Preview 2024 Pre season trial game 2 - Vs West Coast - Hisense Sat Mar 2 @2:40

[Jeffcrowe]

We saw the opening bounce yesterday. It’ll be Dawson, Laird and Ranks.

Yep that’s what I think too

 

[Crows I Am]

Yep a bit concerned re this …. Thinking Berry might be sub but it’s hard to call

Definitely want rankine 40% mid

I was thinking the same with Berry, could end up as the sub for round 1.

If Berry plays like he did on Saturday, then I am OK with him taking midfield minutes from Pedlar and Rachele for now. They are both very good in the forward line and both very dangerous up there. I am sure they will still get time in the middle but unlikely increased from last year. We also have Rankine and Soligo to get in there, Soligo looked really good when he went in on Saturday.

It's crazy how many options we have in our midfield group now compared to only a couple of years ago.

 

[Golumless]

Rachele and Pedlar will likely have their midfield minutes reduced if Berry does come into the 22.

Likely, but that's not a bad thing if we're committed to Rankine being our midfield convert. After all, we do also need goals and with Berry + Rankine + Soligo, we have hopefully found the depth we need in the midfield.

 

[Bearded Clam]

Can we please take out and shoot the bloke who’s standing in for Hinge at the moment and replace him with the real mitch hinge..

Watching our internal trial, the port trial and yesterdays trail.. i actually dont think the imposter hinge has managed to hit one single target by hand or foot in any of the three games.

Just played utterly disgusting football and in terrible form. Shit kicks, pathetic turnovers, poor decisions.

Seriously.. Cannot be a lock for round 1.. needs to go find some form in the seconds.

And I’m a massive fan of the bloke.

 

[Trigger13]

Can we please take out and shoot the bloke who’s standing in for Hinge at the moment and replace him with the real mitch hinge..

Watching our internal trial, the port trial and yesterdays trail.. i actually dont think the imposter hinge has managed to hit one single target by hand or foot in any of the three games.

Just played utterly disgusting football and in terrible form. s**t kicks, pathetic turnovers, poor decisions.

Seriously.. Cannot be a lock for round 1.. needs to go find some form in the seconds.

And I’m a massive fan of the bloke.

Couldn’t agree more with this. I can’t think of one good thing he’s done this preseason.

 

[MsTopG]

It was in regards to MsTopG running commentary yesterday

Some snowflake got upset that i said that Berry hadn't improved much early into the game after he did a couple of poor disposals. He did play well and hopefully he can keep his spot in the team but he's never gonna be a star mid imo. He can possibly be a good role player though. Do i think he will be in the midfield by the end of the year? Probably not.

 

[cmndstab]

I was busy most of the weekend so I'm a bit late to the party, and people have already said most of what I would say. Still, I'll put a few thoughts down from the trial.

Rankine continues to be the most exciting prospect we have at the moment.

I haven't been a fan of O'Brien, but he has looked pretty damn good so far this preseason, albeit against weaker rucks. It seems like the new ruck rules benefit him, and he's looking super fit as well. He has always been someone who is better than average, but who gets bullied by the stronger rucks, so I'm holding my hype until we see him against the best rucks... but still, positive signs!

With Thilthorpe, we need to acknowledge the gulf between his form on a high-quality defender compared to his form on a weaker defender. The club needs to either manufacture a favourable defensive match-up for him, or else have him roam out of the forward-line. There is no point keeping him deep forward on a high-quality defender, he becomes a liability.

Something has gone wrong with Hinge this preseason. I'm a huge fan so not writing him off yet, but it's a big concern. He is having trouble finding the ball, and even more trouble using it.

Borlase and Butts are both decent options, but not a patch on Murray. I really hope he can get back this year. I'm still undecided on who wins the spot out of Butts and Keane long-term.

Berry absolutely belongs, and given that he performed well alongside Dawson, Laird and Crouch, I think he fits in the side even without any of them missing. Really pleased to see him back to his 2022 form.

You can really see the difference in class between the likes of Dawson, Rankine, Walker, Fogarty etc delivering inside 50, and the likes of McHenry, Murphy, Keays etc delivering inside 50. It's chalk and cheese. I don't think McHenry makes the round 1 side.

Worrell and Michalanney look like picking up where they left off and then some. They're going to be fun to watch for a long time!

Sholl and Jones were both alright without being exceptional. Sholl did plenty but it wasn't always great and he gets bullied off the ball. Jones was mostly invisible. Smith too. Outside of Soligo (who shouldn't be playing there anyway) we don't seem to have anyone performing well on the wing at the moment. It's really starting to feel like the stars are aligning perfectly for Sloane to come back on the wing

At least three players have to come out of that side for round 1 (not including the sub), and possibly more. Hamill is the obvious first out, I think McHenry is the next. Not easy to choose beyond that. One of Jones or Hinge may have played themselves out of a starting spot.

Harley Reid is going to be a pretty damn good player.

 

[davos44]

I only saw the 2nd half in full but from what I saw:

Soligo, Worrell and Berry have all improved.
McHenry just isn't great, he is the most un-natural footballer sometimes like a reverse Darren Jarman.
Berry is the new Sloane
Racheles goalkicking is still bad
Rankine is a gift
Why is Fogarty obsessed with running to the pockets? Is it a Tex avoidance thing?
Remember in the Essendon game last year and Hinge just lost the ability to kick and almost killed an Essendon trainer?* Its happening again but he will get it back when SPP tries to snipe him and just gets a dirty look.




*May not have happened, it didn't.

