Observations of tonight's game.

Rhombus

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#26
Jack-Packenham said:
N Ablett - looked dissinterested again
Lonergan - a couple of class acts. Needs more chances
Gardiner - better but still frustrating
KIngsley - lets judge him when it counts
Byrnes - still can't kick
Prismall - ordinary disposal
Blake - struggled

Thats why I wan't to play as many games in this comptetion, so we can see more of these guys because a lot of these guys (barring injuries) wont get too many chances in the real stuff.
Jack, always the optimist!
 

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Bobby Giovanni

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#28
Jack-Packenham said:
N Ablett - looked dissinterested again
Lonergan - a couple of class acts. Needs more chances
Gardiner - better but still frustrating
KIngsley - lets judge him when it counts
Byrnes - still can't kick
Prismall - ordinary disposal
Blake - struggled

Thats why I wan't to play as many games in this comptetion, so we can see more of these guys because a lot of these guys (barring injuries) wont get too many chances in the real stuff.

So, you watched the game on tv?
 

Unwritten_Law

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#29
It's kind of ironic that in a game riddled with errors KK bags nine straight.

I know it is only the pre season and the first game at that but for a club that has supposedly been working extra hard on skills in the pre season that was an immensely frustrating game to watch.
 
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#30
Bobby Giovanni said:
So, you watched the game on tv?
I was in the Live wire bar from 3 pm.

I watched the hawks/tigers shocker in between races and then the cats/blues game that was only slightly better. But it was an improvement on our first up showing last year.
 

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#31
GeeCat said:
Shannon continues from last year, and the year before. Got a lot of the ball, made some decent runs, but with the same old results. Straight out, his disposal was crap, which shouldn't be surprising really. His is hardly the same case as others; not merely some pre-season rustiness showing through, he's always been like this. Honestly, improvement is minimal in comparison to others. Still showed poor awareness, crumby disposal for the most part, and a liking for running into open goals and blowing them far and wide.
He could have turned the game on it's ear if it wasn't for his disposal. Spraying the shot from 40 meters with no one around him took me back to the St Kilda game first time around last year when h did the same thing. Then the opportunity for a nine pointer (thanks to a 50 meter penalty) was squandered because he just ran up and kicked it as the umpire set the mark. Line up for God's sake, especially when you're straight in front and there's 9 points for the taking. Also got himself in trouble and then out thanks to his pace but then proceeded to kick it out on the full. Really uses his pace to great effect (something that we really lack) but all too often brings it undone with poor disposal. Hopefully it's just preseason jitters because he has the potential to be in our starting 18 but not with kicking like that.
 

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#32
Rosso said:
Really uses his pace to great effect (something that we really lack) but all too often brings it undone with poor disposal. Hopefully it's just preseason jitters because he has the potential to be in our starting 18 but not with kicking like that.
Somewhat disagree.

His poor vision and general lack of footy smarts and awareness really hinder his potential as a running option as much as his kicking skills do. Having the pace and the mindset or 'want' factor to run is great, but Shannon undoes all of that 70% of the time when he runs into a brick wall and coughs it up.

He has the tools to be a handy player, but that player should be a borderline 22 player if we're serious, not a starting 18.
 

mojo31

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#33
A few observations from me

James Kelly is quicker this year. Started to actually put a gap between him and players. Had the knee injury before and has always had class and smarts but seems to have improved his athleticism. Future gun and not far off it already. Sometimes it takes a couple of years to really get over the injury and to get full power and mobility back.

Bartel was hard and tough and his kicking has improved a touch.

Scarlett was almost impossible to pass. Judges the ball so early that a lot of his marks look pretty easy because he has already worked his opponent off the ball a long time before it is there. Not enough to give away a free kick and he is so clever with it.

Gardiner was quite clever with what he did. Clearly told to lead Lance away from the corridor and he tried that. Whitnall would not chase him so he led to the flanks and got the ball a umber of times and very quickly turned inside to kick to the open space for a forward to lead into. Bypassing Lance all together who ended up guarding space that did not prevent a quick lead for Kingsley.

Kingsley was good. He is quite quick over 5m even with a funny running action. He led when he should have and played the percentages and capped off some good work. Wont always be that easy for him but he played well.

Overall the bouncing by the umprires was pathetic. The standard of umpiring was terrible. To many soft free kicks paid on both sides. The game was quite hard and physical overall and that would please both teams. They tackled and put there bodies in. To many turnovers and an overall low standard but endeavour was good but very rusty.

Geelong were the better side and had the superior midfield. More organized and deserved to win. Good luck for the year.
 

Rosso

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#36
GeeCat said:
Somewhat disagree.

His poor vision and general lack of footy smarts and awareness really hinder his potential as a running option as much as his kicking skills do. Having the pace and the mindset or 'want' factor to run is great, but Shannon undoes all of that 70% of the time when he runs into a brick wall and coughs it up.

He has the tools to be a handy player, but that player should be a borderline 22 player if we're serious, not a starting 18.
Just felt that he broke the game open with some of his runs and as I said, had the chance to turn the game on it's ear if it wasn't for the let down kick at the end.

Took me back to the good old Spriggsy days coz whenever he got the ball I kept saying "Now just don't stuff it up!!!"
 

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Turbocat

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#38
Byrnes is frustaiting, like so many players that waste ball. The shot he missed running into an open goal was a bad miss!
A player at his size should get those 9 out of 10, yet he never apears balance like a Deludio, who is bigger and runs at a similar pace. He also lacks a right foot which for a player of his size is poor.
From all that Ive read and heard this is excactly what Varcoe does do, he ices the pass,he nails the goal, he is balanced and has moves.The sooner we get him playing the better, our side has some classy players, it has some pacey players, but not too many with both assets
 
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#40
Are any of these games available through Torrent or elsewhere? I started to get interested in the AFL after Graham came to NY and joined my NFL team, the Jets. So, I'm a Cats fan now.
 

nananana catman

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#42
Turbocat said:
Byrnes is frustaiting, like so many players that waste ball. The shot he missed running into an open goal was a bad miss!
A player at his size should get those 9 out of 10, yet he never apears balance like a Deludio, who is bigger and runs at a similar pace. He also lacks a right foot which for a player of his size is poor.
That's why he came off the rookie List... His kicking for goal has always been poor and it has probably gotten to the stage where he runs into those open goals with absolutely no confidence.

I also thought Kellys skills were poor on Saturday as well.
 
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Moderator #43
Watched the replay for the first time last night and made a few more observations:

1. I was too harsh on Gardiner. He did some nice things. He still fumbled and dropped too many easy marks but he showed glimpses of what he can do. He moved well, he presented well and his kicking wasn't abominable.

2. I think posters were too hard on a couple of players - N Ablett and Spencer. N Ablett led very well for most of the night but just couldn't get a sniff (hmm... maybe because someone else was being a glutton!). His pass to Kelly on the left at one stage was pure joy. Spencer took a couple of nice marks and didn't do too much wrong. I don't know why people are being so harsh on a bloke playing his first senior game at the highest level.

3. The players' disposal by foot was as bad as I've seen in a long time and we still won by 28 points. Kelly and Byrnes were the main offenders. I thought if Byrnes had have kicked better he would have been in the best players on the ground.

4. Kent. Marvelous. Played the game to perfection apart from two 50m penalties against him. That goal where he gathered on the flank, chipped to Charlie then ran back towards the goals and led straight up the ground was textbook. What's more he went back confidently and slotted the goal from near 50m. What a game!
 

Sammy D

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#44
Match report should be up on the blog this arvo. Sorry it's taken so long, haven't had a chance to catch a replay yet so I taped last nights one.
 
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