Hartung - Very promising first half and last quarter after what was a relatively lackluster first 2 JLT series games from him IMO. Roughy had his arm around him at half time encouraging him. Get the feeling the coaches and players see him as an important part of our team going forward IF he can fulfill his potential. Very much a confidence player and today would have done him the world of good.
Burton - Has dropped off since his few H&A games late last year. Needs confidence.
Sicily - Pretty good down back, as he has been the past few weeks, but was even better when shifted forward late. Obviously has more potential as a forward than a backman, but with our backline getting older and with a few of our defenders having questionable form recently IMO, I'm OK with him being a bit of a swing man this season.
Mitchell - Gun. Disposal a little iffy today. Did he even play in the 3rd quarter? Seemed to disappear but I could be wrong.
Schoey - Needed to do more IMO. Was actually decent down back at times considering our lack of KPD's...but, maybe just misses round 1 for mine. Questionable disposal/decision making at times today as well.
Duryea - Good early but is still making basic mistakes which are costly in the back half. Seemed to drift out of the game after half time a little too.
Henderson - Fantastic first half playing outside (obviously). Will be interesting to see if we can go with him, Billy and Smith in the same team like we did today. He plays Rd.1 for mine. Disposal generally good today.
Smith - Wasn't quite as good as he can be, but was still certainly more than serviceable.
Rough - Great. But was it him that gave away an early 50m penalty by back chatting the umpire after a 50m penalty had already been given, resulting in a 100m penalty? If so, disappointing. Will be HUUUGE this year though.
O'meara - Down a bit today, but have a feeling he was semi-tagged for a lot of the game? He'll be alright. Will kill it in the season proper, of this I have no doubt.
Frawley - A bit off his game early with the strong winds making it hard to read the ball in flight, but was the BOG defender for mine without a true second key defender to help him out for 90% of the game. His disposal and decision making seems underrated for mine.
Langford - Still has a bad habit of doing the old lollypop kick, even when not under pressure, which gives defenders plenty of time to react and get a spoil in. Also the old kick off the ground... take possession and kick it forward without looking.... I dunno. Bit of a 'meh' game for mine. Tackling pressure was good as usual however.
Nash - Very good with very limited game time I thought. A lot to work with!
Puopolo - Average game for his standards, which was still pretty damn good. Ready to rock come round 1, no doubt.
Rioli - Can't believe I'm saying this.... but sometimes tries to bite off more than he can chew when taking a quick kick after marking. It's OK Cyril, you're already quick as faaaark, take the extra second every now and then. Bah, who am I kidding? Was pretty darn good today and looks primed for a career best season I reckon.
Burgoyne - Was somewhat slightly down today, but far from bad. Was better in his limited time in the middle than he was down back I think. Will step it up another gear come round 1 vs. the scum for sure.
Vickery - Slightly down on his past 2 games I thought. Was just OK forward but I was disappointed with he and McEvoy in the ruck today if I'm honest. Don't rate Ryder too highly yet I thought he probably got the better of them today. Bit of a worry.
McEvoy - See above regarding his ruck work. Expected more. Also noticed he was one of a few hawks who really struggled to get a grasp of the windy conditions, especially in the first half.
Stratts - Tough one. I get what his role in the team is, but from what I saw today he didn't offer too much else. One to keep an eye on I think, along with Birch and Gibbo. Miles, Burton, Whitecross, Brand and Heatherly will also be keeping an eye on them I suspect...
Morrison - Ok with exteremely limited game time. Played back.
Stewart - Very good in the first half and was still OK in the second half. Considering his age and experience, I'm extremely happy with where he's at. Round 1 starter for sure. He's great up forward with his tackling and aggression, but I think even his midfield minutes were super impressive today and that's honestly where I see him playing a key role for us eventually.
Miles - Very good. Caught out a couple of times, but simply must play round one. Just oozes potential on a half back flank for mine.
Gunston - Down a tad today, but played everywhere! And I mean everywhere! I often forget just how young he is because he plays as if he's a veteran sometimes. He's going to be huge again this year. Can't help but think his best spot is forward though, as we all know.
Breust - Just OK I thought. Is it too harsh to suggest he seems to have stagnated the past 18 months or so? It probably is, but I was expecting more, mainly from his midfield minutes.
.............................................................
As for the game itself, we didn't handle the conditions well at all, especially the wind, and especially in the first half. Port just read the ball so much easier in flight than us.
Our forward entries seemed to be 90% bombs. Not sure why that is but it certainly didn't play into our hands with our talls lacking the ability to get into position quickly enough to contest, mainly due to the aforementioned windy conditions. Not too worried about this however, because I don't believe this will be our main inside 50 strategy over the course of the season.
Did Port rotate all 24 of their players throughout the whole game? Not that it really matters but we only rotated 22 of ours until the final quarter when we brought on Nash and Morrison.
My two last notes on the game;
1. We were smashed in the clearances in the 3rd quarter 17 to be 7 I believe. Bit of a worry there, though I can't fully recall our midfield setup for that quarter. Mitch? JOM?
