Analysis Good, Bad and Not Much Ugly

[Bearded Clam]

Reckon it's less about the opposition and more about external factors (Mother's Day, s**t weather etc..). We get decent weather for the Wet Toast game, surely we break 40k?

Footy crowds havent been the same since Covid..

Covid forced everyone to get a Kayo subscription and watch from home.. as there were no crowds allowed.

Alot of these supporters havent returned to the “live at the ground” experience.. they realised that they can watch live (with no telecast delays) in the comfort of their own homes with their own supply of beer, food etc.. and not get robbed blind.. and not have to fight traffic on roads and crowds on public transport.

 

[Simbatheking21]

Very magnanamous of you. We dodged a bullet as you guys should have put us to the sword in the 3rd quarter where we could not get the ball beyond halfback and brisbane had an avalanche of inside 50's

Unfortunately for us… that’s footy. Hopefully it gives us a kick up the ass. So much to like from your side though. Going to be fun to watch for years to come

 

[Mutineer]

Just on Laird , he had 16 tackles too

Gets a game in any centre square starting midfield in the comp in my book

Continually outperforms his opponents

Of course he does.

 

[Rory Walkerfield]

Congrats guys and gals! Love how your rebuilding is turning out. So much exciting players for the future

All the best for the rest of the season

We will see I suppose. AFL site had him equal with Daicos on their predictor during the week.
to be honest I couldn’t give a rats toss bag as it’s the stupidest award ever, I was just making the point that he was easily our best tonight and has been all year. The dude us a deadest star. Amazing job by our recruiters.

I care. I put $10 on Dawson when he was paying $68. He’s now paying $9.

I can cash out for $50 at the moment!

 

[Mutineer]

Age profile is far less relevant than many think. Out of the 9 games - 7 of the teams that won were younger in both Age and Average games.

Adelaide - 24.6 average age, 76.6 games v Brisbane - 26.10 average age, 132.6 games
Fremantle - 24.4 average age, 75.4 games Beat Melbourne - 26.1 years, 118.3 games
Port - 24.11 average age, 81.0 games Beat Richmond - 26.10 average age, 119.3 games
Gold Coast - 24.11 average age, 78.2 games beat Bulldogs - 26.1 average age, 102.7 games
Essendon - 24.11 average age, 79.5 games beat WC - 25.1 average age, 87.3 games
GWS - 24.11 average age, 74.9 games beat Geelong -26.11 average age, 120.3 games
Hawthorn - 24.1 average age, 67.2 games beat St.Kilda - 25.6 average age, 94.4 games

Way to miss the point....age isn't even mentioned in that snip I posted...it's all about the relative AFL experience/AFL games played of the 2 lists that played in
the game.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Well that was a really really good win. Brisbane are a quality side, arguably the most in form at the time we run into them too so a great test. Not much bad today which is amazing.

The Good:

Nicks - I'm going to start with our coach who firstly got us back up playing after a shocker last week. Some of his changes like getting a fresh Keays into the midfield was a master stroke. Also his determination to back Milera in whilst at times questionable looks to have been the right call with 2 of his last 3 matches absolutely sublime.

Pressure / Tackling - Intent was there all match, we went after them pretty hard, was great to see after a stinker.

Keays - Well that was an outstanding match, finals slippery football arguably suits this guy as skills do drop off a bit & work rate/heart/intensity comes to the forefront. To play 89% TOG at that intensity whilst racking up 28 disposals, 9 tackles, 11 score involvements (2nd only to Rankine whose a freak at this) & a goal. Definitely one of his best matches.

Rankine - Proving yet again the price paid in dollars & draft pick was beyond worth it. 13 score involvements, freak goal himself, set Racheles up. Stuffed a couple things up too or it could have been even bigger. The work rate is the thing that has surprised me most with him. Super impressive.

Laird - Thought he was excellent, worked hard, tackling beast.

Pedlar - I've been big on him for a long while so its just amazing to see him living up to that. Seems very unflustered, even when Zorko grub acted him he barely responded, just went back & kicked the goal. It's almost strange to watch a guy celebrate so little, seem so emotionless but then can impact and explode like him. It's almost the reverse of Himmelberg who looks laconic and just doesn't come out of that gear.

Murray - Just another ripping performance. We're so lucky he's come on the way he has. Butts has been better in recent weeks I think but having Murray as our #1 certainly helps.

