NAB Challenge: Hawthorn v North, Kardinia Park, Sat'd 26th Feb

[Jaeger]

Another question for those who have stats. Roughy kicked 4 goals, but how many behinds did he kick? And for those who were there, is he kicking off a couple of steps, or taking his longer, more accurate run up that he used pre-2010

Didn't miss.

Don't think his style has changed too much, tbh. Takes about 5 steps, kicked really well.

Game was pretty much over by half time. We were in 2nd gear the whole time.

Buddy looks great. kicked 5 or 6 with ease. Missed about 5 as well, though.

Hale didn't do much.

Rioli is all class, in for another big year.

Whitecross looks really good, definitely in our best side.

Lewis played well and is good shape.

Bruce looked fantastic in the midfield and on the HBF. Very classy like Burgoyne. Great disposal.

Mitchell was good as always.

Gibson was fumbling a bit early on but came good. Did some nice things such as baulking then hitting a 45-50m target.

Didn't see a lot of Young. Was good whenever he got the ball, had a couple run and bounces.

Cheney is a little slow, but has clean hands. Puopolo is better IMO

Goo was alright. He was on Ben Warren who got the better of him a few times. Looks fit.

Tuck spent a lot of time in the midfield, some may have been impressed, I wasn't.

Gilham was okay. Tends to follow his opponent to the ball instead of attacking it.

Renouf was decent. Messed up a few kicks but stands out as our best ruckman for mine.

Love Tom Schneider. Was very impressive again. I reckon he'll play in Round 1.

Litherland didn't do much. Good attack on the ball.

Seirakowski was also impressive.

Ahmat-Watkins looks like a slightly taller Cam Stokes. Has good vision and clean hands. I thought he'd be a bit quicker but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the last rookie spot ahead of Tucky.

The game looked easy for us. North looked fairly average, and they also fielded a close to full strength team.

I would love to have a look at the free kick count. We got nothing! North Melbourne stage for free kicks more than the Italian Soccer Team.

 

[sledbomber]

Can anyone tell me how Isaac Smith went today?

 

[TheFourPillars]

Didn't miss.

Don't think his style has changed too much, tbh. Takes about 5 steps, kicked really well.

Game was pretty much over by half time. We were in 2nd gear the whole time.

Buddy looks great. kicked 5 or 6 with ease. Missed about 5 as well, though.

Hale didn't do much.

Rioli is all class, in for another big year.

Whitecross looks really good, definitely in our best side.

Lewis played well and is good shape.

Bruce looked fantastic in the midfield and on the HBF. Very classy like Burgoyne. Great disposal.

Mitchell was good as always.

Gibson was fumbling a bit early on but came good. Did some nice things such as baulking then hitting a 45-50m target.

Didn't see a lot of Young. Was good whenever he got the ball, had a couple run and bounces.

Cheney is a little slow, but has clean hands. Puopolo is better IMO

Goo was alright. He was on Ben Warren who got the better of him a few times. Looks fit.

Tuck spent a lot of time in the midfield, some may have been impressed, I wasn't.

Gilham was okay. Tends to follow his opponent to the ball instead of attacking it.

Renouf was decent. Messed up a few kicks but stands out as our best ruckman for mine.

Love Tom Schneider. Was very impressive again. I reckon he'll play in Round 1.

Litherland didn't do much. Good attack on the ball.

Seirakowski was also impressive.

Ahmat-Watkins looks like a slightly taller Cam Stokes. Has good vision and clean hands. I thought he'd be a bit quicker but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the last rookie spot ahead of Tucky.

The game looked easy for us. North looked fairly average, and they also fielded a close to full strength team.

I would love to have a look at the free kick count. We got nothing! North Melbourne stage for free kicks more than the Italian Soccer Team.

Great to hear about the team and performance thanks for the write up. BTW north had about 9 - 10 missing including most of their backline

 

[HolyRioli]

Can anyone tell me how Isaac Smith went today?

Don't think he played

 

[TheFourPillars]

Can anyone tell me how Isaac Smith went today?

Didn't play

 

[sledbomber]

Don't think he played

Thanks mate. What about Birchall?

 

[Jaeger]

Great to hear about the team and performance thanks for the write up. BTW north had about 9 - 10 missing including most of their backline

Yeah. Were missing a couple key players as were we. North were pretty poor, especially by foot. Made our pressure look good.

And Isaac Smith didn't play. Neither did Birchall, sledbomber.

I also saw Buddy's old man

 

[Hodgepodge]

Schneider reminds me of Selwood - particularly 1st year selwood.

 

[Hodgepodge]

I also saw Buddy's old man

hehe yeah i know. Does he still have the dreads?

 

[TheFourPillars]

Yeah. Were missing a couple key players as were we. North were pretty poor, especially by foot. Made our pressure look good.

And Isaac Smith didn't play. Neither did Birchall, sledbomber.

