Autopsy Positives and Negatives - Round 1

[Ishmael_]

+1

Gaff doesn’t have to crunch blokes like Nic, but he has to make tackles stick more, slow the oppositions progress, just hang onto a player and teammates can come help.

He and masten just get brushed aside too easily

I don't understand how someone like Jetta or Josh hill can stick a tackle, whilst weighing 37 kilos and Gaff or Masten can't.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

ON the positive side, I actually felt glad footy was back.

I have been a little non-plussed about the season ahead.

Especially as we were in the middle of an enthralling test series.

But the cheating scandal, combined with NN being at the opening bounce - I'm back on board the footy bandwagon!

 

[mehow2g]

Sydney did enough to feed Buddy and rip us apart, overall we were the better team.

Nic Nat was fantastic very impressed with his agility.

Despite the lack of positions and size Venables looks to be a player.

Masten actually looked alright.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

It’s good that he is not in the team to win possessions because the less he gets the less damage he does.

Watson would do.

I've got bad news for you re: Watson's disposal.

 

[archiemoses]

In what world did Masten look alright? It was a typically soft, amount to nothing performance.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[ziad]

I don't understand how someone like Jetta or Josh hill can stick a tackle, whilst weighing 37 kilos and Gaff or Masten can't.

he layed one and was penalised -I didn't the the as free as warranted- his hand was on the side of the shoulder - looks like a dumb bit of umpiring or a guess. (Goal obviously)

 

[Double the Fist]

Major negative is we play WBD next week, and they will smash us I fear after that effort agianst GWS

 

[lewigie]

Man.. that HTB against Masten was ****ing gold. It was something you'd expect of a first year player, in his first game.

 

[DJMac]

I've got bad news for you re: Watson's disposal.

Had a few clangers but IMO not too bad and I am confident he will get better quickly. Time will tell.

 

[Reminiscence]

I don't understand how someone like Jetta or Josh hill can stick a tackle, whilst weighing 37 kilos and Gaff or Masten can't.

Watching Gaff get bowled over by Buddy basically summed him up in a nutshell.
Wants to play inside; but has no ability contested wise nor the strength to stand up in there.

Leave him out on the wing. Leave his centre clearance rotation to other mids with a far better chance of actually getting the ball.

 

[WCEswift]

People talk as if playing inside is easy, It takes a fair amount of balls to do, I get nervous having a family member who plays inside mid on occasion always last up out of the packs being tackler or tacklee, the body takes a battering game in and out

 

[ziad]

People talk as if playing inside is easy, It takes a fair amount of balls to do, I get nervous having a family member who plays inside mid on occasion always last up out of the packs being tackler or tacklee, the body takes a battering game in and out

need the right shasse

 

[Eastern Rangers]

 

[Wadsworth]

A couple of observations from the game:

It appeared that Simmo was prepared to really rotate a lot of players through the midfield. At centre bounces, I genuinely don't know if we lined up with the same guys in the guts twice in a row. Started with Shuey, Yeo and Venables, but just about everyone ran through the guts at some point - we had no fewer than 10 guys line up in the centre at one point including guys like Cripps who has previously been exclusively a Fwd. I think it's clear that Simmo is trying move to a more versatile midfield with greater depth than we've previously had.

I didn't quite understand it - but it seemed as though quick kicks long were part of the game plan rather than players panicking under pressure. Whether the focus is on quick forward entries, or a response to a smaller forward line. I don't know, but it seemed a deliberate plan rather than just actions of guys under pressure.

Clearly the skill errors cost us. It was some pretty basic elementary ones that I expect to be cleaned up. Sydney are a really good side and so potentially they shook of the Rd1 rust better than we did.

Gee Venables has some skills.

More seriously though, Franklin played an absolute monster of a game. I haven't seen him tear us apart previously like he did yesterday. Part of it was not getting numbers back in front of him, but normally when an opposition kicks it high into their forwards it's our bread an butter to spoil and at least halve the contest. But every time it went near Franklin, I felt we were in trouble. He puts such pressure on with his length to win the contest and his recovery to get the ground ball. Absolutely phenomenal.

Overall, I expect that we're well positioned to play a good versatile style of footy this year. Looking forward to better results over the course of the year.

 

[jesterwester]

I’m upset we lost; but was an encouraging performance given the side we put up compared to the swans. They were an experienced, hard bodied side. We played 3 debutants and a much younger side and in parts we really held our own.

Buddy was the difference in the end; he’s a big game player and yesterday was as big as you’ll get for a round 1 game. Doesn’t help our defenders when we turn the ball over as much as we did at times. When Parker scissor kicks goals like he did in the last you know it’s just not your day.

Positive was that Nic got through unscathed. Boy does he change us and immediately I am upset we didn’t get to see him play with Sam Mitchell.

DV, Ryan & Waterman had their moments - Watermans set shot in the last was excellent, especially given the pressure on the kick. Simmo says this was as good as 10 games experience, I believe him. I hope they play again this week.

Good to see Jack take some marks and Lecca get amongst the goals. Both those guys have had indifferent preseasons so getting amongst the goals was a good thing.

Negatives:

Masten didn’t contribute as much as I thought he would. Jetta had an off day; although at Least he got some of the ball.

Forward structure wasn’t great 1st half; but I expected that to a degree so glad we turned that around in the 2nd half.

Late goals really flattered the swans.