Dawson - Take the good with the bad, yes he squibbed some kicks badly yesterday but lots of players did, in the end he was strong around the contest & made sure we didn't get blitzed in clearances.

Milera - The Milera of the last month has been very good, 2 outstanding performances & not too bad on the others. Yesterday just had the polish so many couldn't achieve, even took the game on more than we've typically seen with a bit of running. Loving what I've seen, ironic it started to come after I finally lost patience and thought he probably needed to be dropped.

Fogarty - I thought his game has been underrated. Didn't have huge scoreboard impact but his intent yesterday was a big increase on previous matches. Also he made sure to not allow dumb easy defensive marks all day instead spoiling, getting the ball out of bounds. Everything we need from our big guys, especially in conditions like that. Few times he allowed us to finally escape their defensive press from the back 50 which was proving a monumental challenge at times.

ROB - I've been impressed with him most of this year. No he's not a dominant ruckmen but he's back to being really serviceable & generally competitive. It's at least ensuring we aren't getting smacked as bad around stoppage. There was one howler tap that unfortunately resulted in a goal to Brisbane but otherwise I felt he competed well & did what we needed.

Rachele - Was great, incredible goal at key time but also not blazing away all match was the huge tick! Didn't go at goal late instead set Soligo up which was basically the sealer if memory serves.

Sholl - I'm a critic regularly but I will always give praise too when its due. Was pretty good yesterday, particular first quarter early when we were under siege. Of course that one slipped tackle resulting in a goal is uber frustrating because it always seems to be him. Regardless I think he offered far more than he cost yesterday. Still not sure if he's the ideal choice for us, would be one of the thin ice players but he is finding the ball pretty well most matches.

McHenry - Not huge match by any means but I was happy with his ball use, also his pressure in the last quarter was fantasic. Really went with the likes of Sloane & Keays for guys to run out the game strong. I want him to have a few full games now, his ball use is generally very good. The other thing I really like in his game & always have is he doesn't look the safe predictable route first, he's almost always looking for the inside kick to open up our attack.

Thilthorpe - Patchy match but he sure made it count early & loomed really large. Took the opportunities & got us going. The marking yet again on display. Just persist with him unless he's sore or injured.

Jones - Another quality performance at home, seems to be consistent there next step is getting him to deliver the same level away from home more consistently. Used the ball well, attacked it hard as always.

Sloane - A classic Rory last quarter heroics, in everything, taps, tackles, pressure, clearances. The one guy who badly needed to lift & he did.

Worrell - Pretty good first match at AFL level for the year.

Tex - Not a huge performance but took his chances & ended up with 3 goals, did what he needed to do.


Bad:

Sloane - The rest of his match, the first 3 quarters couldn't get near it and his pressure was fairly ineffectual. Couple weeks in a row like that, personally I'd rest him or give him sub duties for next week. Not sure it'll happen but the pace at Darwin in hot conditions would be a worry for me when the game is live early.


The Ugly:

Zorko - Typical grub act on Pedlar.

Umpiring standard - Felt especially poor, not that I feel either side had a major ride just lots of shocking decisions going both directions at varying points.


That's my summary of the match. Really happy with that performance now can we really set our season up by knocking off the improving Gold Coast in Darwin? It's a tricky prospect, they just had a good win there & we haven't travelled well this year. Clearly we are a very good side at AO but away from home we come way back. Great opportunity regardless, lets hope we get up for it.

 

[dani_giuls]

Had a read of the Port board's commentary of our game. More salt than a Siberian salt mine and more village idiots and *******s than a travelling freak show. Good lols though.

Yikes, I went over there based off this comment, suffering from severe dehydration after all that salt....wow!!!

 

[DJ75]

Just wanted to make mention of Max's game.
I know Charlie kicked 4 goals and so you could easily claim Max was well beaten, but I don't think he was.

The first goal Max wasn't on him.
The second, Max was blocked, then two of our players ran over the ball while two others failed to tackle.

The last two were complete fluke's where the ball ricocheted into Charlies arms.

At no point was Max actually beaten one on one by Charlie. He didn't beat him on a lead, he didn't beat him with pace out the back and he didn't beat him in any one on one (including a significant contest at the end of a quarter where the whole team came to Max and Tom to congratulate them).

Basically he had 4 kicked on him, but still had a good game. It says a lot about both Charlie and Max.

