Thoughts On The North Melbourne Game

[WaynesWorld19]

Very disappointing last qtr .....but to win by 33 points with so many first year players is a superb effort .....particularly with Melbourne next after the break.

The one thing that I love about the team is that with so many young players we can only be putting up these type performances if our senior group of Goodwin, Macleod, Edwards, Burton, Doughty and Bassett play consistently good footy every week ......and that's a BIG YES

Player reviews to come ......and yes Shirley played well ....probably IMO his best game this year

 

[Drummond]

Well it was a bit of an up and down performance tonight. We didn’t look like kicking a goal in the first term and in reality we didn’t because Tippett’s goal was quite clearly touched by the man on the mark. We got going late in the second quarter and really hit out straps in the third term, kicking 8 goals, almost all of which were due to the brilliance of Jason Porplyzia who put on a clinic. With Goodwin, Burton and Porps working beautifully in the forward line we were looking like scoring with every forward entry.

Bock, Johncock and co were also playing superbly down in defence and Griffin was having another strong game in the ruck. Then came the last quarter, what happened? We completely shut down and took the foot off the pedal. In what should have been a 10 goal win became a 5 goal win due to a pretty insipid last quarter. But all in all, another good win with some brilliant football being produced. The standouts for mine were Bock, Porplyzia, Burton and Goodwin, but most contributed. My player review:


Bassett: SLOW! Looks painfully slow out there and as each week passes I am certain he’ll retire at years end.

Bock: There is no doubt about it now, barring injury he will be an AA this year. Continues to shut down his opponent and yet rack up huge possession counts. Jakovich mentioned how he is an in-form defender, no, he's just a VERY good defender.

Burton: Shame about the injury because he was marking everything that came his way tonight. Looked very dangerous in attack and is on track to score 50 goals. Hope he’s alright in 2 weeks time.

Doughty: Just continue to be amazed by the resurgence of this man. Another superb game tonight and would be right up there in our B&F. He is playing like a man possessed! Full credit to Doughty!

Douglas: Was quiet before the injury and although he came back on he was clearly getting a run to test out the knee. Hopefully he’s alright after the break.

Edwards: Continues to rack them up, 27 possessions tonight and a goal. Maybe he’s not ready to call it quits just yet…

Goodwin: Very tidy game from the skipper tonight. Had a heap of the ball and kicked 3 goals. Another All Australian candidate.

Griffin: Continues to develop into a quality ruckman and had another whopping 34 hit-outs tonight. Had 8 possessions at quarter time but slowed down as the game wore on. Another top game but it must be said, he HAS to hold onto marks. He held onto a beauty in the dying seconds but again he dropped a few too many a ruckman should swallow.

Jacky: Although I got pretty annoyed with him at times tonight, there was some glimpses of promise. Continues to fumble and lose his feet, but he shows enough to suggest he could be a pretty handy player down the track. I’d retain him for next week.

Johncock: Doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. Stops his opponent, racks up the stats and does not make a mistake. Awesome game.

Knights: Gun! Second game back, with more game time, and he collects 25 possessions. Not only does he find the ball but he legitimately hurts the opposition with his disposals now. And how’s the right foot? Only mistake tonight was going back 25 metres to a 1-on-1 contest in the third quarter. But otherwise a great game from this rapidly improving midfielder.

Mackay: 23 possessions, 5 marks, his best game of the year and I have no doubt he will be an elite midfielder. Didn’t waste a possession tonight and simply oozes class! I really do love this kid! Had 10 contested possessions, not bad for a skinny lad!

Massie: Did alright, didn’t really do anything wrong and is quite clearly in our best 22.

McLeod: Reasonably quiet tonight I felt, just didn’t have his usual impact.

Porplyzia. WOW! Had no impact before half time then produced one of the best individual performances in a quarter I have ever seen. Simply sensational! 20 possessions, 4 marks, 4 goals and probably as many goal assists. How about that one handed mark and dish off to Burton? Or the quick hands to Goodwin? I could go on forever. Truly a classy player.

Sellar: Let’s not sugarcoat the issue, he was terrible and he is more suited to the SANFL reserves that AFL footy at the minute. He is slow, especially his turning, and has no footy smarts. He had a mark all but sewn up in the last quarter when Mackay booted it long, and yet he jumped early and ruined his chance. His point came from nice body work, and his attempted mark near the square which resulted in a goal to Burton was very good. However otherwise he was nowhere near it. Craig might have faith in him to do the job but I certainly don’t. You don’t go from having no impact at SANFL level to performing in the AFL, regardless of how poor his handling might be at Glenelg. A million miles off.

