North Melbourne in game discussion

[DeadlyAkkuret]

He'll score against the mod that he wanted to go to originally, just to stick it up 'em!

[ScottH]

Can't get over how well little Hanners played today. Have we got a 10 year contract with him??

I hope so.

He had 27 disp, 12 contested. The kid knows how to find the footy.

[BigD]

After reading this thread I'm looking forward to watching my tape of the game.

[Nico]

I think some credit must be given to North in the first half. When Wells went into his shell 10 minutes into the 3rd Quarter they stopped.

The good:
Goodes took the game by the scruff of the neck in the 3rd Q.
Kirk much better this week.
Kennelly as cool as it gets. Very good.
Hanners is a star.
Jetta is Mr 100% efficiency. Outstanding use of the ball as was Hanners.
The rucks are playing very well.
2nd half centre clearances was the best for a long time. Was it a conicidence that Goodes went in there?
Bradshaw is all class. His contested marking was superb.
Thought Jack stuck to his task on Harvey.
Moore (2nd half) McVeigh, ROK, Shaw (improved), LRT, Mattner were all serviceable.

Not so good:

Malceski was worked over.
J Bolton struggled.
Craig Bolton is not moving as well as usual. Gave away yards today and slower off the mark.
Kennedy does enough but not convinced yet.
Jesse - please don't play for a speckie.
Grundy - first half looked like he was believing his own publicity. Made some bad errors. Pulled the finger out somewhat in the 2nd half.

[31 hard at it]

a 40 point win on a sunny saturday afternoon.

It doesn't get much better.
North fans streaming out early in the last quarter meant the car park was an easy getaway too

Hanners was exceptional in close - beautiful handballs to advantage from heavy traffic.
Goodes just too good a few times and Bradshaw - I think a few of the swans have actually worked out that it is worth kicking it long to him one on one.

A most enjoyable day

[Red]

a 40 point win on a sunny saturday afternoon.

It doesn't get much better.
North fans streaming out early in the last quarter meant the car park was an easy getaway too

Hanners was exceptional in close - beautiful handballs to advantage from heavy traffic.
Goodes just too good a few times and Bradshaw - I think a few of the swans have actually worked out that it is worth kicking it long to him one on one.

A most enjoyable day

x2

[msb]

i am always careful about how one eyed i am watching a game. But i think the umpires did the best they could to keep north in that first half. After half time we dominated and looked very good.

And then some! Some of those frees North got in particular the 1st qtr (which resulted in goals) man you gotta sometimes wonder about this game and what its becoming! I even had north supporters sitting near me saying that they werent there. Overall though VERY pleased with the win and the performance of bradshaw, jetta, mumford and hannerbury. Bring on the eagles!

[aardvark]

Just in from the game. Today i learn't...
Hanners and Mummy are absolute gold
Goodsy is best in the midfield
Marty isn't a midfielders backside
Kirky is now officially Mr Reliable outside 30m (three weeks in a row)
McGlynn needs to use the better option far more often
LRT takes over from Leo as the player most likely to give me a heart attack
The umpires have problems, worst i've seen, unbelievably bad

Good solid win in the end

[msb]

23-24,000, I reckon at least 2/3's were Sydney.

The most intersting thing I noticed, was the hush as the game started. Usually the crowd buildings into a roar at the first bounce. You couldv'e heard a pin drop.
Norf may regret not moving north already.

Yeah I noticed how quiet it was at the start as well, there was zero atmosphere. We also outnumbered their supporters at THEIR home game IMHO, there was red and white everywhere!

[Young Blood]

A very satisfying day at the football. Our best performance at Etihad Stadium for several years.

I was keen to see the new look Swans in person. From the outset it was apparent that the team is playing a faster, more direct style of footy. However in the first half we were error-ridden and North was harder at the ball. After half time our intensity was markedly higher and we dominated.

We have so much to look forward to with Hannebery, Jetta and Mumford. Hannebery was everywhere and scarcely had a bad touch. I love Jetta's graceful long stride - haven't had a player who runs like that since (perhaps) Mark Bayes. Mumford appeared to be first ruck today and his 2nd and 3rd efforts were outstanding, and his tapwork very promising.

It's great to see Goodes on his game from the start of a season. He was a class above and broke the game open when moved to the midfield. Will be interesting to see where he lines up next week - he's been more than serviceable at CHF in the first 3 rounds, but the forward line did seem to be better balanced with 2 talls.

So good to have T Kennelly back and fit. He plays with such spirit and joy. One of my favourite-ever Swans. He stood out in the first half when others were finding it tough.

Other thoughts:
Bradshaw is a very very good footballer.
Moore's 3rd quarter was terrific. I was surprised by his pace and the quality of his disposal. He wasn't in my 22 for R1, but he did enough today.
Nice to win well without big games from McVeigh & ROK.
Jack was beaten by Harvey, but kept at it all day and got plenty of kicks himself.
Kennedy is worth persevering with, but his kicking is a worry.
Similarly Shaw turned it over alot in the first half. Better in the 2nd.
LRT had a very good defensive game.
CBolt was badly beaten in the first half - either he has lost a yard or he is carrying an injury. One to watch.

[T-bag]

Jesse - please don't play for a speckie.
.

Totally disagree with this. Let him fly. The more we see of him busting packs like that, the more teams are going to be scared of filling the hole in front of him.

[Big Al]

Re: North Melbourne in game discussion

Totally disagree with this. Let him fly. The more we see of him busting packs like that, the more teams are going to be scared of filling the hole in front of him.

Absolutely - with the quality of our crumbers now he should be using that ample frame of his to bust as many packs as he can. The odd hanger wouldn't go astray either.

[ShockOfHair]

Statswatch:
We'd won 1 out of our last 8 at Etihad prior to today.
Kirk laid 15 tackles. Some kind of record surely.

[mcs]

What a great day I had. My first ever match at Etihad- what a great place to watch footy at. A sluggish first half, but once we clicked in the 2nd we looked much better. The umpiring in the 1st quarter was diabolical. Their first 3 goals all came from frees that were never, ever, ever there.Even better was that I had a few $$$ on us to win by over 39.5 pts- I was sweating a bit at the end of the last quarter when the game really slowed up that North would send it to the other end and get a point lol!

Overall, I really like what I see. We didn't play well in the 1st half, but shook things up in the 2nd and took control. The big tests are to come of course, but I like so far what I have seen this year.

[Dalai Lama]

fine work duck like!