Autopsy GWS d NMFC 121 - 82.

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A rough start against a predicted top 4 side with a game already under their belt. Amd away too boot lol.

Losing by two goals a quarter = 48 point loss, we got closer than that. But they had 17 more scoring shots. That isnt great and we should have lost by a lot more.

In a nut shell, Duursma is our best overhead mark. That fyi isn't good news. Not sure you can fix our inability to mark overhead through training.

As good as Xerri played and we know Larks is a fine footballer. Contested marking isn't their bag. Won't even bother mentioning CCJ, well I did.
A ****ing long road ahead until we are competitive against a top 4 side.
 

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Just went to the AFL website to look at the ladder and looked at the match day report and these are who they think our best players were
North Melbourne: Davies-Uniacke, Sheezel, Powell, Fisher, Larkey, McKercher

Seriously how do they get away with this :poo:

If Fisher was in the best and Xerri wasnt they are fooling themselves and I dont think LDU was our best player either
 
Really does look like they don’t think Powell & Phillips can play in the same side. I’d like the coaches to at least try it before it’s too late and they move one of them on.
I reckon only two of Lazz, Powell and Phillips is closer to the truth.

I think we would have been better with Phillips yesterday but this pre season his running/spread away from the contest has been very poor so I get why Lazz was in. But Lazz's running didn't help much cos he did SFA with it.
 
Bog: Xerri. Easily the best player on the ground.

I am blown away by his sheer presence in the middle. Good set shot kick at goal. He’s ******* hungry.

I said before the game on what needed to be done to win. Accuracy on goal, defensive pressure (non existent) and organisation in the backline (free for all).

Wouldn’t be going too hard on the defensive unit after that.

Gee they move the ball with speed. They all just run in one direction with confidence the ball is coming out. The half forwards and the mids didn’t work hard enough defensively (not all but most).

We wont be coming up against that run too often. Orange team arguably the best in the comp right now.

If we bring that endeavour next weekend and a little better for the run. We can knock off Fremantle.

Outs: Shiels, CCJ, Goater
In: Simpkin, Bergman/luke, Greenwood
Sub: Lazarro

Expect better from: LDU, Stephens, Powell and Fish
Great post. Bit harsh on Stephenson who did not make a mistake with ball in hand though.

Two of the biggest (but perhaps most easily fixed issues) is the HF and midfield pressure/defensive running.

- no statues in the forward line

- play 1-2 players in the forward line who are pressure first players.

If we are playing 6 forwards, 4 of them need to be defensively capable.

CCJ - he actually was applying some pressure in the first quarter. (-)

Larkey - he had a rough day and was resoundingly beaten. Did not apply too much pressure as the ball was flinging out way too quick. (-)

Stephenson - did some defensive chasing and corralling but is not known as a defensive presence. (-)

Curtis - he bobs up for some good offensive play but he is still a liability with his defensive running. (-)

Duursma: ran well all day. He stuck a couple of really good tackles. (+)

Ford: did some chasing and also stuck a couple of tackles but had a real down game. (+)

Overall, we just had no real system to keep the ball in our defensive 50.
 
Just went to the AFL website to look at the ladder and looked at the match day report and these are who they think our best players were
North Melbourne: Davies-Uniacke, Sheezel, Powell, Fisher, Larkey, McKercher

Seriously how do they get away with this :poo:

If Fisher was in the best and Xerri wasnt they are fooling themselves and I dont think LDU was our best player either
They clearly didn’t watch the match, just looked at stat sheet and goals kicked column
 
Great post. Bit harsh on Stephenson who did not make a mistake with ball in hand though.

Two of the biggest (but perhaps most easily fixed issues) is the HF and midfield pressure/defensive running.

- no statues in the forward line

- play 1-2 players in the forward line who are pressure first players.

If we are playing 6 forwards, 4 of them need to be defensively capable.

CCJ - he actually was applying some pressure in the first quarter. (-)

Larkey - he had a rough day and was resoundingly beaten. Did not apply too much pressure as the ball was flinging out way too quick. (-)

Stephenson - did some defensive chasing and corralling but is not known as a defensive presence. (-)

Curtis - he bobs up for some good offensive play but he is still a liability with his defensive running. (-)

Duursma: ran well all day. He stuck a couple of really good tackles. (+)

Ford: did some chasing and also stuck a couple of tackles but had a real down game. (+)

Overall, we just had no real system to keep the ball in our defensive 50.
STEPHENS. Not stephenson.
Dylan Stephens. Otherwise I agree. Its easy fix, its simply required effort. Unconditional. They want to play finals, thats what must happen.
 

