Round 6: North Melbourne v Sydney game thread:

[connolly]

* i feel a lot more confident when bird or moore have the ball than jude bolton for instance. Plus you would rather see a young kid out there making mistakes as theres time for improvement, where as bolton should be at his peak.

* i remember watson saying how clever davis was and his tap on showed that yet he is out of position and dragged to the bench often. More than any other player who makes mistakes. If he had of kicked the easy shots he missed could of finished with 3 goals so was two straight kicks off a very valuable contribution so should be left in the side. But ideally davis should crumb around a marking option, not be the marking option

*the game was dull. I know its as long as u win, but it wasnt working, if your hold it up and contain the game but are getting the lead etc then so be it, but they were catching up and getting back in the game so why play that way?

full credit to you sitting through that game twice

And do you remeber the Mackster saying "Paul Bevan has been outstanding"? The kid cops one in the scone, keeps North's second best small to two kicks (didn't get a kick until 5 minutes before the end of the match) and a dangerous multiple gaol kicker to not one shot on goal and puts on five tackles, kills Grant in every contest and manages to hit forward targets from 50 metres and no comment. Too hard to say you were wrong I guess.

[connolly]

Just watching it again, a few more observations:
- Moore and Bird are pretty good in close - getting much better at reading the pace of the game and finding space to deliver out of a crowded situation
- I saw that there was nothing in J Bolton's charge into Hale - his disposal was still poor though
- Umpiring in the first few minutes of the last qtr was rubbish
- Commentators note Davis is such a clever footballer (both Ch 7 and MMM said this) = Roos really needs to exploit that. I saw only one weak effort allowing the opposition to run off him (and he was dragged for that).
- Barlow made some poor decisions and disposal errors in the last qtr
- Buchanan's disposal was absolute rubbish
- Our game was incredibly stagnant for much of the match (and it was very obvious at the ground)
- Half way through the last qtr we'd had just 33 I50s - no wonder we score so few goals and our forwards have such minimal influence
- Kennelly was a joy to watch in the last qtr (after a forgettable three qtrs)
- After a poor first half, Barry fought his way back well in the second half (he does get away with an awful lot though)
- Bevan's disposal was effective - didn't think about it, just did it
- After 73 min of boredom, the last 7 min were pretty entertaining.
- That last shot by Kirk was definitely a goal

See reply to 100. Ditto with spades

[swansrule100]

And do you remeber the Mackster saying "Paul Bevan has been outstanding"? The kid cops one in the scone, keeps North's second best small to two kicks (didn't get a kick until 5 minutes before the end of the match) and a dangerous multiple gaol kicker to not one shot on goal and puts on five tackles, kills Grant in every contest and manages to hit forward targets from 50 metres and no comment. Too hard to say you were wrong I guess.

wrong about what???

when you find the post where i said paul bevan is a complete tool and delist him let me know

about time he played a game like that though hey

[NMWBloods]

See reply to 100. Ditto with spades

"Too hard to say you were wrong I guess."

Is that directed at me? I've not questioned Bevan's ability to play defensively. He's done that well before (although irregularly).

I've made a number of comments that I thought he was one of our best players.

As for "manages to hit forward targets from 50 metres" - seems unlikely as he didn't have a single I50 and rarely went beyond the half way mark.

Ironic that Bevan was one of our best and Davis was one of our worst, and the Swans played rubbish negative football and didn't win!

[connolly]

"Too hard to say you were wrong I guess."

Is that directed at me? I've not questioned Bevan's ability to play defensively. He's done that well before (although irregularly).

I've made a number of comments that I thought he was one of our best players.

As for "manages to hit forward targets from 50 metres" - seems unlikely as he didn't have a single I50 and rarely went beyond the half way mark.

Ironic that Bevan was one of our best and Davis was one of our worst, and the Swans played rubbish negative football and didn't win!

