Heres my player by player.Was pretty intoxicated when I watched the tape so I have missed a few players.
Gilbee-Used the ball well as usual and made good decisions.Would benefit from us having a better set up around CHF.Alot of times he recieved the ball coming out of the backline and was forced to back track or go short into the corridor because we didnthave any good options leading up the ground.Having a guy like Rawlings at CHF would allow us to utilise the fantastic long kicking of guys like Gilbee.We just seemed to have to run the ball forward in waves instead of having a tall presenting.
Mcmahon-Very good again.He still has areas he could improve on but I thought he played well today and was nice and creative.
Cooney-Very good out of the middle and clever with his hands.Has a very good ability to hold onto the ball and release the handball in a way that creates time and space for his team mate.Tackling and presence was very good also.Tackling was at the level he displayed before he was drafted.
Minson-Thought he had an impact when he was on.Shows alot of presence and keeps the ball going our way with his bullocking.Matty Primus stole an AA off Darcy by doing that.Was one of the catalysts for our 3rd quarter surge IMO.
Guido-Much better today.Seemed to go longer with his kicks and was just more polished than the darwin game.
Cross-Under used in some ways I reckon.Was good when he was on and in the action IMO.
Johnson-Is going to be very dangerous up forward with Smith this year.You can just see that he is a class above the rest with the way he leads and presents to the ball.
Smith-I thought he was brilliant with his pressure in the forward line.Diving in to knock the ball on and things like that.Looked like a kid who had been given a new toy.
Power-Average for Sammy.Still trying to figure out the best spot to play him.Did some nice things today but didn't get alot of it.Alot of guys ahead of him in his favoured positions.Might need to chnage his game slightly to get a good run.
Grant-Thought his effort was good today but he just struggles to find the footy as a forward at times.Needs another good tall in the forward line just to structure up around him.Ball was coming in a little bit messy today with backward handpasses etc and we looked a little bit disjointed.
Darcy-Very good in the ruck but I reckon we can get him forward more often.
Hargrave-Up and down for him.Thought he had the better of O'Keefe who was kept scoreless and Hargrave gave a heap of run.Made some mistakes and fumbled a few times which probably cost him a spot in the best.He can play alot better than he did today I think.
Bandy-Thought he was poor.
Bowden-Needs to present more.Might aswell play him at CHB if he is not attracting the ball and get Rawlings into the forward line.Same goes for Bandy.
Skipper-Struggled to find the pace of the game.
Griffen-As good as you could expect.
Boyd-Had a dip as usual.Where is he going to play on a consistent basis?What position?
Faulkner-Made the most of his opportunities.Booked himself a spot in the side for the next couple of games IMO.
Harris-Was good but he needs get better at clearing the area when he is third man up.Sometimes gives away goals by being the third man up in the contest and crashing the pack but not getting a punch on the ball to get it towards the boundary or out of the area.His opponent and crumbers have been cashing in on that.Swans 5th goal (I think) was a good example of that.
West-Played a scaled back role.Like the way he gives the young opposition players some rough treatment.Makes our guys stand taller.He is always niggling them.Could tag at times this year IMO.
Would love to see our tackle stats.We had 29 at half time and IMO we would have passed 60 after our ferocious 3rd quarter.That is more than 25 above our average from last season.I know it was a game that was scrappy and played in close butit is still pretty encouraging.
Gilbee-Used the ball well as usual and made good decisions.Would benefit from us having a better set up around CHF.Alot of times he recieved the ball coming out of the backline and was forced to back track or go short into the corridor because we didnthave any good options leading up the ground.Having a guy like Rawlings at CHF would allow us to utilise the fantastic long kicking of guys like Gilbee.We just seemed to have to run the ball forward in waves instead of having a tall presenting.
Mcmahon-Very good again.He still has areas he could improve on but I thought he played well today and was nice and creative.
Cooney-Very good out of the middle and clever with his hands.Has a very good ability to hold onto the ball and release the handball in a way that creates time and space for his team mate.Tackling and presence was very good also.Tackling was at the level he displayed before he was drafted.
Minson-Thought he had an impact when he was on.Shows alot of presence and keeps the ball going our way with his bullocking.Matty Primus stole an AA off Darcy by doing that.Was one of the catalysts for our 3rd quarter surge IMO.
Guido-Much better today.Seemed to go longer with his kicks and was just more polished than the darwin game.
Cross-Under used in some ways I reckon.Was good when he was on and in the action IMO.
Johnson-Is going to be very dangerous up forward with Smith this year.You can just see that he is a class above the rest with the way he leads and presents to the ball.
Smith-I thought he was brilliant with his pressure in the forward line.Diving in to knock the ball on and things like that.Looked like a kid who had been given a new toy.
Power-Average for Sammy.Still trying to figure out the best spot to play him.Did some nice things today but didn't get alot of it.Alot of guys ahead of him in his favoured positions.Might need to chnage his game slightly to get a good run.
Grant-Thought his effort was good today but he just struggles to find the footy as a forward at times.Needs another good tall in the forward line just to structure up around him.Ball was coming in a little bit messy today with backward handpasses etc and we looked a little bit disjointed.
Darcy-Very good in the ruck but I reckon we can get him forward more often.
Hargrave-Up and down for him.Thought he had the better of O'Keefe who was kept scoreless and Hargrave gave a heap of run.Made some mistakes and fumbled a few times which probably cost him a spot in the best.He can play alot better than he did today I think.
Bandy-Thought he was poor.
Bowden-Needs to present more.Might aswell play him at CHB if he is not attracting the ball and get Rawlings into the forward line.Same goes for Bandy.
Skipper-Struggled to find the pace of the game.
Griffen-As good as you could expect.
Boyd-Had a dip as usual.Where is he going to play on a consistent basis?What position?
Faulkner-Made the most of his opportunities.Booked himself a spot in the side for the next couple of games IMO.
Harris-Was good but he needs get better at clearing the area when he is third man up.Sometimes gives away goals by being the third man up in the contest and crashing the pack but not getting a punch on the ball to get it towards the boundary or out of the area.His opponent and crumbers have been cashing in on that.Swans 5th goal (I think) was a good example of that.
West-Played a scaled back role.Like the way he gives the young opposition players some rough treatment.Makes our guys stand taller.He is always niggling them.Could tag at times this year IMO.
Would love to see our tackle stats.We had 29 at half time and IMO we would have passed 60 after our ferocious 3rd quarter.That is more than 25 above our average from last season.I know it was a game that was scrappy and played in close butit is still pretty encouraging.
