Player review vs Swans

[Snoop Dog]

Spot on with just about everything as usual Snoop. My only objection was in regard to Clarke. He had a job for much of the night on Mcglyn and the feisty little shit from north of the border was ineffectual at best.

Bit of confusion as to who he played on - I thought Maxy had McGlynn for big chunks but maybe am wrong. Either way on reflection think I was to harsh on him

 

[Snoop Dog]

Outside of the final quarter where Sydney played the game on their terms and in their half we did a wonderful job locking the ball into our front half and it was made a lot easier with the contested - in close, contested style of game that was played (which suits us and with Sydney playing this style of game it is a big reason why we can play with such great success against them).

The midfield dominance was wonderful and the entire midfield group stood up with key midfielders missing. Beams and Sidebottom both played excellent two ways games and Blair's hardness at the ball and tackling was big for us.

The real strength in our play tonight was our defensive structures and how our defenders all stayed strong winning their individual matchups and rebounded it back into our front half. With the contested game that was played it prevented any easy ball movement by Sydney from the back half, slowing them down and pressuring them on the rebound and completely shutting down any chances of meaningful ball movement which a number of teams have really hurt us with, so shutting that down against a good rebounding team was for mine the most pleasing aspect of this victory.

Brown with his 1v1 play was most pleasing getting spoil after spoil in from behind (by far the best I have seen him play this year and he seems so much more suited playing from behind and not getting into wrestling contests) - don't think he lost a 1v1 for the entire night and with the set up we played it really suited Reid and Maxwell and allowed them to play a more aggressive rebounding game where we could really utilise their abilities to read the ball and get all those intercept marks.

Our play felt a lot more like our play of 2010 and it really suits our playing group. Keep playing closed, contested games and work to keep it locked in that front half as we did today. Do this well and we can shut down easy opposition rebound and have our defence set up for the rebound which allows our defenders to read it, get off their direct opponents and take all those intercept marks.

The one aspect I wasn't so much a fan of was playing Tarrant as a forward. He just didn't have an impact on the game as a forward and his one set shot from 30m out, directly in front was just terrible. You can't rely on him kicking set shot goals in finals so play him as a defender where he is more effective anyway. He can play small if required and is just so much more suited to playing in the back half and has shown it since his Fremantle days with the consistency he shows as a defender.

Our key forwards looked a lot better when isolated but with so many key forwards this is difficult. Cloke so close to goal while he did at times hit the scoreboard, you just need to play him a lot higher and at CHF instead. He needs to get more involved in the game and when playing deeper in the forwardline it is just so easy for opposition sides to play 3rd man up and get the stop every time. I think the change needs to be made to get Cloke more involved in games. Additionally with Cloke we need to really work to get him to impose himself more on games. While isolated he is winning 1v1 contests and at times looking really effective, in general play he just isn't crashing packs or attacking the contest as we know he can. He really needs to play more aggressive football and needs to completely overhaul his mindset as right now it feels like he is in self preservation mode.


No personnel changes necessary.

Mate good post. Dont agree with your votes but so many went well its hard to be binary about it. Agree with stuff in bold v strongly.

As you say the style of game suited us and it bodes well for finals footy.

 

[Snoop Dog]

Reid was outstanding.

certainly was

 

[Snoop Dog]

I think considering the players we had out we put on a brilliant clearance effort. Sydney is a fantastic clearance side and we had 10 more than them for the game including 8 straight in the third. But I agree with your thoughts on Blair, I was thinking the same during the game, Blair needed to lift in the middle. He's hit a slightly quiet patch considering his early season form. But at least he is still contributing.

I thought Clarke was pretty ordinary all game to be perfectly honest.

Agree on Elliot and Sinclair. It's at the point in the season we need to make a call on one or both of them and bring in a more senior player (if ready to go) before finals.

Sinclair has tapered badly as the crumbing fwd and hence why sent to Mattner later in game. COnditions should have been good for him last night but he seems to prefer they spaces of G. I would keep him for next week and see how he goes in a fast pace game vs North and then take it from there.

I am a massive Elliott fan but am concerned he is tapering. I think he is better than Sinclair but we need Sinclair type more. Elliott had a super year but he looks buggered so I would rest him for a week or even two. Problem is what you do in the interim bc nobody is standing up for his spot unless you bring Rounds in. Maybe they could run him fwd for a few weeks in the seniors and see what happens.

No question they want Kraks roving ability in the fwds pre finals. Cross your fingers.

