Autopsy Positives and Negatives vs Hawthorn - Rd 8, 2021

[HoneyBadger35]

A reminder: if you donate $25 or more to the GoFundMe for fellow Eagles fan AxialMat, you will receive one month of free Premium Platinum BigFooty.

Send your donation receipt to Chief to receive your free month.

Donate to For Gab (Double Fatal Car Crash Survivor), organized by Matthew Gale

On the evening of Sunday, April 25th 2021, my partner Gabrielle was a victim in… Matthew Gale needs your support for For Gab (Double Fatal Car Crash Survivor)

gofund.me

 

[PepperTom]

Positive: 59 + 38 point wins (vs Freo and Hawks) totals 97 point loss to Cats. Somewhat squaring the ledger after that awful loss although percentage not at same spot prior to that game versus cats unfortunately.

 

[ziad]

Dermott loves to pick one "talking point" every game and hammer it home all day because he thinks it makes him sound smart.

He is a moron and a w*****

 

[Keys]

Don’t care that it was only Hawthorn we beat (they have serious problems atm), a win on the road with 7 automatic starters missing is worth its weight in 4 points.

Negatives
- our inability to put on scoreboard pressure in the 1st quarter despite a clear dominance in forward entries (16-7 I50’s)
- our forward efficiency overall was well down from our usual high standards - 14.14 from 63 entries is low as was our accuracy with several relatively easy shots missed
- JK’s calf. Hopefully it’s as minor as the club are saying

Positives
- our quartet of senior mids stood up again - Gaff, Sheed, Kelly and Redden were superb. They’ve responded really well since the Geelong game
- 3 goals from kickouts and each one started by a different player (Rotham, Nelson and Witherden). There’s been a clear change in tactic here - still going right more often than not but instead of going to the boundary we’re going to the edge of the centre square and creating a loose ball to swoop on. Much more attacking option
- Achee. Was a questionable selection but he justified it in no uncertain terms. Four goals was great obviously but his work around the ground was also very good. Needs to back it up though
- Williams got his chance due to Vardy’s injury despite indifferent WAFL form. Made the step up with aplomb Dangerous up forward (should have had another goal or two if he’d kicked straight) and was competitive in the ruck even when matched against McEvoy. Really promising game and something for him to build on
- Oscar Allen’s smother. Such a smart footballer and completely selfless, like going down back to help shore up the defence when it reality he’s a forward who could’ve kicked 6 yesterday had he been up there
- Brander just keeps on developing into this wing role. Wasn’t in our best 6 but had a really, really solid game. He’s becoming dependable in the sort of way that could see him as a lock in the best 22 even when Shuey and Yeo return.
- Another good game from little JJ. Was surprised to see he “only” had 14 disposals as he seemed busier than that
- Petruccelle led the small forward group in providing the sort of front half pressure we’ve been craving. HoneyBadger35 spoke in the pod about Hawthorns rebound from defence and our need to shut it down. Sixteen I50 tackles was the result, stifling their run off half back and generating a ton of repeat entries (which we didn’t fully capitalise on however)
- Sheppard. Gun.
- Ditto Darling

Very satisfying result and an apparently “rare” MCG win. **** I hate the AFL media and their dumb as dog shit narratives

 

[Get_The_Gaff]

The 12 day injury assumption with any sub is gone now isn't it?

It is simply an 'injury sub'. You don't want to risk an injured player, sub them out.

No presumption that they are out for a week unless its a concussion issue.

I thought 12 days was for concussion only .

If I remember correctly Collingwood subbed out Sier for illness then got clearance from the afl to play the following week

 

[W.C. Fry]

Was more of a nil all draw....

On SM-G986B using BigFooty.com mobile app

Ok Mr Glass half empty. We were only 1 point off doubling their score for the quarter!!

 

[Get_The_Gaff]

I did say it was a simple view in my post and I also said he is fair game for criticism in terms of his role where he hasn't been as good as last year.

My issue is with criticism of things outside his role.

But why is it outside his role ?
Why are we playing 2 rucks and having darling ruck inside 50 ?

I can only see 2 reasons either he is injured or we don't think his body is up to playing a full season of more than 60% game time

 

[RookiePick]

Really pleasing to see a much greater spread of players taking ownership and responsibility out there. We absolutely need our seniors to fire, which they did but the other players went with them the last two weeks.

