Observations from SCG

[Tigerland]

Sat high in the stands and made the following observations. (most of which you probably already know)

(Defence)

*Moore doesn't look up to it. As a defender you need to be either watertight or hurt the opposition on the rebound. He is neither.

*Connors looked more poised than most of our defenders. Looks to be very good and has the skills we lack.

*McGuane is very slow off the mark. He needs to improve that or he hasn't got may tricks.

*Raines continues to make bad decisions. Overcommits, goes to ground, hesitates when he should move it on. Was playing on Goodes most of the night so was always going to look beaten I suppose.

(forwards)

*The forward structure is a mess. I really think it would be beneficial for Richo to play out of the forward line for a week or 2 and see who bobs up.

*Petifer has improved after a slow start to the year. Played with the sort of intensity we lack and need.

(midfield) Foley was well tagged and probably will be from now on. We need others to step up. Again Tuck's skills let him down.
Tambling seemed to be around the ball at times and wasn't as bad as some have suggested. He ran and bounced and we need him to do that. Just makes bad decisions at times - e.g handball to a player under pressure.

(crowd)

The Richmond fans have gotten use to losing. Everyone was calm and quiet around me. There was no pain, yelling - just a numbing feeling.

(overall)

We kick to players on top of their heads. I think we're the only team in the AFL that doesn't kick to space and have the player run into it. As a result we're constantly in contests and losing our fair share.

We had many chances to kick or run straight up the guts and chose to go wide. Lack of confidence? - I don't know.

On the plus side we have at least 11 players - that are young and haven't played their best footy yet.
Foley, Reiwolt, Tambling, Deledio, Pattison, Edwards, Connors, Hughes,
Polo, Thursfiled, Raines.

Maybes - JON, Mcguane

Haven't yet seen - Casserly, Collins, Peterson.

Add the slightly older Newman, Polak, Pettifer, Couglan, King and things don't look so bad for the future.

 

[Grin]

Great post Tigerland.
A refreshing change from some of the ignorance that has dominated this board for the past day.

 

[local]

Hi Tigerland. I was at the game too. Sitting up in the Brewongle stand.

Total agree with the Richo comment. Looked like he was cramped for room last night. Shocking delivery didn't help either. He looked better playing around the 50 meter arch. I like to see him play more of the half forward flank or wing for a couple of games.

The kids really need to bulk up. We were killed in the one on one marking contests. Out bodied every time.

 

[CoggaRules]

We were smashed but it was the first time this year that IMO, showed us the future and the positives in it.
Came away from watching the game pleased with what i saw for once.
Connors...first game, looked like he belonged. We have our Leon Cameron.
Edwards..the kid is making people other than the tigerheads take real notice.
Hughes...took positive steps in my book. More intense attak on the ball makes a big difference steamer, doesnt it?
Out of left field? Pettifer must have had the tap on the shoulder. IMO first time he had a real impact on the ground, outside kicking a couple of easy goals. Lets see if it lasts.

The biggest positive? How much better we are, and even amid a smashing without the super stars in HYde and Tiv in the side. Did anyone notice them missing? Nope, at ****ing last!!!!!!!!

 

[TIGER ROCKET]

Hi Tigerland. I was at the game too. Sitting up in the Brewongle stand.

Total agree with the Richo comment. Looked like he was cramped for room last night. Shocking delivery didn't help either. He looked better playing around the 50 meter arch. I like to see him play more of the half forward flank or wing for a couple of games.

The kids really need to bulk up. We were killed in the one on one marking contests. Out bodied every time.

i don't think richo enjoys the scg too little space.playing on a very very underrated backmen too

 

[CoggaRules]

Hi Tigerland. I was at the game too. Sitting up in the Brewongle stand.

Total agree with the Richo comment. Looked like he was cramped for room last night. Shocking delivery didn't help either. He looked better playing around the 50 meter arch. I like to see him play more of the half forward flank or wing for a couple of games.

The kids really need to bulk up. We were killed in the one on one marking contests. Out bodied every time.

Richo was shit last night. Left the brain at home for this game Richo. Cant remember how many times Richo looked to have absolutely no clue at what to do next and how to do it. Which isnt unusual, but last night, the comedy just kept coming.

