2nds vs Sandringham - Griffiths Named

[richoatthedisco]

Connors played at half back. Reads the play brilliantly, thinks quicker than everyone else and uses the ball well. Why not have he and Lids on either flank?

 

[Bojangles17]

Good report RAD, pleased to hear of Pollys form, gee it's been frustrating to not see him being used given we promoted him prior to season commencing, alas, he'll get his chance hopefully as early as next week

 

[sante]

White dominated a couple of years ago in the VFL, Foley style and came into the side and was great. Hopefully he can find that form again. We need players with his ferocity to make the grade.

Polak will have to play next week but will it be at the expense of Astbury?

 

[dothebowdenshuffle]

To be fair to Coburg their combined losses this year are around 20 points. They are thereabouts every week and just don't have that ability to close games out.

VFL strikes me as being pretty even at the moment. We lost by 10 to Nth Ballarat and 8 to Sandy who are 2 of top 3 teams. I'm just keen for us to become a team that can be competitive week in week out getting our share of good wins a long the way - that will be best environment for our kids/fringe players to improve.

 

[jezza81]

White dominated a couple of years ago in the VFL, Foley style and came into the side and was great. Hopefully he can find that form again. We need players with his ferocity to make the grade.

Polak will have to play next week but will it be at the expense of Astbury?

How about Polak in for Dea and move Astbury down back? Or give Polak and Astbury a half at either end depending on how they are travelling

 

[rfctigerarmy]

umm, last week

I was away last weekend, Bo.

Thank you jezza81!

 

[Grockadoc]

Coburg Tigers
Goal Kickers: G. Polak 3, T. Hislop 2, R. Jordon 2, S. Piuselli, J. Kahlefeldt, M. White
Best Players: G. Polak, T. Hislop, D. Rayson, J. Morgan, D. Gourdis, D. Connors

 

[Rich01]

Just got back from the game. Their kicking did keep us in it but the game was lost in 15 mins after half time when Sandy kicked four unanswered goals. White had been very good in the midfield in the first half but lined up at half forward in the 3rd Q, and the ball didn't get there. He then spent time on the bench before finally going into the centre, where he was great for the rest of the game. Alongside Connors, who was the classiest player on the ground, he was Coburg's best.

The next two best RFC players were Polly and Goo at either end. Polly kicked 3 (including a boomer from outside 50 that makes you wonder why he doesn't always kick like that), took some strong marks and competed well on the ground and when outnumbered in the air. He'll get a game for Richmond on that form.

So will the Goo, when the time comes. He is super quick and backs himself to dash out of defence. Read the ball well, took some good marks and hit the ground running, and spoiled his man when he had to. No problems with his kicking. He decked Sautner in the 2nd after copping one himself. Not sure if he got reported but the ump reversed the free to Sautner.

Hislop and McMahon were the next best RFC players. They are deadset opposites. Hislop was always in the thick of it but let himself down with his execution at times. McMahon ran well to link and used it well but a couple of times you just think 'god he's soft'.

Thomson is a plodder, even at VFL level. Post struggled. Just looks out of touch. Contin looks a good driver in heavy traffic but had little influence. Gus and Browne had a good battle with McEvoy (the best ruckman on the ground), Patto and occasionally Stanley, who caught the eye with his pace and spring but little else. The Irishman is a competitor but should never attempt to bounce the ball.

I think that's everyone.





Oh no, wait. Big Griff. He's a fair way off yet. Struggled to get his hands on it. Very athletic, did take one strong mark on the lead under pressure in the last, and was unlucky that Connors' one stinker of a kick was directed at him and grubbed along the ground a long way from him when he had got clear in the second quarter and could have done with a touch. Still, he played the whole game after just a half of VFL 2nds two weeks ago, and will be better for the run.

I know I was one who got excited about Kahlefeldt last week but he is nowhere near as good as Matt White. Rookie at best.

I must admit I saw it differently. Living a couple of hundred metres from the ground I decided to forgo the Richmond game on Foxtel to see Coburg live.
The drawcard was seeing Griff play in the 1's.

