Unofficial Preview Unofficial Pre Season Match v Suns Saturday 15th February @Metricon Stadium 7pm

[lionshine]

Thanks mate, great write up, just have a couple of questions if you have the time.

Good to hear Ballenden went well, one of the knocks on him is his lack of physicality/aggression, how was that on the night, any improvement?

I'm a fan of Mitch Hinge, from what I have seen in the past his disposal by foot is very good, was it at that level?

I didn’t notice any lack of aggression in Ballenden on the night. He wasn’t exactly crashing packs with brute force but he was competing well, flying for marks in pack situations and his second efforts at ground level were a highlight I thought.

As for Hinge you are 100% correct. His kicking skills are sublime. He did turn it over at one stage by foot though, Fages went ballistic on the boundary. For the most part though Fagan was animated in a positive way whenever Hinge went near the footy and yelled out a lot of encouragement. Which is interesting to note actually. Perhaps Fagan is a big fan and wants him to progress to a best 22 player? I think having Birchall on the list could aid Hingey’s development. Birchall would be a great player to model his game off. They have a very similar kicking action.

 

[Dalions]

I didn’t notice any lack of aggression in Ballenden on the night. He wasn’t exactly crashing packs with brute force but he was competing well, flying for marks in pack situations and his second efforts at ground level were a highlight I thought.

As for Hinge you are 100% correct. His kicking skills are sublime. He did turn it over at one stage by foot though, Fages went ballistic on the boundary. For the most part though Fagan was animated in a positive way whenever Hinge went near the footy and yelled out a lot of encouragement. Which is interesting to note actually. Perhaps Fagan is a big fan and wants him to progress to a best 22 player? I think having Birchall on the list could aid Hingey’s development. Birchall would be a great player to model his game off. They have a very similar kicking action.

He only played the second half of the game but the way Hinge attacked each and every contest when he come on was fantastic, gut busting stuff. I was really encouraged by his performance and for that half was one of the best on ground for mine.

 

[martinson]

I saw the full match at Metricon yesterday. First of all I just want to preface this post by stating that a lot of comments I make, particularly when I say one player looks ahead of another regarding senior selection shouldn't be taken too seriously considering this is based solely off of an unofficial pre season match in greasy conditions at Metricon. A few player notes(and by a few I mean a lot)-

Fullarton, Madden, Cox, Eagles, Answerth, Hinge and Allison sat out the first half but came on in the second half in place of Hipwood, Cameron, Berry, Lyons, Rich and Birchall who only played the first half.

I was really impressed by Ballenden. He hasn't really been on my radar as someone I've rated that highly before in the past based off of what I've seen in the NEAFL but he looked fantastic last night I thought. He worked up the ground and took some nice marks, making some strong leads, and he is a beautiful kick of the footy. Smokey for Round 1 based off of what I saw. Almost kicked 3 goals in a row in the 3rd quarter. One was on the run under pressure on an angle, the next two shots were from set shots out on the boundary in pretty much the exact same spot, roughly 45m out on the wrong side for a right footer. He nailed the first one and the second one not long after looked like it was going to sail through but hit the post.

I read in the Fox article that Rowell got the points over Ely Smith. Rowell looked super clean and composed but I don't think him and Ely went head to head directly all night, maybe at times, but I thought Ely was great. He competed so well at stoppages, cracking in like a man possessed. One play that really impressed me was at a stoppage just outside 50 on the wing when Big O tapped the ball down to him, he used his core strength to outmuscle his opponent, collect the ball with one hand, spin around and accelerate away from the contest before delivering lace out to a leading Ballenden inside 50 setting up Ballenden's second goal. Ely Smith impressed me a lot actually. More so than CEY. CEY is another who cracked in really hard at stoppages, however, every time he won the footy, he'd blindly just handball it over his head as far as he could and on literally every occasion it went straight to a Suns player. I wouldn't be surprised if a month or two into the season Ely is gunning for CEY's spot although again, it is worth remembering that basing this off a scratch match isn't nearly a decent enough sample size to make that statement...

Hipwood flew for some marks, Cameron kicked a delightful, vintage, opening goal and Rich attacked some contests with aggression, however, for the most part Hippy, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry were in cruise control in the first half and just looking to get some match fitness in. Expanding more on Rich and Birchall, however, I have to say that with those two, Witherden, Ah Chee, Starcevich and Answerth, no one really stood out to me and demanded a HB spot for Round 1 with the exception of Rich who did some classy things and is a best 22 lock. Witherden had a sloppy night if I'm honest and gave away a free kick for abusing the ump. Birchall found some of the footy early on and used it beautifully, he has so much confidence in his kicking skills, he wasn't afraid to pin point teammates who had Suns players nearby in the defensive 50. I have to say, however, he didn't appear to move overly well when he was running towards a ground ball under pressure on multiple occasions. Perhaps he is still regaining confidence in his body? After his first few possessions and seeing how cleanly he delivered the footy to teammates by foot I was ready to lock him in for Round 1 but then when I saw him struggling to bend down and pick up ground balls under pressure I wasn't so sure anymore. Hopefully it is just a case of lacking match fitness/confidence in his mobility and after another couple pre season games he is moving better because he could be a real weapon for us with his kicking skills outside of the defensive 50. It is worth noting that at half time Hipwood, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry ran 5 laps of the oval and Rich and Birchall lagged behind from the start, especially Birchall who was further behind Rich. The other four ran together the whole way.