Shirley: Did a pretty good tagging job, especially early, and put his body on the line quite a few times tonight. Should have won an in the back free in the last quarter which ended up a goal to Harvey. It must be said his disposal was way off the mark though.

Stevens: Barely sighted in the first term, but did well when the ball came the way. Got a hand on many incoming forward entries which continues to be a feature of his game.

Thompson: 28 possessions, just another day at the office for Thommo! Thought he played pretty well, had 10 contested possessions and used the ball pretty well.

Tippett: Gun. I’d be recalling Maric though as we look 10x better when he is up forward. Took 4 marks, once again the majority were strong contested grabs. Needs to work on his kicking though because he could be one of the best key forwards in the game. His 4th multiple goal game this year.

Van Berlo: MUCH better! 27 possessions, 7 contested possessions, 7 inside 50’s and overall a much improved performance. Had a few beautiful low, spearing kicks again tonight and his usage was more hurtful for the opposition.

Vince: Ccouragous act in the first few minutes of the game but struggled to get into the game, perhaps he suffered from a bit of concussion? Looked a bit off tonight but heading into the break he’s ahead of where I and many others predicted him to be at.

 

[pjcrows]

5-2 with a week off, followed by the Demons and the Dons. Sitting pretty. My pre-season prediction of 2-5 at the break was way off.

 

[Elite Crow]

The difference is goal kicking, kick straight and we look like stars, kick poorly and it gets frustrating.

Oh, Crow Mo interesting to see Doughty play in defence again, 3rd week running.

I can admit he is in rare form, can you admit you dont even know what position he plays?

 

[achancely]

Tippett: Was brilliant in that first quarter. 4 contested grabs in the game, work on his kicking and he will dominate.

Bock: Sensational. AA form.

Massie: Drop him, and don't pick him unless we have a serious injury. Slow, had no control of Grant and is painful to watch.

Sellar: Decent first-up game. Tried hard, chased hard and had a hand in a couple of goals.

Mackay: The running man! Was everywhere, a little reminiscent of Cousins in his ceaseless running.

Jacky: Impressive. Looked a lot better than his debut and a few classical small forward acts. Will only get better.

Griffin: Gun. We just need to place someone to his taps, because he was comfortably beating two very good ruckmen in Hale and McIntosh.

 

[ShearMagic9]

Must just express my delight at the way Griffin is playing.

It's fantastic to see, and I think he probably would've ended up with about 15 disposals and 30 hit-outs tonight, which is another fantastic effort from the big man.

Tippett looks so, so dangerous up forward, once he gets his kicking sorted, he'll be quality.

 

[Vader]

Must just express my delight at the way Griffin is playing.

It's fantastic to see, and I think he probably would've ended up with about 15 disposals and 30 hit-outs tonight, which is another fantastic effort from the big man.

Tippett looks so, so dangerous up forward, once he gets his kicking sorted, he'll be quality.

Griffin: 7 kicks, 7 handballs, 34 hitouts

 

[StickerMan]

Griffin: 7 kicks, 7 handballs, 34 hitouts

Geez, you'd be happy with that week in, week out wouldn't you?

How many of those hitouts were to advantage?

Good to see him performing against quality opposition too. Made Mcintosh and Hale look ordinary IMO.

And Mackay..... my Lord, he is a GUN.

Whoever said to rest him last week needs their head read. This boy just oozes class.

Who makes way for Reilly after the break?

 

[jayjake]

Regardless of how poor his handling might be at Glenelg.

Can you explain to me exactly how he has been poorly handled by Glenelg?

 

[ShearMagic9]

Surely has to be Jacky?

 

[Drummond]

Regardless of how poor his handling might be at Glenelg.

Can you explain to me exactly how he has been poorly handled by Glenelg?

I don't think it's been poor, that comment was more directed at what Craig said to the media. I think his handling has been fine, he doesn't deserve to be the focal point up forward when he's playing such a poor standard of footy.

 

[StickerMan]

And Symes and Rutten for Massie and Sellar?

Sellar looked lost this evening, but IMO needs to fight for a kick with the Bays, knuckle down for another solid preseason and we should start to see some results in 2009-10.

It is not panic stations yet, the boy is only 19? A long way to go, lets not get too excited.

Anyone know when Gill is going to play a game of footy? A bit of a worry and one player we need firing soon to become a real threat IMO.

Cheers.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Griffin:
IMO his best game ever .......35 clear taps last week and approx the same this week.

Beat Macintosh ...supposedly the star ruckman of last season.

He game our midfield an armchair ride .....took possessions around the ground and for such a young player was really dominant.