Also wanted to mention Rachele's decision to pass to Soligo. In the past Josh would have taken the snap without thinking about it. Instead he did the team thing and created a goal because of it. He then ran hard off the ground because he was due to rotate without looking for any celebration etc... It was exactly what the club have been working with him on. I hope they pump him up as much for that as they do for his goal.
He also did a lot of chasing and hard running that we haven't always seen. It was a really mature performance from him and a great sign.

 

[LC40]

Ned was better than Sloane tonight

The second half by Sloane was one of the main reason we got the win.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Age profile is far less relevant than many think. Out of the 9 games - 7 of the teams that won were younger in both Age and Average games.

Adelaide - 24.6 average age, 76.6 games v Brisbane - 26.10 average age, 132.6 games
Fremantle - 24.4 average age, 75.4 games Beat Melbourne - 26.1 years, 118.3 games
Port - 24.11 average age, 81.0 games Beat Richmond - 26.10 average age, 119.3 games
Gold Coast - 24.11 average age, 78.2 games beat Bulldogs - 26.1 average age, 102.7 games
Essendon - 24.11 average age, 79.5 games beat WC - 25.1 average age, 87.3 games
GWS - 24.11 average age, 74.9 games beat Geelong -26.11 average age, 120.3 games
Hawthorn - 24.1 average age, 67.2 games beat St.Kilda - 25.6 average age, 94.4 games

What about the fact most of those average games are weighted into 4 players most weeks for us - Tex, Sloane, Laird & Smith? A deeper dive is required to truly make this point. There's no doubt sides like Collingwood get inflated because of guys like Pendelbury & Sidebottom too so it's not unique to us but to really use these stats you need to further break it down.

I think I heard yesterday Adelaide had 12 players with under 60 games which generally speaking you don't win matches like that with a balance like that. In our case AO probably the great equalizer.

 

[DJ75]

Well that was a really really good win. Brisbane are a quality side, arguably the most in form at the time we run into them too so a great test. Not much bad today which is amazing.

The Good:

Nicks - I'm going to start with our coach who firstly got us back up playing after a shocker last week. Some of his changes like getting a fresh Keays into the midfield was a master stroke. Also his determination to back Milera in whilst at times questionable looks to have been the right call with 2 of his last 3 matches absolutely sublime.

Pressure / Tackling - Intent was there all match, we went after them pretty hard, was great to see after a stinker.

Keays - Well that was an outstanding match, finals slippery football arguably suits this guy as skills do drop off a bit & work rate/heart/intensity comes to the forefront. To play 89% TOG at that intensity whilst racking up 28 disposals, 9 tackles, 11 score involvements (2nd only to Rankine whose a freak at this) & a goal. Definitely one of his best matches.

Rankine - Proving yet again the price paid in dollars & draft pick was beyond worth it. 13 score involvements, freak goal himself, set Racheles up. Stuffed a couple things up too or it could have been even bigger. The work rate is the thing that has surprised me most with him. Super impressive.

Laird - Thought he was excellent, worked hard, tackling beast.

Pedlar - I've been big on him for a long while so its just amazing to see him living up to that. Seems very unflustered, even when Zorko grub acted him he barely responded, just went back & kicked the goal. It's almost strange to watch a guy celebrate so little, seem so emotionless but then can impact and explode like him. It's almost the reverse of Himmelberg who looks laconic and just doesn't come out of that gear.

Murray - Just another ripping performance. We're so lucky he's come on the way he has. Butts has been better in recent weeks I think but having Murray as our #1 certainly helps.

Dawson - Take the good with the bad, yes he squibbed some kicks badly yesterday but lots of players did, in the end he was strong around the contest & made sure we didn't get blitzed in clearances.

Milera - The Milera of the last month has been very good, 2 outstanding performances & not too bad on the others. Yesterday just had the polish so many couldn't achieve, even took the game on more than we've typically seen with a bit of running. Loving what I've seen, ironic it started to come after I finally lost patience and thought he probably needed to be dropped.

Fogarty - I thought his game has been underrated. Didn't have huge scoreboard impact but his intent yesterday was a big increase on previous matches. Also he made sure to not allow dumb easy defensive marks all day instead spoiling, getting the ball out of bounds. Everything we need from our big guys, especially in conditions like that. Few times he allowed us to finally escape their defensive press from the back 50 which was proving a monumental challenge at times.

ROB - I've been impressed with him most of this year. No he's not a dominant ruckmen but he's back to being really serviceable & generally competitive. It's at least ensuring we aren't getting smacked as bad around stoppage. There was one howler tap that unfortunately resulted in a goal to Brisbane but otherwise I felt he competed well & did what we needed.