Answerth only played the second half but didn't get much of a chance to have an impact. Starcevich and Ah Chee did some nice things. Ah Chee won a lot of the footy and Starcevich competed well at every contest, he also kicked a beautiful drop punt goal from 55m out, however, both Ah Chee and Starcevich made some critical errors. Starcevich dropped a couple of marks he should have taken and I felt like Ah Chee, whilst in fairness was under extreme pressure each time, continuously just booted the ball towards the wing without looking for an option and pin pointing it, he just threw it on the boot. These kind of errors will hopefully be dusted off in the next couple of pre season fixtures though and aren't exactly uncommon to see particularly in scratch matches... TLDR I need to see more from all of our half back flankers against Port and Carlton during the JLT series before making my mind up on who I'd like to see in the best 22 along with Rich. At this stage I think it is an open race and the opportunity for Starcevich in particular is definitely there to earn a spot.

Across the game I thought McCarthy and Adams were a class above. I haven't exactly had McCarthy as a lock in my best 22 this pre season, I've had him in my team but I've been under the impression that a younger player could push him out if they perform better, however, based on last night he reminded me of just how strong a player he can be all over the ground winning lots of contests. He's a lock for Round 1. I kept a close eye on Payne to start the match and he took some nice marks but Adams really controlled the backline intercepting a lot of the Suns attacking forays. At this stage I think it is still Adams spot to lose and Payne will need to start the year in the NEAFL although that could quickly change if Payne outperforms Adams against Port/Carlton.

Zac Bailey didn't maintain it but for the first quarter he was everywhere, finding heaps of the footy and looking like the best player on the ground. Not sure if he tired or just took his foot off the pedal slightly but he wasn't as proactive after the first quarter. He looked like he'd improved a fair bit though in that first quarter, he looked really good! Speaking of looking really good, Rayner for me was the standout. Out of all the players on the ground he had the most "presence". Finished the night with 0 goals but could have easily had 4-5. The first shot he was streaming towards goal 40m out directly in front and shanked it. The second one was a set shot that hit the post from 20m out on a slight angle after taking a massive pack mark. The other opportunities that went begging came in the second half and weren't really his fault in fact it was Matho's fault on both occasions. He worked hard to out smart his opponent and get himself free running towards an open goal, Matho had the footy and could have handballed it over the top to him but didn't see him, doubling back and getting tackled. The other occasion Rayner earned a free kick inside 50 but Matho kicked for goal which ended up out on the full and the umpire played advantage, Rayner was filthy. Rayner's best work from what I saw came from running hard through the midfield and linking up with teammates to get the ball moving towards our goal at a fast pace with run and long kicking, he broke a lot of tackles and also hit some contests at speed leaving some Suns players very sore. Rayner looks primed for a big year.

One player that really impressed me was Hinge. Coming on in the second half he attacked a lot of contests with vigour, winning the footy. The most impressive thing was how clean he was below his knees, picking up ground balls under pressure when most players were fumbling. Fagan was yelling out a lot of encouragement and looked very pleased with his efforts. Fullarton also impressed me with how agile he was in his movement and that left foot snap goal he kicked was superb.

Cox, Madden and Allison really struggled when they came on. Allison and Madden had a few touches but didn't do much with them whilst Cox didn't find the footy at all. Will be interesting to see if Cox gets a run in the JLT. Needs to do more if he is to be considered for an early senior match. Mathieson and C.Lyons worked hard and won some footy but for the most part I don't think they'll be anything but depth this year unfortunately, especially with E.Smith and CEY in the selection frame.

You can never fault Eagles for giving anything less than 110%, even in a scratch match. He laid a few massive hits/tackles as soon as he came on and took some nice intercept marks. Love having him on the list. Tom Berry is a workhorse. He runs really hard and competes at each contest but he didn't stand out in a major way for me. Still needs another year in the NEAFL to develop I think. I like him though, I think he'll be a player for the future. The big O didn't have much of an impact on the match at all, I wonder if the coaching staff will consider using Ballenden as the back up ruck, especially considering he can have more of an impact up forward. It will be very interesting to see how we structure up this year and which combination of talls we go with at both ends with Ballenden and Payne looking ready to step up. McStay didn't show much last night, dropping a lot of marks. He'll be on notice too with Ballenden and Fullarton showing impressive signs.

