Dons fans seem to be copping a LOT of flak for any comments about other teams that arent positive.
So, i thought id start a positives thread.
Watched all games except lions v dockers.
Tigers - great 3rd quarter. This game is traditionally a walkover for the blues. Conca and Batchelor showed great poise for first gamers. Jack has to be the most exciting forward in years. Morton and Graham were very solid. Tigers midfield is chugging along nicely too. Not sure Deledio is a backman though. Let the blues get some easy goals.
Blues - Not a bad effort. Was most impressed with their 4th quarter response. In years past, you could see them going to water when challenged like that. Judd and co in the midfield stepped up but also got some great service from the midtierers and below in Walker, Garlett, Armfield, Lucas and Robinson. Great game from Warnock too.
Port - great effort against a team vastly superior. Will rattle a number of cages this year. Great finds in Irons, Pittard and O'Shea. Salopek, Boak, Hitchcock and Cassisi were outstanding.
Backline just got monstered by pressure and the looming Dawes who will haunt a number of defences this year.
Pies - what can one say. When your midfield is so good that teams dont worry about tagging Swan and Pendles, Thomas, Ball and Johnson can still dominate, there is little to worry about. Wait til Maxwell gets back, Davis starts running off halfback (though i think Buckley could be a better bet for the longrun) and Didak gets some more time this year.
Hawks - Tough assignment and ran out of steam. Straight kicking Buddy, fit Lewis, Hodge in the team and the hawkers wont struggle against many. Backline looked a lot better with Bruce down back and Gibson played a great game. Ruck is still an issue though. They need a decent duo from Renouf, Hale, Johnson and Bailey.
Crows - Not going to repeat 2010. The retiring experience was hardly missed. Tambling yet another ex-tiger to burn the club (wallace effect?) looks like he will slot into McLeods position. Davis was super impressive on Buddy. Sloane is a tough kid and exciting to watch. Porps was a shame, but then a Walker/Tippett setup should still work for adelaide. Only problem is whether its worth putting the time into Walker if he goes to GWS (might help with a better pick i suppose).
Solid backline. a lot of hard running players through the middle and the forward line is creative.
Roos. 8/22 down and took it to a decent eagles outfit. Poor game from Harvey too, so make that 9. The big man issue puts a lot of pressure on Goldstein and Petrie. And they could easily have a top 4 midfield if they could keep em on the park.
Eagles. Not sure they are the spooners this year. Le Cras hurts, but i think it opens the door for Worsfold to work on some kids and they have some quality. Hams, Darling, Gaff, Ebert, etc etc. I dont think the rebuild will take too long if they have faith in Worsfold.
Doggies. Hard to take much away from a disappointing start, but they had a number of positives. Liber looked like a 3rd year player. Stack and Hill nice and fit. Jones looked decent as a forward, just needs to be a little harder at it. Hall looks fitter and more focused than ever. Could have gone off after a bad call but didnt.
Biggest shame was the loss of Wood. Looked dangerous early.
Dons (dont flame me). Fitness is there. Hunger and commitment is there. Playing well above the list at the moment. Backline wasnt tested and until we get Pears back and fit, there will be a question mark if they are challenged (hawks and pies will be the main tests). Still yet to travel, but the improvement in the middle has been exponential. Remind me a lot of collingwood 08/09. Great team spirit and work well for each other, but they havent unearthed a game breaker. Pies didnt really emerge as a premiership threat until Swan and Dawes really came on and started breaking games open.
Saints/Cats. Both have obvious concerns that i think they put to bed. Cats minus Bomber/Ablett stood tall with a number of injuries (Selwood, Chapman and Ling are big losses to cover on top of Ablett). Still yet to get the most out of Hawkins, but the youngens like Menzel, Guthrie and Duncan looked great. Varcoe's speed and confidence was great to watch as well. Changed the mentality of that midfield.
Saints are sorely missing Gardiner and Kosi. The talls up forward are needed. But they covered well. Unfortunately they are yet to answer the Riewoldt conundrum (which affects the tigers as well) - who is there to play second fiddle effectively to Riewoldt? i.e who is their Roughead?
