This weeks NAB Challenge against Carlton

[Velour&Ruffles]

You didn't mention Smithy who gave away two goals and looked slow and disinterested at times.

I don't care about the All Australian (which is essentially a retrospective, much like the Oscars), Smith's disposal is noticeably worse than it was a couple of years ago. He used to be super reliable. He remains so, but sadly now because his disposal is amongst the least trustworthy in the team - he can basically be depended on to butcher it. I hope this changes in 2016, but if it doesn't then we should clear him while he still has currency. The commentators are usually about two years behind where players are actually at - three years for non-Victorian players. We should make use of this window if necessary.

[R-1]

I think Talia is an understudy for Grundy and Richards plain and simple. He's a pure negating defender and isn't there to generate offensive play. We cannot run all three but it's handy to have the backup. How stuffed would we be without Richards otherwise.

[dimelb]

A frustrating game to watch: seconds of brilliance among minutes of fumbling and inaccuracy. I felt we were playing within our capacity most of the night.
Good to see the youngsters and most of them showed potential.
We were outplayed in the ruck again but I think they (meaning Tippett and Sinclair) will be OK. Carlton kept up the pressure and forced many "Hail Mary" kicks. We need to be better at hitting targets out of the ruck, I suspect by being a little more patient. The one we missed most in that respect was McVeigh.

[wolftone57]

I don't understand all this negative talk re: Talia like the jury is still out etc. Can someone tell me when he was beaten in a contest or kicked it out on the full or straight to the opposition from a kick in this week? Yes he didn't dominate the game but he certainly wasn't poor and showed me he is quite capable of holding down a key defensive post for not only this year but certainly in the future!

I agree. Casboult didn't kick a goal on Talia

[liz]

Do you actually watch the games? Newman did three terrible disposals out of plenty. Mind you we weren't giving him much to kick to and at times his disposal was absolutely wonderful. He found targets where you would think @@@@ me where did he see that?

I thought Jones sensational until he went off injured. he kicked one clanger but the rest of his play was pretty good.

I notice you don't say anything about Rampe who managed to kick three our on full.

You didn't mention Smithy who gave away two goals and looked slow and disinterested at times.

You got Hewett and Papley right but I thought Rose was a bit player. In and out of the game not consistent.

I thought Talia actually beat Casboult when he was on him.

I think it is pretty clear that Mug Punter watched the game. Just because his opinions differ from yours is no reason to denigrate his in this manner.

I am not surprised that opinions on many of the newer players diverge. They each did things that suggest they have AFL traits, but for each of them their inexperienced also showed through at times. With most of the senior players (Hanners being the honourable exception) going at half pace, the younger players were made to earn their possessions and got some idea of the pressure at senior level. We are going to have a pretty young and inexperienced team for parts of the season, especially while the likes of McVeigh and Reid are missing, so we better get used to the frustrations of basic errors and learn to be patient while we watch these kids grow.

Of the young brigade, Hewett was the one who impressed me the most. I think he showed he is clearly ahead of Robinson - he showed good composure, and while none of his skills look overly fluent or silky, he seems to be able to get the job done. A round 1 debut certainly doesn't look out of the question.

[Ludwig]

I am not surprised that opinions on many of the newer players diverge. They each did things that suggest they have AFL traits, but for each of them their inexperienced also showed through at times. With most of the senior players (Hanners being the honourable exception) going at half pace, the younger players were made to earn their possessions and got some idea of the pressure at senior level. We are going to have a pretty young and inexperienced team for parts of the season, especially while the likes of McVeigh and Reid are missing, so we better get used to the frustrations of basic errors and learn to be patient while we watch these kids grow.

Of the young brigade, Hewett was the one who impressed me the most. I think he showed he is clearly ahead of Robinson - he showed good composure, and while none of his skills look overly fluent or silky, he seems to be able to get the job done. A round 1 debut certainly doesn't look out of the question.

I'm glad you made the point about our inexperience and what our expectations should be. Seeing Longmire's postgame PC, I got the feeling the same was going through his mind. It would seem that our round 1 team will come from today's players minus Nankervis and one other, probably either Newman or Rose. We will open our campaign this year as one of least experienced sides. We will have only 11 players in that side with 50 games experience. By comparison, GWS are likely to go into round 1 with 18 players having played 50 games or more.

As for Hewett, I was very impressed with how well he weights the ball with his kicks. And he hasn't gotten the chance to show that he can do it just as well on his left foot. Heeney, Mills, Jones and Hewett are going to be the Fab 4 midfield of the 2020s.

[swans]

I feel the player they need to bring on is abe up forward/back and dawson the two main issues we have is long kicking out of defence to a player to open up the game up and the third forward option up forward , it appears only dawson or bud have that kicking over 50 to open up the game.
Papley needs to be upgraded for round 1 .
Talia will be ok over time he has the sames issues as a number of swans backman he tends to punch the ball as his first option and not mark it first , they learn it in junior footy it doesn't work in first's, ted was like that when he started it takes time and confidence to go for the mark first , remember we pick up a key defender for nothing. Talia just need more games to learn of Ted who marks the ball first, talia is a 194 key back that can handle the key big forwards and is still learning the game , he needs time to learn the game plan and confidends to mark it first his is still a young kpp,
The swans fumbling and inaccuracy is still a big issue . I fell mills should play forward/ mid this year not back , as he is too young to play back, and his kicking skill is needed forwarded and his run is need in the middle as he displayed tonight. parker/ mill will be good option to rotate forward .