 

[Stripes B and W]

Enjoyed the read here of all posters. I think Knight has raised the point of Dawes or Cloke closer to goal.
I am in the camp of Dawes closerr to goal. Couple of reasons, i think is he can muster 4 to 6 shots on goal per game, the way he marked last night he can, i fancy him from closer in to convert. Just fancy Dawes closer to goal in terms of tackiling and locking ion closer to goal.
Cloke, to me, seems to work well on that longlead marking 70 -80 out, but although you couldnt saay he has huge finesse with his field kickiing he gets it in longer and quicker than Dawes, the ball gets through the air quicker.
Perhaps its a splitting hair thing, but come finals you are looking at percentages of percentages in advantages.

The other thiing I think is worth noting is the general kicking of a couple of our mids. Swan we know can spray them, Maxy is a bomber but i just think the kicking of Sidey and Pendles is not at the same level as the rest of thier game. COuld be post teh fracture, but Pendles is very hesitant when kicking short. Both these boys short kick invariably land at the intended targets ankles at best. Also both are lacking penetration with their longer kicks. Pendles by hand is the way to go. I think we need to get it in the hands of the better users like Faz, Beams, Dids and know maybe Seeds.
Love to see Reidy get that power kicking back, he is getting there, just another few percent.

Elliot/Sinclair/Krak/DIds is a really tough call, each have quite different skills. Like them all, it will be a matter of how much pressure Krak can put on in the next one or two VFL games. Think Elliot may miss due to lack of goals, but thought his pressure was excellent last night. The boy will have a long career with us no doubt.

 

[Knightmare]

Enjoyed the read here of all posters. I think Knight has raised the point of Dawes or Cloke closer to goal.
I am in the camp of Dawes closerr to goal. Couple of reasons, i think is he can muster 4 to 6 shots on goal per game, the way he marked last night he can, i fancy him from closer in to convert. Just fancy Dawes closer to goal in terms of tackiling and locking ion closer to goal.
Cloke, to me, seems to work well on that longlead marking 70 -80 out, but although you couldnt saay he has huge finesse with his field kickiing he gets it in longer and quicker than Dawes, the ball gets through the air quicker.
Perhaps its a splitting hair thing, but come finals you are looking at percentages of percentages in advantages.

The other thiing I think is worth noting is the general kicking of a couple of our mids. Swan we know can spray them, Maxy is a bomber but i just think the kicking of Sidey and Pendles is not at the same level as the rest of thier game. COuld be post teh fracture, but Pendles is very hesitant when kicking short. Both these boys short kick invariably land at the intended targets ankles at best. Also both are lacking penetration with their longer kicks. Pendles by hand is the way to go. I think we need to get it in the hands of the better users like Faz, Beams, Dids and know maybe Seeds.
Love to see Reidy get that power kicking back, he is getting there, just another few percent.

Elliot/Sinclair/Krak/DIds is a really tough call, each have quite different skills. Like them all, it will be a matter of how much pressure Krak can put on in the next one or two VFL games. Think Elliot may miss due to lack of goals, but thought his pressure was excellent last night. The boy will have a long career with us no doubt.

I'm with you on Dawes going deeper. The thing for me is with Cloke if he plays higher he can always run hard into the forward 50 to present as a target and be dangerous in this way but the key with him is that if he plays perminant deep he is too stationary and with that will come the 3rd man up every time to get the spoil in so he just won't get his hands on it. You really want him involved from the word go and if he is playing higher he will get his hands on it more, confidence will build and then perhaps he starts to get more confidence back in his game and will more willingly crash packs, attack the contest and clunk those contested grabs he once took with regularity.

You bring up a good point with Pendles also. His handball awareness is the best in the league and has that Scott West intuition by hand of old. His kicking while I thought it was ok last night I strongly agree has regressed from early seasons and it doesn't feel nearly as damaging with the placement it once was - very much hope this is a focus of the preseason for Pendles.

It will be curious to see how Krakouer/Caff go over the final weeks. If they can put pressure on it will only force the Elliott/Goldy/Sinclair to continue performing. Personally would continue to play these ahead of Krak/Caff but if one goes out then probably Sinclair - his tackling early season was his big weapon but over the second half it has really dropped off drastically and just hasn't been there.
Elliott I'm not so worried about and of the three has been the form forward and Didak without a doubt needs to continue playing senior footy. By foot is that much more creative + dangerous than anyone else on our list. If he can get his work rate up he will be a big asset come September.

 

[TheFreshBanana]

HUH?
Must have watched a different match?
Maxwell was great.
SSB was solid all night.
Sinclair had arun with task and still managed three direct score involvements from the crucible of a tough inside game.

I thought Maxwell had a good game, it would have been great had his disposal been a lot better. I'm not sure if it's deliberate or not, but he panic kicks the footy way too much.