So, i thought id start a positives thread.
Watched all games except lions v dockers.
Tigers - great 3rd quarter. This game is traditionally a walkover for the blues. Conca and Batchelor showed great poise for first gamers. Jack has to be the most exciting forward in years. Morton and Graham were very solid. Tigers midfield is chugging along nicely too. Not sure Deledio is a backman though. Let the blues get some easy goals.
Blues - Not a bad effort. Was most impressed with their 4th quarter response. In years past, you could see them going to water when challenged like that. Judd and co in the midfield stepped up but also got some great service from the midtierers and below in Walker, Garlett, Armfield, Lucas and Robinson. Great game from Warnock too.
Port - great effort against a team vastly superior. Will rattle a number of cages this year. Great finds in Irons, Pittard and O'Shea. Salopek, Boak, Hitchcock and Cassisi were outstanding.
Backline just got monstered by pressure and the looming Dawes who will haunt a number of defences this year.
Pies - what can one say. When your midfield is so good that teams dont worry about tagging Swan and Pendles, Thomas, Ball and Johnson can still dominate, there is little to worry about. Wait til Maxwell gets back, Davis starts running off halfback (though i think Buckley could be a better bet for the longrun) and Didak gets some more time this year.
Hawks - Tough assignment and ran out of steam. Straight kicking Buddy, fit Lewis, Hodge in the team and the hawkers wont struggle against many. Backline looked a lot better with Bruce down back and Gibson played a great game. Ruck is still an issue though. They need a decent duo from Renouf, Hale, Johnson and Bailey.
Crows - Not going to repeat 2010. The retiring experience was hardly missed. Tambling yet another ex-tiger to burn the club (wallace effect?) looks like he will slot into McLeods position. Davis was super impressive on Buddy. Sloane is a tough kid and exciting to watch. Porps was a shame, but then a Walker/Tippett setup should still work for adelaide. Only problem is whether its worth putting the time into Walker if he goes to GWS (might help with a better pick i suppose).
Solid backline. a lot of hard running players through the middle and the forward line is creative.
Roos. 8/22 down and took it to a decent eagles outfit. Poor game from Harvey too, so make that 9. The big man issue puts a lot of pressure on Goldstein and Petrie. And they could easily have a top 4 midfield if they could keep em on the park.
Eagles. Not sure they are the spooners this year. Le Cras hurts, but i think it opens the door for Worsfold to work on some kids and they have some quality. Hams, Darling, Gaff, Ebert, etc etc. I dont think the rebuild will take too long if they have faith in Worsfold.
Doggies. Hard to take much away from a disappointing start, but they had a number of positives. Liber looked like a 3rd year player. Stack and Hill nice and fit. Jones looked decent as a forward, just needs to be a little harder at it. Hall looks fitter and more focused than ever. Could have gone off after a bad call but didnt.
Biggest shame was the loss of Wood. Looked dangerous early.
Dons (dont flame me). Fitness is there. Hunger and commitment is there. Playing well above the list at the moment. Backline wasnt tested and until we get Pears back and fit, there will be a question mark if they are challenged (hawks and pies will be the main tests). Still yet to travel, but the improvement in the middle has been exponential. Remind me a lot of collingwood 08/09. Great team spirit and work well for each other, but they havent unearthed a game breaker. Pies didnt really emerge as a premiership threat until Swan and Dawes really came on and started breaking games open.
Saints/Cats. Both have obvious concerns that i think they put to bed. Cats minus Bomber/Ablett stood tall with a number of injuries (Selwood, Chapman and Ling are big losses to cover on top of Ablett). Still yet to get the most out of Hawkins, but the youngens like Menzel, Guthrie and Duncan looked great. Varcoe's speed and confidence was great to watch as well. Changed the mentality of that midfield.
Saints are sorely missing Gardiner and Kosi. The talls up forward are needed. But they covered well. Unfortunately they are yet to answer the Riewoldt conundrum (which affects the tigers as well) - who is there to play second fiddle effectively to Riewoldt? i.e who is their Roughead?
