Very gutsy effort by the boys tonight, but it brought up the same sinking feelings I had from last year’s SF. I felt sick watching towards the end, and this was only a H&A game and with virtually nothing on the line. I think Craig’s reaction said it all, this meant a lot to the club given the week they had. Lost 3 first choice players from last week including 2 B&F winners from the past few years, and yet we hung in there all night and really should’ve won the game.
Pressure was outstanding, intensity and tackling top notch. Makes you wonder what we were doing in the Port and Richmond games were destroyed any hopes we had of making the finals. The midfield group were exceptional, not sure of the numbers but it felt like we controlled most of the centre bounces and Reilly, Thompson and co won a stack of the ball in the middle. Best players tonight were Johncock and Thompson; both absolutely sensational, and Stevens and Schmidt also had great games in defence. Then of course there’s Will Young, second game, plays one of the tightest defensive roles I’ve seen, giving O’Brien nothing. Hope there’s nothing wrong with his shoulder, would love to see him against a Gilbert or Fisher next week if we’re going to play him in a similar role.
Player review:
Johncock: Let’s be honest, he should be All-Australian. Best small defender in the competition, probably his rival for the AA BP Heath Shaw played tonight I think...? Was AMAZING.
Thompson: B&F. Absolute champion, what a player he is, and the fact that he’s re-signed might prompt me to get #5 on my back. 29 possessions, most of which were tough in and under touches and his work around the stoppages was enormous.
Stevens: Credit where credit’s due, was excellent tonight taking a number of excellent contested marks due to his superior football smarts. Also saved a couple of marks due to being on the goal line, didn’t a poster call for someone to play that role when the ball was deep in the opponents attack? Got your wish tonight, I think Stevo saved 2 or even 3 goals.
Rutten: Excellent game, nice rebound after last week in what was probably his worst performance of the year.
van Berlo: Overall a decent game but faded after a very promising start, maybe a bit fatigued after his huge output last week in the Brisbane heat.
Symes: Did some strong work, good use of the body and his ability to break the Collingwood tackles was a feature, BUT his disposal is ordinary at best. Errant handball cost a goal, and his kicks I50 are horrible for forwards.
Douglas: Another solid game bar that one kick in the second term which cost a goal. Some outstanding work at the centre bounces, seemed to win a lot of clearances. Probably took the mark of the night in the first quarter.
Sloane: Kid is quality, but needs to tidy up his kicking, had two standout kicks for all the wrong reasons and, like Symes, isn’t damaging enough when kicking I50. Enough of the negatives, I loved his game tonight, really stood up to the finals like pressure, his strength was a feature, and his competitiveness is amazing. Future leader.
Dangerfield: Going from bad to worse, his kicking is back to the days when he was first drafted and there were all these queries on his kicking, just horrific and I think he's lost all confidence in his kicking. Awful game.
Doughty: Overall another solid game but for mine he made some critical clangers when the game was in the balance, mainly poor skills by hand. At his age it’s not going to improve, so he is what he is, a reliable defender who happens to panic with the ball in his hands come crunch time.
Reilly: Super game, Swan had little to no influence while I thought Radar was another who excelled at the stoppages. Having a very good and consistent season is Reilly.
Porplyzia: Not sure what to make of his game. Looked dangerous, took a good mark and did some useful things in the midfield, but missed some key shots on goal and went a bit missing towards the end.
Henderson: Didn’t get much of the ball, but I’m confident that in 2-3 years time he’s going to be a superstar. How about two of the grabs he took tonight; one high stretched mark in the second term and the other a beautiful grab over Maxwell in the third. Will be a gun.
Maric: A very good game, started off with a great running goal, and a couple of really strong overhead marks. Thought his ruckwork was pretty good too and gave our midfielders a good shot. Looks to be regaining some of his early season form, especially with his marking.
Schmidt: An error free game, as well as some excellent use of the ball. 14 touches, slightly down on his usual output, but had some slick handballs in close and by foot he was crisp. I’m still very confident that he can become a successful AFL player, if he can cut out the errors as he did tonight, he’s certainly got a future. Good game from Schmidt.
Walker: Ordinary game and should’ve kicked that gimme to start the 4th which could have been the sealer given the context of the game. Might just qualify for the Legs yet...
Davis: Inconspicuous, didn’t notice him much, but as a young key defender there’s nothing wrong with that. Only cheap stats but looked composed with ball in hand.
Mackay: A super handball early in the game to the running Schmidt which was totally awesome, but thereafter played probably his worst game of AFL footy. Being brutally honest, hasn’t progressed AT ALL in 2010.
Jaensch: Very good first half, looked lively and his use of the ball was outstanding. I think his fitness levels aren’t great due to missing a large chunk of the PS due to a knee injury. So while he needs to find more of the ball, his skills are sublime and needs to be persisted with. I liked his defensive pressure and had that nice late play on O’Brien to prevent him from rebounding the ball.
Tippett: Again, shut him down from taking his contested marks deep and he’s ineffective.
Young: Has only spent about 20 minutes of the past 2 years playing up forward for the Legs, and that was in his league debut. So I was shocked when I saw him line-up in attack, and doubly shocked to see him play a negating role on Harry O’Brien. He gave Harry nothing, stuck to his task all night and didn’t let him get any cheap possessions. Only had 2 touches, but kicked a goal and kept Harry to 5, he won on the night. Hurt his left shoulder in that ripping tackle on Beams, hopefully it’s nothing serious, and hopefully the AFC don’t rule him out of the SANFL finals.
