Autopsy Round 14, 2025: Positives and Negatives vs Carlton

[Doashuey]

Bye rounds do have different impacts to different clubs. For some reasons, some senior players don't play well before and after mid season byes. Yesterday the Eagles were the same with loose tackles, poor contests, just did not want body contacts.
I believe the AFL should get rid of the mid season byes but instead introduce mandatory days off for players. For example, no players are allowed to play 10 or more consecutive games. They must have a week off after a certain games.

Forcing players to have a week off is a horrid idea sorry. If they are fit and warrant selection they should play. It would compromise the competition.
The bye is just something all teams need to learn how to deal with. Of course the simplest option is to just have a mid season bye round like they did originally so all teams are on the exact same footing but we know what a publicity whore the AFL machine is, it would kill them to be out of the spotlight for a week.

 

[Bender_]

Or just have one mid season bue for every club on the same weekend.

"But our money!" /AFL

 

[Total_Juddshanks]

Couple of random, positive thoughts.

McCarthy's ball use and decision making was what made his game so damn impressive. You'd expect a mature age player to be better at finding the football than an 18yo and his numbers were helped because he was doing the kickouts but the major thing which stood out was not getting 30+ it was 94% disposal efficiency in the wet. Both by foot and hand he was superb and one of the few eagles who looked unflustered and comfortable in the conditions. It was such a good debut I'm irrationally scared he's going to end up one of those 'amazing first game then dropped off the face of the earth' trivia players.

It is weird seeing Ginbey become our first option FB against athletic key forwards like Curnow and Cameron. He plays them very well because he has the strength, agility and running tank to stick with them, never gives up in the contest and has enough height to handle people up to around 195cm.But has there been another player who has gone from midfielder to fullback in the space of three years? And seeing how good he is in the contest and how well he covers ground, I sort of wonder whether he should be playing as a lead up forward himself?

 

[fullbull]

POSITIVES

• T-Mac, take a bow son. Every bit as good as advertised, elite ball user, never seemed panicked, just knew when to play safe and when to take the aggressive kick. 31 touches at 94% DE are numbers most of our team could only dream of
• Harley 28 touches, some air in marking contests and unlucky to not finish with 2 goals. Seemed to be moving heaps better, as evidenced by his highest possession tally in some time
• Hewett lower possessions this week but still hits the contest with speed better than anyone on our list currently. Kicking a goal basically every game at the moment, showing great signs.
• Dewar, after half time in particular. Great to see the form slump behind him, very classy and get into the right spot more often than not.
• BBW, terrific game from the big fella. Presented well, and all of a sudden he has a very solid set shot! Might be presenting a case at a longer term spot on our list with his recent form.
• Bo Allan didn’t set the world on fire but I thought he was more than serviceable. Deserves an extended run in the seniors IMO
• The Richmond duo continue to provide exemplary leadership and standard setting. Very much a “follow us” type attitude from them both
• Ginbey solid again, on Curnow this time. He’s taking the most dangerous KPF, which is remarkable considering we have two other KPD playing each weeks
• The last 2.5 quarters. We fought hard and didn’t drop our heads despite being 9-10 goals down midway through the second. The Eagles of 2022-2024 would have lost that by well over 100 points. The attitude and fight is back - the rest is a work in progress but we are trending in the right direction, I’m sure of it
• Mini’s quarter time interview with Kath Loughnan. Brilliantly honest - loved to see it. The boys were pathetic, and needed to be told as such.

