good of you to give him a chance… after three different coaches have played him at just about every opportunity since he debuted… Hasn’t missed a game since he came back into the side in the Rnd 23 2014.
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Never seen a team win trying to stretch the opposition. It means they absolutely have to win the contest, else we will run all over them.
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I remember Bomba once saying that the expectation with a short backline is that you will out mark the opposition but in reality they end up just bombing it in instead and losing on the rebound
I’ve met him. Such a dude.
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Lord bless the day we get some height.
Sure but not sure why considering his inconsistent gameplay as well as having not bulked up at all - no star qualities there. Would rather Hams.
Yes but your midfield has to apply sufficient pressure to force the bombs. If we let them stream away from stoppages as we have at various stages through out the jlt we’ll get turned over rather quickly.
Our pressure on the ball was also pretty decent at times so it will be a question of how long we can sustain that for and how well we capitalise when on top.
I don’t think the Hawks will be particularly strong this year but they’re far from a lame duck. We’ll have to play 4 good quarters to beat them.
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Yeah but we always seem to be that team against average opposition that make them look like stars.
Where’s Litherland, Ceglar, Whitecross, Sicily and Puopolo. Type of players that pull it out of their behind when playing against us and then you never hear of them for the rest of the year.
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No offence mate but suggesting Puopolo is an average player who only pulls it against us is absurd.
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I’m increasingly thinking the JLT this year was across the board, maybe excepting Saints and Dees, a stage managed training run for all clubs. Scores were all up by plenty, way above 2016 levels (10/18 teams scored 100+pts in the last round which didn’t happen once during the entire 2016 season), pressure acts way down, tackles way down. I’m really not sure what can be taken from the form of a lot of teams, good or bad. We’ll find out soon enough I guess.
That said, you’re premise is 100% correct, if we don’t pressure we’ll get cut to ribbons.
Thankfully are saw the back of the jlt last night…
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You know it would entertain me greatly if, after years of talking heads bemoaning grinding defensive play, games turned into shoot outs and blow outs left right and centre and the same talking heads started longing for the good old days of tight contested footy where the game was alive deep into the last quarter on a regular basis.
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I like the team. I probably would have played Dea instead of Baguley. Or shuffled it and had an extra tall in Stewart for Baguley. Essentially I would have preferred the team without Baguley. However I realise that he deserves the chance to show that he still has the legs for AFL.
With the selected line ups… I’ll be hoping for a light drizzle or some wind… that will completely nullify the height advantage and should play to our strength of run and carry.
All up the selected 22 is starting to take shape and there aren’t many surprises, which is really good. The thought that you have 10 solid AFL quality guys that couldn’t get a gig… very promising.
Now I just want the footy to start… toooooo much waiting!
Is Bird injured or simply overlooked?
Bird is seen as too generic these days, now they have Pigeon.
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I think they realised we would be too slow if we tried to pick too many ‘inside’ players. With Watson, Kelly, Goddard already running around… we probably couldn’t carry another one. Especially when you consider that Heppell isn’t a ‘quick’ player running wise and still looks a step out of touch.
Also it will be interesting to see if the trend is swinging back towards more attacking footy, still manic pressure, but there seems to be an emphasis on speed and scoring sweeping the league. That is going to make it harder for guys like Bird, Howlett, Hocking etc etc to get a run I think.
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Inconsistent? He’s a kid. Of course he’s going to be inconsistent at times. He needs games to develop that consistency. Which he’s getting, and making big strides at that. And in case you hadn’t noticed we’ve been pretty mediocre for a long time so getting games into young players who can take us forward should be a pretty high priority.
IMO he reads the play well, generally knowing when to get off his man and help out, is a handy overhead mark for his size and adds some valuable dash off half back flank. Dea is just a slightly more mature (physically more than anything else) version of Marty who can butcher the footy IMO.
Of course you’re entitled to your opinion but I reckon you’re being exceptionally harsh on the kid who has a lot to like about him.
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Bird is seen as too generic these days, now they have Pigeon.
Better at being a carrier?
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I’m here, see you all at THE ROYAL
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Over his career he averages 14 disposals a game
He has an odd great game here and there and has done well to have 3 premiership but he isn’t 1 of
Bruest, Rioli, Gibson, Roughie, Gunston, Hodge.
The players they have lost are gping to expose the Popys, Sicilys, Whitecross’s and Litherlands of their team. They are set for a fall but players loke Poppy do pull it out of their behind and we make them look better than they are.