Game Day Match Sim - Roos v Tigers - Arden St - 10am

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Bit harsh on Jack. I'm one who thinks he has to earn his spot rather than be gifted it, and I don't think he did much wrong today. Far from our worst out there, did a few good things.

Similar with X. I thought he was one of our best today. Goldy still our best option as ruck, but good to know that X can perform if/when we need him to.

When Jack is allowed to just roam he can get involved in the play pretty well. But don't expect to win a lot of games because his opponent will be used regularly and he will make poor decisions regularly.
 
Most everything has been covered, so rather than just repeat everyone else, here’s a few additional thoughts:

There is no better way to spend a workday than reclining under the gum trees at Arden Street with a sneaky beer. Kudos to anyone who risked third degree (sun)burn watching from the pavilion side of the ground where 90% of the play took place.

At the end of the day, we matched a strong Richmond outfit in almost every facet of the game. IMO the difference between the two teams was I50 effectiveness. Too many long bombs from us, which is mainly due to the forwards not leading into dangerous positions and partly the ball carrier not being able to find/ create good options. Curtis and WilPhil stood out in their ability to create space and time to hit a target.

Paul Curtis is a complete player. What stood out on the ground is how he reads the play better than pretty much anyone. In the air, on the ground, inside, outside and sweet footskills. He is going to be a gun.

Sheez - such a high impact player. I hope he stays in the forward line because he has that rare quality where if he gets the ball, you just know it’s a goal. Make sure you go round 1 so you can tell your grand kiddies you were there when the Sheez played his first game and began a movement that resulted in the entire universe converting to Judaism.

Sleevo, I reckon there is some merit to the criticism he has received, but he was good, including in the physical, contested situations. Promising game from him.

Ford - looked really dangerous forward and agree he is closer to a game than some might think. But folks watching at home may not have seen how he got exposed defensively a few times with his opponent running unchecked downfield to contribute to scoring chains. Ford’s offensive game was good but I reckon Clarko will be telling him he needs to be more accountable defensively.

Turner - you ask why would we play Turner round 1? I ask why wouldn’t we? Was good again today as that pressure forward.

Xerri - I’m in the “he was actually ok” camp.

McKay - He was ok, but he’s making me nervous how he’s playing like his mind is not 100% in it.

Logue & Chom - such a massive impact on our structure

Half backs:
Bergman - looks like Napoleon Dynamite.
Goater - looks like Bergman. Was good other than that one howler that resulted in a 12 point turnaround.

My personal bias is that Young is ok and Bonar is a shitmen. But I thought Bonar was serviceable and Young - well I must have been watching a different game to some, because I thought he was one of only two players who were really poor. The first two plays he got involved in he fluffed resulting in two Richmond goals. Didn’t do anything to redeem himself in my eyes after that.

JZ - took one fantastic courageous mark, but was the other really poor player. His kicking was unfortunately what we’ve come to expect. On a couple of occasions he literally gave Rioli a 20m head start. I’m not exaggerating!

Can someone please explain to me why on earth JZ is still taking kicks ins? We all know it’s going 50m down the line to a contest. What’s the point?

IMO, the order of preference for Rd1 appears to be something like: Goater > Bonar > JZ > Perez > Bergman > Young…with a TBC on Archer, Hall, Corr, Drury. Personally, I’d put JZ dead last (and it hurts me to say it), but it looks like Al Clarko may want his leadership in the early rounds. I’d be happy for Brady to use the salary cap warchest on a HBF because we have a bucket o’ shitmen right now (Goater aside).

Probably an unpopular opinion, but Cunners and Jy are better mids than Zurhaar and Zurhaar is a better forward than Cunners or Jy. So, other than fitness/ succession planning, I’m happier with CZ playing 90% forward. But I’m not a 4 time premiership coach, so wtf would I know.

Conclusion:
I knew after last year’s praccie game against Melbourne that we would suck in 2022. Clarko has delivered a 100 point turnaround in just 8 weeks. We’ll start this year much better and we’ll be better again in round 23 than in round 1.

Enjoy the ride!
 
Phillips did absolutely everything the long suffering North supporter could have hoped for
took his time, had a look, kept at it, made it count and Tackled blokes
Powell won’t be playing much VFL
Sheezel kicks goals, that is gonna be handy
Goater looks the goods
Curtis looks the most dangerous of the lot to me
can’t wait for Wardlaw, get TT back and fire up the sausage
go Roos

TT is the old bloke at 22
 

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It was a fantastic mark from Jack, but we do have a player on the list who was rested today that also displays a lot of “Archer-like” qualities.

