Round robin reflections

[BeinPurplenGreen]

Well, another year, another NAB Cup over and done with nice and early.

What are people's views on the performances out there today?

From teh Foxtel coverage, it was hard to see how many rotations were being used, can someone at the game let us know if Freo were using the bench much?

Can't take much from pre-season, but I was a little surprised with our lack of pace and the poor footskills that seemed to appear from halfway through the first half against the Hawks.

FWIW, my highlights were Clarke, Ten-die Mzoo-man, Faulks and MJ. I thought big Kep looked good up front, and Anthony did enough as a forward to suggest he might pay off. Broughts was great against the Hawkers, and Lukey Mac made a big difference when he came on against the Wegirls (as you'd expect I guess).

Mellington seemed to handle the role OK in the first part of the game against the Hawks, but it did seem as if his defensive effort dropped away a the game went on (maybe because of the heat?).

Was disappointed in Van Berlo and Pearce's efforts, considering both are still on the rookie list fighting for promotion, and Lower's disposal seemed almost Schammeresqueian at times. Rhys was good in his running and fitness, and seemed to keep the defensive pressure on well, but his kicking still varies a bit at times.

The games kind of confirm that there is unlikely to be a spot for more than two of Griff, Clarke, MJ and Kep in the side if Sandi is fit - but that is a good selection dilemma to have I think.

Lastly, surprised that Sandi and Pav were named in the side yet played so little game time - might it have been better to leave them out altogether and play another youngun or two, if they were only going to get such short time on the ground??

And how stoooopid is the out of bounds rule??

Anyway, main thing is no injuries as far as I can see, and hopefully the youngsters got a bit out of the exposure to a preseason game. Subi looks in good nick too (the grass not the stands) given how hot it has been over there.

Hope you lot that went to the game had fun.

 

[SHill Shall]

Just walked in from Subi.

Mzungu, Anthony and Faulks will all make a difference and probably the first two can start locking in a place in the 22.

MJ was very good tonight. Sandi and Pav were well down on their usual efforts but we know their quality.

Agree that Pearce and to a lesser extent van Berlo were below par. Lower coughed it up a few times although generally looked to be a "ball getter".

In my mind Griffin is just a back up if Sandi goes down - can't see him adding enough to get a starting 22 berth.

For round 1, we've got Mundy, Hill, Fyfe, Ballas (hopefully), Mayne, Ibbo and de Boer to come in from the team that played the Eagles - that's a third of a side.

 

[The Night Shift]

20/20 format football is too far removed from the real thing.

Reading a lot of positives about Mzungu. Anthony, Clarke and Faulks all sound like they showed a bit.

 

[believe_it]

Mzungu looked very useful . Nice skills and pretty tall

Mcphee - different year same old shit

 

[Reginald Perrin]

Mayne was very good, as were Mzungu, Anthony, Clarke, Faulkes and Griffin. Mzungu, in particular, looks insanely good early. Love his quick, clean work.

Out of bounds rule is too stupid for words, they should stop messing about with the rules.

Commentary was shit as usual. You'd think to get paid money to do that you should actually know the players names.

Highlight of the first game was Rosa taking out Glass with an easy goal to the Hawks resulting. Highlight of the second game was west coast's Broome. Highlight of the day was Mzungu.

 

[desert docker]

Mzungu looked very useful . Nice skills and pretty tall

Mcphee - different year same old shit

i have to disagree with you here. if it wasn't for mcphee we wouldn't have got close to wc.
he's hunting of the ball was excellent

 

[Reginald Perrin]

i have to disagree with you here. if it wasn't for mcphee we wouldn't have got close to wc.
he's hunting of the ball was excellent

Hunting, yes. Gathering, no.

 

[Vintage]

Mayne was very good, as were Mzungu, Anthony, Clarke, Faulkes and Griffin. Mzungu, in particular, looks insanely good early. Love his quick, clean work.

Not sure what game you were watching, but I was there and Mayne wasn't much chop at all I didn't think.

