2nds Northern Blues 2014

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Blue Bloods said:
Always know we are getting smashed when there are no score update posts.

What is the pain, scores please.
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Hawks by plenty. Final score Box Hill 26.15.171 defeated Northern Blues 6.6.42.

Not much to say about a game which was always going to be one sided. Box Hill fielding 18 Hawthorn listed players whilst Northern Blues only had 9 Carlton listed players in the team (plus Fraser Russell). I'm thinking there was at least a couple of Carlton listed players who played their last game in Navy Blue today. Anyway, these are my thoughts on the performance of the Carlton listed players.

Armfield - Battled manfully for much of the game, although faded in the last quarter. Played in the midfield & in the first half was clearly our best midfielder. Will be a depth player for Carlton in 2015.

Byrne - Started in defence & conceded a few goals to his opponent. Didn't find a lot of the ball, but when he did get it he used it very well, a rarity among the NB players today. I look forward to him having his first full pre-season & hopefully seeing some senior action in the pre-season games.

Cripps - Started the game slowly & didn't see much of the ball early on. Worked hard to get into the game & won plenty of clearances, but was unable to have a real impact on the game. Is wearing a close tag most weeks at this level, but really wills himself to try & win a contest. I hope he gets a run in the seniors against Essendope next week.

Garlett - Was lively early on, running through the midfield, but didn't work hard enough when he didn't have the ball, highlighted by an ordinary chase in the last quarter. An interesting couple of months coming up for Jeffy.

McInnes - A forgettable afternoon, but with the way the ball was constantly coming into the Hawks forward line, the best defenders would have been under the pump. Sadly I think Macca might be gone.

Reynolds - Presented well at times & kicked a nice goal. With the ball only getting inside F50 on rare occasions & consistently in a haphazard way, Reynolds was always going to struggle. He looks good when the ball is delivered cleanly into the forward line however I think his lack of pace makes it easy for his opponent to beat him one out.

Russell - Saw very little of the ball, although he did manage to chip in with a goal. At this stage is not getting to the right positions to find enough ball. Will definitely benefit from a full AFL pre-season.

Temay - Much like last week, Tom found a bit of the ball early on & used it pretty well. Once Box Hill got right on top he went out of the game & although he did find a bit more of it in the second half, he didn't have much impact on the game. I think he will be quite anxious leading up to his post season interview with the coach/match committee on Monday week.

Warnock - Wasn't disgraced, but should have done better against the Box Hill rucks at the ruck contests. Is at the crossroads, but may survive due to the question marks over Kreuzer's ability to stay injury free & with Wood not the sort of ruckman you want to hang your hat on for a whole season.

Watson - Made the most of limited opportunities up forward, kicking 3 goals & just missing another one. His 2 goals from the forward pocket, on the wrong side for a left footer, were beautiful kicks. His forward play reminds me somewhat of Lance Whitnall, with his footy smarts & his ability to be able to outthink a defender therefore finding space that you wouldn't expect him to find.

I have real concerns about our alignment with the Northern Blues unless the club can get hold of more players capable of playing competitive football at VFL level. The young Carlton listed players do not get enough support from many of the Northern Blues listed players. Too often potentially good passages of play are ruined by poor disposal, poor decision making & a general lack of ability. Many of the 13 Northern Blues listed players who played today are not up to VFL standard & this means the team starts off behind the 8 ball even before the first bounce of the ball. If this is not rectified our younger players are not going to develop to the level we need them to.
 
Although it won't happen this year because there is no one to poach, last year's raid by Williamstown killed the NBs. And they didn't replace them with any quality. Needs to be fixed ASAP or otherwise nothing will change.

Watching today, even the Box Hill listed players had really good skills, linking up and running down the ground. NB listed players have horrible skills. We need quality, otherwise we are just stifling our kids' development.
 
