Post match: vs StKilda

[foj1]

Well he was pick four in a draft that lacked a bit of depth. You always pick a project player at some stage. He has good pace for a tall and he can run to the right spots. Hasnt shown much else but if Myers and Pears are a big sucess we wont be worrying too much that Hooker didnt make the grade.

Spot on ant555. He was a project player who was picked because of some terrific testing.
I think we should be pleased about last night though Monfries and Watson were shown for what they are: B grade midfielders at best.

 

[sikmoe]

Your son Jay looked pretty good.

We need to learn how to tackle!

All in all though, a pretty spirited effort. Not everything went our way but we were still in it to the end.

is merv neagle the real merv neagle?? :s

 

[Merv]

is merv neagle the real merv neagle?? :s

LOL, Naa mate, just some hack wannabe

 

[carntheroos4eva]

LOL, Naa mate, just some hack wannabe

This guy knows a lot about umpiring footy as well.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Bit harsh there mate?
What do you want him to do? That was his 2nd game. Fisher ain't no weakling. The way he attacks the ball impressed me immensely.

Harsh?

Seriously... how many footballers have his body shape?

I'll give you a clue - Whitnall, Rioli, etc, etc.

He showed a few good signs but his second efforts were worse than Courtney Johns.

I'll cut him some slack but it's his third year at the club and he has to be in better shape than that even with the injuries he's had.

He might retire at 28 because of constant injuries and he can be another player that fails to live up to expectations.

 

[Spikey]

Harsh?

Seriously... how many footballers have his body shape?

I'll give you a clue - Whitnall, Rioli, etc, etc.

He showed a few good signs but his second efforts were worse than Courtney Johns.

I'll cut him some slack but it's his third year at the club and he has to be in better shape than that even with the injuries he's had.

He might retire at 28 because of constant injuries and he can be another player that fails to live up to expectations.

Not possible

 

[Smyth94]

Harsh?

Seriously... how many footballers have his body shape?

I'll give you a clue - Whitnall, Rioli, etc, etc.

He showed a few good signs but his second efforts were worse than Courtney Johns.

I'll cut him some slack but it's his third year at the club and he has to be in better shape than that even with the injuries he's had.

He might retire at 28 because of constant injuries and he can be another player that fails to live up to expectations.

How many footballers look like Kouta without having a pre-season? None.

He's barely 21, people are getting excited because he has obvious talent. It's a matter of getting him on the park for 22 rounds.

 

[sikmoe]

LOL, Naa mate, just some hack wannabe

lmaooo ohkai, got excited for a bit then

 

[DonMania#5]

If Hawthorn loses to Adelaide
West Coast v Essendon, Subiaco, 6.40pm
Collingwood v Hawthorn, Shepparton, 7pm

If Adelaide loses to Hawthorn
West Coast v Adelaide, Subiaco, 6.40pm
Collingwood v Essendon, Shepparton, 7pm

 

[Shane Hird]

For the first time ever I will be taking an interest in a Crows game and hoping they win so us WA Bombers get a look at the side next week..Go U Crow Scum!!

The biggest improvement imo from this NAB cup is Jason Laycock. Can't believe some people who are bagging him. What more do you want from the giant?
He's taking clean marks,he's actually bending down to get the ball in packs and dishing out effective handpasses,he's looking like a real footballer..imo.


C.Johns had another disappointing game.


I still have faith in Pev. Worked hard all night and did well on N.D.S..sort of.


Is Welsh been penciled in for a permanent forward role? I like the idea.


Stanton was rusty. Not to worried about his form. He'll be right.


All and all,good signs I reckon. Roll on rd 1.


Neagle..is pronounced Neegle or Nagle?

Don't know why I can remember this but his old man went thru the same thing. Back in the early 80s, his old man Merv was a young dashing emerging superstar and all the commentators were pronouncing his surname
Neegle for the first few years till one night while coming home from a Windy Hill match,Jack Dyer said on the radio that Merv had told a reporter that it was said as N-agle..like 'able'. Any ideas on the correct one?

Love his attack on the ball and the way he jumps into packs and skittles the opposition..we actually got a crumbing goal from one of his pack-crashing efforts close to goal.
Jay obiviously has the same style of aggression his old man had and if you're too young to remember the great Merv,believe me Merv was a nutter. Highly skilled and in control,but had extreme white line fever.