 

[THE A5]

Interesting that sports bet have Dom Sheed on 9 votes along with a whole bunch of others on their Brownlow tracker. Trav Boak leading the way with 11. Maybe I’m being too Harsh on him but I think his season has been a tad meh. Great game v Dogs and Pies but a couple Dog shite performances in our losses.

 

[eaglespremiers]

Commentators prattle on about Nic Nat flaws that have existed since he first entered the AFL and half our board go to water and start parroting the same comments. 100% guarantee if they lauded over Nic Nat none of these trash comments would be here. Wiggle back into whatever dark corner you came from and I'll go back to watching the greatest tap ruckman of our generation.

Nic Nat >>>>> Gawn/Grundy

Gee, Dermie has a lot to answer for about people's perceptions of Naitanui's game yesterday.
I thought Naitanui was the most influential player on the ground (and I think he will feature in the coaches votes as well).
Would definitely say he had more impact than a Sheppard or a Gaff, who were both servicably good in their own rights.

Naitanui had 7 definitive clearances himself.
One example was at the start of the last quarter he palms perfectly to Petruccelle, who fumbles, he then throws himself on to the ground to dispute the ball and taps the ball back to Petruccelle, who handballs indiscriminately back into congestion. Naitanui then inserts himself again and extracts from Redden and a lunging Worpel and kicks a high ball to centre-half forward where it is marked by Darling.

This type of amazing instinct you see only in a handful of players across the AFL (I think of Dangerfield and Martin and their ferocity at the contest) and not from any other ruckman currently playing.

What's more he had 13 hit-outs to advantage yesterday. Let's count the ones from centre bounces:
1. First bounce down of the day - gentle palm to Kelly at top speed.
2. Bounce to start the second quarter - side tap to Redden, who handballs to Sheed, who clears.
3. Bounce down in second quarter following Ah Chee's first goal - tap to Kelly who is held while the ball is in flight. Free kick, clearance to Kelly and immediate goal to Ah Chee.
4. Bounce down in second quarter following Williams' goal - tap to Kelly who bombs to the half forward flank. Kelly follows up and goals about 30 seconds later.
5. Bounce down to start the third quarter - tap in front of Redden who soccers the ball forward to a lunging Langdon. Darling free kick and goal.
6. Bounce down in third quarter following Darling's goal - tap backwards to Redden, who handballs to Sheed. West Coast clear and go forward.
7. Bounce down in third quarter following Ah Chee's third goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Ah Chee for a forward 50 entry.
8. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Ah Chee's fourth goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Kelly, to Nelson for a contested mark to Ah Chee.
9. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Howe's goal - tap to Kelly who handballs to Sheed, to Redden, back to Sheed and then to Gaff for a mongrel i50.

Factoring in his ruckwork Naitanui contributed over half of our team's total clearances yesterday.
Of the 14 centre clearances we had yesterday, 11 of them were either Naitanui directly (2) or hit outs from him that emphatically caused the centre clearance. Kelly was given all of his centre clearances from Naitanui, Redden was given three (I can't find his fourth from a cursory review so can't confirm whether or not the fourth was provided by Naitanui) and Sheed received both of his from Naitanui.
The only centre clearances for West Coast that weren't directly a result of Naitanui's work was after the final goal of the second quarter to Hanrahan when Nelson came from centre half back to intercept a contested ball and the bounce down following Petruccelle's first goal in the third quarter when Jones comes from the half forward flank to win the clearance.

What's more, the policy to leave Naitanui up the ground, rather than rucking for throw ins in i50, was clearly quite deliberate and I don't think it had much to do with intercept marks but rather more to do with protecting our frail backline by discouraging bombs out of our forward 50 (which we would ordinarily have coverage for in the form of Barrass and McGovern). While you can't attribute anything to Naitanui for this tactic particularly (i.e. in the same vein as a run-with/role player) it does explain the reasoning for Naitanui's placement for parts of the game. If the commentators understood the minutiae of structural tactics there wouldn't have been an extensive discussion over the whole game on this.

