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I thought Smith was excellent in 2017, after a shaky 2015/6 where his defending was still good but his disposal (especially kicking) was less reliable. I suspect there are usually undisclosed injury issues that explain slight drop-offs in form/skill. I reckon he suffered with sore groins/OP during that 2015/6 period. The penetration in his kicking - never exactly a strong point but mostly adequate over his career - seemed off.
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Coaches votes
10 Franklin
7 Parker
5 Heeney
4 LeCras
2 Darling
2 Hurn
Franklin 5-5
Parker 4-3
Heeney 3-2
LeCras 4-0
Darling/Hurn 1-1/2-0
Or
Franklin 5-5
Parker 4-3
Heeney 4-1
LeCras 3-1
Darling/Hurn 2-0 eachComment
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I'd have Rohan AND Hayward in my team (and Reid too). We weren't tested too much in the forward pressure stakes yesterday, in part due to Buddy's brilliant efficiency. But we'll have sterner tests and those two both apply pressure that doesn't appear on the stat sheets. I wouldn't necessarily have had Hayward in the team before yesterday's game, after an interrupted pre-season and quiet pre-season campaign. But he played well yesterday.
Who to leave out is a much harder question. I guess Florent, Fox, Cunningham, Newman (and McVeigh) are the ones most under the pump, purely on the basis that the rest of the team is pretty secure, not because I thought any of those players was poor, or doesn't deserve a spot. I think we just have a pretty strong best 26 or 27 this season and some good players are going to find themselves in the NEAFL at times.Comment
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Surely there?s some way to combine Rohan and McVeigh into a useful AFL playing cyborg. Lighting quick, stupidly courageous, skilled and composed?Comment
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Reid, Rohan and Hanners would all come in when ready to go. I also think Aliir, when fully it, is an important structural addition to the side. So that makes 4. As you say, it's hard to know who goes out.
Florent probably had the quietest game, but we do want to get a fair few games into him this year. You can see he's got talent and will be a very good player one day.
I think Newman is underrated. He's involved in a lot of the play and gets to so many contests. He has 19 possessions yesterday, around his average of 20.3 for last year. Not shabby. He makes a few errors, but is generally a quick thinker and a skillful player by hand and foot. He still only has 21 AFL games under his belt and has the capability to raise his game to the very high level shown in the NEAFL. He's not as slow as some people think. He ran a lot with the ball in the NEAFL, but he doesn't have the kind of pace to break lines at AFL level, so he's more of a finesse player now. He's still evolving as a player.
Hayward was very active and looks ready to raise his game this year, but could be vulnerable if both Reid and Rohan return.
Macca is too good to leave out, but may have to be sacrificed for the sake of development. The could be some surprises.Comment
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How lucky are we that Buddy plays for us. He's not just incredibly talented, exciting and match-winning, but a great guy, a professional, an excellent mentor, and a fantastic team-mate. It's been a pleasure to watch him grow over the time with us. I think the greatest joy I experience watching us is when Buddy kicks a goal. His excitement, the making of history. We're bloody lucky. I hope he at least wins the Bob Skilton this year. He has started with three Brownlow votes.
Buddy aside, I found Heeney's performance most exciting. He looks fit, lithe, keen. He needs to be a Parker/Kennedy level player for us into the future. He showed signs of growing into that in the 2016 preliminary final - this was his best game since then.
Those observations aside, the following player notes are typical of most on here:
- Parker also looks fit and keen, and we need another outstanding year from him.
- Smith was at the top of his game, which was great to see. He also looks really fit.
- Lloyd demonstrated (although it wasn't in doubt) that his step-up last year is permanent.
- Great to see Hewett's great marking - he's an excellent role player, I have really warmed to him.
- Sinclair will always try to get the best out of himself.
- Fox played an excellent fourth game as a mature-age rookie.
- Hayward made some mistakes - his handballing has a lot of improvement in it and needs to improve his tackling - but found the ball impressively. I'm encouraged by his playing in the midfield - his clean hands, speed and leap are a point of difference in there for us.Comment
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+1 for the Hewett love. He played well, particularly early on when a lot of our other players were still butchering the ball and missing tackles.
I'm a Towers fan but he drove me mental early on with some of his errors. I realise height and mobility are his thing, but he looks like he could do with a few more gym sessions. He's pushed around a bit too easily and not as effective in the tackles as I would like to see. To his credit, he worked himself into better form and had an ok second half, I guess.
There were a few other players who were pretty sloppy with skills early on, and Jones never really improved all night.
Overall, a good win. I think the Eagles are a better side than most give them credit for, particularly at home.Comment
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I watched the Richmond vs Carlton game on Thursday and it was very clear that the definition of a handball had been tightened. We can only hope the umpires continue to penalise incorrect handballs for the remainder of the season and don't slowly forget about enforcing it as the season progresses as the umpires normally do.Comment
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He was excellent. Credit to him for playing so well off such a long spell. It will be good to watch him this year.
They were decent, it was a good win. Darling and LeCras seem to have lifted. Gaff and Yeo are class. Young Ryan looks exciting. They will go better than most people have predicted.Comment
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I have to say that Shuey is quickly overtaking Selwood as my most hated player in the AFL. Little grub. Toby Greene is also a grub, but at least he isn't a ducker.C'mon Chels!Comment
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