I saw the full match at Metricon yesterday. First of all I just want to preface this post by stating that a lot of comments I make, particularly when I say one player looks ahead of another regarding senior selection shouldn't be taken too seriously considering this is based solely off of an unofficial pre season match in greasy conditions at Metricon. A few player notes(and by a few I mean a lot)-

Fullarton, Madden, Cox, Eagles, Answerth, Hinge and Allison sat out the first half but came on in the second half in place of Hipwood, Cameron, Berry, Lyons, Rich and Birchall who only played the first half.

I was really impressed by Ballenden. He hasn't really been on my radar as someone I've rated that highly before in the past based off of what I've seen in the NEAFL but he looked fantastic last night I thought. He worked up the ground and took some nice marks, making some strong leads, and he is a beautiful kick of the footy. Smokey for Round 1 based off of what I saw. Almost kicked 3 goals in a row in the 3rd quarter. One was on the run under pressure on an angle, the next two shots were from set shots out on the boundary in pretty much the exact same spot, roughly 45m out on the wrong side for a right footer. He nailed the first one and the second one not long after looked like it was going to sail through but hit the post.

I read in the Fox article that Rowell got the points over Ely Smith. Rowell looked super clean and composed but I don't think him and Ely went head to head directly all night, maybe at times, but I thought Ely was great. He competed so well at stoppages, cracking in like a man possessed. One play that really impressed me was at a stoppage just outside 50 on the wing when Big O tapped the ball down to him, he used his core strength to outmuscle his opponent, collect the ball with one hand, spin around and accelerate away from the contest before delivering lace out to a leading Ballenden inside 50 setting up Ballenden's second goal. Ely Smith impressed me a lot actually. More so than CEY. CEY is another who cracked in really hard at stoppages, however, every time he won the footy, he'd blindly just handball it over his head as far as he could and on literally every occasion it went straight to a Suns player. I wouldn't be surprised if a month or two into the season Ely is gunning for CEY's spot although again, it is worth remembering that basing this off a scratch match isn't nearly a decent enough sample size to make that statement...

Hipwood flew for some marks, Cameron kicked a delightful, vintage, opening goal and Rich attacked some contests with aggression, however, for the most part Hippy, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry were in cruise control in the first half and just looking to get some match fitness in. Expanding more on Rich and Birchall, however, I have to say that with those two, Witherden, Ah Chee, Starcevich and Answerth, no one really stood out to me and demanded a HB spot for Round 1 with the exception of Rich who did some classy things and is a best 22 lock. Witherden had a sloppy night if I'm honest and gave away a free kick for abusing the ump. Birchall found some of the footy early on and used it beautifully, he has so much confidence in his kicking skills, he wasn't afraid to pin point teammates who had Suns players nearby in the defensive 50. I have to say, however, he didn't appear to move overly well when he was running towards a ground ball under pressure on multiple occasions. Perhaps he is still regaining confidence in his body? After his first few possessions and seeing how cleanly he delivered the footy to teammates by foot I was ready to lock him in for Round 1 but then when I saw him struggling to bend down and pick up ground balls under pressure I wasn't so sure anymore. Hopefully it is just a case of lacking match fitness/confidence in his mobility and after another couple pre season games he is moving better because he could be a real weapon for us with his kicking skills outside of the defensive 50. It is worth noting that at half time Hipwood, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry ran 5 laps of the oval and Rich and Birchall lagged behind from the start, especially Birchall who was further behind Rich. The other four ran together the whole way.

Answerth only played the second half but didn't get much of a chance to have an impact. Starcevich and Ah Chee did some nice things. Ah Chee won a lot of the footy and Starcevich competed well at every contest, he also kicked a beautiful drop punt goal from 55m out, however, both Ah Chee and Starcevich made some critical errors. Starcevich dropped a couple of marks he should have taken and I felt like Ah Chee, whilst in fairness was under extreme pressure each time, continuously just booted the ball towards the wing without looking for an option and pin pointing it, he just threw it on the boot. These kind of errors will hopefully be dusted off in the next couple of pre season fixtures though and aren't exactly uncommon to see particularly in scratch matches... TLDR I need to see more from all of our half back flankers against Port and Carlton during the JLT series before making my mind up on who I'd like to see in the best 22 along with Rich. At this stage I think it is an open race and the opportunity for Starcevich in particular is definitely there to earn a spot.

Across the game I thought McCarthy and Adams were a class above. I haven't exactly had McCarthy as a lock in my best 22 this pre season, I've had him in my team but I've been under the impression that a younger player could push him out if they perform better, however, based on last night he reminded me of just how strong a player he can be all over the ground winning lots of contests. He's a lock for Round 1. I kept a close eye on Payne to start the match and he took some nice marks but Adams really controlled the backline intercepting a lot of the Suns attacking forays. At this stage I think it is still Adams spot to lose and Payne will need to start the year in the NEAFL although that could quickly change if Payne outperforms Adams against Port/Carlton.