Lower's disposal was shocking, will be very surprised and disappointed if he's playing this year. I thought he'd be better.

Michie struggled too, and so did plenty of others. All in all a disappointing night.

 

[freodog]

We were totally outplayed but I thought the lack of throw ins & ball ups were costly for us. With 2-3 good ruckman we would have better opportunities out of those stoppages.

But they were kick ins and ruckman (even as mobile as Clark is) wouldn't favour us.

 

[Lach72]

Hunting, yes. Gathering, no.

McPhee was reasonable. Mayne was barely sighted.
Lower's disposal was bog ordinary and only did one decent thing, when shifted to the square.
Mzungu was the standout.
Griffin and Anthony toiled hard and Mellington looked like he belonged.
Faults not too bad in the first game.

 

[Reginald Perrin]

Not sure what game you were watching, but I was there and Mayne wasn't much chop at all I didn't think.

Well, I must admit I watched from the comfort of my armchair, but I liked his endeavour and his defensive pressure from what the camera showed.

McPhee was reasonable. Mayne was barely sighted.
Lower's disposal was bog ordinary and only did one decent thing, when shifted to the square.
Mzungu was the standout.
Griffin and Anthony toiled hard and Mellington looked like he belonged.
Faults not too bad in the first game.

McPhee was reasonable, but dropped far too many marks. What I saw of Mayne was good, but I didn't think he played the second game, maybe I was wrong.

 

[Freo Big Fella]

-Tendai looks to be an awesome pick-up. Big, quick, very poised.
-Liked the look of Faulks, although I though the backline was noticeably less settled with Grover having to do a KPP's job.
-After all the press he got about not being willing to chase and tackle, I thought Anthony worked pretty hard. He's certainly changed his attitude if what the Pies fans were saying was true.
-Dissapointed with Lower, hopefully he can pick things up as the weeks roll on.
-Agree with those saying Griffin will just be the backup. Clarke has certainly improved though.

Just about everyone else looked a bit flat, that's what pre season is for I guess. Thought Schammer and Clancee were the only two that were particularly ordinary.

 

[Sman-21]

What idiot thought the out of bounds rule would be a great thing to try.
For the last year or so the AFL have been complaining the games getting too fast and thats what causes injuries.

But so many of the new rules these fools have bought in are whats making it so fast.
First was the no longer allowed to use hands or even body to out muscle opponents in marking contests.
Result less big solid strong players around meaning more quicker versatile players can play.

Next was the bring the ball back into play as soon as point is signalled, no longer have to wait for flags to be waved.
Result less time for defensive structures to be setup, much easier an quicker to get the ball out of defense an up other end.

Then this out of bounds one.
Result no where near as many throw ins, less stoppages in play an basically no need for real ruckman.
So once again game would get even more quicker.

 

[yeah_nah]

So jelly you guise picked up Mzungu. Guy was/is/will be a gun. Quick, poised and skillful.

 

[believe_it]

What idiot thought the out of bounds rule would be a great thing to try.
For the last year or so the AFL have been complaining the games getting too fast and thats what causes injuries.

But so many of the new rules these fools have bought in are whats making it so fast.
First was the no longer allowed to use hands or even body to out muscle opponents in marking contests.
Result less big solid strong players around meaning more quicker versatile players can play.

Next was the bring the ball back into play as soon as point is signalled, no longer have to wait for flags to be waved.
Result less time for defensive structures to be setup, much easier an quicker to get the ball out of defense an up other end.

Then this out of bounds one.
Result no where near as many throw ins, less stoppages in play an basically no need for real ruckman.
So once again game would get even more quicker.

I like the flag rule as it keeps the game flowing

The hands in the back rule would be ok if implemented properly however they overdid it . Push in the back has always been a free kick but not a slight touch in a closely contested pack

This latest out of bounds rule however is absurd .

 

[DockerA]

Liked the look of Johnson on the wing, having Anthony up forward will hopefully release him to play more through the middle which in itself is exciting - his kicking tonight was exceptional.

