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

[buddyruff]

Sorry If its been done, but why were we made to wear our clash strip??

The white in our clash strip caused a huge clash, its unbelieveable how often the AFL **** this up.

Why force a team to wear their clash stripis no clash of colours to begin with?!

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Managed to get there to watch the 2nd half.

Buddy and Rough up forward like the old days starting in the 50. Both up the ground at times (no players in the 50).

Burgoyne and Osborne spent a bit of time up forward as did Schnieder who kept his feet in a one on one contest against his opponent and won the ball giving Whitecross a shot at goal (which he missed). Whitecross was lively but just ain't a forward for mine but he is looking ok and finding plenty of it.

Still a query on who will bob up and kick the 2-3 goals a game and sometimes a 5 or 6 like Willo used to. No genuine 3rd forward at this stage just relying on cameos from Ossie, Whitecross, etc to chip in.

Schneider won a heap of ball in the back half - used it well. Smart little player.

Bruce was all class. Used it very well but occasionally guilty of trying to kick the thing too hard. Will be handy for us.

Ahmat-Watkins needs another preseason to get up to game speed. Isn't a bad mover but struggled to get involved from what I saw.

Tuck stood under a high ball at one stage and put his body on the line in the back half. Inspiring stuff.

Hale - was pleasantly surprised by his size. He has a bit more bulk about him than I was expecting. We had more success at the clearances when he was rucking. He did some ok things but also some brain fade things.

Renouf - I am pretty critical of Renouf. We were smashed in the clearances when he was rucking. I really worry about our ruck stocks for the season ahead if Hale gets injured.

Buddy - looked awesome but goal kicking the same old story.

Rough - also looked great but kicked like a dead eye dick.

Mahoney - couple of seasons away for mine.

Siera - Didn't do a heap in the second half but a couple of nice things.

 

[The OBSTacle]

Sorry If its been done, but why were we made to wear our clash strip??

The white in our clash strip caused a huge clash, its unbelieveable how often the AFL **** this up.

Why force a team to wear their clash stripis no clash of colours to begin with?!

To confuse the North players.

Seriously, the jumper selection department is run by complete idiots.

I must have seen North players directly drill the ball to Hawthorn players on at least 4 occassions today, and that's not taking in to account the turnovers.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Cheney - he is honest but seems to lack a bit of confidence for mine. Seems to be error prone. No legspeed but nice and solid. Hard to see him playing during the season unless he improves.

Mitchell - was everywhere. Tried a few hollywood passes on his left as usual which were over ambitious.

Burger - was everywhere.

Youngy - ran his guts out as usual to link up and move it long. Great chase down tackle.

Litherland - no doubt he is a low possession winner as a player but what I like about him is that he is always on his feet and running like a sweeper around the contest. This makes me think he will develop into a good offensive rebounder as well. Didn't look out of place. Goo set him up with a poor handball receive which Slither made a meal of but not his fault.

Gilham - he killed them for mine. Looked great. Played more at CHB than deep. He makes good decisions when he committs to the contest unlike Gibson who I reckon struggles with deciding when to fly or not.

Gibbo - was very constructive with the ball in hand but as stated above I just don't have a high level of trust with him at the contest.

Williams - Good to see him in action. He is basically Young Mk II in that he is purely an offensive player. He is a runner like Youngy but not as quick or line breaking and also not as penetrating by foot. Like Youngy he has no strength so can't really win body contest or stick tackles (which Youngy has improved at). I think he will be a handy attacking midfielder in a couple of seasons. He is a chance to play this season.

Milne - came on as the sub and basically played as a ruck rover. Can find the ball and did some very impressive things. He is still a work in progress so reckon he isnt in the mix for round 1 but if he finds some form at box hill he should push into the side.

Goo - looked very fit. Standard game from Goo (good).

Lewis - looked super fit. Killed em in the 3rd. Cant remember seeing him in the 4th. Underrated by many on this board.

Cyril - just a pleasure to watch. His one hander running back with the flight was a beauty.

