+----------+
3) Weekly Round-Up
from our Regular Contributors
http://www.afltips.com/people/
(E-mail adrian@afltips.com if you'd like to become a
contributor.)
**********
Kangaroos v. Richmond
Friday, May 04, 2001 - Colonial Stadium 7:40 PM
Kangaroos vs. Richmond
Growing pains. It's so easy to forget what they're like, but
that's exactly what the Roos are going through right now. Take
any club and their best half dozen players and you'll find that
we take their skills so much for granted that we forget they too
made mistakes when they started their careers. And mistakes is
what the likes of Petrie, Smith, Harris, Morrell, and Jones made,
but they have all done enough in their early matches to suggest
that in the long term, they could match the Roos old guard. I
think we'd have to go all the way back to the Schimmelbusch days
before we can find another team with five rookies in the lineup.
The 51 point margin probably does reflect the gulf in ability
between the two sides, but in another way, it was an unfair
margin on the young Roos who had worked so hard to keep in touch
with their in-form opponents for as long as they did.
There will also be growing pains in the coaching box as well.
Pagan, is in essence, a conservative coach. He is more akin to
Parkin than Sheedy or Wallace. In the past, whenever the Roos
were in trouble, Pagan would put his trust in the old hands and
in the core belief of his coaching philosophy, that is, play the
corridor, play the percentages, and go in hard. But in the last
few weeks, we are seeing the first signs of change. Against the
Swans, he entrusted Shannon Watt with the full backs role and let
Martyn came back through the reserves whereas in previous years,
Martyn would have been straight back in.
We saw Petrie do the ruck work for the majority of the match last
night, we've seen Cochrane given key tagging roles, and Makepeace
has often taken the kick outs after a behind has been scored.
Last night, we saw the Roos attempt to pass the ball to a player
in the clear, to deliver long low passes to leading forwards
instead of bombing the ball into the general vicinity of where
Carey would normally be. In the same way other clubs were forced
to match the Roos in hardness at the ball, the Roos now have to
match the new standard setters in tactics and delivery of the
ball.
What remains to be seen is that when Carey returns, will this new
philosophy be retained or whether the old tactics will return
with an eye to getting wins on the board.
There was a player in the Richmond team who has gone through more
growing pains than most. His name is Rory Hilton. A top draft
pick for Brisbane (#3 overall in the 1996 draft), he never really
settled there primarily due to injuries and in the end, it seemed
the Brisbane hierarchy ran out of patience for him to fulfil his
promise. He found himself at Punt Road and on his last chance.
His first season was disrupted by injuries, his second by
suspensions, but now, he seems to have found his niche. I like
the way he plays. He goes into the packs to win the ball, he
doesn't mind throwing himself around (an attitude that saw him
suspended two or three times last season), and he has a certain
swagger in the way he plays. He was also the best player on the
night, an excellent four quarter effort of winning the ball in
the packs that gave the Tigers first use of it. He was
instrumental in the Tigers setting up their lead before helping
them hold it when the Roos challenged, and he even found some
extra energy to finish off with a few party pieces to celebrate.
He adds a grunt to the Tigers that they haven't had since they
packed Chris Bond off to Fremantle. As a bonus, he also has the
skills that Bond never possessed.
Great football teams need their hardmen, and in Richmond, they've
found one in Hilton. He has the potential to be the Tigers
version of Anthony Stevens, Brett Ratten, or Peter Bell, and if
he comes close to fulfilling that, I'll stick my neck out and say
he could be the captain of Richmond one day. Big compliments and
big words, but I rate this player highly.
There are plenty of reasons to dislike Richmond we call them the
four show ponies of the "are you ever going to get a hard ball",
but most of you will know them as Richardson, Knights, Campbell,
and Daffy. Every club has their show ponies, but there's
something extra detestable about seeing them in Richmond jumpers.
It's almost seems like Richmond are betraying their heritage, let
alone their logo, by having so many of them in the side at the
one time.