 

[TheDon35]

All things considered i can't be too dissapointed with last night.

Playing against a relatively full strength st kilda side, we probably were stiff to loose and still had plenty of players down on the night. Great signs given St Kilda are suposed premiership contenders.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

We played very poorly virtually all night
Were murdered in the middle
Were strung up by the umpires
Had a very inexperienced team
Against a strong StKilda team

And we still almost won.

Not sure if that says more about us or less about StKilda.

Either way, one positive was our ability to score, our forward set-up seemed to score a lot easier than last year. I mean we were virtually murdered in the middle and still kicked 95 points in a reduced time game.

P.S. Davey in the mddle was electric, the bloke is the most couragous guy in the comp bar none. Throws his small frame around, brought Harvey down several times, OK he may be old, but he knows how to get rid of the ball when being tackled, not when Froggys got him though.

 

[SirJimi05]

For the first time ever I will be taking an interest in a Crows game and hoping they win so us WA Bombers get a look at the side next week..Go U Crow Scum!!

The biggest improvement imo from this NAB cup is Jason Laycock. Can't believe some people who are bagging him. What more do you want from the giant?
He's taking clean marks,he's actually bending down to get the ball in packs and dishing out effective handpasses,he's looking like a real footballer..imo.


C.Johns had another disappointing game.


I still have faith in Pev. Worked hard all night and did well on N.D.S..sort of.


Is Welsh been penciled in for a permanent forward role? I like the idea.


Stanton was rusty. Not to worried about his form. He'll be right.


All and all,good signs I reckon. Roll on rd 1.


Neagle..is pronounced Neegle or Nagle?

Don't know why I can remember this but his old man went thru the same thing. Back in the early 80s, his old man Merv was a young dashing emerging superstar and all the commentators were pronouncing his surname
Neegle for the first few years till one night while coming home from a Windy Hill match,Jack Dyer said on the radio that Merv had told a reporter that it was said as N-agle..like 'able'. Any ideas on the correct one?

Love his attack on the ball and the way he jumps into packs and skittles the opposition..we actually got a crumbing goal from one of his pack-crashing efforts close to goal.
Jay obiviously has the same style of aggression his old man had and if you're too young to remember the great Merv,believe me Merv was a nutter. Highly skilled and in control,but had extreme white line fever.

Noby i also can't believe alot of this bagging that is going on. We are talking about pre season where players have not yet hit their straps and in which clubs are working on new game plans.

Laycock has shown throughout the NAB cup that he will be an improved player this year. His packmarking and work below his knees has been good.

Stanton played his first game and was good. People are bagging becuase of his lack of defensive skills but i don't see why. He is our number one midfileder now and he will be given free reign.

Peveril was really good last night. Worked hard both ways, good disposal and work ethic. I can't belive people have called for him to give it away after last night. He is a monty for round one and deserves to be with the form he has displayed in the cup.

People have also critisised Monfries after one average game when in actual fact he has been pretty goon during the NAB cup and has shown potential in the middle.

I can't wait for round one when we will have the likes of Lloyd and Fletcher to give the young players some more leadership.

On the topic of how to pronounce Neagle i always thought it was pronounced Nagle but it seems the commentators were saying Neegle so now i'm not sure. Surely Merv can solve this mystery for us. Merv?

 

[Colin D'Cops]

It wasn't a contest at al. Monfries dived on the ball, clurled himslef up into a ball and then laid there making no attampt to even look like he was trying to do something with it.

I agree that the current rules don't reward the ball player but it was a blatent free against Monfries.

They both had hands on the footy at the start when Monfries dived in for the ball, which is why I said it was a tussle...He was at the bottom of the pack and there was no way Armitage and Hayes I think it was, was gonna let Monfries get the ball out. They wanted the ball to stay in their forwardline so they can apply more goal scoring pressure...So the rules are more or less saying, 'Don't go and get the ball off the ground when there is heaps of people around you or else you'll get a free against. It is better waiting for someone to pick it up and then tackle then put your body on the line and win the footy with sheer force.'

 

[Merv]

On the topic of how to pronounce Neagle i always thought it was pronounced Nagle but it seems the commentators were saying Neegle so now i'm not sure. Surely Merv can solve this mystery for us. Merv?

