Preview Marsh Week 2 - Hawthorn v Melbourne - UTas Stadium - Friday March 6, 7.40pm

[Blackhawk42]

Agree that Scrimshaw, Harry and CJ were good, Ollie on the other hand was putrid. He is way too timid and when he gets his hands on it, his disposal is ordinary.

Was far more noticeable this week, had that chase down effort and had a couple of shots on goal. If he kicks those two he has played his role. I wasn't too unhappy with his effort.

 

[Pessimistic]

The main thing that frustrated me was only giving CJ a quarter. He looked good when came on. We should be giving him as much game time and experience as possible as we need him with the loss of Hardwick and Impey.

I think I noticed at Box hill CJs rests seemed to be managed for impact. It could have changed since

 

[Roger Rogerson]

We do need to turn some players over. Poppy Stratts Burger all at the end. Not sold on Frost at all lacks real footy nous and just yaps the whole bloody time - is a whinger. Thought Lewis looked well underdone against the Aints 2 weeks ago so this is another setback for him. Not expecting much from him in the first part of the season.

Who has their best footy ahead of them? I hope we select the side with this in mind when there are line ball decisions at selection because a hell.of a lot don't.

 

[cryptor]

2013 pre-season we didn't win a single game. We won the flag.
2014 pre-season we belted everything in our path. We won the flag.
2015 pre-season we won 1 of 3. We won the flag.
2016 pre-season we won 2 of 3. We went out in straight sets.
...and so on, and so forth...
And that was when there was actually a prize for doing well in those games.

There is no proven link between pre-season form and regular season form.
There was literally nothing on the line except maybe pride and confidence.

If we're putting out that kind of performance regularly once the real stuff starts then let's get worried, but it's way too premature to be doing it now.

 

[Carl Spackler]

If we're putting out that kind of performance regularly once the real stuff starts then let's get worried, but it's way too premature to be doing it now.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

The current lineup is too tall at both ends. I don’t like McEvoy in defence one bit, kinda defeating the whole purpose of getting Frost and Hartley.

The issue with Ceglar in his career has been his inconsistency. There’s no guarantee that he will dominate let alone be the number one ruck at the club.

Big Boy to CHB is definitely robbing Peter to maybe pay Paul.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

2013 pre-season we didn't win a single game. We won the flag.
2014 pre-season we belted everything in our path. We won the flag.
2015 pre-season we won 1 of 3. We won the flag.
2016 pre-season we won 2 of 3. We went out in straight sets.
...and so on, and so forth...
And that was when there was actually a prize for doing well in those games.

There is no proven link between pre-season form and regular season form.
There was literally nothing on the line except maybe pride and confidence.

If we're putting out that kind of performance regularly once the real stuff starts then let's get worried, but it's way too premature to be doing it now.

Our team back then was much better than the team we have now. We could all comfortably say that, and we would have all been just hoping to get through the preseason unscathed. We had a mostly settled side that were certainties to be premiership contending.

That's a stark contrast to this current team, we don't yet know where we stand (are we a bottom 10 side again? More like the first half of 2019, or more like the last few games?).

IMO, and as others have pointed out, it's not so much about the results but it's about our style of play - which was uninspiring to say the least. That talk about faster and direct ball movement went out the window. We can cop losses in preseason, so long as we have an encouraging style of play... But that wasn't encouraging at all (bar getting players fitter).

 

[LegendLewis]

Thought Breust had a ripper, looked like he and wingers will rotate mid and forward and Breust looked dangerous in the middle. I liked.
Game style wise I reckon Clarko wanted us to go as ballistic as possible to measure our ability to do it and unfortunately it didn't really work.
Think Worpel is trying to hard to make everything perfect and therefore just trying to hard and not playing his natural instinctual style.
We didn't really try the going through the corridor last night so I definitely think Clarko is playing out different scenarios to see what may work.
Unfortunately our cohesion through the middle looks scratchy and and players didn't seem to know where they should be, definitely feel we are trying to have one or two players just outside where the stoppage is which didn't seem effective but obviously trying something there.
Not too fussed as it will all be assessed meticulously and some things will have worked and others didn't and they will focus on fixing and utilising these things.
Tis a Marathon and all that...

 

[driftyhunter]

We do need to turn some players over. Poppy Stratts Burger all at the end. Not sold on Frost at all lacks real footy nous and just yaps the whole bloody time - is a whinger. Thought Lewis looked well underdone against the Aints 2 weeks ago so this is another setback for him. Not expecting much from him in the first part of the season.