Incidentally, I went to the Swans versus Saints game, and
commented on how much I hated Stuart Maxfield. He's another soft
receiver type who, and this cannot be mere co-incidence, first
learned the skills of avoiding the hard ball at Punt Road, but I
digress. Still, with the likes of Hilton, Bowden, Cameron, the
two Kellaways and Gasper, there is plenty of reasons not to hate
the Tigers, and more importantly for opposition clubs, not to
take them lightly.
- Shinboners
http://www.afltips.com/people/shinboners.html
**********
St Kilda v. Sydney
Saturday, May 05, 2001 - Colonial Stadium 2:10 PM
At the start of this game I was comfortable with my selection
of the Saints to win, it didn't take long for me to become
anxious.
Williams streaming out of the centre area, dodging, weaving,
going straight at the goals, the kick is a little to the left
though, it bounces, and takes an off break straight from the
Ashley Mallett school of spin bowling, to go through for the
Swans first goal.
Sydney was hard at it, as was evident by Schwass' very hard, but
fair, attack on young Chad Davis. The result was the young man
was carried off to take no further part in the game, this
incident seemed to wake the Saints from their slumber. At the end
of the first quarter we had seen a see sawing game, with the
Swannies only a few points up at the first break.
The second quarter was still an arm wrestle, at first Sydney were
pushing forward, but with little reward for effort. Strangely
Stafford seemed to be having a quiet game for the Swans, whilst
Everitt was having one of his "on" games, taking some strong
field marks, and proving to be an annoying forward option.
Unfortunately for the Swans, they were let down by some bad skill
errors, and in the usual manner, these errors were harshly
punished. Big Stewie Loewe was proving that age is no barrier to
class, as he continued to prove his "nom de plume" of Buckets is
well deserved, strong marking, and reliable delivery were a
feature of his game. By the end of the second quarter the Saints
had been able to snatch control from the Swans to take an 8 point
lead into the main break.
Nathan Burke was playing his best game of the year as Loewe,
Everitt, Hall and Hamill were all marking targets up forward for
the Saints, Gehrig was also playing his best game in a St. Kilda
jumper. Everitt was in control in the rucks, Schwass and Creswell
were fighting hard for the Swans, while O'Loughlin and Goodes
were only showing brief glimpses of their magic. All this should
have added up to a good lead for the Saints, they were looking
the better team, but by three quarter time, both teams had added
4 goals for the quarter, for the Saints to carry a 10 point lead
into the last break.
Finally all the onground pressure started to pay off for the
Saints, they were continually pumping the ball forward, and
especially Loewe and Big Bad Bustling Barry Hall were marking
every opportunity in sight. Burke continued to rove like a
youngster, and Everitt still controlled the rucks. The Swans were
just not able to penetrate the half forward line, The Saints were
able to kick goals on a regular basis, this scoreboard pressure
showed at the end, as the Swans were made to look slow by chasing
jumpers. St. Kilda running out comfortable winners by 26 points.
A word for one of the nice guys of the game, Stewart Loewe, he
played the game as it should be played, hard, tough, fair, and
with lots of class, congratulations to a big man with a big
heart, who has had to endure personal hardships. May he reap all
the rewards that are due to a quality person, who has provided
many fine memories for his legion of fans.
Goals
St Kilda:-- Hall 5, Loewe Milne 3, Burke Everitt 2, Hayes Hamill
Moyle 1
Sydney:-- Schwass 3, Goodes O'Loughlin Williams 2, Ahmat Ball
Bolton Fosdike Stevens 1
Best
St. Kilda:-- Loewe Milne Hall Jones Burke Everitt Gehrig
Sydney:-- Schwass Creswell Saddington Stevens
ST KILDA 4.1 9.7 13.10 18.12 (120)
SYDNEY 4.4 8.5 12. 6 14.10 ( 94)
- Asgardian
http://www.afltips.com/people/asgardian.html
3) Weekly Round-Up
from our Regular Contributors
http://www.afltips.com/people/
(E-mail adrian@afltips.com if you'd like to become a
contributor.)
