Review Unofficial Practice Match: Essendon vs Gold Coast, Austworld, Thursday 23rd Feb @ 5pm AEDST

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Regarding the coverage could it have been one of those automated camera systems like Veo rather than actual camera people? Was pretty crappy but better than nothing
 

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Keystone agony said:
I think Menzie is really making it hard not to pick him

I cant see Tippa not playing R1 been saying it for ages

Weideman over Jones but i think there is a good chance they play all 3 without Stringer if he isnt there

Durham i thought was really impressive early

For me Caldwell seems a bit behind at the moment, doesnt seem his usualnself. Surprised he was being asked to play P4 with his past history tbh. Still playing wing instead of Martin whos inside, is the plan to change that closer to season proper?

Still be interested to see if Hobbs plays proper pre season game

Ambrosio vs Hind vs Kelly splitting hairs

Only watched/cared about the first half as the 2nd half suns side was deplorable due to their lack of depth

Didnt see any change, thought we were pretty avg
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There was one big change. We actually had some forward half pressure at times compared to zero last year. There where still some issues for sure.
Fixing the forward half pressure is step 1 in my book. That has to be the first focus. If we do that then we are not chasing ass all game going back the other way and we are a chance of scoring a few more goals.
The rest will be next stage stuff.
 
andleanback said:
Baldwin, alwyn, tex all really good signs
Menzie, massimo and setters great games.

Thought hind had a shocker and I’d be tempted to give massimo the 7th defender spot over him.
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Made a few average decisions .
Another who I thought needs to improve his decision making was McGrath. Too many quick handballs to team mates in worse spots or under pressure.
 
ant555 said:
There was one big change. We actually had some forward half pressure at times compared to zero last year. There where still some issues for sure.
Fixing the forward half pressure is step 1 in my book. That has to be the first focus. If we do that then we are not chasing ass all game going back the other way and we are a chance of scoring a few more goals.
The rest will be next stage stuff.
Click to expand...
^^This in spades

Everyone bangs on about team defence but when you have zero fwd pressure there is not much you can do about it. The ball was coming out of our fwd line at warp speed last year, so players are in offensive mode only to have the ball fly back over their heads. Even Geelong couldn't defend that.

Our number of fwd entries are ok if we can exert fwd pressure and yesterday we did exactly that. Overnight we have the players capable of keeping the ball in there (missing Tippa was huge, but we didn't plan for it either) and that will go a long way to help team defence as it gives players time.

Also, we might just be able to finally up our scoreboard pressure.
 
andleanback said:
Baldwin, alwyn, tex all really good signs
Menzie, massimo and setters great games.

Thought hind had a shocker and I’d be tempted to give massimo the 7th defender spot over him.
Click to expand...
was a step off the pressure and got caught napping too many times for me.
Massimo at the very least will get a decent disposal away under pressure and has that game awareness.
 
ant555 said:
Made a few average decisions .
Another who I thought needs to improve his decision making was McGrath. Too many quick handballs to team mates in worse spots or under pressure.
Click to expand...
McGrath was really unimpressive. For someone who wants to lead and has shifted into his apparent best spot, he had zero impact.

Leaving his draft pick aside, he's gonna find himself borderline 22 if he doesn't sort himself out.
 
ant555 said:
There was one big change. We actually had some forward half pressure at times compared to zero last year. There where still some issues for sure.
Fixing the forward half pressure is step 1 in my book. That has to be the first focus. If we do that then we are not chasing ass all game going back the other way and we are a chance of scoring a few more goals.
The rest will be next stage stuff.
Click to expand...
was better

a couple of time the Suns rebounded off our HF line almost unopposed, but rome wasn't built in a day and for the most part it was good
i didn't see enough to think we're still a 7 win+ team but i saw marked improvement.

it didn't help that i watched the cats game between breaks & some of the highlights. we're a long way off the pace of the best.

patience is a virtue....we need to preach that
 
citizen-erased said:
was better

a couple of time the Suns rebounded off our HF line almost unopposed, but rome wasn't built in a day and for the most part it was good
i didn't see enough to think we're still a 7 win+ team but i saw marked improvement.

it didn't help that i watched the cats game between breaks & some of the highlights. we're a long way off the pace of the best.

patience is a virtue....we need to preach that
Click to expand...
Cats played against little more than witches hats.
 

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Thought hind had a shocker and I’d be tempted to give massimo the 7th defender spot over him.

Agreed. Hind simply isn’t best 22 anymore. Too one dimensional, who just doesn’t have the intent to defend, in that he’s a poor tackler & can’t defend a man. Mass has gone way past him now.
 
citizen-erased said:
was better

a couple of time the Suns rebounded off our HF line almost unopposed, but rome wasn't built in a day and for the most part it was good
i didn't see enough to think we're still a 7 win+ team but i saw marked improvement.

it didn't help that i watched the cats game between breaks & some of the highlights. we're a long way off the pace of the best.

patience is a virtue....we need to preach that
Click to expand...
That rebound was more from slow transition by our blokes. There was a few times when the GC marked or won the footy that we where slow to pick up their players who had taken off forwards. It was not low pressure but more slow transition from attacking mind to defensive mind.
That will be the work in progress.
The forward half pressure itself was massively better.