Zac Bailey didn't maintain it but for the first quarter he was everywhere, finding heaps of the footy and looking like the best player on the ground. Not sure if he tired or just took his foot off the pedal slightly but he wasn't as proactive after the first quarter. He looked like he'd improved a fair bit though in that first quarter, he looked really good! Speaking of looking really good, Rayner for me was the standout. Out of all the players on the ground he had the most "presence". Finished the night with 0 goals but could have easily had 4-5. The first shot he was streaming towards goal 40m out directly in front and shanked it. The second one was a set shot that hit the post from 20m out on a slight angle after taking a massive pack mark. The other opportunities that went begging came in the second half and weren't really his fault in fact it was Matho's fault on both occasions. He worked hard to out smart his opponent and get himself free running towards an open goal, Matho had the footy and could have handballed it over the top to him but didn't see him, doubling back and getting tackled. The other occasion Rayner earned a free kick inside 50 but Matho kicked for goal which ended up out on the full and the umpire played advantage, Rayner was filthy. Rayner's best work from what I saw came from running hard through the midfield and linking up with teammates to get the ball moving towards our goal at a fast pace with run and long kicking, he broke a lot of tackles and also hit some contests at speed leaving some Suns players very sore. Rayner looks primed for a big year.

One player that really impressed me was Hinge. Coming on in the second half he attacked a lot of contests with vigour, winning the footy. The most impressive thing was how clean he was below his knees, picking up ground balls under pressure when most players were fumbling. Fagan was yelling out a lot of encouragement and looked very pleased with his efforts. Fullarton also impressed me with how agile he was in his movement and that left foot snap goal he kicked was superb.

Cox, Madden and Allison really struggled when they came on. Allison and Madden had a few touches but didn't do much with them whilst Cox didn't find the footy at all. Will be interesting to see if Cox gets a run in the JLT. Needs to do more if he is to be considered for an early senior match. Mathieson and C.Lyons worked hard and won some footy but for the most part I don't think they'll be anything but depth this year unfortunately, especially with E.Smith and CEY in the selection frame.

You can never fault Eagles for giving anything less than 110%, even in a scratch match. He laid a few massive hits/tackles as soon as he came on and took some nice intercept marks. Love having him on the list. Tom Berry is a workhorse. He runs really hard and competes at each contest but he didn't stand out in a major way for me. Still needs another year in the NEAFL to develop I think. I like him though, I think he'll be a player for the future. The big O didn't have much of an impact on the match at all, I wonder if the coaching staff will consider using Ballenden as the back up ruck, especially considering he can have more of an impact up forward. It will be very interesting to see how we structure up this year and which combination of talls we go with at both ends with Ballenden and Payne looking ready to step up. McStay didn't show much last night, dropping a lot of marks. He'll be on notice too with Ballenden and Fullarton showing impressive signs.


Anyway apologies for the long post, just wanted to give those who couldn't attend some insight.

Best players for me were Adams, McCarthy, Rayner, Bailey, Lyons, Rich and Cameron.

Young players that showed the most were Ballenden, E.Smith and Hinge.

A quick note on the Suns, Ainsworth, Brodie and Bowes look ready to produce consistent footy this year, Rankine kicked a magical goal and Rowell and Anderson linked up in a not too dissimilar way to how Clug and Berry do. They were impressive actually and should both play Round 1. Rowell in particular is so clean and composed and uses the ball so well off both feet. The Suns will be so much better to watch this year simply with the additions of Rankine, Rowell and Anderson.

Anyway apologies for the long post, just wanted to give those who couldn't attend some insight.

Best players for me were Adams, McCarthy, Rayner, Bailey, Lyons, Rich and Cameron.

Young players that showed the most were Ballenden, E.Smith and Hinge.

A quick note on the Suns, Ainsworth, Brodie and Bowes look ready to produce consistent footy this year, Rankine kicked a magical goal and Rowell and Anderson linked up in a not too dissimilar way to how Clug and Berry do. They were impressive actually and should both play Round 1. Rowell in particular is so clean and composed and uses the ball so well off both feet. The Suns will be so much better to watch this year simply with the additions of Rankine, Rowell and Anderson.
[/Q

Hopefully beginning with beating Port Adelaide in round 1 this year.

UOTE]

He only played the second half of the game but the way Hinge attacked each and every contest when he come on was fantastic, gut busting stuff. I was really encouraged by his performance and for that half was one of the best on ground for mine.

I always thought the bit lacking in Hinge's game was aggression and attack on the footy so it's great to hear he's really picking up in that area.

Does Ely Smith remind anyone else of a young Dane Swan ?? . I know he's yet to play senior footy but.....

 

[M Malice]

I always thought the bit lacking in Hinge's game was aggression and attack on the footy so it's great to hear he's really picking up in that area.

Does Ely Smith remind anyone else of a young Dane Swan ?? . I know he's yet to play senior footy but.....

Needs to get some ink and hang around with a more "colourful" group of friends if he's serious.

 

[TheSunGod]

oh no


devastating news about the dreadlocks

Dreadlocks to Man-Bun.