And who was Sinkers running with?

 

[Pie eyed]

I thought Maxwell had a good game, it would have been great had his disposal been a lot better. I'm not sure if it's deliberate or not, but he panic kicks the footy way too much.

And who was Sinkers running with?

Maxwell was often under enormous pressure to get a kick clear of scoring range.
Heater, Pendles and Reid were all "guilty" of the same. It was just one of those high pressure matches with zero time for disposal.

Sinkers, early appeared to have Bird, then a defensive forward roll on Shaw and finally Dennis Lane.

 

[RuFiO]

Chris Tarrant. -10 for the shocking kick at goal. And -50 for being outmarked by Lewis Jetta.

 

[GameOver]

Happy with Elliott and the way he is progressing. Doesn't get enough credit for the small things he does. Hard at the footy, looks awkward at times, tackles well and does the team things. Also a strong mark for his size.

 

[ksardog]

wheres the love for Toovey, he shut done their most dangerous in form player. was superb, and the tackle on armstrong was brilliant

 

[Markfs]

One of the occasions where a review of the individual team doesnt reflect reality. A lot of players contributed with 1 percenters, even though they had low stats. The best team effort in a long time. Not surprising that defensive intensity was up.

 

[cfx_1]

On a side note, did anyone notice the amount of times Mumford would be pushing Jolly in the back at throw ins? I recall Jolly getting done for this so many times in previous games... Have they thrown the book out on ruck infringements??? I don't mind as Jolly loves to out wrestle opponents and it was a good contest but i'm sure he would like to know whats right or wrong as he looked quite dumb founded at times.

I think Jolly got away with one also that led to a goal early on and he couldn't believe it wasn't paid.. Also thought the commentators didn't know what to make of it.

 

[Quicky]

On a side note, did anyone notice the amount of times Mumford would be pushing Jolly in the back at throw ins? I recall Jolly getting done for this so many times in previous games... Have they thrown the book out on ruck infringements??? I don't mind as Jolly loves to out wrestle opponents and it was a good contest but i'm sure he would like to know whats right or wrong as he looked quite dumb founded at times.

I think Jolly got away with one also that led to a goal early on and he couldn't believe it wasn't paid.. Also thought the commentators didn't know what to make of it.

Just for Jolly.

 

[Pie in the Sky]

Just for Jolly.

Pretty sure there must be a section in the rule book that exempts Darren Jolly from normal ruck infringement rules...

 

[Old Spice]

Just watched the 1st half and Clarke to his credit was great defensively, as he needed to be to chance a spot.

On Sinclair V Elliot for a spot, i'd be giving it to Sinclair just on tha basis of a possible Krakoeur inclusion. He knows how to get into good position with his forward craft while we'd use Sinclair for some relentless pressure.

The margin is slim though between them to be honest. Now for the 2nd half.

 

[forwardflanker]

Yeah even though Sinclair hasn't been great recently I think his best form this season has been a fair bit better than Elliot's best. Also Sinclair can play midfield if need be which makes him a fair bit more versatile than Elliot. It looks like Sinclair is one of those guys who needs a few weeks of senior footy in order to find his touch so hopefully no that he's put a few together we'll see a return to some of that early season form that stopped me from hating him

 

[Mateyman]

On a side note, did anyone notice the amount of times Mumford would be pushing Jolly in the back at throw ins? I recall Jolly getting done for this so many times in previous games... Have they thrown the book out on ruck infringements??? I don't mind as Jolly loves to out wrestle opponents and it was a good contest but i'm sure he would like to know whats right or wrong as he looked quite dumb founded at times.

I think Jolly got away with one also that led to a goal early on and he couldn't believe it wasn't paid.. Also thought the commentators didn't know what to make of it.

Agreed. The amount of times you could see Mumford with 2 hands in Jolly's back, CLEARLY pushing him down was astonishing. Noticed it all game. If Jolly did that to Cox, he would have between 100 and 150 frees paid against him

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Yeah even though Sinclair hasn't been great recently I think his best form this season has been a fair bit better than Elliot's best. Also Sinclair can play midfield if need be which makes him a fair bit more versatile than Elliot. It looks like Sinclair is one of those guys who needs a few weeks of senior footy in order to find his touch so hopefully no that he's put a few together we'll see a return to some of that early season form that stopped me from hating him

I'd probably prefer neither Sinclair nor Elliottt playing but agree that Sinclair has shown the most upside earlier in the year. Seedsman with his body size is more appropriate for senior footy but we don't have enough 'ins' to leave the other two out. This may be the last opportunity for both the vertically challenged players to make an impression.