Preliminary Final Player Review

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Sep 25, 2005
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Gippy Power
Stole it.......just felt so good for Mick after seeing how much that win meant to him. I fear we may have played our GF and on top of that seem to have another couple of injuries and some serious form issues for players. Their gameplan was awesome. They broke us down and really hit the ball harder than us and spread was much better. I really thought their mids were better up until the last qtr. BUt anyway the Player Review.


Davis - was good in his sweeping role early but they applied fair bit of pressure and his efficiency was right off. Then got a bit worse for him and Puopolo towelled him in a couple of 1:1's which dont bode well for Neon for the GF and what the opposition might do to him. But much like the 1st GF last year he kicked a clutch goal off his left and did his bit. Wasnt the worst and hope he has a ripper GF.

Tarrant - How good was he - and how cruel it would have been if Buddy goal had of been the winning one. Was great one out, strong in the contest, terrific in holding his feet and even got offensive once or twice. Was good.

Didak - Well subbed on in the last and had 4 touches which was ok but not stellar. Something aint right. Just not sure you pick a bloke for a GF who cant tackle. If its hot and the game is expected to open up I guess you do but if its wet he doesnt play possibly.

Maxwell - Shocking for 3 qtrs. Didnt get to enough 3rd man ups. Had Whitecross and thought he got better of him. I was amazed they took Whitecross off him and after that Maxy got the structure of the defence up and running and just controlled that last qtr.

Krakouer - Just a deer in the headlights to many times early. Really struggled with the pace and the contest. Will be better for it and to be fair looked to be in some good positions at times but was ignored (eg the Pendles snap to Dawes should have gone to Kraks). I would leave him in though.

OBrien - Average. Kept Rioli under reasonable check but fumbled and just wasnt clean all night. Also made some errors defensively and just never seemed to settle. Forgot how he went in last qtr as was just all over the place.

Pendles - Ok but wasnt really damaging at all until the last half when seemed to be just so much more composed with his disposal. Also started to get better of Sewell and some super touches in close late. IN the end was very good but I wouldnt have said he dominated the game. They seem to put Sewell on him most of the night and I thought Sewell was good for them.

Blair - Good in and under but let himself down with poor fwd 50 entries on a number of occassions. Footy nearly went thru the TV when he was behind and and one out at FF in the last. But look he had a crack all night and whilst a few times he was caught he was good enough IMO.

Ball - very good but was on Mitchell at times and didnt control him. But look he was another who I thought just got a bit better as it went on and just seemed to control his man and then hurt the other way. The effort which led to Hodge goal in the last was poor. He should have been the other side and was caught out as he was in last years GF but he redeemed himself the little champ. What a goal and he made sure everyone calmed down in that last few minutes.

Thomas - Very poor early. Just couldnt get tempo of game and compounded it by doing dumb things. Provided almost no run and looked gone on so many occassions. He was good in close though and won a lot of contested ball (16) and had 9 tackles which was awesome. The tackle on Rioli late was just unreal and finished pretty well. IN fact he started in the middle in the last and had some handy clearances. How good was the kick over the head in the back pocket which was crucial in the passage where Dawes finished kicking the goal. Unreal. Will be much better next week.

Brown - Gave us nothing until the end. Given Jolly is likely to miss he keeps his spot but I wouldnt have taken him in otherwise. Only decent think he did was belt Lewis and then kick a ball around the boundary line. He is a worry.

Beams - Did he get a touch in the first half did he. ANyway was poor and just didnt have any run and couldnt stand a tackle at all. Nothing worked for him and he will be on the cusp albeit if Johnson is out I suspect he will stay in and be the sub.

Jolly - outstanding early wasnt he and kept us in the game in many ways. Thought Bailey got better of him as game wore on but wasnt sure he injured himself and probably the last time we see him for the year. Goal in the 2nd was one we desperately needed.

Reid - Poor and didnt look like he was in great shape to be honest. Didnt get beat though all night and was a credit to him. Early news is he may get up for next week. Might as well roll the dice with him as Keefe cant come in for that game and Brown was destroyed last time.

