game, its the other guys out there having the faith in his ability to use him as an option.
Its one thing to run all day and get a kick in training, but in the kitchen that was yesterday's cooker he ran his arse off to no avail to see the ball go the other way to another Cats option. Not saying it was deliberate but its important that his running to provide an option and take a player with him is honored. And in time it will be im sure....

Everyone is learning, not just Blitz....and after 6 games.... wow....

Go Catters

From what I believe he was running with Hawk mids deterring the ball carrier from using those options up the ground, bit hard to focus on a pass when you see 6'6" of hoops on a side of the ground running with mids.
What's more if the umps would interpret the rules properly he should've received 4-5 frees from the shove outs he copped at ballups. He'll probably stand off a little further till they get it right!

He's got a great spring and very long arms, so he can take the contest, no worries.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Gee thats a bold call.
He was certainly our better ruck on the day, but if HMac was fit & West was in form, would you put Mark in over one of them if you were playing West Coast?!
He would get monstered on physical strength, especially from Cox.

CS is just encouraging the kid, as he should.

If fit, HMac is our no 1 ruck by a country mile and no one else comes anywhere near him, and the coaches know that.

As regards Blicavs, I agree he has a long way to go and will probably struggle in his first few games, but you can see the improvement with each game, which is something I haven't seen with Simpson. Wouldn't surprise me if he gets on the senior list at year's end, at Simpson's expense.

 

[topic97]

CS is just encouraging the kid, as he should.

If fit, HMac is our no 1 ruck by a country mile and no one else comes anywhere near him, and the coaches know that.

As regards Blicavs, I agree he has a long way to go and will probably struggle in his first few games, but you can see the improvement with each game, which is something I haven't seen with Simpson. Wouldn't surprise me if he gets on the senior list at year's end, at Simpson's expense.

Oh absolutely, I can see what CS is doing by pumping up the kid. And why the hell not?
He got better & better as the game went on which is rare for such and inexperienced player in such a pressure cooker of a game!!

And agreed, looks like unless something miraculous happens Simpson is going to struggle to keep his seniors spot.

 

[vinum coupe]

Did anyone hear his Dad on 3AW before the game?
Wow, is that one well spoken level headed guy.
If recruiters tend to recruit on family stability criteria you can see why we got Blitz.

You can listen to it on 3aw via footy preview but I think you have to download the whole 3 hours!
Dumb station.

 

[vinum coupe]

Oh, and said that he thinks that anyone can run / handball and play AFL footy.
But he reckons the most difficult skill is kicking. Especially under pressure.

 

[Turbocat]

Did a good job , actually got his hands to a few in the centre bounces. Probably was lost a little in the throw in's . The new rule suit him with less around the ground ballups and throw ins , its far more important to have a mobile player than just a tap mechanic.
If he starts getting forward and kicking a goal or two he could become a Tattslotto win for the club. Hmac and Vardy would be wanting to get fit asap and West will be working hard to keep his place

 

[darren forssman]

Scott said he would have picked Blitz if all were fit and available.

correct...which means they would have played him somewhere else.

i liked when he realised he wasnt going to get up high enough for the centre bounce, didnt bother jumping and just ran to where he thought hale was going to tap. just missed sharking the tap as well.

 

[jazzee]

i liked when he realised he wasnt going to get up high enough for the centre bounce, didnt bother jumping and just ran to where he thought hale was going to tap. just missed sharking the tap as well.

Bloody hell missed that.

 

[krisholio14]

correct...which means they would have played him somewhere else.

i liked when he realised he wasnt going to get up high enough for the centre bounce, didnt bother jumping and just ran to where he thought hale was going to tap. just missed sharking the tap as well.

One of several smart things he did yesterday. There was another passage where the ball hit the deck after a ball up, one of our little blokes picked it up, and Blitz with two steps opened up a mile of space by cutting the run at the ball carrier of two or three Hawthorn players.

Only problem was our bloke was so surprised to suddenly find he had such a clear path he fell over lol.