 

[cleanhands]

Some snowflake got upset that i said that Berry hadn't improved much early into the game after he did a couple of poor disposals. He did play well and hopefully he can keep his spot in the team but he's never gonna be a star mid imo. He can possibly be a good role player though. Do i think he will be in the midfield by the end of the year? Probably not.

That was a call only 10 min into the game, the rest was just negative jibe

 

[triggyscrewedus]

Berry was pure grunt in the contest throughout that game,
If he brings that's sort of grit this season then lookout playing against him.
Absolute credit to him.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Berry was looking great last preseason from memory

Then tweaked a calf and seemingly lost his mojo completely

Was a really strange season after banking two pretty solid years

Great if he can get things back on track

 

[flashcrow]

flashcrow any chance of a berry highlights package from this game?

Unfortunately YouTube has disabled my video due to copyright. The good news is I have uploaded it to Mediafire. The link and file is safe. It might be a slow download. If anyone has a better suggestion please let me know. LINK: AAMI Community Series v West Coast 2024

I have no idea how many of you have gone to the trouble of downloading the video I made (link above). But one thing that struck me as I was editing... Berry is going to be an absolute beast this year.

 

[cleanhands]

I have no idea how many of you have gone to the trouble of downloading the video I made (link above). But one thing that struck me as I was editing... Berry is going to be an absolute beast this year.

Was excited about him last season as my breakout player, happy to be wrong as long as I’m a year early

 

[adelaidecrows]

I have no idea how many of you have gone to the trouble of downloading the video I made (link above). But one thing that struck me as I was editing... Berry is going to be an absolute beast this year.

The difference between Berry this year and last suggests fitness was an issue in 2023. He seems to be able to move a lot better, more like the Berry we first met. Maybe he carried an injury through pre season last year and just never got on top of it. Oh well, 2024 Berry looks like a new recruit. We need him to stand up in the midfield to help us move beyond the Crouch, Laird era

 

[flashcrow]

Was excited about him last season as my breakout player, happy to be wrong as long as I’m a year early

Let's hope you were early. He certainly looks ready to go.

 

[flashcrow]

The difference between Berry this year and last suggests fitness was an issue in 2023. He seems to be able to move a lot better, more like the Berry we first met. Maybe he carried an injury through pre season last year and just never got on top of it. Oh well, 2024 Berry looks like a new recruit. We need him to stand up in the midfield to help us move beyond the Crouch, Laird era

I don't know if it is the "Burgess Effect", but he just seems to have a lot more power.

 

[DJ75]

Rachele and Pedlar will likely have their midfield minutes reduced if Berry does come into the 22.

Meanwhile, what about Soligo, who does his best work in the middle? He work in close is exceptional and yet we are going to have him playing wing/hff. Needs to be in the middle!

 

[Jeffcrowe]

The difference between Berry this year and last suggests fitness was an issue in 2023. He seems to be able to move a lot better, more like the Berry we first met. Maybe he carried an injury through pre season last year and just never got on top of it. Oh well, 2024 Berry looks like a new recruit. We need him to stand up in the midfield to help us move beyond the Crouch, Laird era

He looked too big last season

Moving much sharper this season

 

[flashcrow]

Nah he always had plenty of power right back to his underage year at Gippy Power when he played 3rd or 4th banana behind top agers Caleb Serong and Sam Flanders in their midfield.

Had to be carrying a niggle last year almost for certain.

I have no reason to doubt you, but does that mean the "Burgess Effect" is a myth, or could both be true?

 

[cleanhands]

Meanwhile, what about Soligo, who does his best work in the middle? He work in close is exceptional and yet we are going to have him playing wing/hff. Needs to be in the middle!

Good for the selectors to have the problem so we can pick the sh* t out of them

 

[StickerMan]

Once Soligo came on, it was noticeable how clean he was with the footy. Made everyone else look second rate, such a smooth mover.

Couple of gathers below his knees resulted in audible appreciation from the crowd.

With Soligo looking like he is going up a level or two, Rankine spending more time in the midfield, Berry showing signs of rapid development, Crouch v2.0, Laird, Dawson and Rachele/Pedlar also sharing minutes, the midfield looks pretty formidable.

Another one who hasn't quite got the plaudits he deserves is Josh Worrall. He was immense on the weekend and looks ready to take the comp by storm.

 

[Crows I Am]

Likely, but that's not a bad thing if we're committed to Rankine being our midfield convert. After all, we do also need goals and with Berry + Rankine + Soligo, we have hopefully found the depth we need in the midfield.

Yes agreed. If Berry can continue his form from the weekend into the season, that only strengthens our team overall. It means we have the luxury of playing both Rachelle and Pedlar more forward. And both are miles ahead of Mchenry or Murphy in the same role. Rachele could easily be a 20 disposal/2 goal a game player this year if he is playing 80% forward.

 

[Crows I Am]

Meanwhile, what about Soligo, who does his best work in the middle? He work in close is exceptional and yet we are going to have him playing wing/hff. Needs to be in the middle!

I agree he needs to increase his midfield time this year, he looked really good on the weekend when he went in there.

So our midfield group for this year is Dawson, Laird, Crouch, Rankine, Soligo, Berry. With cameos from Rachele and Pedlar. Will be very interesting how they fit them all in!

 

[maxlilly]

Berry was looking great last preseason from memory

Then tweaked a calf and seemingly lost his mojo completely

Was a really strange season after banking two pretty solid years

Great if he can get things back on track

We all know when he did that stupid video last year, his season was doomed from the start.
Never recovered after that.
Fortunately, no video's this year

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

We all know when he did that stupid video last year, his season was doomed from the start.
Never recovered after that.
Fortunately, no video's this year

Like when Ned hid inside the rubbish bin

Has become quite prophetic