Up the Coasters Brilliant. Just ******* Brilliant (Positives and Negatives vs Narrm)

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So far as the curious case of Luke Edwards, I'm not even sure he's that slow. 31.3km/h isn't lighting but I'd say [having looked] in about 50% of AFL matches it's still top 5 on ground for speed recorded by the tracker. I'm assuming he recorded that speed early in the Essendon game. Considering he invariably leads our side for distance covered at speed and average speed, he's probably just always on the edge of being cooked and doesn't have it in the legs to be doing anything explosive.

No idea what the future looks like for him and copped the sub tonight but it does seem he's playing a role. Hasn't been dropped yet and gets low possession numbers week in week out regardless.



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Know it's probably a bit complicated for the tracker to put up publicly but would be curious to see acceleration (like km/h increase per second) stats.

It's probably a bit indicative that we see blokes like Waterman and Barrass up in the top 5 max speed, neither of whom you would say are quick players but when you consider it's probably after they've made (or defended) a 70m lead and had the time to get up to that pace it makes sense.

With a smaller player someone like Reid might have a run where he only hits 25km/h but he's reached that from standstill in the blink of an eye so he's quick in an AFL-relevant sense.

I feel like Edwards probably hits those speeds running unimpeded from the offensive to defensive 50 along the wing, which is commendable effort-wise but in actual in-play contexts for a mid where there's traffic and sometimes you're only running 10-15m he feels slow.

I'm probably in the camp of not seeing it with him but wouldn't question his effort - if he can bulk up considerably he might be a player but he'd probably be the one I'd drop for Yeo this week.
 
Also speaking of slow, really liked the Sheed as tagger move. Helps paper over his weakness on the defensive spread if he's tangling someone up rather than having to switch from attacking to picking a target to chase and defend, something a Yeo/Ginbey can afford to do.

He's also wily enough that he'd pick good times when to peel off and get sneaky touches, which is pretty much how he's always got most of his possessions anyway so may actually not be sacrificing that much. Would rather him get 15-20 touches and be defensively relevant than 20-25 and force someone like Reid/Kelly to pick up his defensive slack and lose any portion of their own attacking games.
 

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Still cant believe we won centre clearances 15-13 vs the demons.
They have an amazing(best in the comp) first midfield with Gawn, Clarry, Viney, and Petracca, while we ran with BW, Kelly and 2 teenagers in Ginbey and Reid as our main 4 at centre bounces.
Thats actually heckin'g insane, and as much as our fwd and def were very good, the midfield breaking even or slightly winning is probably the biggest reason we won. The dees strengths are their midfield and defence, Lever concussion weakens their defence leaving their midfield as their best chance to win
 
Speed at AFL level is all relative. It's also about the position you play. Speed of mind almost always beats speed of body on the inside.

What makes a player look really fast is their ability to either go from just loping or standstill to top speed in a few steps.

Reid is so quick of mind he catches players completely off guard. This is how a lot of his fend offs happen, he transfers the ball to the other hand and leans into the fend and then out rather than fending whilst trying to get away (Chris Masten was horrible for this) and it's what gives him that immense push off strength. The same way boxers utilise their whole body weight in a power punch.
 
Know it's probably a bit complicated for the tracker to put up publicly but would be curious to see acceleration (like km/h increase per second) stats.

It's probably a bit indicative that we see blokes like Waterman and Barrass up in the top 5 max speed, neither of whom you would say are quick players but when you consider it's probably after they've made (or defended) a 70m lead and had the time to get up to that pace it makes sense.

With a smaller player someone like Reid might have a run where he only hits 25km/h but he's reached that from standstill in the blink of an eye so he's quick in an AFL-relevant sense.

I feel like Edwards probably hits those speeds running unimpeded from the offensive to defensive 50 along the wing, which is commendable effort-wise but in actual in-play contexts for a mid where there's traffic and sometimes you're only running 10-15m he feels slow.

I'm probably in the camp of not seeing it with him but wouldn't question his effort - if he can bulk up considerably he might be a player but he'd probably be the one I'd drop for Yeo this week.

Good points. If we get through with a clean bill of health I think his number is up for Yeo this week too.
 