Rachele - Was great, incredible goal at key time but also not blazing away all match was the huge tick! Didn't go at goal late instead set Soligo up which was basically the sealer if memory serves.

Sholl - I'm a critic regularly but I will always give praise too when its due. Was pretty good yesterday, particular first quarter early when we were under siege. Of course that one slipped tackle resulting in a goal is uber frustrating because it always seems to be him. Regardless I think he offered far more than he cost yesterday. Still not sure if he's the ideal choice for us, would be one of the thin ice players but he is finding the ball pretty well most matches.

McHenry - Not huge match by any means but I was happy with his ball use, also his pressure in the last quarter was fantasic. Really went with the likes of Sloane & Keays for guys to run out the game strong. I want him to have a few full games now, his ball use is generally very good. The other thing I really like in his game & always have is he doesn't look the safe predictable route first, he's almost always looking for the inside kick to open up our attack.

Thilthorpe - Patchy match but he sure made it count early & loomed really large. Took the opportunities & got us going. The marking yet again on display. Just persist with him unless he's sore or injured.

Jones - Another quality performance at home, seems to be consistent there next step is getting him to deliver the same level away from home more consistently. Used the ball well, attacked it hard as always.

Sloane - A classic Rory last quarter heroics, in everything, taps, tackles, pressure, clearances. The one guy who badly needed to lift & he did.

Worrell - Pretty good first match at AFL level for the year.

Tex - Not a huge performance but took his chances & ended up with 3 goals, did what he needed to do.


Bad:

Sloane - The rest of his match, the first 3 quarters couldn't get near it and his pressure was fairly ineffectual. Couple weeks in a row like that, personally I'd rest him or give him sub duties for next week. Not sure it'll happen but the pace at Darwin in hot conditions would be a worry for me when the game is live early.


The Ugly:

Zorko - Typical grub act on Pedlar.

Umpiring standard - Felt especially poor, not that I feel either side had a major ride just lots of shocking decisions going both directions at varying points.


That's my summary of the match. Really happy with that performance now can we really set our season up by knocking off the improving Gold Coast in Darwin? It's a tricky prospect, they just had a good win there & we haven't travelled well this year. Clearly we are a very good side at AO but away from home we come way back. Great opportunity regardless, lets hope we get up for it.

Pretty much agree with everything you have said. Jones was good against the Dogs away though, so hoping he's getting better at that.

The umpiring is consistently horrible. It's not so much biased as just poor quality. There are reasons for that.
1. The AFL have made it nearly impossible to umpire thanks to the rule changes. The crowd goes ballistic for holding the ball, but the umpire (correctly) calls 'made an attempt' which is actually now the rule. You don't have to dispose correctly when tackled, you just have to make an attempt. It's awful.
2. The AFL have encouraged players to play for free kicks. They need to stamp out the acting and they need to penalise players that are instigating the contact.
3. The umpires are always positioned incorrectly. You have 4 umpires, you should always have an overlap so there is an umpire on either side of the contest. They don't and it's so incredibly dumb.

 

[DJ75]

The second half by Sloane was one of the main reason we got the win.

The last quarter. 3rd quarter not so much.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

The second half by Sloane was one of the main reason we got the win.

Last quarter.... he had 8 touches to 3q time. Finished with 14 but was in everything the final quarter. Lifted when it was needed most but still wonder if he's due a little rest.

 

[LC40]

The last quarter. 3rd quarter not so much.

OK the last quarter.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Pretty much agree with everything you have said. Jones was good against the Dogs away though, so hoping he's getting better at that.

The umpiring is consistently horrible. It's not so much biased as just poor quality. There are reasons for that.
1. The AFL have made it nearly impossible to umpire thanks to the rule changes. The crowd goes ballistic for holding the ball, but the umpire (correctly) calls 'made an attempt' which is actually now the rule. You don't have to dispose correctly when tackled, you just have to make an attempt. It's awful.
2. The AFL have encouraged players to play for free kicks. They need to stamp out the acting and they need to penalise players that are instigating the contact.
3. The umpires are always positioned incorrectly. You have 4 umpires, you should always have an overlap so there is an umpire on either side of the contest. They don't and it's so incredibly dumb.