mediumsizered said:
I have real concerns about our alignment with the Northern Blues unless the club can get hold of more players capable of playing competitive football at VFL level. The young Carlton listed players do not get enough support from many of the Northern Blues listed players. Too often potentially good passages of play are ruined by poor disposal, poor decision making & a general lack of ability. Many of the 13 Northern Blues listed players who played today are not up to VFL standard & this means the team starts off behind the 8 ball even before the first bounce of the ball. If this is not rectified our younger players are not going to develop to the level we need them to.
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Couldnt agree more. Have been saying as much for a while (even made it one of my suggestions to trigg)
 
slashin_velvet said:
Couldnt agree more. Have been saying as much for a while (even made it one of my suggestions to trigg)
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It will be interesting to see what the club makes of this in their post season review. There are going to have to be some changes made because at the moment there is hardly any current Northern Blues listed players, other than Cattapan, who would get a game at some of the better stand alone VFL clubs e.g. Port Melbourne, Williamstown.
etsal1 said:
Although it won't happen this year because there is no one to poach, last year's raid by Williamstown killed the NBs. And they didn't replace them with any quality. Needs to be fixed ASAP or otherwise nothing will change.
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This really hurt the club. Lambert, Meese & Marcon were all good VFL level players. The only current Northern Blues listed player who might attract the interest of other VFL clubs is Cattapan. Even the skipper Bransgrove has been found out at VFL level this season. Injuries probably haven't helped Bransgrove, but he doesn't give the Northern Blues what someone like Jolley gives to Williamstown.
 
mediumsizered said:
I have real concerns about our alignment with the Northern Blues unless the club can get hold of more players capable of playing competitive football at VFL level. The young Carlton listed players do not get enough support from many of the Northern Blues listed players. Too often potentially good passages of play are ruined by poor disposal, poor decision making & a general lack of ability. Many of the 13 Northern Blues listed players who played today are not up to VFL standard & this means the team starts off behind the 8 ball even before the first bounce of the ball. If this is not rectified our younger players are not going to develop to the level we need them to.
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Hope some that have been savage on our players playing here watched this game today, as they should have gained a better appreciation of just how hard it is to make impact when we have more than say 6-8 NB listed players playing, let alone a dozen plus.

It's next to impossible guessing where the ball may end up when in the hands of some of these kids and if you're wanting to run forward to get onto a chain of possession.........................well, good luck.

Good thing though for the CFC listed guys is that they have to work hard......very hard and I think it's actually worked in some of their favour.
 
thylacine60 said:
Met Zee at the game. We shook hands just before halftime and headed home. Some men know their limitations........
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arnold_handshake_explosion.gif
 
HARKER said:
To the next phase of their sporting lives.

The Northern Blues do need a little more maturity and height for next year and not because of the result today.
The kids are broken by half time in some games and that doesn't do anyone favours.
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McInnes was so promising. :(
 

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Watson up forward has shown a bit yeah? I mean being able to consistently kick about 3 each week in a forward line which seems completely devoid of decent structure or even half-decent midfield delivery has to be a decent effort. By all reports would have had 5+ a few weeks had the delivery been even VFL standard.

Surely we retain for next year unless he becomes part of a big WIN trade deal.

Edit: Correct me if I'm wrong but he seems to be showing the same sort of signs in the forward line that Rowe was showing this time last year for the NB backline. It's obviously difficult to say whether he'll continue that improvement if elevated to the seniors in the same way that Sam has though.
 
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Box Hill thread has been merged back into this one. If you don't see any commentary on games in this thread, look out for a dedicated match thread, here or the front page (for more readers). We will merge them back again when the talk has died down.
 
RedFury said:
Watson up forward has shown a bit yeah? I mean being able to consistently kick about 3 each week in a forward line which seems completely devoid of decent structure or even half-decent midfield delivery has to be a decent effort. By all reports would have had 5+ a few weeks had the delivery been even VFL standard.

Surely we retain for next year unless he becomes part of a big WIN trade deal.

Edit: Correct me if I'm wrong but he seems to be showing the same sort of signs in the forward line that Rowe was showing this time last year for the NB backline. It's obviously difficult to say whether he'll continue that improvement if elevated to the seniors in the same way that Sam has though.
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Watson's future at the club could depend on what happens with Waite & Levi in the off-season. Lose either or both of them & suddenly Watson's ability to play forward makes him more valuable to the club.

I think the chances of him securing a spot in the senior defensive set up are now very slim so it is pleasing that he has grasped the opportunity given to him to play as a forward at VFL level. He has shone in a team that would have made life difficult for a Lockett or a Dunstall. This can only be a positive for him when the club looks at who goes & who stays in the coming weeks.
 
Watto should have kicked 4 from really limited opportunity and by limited I mean starved. He missed one of those ones from reall close in directly in front again but kicked a ripper from 50 out on the boundary. He must play, we've lost our minds if he doesn't get selected this week.
 
mediumsizered said:
Watson's future at the club could depend on what happens with Waite & Levi in the off-season. Lose either or both of them & suddenly Watson's ability to play forward makes him more valuable to the club.

