Autopsy Round 2, 2024: Positives and Negatives vs GWS

[Doashuey]

Second youngest 22 this round apparently.

So much talk about average age of lists- it really doesnt mean jack. Its more about the age distribution and experience distribution.
I have graphed it- numbers are examples only, to show what I mean

Average age= 26.5


Average age 26.25



I don't think it takes a genius to work out, with all other things being equal, which of the 2 teams will be better with basically the same average age. If we also assume experience is roughly proportionate to age, it also shows the average number of games played is not a great indicator by itself either.

 

[Astro7]

The team and transition was much better than last week, some individual players improved with sharper skills.
Can't be bothered breaking it down, but some positive signs of game style, intent, pressure, run and carry. Mostly let down by skill errors and turnovers and chasing our own mistakes and running out of gas.

The overview, we just have to hang in there and improve game by game and hope some other players returning or playing for 1st time will help improve our cause, given the lack of experience we have in some lines and age groups.
Some of our seniors were B grade players in a premiership team, now they're leaders and still B grade - that's a concern as an example to young ones.
Need to seriously work on our skills, the basics. Boost the collective footy IQ, spatial awareness, synergy, whatever?
A long haul ahead, but if we can keep seeing incremental improvement like yesterday, it's something to hang your hat on.

Two more fast, slick teams ahead (Dogs+Swans), then the Tiggers and the Derby (another fast slick team). Just have to suck it up. Wonder how we'll look and be performing by the Derby and post Derby?...and how the injury list is looking by then?

 

[Doashuey]

In the preseason I repeatedly questioned our approach to turning B Williams into a forward.

Was shot down by multiple folk here saying it was a logical move.

Williams has never been known for his forward craft or marking abilities.

Now we have sacrificed the one strength in his game (ruck/clearance craft) to try to develop these.

Crazy stuff.

Im not sure its crazy, giving him a go there now we have OA out. But yeah, I never brought into the BBW as a forward thing. Doesnt seem to have much forward craft regarding leading patterns etc and his set shots are horrendous. Think he has a lot to give as a ruck. Not the finished product yet but still think its his best position.

 

[garlic munchers]

First time sitting in my permanent seat.
The seats great but the people around me are a bit odd.

Dont say thanks when you have to stand to allow them to pass.

The bloke a few seats away may be one of the more pessimistic posters here. Short angry dude calling the players useless and hopeless alot, who left at 3QT.

The lady infront of me had to severely rely on holding the seat infront and her own for assistance to get up and sit down. Ive never seen so much flex in those seats before, kept loosing half my beer.

The average age of the supporters around me is a good 30yrs older than me ..and im in my late 30's. One poor lady stacked it and split the back of her head at 3QT.

Show some compassion........ sounds like 2/3rds of those around you will never get to see another good Eagles team in their lifetimes!

P.S. do you consider a tad under 6 feet short (asking for a friend)?

 

[KERRPOW]

Looks like tom green

12

Tom Green

Age

23

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

5star

wasnt even cited for the elbow to longs face

 

[KERRPOW]

Show some compassion........ sounds like 2/3rds of those around you will never get to see another good Eagles team in their lifetimes!

P.S. do you consider a tad under 6 feet short (asking for a friend)?

Anything under 5ft is a short angry *er Imo.

 

[garlic munchers]

Small Positive:

After being sledged from Freo supporters about no-one turning up for the game, looks at crowd figures:

1.Crowd GWS Game: 42,401 at Optus Stadium
2. Freo Crowd Rd 1: 40,604 at Optus Stadium

 

[OldBlueEagle]

Couple of observation from Game left me scratching my head:

Briggs just spent all day pushing whoever clear of ball drop, is that not free kick as not contesting ball?

Secondly towards end of 3rd quarter at every stoppage I noticed most of GWS players bent over sucking in big ones. Why weren't our lads hitting the body fairly so they couldn't get breath back and run off them. Admittedly if we won ball it got turnover and they were out the back as running down hill is easer than up hill!!