2. This was very noticeable. We missed plenty of tackles all game long, which again, is a bit of a worry.
All in all, I'm OK with that hitout. Served it's main purposes, and with a bit to work on over the next couple of weeks, I think we'll be fairly primed for round 1. Can't wait!
Burton - Has dropped off since his few H&A games late last year. Needs confidence.
Sicily - Pretty good down back, as he has been the past few weeks, but was even better when shifted forward late. Obviously has more potential as a forward than a backman, but with our backline getting older and with a few of our defenders having questionable form recently IMO, I'm OK with him being a bit of a swing man this season.
Mitchell - Gun. Disposal a little iffy today. Did he even play in the 3rd quarter? Seemed to disappear but I could be wrong.
Schoey - Needed to do more IMO. Was actually decent down back at times considering our lack of KPD's...but, maybe just misses round 1 for mine. Questionable disposal/decision making at times today as well.
Duryea - Good early but is still making basic mistakes which are costly in the back half. Seemed to drift out of the game after half time a little too.
Henderson - Fantastic first half playing outside (obviously). Will be interesting to see if we can go with him, Billy and Smith in the same team like we did today. He plays Rd.1 for mine. Disposal generally good today.
Smith - Wasn't quite as good as he can be, but was still certainly more than serviceable.
Rough - Great. But was it him that gave away an early 50m penalty by back chatting the umpire after a 50m penalty had already been given, resulting in a 100m penalty? If so, disappointing. Will be HUUUGE this year though.
O'meara - Down a bit today, but have a feeling he was semi-tagged for a lot of the game? He'll be alright. Will kill it in the season proper, of this I have no doubt.
Frawley - A bit off his game early with the strong winds making it hard to read the ball in flight, but was the BOG defender for mine without a true second key defender to help him out for 90% of the game. His disposal and decision making seems underrated for mine.
Langford - Still has a bad habit of doing the old lollypop kick, even when not under pressure, which gives defenders plenty of time to react and get a spoil in. Also the old kick off the ground... take possession and kick it forward without looking.... I dunno. Bit of a 'meh' game for mine. Tackling pressure was good as usual however.
Nash - Very good with very limited game time I thought. A lot to work with!
Puopolo - Average game for his standards, which was still pretty damn good. Ready to rock come round 1, no doubt.
Rioli - Can't believe I'm saying this.... but sometimes tries to bite off more than he can chew when taking a quick kick after marking. It's OK Cyril, you're already quick as faaaark, take the extra second every now and then. Bah, who am I kidding? Was pretty darn good today and looks primed for a career best season I reckon.
Burgoyne - Was somewhat slightly down today, but far from bad. Was better in his limited time in the middle than he was down back I think. Will step it up another gear come round 1 vs. the scum for sure.
Vickery - Slightly down on his past 2 games I thought. Was just OK forward but I was disappointed with he and McEvoy in the ruck today if I'm honest. Don't rate Ryder too highly yet I thought he probably got the better of them today. Bit of a worry.
McEvoy - See above regarding his ruck work. Expected more. Also noticed he was one of a few hawks who really struggled to get a grasp of the windy conditions, especially in the first half.
Stratts - Tough one. I get what his role in the team is, but from what I saw today he didn't offer too much else. One to keep an eye on I think, along with Birch and Gibbo. Miles, Burton, Whitecross, Brand and Heatherly will also be keeping an eye on them I suspect...
Morrison - Ok with exteremely limited game time. Played back.
Stewart - Very good in the first half and was still OK in the second half. Considering his age and experience, I'm extremely happy with where he's at. Round 1 starter for sure. He's great up forward with his tackling and aggression, but I think even his midfield minutes were super impressive today and that's honestly where I see him playing a key role for us eventually.
Miles - Very good. Caught out a couple of times, but simply must play round one. Just oozes potential on a half back flank for mine.
Gunston - Down a tad today, but played everywhere! And I mean everywhere! I often forget just how young he is because he plays as if he's a veteran sometimes. He's going to be huge again this year. Can't help but think his best spot is forward though, as we all know.
Breust - Just OK I thought. Is it too harsh to suggest he seems to have stagnated the past 18 months or so? It probably is, but I was expecting more, mainly from his midfield minutes.
.............................................................
As for the game itself, we didn't handle the conditions well at all, especially the wind, and especially in the first half. Port just read the ball so much easier in flight than us.
Our forward entries seemed to be 90% bombs. Not sure why that is but it certainly didn't play into our hands with our talls lacking the ability to get into position quickly enough to contest, mainly due to the aforementioned windy conditions. Not too worried about this however, because I don't believe this will be our main inside 50 strategy over the course of the season.
Did Port rotate all 24 of their players throughout the whole game? Not that it really matters but we only rotated 22 of ours until the final quarter when we brought on Nash and Morrison.
My two last notes on the game;
1. We were smashed in the clearances in the 3rd quarter 17 to be 7 I believe. Bit of a worry there, though I can't fully recall our midfield setup for that quarter. Mitch? JOM?
2. This was very noticeable. We missed plenty of tackles all game long, which again, is a bit of a worry.
All in all, I'm OK with that hitout. Served it's main purposes, and with a bit to work on over the next couple of weeks, I think we'll be fairly primed for round 1. Can't wait!
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