Wellingham - Wasnt great I didnt think. Again didnt give us the run we needed so desperately. The dropped mark in 2nd was bad...real bad and he just seemed to go out of the game after half time like he did vs WCE. He cant be right.

Sidebottom - A number of my mates thought he was ordinary but I thought he was really good actually. Was tough at the contest and whilst he slipped a few tackles which he should have stuck he at least was more involved and linked up when he needed to. Most importantly he started to run fwd which is when he is at his best. Set Dawes up in the last.

Johnson - Average but look he got a couple of beltings during the night so not sure how it impacted him. Has bleeding on the calf so he would be doubtful to play and thats a big loss bc his run is just so important and whilst he had a down night he is really crucial I reckon.

Dawes - Another who was a bit of deer in the headlights. His first three touches were awful but look he just kept on fighting on and I thought he was pretty good in the end. I cant remember many times where he didnt give a contest and I would say that was an improvement on anything he has produced since he has been back. Will get Lonergan next week and that will be hard but he needs to have a good one.

Cloke - Sensational - just bloody sensational and was the CHF who just took the game by the throat. He ran Gibson off his feet in the end and tore him a new a**hole in that last qtr. Just rapt for him!

Tooves - Didnt see that Toovey dash until he set Jolly up but little else achieved for mine. tackle on the Puopolo was good in the last and he did quieten him down after Leon was taken off him. Wasnt his best but will get better.

Swan - I thought their mids in general were better than ours up until half time and most of the third but Swanny just busted them in the last and noticed they tried Sewell and Lewis on him but they couldnt go with him. He and Cloke I thought were the difference in the last.

Shaw - Was shutdown early and really struggled with the slow tempo of the game but when it started to open in the last you could just see him lift. Cats will play a high tempo so will looking to next week and should be in good nick by then.
 
Finals review v Hawthorn

Votes:
5. Cloke
4. Swan
3. Ball
2. Dawes
1. Maxwell

Team:
Good:
Won allot more clearances than lost. Team pressure. Defenders winning 1v1s. Bigs forwards taking advantage of undersized Hawthorn key defenders. Lifted in key moments late to win game.
Bad:
For the first 3 quarters played not to lose - safe. No meaningful ball movement. Slow. Stagnant. Poor. No drive off half back.


Individuals:
Good:
Cloke: Tackling and defensive acts good in 1st half. Lost a few 1v1s he should have won in the 2nd quarter. 2nd half good! Took the big contested grabs. Took them at the highest point and while he did miss a few. Got the one in the final quarter that counted.

Swan: Still don't regard him as a big game player. But gee did he have a big one! Had a big clearance day and kept creating that space and having an impact on the contest. Important snap goal in the final quarter. Was big for us!

Ball: Did a big of everything. A couple of times got back and took some important marks off opposition kicks. Did the little things around the ground and worked his tail off. Important goal late to win game. Found that next level when he needed to which is the mark of all great players.

Dawes: Really good game. Was active early and make some mistakes with that terrible shot on goal where he hit the behind post and not a minute later missing a target by hand which might have led to a goal. But as the game went along did he job. Crashed the packs and took the grabs. Bought the balls to ground. Converted for 3 goals. Good outing. And along with Cloke took advantage of small defenders.

Maxwell: Great last quarter! Consistantly got in the right spots for those marks off opposition kicks and lifted in the final quarter when he needed to. Just rebounded like a basketball backboard late and just didn't let us lose late when the game was on the line.

Pendlebury: Really good game. Produced big numbers as usual. Used the ball well under pressure as always with the usual quick handballs when under duress. A few times fumbled when usually he would be clean. But liked his game as always.

Thomas: Rusty. But the effort was there! 9 tackles! Just played a pure hustle game. Lively from the start and all energy. Not a number of important smothers and spoils in also. Had an incredibly meaningful tackling early in the 3rd with the scores at 23-44 which set up a goal. Key moment in the game and really team lifting effort. Also felt at the opening bounce in the final quarter his smother on Sam Mitchell was critically important. Again great was that final tackle from behind on Rioli to end the game. Had all the critical moments covered and is it any surprise?