It is pronounced Nagle

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Great game from both teams

Stantons body looks in great shape and prepaired for a massive season.

Watson is so close to taking the next step into elite, by far the best handballer in the league and his footskills are improving vastly.

Feels weird saying this about a 2nd year player but we missed Houli last night.

Dempsey even more impressive than 2 weeks ago with great positioning taking crucial marks throughout the game.

Overall impressive win from the saints and great effort by our young guns Jay Neagle especially

 

[SirJimi05]

They both had hands on the footy at the start when Monfries dived in for the ball, which is why I said it was a tussle...He was at the bottom of the pack and there was no way Armitage and Hayes I think it was, was gonna let Monfries get the ball out. They wanted the ball to stay in their forwardline so they can apply more goal scoring pressure...So the rules are more or less saying, 'Don't go and get the ball off the ground when there is heaps of people around you or else you'll get a free against. It is better waiting for someone to pick it up and then tackle then put your body on the line and win the footy with sheer force.'

Only one player dived on the ball.

I agree the rules suck as they are because the ball player gets penalised but under the current rules it was an obvious free kick.

I'm not blaming Monfires because i love the way he attacked that particular contest and he also went in extemely hard an a couple of other occasions.

I have said for some time now that they should bring in a rule to penalise the third player into a contest after one player has dived onto the ball or gobe to ground with the ball. That way it would give the ball player an opportunity to try get rid of the ball, it would give reward for a player who can lay an effective tackle and it would stop the situation where you have 10 players all diving in tackling eachother including there own team mates.

 

[SirJimi05]

Great game from both teams

Stantons body looks in great shape and prepaired for a massive season.

Watson is so close to taking the next step into elite, by far the best handballer in the league and his footskills are improving vastly.

Feels weird saying this about a 2nd year player but we missed Houli last night.

Dempsey even more impressive than 2 weeks ago with great positioning taking crucial marks throughout the game.

Overall impressive win from the saints and great effort by our young guns Jay Neagle especially

I remember thinking the same thing when i saw Stants at the intra club game. The guy is looking like an absolute machine.

Watson is underated. Clearance king and very important for us. I agree about his handballing and he is very good at inventing handballs out of nothing.

Dempsey is going to be good. He makes a few errors but this will come good and i hope that Knights just tells him to keep backing himself and taking the game on.

Houli's polish and class would have been handy last night. Certain starter for round one.

Love the way big Neagle attacked the ball and the man. What a gun barrell straight kick he is also. Would love to see the big fella get a game against North.

 

[SirJimi05]

It is pronounced Nagle

That's what i thought.

Cheers Merv.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

Only one player dived on the ball.

I agree the rules suck as they are because the ball player gets penalised but under the current rules it was an obvious free kick.

I'm not blaming Monfires because i love the way he attacked that particular contest and he also went in extemely hard an a couple of other occasions.

I have said for some time now that they should bring in a rule to penalise the third player into a contest after one player has dived onto the ball or gobe to ground with the ball. That way it would give the ball player an opportunity to try get rid of the ball, it would give reward for a player who can lay an effective tackle and it would stop the situation where you have 10 players all diving in tackling eachother including there own team mates.

They both had hands on the footy and Monfries dived for it, I didn't state otherwise...I agree on the other stuff you said...

 

[FandangoDingo]

Perhaps everyone's disappointment is proportionate to the optimism that resulted from the Baby Bombers' sensational showing in the first 2 NAB games.

I still feel very optimistic for the future, but the time-frame for success has perhaps been tempered. I recall how bleak it felt at the end of last year. Right now, I feel 400% better about our medium-to-long-term future, while still harbouring a feint glimmer of hope for causing some damage in September.

If Lucas had his kicking boot on, we would have been playing in the NAB GF. We lost by 3 points to a team touted as genuine flag fancy. We got cleaned up by an elite midfield... but still managed to be right in it until the end. There are still many positives.

As others have said, the loss will highlight where we're deficient and where we need to keep working. We can put "the lid" back on and continue to work with intensity and purpose.

It was a NAB game. It was a very different game to the first two - much more physical, intense and tight on the scoreboard, so it will be another good experience for the youngsters. In all likelihood, it's going to be a season of learning, with some bad losses and some oh so exciting wins! I'm just rapt to see our young fellas being competitive. The players and Knights will all have gained a lot of confidence over the past 3 weeks. It's a great foundation for the new era!

