Positives from last night

[TD]

Ok, we got beaten again and played some pretty uninspired football and to top it all off, we copped a multitude of injuries.

Despite all this I have managed to come out with a couple of positives from last night. I think last night we showed some glimpses of form, only to stuff it up with silly mistakes, clumsy fumbles or poor kicking/handballing. This had nothing to do with our commitment, I thought last night we showed much more spirit than against Port but were simply rusty. This should improve with some match practice.

But I think the biggest pluses to come from last night were as follows:
1. Dean Rioli showing flashes of brilliance. Like the rest, he was a little rusty at times, but he looked very fit and showed that he can be an option in the midfield.
2. David Hille – I have previously questioned his tap ruckwork but was suitably impressed last night. I thought that when he was on the ground, Essendon looked a far better side. I thought he actually beat King. Alessio was absolutely flogged in the ruck and I wouldn’t be surprised if he spent the entire year in the forward line (or in the VFL) with Barnes and Hille doing the ruck duties.
3. Damian Peverill showed that he is a real talent. I though he was one of our best. Showed poise and class and worked pretty hard as well
4. Mark Mercuri looked like he was back to his 1999 form until he got injured. I don’t know how bad his groin is, but if he could keep fit………can you imagine Mercuri of 1999 and Hird of 2000 in the same team!!!
5. Although Henneman was soundly beaten, I think he can play a bit. He is surprisingly quick but I don't know of his ability to hold down a key position. I think he could be more than servicable providing run off the half back flank

I am scraping the barrel finding so many positives in what was a very disappointing performance, but like I said, I don’t think we are far away…..just a little rusty.

BTW. Does anyone have an update of our injury woes?


[This message has been edited by TD (edited 24 February 2001).]

 

[Anton Grbac]

TD,
A quick one on Henneman. Yeah, he's got some talent, but lacks upper body strength at the moment to match the bigger forwards. Also needs to work on his kicking, doesn't get much penetration. A few times on Friday night (and in his few appearances last year)his kicks resulted in 'floaters' being pumped straight back into the opposition forward line after providing some good running out of defence.

where's wally?

 

[TD]

Wally - I agree that Henneman lacks upper body strength, that is why I don't think he can hold down a key position just yet. And as for the poor disposal.....find me a player on the ground on Friday night who had good disposal. I think he is a talent who is 2 or 3 years might be a very good footballer. The best thing is that we are very strong in defence so we can probably nurse him through a little bit, he should learn a lot from the likes of Fletcher, Hardwick and Wellman.

 

[Anton Grbac]

Friday night proved how important Fletch is to our defence. In fact i believe he's the most important member in the team. I know it's a big call, but that's my opinion.

where's wally?

 

[TheJet]

Another positive, I think, was the hardness of Mark Johnson and Dean Solomon at the ball/man.

If only a few others would follow their example.

 

[TD]

Agree Wally, I thought we were absolutely flogged in defence. We had no-one to take the key forward. Also thought we were well beaten in attack. Lucas and Lloyd didn't look like matchwinners.

 

[James2]

Beaten in attack??

Can't agree TD.

Lloyd was one of our best players, in any event we had MORE shots at goal then Geelong.

Too many easy shots at goal were missed and disposal into the foward line was poor on a lot of occassions.

Cheers.

------------------
"Strangely enough, in the midst of change, the present course may often be the most risky one. It may only serve to perpetuate the irrelevancy."

 

[Dan26]

I agree. It was really only kicking for goal that let us down. We will get that right. Lloydy was ok. He had 8 shots for goal. The most important thing was that he was getting the ball.

One thing is for sure. if Dean Rioli plays all 22 games, it will be a sight to behold. His skills are magnificent. In the last quarter, when he took on THREE Cats players, ran past all of them, making them look stuid, and slotted a left foot goal, it was pure magic.

People don't realise Dean is a terrific tackler. I'd like to see him on a half back flank, which would suit his defensive game, yet it would also give him the whole field to ceate play and set up attacking moves.

 

[TD]

Lloyd took some grabs.....but how many within 50? most of our shots, although we should have made most of them, were pretty rushed. I thought Geelong looked far more threatening going forward than we did.

I agree that our biggest problem up forward was kicking straight, but we really didn't look dangerous at all.

 

[walshy1993]

i think there was more positives than negatives

backline of peverill, henneman, bolton, etc held up very well against an experienced forward line

peverill was very good and showed a lot, considering he played on burns, one of the best skilled players in the comp he did well

hille proved he has the goods against one of the top ruckman in the comp, alessio was also good in the ruck

mcgrath showed the ability he has, didnt get a great deal of match time but was good

rioli showed glimpses of his freakish ability

m.johnson has matured over the summer and looks as if he has become a leader and an insperational footballer

on the injury front, dont worry, rama is the worst and he will play round one, expect a few of the others to be rested next week