Review Port Adelaide vs Fremantle - Trial Match 2 @ Alberton

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They played totally defensive, limit the scores against football last night and it’s horrible to watch.
Yet we did nothing to counter it. Slow, short, wide, stagnant out of the backline, zig zagging across the ground then long bombing it to an overcrowded forward line in the hope of getting a fluke stoppage goal. Rubbish game plan from a rubbish coach. We have such talent only to be wasted by the human dozen donut man.
 
Not sure we should be making a big deal out of Soldo. Last year's premiers won it running Cameron/Cox- a competent, but nowhere near outstanding, combination. The right midfield mix and centre bounce/stoppage set up will always improve any weakness in ruck.
 
Not sure we should be making a big deal out of Soldo. Last year's premiers won it running Cameron/Cox- a competent, but nowhere near outstanding, combination. The right midfield mix and centre bounce/stoppage set up will always improve any weakness in ruck.
Good coaches can handle weaknesses in lists.

Bad ones blame them.
 
Solid preseason game. Impressions:

Rozee- star
Burton- plenty of it but disposal horrible
Marshall- 2nd gear
Houston- coasting
Farrell- beat Williams for the half back distributor spot. More speed (great chase down tackle) more assured
Burgoyne- getting there
Boak- could work on a wing
Soldo- beaten but that’s no disgrace with Darcy. Solid.
Bergman- quiet
Rioli- electric but those set shots!
Wines- now at 80% (last year 50%)
JHF- starts quietly very often and did again but ended strongly
Aliir- tall backs were great, each playing their part, dominant in the air
Dixon- a monster. I don’t get why people deride him here. Plays PAFC footy- like Grainger without the psychosis
Williams- not best 22
Sweet- capable 2nd fiddle to Soldo
BZT- (see Aliir)
Ratugolea- (see BZT)
Drew- grew into his new role of less CBAs
Lord- not best 22
Evans- skills need brushing up
DBJ- useful
Jones- a seriously good defender. Quick, plays tight, can spoil, tough
McEntee- improving and was actually good
Mead- was very good. Playing 6 inside mids worked, but Butters went down early. His hands and poise against a top midfield were impressive. Can he be our Roger James?
Please didn’t mention him in the same breath as Roger..

Roger was a star
 
Things that look different because of a lot of it is similar


It looks like the wings have been told to hold their width some more this year

New backline group works well so far, they come as advertised though. Esava can't kick and BZT is a 2nd 3rd tall type

I like the Fro on DBJ

Soldo has some craft that Lycett never had let alone marking ability he isn't a top 5 ruck in the competition but he is in the next 5 imo
 
Played pretty well.

Freo were plucky early but we eventually worked our way into a commanding lead and then coasted to the finish line.

Clearances were an issue. Freo were on top in that department but besides Hayden young I thought our mids provided more around the ground post clearance. Freo was a good tine up for our mids going into round 1, they’ve got a decent engine room, and to do it without butters was a good result.

Elsewhere on the ground I felt like freo were either undermanned or not up to scratch so it’s hard to take much away from it but it definitely seemed like a step in the right direction for our new look defence. A vast improvement from the crows game.

Special mentions:
Mead - well done to the lad, booked your round one berth.
Burgoyne - yeah he made some errors but I thought he did some nice things too, I reckon he might’ve been a bit nervous or feeling like he had a bit of pressure on him to perform to play round 1, got plenty of it so I think he has worked his way into the team for round 1.
Boak - the old bugger is still a strong work horse, absolutely worked his arse off and played a really strong game.
Drew - worked his arse off too. Wouldn’t have known it was a trial game watching drewy and boak.
Rozee - strong performance and fairly standard for him these days but nice to see him do it as skipper. Looks primed for round 1.
McEntee - that’s what he is in the team for, I thought he was really good.
Rioli - has he lost weight? He looks fit and set for a big season, just about the most influential player on the field.
Esava & BZT - nice to see them perform prior to round 1, albeit against a pretty poor freo forward line. But they looked more at home.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
BZT reverse coleman medal winner watch had 0 kicked on him, direct opponent treacy had 7 disposals at 14% efficiency and 5 turnovers, bzt top the team for one percenters (6), equal third for marks (9) and stuck his head in the hole and ran back with the flight of the ball yet again.

not baddddddd

To be fair to BZT, Essendon’s back line was a mess last year. Between injury and lack of talent, BZT was often forced to play as a lock-down, 1-on-1 defender, which isn’t his game.

Port’s structure will help improve the reverse-Coleman stats.

For the record, Essendon’s back line still appears suspect, considering it had 28 scoring shots against a Geelong team without Cameron. (Acknowledge that they lost Ridley, but with 8 on the bench….)
 

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The 2nd ruck has to offer something in another position.. almost has to be finalayson if they aren’t going to ruck Dixon.. sweet can’t hold down a forward spot, lord can’t ruck and soldo is ruck only

On the other hand the make shift 2nd ruck is usually an out of form forward.


You certainly need get the balance right but does a good 2nd ruck and mediocre forward offer more than a poor 2nd ruck and a usually out of sorts tall forward?
 
Having seen some highlights the game looked like a typical trial match. Not much pressure which explains why Mac and Cheese got some ball.

Don't get carried away with a trial match it will be business as usual when the real stuff starts. Good luck to him and Mead on having good games.
 
I didn't watch the game but from the comments on here it sounds like we have done nothing to address the forward line. As soon as Dixon comes back, we target him and then wonder why Lord and Marshall struggle, like it isn't all connected.

But then, surely, this time, THIS time doing the same thing over again will work, right?
 
On the other hand the make shift 2nd ruck is usually an out of form forward.


You certainly need get the balance right but does a good 2nd ruck and mediocre forward offer more than a poor 2nd ruck and a usually out of sorts tall forward?
Good points.. think the potential of the out of sorts forward is greater.. finlayson has a day out and we probably are winning the game.

Probably depends who we are playing as well..
 
Who does everyone drop for round 1 from this side ?

Williams, Sweet, Lord, Evans, Mead out for mine

Georgiadies in

One of Mead or Evans as sub
 
Who does everyone drop for round 1 from this side ?

Williams, Sweet, Lord, Evans, Mead out for mine

Georgiadies in

One of Mead or Evans as sub

Mead, Sweet, Burton and Boak in from last nights extended bench. One of Burgoyne or Evans as sub
 

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Review Port Adelaide vs Fremantle - Trial Match 2 @ Alberton

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