**********
Kangaroos v. Richmond
Friday, May 04, 2001 - Colonial Stadium 7:40 PM
Kangaroos vs. Richmond
Growing pains. It's so easy to forget what they're like, but
that's exactly what the Roos are going through right now. Take
any club and their best half dozen players and you'll find that
we take their skills so much for granted that we forget they too
made mistakes when they started their careers. And mistakes is
what the likes of Petrie, Smith, Harris, Morrell, and Jones made,
but they have all done enough in their early matches to suggest
that in the long term, they could match the Roos old guard. I
think we'd have to go all the way back to the Schimmelbusch days
before we can find another team with five rookies in the lineup.
The 51 point margin probably does reflect the gulf in ability
between the two sides, but in another way, it was an unfair
margin on the young Roos who had worked so hard to keep in touch
with their in-form opponents for as long as they did.
There will also be growing pains in the coaching box as well.
Pagan, is in essence, a conservative coach. He is more akin to
Parkin than Sheedy or Wallace. In the past, whenever the Roos
were in trouble, Pagan would put his trust in the old hands and
in the core belief of his coaching philosophy, that is, play the
corridor, play the percentages, and go in hard. But in the last
few weeks, we are seeing the first signs of change. Against the
Swans, he entrusted Shannon Watt with the full backs role and let
Martyn came back through the reserves whereas in previous years,
Martyn would have been straight back in.
We saw Petrie do the ruck work for the majority of the match last
night, we've seen Cochrane given key tagging roles, and Makepeace
has often taken the kick outs after a behind has been scored.
Last night, we saw the Roos attempt to pass the ball to a player
in the clear, to deliver long low passes to leading forwards
instead of bombing the ball into the general vicinity of where
Carey would normally be. In the same way other clubs were forced
to match the Roos in hardness at the ball, the Roos now have to
match the new standard setters in tactics and delivery of the
ball.
What remains to be seen is that when Carey returns, will this new
philosophy be retained or whether the old tactics will return
with an eye to getting wins on the board.
There was a player in the Richmond team who has gone through more
growing pains than most. His name is Rory Hilton. A top draft
pick for Brisbane (#3 overall in the 1996 draft), he never really
settled there primarily due to injuries and in the end, it seemed
the Brisbane hierarchy ran out of patience for him to fulfil his
promise. He found himself at Punt Road and on his last chance.
His first season was disrupted by injuries, his second by
suspensions, but now, he seems to have found his niche. I like
the way he plays. He goes into the packs to win the ball, he
doesn't mind throwing himself around (an attitude that saw him
suspended two or three times last season), and he has a certain
swagger in the way he plays. He was also the best player on the
night, an excellent four quarter effort of winning the ball in
the packs that gave the Tigers first use of it. He was
instrumental in the Tigers setting up their lead before helping
them hold it when the Roos challenged, and he even found some
extra energy to finish off with a few party pieces to celebrate.
He adds a grunt to the Tigers that they haven't had since they
packed Chris Bond off to Fremantle. As a bonus, he also has the
skills that Bond never possessed.
Great football teams need their hardmen, and in Richmond, they've
found one in Hilton. He has the potential to be the Tigers
version of Anthony Stevens, Brett Ratten, or Peter Bell, and if
he comes close to fulfilling that, I'll stick my neck out and say
he could be the captain of Richmond one day. Big compliments and
big words, but I rate this player highly.
There are plenty of reasons to dislike Richmond we call them the
four show ponies of the "are you ever going to get a hard ball",
but most of you will know them as Richardson, Knights, Campbell,
and Daffy. Every club has their show ponies, but there's
something extra detestable about seeing them in Richmond jumpers.
It's almost seems like Richmond are betraying their heritage, let
alone their logo, by having so many of them in the side at the
one time.
