Report v Swans

[toepoker]

Very warped logic.

For the record, I reckon we're a far better side with Brady in it. But of the many attributes Brady brings to the side, his pinpoint disposal generally isn't one of the first I think of.

 

[toepoker]

I don't think any further proof is required.

A 29 game veteran was given the run around by a duel Brownlow Medallist, dual Best and Fairest, triple All Australian premiership player.

It speaks volumes for the kids character that he kept his head down and came back to have an influence on the match.

And as far as I could tell we left him on Goodes, which will be an invaluable experience.

 

[hopper]

Fair Assesment Toepoker, our intensity was there for the 1st quarter and to be fair we should have lead by 3 - 4 goals at the break. 2 late goals gave the Swan the lead at 1/4 time.

From this point on we were on a footy trip.

Seaby out rucked both H & Goldy and we didn't get first use of ther ball all night. Swans play their best when the ball is on the ground in close and they were to slick for us in this area.

In saying that both Swallow & Z both fought hard but there wasn't much else.

Wellsey's goal on the run was the only highlight of a frustrating night. Don't read to much into Lachie, big job on Goodes but he toiled hard. Looks a bit slow but hopefuly can continue to improve. Goodes is amazing, covers more ground than the boundary umps.

Swans pressure when we were bringing the ball back in was intense, we struggled to get the ball out of our our own fifty at times. As Toepoke has eluded to when Brady is the central figure in this area then that could be the issue.

Forward line without Drew for the 1st 2 games will be interesting. Hale is a spud, hurts me to bag a Nth player but FF's sake. What does he offer? Good lead early in the game resulted in a goal but that was about it. Hope he proves me wrong but GC trade would be great.

We looked as though we were trying to get through the game injury free and used it as a fitness run. The 3rd 1/4 was a Swans training drill and our back area was all over the shop. I don't think Grima & Thommo had great games and there was not a lot of organisation down there. This was my end of the field and the ball entry by the Swans was often and to targets. I didn't see much forward activity from our guys as the ball didn't get in that often. When it did we only wanted to lead deep into the pockets.

Like I've said(and I'm hoping) that we didn't have a dip and we came down for a training run, we were extremely lethargic and although I was dissapointed with the effort, it's only March.

Interesting to notice during warm up that Roos was down our end watching the boys warm up. When we were doing some kicking drillsl he was close enough he could have marked a couple.



Cheers all.

 

[Kimbo]

I'm not a 'her'. You're doing it wrong.

(But I choose not to judge.)

Look, this might speak to Arden's proclivities, but I choose to think he got you good.

He got you reeeeal good.

 

[The Other Dean]

Look, this might speak to Arden's proclivities, but I choose to think he got you good.

He got you reeeeal good.

Haha. Fair enough. Probably why Arden is a quality poster as opposed to, say, a jackass Mod who runs around the joint making a bunch of lame-ass jokes that no one finds funny.

Still, I'd do it all again for the hot ninja chick pic.

 

[Twinkletoes]

Thanks for the report hopper. I hope you're right, on the energy levels shown and why. Our achilles heel has often been that 10 minute lapse for a quarter here or there, in an otherwise even contest. Let's hope we can eradicate such lapses in the season proper. That's the pretend stuff done...........bring on the real stuff!

 

[Zondor]

I don't think any further proof is required.

You really disappoint me Flaggy The Lothario Dean.

toepoker has simply passed on his or her opinion. Based it on no facts what so ever. Just on what he or she observed.

I ask you where were toepoker's stats to back up his or her opinion? How many touches did Goodes really have? They were probably out around centre wing. Cheap stats probably. Anyways where was the mention of the passages of play that Hansen let Goodes get away? None were mentioned. Probably never happened. No real facts were provided by toepoker other the his or her observation.

A weak start from you my friend. Weak! :stern look

 

[Krakeour Magic]

There is no argument on my behalf.

I can only really make an argument when I am in possession of the facts.

If you adopted a similiar stance then you might not get pwned so easily.

 

[Zondor]

There is no argument on my behalf.

I can only really make an argument when I am in possession of the facts.

If you adopted a similiar stance then you might not get pwned so easily.

Oh yeah, I get pawned all the time. :eyes rolling out of Teffy's arse.

But that throw away rot line of yours is really deflecting from the crux of this matter. A poster, toepoker, offered his or her opinion on a player without giving yah anything other then their observation. O.K. you're not armed with the facts. But toepoker hasn't offered anything to back up his or her observation.

I don't mind if you call a player out and you can back it up with facts but any so called "North supporters" that slag off these players based on no good reason will be getting dung flown back in their direction with plenty of interest on it.