Two years ago we won 11. Last year with injury and a game plan no one got their head around they won 6 .
I can absolutely see 9 wins if the play with that forward pressure and have a general game plan they feel good about.
Does not make the a good side but when everything is factored in the list is better than 6 wins
 
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andleanback said:
Baldwin, alwyn, tex all really good signs
Menzie, massimo and setters great games.

Thought hind had a shocker and I’d be tempted to give massimo the 7th defender spot over him.
Click to expand...
I really liked what Baldwin did as well. Could become a very good defender.
 
ant555 said:
That rebound was more from slow transition by our blokes. There was a few times when the GC marked or won the footy that we where slow to pick up their players who had taken off forwards. It was not low pressure but more slow transition from attacking mind to defensive mind.
That will be the work in progress.
The forward half pressure itself was massively better.
Click to expand...
yeah. i reckon in the real thing, it's gonna be a few weeks before we see some consistency.

imagine there was a bit of hunger out there from Jye, Davey & Voss to impress as well.
 
citizen-erased said:
yeah. i reckon in the real thing, it's gonna be a few weeks before we see some consistency.

imagine there was a bit of hunger out there from Jye, Davey & Voss to impress as well.
Click to expand...
I don’t as it is about having the personal. Forward pressure will work if you play pressure forwards. Snelling. Davey. Menzie. Davey . Walla.
None plying at the start of last year.
 
ghostdog said:
McGrath should work that out. I've seen track reports saying he's been kicking a lot of darts out of defence.
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Training pressure v match pressure. It was hot potato stuff
 
Player assessments from my POV:

1. Andrew McGrath: looked very rusty. His defensive work was good but struggled offensively.
2. Sam Draper: broke even with Witts when he was there and then dominated Moyle after that. Good game.
3. Darcy Parish: was good inside and looked to be transitioning into defence better from what I could tell.
4. Kyle Langford: He was relatively quiet but very good in transition when he got the ball. He's a winger through and through.
6. Jye Caldwell: Is better for having Setterfield alongside him in the middle. Means he can rotate forward and be dangerous too.
7. Zach Merrett: I thought his kicking was a little off but he found the ball well.
9. Dylan Shiel: see Parish. Needed to finish that goal though.
10. Sam Weideman: he lead well, marked well, created space. Goal kicking wasn't perfect but solid overall.
11. Will Snelling: pressure was back! Should have kicked that goal but his tackle pressure was really good.
12. Will Setterfield: Wore body contact and managed to get the ball out when there were shallow taps. Good game.
14. Jordan Ridley: intercept king. That's it. That's the quote.
15. Jayden Laverde: usual solid effort when matching up on someone bigger than him.
16: Archie Perkins: not his best game. Wouldn't be surprised to see him start in the seconds if he fails to fire against St Kilda
18: Lewis Hayes: I saw him once. Missed the target but it lead to a goal I think.
19. Nick Hind: Would really want to play well against his old club. Some really dumb errors
20. Peter Wright: wasn't clunking them but we know he will once the season gets going.
21. Dyson Heppell: not a great game. Outside the 22 IMO.
22. Sam Durham: Solid if unspectacular. Was very good in transition.
23. Harrison Jones: thought he struggled at times but positioned himself well too.
24. Nick Bryan: Struggled against Witts but was good against Moyle.
26. Kaine Baldwin: I didn't really notice him in defence so must have been pretty good!
27. Mason Redman: probably our best for me. All Australian smokie for me.
28. Alastair Lord: only played a quarter and a bit, so hard to tell. Did get monstered once.
29. Jake Kelly: he's a calming presence back there. Good game.
33. Alwyn Davey: wow. Just wow. Fantastic game and will be firmly in R1 calculations.
34. Andrew Phillips: was okay. Standard game from the lanky redhead.
37. Nic Martin: not sure if he's a centre square mid. Leave him on a wing.
38. Rhett Montgomerie: was a little scrappy but can see why they took him.
39. Patrick Voss: Kid can play. Took some nice marks.
40. Tex Wanganeen: Thought he showed a lot of signs. He's a lovely kick of the footy.
42. Massimo D'Ambrosio: gone ahead of Hind offensively but still needs to work on his defensive craft.
43. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti: probably another 5/6 weeks away from being consistent at AFL level but was still very good.
47. Jye Menzie: kid has a round 1 berth sewn up barring injury. Just has every type of goal in his trick bag and his pressure was fantastic too
 
Funny game, felt as though the higher the number the player had on their back, the better game they had haha.
Patrick Voss is an absolute wrecking ball, reminds me of Max Rooke for some reason.
 
ant555 said:
Training pressure v match pressure. It was hot potato stuff
Click to expand...

Feel McGrath is at his best when he starts his game around beating his man, doesn't necessarily translate well in a low-pressure match simulation game.

R1 you give him the task of ensuring that his man simply doesn't get the opportunity to score and build from there. That's what he did best in his rookie year, shut the opponent down then built in to run and carry. If he's got his speed back he should be able to break lines.
 
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