VFL VFL - Coburg v Sandringham

[Saint_Dos]

Yesss the Blurt report is back! Now that's what imma talk about.

Bloody oath. Great reviews on all players. Rivals some of Brad Miller's Casey reviews which were a good laugh and brutal at times.

 

[Barrels]

I was there. Had a look.

Lewis Pierce - Tall drink of water, started well in the ruck, seeming to trouble the Coburg ruckmen with his work around the ground before drifting out the game. Not helped by the fact that he was put forward for large periods as the game progressed. Gets involved a lot more in the play than previous years and has clearly improved, but still skinny, especially in the upper body, so still a work in progress.

Brenton Payne - Best game i've seen him play, although it's not beating a strong host of contenders. Consistent game playing mainly on the wing. Bright opening term where he won some ball in close and fed outside runners, and was also used as a marking option when leaving defence. Pretty good thereafter. Used the ball ok, not overly damaging, often seeming to prefer short chip kicks. Not sure what he's best position is, because he's not overly quick or tall and i don't know if he has the running game to play on the wing in the AFL. Seems like a third tall type. Still young, but needs more performances like this after a fairly underwhelming 18 months on the rookie list.

Jack Lonie - Workmanlike opening half up forward before an improved 2nd half playing mainly on ball. Seems to relish being given the opportunity to release the shackles and have a run on the ball throwing himself into the contest with his usual scrappy vigour. His field kicking was generally pretty good and linked up well with Sinclair and Billings to stabalize Sandringham after a sprited effort from Coburg in the 2nd and early parts of the 3rd. Not a knock down the door type of performance, but played well and will be in the mix.

Tom Lee - Non contact game in defense playing mainly on himself. Repelled quite a few attacks, used the ball well but the Coburg players would push up the ground and Sandringham would set a zone where across half-back where Lee got quite a few possessions with little to no pressure often playing as the spare. Like that renowned philosopher Mark Neeld once remarked: "i'm a big fan of the reality bus". I know Tom has quite a few problems with injuries over the years but he has now played 18 months in the VFL without commanding a regular spot in the seniors. My concerns remain the same, and they are, he is not big or strong enough to play key-position and a little slow to play as a rebounding third tall. It's not that i don't rate him or i think he is a spud, he has some good qualities as a footballer such as reading the play and kicking, but he's nearly 25, at he's 2nd club and has been unable to nail down a spot in a bottom 6 team. If he cannot establish himself now, how will he be able to when we are contending? Not the victim of a cruel and inhumane coaching staff as some on here would have you believe.

Jack Billings -"And they put bread in my jar and said hey man what are doin' here". Stylish cutey-pie who returned to form with a superior performance playing a mixture of wing, on-ball and forward. Needs to keep working on his intensity but a clever player with a much desired skill set. Kicked a couple of goals and should return to the seniors.

Nick Coughlan - Did not have much to do early with Coburg kicking only 2 or 3 behinds for the 1st Q and a half but used it well when he got involved. Decent kick, but underdeveloped physically and needs to work on his man on man positioning getting out bodied by stronger opponents on occasion. Still for a first year rookie, he has been promising. Will benefit from another pre-season.

Nick O'Kearney - Unremarkable looking footballer, the kind of guy you couldn't pick out of a line up of one. Solid game, accumulated quite a few touches, without having a big influence. Reads the play well, good hands, neat kick without being particularly penetrating or damaging. Very slight build, will take time but like Coughlan, for a small first year rookie he is acquitting himself well. Played mostly half-forward with infrequent spells on ball.

Bailey Rice - Chunky, back pocket, opposed to Saad in a entertaining duel and was beaten on the day although Coburg did play though Saad quite a bit. Contributed offensively with some good kicks out of the backline and seems like quite a discliplined defender, but does not seem overly quick which is a concern if he wants to play on the slippery forward pockets in the AFL. Still, he is only in his first year and the kind of player who will change his body shape as he completes more pre-seasons.

Joe Baker-Thomas - Strong bro, still learning the game. Has improved and a good kick for someone who did not grow up with the game but still understandably has a long way to go.

Jason Holmes - I admire Jason. I really do. Shown some old fashioned moxie to come from the other side of the world to play a game he knew nothing about. Can hold his head high that he played 3 games, which is 3 more than most of us will ever play, but he is not going to make it. Just does not offer enough around the game and has not picked up the nuances like how to position himself in marking contests and lacks skill. Just does not get involved in the play often enough.

