2nds Footscray vs Sandringham. Saturday, May 10th. 1pm.

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

They did work on his inside game last year, had him laying quite a few tackles and getting some contested ball, but his disposal under pressure is just awful.

Was a bit better in that regard today, had a couple of nice clearances from contests that went to some good spots. Not making any calls on him as for the most part it was a game where we coasted under very little pressure from the opposition, but I saw some signs of improvement today. Just hope he can build upon it or at the very least take some momentum into next week and show some consistency.

 

[dogwatch]

Thanks Dannnnnnnnnn and others who posted throughout the VFL game. Much appreciated.

Sounds like there were some very good individual performances.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Somebody familiar with Fuller doesn't recall any shoulder injuries in his Norwood days so perhaps just something he's done this season and won't go away. May explain his poor form. Hopefully he can get through it as soon as possible so we can see what he's really capable of.

 

[Testekill]

Gonna just leave it here again. We need Grant to have a couple of games to gain touch and match fitness again and then we gotta slot him back into the team. Just makes things happen with the ball in hand.

 

[King Harold]

Gonna just leave it here again. We need Grant to have a couple of games to gain touch and match fitness again and then we gotta slot him back into the team. Just makes things happen with the ball in hand.

Very good first up , and will make a difference when he gets back in.
Smith also now knocking on the door.
Why is Stevens playing VFL , very odd !

 

[dogwatch]

Very good first up , and will make a difference when he gets back in.
Smith also now knocking on the door.
Why is Stevens playing VFL , very odd !

The solid form of Bonts, Smith, even Grant will hopefully keep our senior side very focussed tonight. Not a bad thing. Some of them will clearly be playing to retain their spot.

 

[SuperMacPherson]

Bontempelli is clear best on ground.

Then you're either blind or didn't see any of his AFL games last year.

And you're obviously ignorant of his underage performances.

I'm not the only one that shares that view on Hrovat. Another waste of a pick. Too many smalls

 

[TheHoneyBadger]

I'm not the only one that shares that view on Hrovat. Another waste of a pick. Too many smalls

What a completely unjustified viewpoint.
Hrovat's as composed and intelligent a user of the ball through the middle that I've seen, at his age. Front and center of every huddle soaking up what's being said and taking a stand out on the ground, too. Will captain the club if he keeps it up.

His height's irrelevant when he plays smart footy. Why criticise a good player after a good performance because he's not a 190cm 'prototype player'?

 

[Dav1d]

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/football-vfl/SP1319V007S00


watch here

 

[immortalmike]

What a completely unjustified viewpoint.
Hrovat's as composed and intelligent a user of the ball through the middle that I've seen, at his age. Front and center of every huddle soaking up what's being said and taking a stand out on the ground, too. Will captain the club if he keeps it up.

His height's irrelevant when he plays smart footy. Why criticise a good player after a good performance because he's not a 190cm 'prototype player'?

Don't bother arguing. They'll just end up feeling/looking really stupid when Hrovat ends up an A grade mid.

 

[True Dog]

Don't bother arguing. They'll just end up feeling/looking really stupid when Hrovat ends up an A grade mid.

Hope you are right but he's got a way to go on today's performance... Let's hope he gets a good run injury wise and can start that climb up the totem pole because there's a few ahead of him at the minute..

 

[True Dog]

Wallis has to be close to a recall, thought his last few weeks have been really good..

 

[Dav1d]

Hope you are right but he's got a way to go on today's performance... Let's hope he gets a good run injury wise and can start that climb up the totem pole because there's a few ahead of him at the minute..

thought he was pretty good last year, how quickly people forget
think he has just had a sucky run with injuries and will need a good few games before he is showing signs of breaking into the seniors

 

[King Harold]

I'm not the only one that shares that view on Hrovat. Another waste of a pick. Too many smalls

Everyone has opinion , and you have yours , but I must say it is very odd !

 

[fargy]

Watched the first ten minutes on iview, how was the pick up and quick kick for Bont's 2nd goal?!

 

[King Harold]

Wallis has to be close to a recall, thought his last few weeks have been really good..

His form yesterday was very good , but I would like them to leave him in the VFL for a while and give him a different role.
He badly needs to develop a more outside game. I would be encouraging him to kick the ball more often , maybe hang on to the ball a little longer instead of firing the first handball as he often does.
If he can't get more of this in his game his future as an AFL player could end up limited.

