A lot of expectation around Stewart. Ask him what a sherrin feels like, because he hardly touched one today. But he was on an AA, Crichton medal player, and Hurls was not ready to let him get near it.
Interesting to see David Evans back at the club.Apparently his passion for football is returning.
He can GTFO.
His sense of timing on returning needs to be questioned.
Interesting to see David Evans back at the club.Apparently his passion for football is returning.
Should of been forcefully evicted from the premises
Evicted from the premises he essentially conceptualised, planned and paid for?
Let it go people, he is an Essendon person and should be always welcome…
Of the fringe players Long and McKenna looked promising.Long baulks and is able to find space and change the direction of play.
McKenna’s disposal was outstanding including a long slanted pass into the forward line.
Bird played a solid game.
McGrath made a solid contribution although was challenged in the air.
Begley looks promising but is still adjusting to the pace of the game.
Fantasia, Walla and Green were all dangerous on the forward line but there were few talls for them to feed off.
Goddard and Heppell played well and saw plenty of the ball.
Gleeson will be unlucky if he doesn’t make the side for the first game - he was very good today.
Hocking finished with a goal and was a real presence in the packs.
The main problems are the absence of key forwards without Daniher and Hooker and ruck support for Leuenberger (who is in great form) unless McKernan can be promoted from the rookie list.
Interesting comment on McGrath JM. Being challenged in the air was a concern some had pre draft.
He is such an exciting prospect but will be interesting to observe how serious this limitation in the air is.
I remember two constests in the second half where the VFL guy pants him in the air which resulted in goals, purely due to height…
His kick looks pretty decent however, easily finding targets…
When comparing him to our other kids, there were already rave reviews about Merrett and Parish by this stage of pre-season…
Interesting that McGrath’s first few months have been reliably quiet in comparison…
Perhaps this is a Woosha ploy…
There’s this little known thread where you can get cranky about Evans:
http://bomberblitz.com/discussion/discussion/2211/sorry-saga-its-never-over#latest
There's this little known thread where you can get cranky about Evans:http://bomberblitz.com/discussion/discussion/2211/sorry-saga-its-never-over#latest
shrugs
Maybe move the initial post there?
Yes there were rave reports about Parish during pre-season training, but then everyone said Hams smashed him at first intra-club game when Blitz BBQ was on.
AFL preseason games will be better guide as to whether McGrath can take the step.
Brown is not a forward. Back is where he Excels.
Edit: hes better off used as a swingman but backline is where he plays much better footy
Yes there were rave reports about Parish during pre-season training, but then everyone said Hams smashed him at first intra-club game when Blitz BBQ was on. AFL preseason games will be better guide as to whether McGrath can take the step.
Yeah agree, and some guys just like to work on things and put in the real effort game day. I also think that he will be better suited to the middle - forward at AFL level because of his size.
We need to cut Ooh Ahh a bit of slack. Today he played back pocket. It was about his first outing in a match sim, in his first preseason. He has about 8 weeks of this to go before round 1. He is on a steep learning curve. He could still make it to best 22 round 1without being gifted a game.Would you pick him ahead of bags, Gleeson, Conor or Kelly on today’s form
No Ivan, but I reckon he has a LOT more upside in him( . Some of the other players he was on were 2+ years players. )
Can anyone confirm for me that Gleeson was switched from Red to Black to cover for Hartley when he got taken off. Or did Stants actually start on the HBF for Red?
correct, Gleeson started in the Red backline (probables). I think Kelly may have started elsewhere then switched to Red HBF
He's just short.Way shorter than I expected.
I don’t know why, plenty of us ■■■■■ and moaned about his height pre draft.
He’s going to have to be the best 176cm to be playing the game to warrant no. 1 pick.
Here’s hoping.
Also from the middle of last year Tippa was being being targeted and dragged back to last line by whoever he manned up on a lot to prevent him being able to run and kick as much and where he was more vulnerable against high ball. I think this is one of reasons Tip is forward this year.
If McGrath proves effective off HBF the same tactic will probably be used against him, so coaches probs giving him experience on last line to see if he can cope.
Of the fringe players Long and McKenna looked promising.Long baulks and is able to find space and change the direction of play.
McKenna’s disposal was outstanding including a long slanted pass into the forward line.
Bird played a solid game.
McGrath made a solid contribution although was challenged in the air.
Begley looks promising but is still adjusting to the pace of the game.
Fantasia, Walla and Green were all dangerous on the forward line but there were few talls for them to feed off.
Goddard and Heppell played well and saw plenty of the ball.
Gleeson will be unlucky if he doesn’t make the side for the first game - he was very good today.
Hocking finished with a goal and was a real presence in the packs.
The main problems are the absence of key forwards without Daniher and Hooker and ruck support for Leuenberger (who is in great form) unless McKernan can be promoted from the rookie list.
Interesting comment on McGrath JM. Being challenged in the air was a concern some had pre draft.
He is such an exciting prospect but will be interesting to observe how serious this limitation in the air is.