It was a good day for football, overcast but no wind to speak of.
I spent the day down the Mordialloc end, so seeing the ballwinners in the guts was hard. But in saying that, White and Thomson did nothing to gain a recall. Kaderfeldt looked better than these two but still nothing to write home about. Goo should get weeks for his hit on Sautner but the ump was 2 metres away and didn't report him. Hope the video didn't get him.

Contin kicks well but lacks confidence with the group.

Hislop kicks a LOT better in VFL than AFL. Still wouldn't recall him though. Connors played back pocket. Added run and class to defence.

Gourdis was promising. Post and Gourdis need to DEMAND the ball at kick ins. They need to impose themselves on games but don't. They lack confidence.

Graham was the biggest bloke out on the ground by a mile but plyed like Jane.
At one point he was one out in the goal square and had the sit. He muffed it and let his smaller opponent outbody him to rush it through for a point. This was the 15 min mark of the last qtr with the game on the line. He either hardens up this year in the VFL and dominates like he should or he gets delisted. Simple as that.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect was the last qtr positioning.
In the 3 qtr time huddle, the position board read for the fwd line, Griff, Dennis and Polly (3 talls) and Hislop as the floater. Problem was Griff played wide and in the centre. There was no forward leading out of the square in the last. With a small ground they should have played 2 talls permantly in the 50 with the crumber.

Griff needs time, and direction to hold his possy when his player runs up the ground. He is a big body, and his player will learn to respect him when he holds his ground, leads, takes marks and kicks goals.

Polak did well but does not deserve a recall.

At the moment, Griff, Post and Gourdis do not demand enough of the ball.
Once they do, we will know what they are capable of.

By the way, those Herald Sun Jordy supporters would have been ashamed of themselves today. Lined up on Peake and contributed nothing for a nil all draw.

Connors was best for the burgers.

 

[tigerT]

Connors played at half back. Reads the play brilliantly, thinks quicker than everyone else and uses the ball well. Why not have he and Lids on either flank?

agree with that. You need more than 1 or 2 good users of the ball in defence. Look at the swans, they have 4 running machines who can kick playing there. If my mate tambling finds some form, then Lids, connors tambling is a good building block.

Thanks for the report. Good to hear griff looks athletic, as long as he's quick, athletic, strong hands and can kick the rest will come, this tank knows how to play footy, give him another 5-6 weeks there.

 

[SteveoTheTiger]

Connors played at half back. Reads the play brilliantly, thinks quicker than everyone else and uses the ball well. Why not have he and Lids on either flank?

Great point, and i hope this is what happens.

IMO Connors was in our top 5 players until he was suspended and was going great in the backline. The last thing we want to do is move a player from a position where they are really performing well, especially a guy like Connors who has never been that great a player for us in the past in any other position.

And Tambling was going well late last year off halfback. I think it was a mistake from Hardwick to put Bling back on the forward line.

 

[docko911]

Id like to see connors recalled immediately and his suspension suspended if possible. He's obviously showing that he no longer belongs in the VFL and needs to be a part of the senior team defence whilst they are building chemistry.

Plus i really like the idea of deledio, connors and tambling off half-back as an experiment. The run would be awesome and might help us not get so bogged down in defence.

 

[Bazzar]

Id like to see connors recalled immediately and his suspension suspended if possible.

Absolutely no way known. He must serve his time.

 

[Dustin Credible]

Absolutely no way known. He must serve his time.

Agreed, anything less would undermine Hardwick and send the wrong signals to the players.

 

[TigerTime88]

He said after suspension...read the post properly!

Agree though that this kid is finally coming through so as soon as suspension is over bring him back even more determined!

 

[TFLUA-Tiger]

My thoughts:

Post looks way off. Really uncertain when he gets the ball - either handballs or boots it long - there's not much in between. To me, it looks like he's struggling to find the balance between being a shut down defender and a link man from the back - and both sides of his game are deserting him as a result.

Thomson is good in tight - quick hands and genereally decent decision maker by foot - but kicks short and struggles to find that extra gear - only once did he seem to back himself and really take off through the middle of the ground.

Contin wasn't bad in the thick of it, but he was even less prominent than last week. He's workmanlike, but I don't know if he does enough to stick out.