NEGATIVES

• Matt Flynn. Sick of seeing the oppo ruckman destroy us every week. Flynny takes a couple of good marks around the ground every week, and offers not a lot else. Gets manhandled in ruck contests, and in a lot of marking contests down the line. Highly frustrating
• TK and Hunt. For senior players, the complete lack of impact on the contest hurts us so much. They both have to be dropped this week, we will get more from whoever replaces them (and helps us see what we've got in younger players on the list
• What is Hutchinson at the moment? He's nowhere near the level, just a complete non-factor for mine. He's either gotta be inside mid, or play him as a third tall forward. This wing role isn't working for him - give someone else a go. Maybe Bo Allan and Dewar on the wings.
• Ryan, not his best game, didn't look as clean as normal, butchered some kicks that hurt us going forward. Seems to be running up to oppo players too quickly, and they're stepping around his attempted tackles. Needs to be a bit smarter, and get back to the form he was in earlier in the season
• Too often we had little option to take on the corridor kick (or we were too risk averse). Long down the line, with Flynn getting destroyed by TDK over and over, was not a recipe for success
• Finally, the start. My god, the start. Was as bad as the first term against Adelaide away last year. Of course, this team is built tougher and are able to respond in the right way, but the game was dead by quarter time. Highly deflating for supporters. We need to be able to sustain the level for 4 quarters or this will continue to happen

A side note, we played heaps better, the more the game dried out. The issue is this game style does not appear to translate well in wet conditions, particularly when we are still learning and perfecting the style. So, what do we do when faced with wet conditions in the future? Surely we need a Plan B, or we face being overrun in similar conditions. Over to you on that one, Mini.

 

[JoshWoodenSpoon]

I wonder if we can turn JWill into our version of Cripps. A big bodied midfielder.
Cripps was canned for a while as being too slow but he worked hard on his body shape and fitness. Jack has the size,IQ and talent base to be better than Cripps.
Yes I know; a long way away; but I think it’s an obvious move.

 

[Wight Wolf]

I wonder if we can turn JWill into our version of Cripps. A big bodied midfielder.
Cripps was canned for a while as being too slow but he worked hard on his body shape and fitness. Jack has the size,IQ and talent base to be better than Cripps.
Yes I know; a long way away; but I think it’s an obvious move.

Wut

 

[WCErevival]

I wonder if we can turn JWill into our version of Cripps. A big bodied midfielder.
Cripps was canned for a while as being too slow but he worked hard on his body shape and fitness. Jack has the size,IQ and talent base to be better than Cripps.
Yes I know; a long way away; but I think it’s an obvious move.

 

[Mr Q]

I'm going to take a big positive out of that game: we were playing a team who've been flat track bullies in the last couple of seasons - and when they were right on top, said "stop, this isn't going to happen". That was definitely on track to be a 15-20 goal thrashing.

From the point it was 10 goals to 1 part way through the second quarter, we outplayed them. Got to take the small wins and amplify them to give the young players some confidence.

(We had five players out there in this game with jumpers in the 40s. I think that says a lot about where we we're at)

 

[Dark Sharks]

u watch garbage?

Not unless you call Adam Sandler movies from the 90's "garbage" i don't cob.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

I wonder if we can turn JWill into our version of Cripps. A big bodied midfielder.
Cripps was canned for a while as being too slow but he worked hard on his body shape and fitness. Jack has the size,IQ and talent base to be better than Cripps.
Yes I know; a long way away; but I think it’s an obvious move.

Jack Williams better than a record breaking Brownlow medalist?

 

[squashface]

Darling JWilliams to midfield

 

[redglare]

+ve

• McCarthy - early but could be a find
• Fought back and avoided >10 goal loss
• Maybe the most inexperienced defense in the AFL standing up
• Ginbey - verging on elite
• Avoiding >10 goal loses without Allen, Waterman, McGovern, Yeo

-ve

• Watching the game live from elevated seats, it is appallingly obvious how Brockman, Hewett and Kelly do not/cannot run & apply pressure when the opposition has the ball - it's very costly.
• Hutchinson just not cutting it at the moment
• Counter the fightback - hard to know how meaningful it was with the game over at quarter time

 

[DanWCE]

- Flynn just being Flynn. Soundly beaten in the hitouts. His direct opponent was a contender for BOG yet again alongside Carlton Hewett.

TDK not even in the votes

 

[ICCHILL007]

Kelly looks finished to me, hardly got the rest of season in him. Why would the club give him a 2 year extension on his contract, makes no sense to me.

