Humble Minion
Team Captain
Only one game in Melb this weekend, Northern vs Danndenong. Both fielding very depleted sides, no Whitfield, Longer, Elton, Mascoulis, Haynes (the Knights one), Rintoul or Buckley (though it wouldn't surprise me if he's been dropped rather than being unavailable).
Low-scoring game, bit of a grind, the first half played in very wet conditions, and while the sun came out later on the ball remained soap-in-the-bath slippery. Neither side could find a functional forward target. Not much in it for most of the game, Rays went into 3/4 time only 9 points down, got one goal quickly, and then had the ball in their half for pretty much the next 20mins solid but only got to within 1 point, then the Knights ran it all the way up the other end on a fast break that ended in a goal to Langford, and that was all she wrote. Very vocal Rays supporters screaming blue murder about the umpiring (with some justification at times imho, particularly in the 2nd qtr) but in the final analysis the Knights just handled the slippery ball much better, fumbled less, and deserved to win. Rays had a bad case of butterfingers all day, and somehow turned even relatively uncomplicated uncontested marks into harrowing ordeals.
Vlastuin bog for mine, just so certain in the wet, one-touch, thinks fast and his hands keep up with him, inside man but can hit a long target when he gets the ball in the open. Liked him a lot.
Maric started with a bang, quick and aggressive, but faded a bit later on.
Totevski good again, as usual. He's always up there, and I always talk about someone else when I write these things. One of those kids you'd be pencilling in as a pretty much certain draftee, maybe 2nd or 3rd rounder, if he was 5-10cm taller.
Bonaddio was stretchered off in the 3rd qtr, though I didn't see what for. Trainers were with him for a long time - didn't look good.
Currie played a good game on Haynes and probably won the contest. Good spoiler, pretty quick, and just too strong for the rather skinny Haynes to shift in a wrestling match, and the slipperiness of the ball it made high-flying and quick-leading marks a lot more difficult, so Haynes wasn't able to use his athletic advantage to get away. Haynes had a reasonable number of shots on goal, but some were from deep in the pocket and some fell drastically short - bad kicking day for him, was visibly frustrated.
Newnes played a good hb/mid running game on a day not really suited to that sort of player. Got a lot of the ball and covered a lot of ground, disposal pretty good. Very much the designated kicker for Northern - hung around behind the pack a lot and his teammates would try to get it to him. One of the better games I've seen him play.
Benbow probably Dandenong's best for mine. There's not much of him, but he played a real captains game. Ran himself into the ground, gut running, generally if the Rays got the ball moving with fluency he was part of it somewhere. Hard when he needed to be, but more a winger. Disposal I think has improved since last year, remains to be seen whether it and his pace can counteract his height disadvantage when it comes to drafting.
Wright another mid who got his hands very very dirty. An underager, but was in absolutely everything. Wasn't exactly eyecatching, more was just around the place all the time, getting it and giving it off in a mostly unspectacular kinda way - now I'm aware of him I'll have to watch him closer next time I see the Rays to get a better idea on what he's about.
Buntine one of the main reasons the Knights could only kick a low score. Played in defense, sort of a hybrid loose man/third tall role, loads of marks off opposition kicks, moved calmly out of traffic, disposed of the ball long and with accuracy. Needed to be made more accountable - was allowed to drift around alone too often.
Tuddenham always looked dangerous. Kinda played a bit like Whitfield lite, which is more a compliment to Whitfield than a slight on Tuddenham. One of the few Rays with clean hands in the wet, enough pace to cause headaches, nice vision and disposal by hand when under pressure. Puts the ball in dangerous places. Underager.
Johnston very solid across halfback, cut off a lot of attacks, linked up well, good pressure work.
Piva Wright a very up and down sort of game. Simply could not catch a ball in the first half, even if someone nailed it to his fingers he'd have found a way to drop the thing. Later in the game the sun came out and he started sticking his marks, and he along with Buntine provided the wall across the middle of the ground that locked the ball in the Rays f50 for most of the final quarter. Got thrown to ff in exchange for Haynes late in the game to try to shake things up a bit, but that was after the Knights had scored their game-breaking goal and it was too little, too late.
