Autopsy Round 3, 2024 :Hawks fail against Cats

[Topiary]

That one on Close against Scrimshaw was so baffling that even BT thought so

And of course Geelong got it. We did not.

 

[BobHawk]

It’s just your normal hawks v geelong umpiring. When Selwood recently said he made a career out of the arm lift he also said they consciously played to maximise umpiring. But everyone knows that. Just good to hear the admission

Geelong looks to exploit every aspect of the game. They know umpires play an incredibly important part and are, shall we say "vulnerable". So they look how they can use umpires to their benefit. This is just one aspect that separates them from other clubs. Scott is a great coach. They exploit every bit of the game for competitive edge. The problem is, of course, rather than fix this umpiring issue the AFL and the umpiring department celebrate Geelong. More accolades, more frees, the keys to AFL house.

 

[Lickmesocks]

I would play Ethan Phillips and we
grow around him.

Cats have monsters down back, Guthrie Dekoning etc etc and well structured, yet we seem to have mid sized defenders always trying to play on much bigger opponents.

 

[Yardie]

He totally ****ed two goals in the first qtr while scores were still close

The first, he had a teammate in the goal square on his own but he chose to snap from 35m on his left and it was touched

Within minutes, he then totally deflated the team with that effort that can only be described as hopeless

Calling a spade a spade.

Mentioned before the game that he should hav been the sub because ha has been a liability in all games this year and may offer something coming on after the pace has gone out of the game.

Wiz or no Wiz, he needs to be sub next week if he is going to be retained.

Butler must be rewarded for his BH performances over the past two weeks.

I know it must be hard for Sam but he made the call on Gunston. We can't have another Stratton scenario.

 

[Topiary]

I would play Ethan Phillips and we
grow around him.

Cats have monsters down back, Guthrie Dekoning etc etc and well structured, yet we seem to have mid sized defenders always trying to play on much bigger opponents.

We have got to structure up. We need to play Phillips. We need to play him, mistakes and all. I agree, build around him. Sicily can be a true intercept defender. Gotta say Frost is going more than OK.
We should be playing Weddle and when fit, CJ on a wing. In the meantime Amon. If fit, we should be bringing in Seamus Mitchell.

 

[Yardie]

I thought Phillips was poor on the weekend. Probably wouldn't be right to promote him to the senior team based off his performance so far.

Serong would be ahead of him at this stage.

I think Sam needs to bite the bullet and bring in players for structure. Not just looking at who are the best and trying to fit them in.

Serong/Phillips in to free up Sicily. Amon back to the wing.

 

[Topiary]

Butler must be rewarded for his BH performances over the past two weeks.

I know it must be hard for Sam but he made the call on Gunston. We can't have another Stratton scenario.

You could see all confidence seep from the Group as each of the two huge mistakes by Bruest were made.

 

[Lickmesocks]

I haven’t really looked into any data but are the Hawks and Norf the smallest two backlines?

 

[rei154]

He did both lifting the shoulder and dropping the knee in one of the tackles as soon as he felt contact!
I thought he deserved the free kick at the time but the past does come back to bite you and for now we have to wear it on chin.
We knew this when we recruited him and he has been one of our positives going forward.
Butler needs to come to add some zip and defensive pressure.
Disappointing that the Wizard has probably gone for a while!


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I don't remember him dropping his knees outside of launching himself forward.
Regarding the raising the arm, each time that he did it it was POST contact and looked like a fairly natural reaction to someone slinging their arm around your neck/over your shoulder.

Not necessarily targeting you with this one, but the amount of justification/excuses members on our board are making for a kid getting his head ripped off time and time again is disappointing and disgusting. When he ducks, call him out for it, but yesterday he didn't and if that treatment continues he's going to have one hell of a payday when he retires

 

[RoughysMullet]

Am I the only one who thought Ward played well, even though the conditions certainly didn't favour his game style?

Seemed very busy in the final quarter when the heavens were at their heaviest.

I thought he was good- bit of a head scratcher as to why Ward has seemingly become the new whipping boy in these parts…

 

[Mitchell Madness]

I agree to a point, but the umpiring yesterday was soul destroying and simply incorrect. When did Ginnivan drop his knees??

Exactly. Each incidence of the missed high tackle was when ginnivan had collected the ball and was in the process of getting back up (and one where a spoil clocked him right in the back of the head). Very different to "ducking"

Maybe he lead with the head a bit, or took a bit longer to get up, but that's still a free fir every other player in the comp

 

[Ka Norkers]

sorry to say, but Phillips has been incredibly unimpressive in his two games for Box Hill. The idea of playing him for "structure" makes no sense to me, I don't even know what that means in this context. Happy to pick a tall forward for structure to contest and bring the ball to the ground (perfectly displayed by Chol this year) but he's a key back, and needs to defend first. I'm guessing the game plan at Hawks/Box Hill is vastly different from his previous club, because he has looked all at sea to me, error-ridden and confused. Sure, lots of marks, but at AFL level, he's not capable of that and should leave the intercepting to Sicily anyway.
hopefully he improves as the season progresses, but at this stage a definite "no" for me.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

I must have missed it, what sort of an injury to Lewis ?

 

[TassieGrown]

The biggest concern i have had this season & last is our lack of leaders.

Most of our experienced players are simply not leaders.

Hats off to Frosty, great game & season so far

Worpel has been brilliant, we could have 3 wins if we had other mids firing.