 

[Dav1d]

Wallis still likes to throw the ball a lot and bomb it on the boot as soon as he gets it

someone needs to tell him to slow down and assess his options, because he actually finds himself in space and does this

 

[dogwatch]

His form yesterday was very good , but I would like them to leave him in the VFL for a while and give him a different role.
He badly needs to develop a more outside game. I would be encouraging him to kick the ball more often , maybe hang on to the ball a little longer instead of firing the first handball as he often does.
If he can't get more of this in his game his future as an AFL player could end up limited.

Wallis had a few good games as a tagger last year but lost form and confidence when given some big roles this year (even though he did OK in some of them).

I would like to see him go back to being an inside accumulator and distributor. We can worry about tagging down the track a year or two but he needs to establish a career foundation first. As Dannnnnnnnnn noted last night we are losing our CP dominance because we have fewer effective inside midfielders.

I agree he needs to work on his kicking but I have no problems with his distribution out of the pack.

 

[Next Waiting]

Wallis still likes to throw the ball a lot and bomb it on the boot as soon as he gets it

someone needs to tell him to slow down and assess his options, because he actually finds himself in space and does this

Some players appear to have time to assess their options. I don't think Wallis is one of those players. His best role may be as an inside accumulator and extractor but there is going to be a lot of competition for that/those role(s) and some of those competitors appear to have the valued time factor. I wonder how he'll fare against very fast and skilled midfields like Port and the Suns and whether he's quick enough to effectively defend against their pace and ball movement when we haven't got the ball. I think he'll have to be a superior extractor and over achiever in that regard to balance that out.

 

[dogwatch]

Some players appear to have time to assess their options. I don't think Wallis is one of those players. His best role may be as an inside accumulator and extractor but there is going to be a lot of competition for that/those role(s) and some of those competitors appear to have the valued time factor. I wonder how he'll fare against very fast and skilled midfields like Port and the Suns and whether he's quick enough to effectively defend against their pace and ball movement when we haven't got the ball. I think he'll have to be a superior extractor and over achiever in that regard to balance that out.

But he's not going to be a great tagger either if pace is his problem. OK in the clinches but useless when his man has a 2 metre break on him.

Either way we have to find out where his greatest value to the team is. I don't mind him having a few more weeks in the VFL to do that and regain some confidence.

 

[Next Waiting]

But he's not going to be a great tagger either if pace is his problem. OK in the clinches but useless when his man has a 2 metre break on him.

Either way we have to find out where his greatest value to the team is. I don't mind him having a few more weeks in the VFL to do that and regain some confidence.

Yep, that's pretty much my point. In the longer term, I think his pace will preclude him from being an effective tagger when you look at the speed of the young midfielders we're likely to be up against in finals a season or two from now. So really he needs to be as good as Libba around the packs but I just can't see it and I'm not convinced that there's enough scope for improvement in his other skills to elevate him above the younger ones coming through. He's tough and has attributes and a work ethic and he played some very good games last year but when the younger ones get a few more miles in their legs and a bit more experience I think he's likely to get squeezed for a spot in the 22.

 

[King Harold]

Wallis had a few good games as a tagger last year but lost form and confidence when given some big roles this year (even though he did OK in some of them).

I would like to see him go back to being an inside accumulator and distributor. We can worry about tagging down the track a year or two but he needs to establish a career foundation first. As Dannnnnnnnnn noted last night we are losing our CP dominance because we have fewer effective inside midfielders.

I agree he needs to work on his kicking but I have no problems with his distribution out of the pack.

That's ok , that part of his game comes naturally . But to improve , while in the VFL , he needs to to be a little more " selfish "
Because he is relatively slow , the game will find him out without more strings to his bow.
No reason he couldn't be a Sam Mitchell type with a little more composure in his game.

 

[Doggies7]

There 3rd we are 10th

 

[True Dog]

thought he was pretty good last year, how quickly people forget
think he has just had a sucky run with injuries and will need a good few games before he is showing signs of breaking into the seniors

I haven't written him off, far from it but he has slipped (hopefully due to injury) down the pecking order from where I sit. He needs to find more of the ball, both inside and out. Watching yesterday you would have thought Greenwood was on our list and Hrovat was the rookie?

 

[doggies ftw]

I haven't written him off, far from it but he has slipped (hopefully due to injury) down the pecking order from where I sit. He needs to find more of the ball, both inside and out. Watching yesterday you would have thought Greenwood was on our list and Hrovat was the rookie?

Just need to look to the Essendon game last year to see what he offers the team. He's been a bit quiet this year but he's struggled with some injuries throughout preseason and the start of the season. Just needs to keep getting some match fitness and soon he will be knocking on the door again IMO. Offers exactly what we lack as well.