You could almost call that a sex change

Seriously though it was a good hit out despite the conditions. Lots to like about both teams. Great to see some Lions supporters make the trip down. I think they outnumbered the Suns supporters at the end there. Definitely more vocal. Hope both sides do well this year and improve on last year.

 

[Ralphy2017]

I saw the full match at Metricon yesterday. First of all I just want to preface this post by stating that a lot of comments I make, particularly when I say one player looks ahead of another regarding senior selection shouldn't be taken too seriously considering this is based solely off of an unofficial pre season match in greasy conditions at Metricon. A few player notes(and by a few I mean a lot)-

Fullarton, Madden, Cox, Eagles, Answerth, Hinge and Allison sat out the first half but came on in the second half in place of Hipwood, Cameron, Berry, Lyons, Rich and Birchall who only played the first half.

I was really impressed by Ballenden. He hasn't really been on my radar as someone I've rated that highly before in the past based off of what I've seen in the NEAFL but he looked fantastic last night I thought. He worked up the ground and took some nice marks, making some strong leads, and he is a beautiful kick of the footy. Smokey for Round 1 based off of what I saw. Almost kicked 3 goals in a row in the 3rd quarter. One was on the run under pressure on an angle, the next two shots were from set shots out on the boundary in pretty much the exact same spot, roughly 45m out on the wrong side for a right footer. He nailed the first one and the second one not long after looked like it was going to sail through but hit the post.

I read in the Fox article that Rowell got the points over Ely Smith. Rowell looked super clean and composed but I don't think him and Ely went head to head directly all night, maybe at times, but I thought Ely was great. He competed so well at stoppages, cracking in like a man possessed. One play that really impressed me was at a stoppage just outside 50 on the wing when Big O tapped the ball down to him, he used his core strength to outmuscle his opponent, collect the ball with one hand, spin around and accelerate away from the contest before delivering lace out to a leading Ballenden inside 50 setting up Ballenden's second goal. Ely Smith impressed me a lot actually. More so than CEY. CEY is another who cracked in really hard at stoppages, however, every time he won the footy, he'd blindly just handball it over his head as far as he could and on literally every occasion it went straight to a Suns player. I wouldn't be surprised if a month or two into the season Ely is gunning for CEY's spot although again, it is worth remembering that basing this off a scratch match isn't nearly a decent enough sample size to make that statement...

Hipwood flew for some marks, Cameron kicked a delightful, vintage, opening goal and Rich attacked some contests with aggression, however, for the most part Hippy, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry were in cruise control in the first half and just looking to get some match fitness in. Expanding more on Rich and Birchall, however, I have to say that with those two, Witherden, Ah Chee, Starcevich and Answerth, no one really stood out to me and demanded a HB spot for Round 1 with the exception of Rich who did some classy things and is a best 22 lock. Witherden had a sloppy night if I'm honest and gave away a free kick for abusing the ump. Birchall found some of the footy early on and used it beautifully, he has so much confidence in his kicking skills, he wasn't afraid to pin point teammates who had Suns players nearby in the defensive 50. I have to say, however, he didn't appear to move overly well when he was running towards a ground ball under pressure on multiple occasions. Perhaps he is still regaining confidence in his body? After his first few possessions and seeing how cleanly he delivered the footy to teammates by foot I was ready to lock him in for Round 1 but then when I saw him struggling to bend down and pick up ground balls under pressure I wasn't so sure anymore. Hopefully it is just a case of lacking match fitness/confidence in his mobility and after another couple pre season games he is moving better because he could be a real weapon for us with his kicking skills outside of the defensive 50. It is worth noting that at half time Hipwood, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry ran 5 laps of the oval and Rich and Birchall lagged behind from the start, especially Birchall who was further behind Rich. The other four ran together the whole way.

Answerth only played the second half but didn't get much of a chance to have an impact. Starcevich and Ah Chee did some nice things. Ah Chee won a lot of the footy and Starcevich competed well at every contest, he also kicked a beautiful drop punt goal from 55m out, however, both Ah Chee and Starcevich made some critical errors. Starcevich dropped a couple of marks he should have taken and I felt like Ah Chee, whilst in fairness was under extreme pressure each time, continuously just booted the ball towards the wing without looking for an option and pin pointing it, he just threw it on the boot. These kind of errors will hopefully be dusted off in the next couple of pre season fixtures though and aren't exactly uncommon to see particularly in scratch matches... TLDR I need to see more from all of our half back flankers against Port and Carlton during the JLT series before making my mind up on who I'd like to see in the best 22 along with Rich. At this stage I think it is an open race and the opportunity for Starcevich in particular is definitely there to earn a spot.

Across the game I thought McCarthy and Adams were a class above. I haven't exactly had McCarthy as a lock in my best 22 this pre season, I've had him in my team but I've been under the impression that a younger player could push him out if they perform better, however, based on last night he reminded me of just how strong a player he can be all over the ground winning lots of contests. He's a lock for Round 1. I kept a close eye on Payne to start the match and he took some nice marks but Adams really controlled the backline intercepting a lot of the Suns attacking forays. At this stage I think it is still Adams spot to lose and Payne will need to start the year in the NEAFL although that could quickly change if Payne outperforms Adams against Port/Carlton.