Bottom line, McEvoy never exposed Naitanui at any point, had limited impact on the midfield battle (which we won decisively). Naitanui, on the other hand, monstered the ruck and was substantial at the clearances in his own right. Our midfielders statistical numbers (not just clearances) would look very different if we only had a Williams or a Vardy rucking.

As to the discussion about comparing Naitanui to Gawn I think people are missing how undermanned our midfield is at the moment and how much Naitanui makes up for this.
We are second in the competition for centre clearances (just behind the Bulldogs, which you can understand why they are leading) with a midfield who has been without Yeo and Shuey for all bar one game.
We have had 27 more centre clearances than Melbourne (who have players like Petracca, Oliver and Viney running through there).
Sure, Gawn has had more contested marks (21 v 5) and goals (4 v 0) but Naitanui has had almost twice as many clearances for the year than Gawn and, as good as Gawn's taps are, they are nothing in comparison to Naitanui's service.

Anyway, I'm glad we're of like mind Matsu

 

[RookiePick]

Interesting that sports bet have Dom Sheed on 9 votes along with a whole bunch of others on their Brownlow tracker. Trav Boak leading the way with 11. Maybe I’m being too Harsh on him but I think his season has been a tad meh. Great game v Dogs and Pies but a couple Dog sh*te performances in our losses.

I think defensive deficiencies get overlooked a lot in these kinds of analyses. Offensively Dom is first class.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Gee, Dermie has a lot to answer for about people's perceptions of Naitanui's game yesterday.
I thought Naitanui was the most influential player on the ground (and I think he will feature in the coaches votes as well).
Would definitely say he had more impact than a Sheppard or a Gaff, who were both servicably good in their own rights.

Naitanui had 7 definitive clearances himself.
One example was at the start of the last quarter he palms perfectly to Petruccelle, who fumbles, he then throws himself on to the ground to dispute the ball and taps the ball back to Petruccelle, who handballs indiscriminately back into congestion. Naitanui then inserts himself again and extracts from Redden and a lunging Worpel and kicks a high ball to centre-half forward where it is marked by Darling.

This type of amazing instinct you see only in a handful of players across the AFL (I think of Dangerfield and Martin and their ferocity at the contest) and not from any other ruckman currently playing.

What's more he had 13 hit-outs to advantage yesterday. Let's count the ones from centre bounces:
1. First bounce down of the day - gentle palm to Kelly at top speed.
2. Bounce to start the second quarter - side tap to Redden, who handballs to Sheed, who clears.
3. Bounce down in second quarter following Ah Chee's first goal - tap to Kelly who is held while the ball is in flight. Free kick, clearance to Kelly and immediate goal to Ah Chee.
4. Bounce down in second quarter following Williams' goal - tap to Kelly who bombs to the half forward flank. Kelly follows up and goals about 30 seconds later.
5. Bounce down to start the third quarter - tap in front of Redden who soccers the ball forward to a lunging Langdon. Darling free kick and goal.
6. Bounce down in third quarter following Darling's goal - tap backwards to Redden, who handballs to Sheed. West Coast clear and go forward.
7. Bounce down in third quarter following Ah Chee's third goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Ah Chee for a forward 50 entry.
8. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Ah Chee's fourth goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Kelly, to Nelson for a contested mark to Ah Chee.
9. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Howe's goal - tap to Kelly who handballs to Sheed, to Redden, back to Sheed and then to Gaff for a mongrel i50.

Factoring in his ruckwork Naitanui contributed over half of our team's clearances yesterday.
Of the 14 centre clearances we had yesterday, 11 of them were either Naitanui directly (2) or hit outs from him that emphatically caused the centre clearance. Kelly was given all of his centre clearances from Naitanui, Redden was given three (I can't find his fourth from a cursory review so can't confirm whether or not the fourth was provided by Naitanui) and Sheed received both of his from Naitanui.
The only centre clearances for West Coast that weren't directly a result of Naitanui's work was after the final goal of the second quarter to Hanrahan when Nelson came from centre half back to intercept a contested ball and the bounce down following Petruccelle's first goal in the third quarter when Jones comes from the half forward flank to win the clearance.