Agree re Jack, his chasing was outstanding really worked hard tonight - very impressed. If he keeps it up consistently and is good for 2-3 goals a game Freo will be laughing.

 

[swannies]

Anthony will be a vital pick up for Freo, but I'm sure everyone knew that, will release a fair amount of pressure from Pav. Very good pickup.

 

[BananaOnTheRun]

the lack of cohesion was quite worrying, but part of the problem tonight would have been trying out players in different positions, as barry mitchell signalled they'd do a few days ago. they'd want to settle players into position soon, though, so that players know their roles and play the matches leading up to round one together.

 

[Underdog]

What idiot thought the out of bounds rule would be a great thing to try.
For the last year or so the AFL have been complaining the games getting too fast and thats what causes injuries.

I suspect it was because of the shortened games and having no time on. Thus they implemented this rule to create more "live" time.

I reckon West Coast got a slightly better run with the umpires but regardless, there's not much any team can take out of these first round games. They're just half games with ridiculous rules which will have little bearing on a full H&A game.

 

[duncs]

Mzungu looks like an AFL player. Beyond that, not too worried about the rest of the night.

 

[IAMJUNGLEMUFFIN]

The problem with the out of bounds rule, for me, is it's just too over the top. If you're in a contested situation, you should be safe. I can't see a reason why it can't be umpired just like the rushed behind rule, which is more or less effective.

The ambiguity of deliberate out of bounds is a flaw in the game, so something needs to be done about it, but in this case, the solution is worse than the problem. Tone it down to the same level as the rushed behind rule, and I don't think it'll be half as bad.

 

[GordonGecko]

The biggest thing I took away from tonights matches was the obvious deviation away from our winning ways of last year.

In attack it appeared as though we were experimenting alot more with the switch, especially across half back. Last year it was a case of showing some dare, back your skills and putting the ball to advantage through the corridor. Tonight, the player had to be 15 metres in the clear to even be considered, apart from one nice link up by Macpharlin and Duffman.

It was more a case of experimenting ways of going around the zone and shifting it when possible.

In defence we went man on man, if anyone thinks that will happen in the season proper they are kidding themselves. In both games we applied a man on man approach at kickins espcially and were opened up quite easily. We applied a 16 man zone for maybe 30% of the match time over the course of the two games, in that time we controlled the contest.

It was also quite obvious that West Coast geared themselves up and for hte first time in a long time their forward line had some players willing to chase on the way out. Had Lecras played we would have one by 15 points easily, such a one way player.

It will be nice to see a contest in the derbies, hopefully West Coast can at least give us a fight this year. It's been embarrasing lately.

 

[chinggis77]

Might only be a pre-season game but it was a little disconcerting last night. Reports from around the league are that every team has been practicing putting the type of pressure on that Collingwood did last year and practicing ways to move the ball out of defence in the face of such pressure.

On last nights showing - Our pressure was pretty ordinary for the most part. West Coast/Hawks certainly did much better at pressuring us, and we crumbled in the face of that pressure which makes you wonder - have they not been practicing over the summer to deal with that kind of pressure like other teams are reported to have been doing?

Mzungu was great.

Very encouraging performance by Zac Clarke IMO. Move over Jono Griffin - you are our number 3 ruckman now.

I didn't think Mitchie did too bad for a first gamer. Certainly knows how to find the ball. Was drafted as a half forward but looks like he can go in the middle.

Our skills were pretty horrible. But we had several butchers out there - Schammer, Van Berlo, Palmer, Crowley.

Still don't see it in Van Berlo - very very ordinary kick, always has been.

Anthony looks like he will add something to our forward line.

 

[Lach72]

Forward line was too top heavy and slow to be able to put intense pressure on

 

[inferno66]

Forward line was too top heavy and slow to be able to put intense pressure on

I think this aspect should improve once we get DeBoer and Ballentyne get back into the side.