Zac Bailey didn't maintain it but for the first quarter he was everywhere, finding heaps of the footy and looking like the best player on the ground. Not sure if he tired or just took his foot off the pedal slightly but he wasn't as proactive after the first quarter. He looked like he'd improved a fair bit though in that first quarter, he looked really good! Speaking of looking really good, Rayner for me was the standout. Out of all the players on the ground he had the most "presence". Finished the night with 0 goals but could have easily had 4-5. The first shot he was streaming towards goal 40m out directly in front and shanked it. The second one was a set shot that hit the post from 20m out on a slight angle after taking a massive pack mark. The other opportunities that went begging came in the second half and weren't really his fault in fact it was Matho's fault on both occasions. He worked hard to out smart his opponent and get himself free running towards an open goal, Matho had the footy and could have handballed it over the top to him but didn't see him, doubling back and getting tackled. The other occasion Rayner earned a free kick inside 50 but Matho kicked for goal which ended up out on the full and the umpire played advantage, Rayner was filthy. Rayner's best work from what I saw came from running hard through the midfield and linking up with teammates to get the ball moving towards our goal at a fast pace with run and long kicking, he broke a lot of tackles and also hit some contests at speed leaving some Suns players very sore. Rayner looks primed for a big year.

One player that really impressed me was Hinge. Coming on in the second half he attacked a lot of contests with vigour, winning the footy. The most impressive thing was how clean he was below his knees, picking up ground balls under pressure when most players were fumbling. Fagan was yelling out a lot of encouragement and looked very pleased with his efforts. Fullarton also impressed me with how agile he was in his movement and that left foot snap goal he kicked was superb.

Cox, Madden and Allison really struggled when they came on. Allison and Madden had a few touches but didn't do much with them whilst Cox didn't find the footy at all. Will be interesting to see if Cox gets a run in the JLT. Needs to do more if he is to be considered for an early senior match. Mathieson and C.Lyons worked hard and won some footy but for the most part I don't think they'll be anything but depth this year unfortunately, especially with E.Smith and CEY in the selection frame.

You can never fault Eagles for giving anything less than 110%, even in a scratch match. He laid a few massive hits/tackles as soon as he came on and took some nice intercept marks. Love having him on the list. Tom Berry is a workhorse. He runs really hard and competes at each contest but he didn't stand out in a major way for me. Still needs another year in the NEAFL to develop I think. I like him though, I think he'll be a player for the future. The big O didn't have much of an impact on the match at all, I wonder if the coaching staff will consider using Ballenden as the back up ruck, especially considering he can have more of an impact up forward. It will be very interesting to see how we structure up this year and which combination of talls we go with at both ends with Ballenden and Payne looking ready to step up. McStay didn't show much last night, dropping a lot of marks. He'll be on notice too with Ballenden and Fullarton showing impressive signs.


Anyway apologies for the long post, just wanted to give those who couldn't attend some insight.

Best players for me were Adams, McCarthy, Rayner, Bailey, Lyons, Rich and Cameron.

Young players that showed the most were Ballenden, E.Smith and Hinge.

A quick note on the Suns, Ainsworth, Brodie and Bowes look ready to produce consistent footy this year, Rankine kicked a magical goal and Rowell and Anderson linked up in a not too dissimilar way to how Clug and Berry do. They were impressive actually and should both play Round 1. Rowell in particular is so clean and composed and uses the ball so well off both feet. The Suns will be so much better to watch this year simply with the additions of Rankine, Rowell and Anderson.

Thanks for the post, I was at the game and thought your summation of performances was spot on. Was sitting behind the goals in the first Q and noticed ADMAS appeared to be the spare (playing fairly deep) and he got a few uncontested possession and a few intercept marks. On one occasion Payne was 1 v 1 on Peter Wright and certainly doing well and ADAMS was able to intercept mark just in-front of goal. Payne only played first half of the game and kept Wright pretty quite for those 2Qs I wonder with Andrews in the team, if Payne can be the lock down defender allowing Andrews to intercept. PAYNE is bigger and faster than ADAMS, but I think ADAMS might just be in front at this stage with the coaching staff, but the upcoming trials will be important for Payne IF he gets a gig.
I was pleased to see Ballenden score two good goals in the 3Q and this provided some momentum. I too thought SMITH was good and thought he did some good things in a scrappy affair. Fullarton kicked a nice goal. Only a trial and ball must have been like soap but good to see some of the young guys doing well and hopefully some of them get a crack at Port this Sunday. Birch did some good things as you would expect with his skills and experience but I don't think he is ready for round 1...but no doubt will do everything he can to play against his old team.