 

[flyinghi64]

So much talk about average age of lists- it really doesnt mean jack. Its more about the age distribution and experience distribution.
I have graphed it- numbers are examples only, to show what I mean

Average age= 26.5
View attachment 1939229

Average age 26.25

View attachment 1939233

I don't think it takes a genius to work out, with all other things being equal, which of the 2 teams will be better with basically the same average age. If we also assume experience is roughly proportionate to age, it also shows the average number of games played is not a great indicator by itself either.

Was mainly thinking about the actual quality myself when they kept harping on about the similar age profile.
How many top 10 and even top 20 picks where on the ground for each team?

 

[eaglesnutcase]

I recently said I couldn’t wait to play Brissie and see Andrews set a new world record for intercept marks from our s**t high kicking. Taylor nearly beat him to the punch.
Pleeze guys; do one of two things if you can’t think outside the square.
A. Kick the ball low. I realise a lot of people struggle with this concept but trust me it beats watching Taylor mark anything above knee height.
B. If Taylor is in front of the kick; kick it high on top of him and make him sit under it. Sitting and waiting for the pack to crunch you can take the wind out of your sails.

 

[Truly Lazuli]

Show some compassion........ sounds like 2/3rds of those around you will never get to see another good Eagles team in their lifetimes!

P.S. do you consider a tad under 6 feet short (asking for a friend)?

Lol. My wife enjoys ging to the footy mostly to check out the people in the crowd. Certainly a diverse bunch around me.

 

[Seadog]

Lol. My wife enjoys ging to the footy mostly to check out the people in the crowd. Certainly a diverse bunch around me.

Three new customers in front of us spent the whole game barracking for their multi's, bit annoying. A woman and her bunter son behind us just shouted random words and grunts. Just to make me feel at home though the couple in the row in front still came out with "don't kick it there" every time we tried to switch the play, as they have done for the last 5 years.

 

[RookiePick]

Gambling on team sports is shithouse. IDGAF about your multi, shut up and watch the game.

 

[Broken_Chairs]

Was mainly thinking about the actual quality myself when they kept harping on about the similar age profile.
How many top 10 and even top 20 picks where on the ground for each team?

And another step - what access has each team had to top end talent over the past 10 years?

Very easy to maintain a low age profile when you have a consistent rotation of top 1-20 draft picks coming in.

Even if that's the result of former top picks leaving to other clubs in exchange for more top picks. That will build over time and extend your window.

Bit harder when you have a handful top 10 picks in a decade+. Losing one to trade will set you back.

 

[CountryLad]

Im in Block 113.
Yourself?

I’m back about 2 rows in block 513. It’s up on lvl 5 but at the front. It’s actually a pretty good view. Close to an exit which handy too.
Have thought about getting down more near ground level but I actually don’t mind it.

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Briggs with some nice things to say about Barnett and Harley

despite his dominance, Briggs was full of praise for Barnett, 19, who played just his second game.

“He and Williams are both really athletic kids, they just have to keep using their strengths their leap their athletic ability to get around the ground,” he said.

“He’s (Barnett) going to be a good player, hopefully he can keep working on his craft and come out and play a few more games this year, he will take confidence the more AFL he plays.”

Briggs did his part to slow down Harley Reid with a hit on the young gun as he charged down the wing in the first quarter.

“I think he ran over the top of someone last week, there was no way I was going to let him do that to me,” Briggs laughed.

“He’s going to be a special player and he’s obviously really tough for a first year kid to have that sort of slather its encouraging for the game, he’s really exciting and I hope he goes well for the rest of the year.”

 

[squashface]

Briggs with some nice things to say about Barnett and Harley

despite his dominance, Briggs was full of praise for Barnett, 19, who played just his second game.

“He and Williams are both really athletic kids, they just have to keep using their strengths their leap their athletic ability to get around the ground,” he said.

“He’s (Barnett) going to be a good player, hopefully he can keep working on his craft and come out and play a few more games this year, he will take confidence the more AFL he plays.”

Briggs did his part to slow down Harley Reid with a hit on the young gun as he charged down the wing in the first quarter.

“I think he ran over the top of someone last week, there was no way I was going to let him do that to me,” Briggs laughed.

“He’s going to be a special player and he’s obviously really tough for a first year kid to have that sort of slather its encouraging for the game, he’s really exciting and I hope he goes well for the rest of the year.”

Lol at Briggs calling Williams a kid.