Porplyzia:
Great great game ......but he didn't appear to play in the midfield .....are the club nursing that shoulder.

Ripped the 3rd qtr apart and was composed, one touch and deadly accurate by foot.

Tippett:
Just impressing everyone .......had 5 tackles, always a threat in the air and was giving HUdson type second efforts.

Needs to have a longer and quicker run upwhen kicking for goal ...as his slow short run up is seeing him not quite balanced or fluid in his approach.

Mackay:
Best game of his short career .....we started to see how damaging he's going to be running the lines and his long kicking.

Likes to come back thru the corridor and is going to be a very direct long kicking midfielder.

Doughty:
Continues to have the best season of his career and It will be amazing that he is not offered another short term contract at years end.

Just seems to kick a lot of balls backwards for my liking when Craig is trying to get the ball moving quicker in a more attacking gamestyle ....but that's a small criticism.

Thompson:
A lot of posssessions .....many in tight packs .......just would like to see more hurt factor with his possessions .....too many short kicks IMO.

Vince:
Average game compared to a few earlier games .....but looks all class by hand and foot ....again very good decision making and tends to be very direct.

Douglas:
Thought he had a very good first half .....but after the injury scare it's understandable that he dropped out a little.

Bock:
The backbone of our defence tonight ..... a great game ....his running and bouncing setup many attacks ....where was his opponent?

There is a clear difference between how Bock plays CHB and McGregors stay at home style ........AA form AP.

Stevens:
Low profile ...but with the abscence of Rutten played a very important role tonight .....congrats to him ......defence is his position ....not forward.

Sellar:
2 years younger than Tippett .....nothing special tonight .....but just a few glimpses of the future ......and it's looking good.

Have to remember he's always been a ruckman and KP is new to him ......it'll take 4 years to understand fully how to play a key forwrd role .......that will make him 21 .......but just be patient.

Jacky:
Still slipping .......not quite sure of what he can do and can't at this level yet .....but I love his personality ....his pace ....and the fact he's with the Crows.

 

[whitey_1975]

Give Sellar a couple more games. Jacky looked a a bit better in tonights second half (now 2-3 games this yr)and the next 2 games are ideal for sellar to get the feel and build some confidence. he put on more defensive pressure than mc g has lately. Would have liked that snap in the last quarter to have gone through though
I reakon Vince got a corked upper leg or butt cutting infront of thommo in the early minutes(loved it) and looked to be running it out for the first half and was a little slower than usual for the game. NC would have been as happy as i was with the spoil though.
Loved Griffins game.

 

[showdownhero]

Massie: Drop him, and don't pick him unless we have a serious injury. Slow, had no control of Grant and is painful to watch.

Ridiculous comment.

Please let me know why you would replace him when he kept a genuine gun forward in great form to two goals and who you would replace him with right at the moment. McGregor?!?

 

[Kimbo]

Well played by the Crows. Simply outclassed us. Embarassing effort on our part.

Porplyzia killed us and Tippett is a real find!

 

[Cap]

@ Drummond - you know it was his first AFL game right i seem to recall a certain potential AA CHB and a certian star FF with the crows (currently out with injury) having absolute shockers first up. So i refuse to judge, i was just happy to see him pressure and tackle

Mackay - I didn't realise how many touches he got, surely to god he deserves and RSN ?

Tippet - damn we got one with kicking problems, how suprising
still a freaking gun - maybe a RSN this week ?

Porps - gun

Burton - his brain fades seem to be limited to stupid attempts at marking, which is ok by me atm

Jacky, i like this kid, would love to see him use his pace though, looks a likely type just needs some matches under his belt and some confidence in his ability.

Doughty - damn he is having a season and a half surely leading the club champion at the moment.

Bock - AA all the way

Griffen - getting better and better - thank god Hudson left.

Douglas - continues to be dangerous up forward liking it.

Mclead - I remember why it was so good having him in the middle - oure class

Goal kicking sucked, big time and the fade out in the last was disappointing at best.

 

[PCORF]

We are certianly capable of playing much better than we did tonight thats for sure! - and we'll need to against Geelong and Hawthorn, both sides I think we have a chance to beat. Two winnable games coming up against Melbourne and West Coast, two sides we can't take lightly. Great performance by Kurt Tippett. But it wasn't that pretty at least we got another win and thats what counts. GREAT THIRD QUARTER!!! 8 STRAIGHT after 2.10 at one stage. Well done again, 5-2. (really it should be 6-1). A 5-2 start to the year does not surprise me, we'll need to go 15-7 to finish in 4th spot after 22 rounds.