I remember two constests in the second half where the VFL guy pants him in the air which resulted in goals, purely due to height…
His kick looks pretty decent however, easily finding targets…
When comparing him to our other kids, there were already rave reviews about Merrett and Parish by this stage of pre-season…
Interesting that McGrath’s first few months have been reliably quiet in comparison…
Perhaps this is a Woosha ploy…
If you are talking about the VFL guy Ben Dobson . Dont underestimate him. He is about 28 yoa 10 cm taller than McGrath and 90kgs. He kicked several bags in our VFL team last year.
Also from the middle of last year Tippa was being being targeted and dragged back to last line by whoever he manned up on a lot to prevent him being able to run and kick as much and where he was more vulnerable against high ball. I think this is one of reasons Tip is forward this year. If McGrath proves effective off HBF the same tactic will probably be used against him, so coaches probs giving him experience on last line to see if he can cope.
Difference is Tippa cannot jump to save himself, where’s McGrath has an elite jump… But agreed he needs to prepare to be targeted…
Of the fringe players Long and McKenna looked promising.Long baulks and is able to find space and change the direction of play.
McKenna’s disposal was outstanding including a long slanted pass into the forward line.
Bird played a solid game.
McGrath made a solid contribution although was challenged in the air.
Begley looks promising but is still adjusting to the pace of the game.
Fantasia, Walla and Green were all dangerous on the forward line but there were few talls for them to feed off.
Goddard and Heppell played well and saw plenty of the ball.
Gleeson will be unlucky if he doesn’t make the side for the first game - he was very good today.
Hocking finished with a goal and was a real presence in the packs.
The main problems are the absence of key forwards without Daniher and Hooker and ruck support for Leuenberger (who is in great form) unless McKernan can be promoted from the rookie list.
Interesting comment on McGrath JM. Being challenged in the air was a concern some had pre draft.
He is such an exciting prospect but will be interesting to observe how serious this limitation in the air is.
I remember two constests in the second half where the VFL guy pants him in the air which resulted in goals, purely due to height…
His kick looks pretty decent however, easily finding targets…
When comparing him to our other kids, there were already rave reviews about Merrett and Parish by this stage of pre-season…
Interesting that McGrath’s first few months have been reliably quiet in comparison…
Perhaps this is a Woosha ploy…If you are talking about the VFL guy Ben Dobson . Dont underestimate him. He is about 28 yoa 10 cm taller than McGrath and 90kgs. He kicked several bags in our VFL team last year.
Yep it was Dobson both times… As I said, Purely got done both times on height… Massive mismatch as Dobson plays KPF on the VFL team, if it was a player of similar stature I’d be worried but it wasn’t…
Also from the middle of last year Tippa was being being targeted and dragged back to last line by whoever he manned up on a lot to prevent him being able to run and kick as much and where he was more vulnerable against high ball. I think this is one of reasons Tip is forward this year. If McGrath proves effective off HBF the same tactic will probably be used against him, so coaches probs giving him experience on last line to see if he can cope.Difference is Tippa cannot jump to save himself, where’s McGrath has an elite jump… But agreed he needs to prepare to be targeted…
Thought only White men can’t jump
Went along today and was very impressed. Heppell and zerret look like they’ll be a great one two combination. The midfield looks like it will be strong this year. I was excited about our small guys i think that might be our strength and our point of difference from other clubs in 2017.
Something that did annoy me, why not play all of our best mids in the midfield. Parish and zaka didn’t seem to take any centre bounces they could have been on the red team and make it more competitive and be in at the centre bounces.
Positives
- mckenna was super impressive. I think he will have a breakout this year his kicking is superb.
- greene was lively and just great at knowing how to crumb goals.
- tippa was good as a small forward and delivering into 50
- fantasia was very good. He beat baguley a few times he times his bump in a marking contest perfectly.
- the three of those guys together would be great.
- stewart i thought was good in the sense of working hard and being a target i think he looks decent but hurley was really good on him
- Ambrose was really good didn’t give brown much of a look in. I really like ambrose in defence his taller up close than i thought
- heppel and Watson with zerrett dominated but a lot of time they were up against second stringers.
Negatives
- Myers didn’t seem to do much although I’ve always thought he could do more
- mcgragh as stated got beaten easily twice. I dont think he’ll be ready round 1 id gradually phase him in. He did one or two small things but i think he might take time.
- i didn’t really notice any of the first year players have an impact but that’s to be expected.
But yeh i came away thinking this year our mosquito fleet Zerret, tippa, greene, fantasia, mckenna, colyer will be our biggest strength and will be very exciting to watch.
Thanks for the reports, everyone! Great stuff for those of us who couldn’t be there.
Would it be fair to say that Kelly and Gleeson seem to have locked in the spots off HBF, with McKenna (and possibly Dea) the biggest challengers thus far?
Thanks for the reports, everyone! Great stuff for those of us who couldn't be there.Would it be fair to say that Kelly and Gleeson seem to have locked in the spots off HBF, with McKenna (and possibly Dea) the biggest challengers thus far?
I reckon it will be
bags Hurley ambrose
Kelly Hartley Gleeson
INT: conor