In general our ball movement was excellent and very clean. Quick by hand and kicking was reliable. Setup was fairly conventional but some tactical elements on display at times. North did move the ball pretty easily into their forward 50 at times in the 3rd quarter.

I still have question marks over our 3rd main goal kicker and rucks (we were pantsed at quite a few stoppages) but happy with Bruce and Hale who make us look stronger without doubt. Not convinced we are top 4 at this stage.

 

[notorious_zhang]

Can someone give me a report on Cyril Rioli? I heard he will be playing more in the midfield this year but he played off halfback in the challenge game? How did he look off halfback?

 

[Furn]

Any indication today that we are looking at using a long kicking game plan into the foward 50 such as the one that gave the Premiers nightmares in rd22?

11 Goals between Buddy, Hale and Rough gives me hope.

 

[TheFourPillars]

Thanks for the great reporting guys. One thing that does concern me is that we got smashed in the clearances in.. and around the ground. If one was to be honest about things as much people go on about our backline I think our rucks are our primary problem.

Teams with good ruck divisions have a four to 5 goal advantage over us which we have to make up and is one of the reasons why we never smash sides because the ball has to go back to the middle after each goal.

 

[Hodgepodge]

If Hale can help keep some of the pressure off Roughead and Franklin he's done his job. i.e. If we play Collingwood and Tarrant gets Roughead, O'Brien gets Franklin, Hale gets Reid? I like those matchups. We're going to be tough to match up on in 2011 in the forward line.

 

[scout]

Hard to take too much from a practice match, North allowed us to take possession, and they often played quite loose on our forwards.

Was very hot in the sun, and by the last quarter it looked like both teams were just waiting for the match to finish.

Most pleased to see Roughy had a good day, contested well and kicked straight. Confidence is up.

Clinton Young's left boot was as awesome as always. He took a bump mid-air which cart wheeled him 360 degrees before hitting the ground. Very spectacular. Jumped up without a worry.

Was pleased with Cam Bruce’s efforts, useful link player. Gibson continues to show he was a handy pick. Effective defensive work, gets in the timely spoil, good evasion skills to get through traffic.

Good to see Hale mark and goal early in the game, would’ve calmed the nerves in his new colours against his old team.

Cyril’s intercept was one of those Cyril moments you’re very happy to witness. He read the North kick in perfectly, made a matrix-like time shifting movement to get there, leapt up to meet the ball at its highest point, and then effortlessly curled one arm, into which the ball knew it should fall.

And he followed that with a regulation goal.

Tom Schneider impressed, lovely baulk shows he has some agility. I thought he was more comfortable in the midfield/forward, felt he looked a little unsure in the backline, and would quickly dish off to whoever he could.

From the crowd noise, there were far more Hawthorn supporters there. And everyone was allowed onto the ground after the match to play kick to kick.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Any indication today that we are looking at using a long kicking game plan into the foward 50 such as the one that gave the Premiers nightmares in rd22?

11 Goals between Buddy, Hale and Rough gives me hope.

Couple of long balls sent in over the back (eg. Pagans paddock-style) but I didn't think we consciously tried to get it in deep regularly.

The forward line was pretty fluid and Buddy was leading circa 2008. We honoured the lead with 20-30m kicks. It functioned well at times - much better than last year - but it was completely vacant at times as well ala 2010.

Was impressed with our ball movement - we didnt overpossess it. The emphasis was on very quick ball movement and getting the ball to certain places on the ground as quickly as possible and we did it pretty well. Seemed to be much more of a willingness to take the game on and move it forward with urgency rather than ring a ring a rosie handball. Didnt look to me that we were favouring the boundary line either.

 

[randall boner]

Thanks for the great reporting guys. One thing that does concern me is that we got smashed in the clearances in.. and around the ground. If one was to be honest about things as much people go on about our backline I think our rucks are our primary problem.

Teams with good ruck divisions have a four to 5 goal advantage over us which we have to make up and is one of the reasons why we never smash sides because the ball has to go back to the middle after each goal.

spot on we were killed at the stoppages today, our rucks are ordinary to be honest.