On Jones I agree he's getting better just there's still a bit of a noticeable difference in him vs away. This is true of many players typically and hopefully it's something he'll continue to grow into. There's no denying he's taken giant leaps this year which is great. I'm not critical of him, I never thought he was the draft bust some did. More or less I feel like him & Ned got drafted the wrong time & come into our team at the worst possible time & it made things tough going for them. Yes ideally you draft the type of players that can rise and help carry the side on their back out of it but these guys probably aren't those players however we are now starting to really see both of them elevate now & looks like AFL players.

 

[Betts are off]

I think Darcy Fogarty

32

Darcy Fogarty

Age

25

Ht

194cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.5

2star

K

5.7

2star

HB

2.8

2star

M

3.7

4star

T

1.7

4star

G

1.2

4star

D

6.3

1star

K

4.0

1star

HB

2.3

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.3

3star

G

1.0

4star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

2.6

3star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

G

1.0

4star

's splash plays are down in the last month, but that kid is doing a mountain of work, and the team is reaping the rewards of it.

If he keeps crashing packs, and disrupting players the way he has been it will come together soon and he'll get on the end of them again.

 

[AFC979810]

What about the fact most of those average games are weighted into 4 players most weeks for us - Tex, Sloane, Laird & Smith? A deeper dive is required to truly make this point. There's no doubt sides like Collingwood get inflated because of guys like Pendelbury & Sidebottom too so it's not unique to us but to really use these stats you need to further break it down.

I think I heard yesterday Adelaide had 12 players with under 60 games which generally speaking you don't win matches like that with a balance like that. In our case AO probably the great equalizer.

Absolutely - a million different ways to look at the age profile.

Its not just games played, but also years in the system thats overlooked. Look at players like Worrell. He was drafted in 2019 which means he has had 4 preseasons and 4 years of coaching, adjusting to AFL, learning systems / nutrition etc. Top 15 from his draft class have pretty much played 55-70 games. He is on just 6, but far more advanced than a first year 6 gamer.

 

[LC40]

Dawson is possibly the best recruit we've ever had!

Darren Jarman is pretty tough to ignore.
Those finals performances are hard to better.
Yes Dawson is a great recruit.

 

[LC40]

I am in the Western Stand and the bottle neck to get to the Southern gate is borderline dangerous.

Terrible design.

On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Do you drive a Volvo?

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Last quarter.... he had 8 touches to 3q time. Finished with 14 but was in everything the final quarter. Lifted when it was needed most but still wonder if he's due a little rest.

That marking contest with Coleman when Rich went up the middle from the kick out was huge.

Rich spotted what he thought was a mismatch, pulled the trigger.

Wrong. Sloane spoils.

Finished in a goal to Pedlar

 

[brucetiki]

I'd also be surprised if we retained Worrell. Our defense also worked well without him.

How this for timing - I was reading this as we announced Worrell's re-signing

Worrell signs contract extension

The young Crow is staying at West Lakes

www.afc.com.au

 

[Danger in Texas]

Surprised by some of the negative Dawson comment by supporters. The guy is clearly our only A grader midfielder and is a Brownlow contender. He is proving to be the perfect captain.

Exactly, I said it earlier on but the guy’s movement through the middle of the ground alone has immensely helped us, always looking to open things up. Seems to fend off pretty well, as well, has a strong core

Probably gets another 2 or 3 votes last night

 

[maxlilly]

I think Darcy Fogarty's splash plays are down in the last month, but that kid is doing a mountain of work, and the team is reaping the rewards of it.

If he keeps crashing packs, and disrupting players the way he has been it will come together soon and he'll get on the end of them again.

I loved Fog's physicality yesterday. Making sure the opposition knew he was there.

 

[AFC979810]

I think Darcy Fogarty's splash plays are down in the last month, but that kid is doing a mountain of work, and the team is reaping the rewards of it.

If he keeps crashing packs, and disrupting players the way he has been it will come together soon and he'll get on the end of them again.

Disagree. He is looking more like Fog of early 2022 than Fog of mid-late 2022. His benefit is to the team is to take marks and kick goals.

He is playing from behind a lot more and doesn't have the same swagger.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

That marking contest with Coleman when Rich went up the middle from the kick out was huge.

Rich spotted what he thought was a mismatch, pulled the trigger.

Wrong. Sloane spoils.

Finished in a goal to Pedlar

View attachment 1699538

It was really dumb by Rich, not the time to try that. Only 16 points behind with like 10-12 minutes left. That's last 5 minutes stuff at that margin.