L.Brown: Didn't get allot of it but liked his effort and in the plays he was involved in he was important. Some great tackling efforts as always. Really enjoyed the late paddle then kick along the boundary line. Disguised it perfectly.

Jolly: Important in the ruck. Really started the game off well and to quarter time and possibly even half time was probably our best. Took some important marks both forward and back. Drew the free kicks by getting into the right positions which was great to see. Was really active up until half time. Struggled late so let's hope he makes it next week! Won't win without him!

Tarrant: Had a good game v Franklin even though Franklin did get his usual bag. 1v1 I thought Tarrant was better, but Franklin at times just took advantage because he could hold his feet better and recover with quicker 2nd efforts. What I did like from Tarrant was his willingness to get off his man and attack the ball for some important marks throughout.

Toovey: As always didn't look like he lost a single 1v1. Got some really important stops. Pressure acts were good and on occasions multi pressure acts in one play were impressive.

O'Brien: Solid game once again down back. Consistantly spoiled from behind and just played a really desperate game. Pressuring good.

Shaw: Got plenty of important stops. Played desperate footy. Plenty of marks from opposition kicks and added some rebound. Perhaps influence wasn't as great as some others, but was still a solid game.


OK:
Reid: Didn't have his usual game but was clearly struggling with injury. Didn't have his usual number of marks off opposition kicks but don't think he was beaten 1v1 and got plenty of important spoils in.

Sidebottom: Ok without being great. Tackling good early. Played a really smart kick with nice kicks to gain ground. The one play I really liked with Sidebottom was his really well weighted kick to Dawes, in the perfect position. Undefendable. What I was critical of is firstly his tackling probably wasn't at the same level outside of the first quarter as we are used to. But the other thing is like Luke Shuey a couple of weeks ago probably lacked awareness a couple of times and thought he had space when he didn't.

Blair: Tackling pressure consistantly good. Chased and was desperate. Late in the 2nd I really enjoyed his evasive spin then kick forward. Showed poise. Also important was mid way through the 3rd where as a long option he found space. Then when get got the ball kicked long to Cloke who ran forward for the easy goal.

Krakouer: What I liked was while others were stagnant Krakouer was more willing to play on quickly and move the ball which I liked. Impact not great and along with Blair and Sidebottom might not have hit the scoreboard but don't be surprised to see him have a big one next week.

Wellingham: Played hard and attacked the ball well. Played really desperate footy. Gave some really nice multi effort plays. Didn't have a huge influence on the game and didn't get his huge numbers. But still wasn't bad either.

Johnson: Didn't have a great influence. But the one play I did like was his long kick from down back where he found Blair long in space which set up an important, easy goal.


Not great:
Davis: Got allot of it in the first 3 quarters but just didn't have his kicking boots on and down back kept giving away frees - probably on the unlucky end with some of those calls. Would have liked to have seen from the start how he would go v Cyril. The one stage I noted him on Cyril in the 1st he got to the front and provided nice rebound. What was important and what he deserves credit for is his final quarter goal. Repayed the faith Mick put in him which is what was important in the end.

Beams: Didn't get his hands on it. Gave some nice tackling effort early but was just completely taken out of the game. Recent form has been fantastic so lets hope he has a big one next week!

Didak: Came on in the final quarter as sub. Probably unfair but didn't have an influence. Doesn't mean he shouldn't play next week. But will want to be hitting targets throughout the week.
 

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Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Sidebottom: Ok without being great. Tackling good early. Played a really smart kick with nice kicks to gain ground. The one play I really liked with Sidebottom was his really well weighted kick to Dawes, in the perfect position. Undefendable. What I was critical of is firstly his tackling probably wasn't at the same level outside of the first quarter as we are used to. But the other thing is like Luke Shuey a couple of weeks ago probably lacked awareness a couple of times and thought he had space when he didn't.



IMO Sidey was great.
Thought he was one of a few blokes who just gut ran the game out. he just ran and ran and ran until he could barely run any more..
he was great..
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Reid + Jolly possible outs with injury. Can't win without either v Geelong for mine.
Too many under-done + carry injuries.