I also saw Buddy's old man

An interesting question to ask would be whether we looked slow out there. Given some of our quicker players were not playing this game. How did the game plan look? Did rawlings play on rioli and if he did how did rioli go as far as getting his hands on the ball

 

[Jaeger]

Great to hear about the team and performance thanks for the write up. BTW north had about 9 - 10 missing including most of their backline

hehe yeah i know. Does he still have the dreads?

Yep. And some serious ink work on both of his forearms, plus a massive beard & a severe beer gut.

 

[buddy23]

Don't think he played

Isaac Smith didn't play.

We looked pretty comfortable all day. After half time we took the foot off the pedal - let shneider, tuck etc. have a lot more time in the midfield. Subbed Young and Guerra off for Mahoney and .

Rough and Buddy looked very good, liked Rough's confidence, kicked well and spent a lot of the second half up the ground / in defence.

Was impressed with Bruce. Like Silk last year, seemed just to slot in well with the midfield - a couple of times hit Buddy inside 50, looks very sure with his delivery, if a little slow.

Wasn't really impressed by Hale or Cheney.

We didn't have anyone who could play on the Lindsay Thomas type small forward - maybe this is the role for Puopolo?

Also - noticed that without Hooper / Peterson and Cyril playing up the ground, we lacked a bit of forward pressure. Buddy did his best, but as usual can be a bit clumsy with his efforts (though it's quite funny to watch).

Lewis, Mitchell, Young, Goo, Gilham - all looked ripe and cruised through. Skills and fitness were good, all will be better for the hitout.

 

[sledbomber]

Yeah. Were missing a couple key players as were we. North were pretty poor, especially by foot. Made our pressure look good.

And Isaac Smith didn't play. Neither did Birchall, sledbomber.

I also saw Buddy's old man

Thanks mate. Do you know if Birchall is injured or was he just rested?

 

[Jaeger]

An interesting question to ask would be whether we looked slow out there. Given some of our quicker players were not playing this game. How did the game plan look? Did rawlings play on rioli and if he did how did rioli go as far as getting his hands on the ball

We looked slow in the back line, and when Renouf or Hale lost the centre tap.

It was either - Hale, Mitchell, Bruce and Schneider at the centre bounce, or Renouf, Burgoyne, Lewis, Tuck, IIRC. So not much pace, but they were so classy when we won the ball. If only we had a Dean Cox...

Rioli played mostly half back and was not tagged. Cyril is lightning quick as we know. There was a passage where North had the ball on the wing and it was a 4 on 1 and Cyril caused them to fumble the ball out of bounds. He also has the best set shot in our side IMO.

 

[Hodgepodge]

We didn't have anyone who could play on the Lindsay Thomas type small forward - maybe this is the role for Puopolo?

Murphy played this role to perfection last year.

 

[rdhopkins2]

Good result. Not a convincing win but it's preseason and the signs were good. Don't recall any major injuries. Buddy gave a scare with a corky but reappeared after half time so nothing big. Solid all round effort and augers well for the season. Let's see how Friday goes with what I'd suggest will be a much younger side.

Goalkickers: Buddy 5, Rough 4, Hale2, Lewis 1, Rioli 1 & Schneider 1
according to my records.

 

[TheFourPillars]

We looked slow in the back line, and when Renouf or Hale lost the centre tap.

It was either - Hale, Mitchell, Bruce and Schneider at the centre bounce, or Renouf, Burgoyne, Lewis, Tuck, IIRC. So not much pace, but they were so classy when we won the ball. If only we had a Dean Cox...

Rioli played mostly half back and was not tagged. Cyril is lightning quick as we know. There was a passage where North had the ball on the wing and it was a 4 on 1 and Cyril caused them to fumble the ball out of bounds. He also has the best set shot in our side IMO.

Cheers for that shepp. Seems like the ruck will still be a problem area for us this year. I hope to see Birchall, savage and pops and changa next week. Hope young is all right heard he got a knock

 

[Dewnior]

Did it look like Hale may be carrying an injury? And what's the likelihood of Bailey having a game in the next week/s?

I really hope our rucks improve this year.

 

[Bosk]

Many thanks for the updates guys, they're very handy for those of us who weren't able to make it to the game.


I know its just a practice match and not even round 1 yet, but could I get your thoughts please on how our gameplan looks to be shaping up this year?

Does it look like Clarkson has made major changes or only minor adjustments?

Cheers.

 

[cambosis]

Thanks mate. What about Birchall?

Birch, Ladson and Hodge were sitting in the stands in the first half - spent most of it having photos taken

 

[ProudUnsociables]

Thanks for the info all.
Living in the football wasteland that is WA(for non Wiggles/Dockers fans) this site is about the only thing that keeps me in the loop. Lovin the straight kicking of roughie as well as any sentence that contains 'cyril'

Bring on the season proper,
Cheers again

 

[cambosis]

Didn't play

Hey lads - here are some photos...

https://picasaweb.google.com/107930638989214626100/HawksVKangas?feat=directlink

planning on giving a breakdown tomorrow...

