Autopsy Rd 20 - Dockers smash Sth Freo Cats by 34

poshman

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He and Duman are two of our defenders who get mentioned as potentially playing on the wing if we lose either of Langdon or BHill, and our injured defenders come back into the side. I'm not sure if they are realistic options or not, but I can see the logic, plus I see some potential in Logue doing that as well. The list does loom as defender heavy, although a little unbalanced in its' make up.

With those 3 I don't quite see the footy smarts that fits that role for me, but they do have other attributes. Hoping Sturt can become an option in 2020.

Hughes showed some class yesterday that I didn't think he had - if he can continue that he has to be a first team lock. There was no under pressure brain fade at critical moment yesterday, he has cost us early frequently and if he can continue to stamp that out of his game he will be a much improved player.

Logue is an interesting one - as the third tall he has the pace and strength to really damage the opposition running off. He pulled off a couple of side steps with burst yesterday that were hopefully a sign of great things to come. If he can play third tall he should start to get roam and run permission next season and become a far more dangerous player. As for wing - I am not sure he has the nous in close yet. He turns blindly into trouble to his left a little too often to do well in the midfield contests. He could however provide bullocking run and blocking as well as a strong marking target... who knows? I just think we have a very good player in Logue.

Sturt projects to be a long - pacey - skilled player. Fortunately he has been able to build his frame very quickly this year, which bodes well for him adding another 4-6kgs through the off season. Not many players have added muscle as quickly as he has done. Now we just need to see if he can play!
 

FFC4ME

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I can't remember who first compared him to Ibbotson (I think it was me but could be wrong) but this is a comparison that will persist. Many similar attributes and unfortunately some of the failings but he is never going to called soft, except by those who don't watch closely enough.
As for Ibbo comparisons, he’s ah upgrade/ different positions. Ryan would be more of the better comparison with his marking. Hughes goes in hard and can run. Ibbo was a see ball mark ball type. Not particularly quick nor decision making elite.

No, Hughes is not directly comparable to Ibbotson in many ways. If anything, they play as polar opposites.

Ibbotson was a terrific interceptor in his prime, but he just never had the football brain and would slow any rebounding thrust to a complete halt while he took an eternity to decide what to do. Hughes, on the other hand, perhaps thinks a bit too quickly - he is always looking to get involved and keep things moving in play, and unfortunately under extreme pressure this manifests itself in that decision making resembling utter panic that is really the only flaw in his current ability.

I had a feeling Geelong's double away fixture could come back to bite them, but like most of us I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of our effort and general play that also had an impact on stopping the Cats from playing their best. And given that Sandi probably only has a handful of games left, it was nice to see him ream the Geelong ruck division one last time!

One particularly eye catching element was the relatively low number of bombed kicks into our forward line in comparison with recent weeks. Let's be honest, Ryan and Wilson were playing injured for many weeks and along with Langdon it had basically become their specialty just to try and bomb it as long as possible without much purpose. Darcy does need to work on his forward craft and set shot kicking, but he did present very well as a forward target yesterday and got the ball down usefully.

We probably do have one too many members of the mosquito fleet, but one positive is that they all contribute different things. Switkowski really does need to hit the scoreboard more (and he does tend to torch the few set shot opportunities he gets), but his fierce tackling pressure is desperately required and that smother in the last essentially won the game for us. Matera is now struggling with set shots and is not a great tackler, but remains the most reliable of our small forwards for snapping goals in not a lot of time and space. Schultz is a depth player, but a handy one because he gets down the ground the furthest and is a reliable link in forward chains. And it was good to see Crowden have his best game in purple; unlike many members of the team, he is a noticeably low and flat kick and his set shot accuracy kept us in it during the second quarter.

I thought Carter had a tidy debut without doing anything particularly eye-catching (but neither did he make any noticeable howlers), although there were a few occasions in the second half where he got into a decent position but was ignored by teammates.

Possibly the most heartening thing for me was seeing Brayshaw continue to blossom into the fine bullocking midfielder we need as Mundy phases out. With Blakely's handball skills and Cerra's silk once his tank gets up to scratch, with another young draftee to come, it does give me faith that we can get over the loss of Neale and still come up OK.
 