Who has their best footy ahead of them? I hope we select the side with this in mind when there are line ball decisions at selection because a hell.of a lot don't.

Just watched the replay on Kayo. Yikes Hawks were rubbish. Going to be a long year....

 

[flinchfree]

But does it matter, against a 3rd string ruckman last year playing the eagles he was ok. That’s what’s remembered, reality is compared to McEvoy who was 3rd best ruck in the comp big Jon is somewhere between 15th and 20th in the comp. Pittonet probably higher? Regardless moving McEvoy could define our first 5 rounds and given Clarkos stubbornness when’s he’s emotionally connected to a decision it won’t change and could be a tough start. Hope I’m wrong and Clarko knows more about it than me but first use is everything in the 6/6/6 era. Strange we have an abundance of tall backs and manufacturing another is occurring.

Absolute rubbish take on Ceglar.

 

[Lickmesocks]

Thought we looked flat. Shiels is a bit of a barometer and Mr Reliable and even he looked disinterested and fumbly and even had a laugh at one stage.

Issac says hello

 

[threesixpio]

When you watch such putrid football it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and think this is what lies ahead for the season.

Then you remember we played some awful games early on last season, players badly out of form, then for example the Geelong game after the break we looked like a different team.
thankfully last night wasn’t the real deal. I’m still optimistic and think this season will reveal some good young players, some good wins with some bad losses and fingers crossed a finals birth.

Only watched highlights but it looked like plenty didn’t give a **** so doubt it will be like that in Round One

More annoyed about Lewis being injured. Is it serious ?

 

[hawkeye77]

We've looked very ordinary no doubt about it , is it worrying ? I would say a little but no where near panic stations.

- last season we didn't make the 8 , despite beating some quality sides on the way home this puts us in the 'average' bracket .
- we don't know how seriously we are taking these games , plus we dont know how seriously the oppisition are either.
- we are now missing two defenders who are sure by foot in a link up play ( Harwick and Impey) , I think we can cover 1 ( Impey , see last season ) but 2 may be tough for us.

Brisbane have schooled us recently even when they were poor ladder wise .
If we run them close/beat them I would say thats an early indicator we have improved and could have a very good season.
If not we may be in for more of the same.

The good news is that you'd think both of those defenders (Impey and Hardwick) will be back after the mid season break. We just have to find a way to cover until then and hopefully unearth a player (my money is on CJ).

 

[Roger Rogerson]

How many who played last night played in the Morwell game?

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Absolute rubbish take on Ceglar.

Ceglar is definitely ahead of Pittonett, but he's also behind:

Gawn, Grundy, Big Boy, Martin, Nic Nat, Goldy, Witts, Lycett, O'Brien, Kreuzer, Nank the Tank, Marshall, Ryder, Darcy.

And IMO he's in a group with Sinclair, Bellchambers, Stanley, Smith, Preuss (if he gets a crack) and Jacobs (though he was looking cooked last season).

 

[CHUBBSS]

Think Worpel is trying to hard to make everything perfect and therefore just trying to hard...

Really agree with this statement, think it will come with more match time but he just seems like he is forcing it a little. Cohesion with other mids I would think is also having an impact, not sure when to go and hold off like last season when he just had right of way.

Sammy will have his work cut out this season trying to get it right but if it gels we will have a seriously good onball team

 

[grumbleguts]

Their kicking is shocking. I love the posters who give s**t to Dangerfield about his kicking. Are O'Meara and worpel any better?

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk

They don't have brownlow medals and trouser creaming commentators shooting their loads over them.

 

[Mojo]

Thought we looked flat. Shiels is a bit of a barometer and Mr Reliable and even he looked disinterested and fumbly and even had a laugh at one stage.

Perhaps it was a reflection on the entire club - Clarko looked relaxed and jolly in his post-match interview; if the coach's don't give a flying fig about the game then the player's are going to follow suit.

 

[kazzooka]

Big Boy to CHB is definitely robbing Peter to maybe pay Paul.

Robbing Peter to short change paul actually.

We are not playing our best ruck in the ruck and we are not playing our best chb at chb. I'd have Obrien, frost, Hartley, Sicily at chb over McEvoy. And if he's in form I'd give kozi a game or 2 as well.

