I don’t think he had anyone to kick it to Both times he got caught inside the defensive 50
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I don’t think he’ll make it but you’re kidding yourself if you think he deserves dropping. Played twice the game of Colyer and bested Guelfi until Guelfi played a big last qtr and a bit. Like HAP I think Guelfi is tiring.
He didn’t light the game on fire but he found the footy a bit and didn’t do much wrong. That Grundy decision was bad, I’d have given him a kick for holding the man twice and then didn’t even think he deserved the HTB against. The other one wasn’t great but he pretty clearly hung onto it because he had zero options up the ground. Had he dumped it in the boot they’d have marked uncontested and he’d still be flamed.
I think his lack of pace will let him down. He’s not quick in acres like Dempsey was but unfortunately he’s not quick over 10m like Walla is.
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Why on earth are Blitzers so quick to cast aside young and inexperienced players after a loss?
Long came in against an in-form team and did reasonably well.
As for the expectations on him, I think our hopes were so high because of his father,. And it feels like he’s been around for ao long because we’ve been waiting since he was 16 years old or younger.
As for whether he has shown something. Young players can look like champions when they get to play a value add role in a team of actual senior players who deliver consistent high level performances. Young players with weak and inconsistent senior team mates look questionable.
Long in not to blame for the loss to Collingwood just as much as he wouldnt have been the reason we won.
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I expect @benfti to lose his mind since I’m hearing that they are unveiling a Michael Long statue next week at the club.
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The 3 HTB’s count as clangers I believe so it makes that count look a little inflated.
His disposal was pretty good I thought.
I didn’t think he played that well and the HTB’s hurt us really badly. Happy for him to play the next few games to adapt to the pace of AFL again though.
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Solid first half, reasonably happy with that. Faded. I liked that he seemed more decisive than in the past. Didn’t like to see the three holding the ball decisions as that is not just an AFL pressure thing - that is part of what has been holding him back. As barnz said earlier, he needs to hardwire first option into his brain as a starting point - he looks much more promising when he has had bursts of that mindset.
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But a turnover down the ground is usually better than closer to their goal.
Though the HTB’s were annoying, what bothered me most were the inaccurate disposals. His kicking was not great. He missed a lot of passes. I know he can do better than that.
I must admit that I don’t recall the missed kicks at all.
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It seemed to me at the game, that almost all his kicks were slightly ‘off’ - too high or low, left or right, which killed a few runs.
hes great - he reminds me of a time when we weren’t ■■■■■■ useless.
Because everyone loves a scapegoat?
That one was harsh I agree, shouldn’t be counted against him. I should have remembered that earlier.
one of MANY
One of the problems he has, is that he plays in a team where the only players who seem to know how to lay a block or a shepherd are the ones who you want running the ball. Maybe it’s because they know the importance of giving your runners space, but McKenna, Saad, Tippa, Jake and Devon are the only ones I see who consistently do it.
Atleast in two of the occasions he was run down, he was surrounded by 3 pies with no one around him and no one down field to kick to, there wasn’t a lot more he could have done other than dumping the ball long or dancing around 3 tacklers (something he has done before).
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Had a better game than I was expecting.
Got to good spots, linked up well, and gave some nice releasing handballs.
Doesn’t have the ability to carry the ball like Saad and McKenna do over long distances.
Nor does he have the dynamic burst away speed like Tippa, but he does have some useful lateral movement.
If only he could improve his core strength to be able to utilise this more.
His hands are sharp, and kicking skills are neat without being super damaging.
As for the 3 HTB’s.
The early one (1st qtr) was unlucky as he was searching for support that never came.
From memory, he did carry the ball outside 50 though, so didn’t result in a shot at goal.
The 2nd was the Grundy one which could easily have been called HTM as his jumper was grabbed whilst the ball was bobbling on the ground, but the umps are besotted with Grundy’s rep at the moment and hardly pay anything against him.
The 3rd, well with the benefit of hindsight, if Jake knew he was being chased by 3 Coll players, he would likely scrubbed any sort of kick forward to relieve the immediate danger.
At least he put himself in a position for a HB receive off Hep in a dangerous position.
Still, a mistake there, no doubt.
NEEDS to play the next 2 as a minimum (barring an absolute howler in the next one), and ideally a game against Sydney at Etihad to see if there is anything to work with for a potential 1yr deal.
I don’t have him in the Delist scrap heap just yet.
Can’t believe some of the 
written over the past 150 posts !
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Agreed re disposal.
A nice goal assist at one point and he also got plenty of the ball and was involved in some nice passages.
I can’t remember the last player that gave away 2 goals in the same game from HTB decisions against them. Just seemed so casual both times. especially the second time.
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I thought he was really good in the first half then kind of disappeared a bit. Needs a run of at least 2 more games, showed enough for me.
I thought his disposal was very good, both by hand and foot. He only had a split second to get the ball on his boot to get it to Brown over the back for our first goal in the last qtr, and delivered a 40m pass with enough penetration to get there quickly,
His overall game was very good IMO, but was badly tarnished by the 3xHTB.
My concern is that that was better than his normal game, and he might struggle to keep it up. But let him show whether he can or not. He has some problems, in that we are already a small quick team, and so another small framed, not that quick player is not exactly what we need. If he were a stronger bodied type like say Guelfi or Clark, he would have more chance to make it with our current list.
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