I think you don't mind if you call a player out and don't back it up with facts.

 

[Krakeour Magic]

Maybe, you should just comment on matches I don't watch then?

You can't go wrong that way.

 

[Shinbones]

Just back from Narrandera & promised a report, so here goes;
Positives
* looked excellent for the first 15-20 minutes, tackling & pressure good & we used the ball quickly & cohesively. Forwards looked good with Milky & Drew particularly dangerous (Josh Smith got some good early touches too). We probably should've kicked a couple more in this period
* Wellsy got through another hitout apparently unscathed & provided the highlight of the night, taking possession across halfback, running & bouncing through the middle & drilling the goal from 50. This was in the 3rd quarter & he didn't seem to have done much to this point but he got into it a bit more after this
* Spud was good again (in defence where he belongs) until he went off hurt (guess it was the ankle again) - was smiling as wandered to the rooms around the boundary so I guess it wasn't serious
* Bastinac didn't seem to get a heap of it to me but was he does is classy & he always uses it to our advantage
* Goldy is quicker than i realised - nearly ran down on the Swans' runnesr at one point
* Lachie Hansen seemed to gain some confidence in the last quarter
* no Motlop, JWS, Nathan thompson-style injury in the last praccy match
* practice matches are OVER
Negatives
* bashing Lachie Hansen has become a bit of a cliche on this board & i don't want to add to it too much, but it's fair to say Goodes gave him the runaround for a fair bit of tonight
* once the swans took ownership of the corridor our quick ball movement became a laborious drag around the flanks. I'd argue our forwards looked pretty dangerous when the ball actually made it's way there in fair shape, it just didn't get there enough
* I'm a Liam Anthony fan but he needs to be careful about where he calls for the ball, lest he become another Matt Priddis. Don't call for it if you're in a worse postion than your teammate. His disposal also needs a little work but I'm sure it'll come
* Matty Campbell needs to get more of the pill
*when Brady Rawlings is one of your better ball users for the night, it's fair to say things haven't gone well
* I'm slightly worried about Hunter backing up 2009 - maybe that's just me. How is Alan Obst? Quite like him as a player & i think we'll need the backup in defence this year
* some more might come back to me tomorrow & it's late
There's my thoughts people, please be gentle
*

I went up on my way to Sydney and agree with toep on all his points .Although I do think he was nice ..... We were slaughtered.

It was a paticually dissapointing game for us . After the first quarter we looked like witches hats as sydney dominated the game. They just looked harder and more mature bodies than ours and when they had the bal they used it well which made us look slow .Their ball use was deadly . Conversly when we had it our disposal was sloppy slow and more often than not to the wrong option . We seemed to always have contested possessions where the swans ran hard and lost our blokes easily then fired in a great kicks .They pressured us well and we didnt them .
They really exposed that we have a long way to go yet.
The midfield in paticualr were smashed.
Ziebell got some good clearances at times but chased bum all night swallow worked hard but they were all beaten .
We looked better when wells flash and even lt went through there at times because they had some pace but other wise we looked ordinary in the center when our rucks were good .
Positives were that Narni played well for his first real hitout . I think he will be our no1 backman he's good .
Spud was great, boomer worked hard under a heavey tag,wright was good ,and locky showed improvement, Wells was sublime at times fumbled a couple of times but just through lack of touch so he looks great ,Milky busted a gut all night and petrie was also good .Rawlings was also good .
Mcmahon looked slow and overweight but actually played well and organised things well . Basta was ok when he had it didnt like the contests but thats expected from a first year player.Goldy showed signs of good but also some inexperience which is where he's at .
Negatives:
I wont individualise but i thought our forwards lacked confidence to lay a shot on goal . i dont know how manytimes we passed it off 30- 40 out from goal and stuffed it. We need a forward to have the guts to have a shot .i guess we lose that when flash and LT are in the midfield but gee we need that .
The forwards were good at times drewy even hale , milky but delivery and decision making cost the forwards.
Ball use was ordinary swans delivered sharp hard kicks where we delivered slow high kicks that defenders could intercept.
We lacked legs it looked like were unfit ,given afl today it was probably more they used the ball so well.
Midfield were beaten by bigger stronger bodies they held their feet and came out with the ball .
It's was frustrasting to watch .

On this game it showed we have a long way to go to match it with the more expierienced sides but there were good signs as well in terms of some younger blokes showing glimpses. We got with in 4 points at one stage before they piled on goals so at times when we ran and used the ball well it all worked.

so be prepared for a rocky up and down ride up the ladder

 

[Long Live the King]

Forget Sydney..they are a well drilled and coached team.......

we should be realistic in our expectations of North this year....

or more to the point realistic in our expectations of kids like Jack / Wright / bastinac / Warren etc.....not wanting to state the obvious but it will be tough couple of years for this group.