What's more, the policy to leave Naitanui up the ground, rather than rucking for throw ins in i50, was clearly quite deliberate and I don't think it had much to do with intercept marks but rather more to do with protecting our frail backline by discouraging bombs out of our forward 50 (which we would ordinarily have coverage for in the form of Barrass and McGovern). While you can't attribute anything to Naitanui for this tactic particularly (i.e. in the same vein as a run-with/role player) it does explain the reasoning for Naitanui's placement for parts of the game. If the commentators understood the minutiae of structural tactics there wouldn't have been an extensive discussion over the whole game on this.

Bottom line, McEvoy never exposed Naitanui at any point, had limited impact on the midfield battle (which we won decisively). Naitanui, on the other hand, monstered the ruck and was substantial at the clearances in his own right. Our midfielders statistical numbers (not just clearances) would look very different if we only had a Williams or a Vardy rucking.

As to the discussion about comparing Naitanui to Gawn I think people are missing how undermanned our midfield is at the moment and how much Naitanui makes up for this.
We are second in the competition for centre clearances with a midfield who has been without Yeo and Shuey for all bar one game.
We have had 27 more centre clearances than Melbourne (who have players like Petracca, Oliver and Viney running through there).
Sure, Gawn has had more contested marks (21 v 5) and goals (4 v 0) but Naitanui has had almost twice as many clearances for the year than Gawn and, as good as Gawn's taps are, they are nothing in comparison to Naitanui's service.

Anyway, I'm glad we're of like mind Matsu

Yeah, but he's fat. Delist

Best ruckman in the comp and no one comes close.

 

[Mulldogg]

A huge positive for mine has been Jamaine Jones and his ability to take a turn in at the centre bounces. He’s quite clean and composed on his left foot. But I’m most impressed by his physicality and contest work. Pretty handy performances in the last couple of weeks for a DFA, hope he continues to build on a good base.

 

[Bestbird]

After a fair bit of sentiment regarding the falling of a cliff list wise it is encouraging that we had 10 payers 23 or under on the weekend and all of them look like being decent long term prospects

Allen, Brander, Cole, H Edwards, Jones, Petro, Rotham, Waterman, Williams, Witherdon

 

[Doashuey]

Interesting that sports bet have Dom Sheed on 9 votes along with a whole bunch of others on their Brownlow tracker. Trav Boak leading the way with 11. Maybe I’m being too Harsh on him but I think his season has been a tad meh. Great game v Dogs and Pies but a couple Dog sh*te performances in our losses.

The losses in which he didn't poll any votes? They had him as scoring 3, 3, 1 and 2 votes so far. Thats the thing about Brownlows, you can be invisible in the losses - where by and large the votes go to the winning team, but then kill it in the wins and poll big votes regularly enough to tally a winning score. Shit performances dont take votes away.

 

[Matsu]

Gee, Dermie has a lot to answer for about people's perceptions of Naitanui's game yesterday.
I thought Naitanui was the most influential player on the ground (and I think he will feature in the coaches votes as well).
Would definitely say he had more impact than a Sheppard or a Gaff, who were both servicably good in their own rights.

Naitanui had 7 definitive clearances himself.
One example was at the start of the last quarter he palms perfectly to Petruccelle, who fumbles, he then throws himself on to the ground to dispute the ball and taps the ball back to Petruccelle, who handballs indiscriminately back into congestion. Naitanui then inserts himself again and extracts from Redden and a lunging Worpel and kicks a high ball to centre-half forward where it is marked by Darling.

This type of amazing instinct you see only in a handful of players across the AFL (I think of Dangerfield and Martin and their ferocity at the contest) and not from any other ruckman currently playing.

What's more he had 13 hit-outs to advantage yesterday. Let's count the ones from centre bounces:
1. First bounce down of the day - gentle palm to Kelly at top speed.
2. Bounce to start the second quarter - side tap to Redden, who handballs to Sheed, who clears.
3. Bounce down in second quarter following Ah Chee's first goal - tap to Kelly who is held while the ball is in flight. Free kick, clearance to Kelly and immediate goal to Ah Chee.
4. Bounce down in second quarter following Williams' goal - tap to Kelly who bombs to the half forward flank. Kelly follows up and goals about 30 seconds later.
5. Bounce down to start the third quarter - tap in front of Redden who soccers the ball forward to a lunging Langdon. Darling free kick and goal.
6. Bounce down in third quarter following Darling's goal - tap backwards to Redden, who handballs to Sheed. West Coast clear and go forward.
7. Bounce down in third quarter following Ah Chee's third goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Ah Chee for a forward 50 entry.
8. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Ah Chee's fourth goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Kelly, to Nelson for a contested mark to Ah Chee.
9. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Howe's goal - tap to Kelly who handballs to Sheed, to Redden, back to Sheed and then to Gaff for a mongrel i50.