 

[martinson]

Thanks for the post, I was at the game and thought your summation of performances was spot on. Was sitting behind the goals in the first Q and noticed ADMAS appeared to be the spare (playing fairly deep) and he got a few uncontested possession and a few intercept marks. On one occasion Payne was 1 v 1 on Peter Wright and certainly doing well and ADAMS was able to intercept mark just in-front of goal. Payne only played first half of the game and kept Wright pretty quite for those 2Qs I wonder with Andrews in the team, if Payne can be the lock down defender allowing Andrews to intercept. PAYNE is bigger and faster than ADAMS, but I think ADAMS might just be in front at this stage with the coaching staff, but the upcoming trials will be important for Payne IF he gets a gig.
I was pleased to see Ballenden score two good goals in the 3Q and this provided some momentum. I too thought SMITH was good and thought he did some good things in a scrappy affair. Fullarton kicked a nice goal. Only a trial and ball must have been like soap but good to see some of the young guys doing well and hopefully some of them get a crack at Port this Sunday. Birch did some good things as you would expect with his skills and experience but I don't think he is ready for round 1...but no doubt will do everything he can to play against his old team.

Adams is an interesting one because last year after some games he was iced up like a mummy and clearly had a knee problem.

To see him come 2nd in the 3k ,a guy of his size ,makes me wonder whether the issues he had might be behind him.

 

[Daniels Riches]

I saw the full match at Metricon yesterday. First of all I just want to preface this post by stating that a lot of comments I make, particularly when I say one player looks ahead of another regarding senior selection shouldn't be taken too seriously considering this is based solely off of an unofficial pre season match in greasy conditions at Metricon. A few player notes(and by a few I mean a lot)-

Fullarton, Madden, Cox, Eagles, Answerth, Hinge and Allison sat out the first half but came on in the second half in place of Hipwood, Cameron, Berry, Lyons, Rich and Birchall who only played the first half.

I was really impressed by Ballenden. He hasn't really been on my radar as someone I've rated that highly before in the past based off of what I've seen in the NEAFL but he looked fantastic last night I thought. He worked up the ground and took some nice marks, making some strong leads, and he is a beautiful kick of the footy. Smokey for Round 1 based off of what I saw. Almost kicked 3 goals in a row in the 3rd quarter. One was on the run under pressure on an angle, the next two shots were from set shots out on the boundary in pretty much the exact same spot, roughly 45m out on the wrong side for a right footer. He nailed the first one and the second one not long after looked like it was going to sail through but hit the post.

I read in the Fox article that Rowell got the points over Ely Smith. Rowell looked super clean and composed but I don't think him and Ely went head to head directly all night, maybe at times, but I thought Ely was great. He competed so well at stoppages, cracking in like a man possessed. One play that really impressed me was at a stoppage just outside 50 on the wing when Big O tapped the ball down to him, he used his core strength to outmuscle his opponent, collect the ball with one hand, spin around and accelerate away from the contest before delivering lace out to a leading Ballenden inside 50 setting up Ballenden's second goal. Ely Smith impressed me a lot actually. More so than CEY. CEY is another who cracked in really hard at stoppages, however, every time he won the footy, he'd blindly just handball it over his head as far as he could and on literally every occasion it went straight to a Suns player. I wouldn't be surprised if a month or two into the season Ely is gunning for CEY's spot although again, it is worth remembering that basing this off a scratch match isn't nearly a decent enough sample size to make that statement...

Hipwood flew for some marks, Cameron kicked a delightful, vintage, opening goal and Rich attacked some contests with aggression, however, for the most part Hippy, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry were in cruise control in the first half and just looking to get some match fitness in. Expanding more on Rich and Birchall, however, I have to say that with those two, Witherden, Ah Chee, Starcevich and Answerth, no one really stood out to me and demanded a HB spot for Round 1 with the exception of Rich who did some classy things and is a best 22 lock. Witherden had a sloppy night if I'm honest and gave away a free kick for abusing the ump. Birchall found some of the footy early on and used it beautifully, he has so much confidence in his kicking skills, he wasn't afraid to pin point teammates who had Suns players nearby in the defensive 50. I have to say, however, he didn't appear to move overly well when he was running towards a ground ball under pressure on multiple occasions. Perhaps he is still regaining confidence in his body? After his first few possessions and seeing how cleanly he delivered the footy to teammates by foot I was ready to lock him in for Round 1 but then when I saw him struggling to bend down and pick up ground balls under pressure I wasn't so sure anymore. Hopefully it is just a case of lacking match fitness/confidence in his mobility and after another couple pre season games he is moving better because he could be a real weapon for us with his kicking skills outside of the defensive 50. It is worth noting that at half time Hipwood, Cameron, Rich, Birchall, Lyons and Berry ran 5 laps of the oval and Rich and Birchall lagged behind from the start, especially Birchall who was further behind Rich. The other four ran together the whole way.