I actually thought our blocking was pretty good again last night. It was the running in waves and drawing opponents that was lacking. We didn't use the corridor and our overall work rate/intensity seemed a bit down. Maybe the Saints just had us under more pressure and shut us down.

Our tackling was also sloppy. We gave away too many soft free kicks. We got smashed in the clearances. Skills still need a lot of work, but it's very early days.

Positives
Jay Neagle - Anyone saying anything negative about this kid after last night is a twat. It was his 2nd game! Great presence and attack on the footy. What's not to like?? Big thumbs up from me!
Dempsey - Very exciting to see him out there. I don't mind seeing him get caught or make mistakes occasionally, but needs more work on his disposal. He's an excitement machine though.
Nash - Love this fella's work. Will have a great season.
Magin - Shows great promise.
Laycock - Took some good pack marks and looks to be growing in confidence.
Reimers - Lovin' this mongrel, although he was a little sloppy at times.
Davey - Sensational when he went into the middle. He is the fuse!
Welsh - Very good in the first half.
McVeigh - Winding up for another season. Will take it up another level in '08.
Peverill - Played well. Still some skill errors, but has improved his kicking dramatically. Probably won't play in our next premiership, but very happy to have him here in '08.
Watson - Got better as the game went on.
Johns - Yeah, Johns!! He's a confidence player and he would have got some last night. I'm not sure where he fits in, but he's gonna click one day soon.

Negatives
Ryder - Probably shouldn't be on this side of the ledger, but he really does lack intensity. Has all the tricks... A freak! Just needs to fire up!!
Slattery - Doesn't seem to be progressing like he needs to. Needs to add to his offensive game. Just runs around sniffing ass! Sloppy!
Chatres - Doubt he'll make it.
Monfries - Not having the impact you'd expect at this point. I seem to keep noticing him whining to the umpires. C'mon Gus!!
Umpiring - Ordinary. We didn't get the calls our way, especially in the last 10 mins. The one against Davey was mind-boggling (could even have been taken off King). As was the free given against Ryder just inside our 50 in the final 20 seconds... but that's the way it goes. The one against Monfries was there. Good desperation, but he botched it.

Add in Fletcher, Lloyd, Houli, McPhee, NLM, Jetta, Winderlich, Lovett, Hird ( that would be nice!).... Gumbleton, Myers, Pears, Hislop and (I hear ya Kelvin.... can't believe I'm saying it either) even possibly the new model Dyson!

Add some decent ruck coaching, 3 months more of learning the game plan, improving fitness ,and we should all be licking our lips!!

On the Saints, they'll be thereabout this year. Hayes, Ball, Dal Santo all doing as they do. It's a quality midfield. Their mid-tier looks stronger. Schnieder, Jones and Armitage played very well. They also now have some decent rucks. Go close.

 

[Big Blow Hard]

.
Ryder - Probably shouldn't be on this side of the ledger, but he really does lack intensity. Has all the tricks... A freak! Just needs to fire up!!
, Jones and Armitage played very well. They also now have some decent .

I don't quite agree with this. The great players often look like they are coasting and lack intensity. They seem to be in slow motion sometimes, but still dominate with what seems like minimal effort. They seem like they have all day. I like to call it "Football Gracefullness". James Hird had it, Nathan Buckley had it, Judd has it. And I believe Ryder has it also, which is why he will be one of the AFL's elite very soon.

But som champs seem to do it intensely, you can see the hard work put in. A different type of champion. Like Voss.

 

[monty1104]

I taped the game last night and ive only seen the first half so far. But was anybody else really impressed with Rama? For me, he just seemed to play almost a Fletcher like role in defense. Just kept his cool and got us out of trouble a couple of times. I reckon he is a shoe in for round 1.

 

[p3zd1sp3nx0r]

I'd like rama instead of slattery in the back pocket at this point. Some of he fists he got to spoil the mark were excellent.

 

[mxett]

I taped the game last night and ive only seen the first half so far. But was anybody else really impressed with Rama? For me, he just seemed to play almost a Fletcher like role in defense. Just kept his cool and got us out of trouble a couple of times. I reckon he is a shoe in for round 1.

Good call. I think Rama has shown a heap so far. He really looks like a player again, not just a person trying to recover from a lengthy layoff.