Greyhairs

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Does anyone get the feeling that Switta has a heart of a Lion and just wants to wreak havoc on the big stage?
I agree and if Langdon ever gets his kicking fixed he will be one of the best.
Matera would be a whole lot better if he forgets the cameras are on him.
The game reminded me of the times when Kickett and Co were playing for us.
Good to see the fight in the team and hopefully it will give them all a big boost.
 

jedi mind tricks

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I agree and if Langdon ever gets his kicking fixed he will be one of the best.
Matera would be a whole lot better if he forgets the cameras are on him.
The game reminded me of the times when Kickett and Co were playing for us.
Good to see the fight in the team and hopefully it will give them all a big boost.

Langdon was kicking the ball better last season and even early this season. Not sure what happened.
 
Mar 18, 2012
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Does anyone get the feeling that Switta has a heart of a Lion and just wants to wreak havoc on the big stage?

He has these flashes of brilliant courageous acts in every game, he hits contests like a bull at full pace - he's got that bit of something you can't teach. If he could just work on his tank over preseason and bump up his involvement in games by 20% he'll be an absolute ripper.
 

couldhavebeen

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So happy . Can't take the smile off my face
Just a couple of observations Crowdens a forward pocket not a mid . Materia just needs to breath when he has ball in hand . Sam is the minder we have been missing since we delisted Brady Grey.
Langdon just needs more skills coaching .
Suggestion time . Can we put a full midfield pre season into Hughes , Ryan and Nuihas. Next year I would love to see them all in the same team rotating off half back and into our midfield . They all have size. They are all dual sided . Their strength is high percentage disposables. All can work at giving Fyfe the physical protection and all are courageous in the clinches
 

rgauci

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He has these flashes of brilliant courageous acts in every game, he hits contests like a bull at full pace - he's got that bit of something you can't teach. If he could just work on his tank over preseason and bump up his involvement in games by 20% he'll be an absolute ripper.

He’s got a huge tank. Just needs to work on building his size. Gain 3-4kg muscle.
 

Monument Hills

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Today was the best the crowd has been in years. I felt part of something as opposed to the lone soldier feeling I normally have. That level of cheering, booing sh!t calls by the umps and the camaraderie was top notch. The result was a bonus!!!!
That was without doubt the loudest I've been at the footy. Came in expecting to have a quiet beer at the bar and a chat with a bro (easier than saying to the missus I was going to pub for 5h and to keep an eye on the kids). Quietly watching it from the bar slip away with some clean entries to Porkins. Not too fussed, I was already 3 beers in and had very low expectations.

Then thanks to a special guy called Mollisson, and the most one-sided patch of umpiring I've seen for a while in the second (as called out today in the West by Duffield), Fyfe getting ragdolled, gutpunched, held, pushed, for no frees, then giving one away for almost nothing, the crowd, myself included, went absolutely off our heads. The players followed and went to another level and didn't release the foot until the final siren. Every time the Cats touched the ball they were hit which made the crowd louder and louder. We thought it would dissipate by half time and the Cats would come back, but the Freo kids did not let up. So proud with that effort.

Never really been a booer, but with the crap Freo were dealing with off the ball early and the soft frees Moll. was then giving Geelong, never booed louder. Anyway it fired our players up so well worth it.
 

GoFreo4eva

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Geelong tried spreading the bounce out to give Kelly, Danger et al a better one on one go at the ball... But they didn't have a contest in the ruck so Sandi could put it to our advantage.

Kelly is a stoppage player, he would be for us, but Aaron was revved up yesterday.
Yes very noticeable that the big man was keen to impose himself. Both he and Darcy did what was needed to ensure our many smalls were well in the game. Loved some of Sandis tap work in the ruck and Darcy did a great job directing the ball to ground in marking contests.
 
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Anyone else s**t themselves when Hawkins had 3? Haha

Hawkins & Mundy were the bookends.

Hawkins starts like a Bondi Tram (good delivery helps), then goes into the Twighlight Zone for the rest of the game.

Mundy leans on the goalposts for 3 quarters, checking out which supporters box has the best group of supporters (I’ll have that one when I retire). For the last quarter he decides that he better clock on for work, ...... yeah 2 goals was not bad work !!.
 
Jan 18, 2002
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Geelong tried spreading the bounce out to give Kelly, Danger et al a better one on one go at the ball... But they didn't have a contest in the ruck so Sandi could put it to our advantage.

Kelly is a stoppage player, he would be for us, but Aaron was revved up yesterday.

I understand that Aaron gave the team a pre game pep talk. That would be like god speaking from the clouds.

Aaron doesn’t say much, but when he talks, you listen, else .....
 
That’s one way to get a tagger off Mundy.
And people say we don’t innovate enough at this club, should be our standard treatment against taggers
 
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