With the option of Corr, Hall and Archer in Rd 1, it’s going to be hard for Jack to hold a spot down there. Ideally TT comes back at some point and makes it even harder to get a game for us at half back.

Agree. Overall, I see Jack as being in much the same position as Kayne. They’re going to have to earn their spot in the team. However, their heart and endeavour can never be doubted. That’s two major plusses for both of them, particularly as the overall team ability and structure improves. Their value comes to the fore when other things have fallen into place as well. It’s a synergy thing.


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Give it a few years and the temptation to throw Goater in the middle will be strong I reckon.

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Sans Cunners, that would leave us with this “undersized” midfield:

LDU: 188cm
Goater: 190cm
Greenwood: 190cm
Powell: 184cm
Simpkin: 183cm
Phillips: 180cm

+Zurhaar 189cm, possibly Thomas 189cm
 
Some stats

Phillips

22 possessions 8 clearances

Ave 10 disposals 1 clearance in year 1. Obviously both career highs.

LDU

31 disposals 9 clearances

Either got caught or fluffed a possession opportunity 10 times. Could have been 40 disposals and 15 clearances (and a goal).

Cam Z

6 disposal 3 clearances first half. But i must say his bustling helped others clear the footy. Came into it in the third qrt ending up with 17 d, 6 clearances and a goal.

Powell

Like Bull came into it in the second half, starting the first with 5 disband 3 clearances.

Ended up 18 disposals and 8 clearances

Where are the stats from?
 
Getting rid of FIGJAM Horne-Francis for Sheezel was an absolute master stroke. Happy for you North fans. Kid looks like he's going to be a special player.

I believe we were always going to get Sheezel. Isn’t Wardlaw our JHF replacement? So, I suppose the jury is still out on that score. It’s all moot really. Nobody was happy- NMFC or JHF. A marriage made in hell, as it transpired. We all move on after the divorce.


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I think we thumped them out of the middle. If we can clean up the finishing we'll be okay.
On the one hand, they’ve been a poor clearance team since they got good - they back themselves they it back off you via pressure rather than relying on contested ball. On the other hand, they just went and got Taranto & Hopper, and our 2nd string midfield doing as well as they did yesterday is undoubtedly a good sign.
 

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I believe we were always going to get Sheezel. Isn’t Wardlaw our JHF replacement? So, I suppose the jury is still out on that score. It’s all moot really. Nobody was happy- NMFC or JHF. A marriage made in hell, as it transpired. We all move on after the divorce.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

I don't know that we can ever be sure about who the club would have taken with just one selection. Do you take a mid forward like Sheezel with pick 1? Or do you take a gun midfielder albeit with a history of soft tissue injuries with pick 1? Pros and cons to either question, but you snap them both up if you have pick 2 and 3, and you know that pick 1 is going on a tall forward who you don't rate so highly. I'm happy to say we took Sheezel and Port's 2023 first rounder for JHF as long as Wardlaw remains on the sidelines. But when Wardlaw wins the 2024 rising star, I reserve the right to change history.
 
I don't know that we can ever be sure about who the club would have taken with just one selection. Do you take a mid forward like Sheezel with pick 1? Or do you take a gun midfielder albeit with a history of soft tissue injuries with pick 1? Pros and cons to either question, but you snap them both up if you have pick 2 and 3, and you know that pick 1 is going on a tall forward who you don't rate so highly. I'm happy to say we took Sheezel and Port's 2023 first rounder for JHF as long as Wardlaw remains on the sidelines. But when Wardlaw wins the 2024 rising star, I reserve the right to change history.
I think we were always on Sheezel. Wardlaw and the Poort first rounder was the JHF exchange
 
On the one hand, they’ve been a poor clearance team since they got good - they back themselves they it back off you via pressure rather than relying on contested ball. On the other hand, they just went and got Taranto & Hopper, and our 2nd string midfield doing as well as they did yesterday is undoubtedly a good sign.
Richmond supporters around me in the last quarter were getting pretty frustrated with our centre clearance dominance.
 