You said he isn't in our best 22! I don't have the stats but I would reckon no one has ever kept Grant to two kicks for a match. By the way Bevo played as a defensive mid and as a straight out defender. His versatility, courage and SKILL killed Grant. He hit ROK with a beautiful low trajectory pass in the last quarter running off Grant from 50 metres. I consider ROK to be a forward target. Pretty poor effort when you can't acknowledge an outstanding game from a kid he plays his guts out and gets rubbished by you and a few others from the comfort of a keyboard.

[connolly]

wrong about what???

when you find the post where i said paul bevan is a complete tool and delist him let me know

about time he played a game like that though hey

See reply to NMW. Ditto in spades

[NMWBloods]

You said he isn't in our best 22!

I say that he's a fringe player - I still think he is until either a backman or tagger retires or he puts together a long consistent run of good games.

I consider ROK to be a forward target.

I've said he has a nice kick but his long kick to ROK was out to the wing. Not quite the same as hitting up forward targets.

Pretty poor effort when you can't acknowledge an outstanding game from a kid he plays his guts out and gets rubbished by you and a few others from the comfort of a keyboard.

More fantasy stuff from you.

[swansrule100]

See reply to NMW. Ditto in spades

The style of game played made it pretty easy to restrict shannon grant.

Bevan played one decent game, does that put him in our best 22

i said he has improved and showing good signs, but if we give the same treatment to davis (not dropping him after a bad game) then he will easily be better than bevan

[Ludwig]

The fact is that Bevan has had a good season in 2008 and he has been in the top half dozen players in the past 2 games.

The big criticism lodged at Bevan over the years has been his decision making, and that's what seems to have vastly improved this year. He seems much quicker this year because he is making quicker and better decisions.

Another benefit has been that his solid kicking and general disposal is now on display.

At one time I couldn't see a long term future for Bevo in the team, but if he continues to play like he has so far he will up there amongst the best defensive midfielders in the game. Can see him being at least as good as a Stephen Baker, for instance.

[satchmopugdog]

The fact is that Bevan has had a good season in 2008 and he has been in the top half dozen players in the past 2 games.

The big criticism lodged at Bevan over the years has been his decision making, and that's what seems to have vastly improved this year. He seems much quicker this year because he is making quicker and better decisions.

Another benefit has been that his solid kicking and general disposal is now on display.

Agree. There were times yesterday when he looked authorative. He knew what he was doing,had confidence in his own ability and his skills responded. Add that to his already known attributes..courage etc. and it was a gamw worthy of votes in theTLM.

Side note......after reading that article about his great uncle and his unusual running style every time Paul puts his head on the side and starts his wierdish running I see that balding toothless little fella described in the article. The power of suggestion and maybe tha fact Tasmanians see genetics in everything.

[connolly]

Side note......after reading that article about his great uncle and his unusual running style every time Paul puts his head on the side and starts his wierdish running I see that balding toothless little fella described in the article. The power of suggestion and maybe tha fact Tasmanians see genetics in everything.

Thought the same.

[Glenn]

Just back from Melbourne, good to catch up with some familiar faces and put some faces to RWO names.
FWIW my two cents on the game; Sydney started well enough thanks to some relativly good ball movement and Norths inability to hold a mark or kick straight. From there it all goes Pear shaped, Sydney become indecisive with the ball, and overplay the handball and sure enough one stoppage after another.
Umpires do their level best to get North in the game to some questionable frees and 3 soft 50's that aren't paid in the same situation when it occurs to Sydney. Wouldn't mind the crap decisions/non decisions if they are at least consistent with it.
Sydney had the chances to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but some poor kicking and a questionable touched call saw the scores level at fulltime, after it looked liked Sydney had gifted the game to North Melb.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Bevo played his token good match per month. Let's make him captain!!!11

[Glenn]

Bevan was probably close to Swans BOG yesterday, he hasn't been as bad these last few games as people have been making out.

[AussieAnge]

Umpires do their level best to get North in the game to some questionable frees and 3 soft 50's that aren't paid in the same situation when it occurs to Sydney. Wouldn't mind the crap decisions/non decisions if they are at least consistent with it.

I thought there were 4 soft 50s to them. Why didn't Monty get a 50 when Grant sat on him after he took a mark?