Hislop was best when playing as a third tall up forward - good set of dukes and backed himself to take marks. When he played off the HB and in the middle, just didn't have the tank to do it for long enough - and took the easy way out by calling for the ball seriously 100 metres from where he was. If you want it, work for it.

Browne got himself into good spots in the last quarter - the right place to link handballs into the forward line, and floated back to relieve pressure. I thought his ruck work was nowhere near as good as Gus' - but he's better on the ground than Gus.

Graham - Won a lot more contests than Browne did - and it was against McEvoy for the majority = no mean feat. Dropped an absolute sitter in the goal square late - where he just seemed to get scared about the defender looming. Skills when the ball isn't above his head are suspect.

White - Apart from Connors, thought he was our best today. Really prominent in the first half. Ran really hard, and backed up his hard work by continuing to run after he'd given off. Faded later, but more due to being where the ball wasn't, than simply not finding the ball.

Connors - Supreme. His kick just splits D in half at kick outs. Long booming kicks off the HB line that gave Polak a bit of room. Shrugs off players at will, but wants to be careful he doesn't try to do it too often, because Sandy cottoned on by late in the second term. The players look at him to be the best on the ground - and he generally backs it up. Played as the loose man in the Sam Fisher mold late to repel thrusts - get a fist in a contest.

Polak - Pack marking was back on the agenda - and he took some really strong grabs - both in the air and on the lead. Kicking was shaky early - but redeemed himself with a goal outside fifty. He ended up with 3, could have had 5, or even more if our kicking had been straight. On the back of that, you'd put him in.

Gourdis - Really good one on one. Sometimes gets lost when there's a turn over in the middle and struggles to find his man - but that happens to the best defenders. Closing speed is good - and he hates losing a contest. Is a good grab. Got involved in a scuffle with Sautner who sucked him in - Goo over-reacted and the free was reversed. Was seething about it on the B/line - 'he's just a c***'. Kicking is good when he's got time - when he's rushed he misses targets - but not by a whole way. I'm not too worried about the kicking, but do drills where he's under pressure and has to find his target. Links up well with handball out of defence, but doesn't seem to know what to do when he gets past half way - the should I stay or should I go dilemma.

McMahon - played off a wing. Chip kicks were his main weapon, but he generally found his target. Started to get his fingernails dirty the more the game went on - but for the first half looked reserved about getting involed in the thick of things.

Griffiths - Generally not much to report. Johnson had the better of him. His fitness is a way off - but he presents well, leads really hard - was huffing and puffing when he left the ground every time.

O'Reilly - Started off playing in a BP on Archer - and got more time in the middle as the game went on. Had this great run through the middle until he bounced the ball and it went fifteen metres from him and he almost hacked a Sandy lads legs off trying to soccer it off the ground and correct his mistake. The bench directs him where to be a bit - but generally cottoned on the more the game continued.

 

[Danog]

Got involved in a scuffle with Sautner who sucked him in - Goo over-reacted and the free was reversed. Was seething about it on the B/line - 'he's just a c***'.

I also heard him say "I'd deck the c*** again".

 

[acr2751]

My thoughts:

Post looks way off. Really uncertain when he gets the ball - either handballs or boots it long - there's not much in between. To me, it looks like he's struggling to find the balance between being a shut down defender and a link man from the back - and both sides of his game are deserting him as a result.


as is normal a very good report thanks.

just on post i think it is some times hard to learn that balance when you havnt mastered either maybe the coachs need to just teach him to be a lock down first and then add the link man when his confidence improves.

 

[richoatthedisco]

The Sandy grog squad on the hill were giving it to Goo even before he decked Sautner. Good to see he has a bit of mongrel in him - all backmen should.

Jeez TFL, I thought Thomson's decision-making was awful at times. He'd hold onto the ball too long (a common fault throughout the team) and then telegraph a kick 20m across the centre to Graham, after ignoring the chance to handball to a running player. His kick to Gus sat up, got spoiled - turnover. Thomson is a very average unit and I have no idea why we traded for him other than our standard old 'he was a high draft pick' bullshit rationale. He and Hislop were both in the centre when Sandy won the game at the start of the third. Neither handles the ball cleanly in congestion, although Thomson was slightly better than Hislop at that. I disagree he has quick hands though, and all his handballs are short gives. Some of his work is good but nothing about him stands out at all.