Best win of a season. Without Yeo against the might of Trac, Oliver, Viney & Max.
POS
  • Has any player ever improved this much in one year? I think not. His marking is hand's down the best of any forward this season
  • Reid for many reasons. Goal 1, Goal 2, double-fend, on Petracca & Oliver no less. His kicking skills. I've never seen anyone who is better at not getting tackled than him. But my favourite moment was just a little one, standing toe-to-toe with Oliver at Centre Bounce, battle of strength, Reid just pushed him out of the way. Against one of the best contested ball winners in the comp
  • Gov & Barrass double team. That's what won us the flag. Gov, when up & going, can only be matched this century by Scarlett & Rance as a defender. Hope he goes AA this year, and Hall of Famer
  • Ginbey, great first half. Faded after that but it just shows when he can string 4 quarters together he will be very good
  • The confidence everyone has gained this last 4-6 weeks is remarkable.
  • duggo is a good leader. Is strong, plays with intensity, has been very consistent. Yes he turns the ball over but in every other aspect he's rock solid

NEGATIVE
- Flyin's dropped mark. Literally would've been mark of the century.
 
Positive - Finally there is real competition for spots. Can't just waltz around in the WAFL, getting thrashed and walk into the side because of injuries or that heads need to roll after a 100 point loss. You've got to earn getting your jumper back now.
Reckon when Allen comes back it'll be the first time in >3 years that Simmo has to grapple with dropping someone who he thinks deserves to be playing.
 
Apart from all the obvious stuff, there was a point about midway through the last quarter where the constant pressing up the ground just totally broke Melbourne's ball movement. It looked like they weren't even trying to go forward with any sort of plan after that, they just repeatedly panic kicked it down the line to Gov and Barrass who were gobbling up everything and sending it back with interest. It has been a long time since west coast has overpowered a team and got them playing the game on our terms and playing to our strengths.

Even compared to the other two wins this year, this is the first one where it felt like the game was played almost entirely the way we wanted to play.
Smacked it outta the park again, TJ.
Great insight.
Also loved your POV on Harley.....sports fans, no matter what side, love watching special talent.
 

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Good win but there's a universe out there where Melbourne kick straight in the third quarter and we lose fairly easily.
And yet what universe do we live in?

And we had more scoring shots, you have to be a troll with some of your posts.
 
Incredible how strong Waterman can become for that height. Continually beating blokes much bigger than him in 1v1 situations. A lot to with strength but also a lot to do with his footy smarts and body positioning. Very prime Jack Darling as well. Very interesting the dee’s didn’t make the may switch to him.

Also really nice seeing Jack hit some form lately. Really keen to see him building and hitting the scoreboard on a regular basis.
Totally agree, he threw Mcdonald around who is significantly bigger & very strong himself.
And no disrespect to darling, but I don't think he's ever reached these heights
 
thats fair, although raises the question as to why we waited until the last 9 minutes to bring dewar on? JJ could've gone back
Not against Fritsch.

Think this was our best game in years for applying field position pressure, which came from Gov and TB absolutely eating hacked kicks on the wing and setting up our rebound.

90% of it was working so well, I assume they just kept plugging away at it with the Rotham matchup.
 
Watching the replay and Ginbey's performance was quite good.

When the game was there to be won, he was in just about every crucial contest and has definitely improved his running patterns to consistently get into dangerous, attacking positions.

His development/progress as the season has gone on has been quite impressive.
 
I’m a few bourbons in watching the replay for a second time so this will probably be a long post.

And I’m not sorry

Arguably our best 4 quarter win since our elimination final demolition of Essendon in 2019. Maybe longer but was certainly the best fun I’ve had watching a game live since the 2018 prelim

Negatives first because they won’t take long
• Missed goals in the first half - Maric from straight in front in the first. Ditto Waterman in the second. Plus some other gettable goals that might have seen us with an unassailable lead at the half
• Got stuck in our D50 in the 3rd and turned the ball over a bit too regularly in that part of the game. Fortunately, Melbourne’s own inaccuracy kept them at arms reach
• Crowd of 43k was a bit underwhelming but that’s perhaps timeslot related