Low-scoring game, bit of a grind, the first half played in very wet conditions, and while the sun came out later on the ball remained soap-in-the-bath slippery. Neither side could find a functional forward target. Not much in it for most of the game, Rays went into 3/4 time only 9 points down, got one goal quickly, and then had the ball in their half for pretty much the next 20mins solid but only got to within 1 point, then the Knights ran it all the way up the other end on a fast break that ended in a goal to Langford, and that was all she wrote. Very vocal Rays supporters screaming blue murder about the umpiring (with some justification at times imho, particularly in the 2nd qtr) but in the final analysis the Knights just handled the slippery ball much better, fumbled less, and deserved to win. Rays had a bad case of butterfingers all day, and somehow turned even relatively uncomplicated uncontested marks into harrowing ordeals.
Vlastuin bog for mine, just so certain in the wet, one-touch, thinks fast and his hands keep up with him, inside man but can hit a long target when he gets the ball in the open. Liked him a lot.
Maric started with a bang, quick and aggressive, but faded a bit later on.
Totevski good again, as usual. He's always up there, and I always talk about someone else when I write these things. One of those kids you'd be pencilling in as a pretty much certain draftee, maybe 2nd or 3rd rounder, if he was 5-10cm taller.
Bonaddio was stretchered off in the 3rd qtr, though I didn't see what for. Trainers were with him for a long time - didn't look good.
Currie played a good game on Haynes and probably won the contest. Good spoiler, pretty quick, and just too strong for the rather skinny Haynes to shift in a wrestling match, and the slipperiness of the ball it made high-flying and quick-leading marks a lot more difficult, so Haynes wasn't able to use his athletic advantage to get away. Haynes had a reasonable number of shots on goal, but some were from deep in the pocket and some fell drastically short - bad kicking day for him, was visibly frustrated.
Newnes played a good hb/mid running game on a day not really suited to that sort of player. Got a lot of the ball and covered a lot of ground, disposal pretty good. Very much the designated kicker for Northern - hung around behind the pack a lot and his teammates would try to get it to him. One of the better games I've seen him play.
Benbow probably Dandenong's best for mine. There's not much of him, but he played a real captains game. Ran himself into the ground, gut running, generally if the Rays got the ball moving with fluency he was part of it somewhere. Hard when he needed to be, but more a winger. Disposal I think has improved since last year, remains to be seen whether it and his pace can counteract his height disadvantage when it comes to drafting.
Wright another mid who got his hands very very dirty. An underager, but was in absolutely everything. Wasn't exactly eyecatching, more was just around the place all the time, getting it and giving it off in a mostly unspectacular kinda way - now I'm aware of him I'll have to watch him closer next time I see the Rays to get a better idea on what he's about.
Buntine one of the main reasons the Knights could only kick a low score. Played in defense, sort of a hybrid loose man/third tall role, loads of marks off opposition kicks, moved calmly out of traffic, disposed of the ball long and with accuracy. Needed to be made more accountable - was allowed to drift around alone too often.
Tuddenham always looked dangerous. Kinda played a bit like Whitfield lite, which is more a compliment to Whitfield than a slight on Tuddenham. One of the few Rays with clean hands in the wet, enough pace to cause headaches, nice vision and disposal by hand when under pressure. Puts the ball in dangerous places. Underager.
Johnston very solid across halfback, cut off a lot of attacks, linked up well, good pressure work.
Piva Wright a very up and down sort of game. Simply could not catch a ball in the first half, even if someone nailed it to his fingers he'd have found a way to drop the thing. Later in the game the sun came out and he started sticking his marks, and he along with Buntine provided the wall across the middle of the ground that locked the ball in the Rays f50 for most of the final quarter. Got thrown to ff in exchange for Haynes late in the game to try to shake things up a bit, but that was after the Knights had scored their game-breaking goal and it was too little, too late.