 

[TIGER ROCKET]

Sat high in the stands and made the following observations. (most of which you probably already know)

(Defence)

*Moore doesn't look up to it. As a defender you need to be either watertight or hurt the opposition on the rebound. He is neither.

*Connors looked more poised than most of our defenders. Looks to be very good and has the skills we lack.

*McGuane is very slow off the mark. He needs to improve that or he hasn't got may tricks.

*Raines continues to make bad decisions. Overcommits, goes to ground, hesitates when he should move it on. Was playing on Goodes most of the night so was always going to look beaten I suppose.

(forwards)

*The forward structure is a mess. I really think it would be beneficial for Richo to play out of the forward line for a week or 2 and see who bobs up.

*Petifer has improved after a slow start to the year. Played with the sort of intensity we lack and need.

(midfield) Foley was well tagged and probably will be from now on. We need others to step up. Again Tuck's skills let him down.
Tambling seemed to be around the ball at times and wasn't as bad as some have suggested. He ran and bounced and we need him to do that. Just makes bad decisions at times - e.g handball to a player under pressure.

(crowd)

The Richmond fans have gotten use to losing. Everyone was calm and quiet around me. There was no pain, yelling - just a numbing feeling.

(overall)

We kick to players on top of their heads. I think we're the only team in the AFL that doesn't kick to space and have the player run into it. As a result we're constantly in contests and losing our fair share.

We had many chances to kick or run straight up the guts and chose to go wide. Lack of confidence? - I don't know.

On the plus side we have at least 11 players - that are young and haven't played their best footy yet.
Foley, Reiwolt, Tambling, Deledio, Pattison, Edwards, Connors, Hughes,
Polo, Thursfiled, Raines.

Maybes - JON, Mcguane

Haven't yet seen - Casserly, Collins, Peterson.

Add the slightly older Newman, Polak, Pettifer, Couglan, King and things don't look so bad for the future.

thanks for the post.good to get reflections from a person who had gone to the game.
agree with you're moore comment.but with the amount time the ball gets put in to opposition forward line the backline are certainly doing a good job under the circumstances.
i think jake king has struggled lately just to being matched up with guys totally superior in body size too him.he has been caught holding the ball a few times,perhaps opposition players are learning a bit more about him,but i do like how he tries to make something happen and always tries to kick it into the corridor.
edwards continues to impress and connors looked like he belonged out there.didn't look out of his depth after some early errors

 

[UpTheGuts]

I thought there were some good signs last night. Edwards was great and I thought McGuane was fine.

The gym should be pretty busy this offseason...

 

[lids2004roar]

*Raines continues to make bad decisions. Overcommits, goes to ground, hesitates when he should move it on. Was playing on Goodes most of the night so was always going to look beaten I suppose.

This may surprise you but Raines had a 94% efficiency and had zero clangers last night.

The move midfield seemed to be a perfect fit imo, best game for him all year!

 

[CoggaRules]

This may surprise you but Raines had a 94% efficiency and had zero clangers last night.

The move midfield seemed to be a perfect fit imo, best game for him all year!

yeah it sure does. Btw if Raines had 94% eficiency, then what number do you give a Goodes? LOL. Ridiculous stuff...best game for the year is easy when you go from -3 and move it up to -2 dude.

 

[Colonel Matrix]

This may surprise you but Raines had a 94% efficiency and had zero clangers last night.

The move midfield seemed to be a perfect fit imo, best game for him all year!

Didn't see the stats but I agree that Raines had a very good game last night.

How good is Edwards going to be!!!

 

[Jisha]

Newman has barely got a mention in this thread, and i thought he was absolutely fantastic last night.

The one thing i got out of the game was that Newman should most definetely be captain next year.

 

[Colonel Matrix]

Newman has barely got a mention in this thread, and i thought he was absolutely fantastic last night.

The one thing i got out of the game was that Newman should most definetely be captain next year.

Absolutely, he was BOG in my books. Probably the most composed player on our list

 

[UpTheGuts]

Newman has barely got a mention in this thread, and i thought he was absolutely fantastic last night.