 

[Sammy J]

Was always going to be an uphill battle against a team like Sydney. Very real chance of starting 0-3, but let’s hope not.

Good signs, was so good to see Nic back, but we have work to do.

 

[DickDunn]

This is definitely a case of a broken clock being right twice a day etc, but I thought Garry Lyon was spot on talking about us On The Couch. He was saying that we looked introverted, even "apologetic", at times last year. Nic Nat changes that - his aggressiveness and intent makes everyone else stand taller

 

[jesterwester]

This is definitely a case of a broken clock being right twice a day etc, but I thought Garry Lyon was spot on talking about us On The Couch. He was saying that we looked introverted, even "apologetic", at times last year. Nic Nat changes that - his aggressiveness and intent makes everyone else stand taller

Was the conversation on us relatively neutral or did they have some good things to say on us?

 

[FKASC]

This is definitely a case of a broken clock being right twice a day etc, but I thought Garry Lyon was spot on talking about us On The Couch. He was saying that we looked introverted, even "apologetic", at times last year. Nic Nat changes that - his aggressiveness and intent makes everyone else stand taller

Yeah we knew this before he got injured. It’s a shame that we only have one player like this though when we really need 5 or 6

 

[DickDunn]

Was the conversation on us relatively neutral or did they have some good things to say on us?

It was only very brief. Pretty neutral, positive about NN etc

 

[DickDunn]

Yeah we knew this before he got injured. It’s a shame that we only have one player like this though when we really need 5 or 6

Your mate Jacko goes alright in that space

 

[eagles_4_life]

Your mate is wrong about masto. He shat the bed so often. Kicked one goal and one good kick into forward 50 that was it. Turned the ball over alot was scared of contact and didn't go when he needed to. He looks smaller than ever. I hope he spends most of the year in wafl because his performance as a senior player wasn't good enough

Thoughts:

Lecras - Played good ... and no, that won't be his standard for the year so don't bitch if he doesn't get 9 tackles every week. It shows he's got something to give, it shows he can work with Ryan and Rioli, it shows he cares.

For those simpletons who bitch every time he tries to score, get a grip. In the gameday thread he was called:
A seagull after his first goal (whereas most would say he was perfectly front and centre)
Selfish for having a shot after Ryan gave him the release handball (would you have preferred he jumped on Ryan and helped lock the ball in for no apparent reason? Or you just want hm to find imaginary open targtes?)
Selfish/Seagul for trying to soccer a goal from the goal square (after Waterman had just attempted and screwed up the exact same thing, would you prefer he didn't try score from 10m out? Or do you just hate the fact he was in a scoring position in the first place and would rather he was nowhere near the ball?)

Masten - Not as bad as some are suggesting, his free for the high tackle was soft and his free HTB #2 was a shithouse call. He's not a star but he put his head over the ball a number of times, had a few nice kicks and reports from my mate at the ground suggested he was one of the hardest working players in the team but was going unused (ala Jetta until recent times). My mate thinks he was one of the better players going forward. He did kick a goal and also had a goal assist. I looked up his stats on the tracker and his running efforts tonight can't be denied.

Naitanui - Great to see him back lifting the team, took 2 marks, laid some big hits, flew for the ball and had that manic ground level presence he's most valued for. Also looked to be unscathed and should be better for the hitout.

Duggan - Just had a look and he played 100% TOG. Don't think he got used in the middle much, I'd love to see him get more disposals because he had a lovely right foot kick tonight and a clean one hand gather, there's some good sings but I'm unsure how Simmo is playing him

Hurn - Actually was brutal, he did try line up Buddy late, he played well to the conditions, he had some laser like kicks and he stood up well.

Darling - Looks to have carried on with his attitude since last years Gold Coast game. He kept his feet (besides the time he was dragged down for no free kick) and he slotted all of his chances, he stood and delivered some decent handballs after breaking tackles and he grabbed a few contested marks, there were great signs there.

Waterman - Good mobility and clean with his hands, had some really good passages there for a first gamer and there's things to look forward to seeing in the future. Regardless of how he performed a lot can be forgiven in first games, his set shot was ice cold.

McGovern - Looked slow to make up his mind and it cost him, got caught out a few times and dropped some simple marks especially early on.

Ryan - Wasn't outstanding but there was enough to enjoy about his game, he definitely seems to put defenders on edge with his agility which can create opportunistic goals for himself or others. Looked a little rusty in his kicking skills though, missing a few targets and a low tackle count for tonight.

Venables - Not much to say besides he tackles strong. Had a pretty low amount of gametime so is perhaps not quite up to standard with the running, I'm hoping this builds quickly and we can become more dynamic in the middle. I think he can be what we hoped Yeo would be, thus leaving Yeo as a HBF who kicks goals (which Yeo is amazing at)

 

[jesterwester]

Yeah we knew this before he got injured. It’s a shame that we only have one player like this though when we really need 5 or 6

We arguably have 3 right now with Gov and Jk; until round 4 we probably have only 1.5 out of 3. Here’s hoping we can turn at least one of our draftees this year into an A grader soon.

 

[jesterwester]

It was only very brief. Pretty neutral, positive about NN etc

Which is probably fair.

We weren’t anything to write home about; but we weren’t the worst by any stretch this week.

(Imagine having one of the best midfielders in the game but forcing him to play forward because your other forwards can’t kick a score)

 

[dajesmac]

Major negative is we play WBD next week, and they will smash us I fear after that effort agianst GWS

No way. We'll win.