Review Autopsy v Cats

[King Harold]

Gee harsh on a kid coming back from injury.

I am probably too harsh as you say , but he is frustrating. He makes a lot of dumb decisions that you would think he would improve on , but it's been a problem since he got to the club.
He is also a little slow for a little fella ., which means he has to make good decisions ( ala Sam Mitchell )
I haven't given up on him Immortal , but there are plenty now competing for his spot.

 

[King Harold]

Not sure why this thread is being derailed into a discussion on Jong and Hrovat when neither of them played yesterday..

Oops , sorry Mike !

 

[King Harold]

Dal moving almost exclusively into the middle has robbed us of some goal kicking and forward pressure. Honey started the year well but his skills are below average. Dale isn't ready yet, hrovat and hunter are more mids, and Mclean (who looks an absolute gem) is out. Forward line not functioning right now.

As crazy as it sounds with all our smalls, I'd still like a genuine crumber on the list next season.

Fronk think you have nailed it here. If we can add to our midfield next year , Libber , draftee or Webb ?
I'm all for Dal spending more time deep forward.

 

[_Mike_]

Dal moving almost exclusively into the middle has robbed us of some goal kicking and forward pressure. Honey started the year well but his skills are below average. Dale isn't ready yet, hrovat and hunter are more mids, and Mclean (who looks an absolute gem) is out. Forward line not functioning right now.

As crazy as it sounds with all our smalls, I'd still like a genuine crumber on the list next season.

I used to think that way, but IMO with stats to show, Dahl is far more damaging in his current role rather than playing deep forward. He loves being on the ball and he is in the mix every week and has consistently been one of our best.

I think hes playing the position he's meant to play in.

 

[immortalmike]

I used to think that way, but IMO with stats to show, Dahl is far more damaging in his current role rather than playing deep forward. He loves being on the ball and he is in the mix every week and has consistently been one of our best.

I think hes playing the position he's meant to play in.

This exactly.

 

[fronkalicious]

I used to think that way, but IMO with stats to show, Dahl is far more damaging in his current role rather than playing deep forward. He loves being on the ball and he is in the mix every week and has consistently been one of our best.

I think hes playing the position he's meant to play in.

I'm not saying that Mike. I'm saying its left us deficient in the forward half and we need to find an alternative. McLean is gold, but we need a crumber that applies intense forward pressure as well.

 

[immortalmike]

I'm not saying that Mike. I'm saying its left us deficient in the forward half and we need to find an alternative. McLean is gold, but we need a crumber that applies intense forward pressure as well.

Could Churchy be that guy? Would obviously need to clean up his act around goals but has the high pressure thing down pat.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

I'm not saying that Mike. I'm saying its left us deficient in the forward half and we need to find an alternative. McLean is gold, but we need a crumber that applies intense forward pressure as well.

I actually think Dale can get there once he builds size and endurance. Doesn't get to a lot of contests but when he does he puts himself in extremely dangerous positions (even moreso than McLean in my opinion), and there's evidence there of a strong defensive mindset when there's petrol in the tank.

That said, if we are in the position to add one, I wouldn't mind at all. I do agree we've lacked that sort of edge since Dahl made the move.

 

[TheHoneyBadger]

Could Churchy be that guy? Would obviously need to clean up his act around goals but has the high pressure thing down pat.

He creates a lot opportunities to score for himself, and he's got a lot of chemistry with Boyd.

Sand off the rough edges and the sky's the limit for him.

I actually think Dale can get there once he builds size and endurance. Doesn't get to a lot of contests but when he does he puts himself in extremely dangerous positions (even moreso than McLean in my opinion), and there's evidence there of a strong defensive mindset when there's petrol in the tank.

That said, if we are in the position to add one, I wouldn't mind at all. I do agree we've lacked that sort of edge since Dahl made the move.

Do you see Dale playing that role or maybe graduating further up the ground?

I love his ability to get out on a lead, to position himself around a contest and to score from a completely disadvantageous situation, but he's also got the pace & quality of disposal to succeed on a wing.

I really want to see him get the ball as often as possible, he just uses it so well.

 

[fronkalicious]

Could Churchy be that guy? Would obviously need to clean up his act around goals but has the high pressure thing down pat.

