Autopsy Bulldog's effort and Jamarra's brilliance too much for Freo - (102 - 73)

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Jamarra’s growth over the past 2 years has exceeded my expectation. Let remember this guy missed 1 and 1/2 seasons during a time of critical of his development during Covid. This impacted his general fitness but more importantly his match fitness.

His leading patterns have always been good. The amount of times he was open and burnt by teammates was incredible. Finally last week the brains trust finally realised to seperate naughts and JUH and allow some space. Let’s also take into consideration he has been playing with no forward coach and a game plan that would make Lockett struggle to kick a bag.

JUH is the most natural forward I have seen since KT At the Dogs. All things going right I believe he has a higher ceiling than both Cameron and Buddy, not saying he will be better but he has all their attributes but is a better contested mark.

watching him live I have always been impressed, his tackling and pressure is good, at times yes he is spent so the defensive efforts drop a little but I do not want a elite talent like his so spent on defensive efforts all the time that It hurts his offensive game.

Jamarra is a special talent and a very marketable player, he would now be my number 1 priority.
Everyone talks about Naughton being the next captain after Bont but my money is on Jamarra in 4-5 years time. He's growing into himself and just seems like a natural leader. He doesn't shy away from the spotlight in a good way and after a rocky initial 18 months both on-field and off-field, seems very settled within himself and you can see the confidence growing week to week.
 
Two questions:

1. If JUH is as poor as you say, who do you want to replace him?

2. What's your assessment of James O'Donnell?
I’ve only seen 0’Donnell for a game and a half. My seat is at half forward. So my view of forwards and defenders is pretty good for half the game each. What I mostly look for is second efforts and what players are doing off the ball. Last Saturday was the first time I took much notice of O’Donnell. He worked hard off the ball, covered Freo players in his area, missed a mark once then battled it out to get the ball and give it off. He moves smoothly, he’s has a good kick, low and accurate, he spotted up Bont for a contested mark which led to a goal. One game, far too early to make realistic predictions but I liked what I saw. The forward line could do with a bigger body, Bruce. Naughton and Ugle-Hagan are similar players and Lobb’s Value is really as a second ruck. For most of the season, the 3 talls have rarely kicked more than 4 between them. Last Saturday they got 7, probably the best for the year.
 
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I’ve only seen 0’Donnell for a game and a half. My seat is at half forward. So my view of forwards and defenders is pretty good for half the game each. What I mostly look for is second efforts and what players are doing off the ball. Last Saturday was the first time I took much notice of O’Donnell. He worked hard off the ball, covered Freo players in his area, missed a mark once then battled it out to get the ball and give it off. He moves smoothly, he’s has a good kick, low and accurate, he spotted up Bont for a contested mark which led to a goal. One game, far too early to make realistic predictions but I liked what I saw. The forward line could do with a bigger body, Bruce. Naughton and Ugle-Hagan are similar players and Lobb’s Value is really as a second ruck. For most of the season, the 3 talls have rarely kicked more than 4 between them. Last Saturday they got 7, probably the best for the year.
Fair enough on O'Donnell.

If Naughton and JUH are similar players, as you say, do you have similar misgivings about Naughton?
 
Fair enough on O'Donnell.

If Naughton and JUH are similar players, as you say, do you have similar misgivings about Naughton?
Naughton's very good at second efforts, particularly when the ball's in dispute, not quite as good when the opposition has the ball ie chasing. I can't complain about his defensive game. He and Weightman are the 2 best
 
JUH has amazing sticky hands. Takes the ball at it’s highest point.

I’m surprised the club hasn’t corrected his leaning back on his set shots which often results in the ball trajectory heading left.

Similar Naughton’s ball drops results in the ball always going left.

Simple stuff.
 
This year, Ugle-Hagan has kicked 20 goals in 15 games, 1.3 per game. 9 of those have come in 2 games, fewer than a goal a game for the rest. He's averaging 8 kicks a game and 5 marks, up from 6 and 3.5 last year, improvement ? 13 tackles in 15 games, 18 from 17 games last year, minimal and inconsequential but no improvement, so far. He had a 5 goal game last year. 2023, he's had 2 well, a 5 and a 4 so fa. His primary skill is the run, jump and mark, on Saturday he excelled at that. Next is ability to get away, either by himself or with minimal opposition. If you watch his play, he doesn?t chase and second efforts are poor, see the tackle stats.,Ugle-Hagan stays outside packs waving his arms "kick it to me", that's OK, not everyone is Libba, a pity he doesn't kick accurately. Last year and the 2 times, this year, the same hubris but, in both cases, followed by weeks of mediocre performance. Let's keep calm and hope. Leave hero worship to groupies.

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D Mitchell strikes again!
 
I seem to remember plenty of frustration with a young Bernie Quinlan back before the Boer War.
Not saying JUH will get to his level , but I don’t think their respective trajectories would be hugely different.

I suspect our ultra critical and focused colleague may be old enough to remember those good old days ?
 
I seem to remember plenty of frustration with a young Bernie Quinlan back before the Boer War.
Not saying JUH will get to his level , but I don’t think their respective trajectories would be hugely different.

I suspect our ultra critical and focused colleague may be old enough to remember those good old days ?

As I recall it, Bernie was so good right from the beginning that by his 3rd season the fans expected him to win games off his own boot every week.
Taking screamers and kicking 3 goals in the first quarter of his first game, and 4 for the match, as a 17 year old, created unrealistic expectations.
A friend of mine played alongside Bernie, and he often say that the abuse he copped was "deadset lunacy". A victim of his own (enormous) ability was Bernie...

Still the most naturally gifted footballer I've ever seen. Bont included. Unbelievable, really.



Let's hope JUH never cops that level of "scrutiny".
 
As I recall it, Bernie was so good right from the beginning that by his 3rd season the fans expected him to win games off his own boot every week.
Taking screamers and kicking 3 goals in the first quarter of his first game, and 4 for the match, as a 17 year old, created unrealistic expectations.
A friend of mine played alongside Bernie, and he often say that the abuse he copped was "deadset lunacy". A victim of his own (enormous) ability was Bernie...

Still the most naturally gifted footballer I've ever seen. Bont included. Unbelievable, really.



Let's hope JUH never cops that level of "scrutiny".

I think you made the point better than me Dimma.
Our own supporters were brutal with Bernie and only a shift to CHB had him playing consistent footy.
He “was soft , didn’t go in hard enough “ blah blah blah !
Anyone with half a functional brain knew it would all come together for him.

Think he only kicked 3 first game and 2 in first quarter against Fitzroy ?

Edit : just checked, you are right again Dimma , 4 goals on debut.
 
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I think you made the point better than me Dimma.
Our own supporters were brutal with Bernie and only a shift to CHB had him playing consistent footy.
He “was soft , didn’t go in hard enough “ blah blah blah !
Anyone with half a functional brain knew it would all come together for him.

Think he only kicked 3 first game and 2 in first quarter against Fitzroy ?

Edit : just checked, you are right again Dimma , 4 goals on debut.
That game is etched into my brain, KH.
Had front row seats in the grandstand that day.

I still remember Bernie being mobbed by a couple of thousand fans after the game. He just stood in the middle of it all signing autographs until a trainer came out and dragged him by the arm back to the rooms. Just incredible to watch.

It was also the day I genuinely realised I'd never play senior footy. I was an okay player with the Fourths (U17) that year, and Bernie was still eligible to play with us...
 
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Autopsy Bulldog's effort and Jamarra's brilliance too much for Freo - (102 - 73)

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