Cameron Shenton - Good game up forward, kicked 3.3, tries hard and played with his usual puppy dog enthusiasm and energy but unfortunately his flaws (kicking and composure) remain.

Billy Longer - Disappointing return for Billy. 9 touches, half in the last quarter when the game was over. No impact up forward, and little when moved in the ruck. Has not played for a while, which has to be acknowledged, but needs to improve. Has been for the moment, leapfrogged by Pierce.

Jack Sinclair - Save the best for last. Commanding performance, found space when others could not and used the ball well off both feet and by hand. Won quite a number of centre clearences and looked a class above for most of the day. Kicked 1.2, quite easily could off been 3 but will be very, very close to promotion on the back of this performance.

Eli, White, Murdoch, Saunders did not play.

Now THAT is a review...

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

Nice work Blurt!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fehring]

From what I have seen of Lee at the VFL level, he is a very good leader and works hard with the kids on gameday.
I just dont know if he will make it at AFL level. An excellent VFL player but just cant make the transition.
Willing to give him one more year to try.

Agreed

 

[bird_man]

Thanks Blurt that was great!

 

[dsav]

Photo album now up.
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Dave
@SavellDave

 

[Defacto]

Blurt 10/10. Nailed the tom lee assessment

 

[bergholt]

Eli, White, Murdoch, Saunders did not play.

Great report!

Eli emergency, fine. But anyone know what happened to the other three?

Anyway, regardless of performances, hard to see many changes this week, given that we'll probably win by 8-12 goals. Maybe someone gets a niggle? Otherwise Wright, McKenzie, Minch, and Acres the only ones possibly in the gun for Sincs and Billings.

 

[Kilroy]

Gotta love another happy ending.

 

[gringo2011]

Would love Sandy to win it this year with some of the young crop. I think it will biild belief and give them confidence.

Would be great to see Freeman in the team next week. Billings and Freeman in the midfield would be a good prospect to see!

The Dogs had a strong VFL team before stepping up and the same with most successful clubs. It suggests an increase in depth when the AFL listed players can help bolster the VFL sides.

 

[Rors]

The Dogs had a strong VFL team before stepping up and the same with most successful clubs. It suggests an increase in depth when the AFL listed players can help bolster the VFL sides.

Would have gone close to winning it last year if every second Saints listed player that was eligible to play in the VFL prelim wasn't sent for early surgery for preseason

 

[Fehring]

Very relieved to see Longer back on the paddock even though he was rusty. being indefinitely sidelined with concussion is not great.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Top 4 of the VFL ladder all on 36 points.
Cats and Dogs comfortably behind ,and Box Hill further down again.

The trouble is that its starting to look like a lot of Saints listed players, Curren, Minchington, Murdoch, Acres, Templeton etc, will never be more than VFL players and are merely depth for AFL.

 

[FQFjt]

Top 4 of the VFL ladder all on 36 points.
Cats and Dogs comfortably behind ,and Box Hill further down again.

The trouble is that its starting to look like a lot of Saints listed players, Curren, Minchington, Murdoch, Acres, Templeton etc, will never be more than VFL players and are merely depth for AFL.

Minchington and Acres played in the Saints team this week...

 

[joop]

Huge games from the three musketeers. Sinclair 37 touches 1 goal. Billings 36 touches, 2 goals. Lonie 27 touches, 1 goal. All should slot straight back in I'd imagine.

No chance we bring all 3 in.

 

[George]

No chance we bring all 3 in.

Agree now, as I said it was pretty much dependent on how we traveled yesterday. I think Lonie will miss.

 

[PoppedCorn]

So sinclair and billings come straight in???
Yeah nahhh

 

[aussierulesrules]

So sinclair and billings come straight in???
Yeah nahhh

I think Sincs has been stiff to not get his spot back, so I'd be comfortable with him coming in for say Acres, and J-Webb coming in for D-Mac and that would probably be about it.

 

[hayes]

Billings just isn't a VFL player. As long as he's fit he'll walk back in.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Minchington and Acres played in the Saints team this week...

I know that.
My point is we have a lot of players at that level. We can swap the VFL players for them, and the VFL will still win, and the ones playing AFL will still struggle.

 

[Rors]

VFL app has Billings with 45 touches, 5 tackles, 2.1....?

Where's grimlock 's stats sheet for clarification?

 

[grimlock]

I'm on it!

 

[grimlock]

 

[crasha301]

45 disp holy shitkabobs!

 

[crasha301]

VFL app has Billings with 45 touches, 5 tackles, 2.1....?

Where's grimlock 's stats sheet for clarification?

Wowee he has to come in off that.