 

[Hodgepodge]

You'd hope MaxBailey plays this year then. Might as well risk him in 2011 while we're pushing for Top 4 imo.

 

[obscura]

I agree. But if he has some swelling say 5 rounds from the finals, keep him in cotton wool for a full fledged assault on the flag in finals.

 

[ArmaHawk]

It was a pretty average game in the end. But the Hawks had a few nice passages of play and were strong in the first quarter.

What the game underlined for me was how well we have recruited. Gibson had possibly his best game for the Hawks. He was never beaten in a one on one and punched well, spoiling on a number of occassion. His run and foot skills were very good. He was the Hawks' best.

Cheney was also very good. He got a heap of the ball and there were some nice skills on display. Butchered it once. But there were some strong passes and good decisions made.

Hale looked strong up forward in the first 15 minutes of the match. Afterwards he played more up the ground but the opening to the first quarter suggested he is going to be an excellent addition to the forwardline.

All in all this game (which never reached great heights-maybe due to the heat) showed the recruiting of established players has been pretty solid.

 

[Furn]

Couple of long balls sent in over the back (eg. Pagans paddock-style) but I didn't think we consciously tried to get it in deep regularly.

The forward line was pretty fluid and Buddy was leading circa 2008. We honoured the lead with 20-30m kicks. It functioned well at times - much better than last year - but it was completely vacant at times as well ala 2010.

Was impressed with our ball movement - we didnt overpossess it. The emphasis was on very quick ball movement and getting the ball to certain places on the ground as quickly as possible and we did it pretty well. Seemed to be much more of a willingness to take the game on and move it forward with urgency rather than ring a ring a rosie handball. Didnt look to me that we were favouring the boundary line either.

Cheers for the reply RR

Hopefully we will play to our strengths which is our forwards and not try to be too Colingwood where their mids kick most of there goals. Sounds like we're halfway there at least.

 

[budrioli]

I'd be interested to hear reports on the role Rioli is playing from half back. It's the second game in a row that he's played in that position (although I note they are only practice games and he must have been forward at some time today to kick a goal).

It seems a bit of a waste given potential roles in the forward line and midfield. Perhaps it's just a way of easing him into the season. However, I have a sense that it might be part of a strategy to combat the Collingwood forward zone that locks the ball into their forward line. It might just be that Rioli is a perfect player to cut through that zone and these games are getting him (and the rest of the defenders) used to the idea of him playing off the half back - for periods of games when needed. It's probably a bit fanciful to think that one player can combat a whole forward press strategy, but it might be something that is being worked on and Rioli is a superb player that has the evasive ability to really help in this role. Given the lack of imagination of most clubs you can beat that most teams have spent the summer practicing a Collingwood style zone and forward pressure.

Thoughts?

 

[Goldhawk]

A good hit out for the Hawks.

Thought Buddy, Roughead,Mitchell,Lewis,Gibson,Guerra,Burgoyne,Young and Rioli all looked in pretty good form.

Of the new recuits Hale and Bruce will be good additions to the side ,while Cheney also did pretty well in the backline.

Schneider looked real impressive and caught my eye while another No.50 (Ahmat Watkins ) also did well in passages and for mine has the upper hand for the last pick as Tuck failed to impress me at all,just did not do enough.

Ahmat- Watkins has a bit of the X factor in him.

With Bateman,Birchell,Sewell,Hodge,Bailey,Ellis ,Ladson,Stratton,

Schoenmakers,Savage,Morton,Shiels,Murphy,Smith and Poupolo all not playing suddenly the list looks quite good with plenty of depth.

I'm getting quite excited by the prospects of the players we have and think that the Hawks will go a long way this year.

Also noted the good support that the Hawks had compared to the Roos which was quite disappointing.

So i suggest for the ones who have not bought their membership for this year yet.....get onboard and enjoy the ride.

 

[Mervyn Beasley]

A good hit out for the Hawks.