Love his pressure. Love it. We haven't been the same side since he disappeared. But I just don't think he has the natural talent to hold down the position long term. Can't see him kicking enough goals, or impacting in the midfield. Love to be wrong. His intensity is elite.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Do you see Dale playing that role or maybe graduating further up the ground?

I love his ability to get out on a lead, to position himself around a contest and to score from a completely disadvantageous situation, but he's also got the pace & quality of disposal to succeed on a wing.

I really want to see him get the ball as often as possible, he just uses it so well.

I really rate his forward craft. I think he's extremely natural at reading forward entries and timing his leads, and I also think he reads contests very well - particularly aerial contests. I think he's excellent in most avenues to goal: as a lead-out option, as a ground-level crumber, and as a hard-working 'up and back' type, I really rate his ability. I do like him higher up the ground too, though...but I see him developing into a versatile goal kicker that can hurt his opponent in a number of ways.

I think he plays both long-term but I believe he will have the most value to the side as a crafty goal kicker who also puts in defensively. Still a long way to go, but not many kids as slight and raw as he is come in at AFL level and show as much natural ability up forward as he has imo.

 

[immortalmike]

Love his pressure. Love it. We haven't been the same side since he disappeared. But I just don't think he has the natural talent to hold down the position long term. Can't see him kicking enough goals, or impacting in the midfield. Love to be wrong. His intensity is elite.

Fair enough. I think he's a little better than you give him credit for but can't really quantify it.

 

[the dog's kennel]

Love his pressure. Love it. We haven't been the same side since he disappeared. But I just don't think he has the natural talent to hold down the position long term. Can't see him kicking enough goals, or impacting in the midfield. Love to be wrong. His intensity is elite.

If Honeychurch could just sort out his setshots for goal it would make such a difference. He manufactures 2-3 shots a game just through his manic defence. If he could turn them into 2-3 goals he would be one of the best small forwards in the game.

And that isn't simply a talent thing. You can make yourself a deadeye through training and hard work.

He can do it if he focuses on it.

 

[LondonBulldog]

If anything this game proved we need to persist when available the backline of Hamling and Roberts.

Roberts can take the slower forward and has more nonce and a quicker football brain than Roughhead. Hamling has pace to make up ground in a contest.

Roughie is as I always suspected, a Ruckmen. His pace and reaction speed is over a ruckman.

Murphy and Boyd had quieter games and we missed Stevens hard work in the middle. We got better around the packs as Geelong went harder at it.

 

[Dog Rising]

Having watched some of our early in the season matches recently, our intensity has definitely dropped off. That Adelaide game was crazy madness. Our F50 pressure was our key. It is way off what it was. We're lacking a little bloke down there. If we are going to persist with bombing it in we need a crumber around there all the time and we're not locking it in anywhere near as good as before. Just an observation. Obviously some young bodies are probably starting to tire as most predicted would happen.

 

[grassman75]

Having watched some of our early in the season matches recently, our intensity has definitely dropped off. That Adelaide game was crazy madness. Our F50 pressure was our key. It is way off what it was. We're lacking a little bloke down there. If we are going to persist with bombing it in we need a crumber around there all the time and we're not locking it in anywhere near as good as before. Just an observation. Obviously some young bodies are probably starting to tire as most predicted would happen.

I actually think we weren't too bad against the Cats in this department. We held it inside 50 for so long in the 3rd quarter but just couldn't convert that to goals. When the inevitable brain fade / mistake came, they were good enough to get it out and go coast to coast. It's the same old story. Scoreboard pressure forces mistakes. I think a lot of people forget that the Cats backline was basically their Premiership backline with Taylor, Lonergan, Mackie etc. Those guys aren't spuds by any stretch of the imagination. As much as I hate "honourable losses" I think our problem was more that we didn't take our chances

 

[Dog Rising]

Yeah you might be right I haven't bothered to watch the replay but when watching the game, I know we had a lot of the ball, but I just didn't feel confident we were going to score. It really is worth watching some of those early games. Adelaide, first half v Saints. The intensity was insane. I think it's missing a bit.