 

[Zondor]

Maybe, you should just comment on matches I don't watch then?

You can't go wrong that way.

You gots to love a loophole and other such holes that give yah pleasure.

 

[Rippednew1]

Forget Sydney..they are a well drilled and coached team.......

we should be realistic in our expectations of North this year....

or more to the point realistic in our expectations of kids like Jack / Wright / bastinac / Warren etc.....not wanting to state the obvious but it will be tough couple of years for this group.

Dont see how we could struggle for 2 years. Even Richmond could find that kind of difficult. Jack was fantastic last year and wouldn't read too much into the pre season form of guys of his ilk. The first and second year players have good support at North and thesedays generally perform at a much higher level from the get go.

Port are still up and down and we beat them in round 22 without some of our better players, Wells included.

Saints round 2 without Fisher after knocking them off almost twice in their prime.

Without Petrie it wont be easy but gives opportunities to Jones, Warren, Edwards, Smith, Hale to stand up.

We aren't the kind of side to just remain stagnant. We should rebound well from losses and perform reasonably well in Melbourne.

The fixture is decent and will allow the side to keep gaining momentum.

A loss to the Swans in preseason is hard to guage as they have changed attitude towards it and left the Nab comp with their tails between their legs.

Mid table opposition clubs being full of holes will be what will keep us 6-10th.

We have added class and top level talent to the list after finishing last year well and losing some baggage as well as losing many winable games in an injury ravaged season.

Only 2 weeks to go!! But a Sunday of course....

 

[Long Live the King]

Dont see how we could struggle for 2 years. Even Richmond could find that kind of difficult. Jack was fantastic last year and wouldn't read too much into the pre season form of guys of his ilk. The first and second year players have good support at North and thesedays generally perform at a much higher level from the get go.

Port are still up and down and we beat them in round 22 without some of our better players, Wells included.

Saints round 2 without Fisher after knocking them off almost twice in their prime.

Without Petrie it wont be easy but gives opportunities to Jones, Warren, Edwards, Smith, Hale to stand up.

We aren't the kind of side to just remain stagnant. We should rebound well from losses and perform reasonably well in Melbourne.

The fixture is decent and will allow the side to keep gaining momentum.

A loss to the Swans in preseason is hard to guage as they have changed attitude towards it and left the Nab comp with their tails between their legs.

Mid table opposition clubs being full of holes will be what will keep us 6-10th.

We have added class and top level talent to the list after finishing last year well and losing some baggage as well as losing many winable games in an injury ravaged season.

Only 2 weeks to go!! But a Sunday of course....

Agree with you RN1........there is plenty to be excited about...my only worry is that we're all pretty passionate about our footy on BF so Im just hoping we dont get feral if things go slightly askew during the season....

 

[Event Horizon]

I dare say (or hope) that given we play them in round 4, which is soon enough, we didn't want to reveal any secrets to them.

 

[Zondor]

I dare say (or hope) that given we play them in round 4, which is soon enough, we didn't want to reveal any secrets to them.

That's right. Losing on the weekend has it's benefits. Firstly they may very well underestimate us which is bad for them. Secondly we will not underestimate them which is good for us. Thirdly we should aim to beat them when it matters and Round 4 matters a hell of a lot more then some practice match.

 

[mark73]

I dare say (or hope) that given we play them in round 4, which is soon enough, we didn't want to reveal any secrets to them.

No, amd I have no doubt we were trialling things during the game. There are 2 reasons why I don't get concerned over games like that, 1, it was a practice match, 2, the Swans are not a 7 goal better side than us even with the inexperience. On top of that, and you can't blame umpiring because that would be pointless but they did get a couple of free kick goals that kickstarted them a bit. As Firrito said, it was a hit out, no more no less. We took some things away from the game and identified some area's we need to work on, which is the sole purpose of these matches.

 

[NMFC Est 1869]

Adam Goodes is an absolute superstar, there are not too many players who could beat him one on one. Didnt see the game but sounds like we got smacked, but we have always had a tough time beating the Swannies lets be honest.

 

[Twinkletoes]

All of Bon's plans went out the window when Sydney only played 18 players on the field at a time. We'll be right for round 4, now we've seen what they can do with a legal number of players. In Bon I trust

 

[budge11]

Adam Goodes is an absolute superstar, there are not too many players who could beat him one on one. Didnt see the game but sounds like we got smacked, but we have always had a tough time beating the Swannies lets be honest.

True that. Goodes is an amazing player. I'm glad you didn't bash Hansen here