McEvoy as a lose in defence is as good as anyone. But he is the last guy i want trying to keep up with jack darling on a lead.

 

[Spursfan]

Robbing Peter to short change paul actually.

We are not playing our best ruck in the ruck and we are not playing our best chb at chb. I'd have Obrien, frost, Hartley, Sicily at chb over McEvoy. And if he's in form I'd give kozi a game or 2 as well.

McEvoy as a lose in defence is as good as anyone. But he is the last guy i want trying to keep up with jack darling on a lead.

Yeah i don't get the McEvoy thing - there aren't that many lumbering key forwards any more and if there are you play someone who can run off them. Plus he's a pretty good shot for goal can clunk the occasional pack mark forward.

 

[flinchfree]

Ceglar is definitely ahead of Pittonett, but he's also behind:

Gawn, Grundy, Big Boy, Martin, Nic Nat, Goldy, Witts, Lycett, O'Brien, Kreuzer, Nank the Tank, Marshall, Ryder, Darcy.

And IMO he's in a group with Sinclair, Bellchambers, Stanley, Smith, Preuss (if he gets a crack) and Jacobs (though he was looking cooked last season).

Based on how many games he's had as No.1 ruck?

 

[stemline]

Desperate for some footy positivity I went and watched Box Hill today.

Found plenty. Infinitely more watchable than last night's garbage.

But first the bad news - Will Golds did his ACL. Tragic for the kid, was playing well.

Ok, the good stuff - we won 11.7 73 to 2.12 24.

3.2 - 0.3
5.3 - 0.9
7.7 - 0.10
11.7 - 2.12

As far as I could tell the Dees had 11 listed players to our 10. The first half was pretty evenly fought, but Casey just couldn't find a goal. We rushed a lot of their points but they sprayed quite a few they should have got. Second half was dominated by Box Hill.

Our listed players were Golds, Day, Jeka, Maginness, Hartley, Moore, Ross, Jones, Pepper, Reeves.

Glass was there, in civvies. Didn't seem injured, not sure why he wasn't playing. Must be a niggle. No sign of O'Brien, Howe, Gunston or M.Walker (what's happened to him?).

Day, Hartley and Pepper lined up down back. Reeves, Maginness and Jones in the middle. Ross, Jeka, Moore and Golds up forward.

Dylan Moore started on fire - best player in the first qtr. Ross kicked our first 2, the first a really good snap. Cucinotta got the 3rd from a set shot. Reeves was great, winning all the taps and taking 4 or 5 marks, 2 of them good strong contested ones.

2nd qtr was a bit more of a slog. Casey off target, and Box Hill scrapping a couple of goals - Ross walking into an open goal and Jeka with a big snap around the body from distance. Golds injured early in the qtr.

3rd qtr we dominated but struggled to find the goals. Maginness and Jones really worked into it. Reeves serving it on a platter for our mids. Ross kicked his 4th and Will Day kicked a beauty late. Worthy of a description - Casey cleared from deep, Day sprinted hard to make the contest and spoiled the ball to ground wide on the boundary, somehow landing and pirouetting as he did, somehow emerging from the traffic with the ball tucked under his arm. Handpassed forward, then got it back and snapped across his body on the angle for a brilliant goal. We bemoan a lack of class in the senior side, well this kid has it in spades.

Last qtr foot came off the gas a bit and Casey snagged a couple, but it opened up for Box Hill as well. Jeka got on the end of a great passage of play, taking a big mark in the goal square. Kid can play. Reeves drifted forward and took a strong grab, dobbing it from about 25 out. Riley Bowman - new young ruckman - struggled most of the day but hit a purple patch with the last two goals, one a quick snap from a pack and then a good lead out mark and conversion.

HFC listed blokes:
Reeves - BOG by a mile for mine. I haven't seen a more dominant display by a Hawthorn ruckman since Salmon. Sure, I don't know who he was up against, but he was that dominant and impacted the game to a ridiculous extent. Every stoppage, he put it down a BH player's throat. Taps behind his head to blokes on the move, thumps into space where our blokes ran onto it, palms straight to Finn and Jones over and over again. I'll say again, I haven't seen anything like it for 20 years, and I've watched a lot of footy. Also took marks around the ground, kicked a goal, laid some heavy tackles. About 500% better than I've ever seen him play before.