Factoring in his ruckwork Naitanui contributed over half of our team's total clearances yesterday.
Of the 14 centre clearances we had yesterday, 11 of them were either Naitanui directly (2) or hit outs from him that emphatically caused the centre clearance. Kelly was given all of his centre clearances from Naitanui, Redden was given three (I can't find his fourth from a cursory review so can't confirm whether or not the fourth was provided by Naitanui) and Sheed received both of his from Naitanui.
The only centre clearances for West Coast that weren't directly a result of Naitanui's work was after the final goal of the second quarter to Hanrahan when Nelson came from centre half back to intercept a contested ball and the bounce down following Petruccelle's first goal in the third quarter when Jones comes from the half forward flank to win the clearance.

What's more, the policy to leave Naitanui up the ground, rather than rucking for throw ins in i50, was clearly quite deliberate and I don't think it had much to do with intercept marks but rather more to do with protecting our frail backline by discouraging bombs out of our forward 50 (which we would ordinarily have coverage for in the form of Barrass and McGovern). While you can't attribute anything to Naitanui for this tactic particularly (i.e. in the same vein as a run-with/role player) it does explain the reasoning for Naitanui's placement for parts of the game. If the commentators understood the minutiae of structural tactics there wouldn't have been an extensive discussion over the whole game on this.

Bottom line, McEvoy never exposed Naitanui at any point, had limited impact on the midfield battle (which we won decisively). Naitanui, on the other hand, monstered the ruck and was substantial at the clearances in his own right. Our midfielders statistical numbers (not just clearances) would look very different if we only had a Williams or a Vardy rucking.

As to the discussion about comparing Naitanui to Gawn I think people are missing how undermanned our midfield is at the moment and how much Naitanui makes up for this.
We are second in the competition for centre clearances (just behind the Bulldogs, which you can understand why they are leading) with a midfield who has been without Yeo and Shuey for all bar one game.
We have had 27 more centre clearances than Melbourne (who have players like Petracca, Oliver and Viney running through there).
Sure, Gawn has had more contested marks (21 v 5) and goals (4 v 0) but Naitanui has had almost twice as many clearances for the year than Gawn and, as good as Gawn's taps are, they are nothing in comparison to Naitanui's service.

Anyway, I'm glad we're of like mind Matsu

Peeps bored in the Freo board will jump on any excuse to switch accounts and weasel their way into "intelligent footy criticism" on our board. If Nic Nat keeps on current pace he will be one of two AA rucks.

 

[shooshka]

A huge positive for mine has been Jamaine Jones and his ability to take a turn in at the centre bounces. He’s quite clean and composed on his left foot. But I’m most impressed by his physicality and contest work. Pretty handy performances in the last couple of weeks for a DFA, hope he continues to build on a good base.

Will be really good for us if we can build more forwards who can take mid time (JJ and Rioli are the obvious 2).

For future seasons that speaks for itself (we are going to have at least 2 midfield spots open at some stage in 2-3 years with Redden and Shuey both the other side of 30). But for the now, it will hopefully allow Shuey to rotate more through half forward (with an eye on extending his career and protecting his body a little bit).

 

[Obeanie1]

But why is it outside his role ?
Why are we playing 2 rucks and having darling ruck inside 50 ?

I can only see 2 reasons either he is injured or we don't think his body is up to playing a full season of more than 60% game time

It's pretty obvious why we are playing two rucks.

Be c a use if Nic gets injured we are pretty rooted. No Lycett to back us up

Darling takes forward 50 throw ins because he's actually pretty decent at it and it also means Nic doesn't need to run in and out of our forward 50 racking up km's. He sets up across half forward and takes midfield and defensive ball ups / throw ins.