I think the chances of him securing a spot in the senior defensive set up are now very slim so it is pleasing that he has grasped the opportunity given to him to play as a forward at VFL level. He has shone in a team that would have made life difficult for a Lockett or a Dunstall. This can only be a positive for him when the club looks at who goes & who stays in the coming weeks.
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Considering Waite is how old?

Casboult is a resting ruck.

I'd have the three tall forwards.

Henderson, Watson and Casboult.

Henderson the leading forward. Casboult the bash and crash. And Watson the lethal kick.

Get the ball in Wattos hands anywhere inside 60m from the goal and he's a chance. Get it into his hands beyond that and he can open the forward line up with his boot.
 
Watson is contracted next year, next in line for both KPB and KPF, probably our best field and goal kick.

Add the players already left and the others we move on and delist. There is noway he will be delisted just to pay him out and draft a pick in the 100s. I really hope they give him a game next week and see what he has learnt in the last month in the Ants.
 
The logic behind Watson forward just makes sense.

Whilst he isn't agile once he gets into a run he's got a decent amount of pace.

If he can push off his opponent and present a lead he'll start getting on the end of a few deliveries.

If he can kick a couple of goals and present difficulties to the opposition defence due to his long kicking. Henderson and Casboult can start cashing in.
 
The alignment isn't the problem, it's a lack of money to get good VFL players on board.
 
mediumsizered said:
Watson's future at the club could depend on what happens with Waite & Levi in the off-season. Lose either or both of them & suddenly Watson's ability to play forward makes him more valuable to the club.

I think the chances of him securing a spot in the senior defensive set up are now very slim so it is pleasing that he has grasped the opportunity given to him to play as a forward at VFL level. He has shone in a team that would have made life difficult for a Lockett or a Dunstall. This can only be a positive for him when the club looks at who goes & who stays in the coming weeks.
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Agree with Watson up forward. Also think he could have played many games this season down back. He has been crucified on the back of 2 games. Watched the replay of the Port game the other day and it looked like he only had 1 goal kicked on him and when he was caught wit the ball late in the last he was already carrying an ankle injury. There must be some other reason that he has been overlooked so often. Nothing springs to mind though as he seems to have a really good attitude on and off field. Could see him getting a game in teams far better than ours.
 
pumped said:
Agree with Watson up forward. Also think he could have played many games this season down back. He has been crucified on the back of 2 games. Watched the replay of the Port game the other day and it looked like he only had 1 goal kicked on him and when he was caught wit the ball late in the last he was already carrying an ankle injury. There must be some other reason that he has been overlooked so often. Nothing springs to mind though as he seems to have a really good attitude on and off field. Could see him getting a game in teams far better than ours.
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Well. This might not coincide with the "Make bullshit facts up because we're all list managers" mentality on this board. But Andrew McKay said they are satisfied.. if not pleased with how Watson was progressing in the VFL. He later went onto say if it wasn't for Rowe, Jamison and White's form he would be playing seniors.

Now it might just be possible Malthouse didn't see an opportunity for Watson in defence with all of the posts filled up. So in response he's 'experimented' to see how Watson goes in attack. Obviously Malthouse likes this idea and is sticking with it.
 
pumped said:
Agree with Watson up forward. Also think he could have played many games this season down back. He has been crucified on the back of 2 games. Watched the replay of the Port game the other day and it looked like he only had 1 goal kicked on him and when he was caught wit the ball late in the last he was already carrying an ankle injury. There must be some other reason that he has been overlooked so often. Nothing springs to mind though as he seems to have a really good attitude on and off field. Could see him getting a game in teams far better than ours.
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Can't really argue with any of this.

That game against Port he was wrongly blamed on here for most of Westhoff's goals. As you rightly say, Watson only had one kicked on him, whilst Everitt was Westhoff's direct opponent for at least 3 of Westhoff's goals. When agendas come into play on here, facts are the first casualty.

As for why he has been overlooked so often, well the main reason would be the breakout season that both Rowe & White have enjoyed this year. You have to look long & hard to find more than a couple of KPFs/3rd talls that have got the better of Rowe or White this season & with Jamison being a lock in defence, there has just been no room for Watto & despite how good Watto has been up forward in the VFL, I can't see him & Casboult playing in the same forward line at the moment. It's a shame because I believe Watto can be a more consistent goalkicker than Levi however what Levi offers in the air is almost unparallelled across the competition.
 

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2nds Northern Blues 2014

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