 

[grassman75]

I think it would be hard for any team to"maintain the rage" of that intensity for the entire year, let alone a side of teenagers and players who have played less than 20 games

I still also think Bev is using this as a development year and playing everyone on the list to see what he has at his disposal. The ladder position is a nice aside to the actual goal at hand. It might be frustrating at times with selections, but it beats playing Austin every week when everyone clearly knew he wasn't the answer.

Playing a final would be great this year, however I think finishing 9th would probably serve us better in the long run as ridiculous as it sounds, with the AFL's propensity for having a flawed draw, finishing 8th or higher would reward us with a much more difficult draw next year (see Port Adelaide, LolNorf) and I believe that would be detrimental to our development going forward. The finals appearance will come again, we need to get the house in order first IMO

 

[StringyDog]

Playing a final would be great this year, however I think finishing 9th would probably serve us better in the long run as ridiculous as it sounds, with the AFL's propensity for having a flawed draw, finishing 8th or higher would reward us with a much more difficult draw next year (see Port Adelaide, LolNorf) and I believe that would be detrimental to our development going forward. The finals appearance will come again, we need to get the house in order first IMO

Only if we were to win a final and finish 5th/6th, draw is done in 3 groups of 6, finishing 8th or 9th makes no difference to draw next year

 

[grassman75]

Only if we were to win a final and finish 5th/6th, draw is done in 3 groups of 6, finishing 8th or 9th makes no difference to draw next year

Oh ok, I thought it was the top 8 play each other twice and then same for bottom 8.

I guess that still explains Port and LolNorf then.

Something in my head still makes me think just missing finals would be a good thing to keep the group hungry, even though we should be striving for success

 

[Doggies7]

I think it would be hard for any team to"maintain the rage" of that intensity for the entire year, let alone a side of teenagers and players who have played less than 20 games

I still also think Bev is using this as a development year and playing everyone on the list to see what he has at his disposal. The ladder position is a nice aside to the actual goal at hand. It might be frustrating at times with selections, but it beats playing Austin every week when everyone clearly knew he wasn't the answer.

Playing a final would be great this year, however I think finishing 9th would probably serve us better in the long run as ridiculous as it sounds, with the AFL's propensity for having a flawed draw, finishing 8th or higher would reward us with a much more difficult draw next year (see Port Adelaide, LolNorf) and I believe that would be detrimental to our development going forward. The finals appearance will come again, we need to get the house in order first IMO

Wholeheartedly disagree with this. The experience of playing in a final for our young group, let alone the reward for guys like Morris, Murph, Boyd etc will be huge. Not to mention the fact we might be playing Richmond, GWS, Collingwood, Adelaide etc who we have already beaten this year or playing this week with a big chance to win. We could pretty easily potentially play 2 finals games this year which is enormous and a great experience.

Not to mention the fact we have lost to St. Kilda(13th), Melbourne (15th) and Port (12th) while beating Eagles (2nd), Sydney (4th), Richmond (5th), GWS (7th) and Crows (8th). We seem to do fine against the tougher teams so isn't a huge benefit in playing a Melbourne / Gold Coast an extra time, both who should be better teams next year too.

 

[Leezorr]

Was just thinking back to the weekend and i was thinking about Hunter he was excellent imo, super creative when we needed it, seems to have time and is able to create space, was a diffrent player from the week before, hopefully he can have more games like that has a lot of upside to him.

 

[fargy]

Coaches votes.

 

[Dogsdoit]

Too many people over rating how good we are at the moment

We are still a bottom 8 team regardless of ladder position but we are so far advanced from last year it's fantastic.

Anyone that thinks we can jump from the notable we were last year to a finals competitor has no idea.

Still have a few passengers in pretty important positions and people are forgetting how young we are.

We have no ruckman when Minson is out of the team, regardless how bad people think he is he is far and away the best option we have at the moment.

The problem is I watched the ressies today and apart from 3-4 there ain't much there(and I was wrong about Jong and Hrovat, they are both worse than I thought they were)

Coming back from Cairns, young team, big deal, move on means zero[/QUOT

Contested marks 19 to 5 was the difference in this game.

Don't want to single people out but there was several direct goals from Roughhead mistakes, he had a howler.

Very accurate assessment of Roughys game. In fact has been ordinary all year

 

[AFDogs]

Honey is the closest thing we have to a Puopolo. We need to hold on to him. It's only his second year of AFL football. Let him grow, and he will improve his skills.