Sicily on the last line of defence is not working

Amon in the back line is not working, i feel for him. He is not a defenders ahole

Love the Wiz, hopefully injury is nothing major but didn't look good. If only the dump tackle had been paid to Hardwick seconds before the injury.

Chol has been a great pick up

A win is not far away

 

[BobHawk]

You could see all confidence seep from the Group as each of the two huge mistakes by Bruest were made.

I think confidence might be the issue with Breust as much as anything. I wonder if his form and that fact that Gunston was dropped is playing on his mind. I put his brain fade running into an open goal down to confidence. I hope he can turn it around.

The positive from yesterday was that both Watson and Ginnivan were very busy and we have Butler playing so well at BH.

 

[Topiary]

sorry to say, but Phillips has been incredibly unimpressive in his two games for Box Hill. The idea of playing him for "structure" makes no sense to me, I don't even know what that means in this context. Happy to pick a tall forward for structure to contest and bring the ball to the ground (perfectly displayed by Chol this year) but he's a key back, and needs to defend first. I'm guessing the game plan at Hawks/Box Hill is vastly different from his previous club, because he has looked all at sea to me, error-ridden and confused. Sure, lots of marks, but at AFL level, he's not capable of that and should leave the intercepting to Sicily anyway.
hopefully he improves as the season progresses, but at this stage a definite "no" for me.

He has to learn. We do not have anyone else.

 

[TazHawk15]

I must have missed it, what sort of an injury to Lewis ?

Hamstring and I don’t have a good feeling about the Wizards ankle either.

 

[Hawkspot]

I haven’t really looked into any data but are the Hawks and Norf the smallest two backlines?

Good reason our ball movement from the backline has been so good though. All except Frost are great users.

Phillips will play, but he probably should come in on the back of a good performance.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Just want to circle back to Frosts game.

He was immense.

I’ve never really liked the way people attack him on these boards, because he sure as hell is always giving his all.

 

[2008wasoverDEW!]

Seamus needs to come in to release Amon further up the ground. The Amon defensive experiment needs to end.

I also wouldn't mind bringing in Serong, or Ryan, to play a medium defender role with the intention of freeing up Sicily.
At the moment Sicily is being exposed defensively, which is sapping his confidence. Get back to utilising our strengths to benefit the team.

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

He has to learn. We do not have anyone else.

Building around Phillips jeez
Mid 20s player who only just scraped onto a list

 

[Sixpence]

Just want to circle back to Frosts game.

He was immense.

I’ve never really liked the way people attack him on these boards, because he sure as hell is always giving his all.

I don't think anyone ever questions his endeavour, just frustrated by his "Frostball".

Has been very good so far this year though.

 

[SammyC]

Think the back 6, particularly the talls, held up ok against an A grade fwd line. Henry is a good one, plus hawk and cameron.

for me, it was clean entries from clearances / turnover, high quality conversion of half chances, shit free kicks & a bit of luck threat was the difference in fwd line effectiveness. The guys down back, particularly frost and weddle, did ok, no need to change too much there.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Seamus needs to come in to release Amon further up the ground. The Amon defensive experiment needs to end.

I also wouldn't mind bringing in Serong, or Ryan, to play a medium defender role with the intention of freeing up Sicily.
At the moment Sicily is being exposed defensively, which is sapping his confidence. Get back to utilising our strengths to benefit the team.

Benefit of the Hardwick forward experiment.

Seamus in.
Dimma forward.
Amon to a wing.
Potentially Hustwaite out, with Ward replacing his midfield minutes.
If Wiz is injured, Butler in.
Butler in for Breust if Wiz is fit.

 

[QuietB]

Let's make one thing abundantly clear. Australian Rules hasn't had "umpires" for decades. Sure, we call them umpires, but they are in effect "referees". Umpires govern under strict guidelines as documented in the book of laws. That hasn't happened for many years. I see rules broken by the minute in football these days as the men in white go about with their interpretations of the rules, rather than strict adherence to them.

For example, people who have only come along in the past 20 years or less would be shocked to find out there's a rucking infringement in EVERY ruck contest. You are not allowed by law to place your hand on an opposing ruckman. Now they just wrestle each other to the ground.

There's a rule that states you are not allowed to tackle a player above the shoulder. It doesn't say anything about arms being raised, etc, the moment a player is tackled high, it's a free kick. It has me stuffed how a player who, is gathering the ball from ground level and is in the process of standing up and is grabbed high, is not awarded a free kick for a high tackle. It was perfectly okay for Selwood to use the tactic of raising the arm (and I agreed with that), why is it not okay for other players to adopt the same method?

The rules are actually shit. Take rule 18.6 - Holding the Ball - this is an extract from the official rules;


What does that even mean? "a field Umpire shall award a Free Kick if that Player elects to Incorrectly Dispose of the football when Legally Tackled" except if "the player genuinely attempts" or "the Legal Tackle cause the football to be dislodged".

My interpretation of this is it is next to impossible for the umpire to award a free kick for incorrect disposal unless the player blatantly throws it.

So what is the point of a tackle?

And some people say that a free kick is not meant to be a reward, well the AFL rules specifically state; "The Player who has Possession of the Football will be provided an opportunity to dispose of the football before rewarding an opponent for a Legal Tackle."

The bar for achieving that reward is pretty much unattainable.

This rule drives me completely crazy.