Sans Cunners, that would leave us with this “undersized” midfield:

LDU: 188cm
Goater: 190cm
Greenwood: 190cm
Powell: 184cm
Simpkin: 183cm
Phillips: 180cm

+Zurhaar 189cm, possibly Thomas 189cm
The main group post-Cunners is:

LDU: 188cm
Wardlaw: 182cm
Phillips: 180cm
Simpkin: 182cm
Powell: 183cm

It's not a big midfield group. Its also not just about height. None of those guys are a bullying presence like Cunnington, even if they are scrappy.

Goater or TT aren't necessarily bringing that, either.

Harley Reid is only 185cm but he looks like he throws his size around. Zurhaar definitely does but needs to develop as a midfielder.

Paul Curtis might be another answer here as he fills out. Just 185cm but strong and aggressive.
 
Most everything has been covered, so rather than just repeat everyone else, here’s a few additional thoughts:

There is no better way to spend a workday than reclining under the gum trees at Arden Street with a sneaky beer. Kudos to anyone who risked third degree (sun)burn watching from the pavilion side of the ground where 90% of the play took place.

At the end of the day, we matched a strong Richmond outfit in almost every facet of the game. IMO the difference between the two teams was I50 effectiveness. Too many long bombs from us, which is mainly due to the forwards not leading into dangerous positions and partly the ball carrier not being able to find/ create good options. Curtis and WilPhil stood out in their ability to create space and time to hit a target.

Paul Curtis is a complete player. What stood out on the ground is how he reads the play better than pretty much anyone. In the air, on the ground, inside, outside and sweet footskills. He is going to be a gun.

Sheez - such a high impact player. I hope he stays in the forward line because he has that rare quality where if he gets the ball, you just know it’s a goal. Make sure you go round 1 so you can tell your grand kiddies you were there when the Sheez played his first game and began a movement that resulted in the entire universe converting to Judaism.

Sleevo, I reckon there is some merit to the criticism he has received, but he was good, including in the physical, contested situations. Promising game from him.

Ford - looked really dangerous forward and agree he is closer to a game than some might think. But folks watching at home may not have seen how he got exposed defensively a few times with his opponent running unchecked downfield to contribute to scoring chains. Ford’s offensive game was good but I reckon Clarko will be telling him he needs to be more accountable defensively.

Turner - you ask why would we play Turner round 1? I ask why wouldn’t we? Was good again today as that pressure forward.

Xerri - I’m in the “he was actually ok” camp.

McKay - He was ok, but he’s making me nervous how he’s playing like his mind is not 100% in it.

Logue & Chom - such a massive impact on our structure

Half backs:
Bergman - looks like Napoleon Dynamite.
Goater - looks like Bergman. Was good other than that one howler that resulted in a 12 point turnaround.

My personal bias is that Young is ok and Bonar is a shitmen. But I thought Bonar was serviceable and Young - well I must have been watching a different game to some, because I thought he was one of only two players who were really poor. The first two plays he got involved in he fluffed resulting in two Richmond goals. Didn’t do anything to redeem himself in my eyes after that.

JZ - took one fantastic courageous mark, but was the other really poor player. His kicking was unfortunately what we’ve come to expect. On a couple of occasions he literally gave Rioli a 20m head start. I’m not exaggerating!

Can someone please explain to me why on earth JZ is still taking kicks ins? We all know it’s going 50m down the line to a contest. What’s the point?

IMO, the order of preference for Rd1 appears to be something like: Goater > Bonar > JZ > Perez > Bergman > Young…with a TBC on Archer, Hall, Corr, Drury. Personally, I’d put JZ dead last (and it hurts me to say it), but it looks like Al Clarko may want his leadership in the early rounds. I’d be happy for Brady to use the salary cap warchest on a HBF because we have a bucket o’ shitmen right now (Goater aside).

Probably an unpopular opinion, but Cunners and Jy are better mids than Zurhaar and Zurhaar is a better forward than Cunners or Jy. So, other than fitness/ succession planning, I’m happier with CZ playing 90% forward. But I’m not a 4 time premiership coach, so wtf would I know.

Conclusion:
I knew after last year’s praccie game against Melbourne that we would suck in 2022. Clarko has delivered a 100 point turnaround in just 8 weeks. We’ll start this year much better and we’ll be better again in round 23 than in round 1.

Enjoy the ride!
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yesterday was a good day for us, no doubt
not sure Dusty was at a centre bounce tho!
looked like he could of kicked 8 if he felt like it
we have a lot of work to do down back
 

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