Answerth only played the second half but didn't get much of a chance to have an impact. Starcevich and Ah Chee did some nice things. Ah Chee won a lot of the footy and Starcevich competed well at every contest, he also kicked a beautiful drop punt goal from 55m out, however, both Ah Chee and Starcevich made some critical errors. Starcevich dropped a couple of marks he should have taken and I felt like Ah Chee, whilst in fairness was under extreme pressure each time, continuously just booted the ball towards the wing without looking for an option and pin pointing it, he just threw it on the boot. These kind of errors will hopefully be dusted off in the next couple of pre season fixtures though and aren't exactly uncommon to see particularly in scratch matches... TLDR I need to see more from all of our half back flankers against Port and Carlton during the JLT series before making my mind up on who I'd like to see in the best 22 along with Rich. At this stage I think it is an open race and the opportunity for Starcevich in particular is definitely there to earn a spot.

Across the game I thought McCarthy and Adams were a class above. I haven't exactly had McCarthy as a lock in my best 22 this pre season, I've had him in my team but I've been under the impression that a younger player could push him out if they perform better, however, based on last night he reminded me of just how strong a player he can be all over the ground winning lots of contests. He's a lock for Round 1. I kept a close eye on Payne to start the match and he took some nice marks but Adams really controlled the backline intercepting a lot of the Suns attacking forays. At this stage I think it is still Adams spot to lose and Payne will need to start the year in the NEAFL although that could quickly change if Payne outperforms Adams against Port/Carlton.

Zac Bailey didn't maintain it but for the first quarter he was everywhere, finding heaps of the footy and looking like the best player on the ground. Not sure if he tired or just took his foot off the pedal slightly but he wasn't as proactive after the first quarter. He looked like he'd improved a fair bit though in that first quarter, he looked really good! Speaking of looking really good, Rayner for me was the standout. Out of all the players on the ground he had the most "presence". Finished the night with 0 goals but could have easily had 4-5. The first shot he was streaming towards goal 40m out directly in front and shanked it. The second one was a set shot that hit the post from 20m out on a slight angle after taking a massive pack mark. The other opportunities that went begging came in the second half and weren't really his fault in fact it was Matho's fault on both occasions. He worked hard to out smart his opponent and get himself free running towards an open goal, Matho had the footy and could have handballed it over the top to him but didn't see him, doubling back and getting tackled. The other occasion Rayner earned a free kick inside 50 but Matho kicked for goal which ended up out on the full and the umpire played advantage, Rayner was filthy. Rayner's best work from what I saw came from running hard through the midfield and linking up with teammates to get the ball moving towards our goal at a fast pace with run and long kicking, he broke a lot of tackles and also hit some contests at speed leaving some Suns players very sore. Rayner looks primed for a big year.

One player that really impressed me was Hinge. Coming on in the second half he attacked a lot of contests with vigour, winning the footy. The most impressive thing was how clean he was below his knees, picking up ground balls under pressure when most players were fumbling. Fagan was yelling out a lot of encouragement and looked very pleased with his efforts. Fullarton also impressed me with how agile he was in his movement and that left foot snap goal he kicked was superb.

Cox, Madden and Allison really struggled when they came on. Allison and Madden had a few touches but didn't do much with them whilst Cox didn't find the footy at all. Will be interesting to see if Cox gets a run in the JLT. Needs to do more if he is to be considered for an early senior match. Mathieson and C.Lyons worked hard and won some footy but for the most part I don't think they'll be anything but depth this year unfortunately, especially with E.Smith and CEY in the selection frame.

You can never fault Eagles for giving anything less than 110%, even in a scratch match. He laid a few massive hits/tackles as soon as he came on and took some nice intercept marks. Love having him on the list. Tom Berry is a workhorse. He runs really hard and competes at each contest but he didn't stand out in a major way for me. Still needs another year in the NEAFL to develop I think. I like him though, I think he'll be a player for the future. The big O didn't have much of an impact on the match at all, I wonder if the coaching staff will consider using Ballenden as the back up ruck, especially considering he can have more of an impact up forward. It will be very interesting to see how we structure up this year and which combination of talls we go with at both ends with Ballenden and Payne looking ready to step up. McStay didn't show much last night, dropping a lot of marks. He'll be on notice too with Ballenden and Fullarton showing impressive signs.


Anyway apologies for the long post, just wanted to give those who couldn't attend some insight.

Best players for me were Adams, McCarthy, Rayner, Bailey, Lyons, Rich and Cameron.

Young players that showed the most were Ballenden, E.Smith and Hinge.

A quick note on the Suns, Ainsworth, Brodie and Bowes look ready to produce consistent footy this year, Rankine kicked a magical goal and Rowell and Anderson linked up in a not too dissimilar way to how Clug and Berry do. They were impressive actually and should both play Round 1. Rowell in particular is so clean and composed and uses the ball so well off both feet. The Suns will be so much better to watch this year simply with the additions of Rankine, Rowell and Anderson.

Absolutely brilliant! Thanks so much for the detailed review mate. Much appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[BrainOfMorbius]

It would be good to see Hinge in the top bracket