 

[jesterwester]

There’s something very Charlie Dixon about Bailey Williams and the way he attacks the ball in the air. Really big mits takes the ball really high. Really liked his game.

He’s one I really hope we hold onto beyond the next few years as he’s going to be some player when he fills out a bit more in the next 12-24 months.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

After a fair bit of sentiment regarding the falling of a cliff list wise it is encouraging that we had 10 payers 23 or under on the weekend and all of them look like being decent long term prospects

Allen, Brander, Cole, H Edwards, Jones, Petro, Rotham, Waterman, Williams, Witherdon

A silver lining during an injury crisis is being able to gauge who stands up and who doesn't, and pumping games into the yoof who do.

This patch will prove invaluable in September.

 

[Priddis Is Done]

There’s something very Charlie Dixon about Bailey Williams and the way he attacks the ball in the air. Really big mits takes the ball really high. Really liked his game.

He’s one I really hope we hold onto beyond the next few years as he’s going to be some player when he fills out a bit more in the next 12-24 months.

I keep hearing how he's a forward come ruckman.

I see nothing wrong with his ruckwork. I see him as a Ruckmam come forward.

Am I not seeing something?

 

[Obeanie1]

Gee, Dermie has a lot to answer for about people's perceptions of Naitanui's game yesterday.
I thought Naitanui was the most influential player on the ground (and I think he will feature in the coaches votes as well).
Would definitely say he had more impact than a Sheppard or a Gaff, who were both servicably good in their own rights.

Naitanui had 7 definitive clearances himself.
One example was at the start of the last quarter he palms perfectly to Petruccelle, who fumbles, he then throws himself on to the ground to dispute the ball and taps the ball back to Petruccelle, who handballs indiscriminately back into congestion. Naitanui then inserts himself again and extracts from Redden and a lunging Worpel and kicks a high ball to centre-half forward where it is marked by Darling.

This type of amazing instinct you see only in a handful of players across the AFL (I think of Dangerfield and Martin and their ferocity at the contest) and not from any other ruckman currently playing.

What's more he had 13 hit-outs to advantage yesterday. Let's count the ones from centre bounces:
1. First bounce down of the day - gentle palm to Kelly at top speed.
2. Bounce to start the second quarter - side tap to Redden, who handballs to Sheed, who clears.
3. Bounce down in second quarter following Ah Chee's first goal - tap to Kelly who is held while the ball is in flight. Free kick, clearance to Kelly and immediate goal to Ah Chee.
4. Bounce down in second quarter following Williams' goal - tap to Kelly who bombs to the half forward flank. Kelly follows up and goals about 30 seconds later.
5. Bounce down to start the third quarter - tap in front of Redden who soccers the ball forward to a lunging Langdon. Darling free kick and goal.
6. Bounce down in third quarter following Darling's goal - tap backwards to Redden, who handballs to Sheed. West Coast clear and go forward.
7. Bounce down in third quarter following Ah Chee's third goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Ah Chee for a forward 50 entry.
8. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Ah Chee's fourth goal - tap to Sheed who handballs to Redden, on to Kelly, to Nelson for a contested mark to Ah Chee.
9. Bounce down in fourth quarter following Howe's goal - tap to Kelly who handballs to Sheed, to Redden, back to Sheed and then to Gaff for a mongrel i50.

Factoring in his ruckwork Naitanui contributed over half of our team's total clearances yesterday.
Of the 14 centre clearances we had yesterday, 11 of them were either Naitanui directly (2) or hit outs from him that emphatically caused the centre clearance. Kelly was given all of his centre clearances from Naitanui, Redden was given three (I can't find his fourth from a cursory review so can't confirm whether or not the fourth was provided by Naitanui) and Sheed received both of his from Naitanui.
The only centre clearances for West Coast that weren't directly a result of Naitanui's work was after the final goal of the second quarter to Hanrahan when Nelson came from centre half back to intercept a contested ball and the bounce down following Petruccelle's first goal in the third quarter when Jones comes from the half forward flank to win the clearance.

