I agree with this. There are a few guys Ambrose matches up badly on and Hawkins is one of them. But otherwise, I think he can do a very good job most weeks.
But I think we really need the 2015 Hurley to re-appear this year. That year he was shutting down a quality opponent and still providing plenty of rebound.
Had another look at the first half. We were certainly better than solid and our pressure across the ground and around the stopagges was vastly improved on last year. For most of the half the cats struggled to move the ball against us save for a handful of clean clearances.
Smith is going to be fantastic for us, his defensive intensity is fantastic and he looks like a million bucks when he gets it in space. He was involved in a lot of our best work, was ruthless when tackling bigger opponents and ran very hard to pressure disposal. McGrath also brings plenty to the table defensively. Heās prepared to work hard to close space, chase and make multiple efforts in a row. Zerret was a lone wolf in this regard last year and the addition of these two to the middle is going to make a massive difference. Hopefully they drag a few others with them with the standards they set.
McGrath and parish are incredibly quick by hand too and clean off the deck. They can both turn a half chance situation into something damaging in the blink of an eye.
Hepp Myers and parish worked their tails off just crunching in and putting their bodies on the line. I do think we need to improve their connection with tbell though and get better at identifying the dangerous side of their opponents. Tbell won some clean taps with backhanders which were presumably planned yet they got sharked because we didnāt get someone there.
The impact stringer can have at stopagges as a shock trooper is also obvious. A couple of times he was able to power through and away which is not something weāve had probably since Jason Johnson. Itās clear too that we are going to push him to keep making the effort. After his second goal in the third it was clear he called for a switch out and they said no go back in.
Hawkins schooled Ambrose, no question, but they seperated Hurley and Gleeson well and perhaps too easily which suggests we really need Hurley playing as a 3 man rather than the 2. I still think one of Hartley or brown have to play. Even though some sides are going shorter forward a 3 tall defensive structure is still pretty standard.
Fanta is the missing link at the moment we donāt have another line breaker in the side like him. Even so we did manage to look more than threatening and in a few rounds the few marks that went down and passes that just dropped or just sat up will be cleaned up considerably.
There is a lot to get excited about from this game. We certainly donāt look set to take the whole comp by storm but we will work into the season.
Iām not as worried about Gleesonās loss as others. I think it makes a bit more room for bj to play that role. it will likely force us to play 3 talls and I think we will look better balanced for it. People forget bj was also at least the equal of Hodge when he played that half back role. Heāll force sides to plan for him which will help Saad and Coner. Between those two bj and Hurls we have a wealth of attacking weapons down back.
We probably do still look a little small around the ball and at some time we should look at adding a bit more size. For the time being though Iām content to see them work on their stopagge setups and keep the defensive pace around the ball. Our ability to disrupt the flow away from lost clearances was really a highlight for me because it was something we failed at miserably last year and didnāt seem to have fixed last week.
Watched second half. Donāt have a lengthy post in me butā¦ McGrath got put on ball late in the third and changed the game. He, parish and hepp (with hepp the defender )was probably our most convincing centre square set up but we only saw it about 3 times in a 5 minutes patch. More please
My take on game. Only watched second half last night, watched first half sunday.
Smith will add heaps to our midfield, probably best player of pre season for us.
Merrett is very underrated in his tackling ability, he caused a few turnovers some resulting in goals.
Mcgrath looked good in the middle.
Stringer looks dangerous resting up forward, i would be hapy for a 50/50 split mid and fwd while he builds endurance. Most impressed by his gut running goal in the third qtr.
Forwardline didnt really click just yet. Green gave away a heap of frees, but was really good in the second half.
I thought LONG was very good when he came on.
Wouldnt be against giving him a try if fantasia cant get up for rd 1 > begley.
Thought hurley shut hawkins down once move made. Had no idea about some of the frees. Like Hawkins one 50m off play to give cats a chance to win game.
Green probably should have kicked 3 in the last quarter. Instead he kicked 1.2 and had one drop short.
I think Hawkins got an armchair ride. Ambrose was stiff on at least 2 of those free I reckon. He didnāt do anything that Rance doesnāt routinely get away with or anything that our forwards are routinely subjected too. One of the obvious ones that should have been paid to Stewart for a shot 30 out straight in front instead went down the other end for a goal to them.
Frankly there 6 goal to two third quarter could easily have been a 4 goal to 3 quarter but for the maggots going 13-1 on us.
You couldnāt say the same of the last. If anything we probably should have kick seven or eight. 5.8 to 1.1 and a miss, we absolutely smashed them in the last. The game was only close due to the intervention of the umps in the third.
Some good posts in the last fewā¦ thanks for sharing your insights.
I was really disappointed that Green fluffed his set shot. He is supposed to be very accurate in front of goal, but we havenāt really seen it in the red and black. We desperately need him to be reliable from the set shot.
Begley was again pretty good when he got the ball. But I do worry about his ability to win one on one contests. He seems to get completely and easily beaten at times.
Hooker hasnāt really fired a shot yet during the pre-season. I think both he and Daniher have been taking it pretty easy (at least I hope that is the case).
I was really really pleased with Myers. Iām hoping he has a season right out of the box, and games like that are his poorer ones.
Bellchambers had a pretty good day out, but we didnāt have any idea how to use those periods when he was dominant.
Walla had a shocker. Tried, and tried, and triedā¦ but the ball just would not bounce his way or stay in the field of play for him.
McKenna and Saad were well held. Iām waiting for a game where they combine to destroy the opposition. Thatāll be a game worth watching.
Heppell was really good with his defensive efforts in the centre. I was really pleased to see the focus on that. Sure, the tackling method of clutching onto a blokes shirt one-handed while being dragged along behind, isnāt the most effective method. But the intent makes a difference.
Smith, Parish, McGrath, Zerrett. Is it possible that these 4, albeit small, could become a dominant midfield? There is class, and desire, and work ethic, and mongrel.
Iām not sure why there is so much angst for Hooker forward. He had a good year forward in 2017, even with some injury.
Also he is able to lock the game down a bit by rolling back as a loose intercept mark late in quarters. He did this at times, to good effect last year.
He also demands a big defender, else he will open a game up with his marking. He can also be swung back at critical times to take a forward who is getting out of control, if things get desperate.
When talking about our defence, dont forget BJ. He is not totally geriatric, but he might as well be invisible to Blitz. Ranked our second best player against Geelong. 25 disposals at 84% 11 contested, 9 intercepts, team high score involvements, 4 stoppage clearances.