 

[jdisc]

my biggest positive was HEdewards, angriest I've ever seen him, like he was possessed by the ghosts of will schofield

31

Will Schofield

Age

36

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

154.0

2star

D

5.0

1star

K

2.5

1star

HB

2.5

2star

M

0.5

1star

T

1.5

2star

MG

70.5

1star

D

7.4

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

2.0

2star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

and beau waters

Beau Waters

Age

39

Ht

188cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.0

5star

K

11.3

4star

HB

7.6

5star

M

6.1

5star

T

2.7

4star

No current season stats available

D

9.6

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

3.6

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.6

4star

or something

 

[ziad]

Couple of random, positive thoughts.

McCarthy's ball use and decision making was what made his game so damn impressive. You'd expect a mature age player to be better at finding the football than an 18yo and his numbers were helped because he was doing the kickouts but the major thing which stood out was not getting 30+ it was 94% disposal efficiency in the wet. Both by foot and hand he was superb and one of the few eagles who looked unflustered and comfortable in the conditions. It was such a good debut I'm irrationally scared he's going to end up one of those 'amazing first game then dropped off the face of the earth' trivia players.

It is weird seeing Ginbey become our first option FB against athletic key forwards like Curnow and Cameron. He plays them very well because he has the strength, agility and running tank to stick with them, never gives up in the contest and has enough height to handle people up to around 195cm.But has there been another player who has gone from midfielder to fullback in the space of three years? And seeing how good he is in the contest and how well he covers ground, I sort of wonder whether he should be playing as a lead up forward himself?

Agreed. I was surprised by the size of McCarthy - taller than expected and seemed to have some strength.
I wonder if Ginbey becomes the lockdown and Shanahan? the smart ball using intercepting mark and quarterback.

 

[Dark Sharks]

TDK not even in the votes

21D, 14 contested, 28 hitouts, 5 clearances, 4 marks, 2 tackles, 5 score involvements, 1 goal and 123 ranking points..


Meanwhile there's Flynn..

 

[Grahame]

Kelly looks finished to me, hardly got the rest of season in him. Why would the club give him a 2 year extension on his contract, makes no sense to me.

The WAFL team is crying out for experience but I’m not sure TK would add much - he’s hardly a Baker or Graham in terms of leadership but I’d love be wrong on that one.

 

[THE A5]

Flynn such an oaf. Nic Nat copped the “fat” tag most of his late career but won 2 AA’s in that period. Flynn actually looks “fatter” and not only is he shite, he also moves like that container ship that blocked the suez canal

 

[Bender_]

Flynn such an oaf. Nic Nat copped the “fat” tag most of his late career but won 2 AA’s in that period. Flynn actually looks “fatter” and not only is he shite, he also moves like that container ship that blocked the suez canal

Can you please tag Ochre when you mention said ship.

 

[Scotland]

Flynn such an oaf. Nic Nat copped the “fat” tag most of his late career but won 2 AA’s in that period. Flynn actually looks “fatter” and not only is he shite, he also moves like that container ship that blocked the suez canal

Naitanui was an athletic freak though. People said he was fat (coz he was) because he couldn't play more than 70% game time and kept getting injured.

Flynn is jus a guy who is tall.

 

[Dark Sharks]

Flynn such an oaf. Nic Nat copped the “fat” tag most of his late career but won 2 AA’s in that period. Flynn actually looks “fatter” and not only is he shite, he also moves like that container ship that blocked the suez canal

I'm still baffled at our bad Flynn has actually turned out to be. Boy was i wrong about his recruitment, gee whiz



Vardy and Hickey were both honest tryers, yet they NEVER got rolled week in week out like Flynn does.



I'd take Vardy 100x before Flynn at the moment.

 

[DorothyG]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Matt Flynn

View attachment screen-20250616-144957~2.mp4

 

[Total_Juddshanks]

Flynn looks in solid shape to me and he's running out games okay.

I do not see any reason to question his effort or his conditioning, his problem is more fundamental - he's just not very good at football.

 

[kane249]

+ve
Tyrell Dewar gets this week rising star nom

Exciting Eagle soars to land Rising Star nomination

Tyrell Dewar is the Telstra AFL Rising Star nominee for round 14

www.afl.com.au