The one thing i got out of the game was that Newman should most definetely be captain next year.

Bloody oath - in fact I and a few others at the rowdy Rose Hotel in Fitzroy were calling him just that... "Captain"

 

[itsintheblood]

i don't think richo enjoys the scg too little space.playing on a very very underrated backmen too

He kicked 7 there a few years ago.

 

[Rayzorwire]

Sat high in the stands and made the following observations. (most of which you probably already know)

(Defence)

*Moore doesn't look up to it. As a defender you need to be either watertight or hurt the opposition on the rebound. He is neither.

*Connors looked more poised than most of our defenders. Looks to be very good and has the skills we lack.

Yep, agreed on both.

*McGuane is very slow off the mark. He needs to improve that or he hasn't got may tricks.

Yes, but he's a lot quicker than Bowden.

*Raines continues to make bad decisions. Overcommits, goes to ground, hesitates when he should move it on. Was playing on Goodes most of the night so was always going to look beaten I suppose.

He had a dirty first quarter, but after that recovered well IMO. Best game for the season, did ok.

(forwards)

*The forward structure is a mess. I really think it would be beneficial for Richo to play out of the forward line for a week or 2 and see who bobs up.

*Petifer has improved after a slow start to the year. Played with the sort of intensity we lack and need.

The Swans know Richo and Brown firing is our only real chance of beating them. They often double teamed Richo out of the game and flooded back very hard. We rarely moved the ball fast enough to overcome this tactic, and the Swans do it very well at the pint-sized SCG.

(midfield) Foley was well tagged and probably will be from now on. We need others to step up. Again Tuck's skills let him down.

You can bet Foley will be tagged from now on - as Tuck was last year. Tuck was pretty good last night IMO...I think people are being very harsh on him lately. Eventually others will step up in midfield and we'll be competitive despite the tagging some will inevitably cop.

 

[CoggaRules]

You can bet Foley will be tagged from now on - as Tuck was last year. Tuck was pretty good last night IMO...I think people are being very harsh on him lately. Eventually others will step up in midfield and we'll be competitive despite the tagging some will inevitably cop.

in giving the ball back to the swans when he had it. I mean he got to the stage where he felt confident enough to rum with it, direct traffic as he did, then proceeded to send a pearler of a pass straight to a swan, who had gone where Tuck directed others not too. Scintillating stuff to add to his ballooned snaps that went nowhere and other assorted comical moments he starred in.
Most likely will find a home at around 38 on the list and be used when we are decamatated by injuries in future tiger line ups.

 

[TIGER ROCKET]

He kicked 7 there a few years ago.

yeah i remember he did have one good game there(obviously the seven you refer too)but overall i think he struggles there with the dimensions of the ground.

 

[Bifrost]

Yep, I was at the game and the primary thing I took away from the experience was that I need new glasses because I couldn't even read the numbers on their backs when they were right in front of our bay!!!!!

So don't ask me about individual performances because I wouldn't have a clue who was doing what, but on an overall team note, the Swans are EXPERTS at covering space and forcing opposition teams to the wings. This game was a classic example of that.

Also, the Swans hit most of their set shots and a hell of a lot of their snaps - we hit SFA of ours. We turned over the ball a lot (again) and when we DID kick to space, it was either too far into space or not far enough and players got taken apart.

I think everyone has been complaining about skills and skills coaches, but from what I've seen it's not skills, it's skill - kicking. We need our players to clean up their disposal by foot. Most of handpasses seems to come off OK (unless the bloke dishing off was halfway to the ground), but our kicking is rubbish all over the ground and it needs to be fixed. Now.

Other than our kicking, I though we played all right and the cheer squad (and the grog squad) who we were sitting right behind were in fine form. As soon as they realised the game was lost, they went into a 20 minute cheer marathon which was beautiful to behold.

 

[Rayzorwire]

in giving the ball back to the swans when he had it. I mean he got to the stage where he felt confident enough to rum with it, direct traffic as he did, then proceeded to send a pearler of a pass straight to a swan, who had gone where Tuck directed others not too. Scintillating stuff to add to his ballooned snaps that went nowhere and other assorted comical moments he starred in.
Most likely will find a home at around 38 on the list and be used when we are decamatated by injuries in future tiger line ups.

