Review Rnd 3: Gold Coast vs Essendon @ Metricon.

[bballscout]

Team should improve a bit this week with key additions. A shame the boys let it blow out v St Kilda. My personal view of ins/outs at this stage:

In: Fraser, Bock, Stanley, Sexton.
Out: Hickey, May, Hunt, Weller

Play Fraser as the focal point up front with Bock on the half back, give Hurley to Warnock. Stanley/Sexton offer some more avenues to goal and in form.

Weller wasnt up to scratch, let Armitage run riot despite the tag. Hunt is overrated and did little. Hickey/May not quite ready yet and good replacements coming in.

Discuss

 

[Buddy33]

would like to see may gather some form in the 2's. will be a good defender but i see him as a longer temr prospect. plenty of backup available. also another key forward to get a go, didnt seem to have any avenue today, with lynch in defence

 

[Thermo]

May be the quickest posting of a new round thread I've seen. With good reason.

I think Hunt has to be dropped.

 

[Thermo]

Just noting that all of our 3 wins last year were on the back of drubbings. So we can turn it around.

 

[TheSunGod]

Maybe not next week. Essendon have a habit of feasting on bottom sides.
Looking forward to seeing the Bock and Bull back in though.
I think other sides have learnt that if you tackle us hard enough for long enough, we're still at a such young and inexperienced age as a side that we tend to struggle badly with the constant pressure and cough up possession.

 

[exile]

Bock & Stanley back in. Fraser too. I'd like to see May rested for Hutchins. Nothing against May, I think he played well but give Hutchy a go against the likes of Hurley and the resting ruckman next week.

 

[Sunny_]

I like those changes. Would also like to see Iles back in too somehow.

Would also like to see Hutchins get a run. Has been in good form in the 2s lately.

 

[Buddy33]

been reading everywhere hutchins went from 92kg to 81..

bit of a shock for a kpd
horrible measurements or accurate?

 

[exile]

been reading everywhere hutchins went from 92kg to 81..

bit of a shock for a kpd
horrible measurements or accurate?

define 'everywhere'. really doubt he has...

 

[Buddy33]

herald sun super footy 2012 book thing, footy live 2012,

well not everywhere, but there haha

 

[exile]

hmm. well i really doubt that haha. certainly didn't look 82kg in the intra match a month or so ago. when the player profiles get updated on the website we might find out, or we could try contacting the club to find out.

orrrrrr, we may find out next week if he's playing.

 

[Buddy33]

hopefully next week. want to see him tear up hurley

 

[bballscout]

been reading everywhere hutchins went from 92kg to 81..

bit of a shock for a kpd
horrible measurements or accurate?

He lost a lot of weight in the off season due to injury or illness, forget which one.

Does look a bit smaller and too light to hold down a key post down back atm. Has the ability maybe 2nd half of year as he is off contract also.

 

[Sunny_]

Maybe something like:

FB: Weller, Warnock, Hutchins
HB: Harbrow, May, Brennan
C: Bennell, Rischitelli, McKenzie
HF: Stanley, Lynch, Russell
FF: Fraser, Bock, Matera

R: Smith, Swallow, Ablett

Int: Shaw, Prestia, Caddy

Sub: Hall

Out: Taylor, Hunt, Hickey, Brown
In: Hutchins, Stanley, Fraser, Bock

The team looks so much better with Stanley and Bock into it. Seriously gives up some targets in the forward line. Defensive players too. Unbelievable.

 

[free at last]

Maybe something like:

FB: Weller, Warnock, Hutchins
HB: Harbrow, May, Brennan
C: Bennell, Rischitelli, McKenzie
HF: Stanley, Lynch, Russell
FF: Fraser, Bock, Matera

R: Smith, Swallow, Ablett

Int: Shaw, Prestia, Caddy

Sub: Hall

Out: Taylor, Hunt, Hickey, Brown
In: Hutchins, Stanley, Fraser, Bock

The team looks so much better with Stanley and Bock into it. Seriously gives up some targets in the forward line. Defensive players too. Unbelievable.

Is horsley injured?

 

[Sunny_]

Is horsley injured?

Please use the search function, as this has been answered a million times.

He's a rookie. He cannot play in the seniors.

 

[Tassieboy]

Maybe not next week. Essendon have a habit of feasting on bottom sides.