Incidentally, I went to the Swans versus Saints game, and
commented on how much I hated Stuart Maxfield. He's another soft
receiver type who, and this cannot be mere co-incidence, first
learned the skills of avoiding the hard ball at Punt Road, but I
digress. Still, with the likes of Hilton, Bowden, Cameron, the
two Kellaways and Gasper, there is plenty of reasons not to hate
the Tigers, and more importantly for opposition clubs, not to
take them lightly.
- Shinboners
http://www.afltips.com/people/shinboners.html
**********
St Kilda v. Sydney
Saturday, May 05, 2001 - Colonial Stadium 2:10 PM
At the start of this game I was comfortable with my selection
of the Saints to win, it didn't take long for me to become
anxious.
Williams streaming out of the centre area, dodging, weaving,
going straight at the goals, the kick is a little to the left
though, it bounces, and takes an off break straight from the
Ashley Mallett school of spin bowling, to go through for the
Swans first goal.
Sydney was hard at it, as was evident by Schwass' very hard, but
fair, attack on young Chad Davis. The result was the young man
was carried off to take no further part in the game, this
incident seemed to wake the Saints from their slumber. At the end
of the first quarter we had seen a see sawing game, with the
Swannies only a few points up at the first break.
The second quarter was still an arm wrestle, at first Sydney were
pushing forward, but with little reward for effort. Strangely
Stafford seemed to be having a quiet game for the Swans, whilst
Everitt was having one of his "on" games, taking some strong
field marks, and proving to be an annoying forward option.
Unfortunately for the Swans, they were let down by some bad skill
errors, and in the usual manner, these errors were harshly
punished. Big Stewie Loewe was proving that age is no barrier to
class, as he continued to prove his "nom de plume" of Buckets is
well deserved, strong marking, and reliable delivery were a
feature of his game. By the end of the second quarter the Saints
had been able to snatch control from the Swans to take an 8 point
lead into the main break.
Nathan Burke was playing his best game of the year as Loewe,
Everitt, Hall and Hamill were all marking targets up forward for
the Saints, Gehrig was also playing his best game in a St. Kilda
jumper. Everitt was in control in the rucks, Schwass and Creswell
were fighting hard for the Swans, while O'Loughlin and Goodes
were only showing brief glimpses of their magic. All this should
have added up to a good lead for the Saints, they were looking
the better team, but by three quarter time, both teams had added
4 goals for the quarter, for the Saints to carry a 10 point lead
into the last break.
Finally all the onground pressure started to pay off for the
Saints, they were continually pumping the ball forward, and
especially Loewe and Big Bad Bustling Barry Hall were marking
every opportunity in sight. Burke continued to rove like a
youngster, and Everitt still controlled the rucks. The Swans were
just not able to penetrate the half forward line, The Saints were
able to kick goals on a regular basis, this scoreboard pressure
showed at the end, as the Swans were made to look slow by chasing
jumpers. St. Kilda running out comfortable winners by 26 points.
A word for one of the nice guys of the game, Stewart Loewe, he
played the game as it should be played, hard, tough, fair, and
with lots of class, congratulations to a big man with a big
heart, who has had to endure personal hardships. May he reap all
the rewards that are due to a quality person, who has provided
many fine memories for his legion of fans.
Goals
St Kilda:-- Hall 5, Loewe Milne 3, Burke Everitt 2, Hayes Hamill
Moyle 1
Sydney:-- Schwass 3, Goodes O'Loughlin Williams 2, Ahmat Ball
Bolton Fosdike Stevens 1
Best
St. Kilda:-- Loewe Milne Hall Jones Burke Everitt Gehrig
Sydney:-- Schwass Creswell Saddington Stevens
ST KILDA 4.1 9.7 13.10 18.12 (120)
SYDNEY 4.4 8.5 12. 6 14.10 ( 94)
- Asgardian
http://www.afltips.com/people/asgardian.html