Jeka - moved well, got up the ground, took marks, distributed well. Kicked a couple, could have maybe had one or two more as he had one touched on the line and one slipped through his hands in the square after he'd done all the body work to take the mark. Has a presence. Lot to like.

Day - got more and more prominent. Just after he kicked that great goal, he did a lazy kick on the wing that drifted wide of the mark and went to an oppo player. I watched him for a reaction - he took off toward the action like a mad man. I thought he's not going to impact this, it's just going back over his head. But he threw himself headlong and smothered the kick over the boundary. In the last quarter, he was everywhere, linking and driving forward. Took a big defensive mark in the goal square at full back. He's got me very very keen to see more.

Maginness - was workman-like. I'll stop short of saying he was great, but he played as well as any of our mids, and clearly knows how to play. Got ridiculous silver service at the stoppages from Reeves, and fed it out well most times. I tried to keep rough track of his possessions, I'd say he got around 20.

Jones - very very similar to Maginness. They actually play similar games. Finn actually looks the stronger, but Jones is slightly more manic and fights in and under.

Hartley - great game at full back. His ability to be in the right spot was a bit dare I say Mirra-like. He's a great kick, although he did bite off a couple of kickouts that were a bit over ambitious. He'll be a very handy player for Box Hill.

Pepper - this kid could be an absolute steal. The knock was his kicking, but he looks to have a nice compact action and hit all his targets today. (In fact Box Hill's overall skill made a mockery of what we saw last night - brrrr trying to forget). Pepper competes like crazy, has a great leap, and looks really composed. Like I said, he looks a steal.

Ross - has that happy knack of getting to the right spots at the right time. He's a very dangerous and clever player. Four goals is a good return. Did drift out of it a fraction in the second half but we were rotating forwards and he was still creating for others.

Moore - started on fire. Only played the first half, but was doing it all - marking, tackling, linking. Seem to be playing high HFF, not playing close to goal.

Golds - really sad. Was going pretty nicely, getting his share of touches pre injury.

Box Hill lads -
to be honest I was there more for the Hawks but these blokes stood out:

Mullenger-McHugh - played at CHB and looked more at home in defence than any time I saw him last year up forward. Very good game with some disciplined spoils and intercepts.

Bowman - young ruckman looked pretty tentative for the most part until taking his chances up forward in the last qtr. Box Hill might be very happy to have Brooksby to accompany Reeves cos Bowman doesn't look up to it (admittedly at first glance).

Deluca - stocky left footed midfielder, got involved a lot. Could be a handy replacement for Meadows, looks a similar type.

DeWit - after playing defence last year he was used as a tall wingman today and was quite prominent.

Otten was serviceable down back, Deledio didn't play.

I know this is all probably a little overly positive, but after last night I know I needed it. Was a good spectacle, and a fair bit to take away for Box Hill.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Ceglar is definitely ahead of Pittonett, but he's also behind:

Gawn, Grundy, Big Boy, Martin, Nic Nat, Goldy, Witts, Lycett, O'Brien, Kreuzer, Nank the Tank, Marshall, Ryder, Darcy.

And IMO he's in a group with Sinclair, Bellchambers, Stanley, Smith, Preuss (if he gets a crack) and Jacobs (though he was looking cooked last season).

I personally am quite bullish on Cegs potential as our number 1 ruck this year.

If he can minimise the absolute stinker games he pulls from time to time and maximise the games where he gets 20 possessions and 8 marks a game I feel like his ceiling is the next rung below Gawn and Grundy.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

I personally am quite bullish on Cegs potential as our number 1 ruck this year.

If he can minimise the absolute stinker games he pulls from time to time and maximise the games where he gets 20 possessions and 8 marks a game I feel like his ceiling is the next rung below Gawn and Grundy.

Hopefully. He's had some impressive games, so maybe having a full season as the sole ruck will allow him to unlock his potential.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Hopefully. He's had some impressive games, so maybe having a full season as the sole ruck will allow him to unlock his potential.

Cegs ability to rack up possesions as a mobile ruckman is very handy.

I have always rated the rucks who can do this ala Dean Cox, Stefan Martin and of course Brodie Grundy.

And to be honest I feel that a lot of the reason around Cegs issues with consistency in the past was due to Clarko playing him as a key forward which is not his go at all.

Cegs can pitch hit in the forward line but he is not a true ruck/forward in the David Hale mold (very few rucks are).