Hislop, Connors and White were the most vocal of the RFC guys. White came off the ground in the last quarter and ordered a runner to "tell the ****ing backline that when the ****ing ball comes in one side and goes out the ****ing other, they have to get across". Carnell gave Posty a couple of sprays, actually a few of the senior Coburg blokes told off RFC guys when they chose the wrong option or executed poorly. Of course no one told Carnell off in the last when he missed two very gettable set shots from the same angle exactly the same way within a couple of minutes. One of those, combined with the ump not making a bullshit hands in the back call against a Polly mark, might have been enough for the Burgers to get up.

Post is definitely down on confidence. Likes to fly for his marks, which sees him playing from behind. Was outmarked a couple of times for goals doing this.

 

[TOOs_Finest]

Id like to see connors recalled immediately and his suspension suspended if possible. He's obviously showing that he no longer belongs in the VFL and needs to be a part of the senior team defence whilst they are building chemistry.

Plus i really like the idea of deledio, connors and tambling off half-back as an experiment. The run would be awesome and might help us not get so bogged down in defence.

He said after suspension...read the post properly!

 

[Bazzar]

He said after suspension...read the post properly!

I thought i did read it properly

Id like to see connors recalled immediately and his suspension suspended if possible.

 

[Oh we're from..]

I know Polly has been pretty ordinary so far, but I would like to see him play this week. We just need a big body to take a bit of heat off Jack.

 

[TFLUA-Tiger]

The Sandy grog squad on the hill were giving it to Goo even before he decked Sautner. Good to see he has a bit of mongrel in him - all backmen should.

Jeez TFL, I thought Thomson's decision-making was awful at times. He'd hold onto the ball too long (a common fault throughout the team) and then telegraph a kick 20m across the centre to Graham, after ignoring the chance to handball to a running player. His kick to Gus sat up, got spoiled - turnover. Thomson is a very average unit and I have no idea why we traded for him other than our standard old 'he was a high draft pick' bullshit rationale. He and Hislop were both in the centre when Sandy won the game at the start of the third. Neither handles the ball cleanly in congestion, although Thomson was slightly better than Hislop at that. I disagree he has quick hands though, and all his handballs are short gives. Some of his work is good but nothing about him stands out at all.

Hislop, Connors and White were the most vocal of the RFC guys. White came off the ground in the last quarter and ordered a runner to "tell the ****ing backline that when the ****ing ball comes in one side and goes out the ****ing other, they have to get across". Carnell gave Posty a couple of sprays, actually a few of the senior Coburg blokes told off RFC guys when they chose the wrong option or executed poorly. Of course no one told Carnell off in the last when he missed two very gettable set shots from the same angle exactly the same way within a couple of minutes. One of those, combined with the ump not making a bullshit hands in the back call against a Polly mark, might have been enough for the Burgers to get up.

Post is definitely down on confidence. Likes to fly for his marks, which sees him playing from behind. Was outmarked a couple of times for goals doing this.

Must say I didn't notice too much of Thommo - I'd say he's clean rather than quick hands - and he does need to make quicker decisions. I'd say however that when in space he made the right call - something some of the RFC really do struggle with.

 

[richoatthedisco]

Yeah but he won't get that space at AFL level because he's too slow.

Where were you watching from? I had a bit of a look at some faces at the huddles to see if I could guess who you were.

 

[TOOs_Finest]

Hey guys, thanks for the match reports from Coburg... much appreciated

 

[TFLUA-Tiger]

Yeah but he won't get that space at AFL level because he's too slow.

Where were you watching from? I had a bit of a look at some faces at the huddles to see if I could guess who you were.

First term and the second half on the hill - coaches box side of the ground - and the second term was standing just next to the clubrooms - ten metres from Gilbert & McQualter. Was one of the two guys shaking Dan Archer's hand after the game haha.

You?