Good to see the youngsters and most of them showed potential over the three pre session games we may have found some gems
We were outplayed in the ruck and the mid again (meaning Tippett and Sinclair) will be Ok , we need running mid in their Mills in the center as he is a run and Hewett need to play centre this year.

Hewett has passed cunningham in the best 22 and gives us more options We need hewett and mill both in the centre rotation as we looked slow after half time and can both rest forward and back.

Toby need to ring mummy and talk about getting mad in games mashing small mids and protecting your player. He,s a big man play like it , don,t hold back Mate, see the footy and go for it , smash up the packs , run though the players , get mad , when they kick out to you, think i getting this foody no one else is. talk to brett kirk about what is means to never say die, just give a 100% at going for the ball . watch the mummy video just start pushing the players around and start playing like a big man go for the marks and footy, see player going for the mark or ball run though them, make yourself a big present on the field we need you to be.

Overall a good pre session in trying out a number of player on the list abe is the player we should have got more game time into that big utility type that we just miss on the ground that last few years that can play forward and back.

[Auntie.Gerald]

ok so GWS showed how they are going to go with numbers in the backline and rebound hard numbers pushing forward

Carlton showed they will chip, change angles, catch and then flood ahead near halfway hoping that the next kick will find the mark and they will out number the opposition

we showed no secrets in round 2 against GWS i.e. we just focussed on out hunting GWS which we did not do and we just bombed it forward

tonight we showed a little more re out exits and entries but really it looked similar to the last half of last year...........so hopefully we are all pleasantly surprised in rd 1 as the Pies have no idea what our game plan will look like

I am worried about our exits though.........we appear to be weakest in this area.......strategically but technically a real concern

our hunt for the footy is no where near the level required to be a winning team as yet............we were fairly ordinary against a team such as Carlton !!!

positives:

Hewett has brought his vision, skill and added some gut running and i love what i see............was given a fair bit of space though.............will contest for best 22

Dawson may get game time in 2016

Papley and McGlynn may struggle to be in the same team but Papley is a very welcome addition to the squad and has a longer kick then i expected

Mills solid but shows early signs of being ready for 2016 snrs

Sinclair thank god we picked him up

Talia will be fine and be a great depth signing for 2016..............he is no worse then reg or Ted when they started in the backline

[mcs]

I was travelling so missed the game - but im glad to hear Hewett played well. He looks so much more an afl standard player than a number of our other fringe guys. He would be in my 22 for round 1.

More promising signs from Papley too - sounds like he is a real bolt from the blue and perhaps another wonderful draft steal in time.

[Doctor]

He hasn't rated much of a mention, but Jake Lloyd has been very handy this pre-season. Good to see him playing well again.

[Foreign Legion]

He hasn't rated much of a mention, but Jake Lloyd has been very handy this pre-season. Good to see him playing well again.

I thought Lloyd had been pretty ordinary up until last night but he certainly stepped it up. He was noticeably more intense and I would not be surprised if Longmire had sat him down during the week.

Agree with everything people say about Hewett - if I had to describe him in one word I would say poised.

[Nico]

A few observations from last night.

Nick Newman - He looks like he could be ok but boy his dumb chip kicks to players covered were stark. And please don't let him kick out unless he is told to kick long.
Marking - Please don't drop the chest marks in the serious stuff.
Rose - he looks a real chance. Looks much harder than Cunningham.
Cunningham - I don't fancy players who take short steps when the ball is in dispute.
Hewett - Clearly better then Towers. Gets just as many possessions, is far cleaner when getting possession, looks where he is kicking, kicks for goal accurately, finds space easily, follows up his possessions and holds marks. Towers fumbles, has a look over his shoulder, drops marks and doesn't get to many contests. May have the odd cameo quarter but generally goes missing. Hewett is a much harder and tougher footballer.
LLoyd - got better as the game proceeded but for a bloke who gets a lot of the footy his finishing is not good enough. Very dumb playing on when Papley had a free at 20 metres and missed. As Dunstall said; "if your are going run off you better kick those goal".
General field kicking/disposal selection - how many times did we chip to a player in a congested midfield. Also kicking to a small player on a 2 on one contest. Look for someone free for goodness sake when have aweek to do something with the footy.
Talia - not sure. Looks slow and fumbles too much.
Grundy is a very good player.
Smith - what has happened to his kicking, even when under no pressure. Poor player selection.
Papley - ready made and runs all day.
Sinclair - great pick up with butter fingers. Has got to clunk them.
Mills and Heeney are fine footballers.
Finally - Hewett starts up forward in preference to Towers and Papley gets upgraded.

[Mountain Man]

Was it 3 times that Rampe kicked out on the full?

They were not pressure kicks either - just a long kick up the line but (presumably) with a lack of concentration.

[Nico]

Was it 3 times that Rampe kicked out on the full?

They were not pressure kicks either - just a long kick up the line but (presumably) with a lack of concentration.

Correct, but why do players stand on the boundary (Mitchell) and expect to mark it.

[Levii3]

People seems really keen to dismiss Cunningham and Lloyd for some reason, Lloyd had a good game yesterday and was average last week and had 31 touches against Port?? Why would you take Cunningham and Towers out of the team for Hewett? Hewett is a midfielder and Cunningham is a Forward/Mid who can tags players like Stephen Hill Boomer and wins Towers is a forward and our best player in the finals last year who is just reaching his potential now. You know who else took short steps when ball was in dispute Jetts...