Geelong are relatively injury free and just seem to have hit form at the right time.

Personally don't give us a chance next week and expect Geelong to win by 30+ points. But wouldn't be displeased if Collingwood can be proven wrong :D
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Reid + Jolly possible outs with injury. Can't win without either v Geelong for mine.
Too many under-done + carry injuries.

Geelong are relatively injury free and just seem to have hit form at the right time.

Personally don't give us a chance next week and expect Geelong to win by 30+ points. But wouldn't be displeased if Collingwood can be proven wrong :D

So were we 6 hours ago.
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Don't undersell Hawthorn. I think they are a team who match up really well against us, threw everything at us and managed to play the game on their terms.

It takes an extremely good effort and good team to win under those conditions.

As for players Cloke was enormous as were Ball and Maxwell. Amazing desire and ability to just will themselves into the game at all times.

Swan was Swan. He had some pretty poor mistakes in terms of ball use early in the game but my word did he lift when we needed.

Pendles was huge as well, can't say enough about this guy, inside and outside uses the ball amazingly. Something that doesn't count on the stats sheet is the amount of times he cleanly roved the ball and held it up for a secondary bounce as opposed to panicking and turning it over or alternatively having Hawthorn win the clearance.
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

So were we 6 hours ago.

Very true.

Things can change VERY quickly in footy.

Just need Ottens, Scarlett, Taylor and Chapman too pull up sore and it probably gives us half a chance.


But my money is still on a Geelong premiership.
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Also thought Sidebottom was average for a large portion of the game but was huge in the last quarter. Cool head and ability to hit targets really instrumental in setting up a couple of forward movements.
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Don't undersell Hawthorn. I think they are a team who match up really well against us, threw everything at us and managed to play the game on their terms.

It takes an extremely good effort and good team to win under those conditions.

As for players Cloke was enormous as were Ball and Maxwell. Amazing desire and ability to just will themselves into the game at all times.

Swan was Swan. He had some pretty poor mistakes in terms of ball use early in the game but my word did he lift when we needed.

Pendles was huge as well, can't say enough about this guy, inside and outside uses the ball amazingly. Something that doesn't count on the stats sheet is the amount of times he cleanly roved the ball and held it up for a secondary bounce as opposed to panicking and turning it over or alternatively having Hawthorn win the clearance.

Before the Season the Hawks where the Team I was most Scared of and I had Right too after this Game but we got through them and on to the Cats or Eagles.

I think we would have a better chance vs the Cats then the Eagles Actually
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Also thought Sidebottom was average for a large portion of the game but was huge in the last quarter. Cool head and ability to hit targets really instrumental in setting up a couple of forward movements.

Had that Fantastic Kick to Dawes in the Last. Shows what his Potential is just Wish he did it more Often.

Though Mick said he been playing a more Defensive Role this Season might explain a bit
 

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Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Very true.

Things can change VERY quickly in footy.

Just need Ottens, Scarlett, Taylor and Chapman too pull up sore and it probably gives us half a chance.


But my money is still on a Geelong premiership.

I love that we are there to answer the question though.:D:D
God knows how I would have handled another 1991 or worse a Hawks flag defense year.
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Leigh browns last quarter, as 1st ruck for the majority. was outstanding. the hit on Lewis, then constant efforts in the ruck, shepherds, tackles. looked like he knew it was nearly over for him.

Swan and Cloke enormous.
Dawes best game since his return very promising.
 
really dissapointed with the performance tonight, thought we were going to b a lot more polished and effecient and im $200 lighter cause of it, but we still won. everyone knows we hav been spluttering along these past few weeks but now it comes down to 1 game, 2 hours of football. we r there now anything is possible, do we have to improve? yes, can we? of coarse.
best players for us swan, pendles, ball and cloke taz and jolly early
big last qtrs from thomas, davis and maxwell.
we need to improve 10-15% to win the GF but we r capable of it
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Don't undersell Hawthorn. I think they are a team who match up really well against us, threw everything at us and managed to play the game on their terms.