Really? Essendon were hideous against bottom 8 sides last year - losing to Richmond, North, Melbourne, Fremantle (just defeating Port). In comparison they beat Geelong, West Coast, Sydney, drew with Carlton, St Kilda.

 

[bballscout]

Injuries are inevitable, watch for Kyal to debut at some point this season and join the senior list permanetly along side Jaeger next year.

Also, interesting to not McKenna mentioned Coad is on the list to mentor younger players only, has no intention of upgrading him McQualter style.

Is Suns the only club with experienced players that are there to play reserves football only?

 

[eth-dog]

This is the preview I posted on the Essendon board, feel free to come over and highlight my main mistakes, would be much appreciated

Gold Coast vs Essendon (14/04/2012):

Observations:

Gold Coast: Talented youngsters lead by arguably the best player in the AFL in Ablett. Round 1 showed their lack of defensive discipline against Adelaide, and they should be trying to add a defensive side to their game, many considering that Greater Western Sydney’s defence in their first game being better than the Sun’s defence in year 2. The Suns can only improve with talented youngsters like Swallow, Bennell, Day, Toy and McKenzie getting better and better

Essendon: Had a first up fantastic effort against North Melbourne, dominating through the midfield despite media hype about North's apparently "better" midfield, winning by a couple of points. Essendon followed up by beating Port Adelaide less than convincingly, with kicking for goal and general skills being a problem in both games. They will be looking forward to this game; especially considering the margin they defeated the Suns by in their only encounter.

Head-to-Head:Gold Coast 0 - Essendon 1

Form (Pre-Season inc):

Essendon: W-W-W-W-L

Gold Coast: ?-L-L-L-L

Odds (forecasted from http://footyforecaster.com/AFL/RoundForecast/2012_Round_3 ): Gold Coast $2.42 Essendon $1.70 (will update when I get real odds)

Possible Teams:

Gold Coast:
B: Harbrow-Warnock-Taylor
HB: Weller-May-Brennan
C: Swallow-Caddy-McKenzie
HF: Prestia-Bock-Hall
F: Brown-Lynch-Matera
R: Smith-Ablett-Rischitelli
I: Hunt-Shaw-Fraser
S: Bennell

Essendon:
B: Fletcher-Pears-Hardingham
HB: Dempsey-Carlisle-Hibberd
C: Melksham-Watson-Heppell
HF: Monfries-Hurley-Zaharakis
F: Crameri-Ryder-Jetta
R: Bellchambers-Hocking-Stanton
I: Howlett-Dell’Olio-Dyson
S: McVeigh

Key Match-Ups:

Michael Hurley vs Steven May: May a good defender, Hurley a solid forward so far with the potential to be a monster forward. Hurley has been down for 2 games in a row, even though he got a few touches last game his kicking let him down- 1 goal, 3 behinds and one out on the full. I’ve said Hurley will win one of his contests in the past few weeks, and have been wrong on both occasions. I’ll say it one more time, because he’ll be desperate to run into some form before the big clash against Carlton. Hurley to kick 7

Jobe Watson vs David Swallow: I think Guy McKenna will give his best draftee from last year a chance to go head-to-head with the player the Suns will hope he’ll emulate. There’s no doubt Swallow will be a first-class clearance player, and should try to learn from arguably the best clearance player in the competition in Watson to see the next few step ups in the future to the player he should become. Watson to get 30 touches and 2 goals

Dyson Heppell vs Josh Caddy: Heppell, the player that the Suns could’ve gotten if they didn’t choose Caddy and the Rising Star winner for 2011. Caddy, the player Essendon were desperately trying to lure back to Melbourne to add to their midfield. These two highly talented youngsters will be an interesting battle to behold. Heppell has runs on the board, and has sublime skills. Caddy a much tougher nut to crack. Will say Heppell will win

Keys for each team:

Essendon:
• Dominate the midfield- Essendon have bigger bodies in there, and are expected to be stronger around the ball. Should beat the young midfield that the Suns have
• Kick accurately- Essendon wasted good chances in the forward line both weeks. Will want to improve heavily in that regard
• Hit your targets. Skills have been average first two weeks. Need better skills to compete with the best- coming soon against Carlton and Collingwood