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Felt like a game with two tales. Glimpses of slick aggressive movement but overpowered and poor goater.
I thought it was interesting that we seemed interested in attempting to take territory from stoppages more than what we saw in preseason (I think?). Felt like less forward handballing it through the midfield before kicking inside 50. I wonder why we thought the change up was important.
 
A rough start against a predicted top 4 side with a game already under their belt. Amd away too boot lol.

Losing by two goals a quarter = 48 point loss, we got closer than that. But they had 17 more scoring shots. That isnt great and we should have lost by a lot more.

In a nut shell, Duursma is our best overhead mark. That fyi isn't good news. Not sure you can fix our inability to mark overhead through training.

As good as Xerri played and we know Larks is a fine footballer. Contested marking isn't their bag. Won't even bother mentioning CCJ, well I did.
A ******* long road ahead until we are competitive against a top 4 side.

Comben needs to play


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Biggest Neg for me was the lack of run, handball receives, movement ahead of the ball and passes into the corridor.

NFMC long bomb game was on from the start. Bombing it out of defence, and bombing it inside 50. Flat footed ahead of the ball, all just waiting for the long bomb.

As Clarko said, we were killed in the air, yes, but we were our own worst enemies. More run, lowered eyes, leading forwards, all reduce the aerial contests.
 
Biggest Neg for me was the lack of run, handball receives, movement ahead of the ball and passes into the corridor.

NFMC long bomb game was on from the start. Bombing it out of defence, and bombing it inside 50. Flat footed ahead of the ball, all just waiting for the long bomb.

As Clarko said, we were killed in the air, yes, but we were our own worst enemies. More run, lowered eyes, leading forwards, all reduce the aerial contests.
That's because they didn't let us play that way. They outran us ... and they also outran Collingwood who are sposed to be one of the fittest sides in the comp.
 
You'd probably assess yesterday as a slight pass. The defence was a little shakier than expected, and the attack and midfield were probably both a little better.

Round 1 away against the premiership favourites, who had the advantage of playing the week before, means that I won't dwell on the negatives too much. That's as hard as it will get for us this year, and under that circumstance we did well.

Some of the players who underperformed need to be persisted with, and you can't throw away an entire preseason just because we lost to the best side in the AFL. We don't have the depth to give up on a player like Tucker after game 1 of a 23 game season.

That said, I did see some signs that made me nervous for the rest of the year, but for at least one week I think we deserve to focus only on the positives.

Next week will show where we are at, and I think we saw enough yesterday to feel good about our chances.
 
The morning after...........

Watched the game although distracted at times with people coming and going.

Very happy that we ran out the game especially given we played premiership faves. Not humbled overall.

Few comments:

Xerri played very well. I don't rate him at all but may have to eat my words if he can maintain this form.
CCJ totally useless.
Lazz - I want to believe but he has to step up. Ordinary game.
LDU seemed to be coasting but still a stand out.
Sheezel - superb.
Duursma - a few knocks on him when selected - looks absolute quality.
Corr - horrible.

Backline a rabble but we knew preseason its our biggest weakness. Give the newbies a few more games and I think they will improve.

On paper this should have been a complete thrashing - we weren't thrashed. Plenty of positives.
 
I had my 21st yesterday but only got to see glimpses

I keep reading our fwd pressure is still an area to work on, all I keep thinking when I read it is comben.

I reckon just get him in we desperate need his mongrel and attack in the f50
 
I’ll watch again to get a better idea. First watch is 100% emotive.

But think Clarkson summed it up perfectly in his presser.

Mids did their job with clearances but they’re exactly where we want to be - physically and structurally - in 3-5 years time.

We struggled to build off clearances to establish spread and link up. Which affected our entries and played into the aerial domination.

It’s easy to write off any positives as “accepting mediocrity etc.” but if you’re being genuine surely you see a world of difference between this year’s preseason and yesterday compared to the previous (shudders) decade or so.
 
A seven goal loss, with the opposition having 19 more scoring shots, is never a pass.

Transition defense is still a catastrophe.

Ball retention up forward is non existent.

CCJ is a statue. An uncoordinated, floppy statue.

Some positive patches from the younger guys, but that’s it.

Special shout out to Corr who looked like first year Zac Dawson.
 

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Autopsy GWS d NMFC 121 - 82.

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