It takes an extremely good effort and good team to win under those conditions.

As for players Cloke was enormous as were Ball and Maxwell. Amazing desire and ability to just will themselves into the game at all times.

Swan was Swan. He had some pretty poor mistakes in terms of ball use early in the game but my word did he lift when we needed.

Pendles was huge as well, can't say enough about this guy, inside and outside uses the ball amazingly. Something that doesn't count on the stats sheet is the amount of times he cleanly roved the ball and held it up for a secondary bounce as opposed to panicking and turning it over or alternatively having Hawthorn win the clearance.

I agree with that Shawry.

They match up well on us for a few reasons;

1. They developed a game plan to beat us and it damn near did.
2. Slow the ball down and deny us it. YOu could tell when we were coming back into it bc the tempo lifted and the game broke open.
3. They are prepared to play a number of blokes in defensive roles - Whitecross and Puopolo both tagged in their fwd line - I havent seen that all year.

Geelong wont do that - they like it up tempo and they will take the game on. We like that. When they beat us in last round it was a very up tempo game and we just didnt play to our structures - we were also missing a few that I think will help out a bit. Problem is when you play an up tempo game its very hard if you get behind and the other side gets a run on.

We will see. We are underdogs but if I am more comfortable playing Cats than Hawks every day of the week.
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Also thought Sidebottom was average for a large portion of the game but was huge in the last quarter. Cool head and ability to hit targets really instrumental in setting up a couple of forward movements.

Watched the replay after the game and thought Sidebottom was good. Set that goal up to Dawes - he got the first handball receive and then ran the length before a perfect weighted pass to Dawes. Lets hope he carries it into next week lads!
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

I pretty much agree with all of that, but come on, Maxy was shit, I love him to death but he got creamed and even when he had the ball he was too slow and/or didn't dispose of it well enough!
Needs to stop trying to do so much and just go back to the basics!
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

I pretty much agree with all of that, but come on, Maxy was shit, I love him to death but he got creamed and even when he had the ball he was too slow and/or didn't dispose of it well enough!
Needs to stop trying to do so much and just go back to the basics!

Really? I thought he was great, apart from getting caught in the pocket.(seemed to think there was a whistle and just stopped?) Stood up tall in the last quarter again.
 
Re: Finals review v Hawthorn

Really? I thought he was great, apart from getting caught in the pocket.(seemed to think there was a whistle and just stopped?) Stood up tall in the last quarter again.
Yeah, for about 10mins in that last quarter he was good..
But I'm just watching the replay now and he was just, I dont know... Ineffectual, he was a complete non-factor in the match. But everyone seems to think that he and Hodge were great, I think they were both extremely average, so it's most likely that I'm wrong :p haha
 
Plan B

So do you stick to your structures when they are not working. Watching last night's game I kept thinking the box/press meant our guys were running and running for little benefit. Should we have a plan B?
 
Awesome write-up as always, and pretty much spot-on.

To be honest the only thing I'm not sure about is that you undersold Ben Johnson a bit I think. He was there all night, providing support, running pretty hard (and running/chasing/making space was pretty poor from nearly everyone), and getting right in there. While he wasn't spectacular, I thought he was pretty solid in a mediocre team performance and can hold his head up pretty high.
 
We clearly are below our best at the moment, but good sides find a way to get the job done. I don't know how to feel in terms of expectations for next week.

Watched the replay after the game and thought Sidebottom was good. Set that goal up to Dawes - he got the first handball receive and then ran the length before a perfect weighted pass to Dawes. Lets hope he carries it into next week lads!

I think that is the passage of play that really stood out, even at the time. He really worked hard, moved the ball well, made good decisions and hit Dawes with that lace out ball.
 
Agree with most of OP's assessments -but major disagreement with his view on Maxwell. "Shocking for 3 q's" "Whitecross had the better of him" .....you've got to be kidding! Maxwell played a very good game -attacked the ball and repelled them on numerous occasions, not just the last quarter. He was the reason Whitecross was subbed by Clarkson -beat him hands down.
 

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