Gold Coast
• Don't rely on Ablett. He's a superstar, but he won't be around forever (he's not Dustin Fletcher ). Spread the load, Caddy, Swallow, Bennell should all be trying to release pressure
• Try to curb Bellchambers and Ryder’s influence. Smith is a promising ruck, if he can do this, he’ll be able to know that he can compete with the best
• Pressure- the defensive pressure has been terrible by the Suns. Will want to improve on that

Summary:

Essendon are in a good spot being 2-0 going into a team they beat by 130-odd points the only time they’ve ever played. The Bombers have had a strong pre-season and are even stronger than before, and they’ll want to really impress the coaches and fans after a poor effort against Port Adelaide, where they were expected to win comfortably. Essendon have better players across the board, even if Gold Coast is an extremely talented side. Essendon will want to win in nearly every position on the ground against a side that’s nowhere near as mature as them

Gold Coast will be worried about their lack of defensive pressure, and will want to create a lot more pressure going forward. They need to try to break even in as many contests as they can and maybe even try to win a couple head-to-head clashes with the bombers.

Tip: Essendon are better. Simply got more mature bodies across the board, better forwards, better defenders, but don’t have the best player on the ground. It should be another domination for the dons. Essendon by 99

 

[CoastBhoy]

Really? Essendon were hideous against bottom 8 sides last year - losing to Richmond, North, Melbourne, Fremantle (just defeating Port). In comparison they beat Geelong, West Coast, Sydney, drew with Carlton, St Kilda.

Yeah they scraped past us last year by 140 pts , hideous.

 

[CoastBhoy]

Injuries are inevitable, watch for Kyal to debut at some point this season and join the senior list permanetly along side Jaeger next year.

Also, interesting to not McKenna mentioned Coad is on the list to mentor younger players only, has no intention of upgrading him McQualter style.

Is Suns the only club with experienced players that are there to play reserves football only?

That cant be right.

This week we need to bolster our forward line , with Fraser kicking 5-6 goals in the ressies , he may be a chance to play up forward along with Bock , Stanley and Day taking the 3rd tall.

in - Bocky , Stanley , Day , Sexton , Fraser
out - Hunt , Hickey , Taylor , Hall , May

 

[bballscout]

That cant be right.

This week we need to bolster our forward line , with Fraser kicking 5-6 goals in the ressies , he may be a chance to play up forward along with Bock , Stanley and Day taking the 3rd tall.

in - Bocky , Stanley , Day , Sexton , Fraser
out - Hunt , Hickey , Taylor , Hall , May

As much as I want to include Day, he's done nothing at state league level yet. Neither has Dixon which is dissapointing. Hopefully 1 of them can step up.

How do you guys rate the form of Tommy Lynch to date?

 

[SandyToes]

As much as I want to include Day, he's done nothing at state league level yet. Neither has Dixon which is dissapointing. Hopefully 1 of them can step up.

How do you guys rate the form of Tommy Lynch to date?

Tom is working his way back in to form - persist
I like Maysie and J taylor- these guys will make the grade
Warnock will appreciate the luxury of having time to prove himself
Zac Smith's game was much better
Hickey was ok but Fraser to come in and stand FF..from my recall I still think he is our only player who has led up marked and goaled in the past 2 years
Bocky needs to play CHF and run through the centre to provide some scare factor for our undersized mids
Hutchy looked 95 kg to me last week when I saw him...seems so well suited to the roles we are lacking in the backline...mobile tall defence
I'd move Campbell Brown into a defensive run on type player in the short term..must shut down Watson
Trent McKenzie showed us he hasn't lost his ball sense..will look for a really good season from about round 6-7 injuries barring

Riska Riska Riska...what are you offering us?
A low possession outside mid who doesn't kick goals.

The Hunt factor..not quite as good as Harro is he?
I understand the calls to drop him, but we need his hard body.Was so disappointed when he dropped off that tackle in the last quarter yesterday..but I'm thinking that was probably exhaustion .Needs to play IMO

 

[Tassieboy]

Yeah they scraped past us last year by 140 pts , hideous.

Were ordinary for 3 quarters

 

[Sunny_]

From what I understand, Day is still at least 4-5 games away for making an appearance in the seniors. Just hasn't got his touch back yet. Give him some time to work his way back into form. With Bock back in, we can save some time.