What's more, the policy to leave Naitanui up the ground, rather than rucking for throw ins in i50, was clearly quite deliberate and I don't think it had much to do with intercept marks but rather more to do with protecting our frail backline by discouraging bombs out of our forward 50 (which we would ordinarily have coverage for in the form of Barrass and McGovern). While you can't attribute anything to Naitanui for this tactic particularly (i.e. in the same vein as a run-with/role player) it does explain the reasoning for Naitanui's placement for parts of the game. If the commentators understood the minutiae of structural tactics there wouldn't have been an extensive discussion over the whole game on this.

Bottom line, McEvoy never exposed Naitanui at any point, had limited impact on the midfield battle (which we won decisively). Naitanui, on the other hand, monstered the ruck and was substantial at the clearances in his own right. Our midfielders statistical numbers (not just clearances) would look very different if we only had a Williams or a Vardy rucking.

As to the discussion about comparing Naitanui to Gawn I think people are missing how undermanned our midfield is at the moment and how much Naitanui makes up for this.
We are second in the competition for centre clearances (just behind the Bulldogs, which you can understand why they are leading) with a midfield who has been without Yeo and Shuey for all bar one game.
We have had 27 more centre clearances than Melbourne (who have players like Petracca, Oliver and Viney running through there).
Sure, Gawn has had more contested marks (21 v 5) and goals (4 v 0) but Naitanui has had almost twice as many clearances for the year than Gawn and, as good as Gawn's taps are, they are nothing in comparison to Naitanui's service.

Anyway, I'm glad we're of like mind Matsu

And the cherry on top was when Williams stepped into his 1st centre bounce.

Dermie or someone said 'Right....now with Naitanui off for a rest the Hawks mids will be looking forward to better supply from McEvoy.'

Next ........Williams jumps over McEvoy, taps down Kelly's throat who runs off with another clearance.

Sound from commentators.........crickets chirping quietly. Lol.

 

[Get_The_Gaff]

I keep hearing how he's a forward come ruckman.

I see nothing wrong with his ruckwork. I see him as a Ruckmam come forward.

Am I not seeing something?

Watching the wafl Eagles this year when both Williams and jamerson are playing I would have jamerson as the better tap ruckman.

Jameron reminds me of Goldstein in how he directs the tap down in good zones . But his almost marks around the ground are vardy like in their frustration.

Williams on the other hand has a great set of mits and a high leap so that why people see him more of a forward.

I think those 2 are going to make a good duo once nic retires

 

[beatlesmith]

The two most significant positives for mine are:

1. Another strong contribution from our undermanned midfield. For the lack of a better explanation, we just look a lot more in sync since the Geelong game. I suspect a lot of time has gone into positioning and running patterns as we are providing much better outlets from clearances. The addition of JJ's pace into the middle has been a welcome change and one that I hope they keep playing with, even after Yeo and Shuey return.
2. A great game from our bottom 6-8 players. Jones, Ah Chee, Petch, Brander, Williams, Witherden and Edwards all noticeably good.

These have probably been our two biggest issues over the past couple of years and I'm glad to see some progress.

 

[flyinghi64]

It's pretty obvious why we are playing two rucks.

Be c a use if Nic gets injured we are pretty rooted. No Lycett to back us up

Darling takes forward 50 throw ins because he's actually pretty decent at it and it also means Nic doesn't need to run in and out of our forward 50 racking up km's. He sets up across half forward and takes midfield and defensive ball ups / throw ins.

Where like the outcome of the ruck is quite crucial you mean?

Can't believe they haven't worked out Darling takes 90% of ruck work inside fwd 50. I think enjoys it and that's what we set up for.
A couple of time Williams was right there but Darling still did the rucking.

No Lycett to back Port Adelaide up either for a few weeks me thinks.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

And the cherry on top was when Williams stepped into his 1st centre bounce.

Dermie or someone said 'Right....now with Naitanui off for a rest the Hawks mids will be looking forward to better supply from McEvoy.'

Next ........Williams jumps over McEvoy, taps down Kelly's throat who runs off with another clearance.

Sound from commentators.........crickets chirping quietly. Lol.

My favourite, and I can't remember the exact play, but Hawthorn misses, audible groan from Dermie, Eagles race it down the other end for a goal, Dermie is silent.

3 votes for Nic Nat in the coaches votes by the way. No votes for Hawthorn.