Review Positives and Negatives vs Gold Coast

[Illeagle]

+ not letting them run over us in the 4th. Watching at the game, our guys were absolutely spent at the end. Lots of hands on knees doubled over in the last q, but we held on and even kicked away.
+ dom sheed, oscar Allen

12

Oscar Allen

Age

25

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

and our backs.
+ found 50 bucks on the way out of the ground

- up and under kicks into the f50 over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
- the up and under kicks into the fwd line were generally into the pocket, where even if we do somehow mark it, we miss the shot.
-Kicking into man on mark
- Players burning other open players and then missing their own shots.
- umpires very inconsistent

I hope we're better vs the dogs.

 

[Natho]

Oscar Allen

12

Oscar Allen

Age

25

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

Positives
- no man bun
- arrogance
- love's snags
- gorgeous

Negatives
- he isn't a twin and who also plays for us.

 

[whatis]

- Lost 50 bucks out of my pocket
- Kennedy a bit rusty

+ Winning feeling is back
+ Naitanui to Cripps goal
+ Hurn's return to form
+ Langdon fit in well
+ Pretty even performance

 

[TassieEagle]

Rubbish regarding Nic. His ruck work and follow up was directly responsible for 5 goals. You have no idea of ruck craft.

I do have idea of ruck craft and there were numerous taps that nic put straight down or forward that resulted in GC mids getting first hands on the ball, which is probably in large part to having Yeo and Shuey out. He still did some fantastic things like our second goal and the palm to Cripps but wasn't as dominant as he was in 2020, hence why I said nullified.

 

[Wild Kelly]

I do have idea of ruck craft and there were numerous taps that nic put straight down or forward that resulted in GC mids getting first hands on the ball, which is probably in large part to having Yeo and Shuey out. He still did some fantastic things like our second goal and the palm to Cripps but wasn't as dominant as he was in 2020, hence why I said nullified.

No, he was not nullified.He was by far the dominant tap ruckman out there and his taps and follow up play produced scoring opportunities.

 

[Seadog]

- The dandy who thinks busting my eardrums with his piercing whistle actually has an effect on someone kicking for goal a 150 meters away. Forgot what an annoying prick he was.
Man on the mark is literally a statue and two of our experienced players managed to kick the ball into the statues.

+ Sheed, Kelly, Hurn, Cole and Oscar were good.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Though King was giving Barrass a lesson, early on and when Allen switched to the backline briefly, he killed a contest with King and from then on Barrass played much better

On the money.

King was a tough match up for us given his height (202cm - yikes) - both Gov and Barrass needed to avoid being caught 1 out with him, Allen definitely helped in that regard.

 

[beatlesmith]

+ Plucky win against the kind of younger, more eager team that can cause us troubles. The fact that we noticeably outworked them in the last quarter was impressive.
+ The whole defensive unit was fantastic. Rotham, Cole, Hurn and Barrass standouts. Most of the goals conceded were outside of the defence’s control.
+ Kelly took control when we needed him. Relatively quiet in the first half (10 touches) but exploded in the second (18 touches). The most damaging of our mids By far.
+ Allen was great. Starting to command more ball and appear as the focal point deeper in the forward 50.

- The rest of the team was a sieve defensively. Gold Coast picked us apart coming out of their backline. Defensive pressure in the midfield and forward line needs serious work.
- Even though we outworked Gold Coast in the last quarter, we looked pretty slow and lethargic for long stretches. No Shuey and Yeo hurts in that respect.
- Petch invisible until the last quarter. Zero stats for almost three quarters of a match is inexcusable. Time after time we see him selected when there is clearly a better option available (see Jetta in the Collingwood final, Jones today). He isn’t getting better with experience - in fact he seems to be going backwards. Fool me once...
- Vardy also invisible until the last quarter. One hitout isn’t going to cut the mustard - we may as well play an extra runner.
- Redden accumulated the ball but was very wasteful. O’Neill will hopefully be putting up stiff competition for his spot.
- Weird tidbit but there was a moment in the third quarter where Allen took the diving mark in the pocket and as he was collecting himself JK aggressively signalled at him to get up and continue play. This seemed to pressure Allen into passing the ball off with a silly little checkside pass to the square which resulted in a turnover. Would like to see Kennedy back Allen in to settle and have the shot there because lord knows JK wouldn’t have passed that off.

The ruck situation needs a rethink. I’ve posted this before but I’d like to see them play an extra runner and then use Darling (forward 50), Barrass (defensive 50) and Allen (centre square) to divide the backup ruck duties. It might be hard to coordinate but it can’t be worse than what Vardy offers. Williams could be an option once he returns but I still think we’d be playing too tall.

Our ball movement was a bit of a mixed bag. We had some periods of very static, predictable play between the arcs but then also looked very slick spreading on the counter. We seem to be kicking to more markidng contests in the middle of the ground, rather than the wings. This is obviously more high risk/high reward. I noticed this in the pre-season matches as well and it will be interesting to see whether it pays off.

I think we’ll actually be a better team once JK retires. He’s becoming a massive defensive and ground level liability and he isn’t capable of taking pack marks like he used to. He’s a one dimensional lead-and-mark forward now. The presence of him, Allen and Darling makes it difficult to fit a second ruck and Waterman, who has shown too much to be in the reserves. We’ll ultimately benefit from going younger and more athletic.