Thought Buddy, Roughead,Mitchell,Lewis,Gibson,Guerra,Burgoyne,Young and Rioli all looked in pretty good form.

Of the new recuits Hale and Bruce will be good additions to the side ,while Cheney also did pretty well in the backline.

Schneider looked real impressive and caught my eye while another No.50 (Ahmat Watkins ) also did well in passages and for mine has the upper hand for the last pick as Tuck failed to impress me at all,just did not do enough.

Ahmat- Watkins has a bit of the X factor in him.

With Bateman,Birchell,Sewell,Hodge,Bailey,Ellis ,Ladson,Stratton,

Schoenmakers,Savage,Morton,Shiels,Murphy,Smith and Poupolo all not playing suddenly the list looks quite good with plenty of depth.

I'm getting quite excited by the prospects of the players we have and think that the Hawks will go a long way this year.

Also noted the good support that the Hawks had compared to the Roos which was quite disappointing.

So i suggest for the ones who have not bought their membership for this year yet.....get onboard and enjoy the ride.

Was at least 75-25.

 

[Hawkamania!]

Thanks for all the reports guys.

 

[Arkadia]

Not having seen any footage of the game, it is very pleasing to read all the comments by the supporters who ventured down to kardinia.

I wouldn't be concerned about letting the Kangas back into the game.

These games are more about experimenting with structures and game plans and working out the capabilities of the fringe player, than trying to thump teams.
I hopped this year Clarko has more than one game plan up his sleeve and playing Rioli in the back half the last 2 weeks he may just have gameplan B,C,D in his armoury.

I am quietly confident about our prospects this year, but lets all keep it under the radar guys, ssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

We took the foot off the pedal numerous times during the match. Early on, the pressure was relentless and we were attacking at every opportunity. Had we played 4 quarters like that opening 15 minutes, we'd have won by 100+

I think the players and coaching staff would be reasonably happy with the amount of energy they conserved without letting the margin get too far under the 30 point barrier.

In regards to our forward line, I liked it. Buddy and Roughy should have kicked 20 between them, but it was the cameos from others that stood out. Just need to find a pressuring small to keep the ball in.

 

[markr]

I think the players and coaching staff would be reasonably happy with the amount of energy they conserved without letting the margin get too far under the 30 point barrier.

This seems reasonable and I hope it is the case rather than us having a game plan that we aren't fit enough to pull off for a full four quarters like we did at the start of last year.

With the reduced bench it is going to be harder and harder to have a game plan that relies on us pushing numbers around every contest. Presumably we've recognised this and have plans to play a differing tempo throughout the game. I saw an interesting article yesterday about the Pies' recent game, where the author suggested that is what they seemed to be doing. Swapping between the full forward press, and a more normal game plan at times to conserve energy.

Again, just look to the start of last year where we were run over in the fourth quarter time and again.

 

[mrcurly]

Again, just look to the start of last year where we were run over in the fourth quarter time and again.

..which coincided with an uncompetitive, undermanned ruck - either solo Renouf or ruckless. Having players like Hodge jumping across the ruck trying to negate the opposition did nothing for our numbers around the fall of the ball, and did even less for the stamina of the onballers that had the dual role of pseudo rucks.

Perhaps not the sole reason we were running out of puff, definitely a contributing factor though. Fingers crossed its not ground hog day around the ruck division in '11.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

I want us to be the clearance kings again. Don't like hearing other clubs having the wood on us in this department.

I really like the talk about Gibson's performance. I think he is an awesome pick up - and he's really important in us getting some drive out of the back half. The guy has the skill and ability to be an AA half back flanker. We really need some star power out of the back half - if he and Stratton can combine and rebound well our side will be infiinitely better.

Also - most of the people I'm interested in didn't play this week: Duryea, Schoen, Lisle, Savage, Smith, Ellis.

 

[Henry Jr]

With regards to clearances, I wouldn't be too worried at this stage.

With Sewell and Hodge to return to the engine room, plenty of room for improvement