That was Ballenden’s first game mind you. I don’t think we want a “like for like” replacement for McStay. We want a full forward.
Bernie Quinlan ? Richard Osborne? Alastair Lynch?
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That was Ballenden’s first game mind you. I don’t think we want a “like for like” replacement for McStay. We want a full forward.
Yes the ins went well. Ballenden showed that from next year and a bit more size he could be the 2nd ruck/forward option. Hopefully now the coaches realise Lester is not in best 22. Answerth/Witho and Payne should rotate depending on opposition. Confident Payne would do well at this level. I also d0n't see Adams when back in best 22.Best we've played all season! The inclusions were all fantastic. And we started kicking straight
I just watched it through foxsports.I can't seem to find Fages' after match presser.
Anyone got it?
He’s a 22 year old forward who has kicked 30, 37 and 35 goals in the last 3 seasons so I’m pretty happy if that’s considered static. Yes he hasn’t had the best year but god some supporters are prone to over reaction when it comes to a couple of our players.Yeah. He's currently a bit static as far as his career goes and doesn't seem to be improving like we would like and you can sense a lot of inner frustration with himself.
But I think we stick with him. CHF is the toughest position on the ground ,I wonder if we could afford to find a different role for him for parts of games just to ease the pressure.
So much for Cutler being given away for 'free' and was about to dominate for Essendon.
He hasn't changed much from his Brisbane playing days.
Robbo
Unfortunately I think Sam is a touch slow and probably lost some agility after three ACL's. I was so glad he scored a goal, but it does take time to get the pace of the game and has not played ressie matches lately as been emergency for most of the year, so maybe just needed time to adjust to the game. Ballenden just needs a bit more size and learn to use his frame. He will stay in the side for most of the year because of Stephs injury. I see him as permanent backup ruck/forward option next year and hope Steph does not get extended.Not to be a Debby (apologies to all Debbys) but Ballenden and Skinner are a concern but early days and not sure there is the depth there that some here think. On the flip of that I was really impressed by Answerth and Witherden, great game by both and feel very confident with them back there.
Hands down THE worst commentary team going around at the moment.Bruce was goddamn unbearable. Basically barracking for Essendon.
Thank God MTW did jack Sh!t all night,
I couldn't have stood one of Bruce's orgasmic "OOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"'s
Hardly surprising you’d be here to bag McStay but I figured you at least watches our games and realised he spends little to no time at full forward.Ballenden is a much bettter option at Full Forward than McStay. Loved his strength in the air and enjoyed watching the players get around him when he marked strongly directly in front and then gave the goal to Charlie. On the down side, just rewatched the game and Hipwood was terrible. He is completely out of form. Also interesting to see Fagan giving him what appeared to be a bit of a “bake” in the third quarter. Based on last night a Ballenden / Skinner combination offers more than a McStay / Hipwood combo. Really looking forward to seeing how they go next week.
Answerth was great all night and Witherden played a very solid game. Oscar was sensational again and I loved his work around the ground. Charlie Cameron was deadly in attack, but how good was his run down tackle in the last quarter! Cam Rayner has also turned the corner and he looks comfortable and dangerous on the field. Lyons, Neale and Zorko were bulls all game and CEY has to be a lock for the rest of the year. Berry was strong and Bailey was solid. That was our best win this year.
I’d take any one of those, but who knows what Ballenden can become? We have seen what McStay has to offer as a forward and he has had multiple seasons to take his game to the next level and he hasn’t. Ballenden deserves a chance to make a career at Full Forward. It is in the club’s best interest to put games into him because I am positive his ceiling is much higher than McStays.Bernie Quinlan ? Richard Osborne? Alastair Lynch?
Still hates doing the hard stuff and absolutely only loves running one way.So much for Cutler being given away for 'free' and was about to dominate for Essendon.
He hasn't changed much from his Brisbane playing days.
I actually admired him for saying that rather than make up some BS like 95% of people would have. But I get your pointDid anyone else hear (Carey I think) get asked a question about Brisbanes form and he said "oh well I haven't seen them every week".
Are commentators seriously not watching the bookies flag favourite every week? Surely that's a requirement of your job? How these guys keep their job completely baffles me sometimes.
Subconscious bias. Annoys me that they highlighted and continually discussed bad decisions against the Bombers but not the Lions. Also, discussion about how poor the Essendon forward line was, but not wrapping the two inclusions. Quite incredible that these two were in the top five players on the field IMHO. All they said that we had played WC and Port of the top teams but didn't mention Geelong. Bruce barraking for the Bombers for the first three quarters until he jumped off a sinking ship.You can tell the commentator crew were watching tv screens and weren’t at the ground. Mitch copped a very decent in the back immediately before that and had a very reasonable argument for spotting the dummy. All they could do was laugh at the aftermath though, hardly any vision on why it happened in the first place.
You’d think if you have a hub up here then you could at least send some more commentators up too...
Loved some of his early games with us but he demonstrated in this game why he is probably going to be one of the last few picked each week.Culter kicked two points so you tell he was an ex-Lion
The Plantaris (which is now ruptured), was rubbing against Zorkos achilles tendon, causing tendonitis. So the problem causing it is gone, it just needs to heal. Tendonitis is one of those injuries that can actually react pretty well to an increased load rather than rest. So I don't think the staff are doing the wrong thing to see if it'll get better this way. But I agree if it doesn't get better soon he needs a month at least.Great win. We should all be grateful, yet again, for the dominant performance the boys put on. Awesome for MRobbo #200.
I was watching Zorko really closely tonight, as I firmly believed he could get off the chain (with CEY & Berry playing more mid minutes). His foot is really affecting him. I reckon he’s @ 75% capacity max currently. There’s no affect on his one-pace running I.e running long, however, there is a definite & noticeable inability for him to sprint and hunt anywhere near his best. His zip & pressure is the hallmark of his game, and that was off,
On The Lions Roar, he admitted himself it was an injury that could only be resolved with an extended rest, by the start of next year. I love Zorko, in fact he would be in my top three of all time.
Given we are likely to contend in 2020, what are everyone’s thoughts regarding the risk v reward of playing DZ week in // week out? I‘m no medical expert, but IMO we’re basically saying another kid like Coleman or Cox @ 100% or Zorks @ 70%,
Think Ballenden and some of the young guys deserve a chance. Also think longer term Ballenden is our forward or at least forward/2nd ruck. I would keep Ballenden in, even after Mcstays suspension ends. Have to give him and some of the other young guys a chance for at least a few games as part of their development. Saw Witho and Answerth play well last night after being out of the team, they look hungry.I’d take any one of those, but who knows what Ballenden can become? We have seen what McStay has to offer as a forward and he has had multiple seasons to take his game to the next level and he hasn’t. Ballenden deserves a chance to make a career at Full Forward. It is in the club’s best interest to put games into him because I am positive his ceiling is much higher than McStays.