You can forget how good Guelfi is sometimes.
I thought he was tremendous today.
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Lol
um sure.
14 odd players at less than 100 games in norths team tonight.
from a quick glance the oldest of that lost at 25 . 5 months is ben mckay
next seems to be griffen logue at 25. 1 month
after that zurhaar at 25
a few are at or close to 25 after that.
hope that helps
True, but our pressure was farking woeful in the first half, no effort when we didnât have the ball at all, got them up and about, to slog it out after the bad start to second half ends up a credit
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North fans are crying because of this. They really are a desperate, pathetic flock of misfitsâŚ
https://twitter.com/DavidZita1/status/1665289777942495233?t=ZpRSGvr3KQM4ohxyFD78mA&s=19
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Attended the game with @VanDerHaar.
Unlike many, I did not expect this game to be a walk in the park for multiple reasons:
- Like last week we are playing a lowly team that is actually more experienced then we are.
- North have been progressively better the last few weeks
- For North, playing Essendon every year is their GF and they lift.
- I was aware Victorian teams struggle the week following playing the Eagles in Perth. I didnât realise than no team has won that game this year.
Four big danger signsâŚand the past memories of 20+ years of stuffing up against lowly sides we are expected to easily beat.
The danger signs I didnât pick we that North could lose Simpkin early in Q1 and Greenwood in Q2 and firstly, lift, and then dominate around stoppages and in contested possession (cp). But then again the had three Top 5 picks in the middle (Phillips (who played the best game of his short career), Wardlaw and Sheezel) for a number of centre bounces. No surprise to see them do so well given they are Top 5 picks.
Whilst losing Simpkin so early clearly threw out their planning and it allowed to play in a way we couldnât have planned for. His early loss added to our ability to dominate the game. But there were some early warning sides even when we were on top with Weidemanâs lack of competitiveness and some sloppy disposal. In Q1 they also seemed to use Greenwood in the middle against Stringer and that didnât work. As it was Greenberg was subbed off at half time.
Ratten reset his team well and quarter time and we got to see their young Top 5 trio in action around the ball. They also started throwing in Thomas onto the ball occasionally for the rest of the game his big frame in the centre bounces seemed to trouble us.
And it wasnât just the big Thomas frame and the fact they virtually played the entire game without LUD and Simpkin but still won CP by about +25 from midway through Q1 to the end. they had bigger body size nearly all over the ground, I recall looking at their forward line in Q1 and everyone of our 6 defenders was either shorter or had a smaller body than their North opponent. Ridley was the only one that was taller, his opponent being Zurhaar. But Zurhaar had a big frame advantage in that contest. Ultimately, this contributes heavily, in my view, to why we lose cp so often. The bigger guy is at an advantage in a contest against a little guy. And, courtesy of 20 +years of Dodoroâs list philosophy, we are a team of little guys against nearly everyone we play.
I have read through the entire thread and canât believe the vitriol directed at our Phillips. At the game, I thought he was the best ruckman in the first half and wasnât surprised to see he had 8 hit outs to advantage to halftime (some sort of record for half a game?). Yes, he is ungainly, but he competes as well as anyone and creates groundball chances (we were thrashed in this area today, until probably Q4). Yes, I wished he stuck more marks but his marking attempt in Q4 directly fed Draper for his crumbing goal. This is in complete contrast to Weideman who, for the second week running, was utterly woeful. He couldnât mark on the lead, he couldnât mark - twice - in Q3 when he was the only player to fly for the ball and he stood like statue if the ball was kicked in space, allowing McKay to simply run to the ball and clear it easily whilst he tailed about 10 metres behind. He does not deserve his spot in the team like Walla didnât after last week.
Phillips does not play today then we would not win as Draper cannot ruck through a game
alone.
Our best parts of the game in the second half when we used the ball by foot and managed to hit up simple passes but did so quickly. We looked very tired in Q4, to my eyes, and it was like the players were trying to will themselves over the line which they eventually did. that, and I thought D-Ambrosioâs entry into game gave us a bit of a lift. It was fitting he snapped the winning goal. I thought Heppell was largely very good again tonight and Ridley and Laverde excellent with their intercept and contested marking, often against bigger opponents. Redman and McGrath had nights to forget. Zerk-Thatcher was woeful, as he was last week. But, unlike Weideman, at least he competes. I canât recall a defender missing so many attempted spoils as Zerk-Thatcher did today. We were thrashed at the bookends and that played a role in North nearly winning the game.
Whilst McGrath turned the ball over regularly, Ziebell kicked the ball OOF regularly. but note that a couple were from a mark/kick-out/free (i.e. play had stopped) where we set up our ground defence. We went mainly 1:1 with 2-3 players zoning and blocking passes at an angle. Rather than bomb the ball long, Ziebell chosen extremely low percentage passes to players out very wide. Kudos to our coaching team. that defensive structure contributed to our win tonight.
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Yep, thanks.
I watched the Mekbourne v carl game⌠that was a far worse spectacle than this game.
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Like Shiel, Caldwell was tripped and a free not played. No wonder he was sore. As was Shiel when he went off.
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People are so hard to please, and this is coming from me who is always a pessimist. It was a entertaining game and N**** made us earn the win
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What a great crowd for Sunday 4:40pm - 40,488.
The reigning premiers playing a Bulldogs side sitting in the top 8 only got a thousand more for the much better 7:30pm Saturday slot.
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we also have
guelfi at 25.9
snelling at 25.9
mason redman 25.9 also
who havenât reached a 100 games âtechnicallyâ
we also have thatcher and draper at and around the 25 mark who wonât again âtechnicallyâ reach the magical 100 game mark for another 2 and a half season (without injury)
after ridley at 24.7 it drops off a bit in games to age relativeness.
but um yeah, we had more under 100 games, go us.
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Not sure I agree but us against West Coast in 2022 follows that pattern if you want another example.
Several of our players had virus over the week. !
Itâs now been changed to this:
Merrett is building a massive season
Zach Merrett was huge against North Melbourne, continuing a season that would have had him in Brownlow contention if he werenât suspended for a rough tackle on Tom Sparrow in round five. He was huge in the first quarter and continued on to finish with 34 disposals, 11 marks, eight clearances and two goals. The Bombers skipper has been right in the mix for best on ground in all his sideâs wins this year and shows no sign of stopping, and as much as that pleases Bombers fans, it could lead to yet another frustrating Brownlow outcome.
Itâs now been changed to this:
Merrett is building a massive season
Zach Merrett was huge against North Melbourne, continuing a season that would have had him in Brownlow contention if he werenât suspended for a rough tackle on Tom Sparrow in round five. He was huge in the first quarter and continued on to finish with 34 disposals, 11 marks, eight clearances and two goals. The Bombers skipper has been right in the mix for best on ground in all his sideâs wins this year and shows no sign of stopping, and as much as that pleases Bombers fans, it could lead to yet another frustrating Brownlow outcome.
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To be fair, he was on (I assume) Weideman, who doesnât do contests.
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Wow, where did you hear this?
Every norf supporter I know is normal. What is with bigfooty and their fans being that â â â â â â â broken?
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Seriously?