 

[illnino]

Appreciate the reports lads.

Really looking forward to thumping the Tigers...

 

[stemline]

I’ll let others talk about the game, which I thought was particularly pedestrian after half-time. I will say we got slaughtered at the clearances for pretty much the whole match.

Rough – He was very good. Worked hard up the ground, spent good slabs of the second half playing in defence, despite kicking 3 second half goals. Won a lot of ball in defensive 50 and on the wings. Finished well apart from missing a pretty simple dribble goal. Kicked a couple of lasers for goals in the 3rd.

Lewis – Went about it looking in good shape. Got dirty when he had to, used it well.

Mitchell – Superb all day.

Gibson – Close to best on. Spoiled, mopped up, backed up, ran, used it. All good.

Burgoyne – Must have finished with good stats but didn’t really impact the game. Fumbled a bit more than usual, a one-off I’m sure. A couple of great intercepts, but a bit of a cameo game for mine.

Young – Great first half. Provided the run, carry and delivery around the wings and flanks. Was lucky not to break his neck in one collision where he did a backwards somersault in mid-air. Came off subbed for Milne later in the 3rd and didn’t re-appear. Not even to walk out at 3qtr time. But after the match he walked about looking ok.

Cheney – Contrary to the match report linked earlier he did not play in the midfield. He played down back and did a pretty good job. Did the hard work and won the ball. Made less mistakes than he did in Perth and for mine looked worthy of games this season. Happy to put his body on the line, impressive effort today.

Birchall – the only one of the 27 named who didn’t play. Was walking around looking ok though.

Bruce – Started in the centre square for a lot of the match. Didn’t see him do a lot defensively but was good going forward. Smart player. Reckon he’ll play seniors whenever fit.

Guerra – With Gibson probably my best. Just knows where to be and how to split a contest, to use a Frawleyism. Subbed off during 3qtr time for Mahony.

Hale – Started well up forward with a towering mark in the opening minute and a great set shot, then got on the end of a handball to kick our 3rd goal. Didn’t do much else and we got smashed in the ruck.

Tuck – They gave him every chance, he was on pretty much the whole game. Didn’t really grab it though, no impact at all really.

Buddy – Flitted in and out a bit, always looked dangerous. Four first half goals and he looked set for a big haul. For most of the second half we either didn’t have a forward line, or it was packed. He looked done at half-time limping around to the rooms, but ran out first onto the ground after the break to a rousing cheer. Looked untroubled in the second half, other than missing 2 or 3 gettable shots.

Gilham – Looks slimmer. Got out-marked a couple of times but you rarely win them all. Was solid with the ball coming out of the back-half. A very usual Gilham game I guess.

Milne – Sub. Got the last qtr and a bit to have a run-around. Looked comfortable at the level but didn’t do a lot.

Rioli – Seems a bit of a waste to have him running off the back half, he seems to have a harder time having an impact. Second half he was shifted around a bit and got more involved.

Renouf – Worked hard. Did some good work on the ground but didn’t impact in the ruck that I could tell.

Whitecross – Some clever stuff setting up scoring chances for others but I’m not sure what it is – it’s like he doesn’t have a feel for the goals themselves. E.g. dummied nicely into free space but then kicked the simple snap out of bounds. But he’ll play most game this year and he is improving. Looks confident.

Williams – Struggled to impact and had a couple of blunders by foot. Endeavour was excellent though. Laid a couple of crunching tackles.

Litherland – The knock on him is his kicking and you can see it’s a problem. But he reads the play very well and backs himself. I like him, but he’ll need most of this season at Box Hill I reckon.

Sierakowski – repeated his efforts in Perth. Gets himself to the ball and uses it really well by foot. All of a sudden he looks very capable. Went out of it in the second half but was good overall.

Schneider – Top stuff again. Apart from one major blunder where he dawdled away from a North player – who he had seen coming but chose to ignore – and got run down. Otherwise he was very good. Composed, hard, desperate.

Mahony – Sub. Only got a touch or two in the last qtr, but didn’t do anything wrong either.

Ahmat-Watkins – Like Tuck they gave him pretty much the whole match to impress. Playing across half-forward. Certainly got himself involved in the clinches but his kicking lacked penetration and he made a few poor choices. He completely dogged one contest on the wing in front of everyone. Did dish out two very clever handballs from the bottom of packs though. Tuck made less errors but AW probably impacted more. Line ball with those two at present for mine.

 

[raff23]

Murphy played this role to perfection last year.

agreed, puopolo was drafted specifically for this type of role though as well, enough speed and strength to hold his own and enough creativity to hurt going the other way.