Time to teach for the tissue box

• Team effort. No passengers
• Each time Narm came at us and got the margin back to 2 goals we responded
• Simpson had a good day in the coaches box. Came in with a plan that took away their strengths.
• Spirit within the playing group is outstanding. Genuinely celebrating their teammates work
• Went head to head with one of the competition’s best midfields and pantsed them
• We’re fun to watch watch

Player by player

• Ryan rediscovered his mojo and tested his hammy a couple of times. First when he ran through the middle of the ground at top speed in the second quarter to help set up a goal. Then when he jumped on Gawn’s nude nut to almost take the greatest mark ever. Just couldn’t hold on. Goal from outside 50 to drive a dagger into the Demon’s heart was immense
• Waterman. He’s in beast mode. Five goals, could’ve had seven. Making defenders look silly. Workrate is insane
• Sheed the tagger is a development I didn’t see coming. Great contribution
• Hunt played his role and did some really nice things
• Ginbey was so good in the contest, especially early. Kicked an important goal as well. Coming along very nicely
• Harley ****ing Reid. Gun. I have no words for how exciting it is to watch him and we still have 291+ games to go
• Kelly set the tone in the first 15 minutes and rebounded nicely from a sub par game against Collingwood
• Duggan was immense. Good physicality and kept providing an option. Used the ball well on most occasions
• Cripps just kept competing and helped keep the ball in our forward half
• Chesser took a step forward. Did some nice things and had some important contests
• Hough just keeps playing his role and then some. Saying he’s Sheppard v2.0 might be underselling him
• McGovern was brilliant. Defended well but his kicks sliced Narm on several occasions. More reliable than previous and had added an extra string to a stacked bow
• Witherden was solid again and I think played mainly on McAdam who had little influence
• Darling’s best game of the year. Was a strong contributor in a sacrificial role. Twelve tackles was massive
• Cole played a great game in his 100th
• Jones didn’t stack the stats sheet but helped provide good F50 pressure
• BWill took on the challenge of Gawn and acquitted himself really well. Competed strongly and reduced the influence of the best ruckman in the game
• JWill keeps chiming in to good affect. Going to be interesting how we structure up when Allen and Flynn become available
• Seen Rotham come in for a bit of criticism for his game. Held Fritsch to 9 disposals and one of his 3 goals was when Rotham wasn’t standing him. Dropped mark wasn’t great but thought he did better than some have credited him with
• Barrass owned Brown like a bank with 10 mortgages - three disposals. Goal was a fluke and his point was courtesy of an incredibly soft downfield free kick. Took some massive marks as well. Near perfect game for a KPD
• Maric should’ve kicked that goal from a set shot in the first but was a good foil for Waterman and Darling
• Dewar had a blink and you miss it game but showed he has AFL attributes in his brief appearance

Low key takeaways

• There were some justified concerns when we appointed Shuey as our stoppage coach straight out of retirement but we’re showing some good signs and he clearly has a good relationship with the players
• Knights has had a really positive influence as forwards coach
• Our defence held up brilliantly in the 3rd when under pressure often courtesy of some ridiculously soft free kicks. The goal by Reid just before 3/4 time was massively important

Fun fact- each of our 3 wins have been 16 goals to 10 with minor variations in behinds leading to wins of 35,37 and 39 points.

I’m now out of bourbon but just to reiterate that was a brilliant win and I’m stoked about seeing this group developing

Up the ****ing coasters
 
Watching the replay and Ginbey's performance was quite good.

When the game was there to be won, he was in just about every crucial contest and has definitely improved his running patterns to consistently get into dangerous, attacking positions.

His development/progress as the season has gone on has been quite impressive.

There were multiple occasions when he got first hands on the ball and was tackled leading to a secondary stoppage. Doesn’t count as a clearance obviously but it also means Narm didn’t clear the ball either

Looked far more proactive around contests rather than reactive which has been a weakness of his in prior games

Had a really good game imo
 
Also, noticed Witho has become a bit of a leader in the backline. Often is quick to go up and praise a fellow defender's good work and helps organise the defensive structure quickly.

Ofcourse, also helps that he is playing good, consistent footy but he is definitely doing his bit to add to the good team spirit going on atm.
 

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Up the Coasters Brilliant. Just ******* Brilliant (Positives and Negatives vs Narrm)

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