I thought he jumped over the pack to take that mark?
Its not unusual for a number of teams ( including us now) to have 2 hff and 2 outside mids running in off the side of the square, as well as one forward coming in off the back of the square at times. Agree, not to be confused with having 8 permanent defenders. Its a set play at centre bounces.
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Nup. The match saving mark was a very gutsy effort tbh. He watched the ball going over his head as he ran back then he turned to face the ball, and backed 1-2 metres into the oncoming pack ( Ty Vickery and Hartley doing a spoil) At that point around 200kg of collapsing bodies fell on top of him.
You can go to CH7 Plus 7 and watch the replay. Prepare yourself for heaps of ads.
Francis was involved in several key plays in the dying minutes at about 27 minutes into the last, as the ball was hacked forward he competed strongly in a shepherd, received a handball from a Clarke contested possession on the ground then passed to Younan 40 metres out . Then, after the restart, he was in defence backing into the pack.
https://au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7/vfl/-/watch/36708325/vfl-saturday-12-august-essendon-vs-box-hill/
He made a few mistakes early on the weekend trying to do a bit to much with it. He still has a lot to learn on when to use his tools and when not too. I rather he is on the edge of overdoing it then under doing it when playing in the 2nds. He will develop faster this way. Better then going back into his shell.
In the last quarter when the game was on the line he was excellent and a match winner, he did more then just take that good mark. Its not the first time we have seen him do it either. The kid is a big moment player, and is going to be a star. We just need to be patient with him. Eventually he will be up there with the very best at the club. I have no doubt. He could be absolutely anything. He just needs time.
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Joe Dan vs Sydney 2017
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Too soon, man, too soonā¦
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Killer instinct? It was his inability to make a contest for most of the last quarter which meant we were only 6 points up. The mark was great, as was his last 5 minutes or so. But lets not forget his complete lack of impact for most of the quarter.
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His run (or lack thereof) out of defence is probably the main thing holding him up
Lack of impact for the whole game!
Mutch and Ridley i thought played greats games. Mutch is very calm in high pressure situations.
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Strong hands and balls o steel when the game is on the line says so much about why heās a top 10 draft pick
His passion for the game and hunger for the contest will drive his fitness levels up, weāre seeing it already
FRANGA.
What happened to the big Franga?
Not named in either side this week.
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Rested? Does anyone know his contract status?
Signed til end of 2019
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Good to see Franga has been told to come back for preseason in elite shape.
I hope this snaps him out of the fixed mindset that he has.
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If only we had a thread which captured all this info.
From the VFL thread
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Francis has played 5 AFL games across 2 seasons to be precise.
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I agree with Ants. I have unfortunately seen more VFL than AFL and Iām not overly impressed. The final mark was very good however he had very little impact in a standard that is miles off AFL. At times he looks disengaged. He frustrated some of his teammates by not rotating quickly enough and leaving them waiting on the boundary for some time.
He has a good pair of hands and is a beautiful long kick but I think heās a long way off playing any sort of role at AFL level. I donāt prescribe to the āplay the kidsā philosophy for those that it will do more harm than good.
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Have also seen him play a fair bit and I have hope not faith