He'd get a midfield gig at most clubs Cogga. Most clubs don't need their inside ball winners to also be playmakers - they dish off handballs all day to a fleet of skilled outsiders, kick to players well in the clear, or scramble kicks forward which find teammates capable of playing in front.

He's one of our few onballers that go in hard all game and win their own ball. And it's really not fair to just point out his mistakes when often in game he'll do something sublime to make up for it - like that 40m snap from a standing start on his wrong foot which he nailed last week.

He's still an improving player - effectively only in his third year of senior football. The fact he was getting tagged in his 2nd year and has been able to play injured a lot this year, speaks volumes for his ball winning ability and heart.

Yes, he is making too many skill errors ATM, but once he has more skill and support around him and gets on the field injury-free more often, he'll be a more than handy player - winning the hard ball and doing the physical stuff he's always done well.

 

[CoggaRules]

He'd get a midfield gig at most clubs Cogga. Most clubs don't need their inside ball winners to also be playmakers - they dish off handballs all day to a fleet of skilled outsiders, kick to players well in the clear, or scramble kicks forward which find teammates capable of playing in front.

He's one of our few onballers that go in hard all game and win their own ball. And it's really not fair to just point out his mistakes when often in game he'll do something sublime to make up for it - like that 40m snap from a standing start on his wrong foot which he nailed last week.

He's still an improving player - effectively only in his third year of senior football. The fact he was getting tagged in his 2nd year and has been able to play injured a lot this year, speaks volumes for his ball winning ability and heart.

Yes, he is making too many skill errors ATM, but once he has more skill and support around him and gets on the field injury-free more often, he'll be a more than handy player - winning the hard ball and doing the physical stuff he's always done well.

dude, dont know how you see it, but there are the ones that go in and give it to the right player and then there are the ones that go in and get it and give it to the next player that they give it too. Its all good to get it and give it, its no good to give it to someone that is going nowhere.
Take a good look at how Cogga and Polo operate in tight (you can add a rapidly emerging Edwards to these 2 as well, the kid knows already), you might understand how they have that kind of vision that you dont learn or very few can learn. They understand that they are going to be collared and all they are doing is looking at whats around them and who needs to get it. Tuck gets collared and then is looking at who is around him to dish too. At that time its to late.

As for your assesment of the sublime stuff, dont know about your book, but in mine, "when often in game" and "like that 40m snap from a standing start on his wrong foot which he nailed last week", somehow dont quite fit.
Do you know what i mean? You must be one of those types that sees one thing once in one game, and automatically suggests its something that "often occurs in all games". What is quite evident is that the only thing that occurs often in a game with Tuck are mistakes and costly ones to boot.

 

[telsor]

Those looking for where the club is going to improve should looks more closely at Pettifer.

Not that he's where the improvement will come from, but rather that since the inclusion of Brown, he's stepped up and once again looks like he can play, while earlier in the year he was barely worth a spot in the 22.

Players can look like crap when the load is too heavily on them. These same players can look like quality with the addition of a few more players around them, or when those around them step up. One of our current problems is we play so many kids,there is nobody there to take that load. As our kids grow, take more responsibility upon themselves, and gain confidence from those around them, they will all look better.

 

[peternorth]

He kicked 7 there a few years ago.

and did his knee there

 

[PHX]

Those looking for where the club is going to improve should looks more closely at Pettifer.

Not that he's where the improvement will come from, but rather that since the inclusion of Brown, he's stepped up and once again looks like he can play, while earlier in the year he was barely worth a spot in the 22.

Players can look like crap when the load is too heavily on them. These same players can look like quality with the addition of a few more players around them, or when those around them step up. One of our current problems is we play so many kids,there is nobody there to take that load. As our kids grow, take more responsibility upon themselves, and gain confidence from those around them, they will all look better.

Agree, Petts had a shithouse start to the year with Browny going down and I think the pressure got to him and was ineffective for quite a few weeks.

The pressure has receded lately and he's playing like he should. I liked the look of him in the midfield on the weekend.