Sellar: How much game time did he have? Didn’t seem like much, barely noticed him at all. Disappointed that he didn’t get a run in the forward line given his last quarter form last week combined with Tippett’s inability to get into the game.
Pressure was outstanding, intensity and tackling top notch. Makes you wonder what we were doing in the Port and Richmond games were destroyed any hopes we had of making the finals. The midfield group were exceptional, not sure of the numbers but it felt like we controlled most of the centre bounces and Reilly, Thompson and co won a stack of the ball in the middle. Best players tonight were Johncock and Thompson; both absolutely sensational, and Stevens and Schmidt also had great games in defence. Then of course there’s Will Young, second game, plays one of the tightest defensive roles I’ve seen, giving O’Brien nothing. Hope there’s nothing wrong with his shoulder, would love to see him against a Gilbert or Fisher next week if we’re going to play him in a similar role.
Player review:
Johncock: Let’s be honest, he should be All-Australian. Best small defender in the competition, probably his rival for the AA BP Heath Shaw played tonight I think...? Was AMAZING.
Thompson: B&F. Absolute champion, what a player he is, and the fact that he’s re-signed might prompt me to get #5 on my back. 29 possessions, most of which were tough in and under touches and his work around the stoppages was enormous.
Stevens: Credit where credit’s due, was excellent tonight taking a number of excellent contested marks due to his superior football smarts. Also saved a couple of marks due to being on the goal line, didn’t a poster call for someone to play that role when the ball was deep in the opponents attack? Got your wish tonight, I think Stevo saved 2 or even 3 goals.
Rutten: Excellent game, nice rebound after last week in what was probably his worst performance of the year.
van Berlo: Overall a decent game but faded after a very promising start, maybe a bit fatigued after his huge output last week in the Brisbane heat.
Symes: Did some strong work, good use of the body and his ability to break the Collingwood tackles was a feature, BUT his disposal is ordinary at best. Errant handball cost a goal, and his kicks I50 are horrible for forwards.
Douglas: Another solid game bar that one kick in the second term which cost a goal. Some outstanding work at the centre bounces, seemed to win a lot of clearances. Probably took the mark of the night in the first quarter.
Sloane: Kid is quality, but needs to tidy up his kicking, had two standout kicks for all the wrong reasons and, like Symes, isn’t damaging enough when kicking I50. Enough of the negatives, I loved his game tonight, really stood up to the finals like pressure, his strength was a feature, and his competitiveness is amazing. Future leader.
Dangerfield: Going from bad to worse, his kicking is back to the days when he was first drafted and there were all these queries on his kicking, just horrific and I think he's lost all confidence in his kicking. Awful game.
Doughty: Overall another solid game but for mine he made some critical clangers when the game was in the balance, mainly poor skills by hand. At his age it’s not going to improve, so he is what he is, a reliable defender who happens to panic with the ball in his hands come crunch time.
Reilly: Super game, Swan had little to no influence while I thought Radar was another who excelled at the stoppages. Having a very good and consistent season is Reilly.
Porplyzia: Not sure what to make of his game. Looked dangerous, took a good mark and did some useful things in the midfield, but missed some key shots on goal and went a bit missing towards the end.
Henderson: Didn’t get much of the ball, but I’m confident that in 2-3 years time he’s going to be a superstar. How about two of the grabs he took tonight; one high stretched mark in the second term and the other a beautiful grab over Maxwell in the third. Will be a gun.
Maric: A very good game, started off with a great running goal, and a couple of really strong overhead marks. Thought his ruckwork was pretty good too and gave our midfielders a good shot. Looks to be regaining some of his early season form, especially with his marking.
Schmidt: An error free game, as well as some excellent use of the ball. 14 touches, slightly down on his usual output, but had some slick handballs in close and by foot he was crisp. I’m still very confident that he can become a successful AFL player, if he can cut out the errors as he did tonight, he’s certainly got a future. Good game from Schmidt.
Walker: Ordinary game and should’ve kicked that gimme to start the 4th which could have been the sealer given the context of the game. Might just qualify for the Legs yet...
Davis: Inconspicuous, didn’t notice him much, but as a young key defender there’s nothing wrong with that. Only cheap stats but looked composed with ball in hand.
Mackay: A super handball early in the game to the running Schmidt which was totally awesome, but thereafter played probably his worst game of AFL footy. Being brutally honest, hasn’t progressed AT ALL in 2010.
Jaensch: Very good first half, looked lively and his use of the ball was outstanding. I think his fitness levels aren’t great due to missing a large chunk of the PS due to a knee injury. So while he needs to find more of the ball, his skills are sublime and needs to be persisted with. I liked his defensive pressure and had that nice late play on O’Brien to prevent him from rebounding the ball.
Tippett: Again, shut him down from taking his contested marks deep and he’s ineffective.
Young: Has only spent about 20 minutes of the past 2 years playing up forward for the Legs, and that was in his league debut. So I was shocked when I saw him line-up in attack, and doubly shocked to see him play a negating role on Harry O’Brien. He gave Harry nothing, stuck to his task all night and didn’t let him get any cheap possessions. Only had 2 touches, but kicked a goal and kept Harry to 5, he won on the night. Hurt his left shoulder in that ripping tackle on Beams, hopefully it’s nothing serious, and hopefully the AFC don’t rule him out of the SANFL finals.
Sellar: How much game time did he have? Didn’t seem like much, barely noticed him at all. Disappointed that he didn’t get a run in the forward line given his last quarter form last week combined with Tippett’s inability to get into the game.
and will be a another great player.
Just quietly, Luke Darcy is the biggest knob in the media atm.
