Finally got to watch the entire Marsh 2 game last night. As noted by all, the stuff served up by us in Q2 and Q3 was very hard viewing.
Some positive observations that I’m not sure others have called out -
- Zuthrie was actually pretty reasonable and surprised me with his ability to run down players. Still far from convinced on him but he exceeded my expectations.
- footskills - while the kicking was pretty ordinary to say the least (particularly Danger and some awful passes by Blitz), there are a number of the team that look pretty reasonable. Surprised by assessment of Stevens kicking - he hit lace out most of his low stabs. Atkins, Henry, Jenkins and Meirs (despite that action) look to be dependable. With Clark, Stewart, Hawkins and (subject to his return) Duncan we do have a number of guys who can pass the ball with some proficiency. IMO - Scott should be looking for Danger and other poorer kickers to give off more often to the better kickers.
- Jenkins looked not bad playing high forward and drifting into midfield (probably when ruck relief) - showed very calm decision making. Could play HF role while they are settling the key forward dilemma.
-for a slowish, gangly type, Fort’s second efforts were actually pretty good (reflecting good possession numbers) and his disposable thoughtful and usually pretty effective. Needs to be better at keeping front position at throw ins and better at taps but wouldn’t write him off yet.
- in last 10 minutes, when there was urgency in the game and the team was (apparently) permitted to run in waves from the backline, we looked pretty good. I suspect that Essendon was gassed but hopefully it was another nudge to Scott that our stop/start game plan should become a Plan B.
Some positive observations that I’m not sure others have called out -
- Zuthrie was actually pretty reasonable and surprised me with his ability to run down players. Still far from convinced on him but he exceeded my expectations.
- footskills - while the kicking was pretty ordinary to say the least (particularly Danger and some awful passes by Blitz), there are a number of the team that look pretty reasonable. Surprised by assessment of Stevens kicking - he hit lace out most of his low stabs. Atkins, Henry, Jenkins and Meirs (despite that action) look to be dependable. With Clark, Stewart, Hawkins and (subject to his return) Duncan we do have a number of guys who can pass the ball with some proficiency. IMO - Scott should be looking for Danger and other poorer kickers to give off more often to the better kickers.
- Jenkins looked not bad playing high forward and drifting into midfield (probably when ruck relief) - showed very calm decision making. Could play HF role while they are settling the key forward dilemma.
-for a slowish, gangly type, Fort’s second efforts were actually pretty good (reflecting good possession numbers) and his disposable thoughtful and usually pretty effective. Needs to be better at keeping front position at throw ins and better at taps but wouldn’t write him off yet.
- in last 10 minutes, when there was urgency in the game and the team was (apparently) permitted to run in waves from the backline, we looked pretty good. I suspect that Essendon was gassed but hopefully it was another nudge to Scott that our stop/start game plan should become a Plan B.
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