Briggs is only like 6 months older than Bailey and they were taken in the same draft

 

[THE A5]

He’s pretty big for his age but I’m hoping Barnett turns him self to unit like a Briggs. He isn’t that tall for a modern ruck (still decent height) and while he does have a decent leap he isn’t an athletic freak like most of the athletic rucks. As much as I want a compentent ruck, I really don’t want English as he is likely not gonna be there when we challenge again

 

[Doashuey]

I recently said I couldn’t wait to play Brissie and see Andrews set a new world record for intercept marks from our s**t high kicking. Taylor nearly beat him to the punch.
Pleeze guys; do one of two things if you can’t think outside the square.
A. Kick the ball low. I realise a lot of people struggle with this concept but trust me it beats watching Taylor mark anything above knee height.
B. If Taylor is in front of the kick; kick it high on top of him and make him sit under it. Sitting and waiting for the pack to crunch you can take the wind out of your sails.

GWS used this when they didnt have a clear target in space yesterday to stop Gov and Barrass intercepting. A few times they deliberately scrubbed a fast worm burner into forward congestion to give their smalls a chance at crumb.

 

[Doashuey]

I’m back about 2 rows in block 513. It’s up on lvl 5 but at the front. It’s actually a pretty good view. Close to an exit which handy too.
Have thought about getting down more near ground level but I actually don’t mind it.

Location location location.
Your seat just tripled in value since 2021.

 

[amazingjoshy]

 

[jesterwester]

Effort is consistent, which I feel is a definitive plus on last year. We know it’s going to be a long year, so enjoying seeing our future come through.

We’ve got to be better at taking our chances when we get them. But that comes with skills which should get better as our fitness increases. Don’t underestimate the impact it has on skills especially when we are trying to play a quicker game style.

15 seconds from winning the last quarter. Not a step forward in any circumstances but not a step backwards either IMO.

Is it possible to be sold on a player in 15 seconds of playing time. I just love the ball in Reid’s hands. You feel something is going to happen.

 

[garlic munchers]

Gambling on team sports is shithouse. IDGAF about your multi, shut up and watch the game.

I don't know about that, betting might be our only solace and may provide some beer money to drown sorrows:


Or in case we spring a surprise - only 2 games (GC away bizarrely and Bombers home) don't bring a positive return on betting $50 on every game as our first win, with some pretty juicy odds on pinching a late season win:

 

[Westend]

Briggs with some nice things to say about Barnett and Harley

despite his dominance, Briggs was full of praise for Barnett, 19, who played just his second game.

“He and Williams are both really athletic kids, they just have to keep using their strengths their leap their athletic ability to get around the ground,” he said.

“He’s (Barnett) going to be a good player, hopefully he can keep working on his craft and come out and play a few more games this year, he will take confidence the more AFL he plays.”

Briggs did his part to slow down Harley Reid with a hit on the young gun as he charged down the wing in the first quarter.

“I think he ran over the top of someone last week, there was no way I was going to let him do that to me,” Briggs laughed.

“He’s going to be a special player and he’s obviously really tough for a first year kid to have that sort of slather its encouraging for the game, he’s really exciting and I hope he goes well for the rest of the year.”

Agreed.....you could see that in the first 10 minutes of the game when we played our best.....we actually had a pure RUCKMAN yes inexperienced but a ruckman nonetheless ...and you could see the structure in the middle for once...yeo Reid Kelly reading the taps

I think Barnett showed a lot in his limited time....and is well worth developing over the next few years..

no offence to Bailey...but he is a utility and its not fair for him to be playing as the number one ruck due to injuries over the years...Nicnat and now Flynn

 

[RookiePick]

I don't know about that, betting might be our only solace and may provide some beer money to drown sorrows:

View attachment 1939417
Or in case we spring a surprise - only 2 games (GC away bizarrely and Bombers home) don't bring a positive return on betting $50 on every game as our first win, with some pretty juicy odds on pinching a late season win:

View attachment 1939418

I'm staunchly anti-gambling. At least in the way it has been allowed to proliferate and the push to have it seen as a mainstream activity. I really don't want to have my kids telling me the bookies odds on footy games.

Plus it cuts into the money I need to feed my alcohol addiction.