 

[BunjiMac]

I dont think Sellar is fit enough for AFL level and his body seems way too flimsy at present and does not have enough muscle.

Having said that, if his fitness improves and he spends a decent amount of time in the gym i think he can still make a fine AFL player.

McLeod looked sick to me tonight??

Apart from the last quater you can't really be dissaointed by tonights game. Well done boys.

 

[Drummond]

@ Drummond - you know it was his first AFL game right i seem to recall a certain potential AA CHB and a certian star FF with the crows (currently out with injury) having absolute shockers first up. So i refuse to judge, i was just happy to see him pressure and the fade out in the last was disappointing at best.

Can’t remember Bock's debut but Rutten kicked 3 goals with his first 3 kicks in the AFL. About the perfect start if you ask me…?

I dont think Sellar is fit enough for AFL level and his body seems way too flimsy at present and does not have enough muscle.

Having said that, if his fitness improves and he spends a decent amount of time in the gym i think he can still make a fine AFL player.

McLeod looked sick to me tonight??

Apart from the last quater you can't really be dissaointed by tonights game. Well done boys.

Not attacking you or your post, but what makes you say that?

 

[MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl]

Well it was an interesting game. We were all over them for 3 quarters, our first and second quarters were all over the shop yet we easily beat them and our thrid quarter was dynamic. The last was truely horrible. We should have beaten them by a whole lot more, but I will take the win.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

McKay - Have liked the look of him from day one. Nothing seems to faze him. Just keeps hitting the contest like there's not tomorrow.

Vince - Can't believe this is the same kid from last year. He put his body on the line for the club. I'm sure the heavy hit was the reason he was quiet for the remainder of the night. Playing inspiring football.

Griffen - Superb. Is coming along nicely.

Knights - Great to have him back. Its hard to believe he is still just a youngster.

Sellar - Hope he gets another game to prove himself.

Tippett - If we ever decide to play him as a permanent forward, he will kick a bag. It appears the footy gods are paying me back for years of taking the P*SS out of Grant Thomas for wasting/risking Koschitzke in the ruck.

Porp - Imagine if he was injury free. Great little player. Needs a rest so we can get him back in the midfield.

Van Berlo - I thought he lacked conscistency but was suprised to see, prior to tonights game, he was averaging 19 possessions. Great game couragous as ever.

 

[PCORF]

I dont think Sellar is fit enough for AFL level and his body seems way too flimsy at present and does not have enough muscle.

Having said that, if his fitness improves and he spends a decent amount of time in the gym i think he can still make a fine AFL player.

McLeod looked sick to me tonight??

Apart from the last quater you can't really be dissaointed by tonights game. Well done boys.

The good thing is that we can win games without McLeod having a major influence on the game. Wouldn't be surprised if he retired at the end of the year (though unlikely to happen as of now). And what about David McKay, he just runs his gut off. Such a promising little player at this point in time. Another super game by the guy wearing #6 - umm Modra?...... nah just remembered it was J. Griffin. But I think its time to bring in Maric because we need to develop these talls knowing our history of past ruckmen and their knee injuries. If one of our big guys goes down awkwardlky, that would not be good.

 

[Cap]

Can’t remember Bock's debut but Rutten kicked 3 goals with his first 3 kicks in the AFL. About the perfect start if you ask me…?


Not attacking you or your post, but what makes you say that?

I'm referring to Trent Hentschel........
Rutten has a great start, but couldn't in the bloody team afterwards...


Drummond some times he make me wonder what s going through your head, surely you can see Sellar is a likely type - in his 1 game he has shown more than say; Messen did in his two, your ability to overlook some players weaknesses whilst attacking similar weaknesses of another player is quite unbelievable.

 

[Drummond]

I'm referring to Trent Hentschel........
Rutten has a great start, but couldn't in the bloody team afterwards...


Drummond some times he make me wonder what s going through your head, surely you can see Sellar is a likely type - in his 1 game he has shown more than say Messen did in his two, your ability to overlook some players weaknesses whilst attacking similar weaknesses of another player is quite unbelievable.

My goodness, why does Meesen have to mentioned in this thread? Meesen had 33% game time on debut, about 40 odd the next and in his second game he had 6 possessions and 9 hit-outs. Sellar's game was better than that? Doubful but quite frankly, I don't care as there is no need to be discussing Meesen but if you feel that's your best shot at crushing my argument then go for it.

Sellar was terrible tonight. The good was how he chased hard on 2 occasions and assisted in a goal to Burton. The bad was that he looked slow, his timing of his leaps was all over the shop, his lack of forward instincts which I continue to doubt, and how he went to ground and was outbodied by smaller opponents.