 

[dajesmac]

Recruiters deserve a slice of credit for O’Neill. Plucked him at 28 which seemed like a fair reach while the more fancied Valente was on the board, whom I’ll admit was my preference. Looking at where the two are in their respective careers XON looks like a very decent pick.

 

[dajesmac]

While the Suns are no easy beats this probably was a game we could ill afford to drop points in. The next five fixtures are tough with away games against the Cats, Dogs and Saints and home games against the Pies and Power. All of them were finalists in 2020 and all but one won a final.

We have room for improvement no doubt but if we can find form to be 4-2 by the end of round 6 then we place ourselves well for a potential top four finish.

 

[WestCoast05]

+s
- The Three Kings


- Cole, candidate for man of the match
- Kelly and Sheed
- Langdon looking aaaalright
- 4 points

-s
- If Petch has decided he isn't fast anymore then I see Jones taking his spot easily.
- we struggled at home, even with the oppos best player injured in the first half, when we should be pushing our contender credentials.

 

[Strongside]

+

Scoreboard...4 points
Seeing and hearing fans at Optus
Oscar Allen

12

Oscar Allen

Age

25

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

has serious skills and a bit of piss and vinegar..the future is here
The Backliners

-

Tackling..making and breaking 'em

Despite key outs for the match and it being hotter than Satan's house cat at Optus it was a good win. GC is going to be a junkyard dog for a lot of sides I reckon. Top 4's win these scrappy matches and the Eagles did just that.

 

[Altum Volantes]

- Weird tidbit but there was a moment in the third quarter where Allen took the diving mark in the pocket and as he was collecting himself JK aggressively signalled at him to get up and continue play. This seemed to pressure Allen into passing the ball off with a silly little checkside pass to the square which resulted in a turnover. Would like to see Kennedy back Allen in to settle and have the shot there because lord knows JK wouldn’t have passed that off.

That actually really annoyed me. It was close range and Allen should have taken the shot but JK was screaming for it - it spooked Allen who moved off his line and ended up having to hurry a kick directly to a GC defender. Totally on JK and you are right, should have been telling him to tap it home.

 

[MeltMan]

That actually really annoyed me. It was close range and Allen should have taken the shot but JK was screaming for it - it spooked Allen who moved off his line and ended up having to hurry a kick directly to a GC defender. Totally on JK and you are right, should have been telling him to tap it home.

he took a step, and the ump called play on

 

[MeltMan]

That actually really annoyed me. It was close range and Allen should have taken the shot but JK was screaming for it - it spooked Allen who moved off his line and ended up having to hurry a kick directly to a GC defender. Totally on JK and you are right, should have been telling him to tap it home.

it was mildly infuriating at the time

 

[ziad]

+s
- The Three Kings
View attachment 1083044

-
- If Petch has decided he isn't fast anymore then I see Jones taking his spot easily.
- we struggled at home, even with the oppos best player injured in the first half, when we should be pushing our contender credentials.

Perhaps you missed the match winning run down and tackle

 

[FKASC]

Perhaps you missed the match winning run down and tackle

The new Tunbridge Tackle

 

[the harry]

Perhaps you missed the match winning run down and tackle

The tackle didn't even stick

 

[FreeTK]

The tackle didn't even stick

It almost certainly prevented a guaranteed goal.

 

[Breva_]

On the money.

King was a tough match up for us given his height (202cm - yikes) - both Gov and Barrass needed to avoid being caught 1 out with him, Allen definitely helped in that regard.

Rotham ended up on him a few times and did really well in their one on one contests when out on a lead.

 

[MrWoollie]

- Nelson was good but like another poster said he needs to keep his arms free when tackled. Gonna take Masto's mantle for most HTBs at this rate.

It's not just when being tackled, it's when tackling as well. He seems to lack strength through the core. This means when he tackles, he gets broken too easily. When being tackled, he can't break it.

The obvious comparison is someone like Dusty. Breaks tackle after tackle because he is strong through the hips.

1000 situps per day Mr Nelson. And when you hit that target, do it with weights.

 

[Eastcoasteagle]

Positive
Stewie Dew didn't eat any of our players.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Excluding Rowell's injury, the biggest negative for me was how easily Gold Coast could move the ball from their backline to their forward line. A lot of the time it seemed like the only time we started to apply any sort of pressure was when the ball made it to our half backline. Totally uncontested kick-mark until it got there.

Biggest positive was Oscar Allen

12

Oscar Allen

Age

25

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

. Superstar.

 

[WestCoast05]

Perhaps you missed the match winning run down and tackle

Needs to put in more than a couple of moments a game.
Granted though at one point he was on track for zero moments.

 

[shooshka]

No, he was not nullified.He was by far the dominant tap ruckman out there and his taps and follow up play produced scoring opportunities.

No he wasn't.

We lost the hitouts 31/23 (of which Vardy contributed 1)

Clearances 30 a piece.

I think Nic played well, and won the contest (if it was him v witts. I think overall ruck was squared as Witts dominated Vardy in reality).

The challenge I saw was 2-fold.
Witts was good at controlling the location of hitouts (whether winning or losing). Their mids knew (mostly) where it was going no matter who won it.
Our connection between Nic and the mids was relatively poor in the center square. Not surprising considering Shuey and Yeo were out

What Nic did well, was paper over some of the midfield cracks (which are personnel/injury based) - by following up his tap work. It's a great weapon - but if we rely on it too heavily as the season progresses then we could well be in some trouble.