Round 2: the other games. Oooh, Mr Beveridge has just exploded!

[MattW]

Zac Merrett just been ruled out for two months with an ankle injury, which means Mick Malthouse’s flag prediction is looking a little wobbly. Who’d have thought the old fella has lost his touch?

I'd already reflected I need to go back and note the pundits who reckoned Essendon would make the 8 at our expense; from The Age it was Greg Baum (a great writer but inattentive footy watcher) and Sam McClure: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/spo...10-p5a3e3.html.

I'm not sure Malthouse ever had touch as a pundit.

[Kafka's Ghost]

Watching Freo v St Kilda, the umps clearly didn’t get the “holding the ball” memo.


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[Aprilbr]

He had a few possessions, but what struck me was how either got a few cheap ones down back as they chipped it around, or, given they are a bit of a rabble, how many were possessions were under pressure. He got crunched a few times and his kicking was scrambled as it was under serious heat.

Dawson started slowly but came into the game in the 2nd quarter. From memory, he kicked one excellent goal. However, he would not have been in the Crows' best in my opinion. I think he has gone to the Club with arguably the worst list at present. I really cannot see them contending for some years. Even North have more promise than the Crows. A lot of bottom 4 finishes for him to enjoy while he watches his old teammates contending for premierships. I'm not convinced that Nicks is a topline coach either.

[Aprilbr]

I think Essendon are in for a tough season. They have some good young players but seem to struggle going forward. Two metre Peter has been an excellent bargain pickup for them but they lack alternatives to him.

Brisbane will build into the season and be a real premiership threat. Lachie Neal is a superb player!

[bloodspirit]

As I expected, North Melbourne defeated the Eagles. With a 15-point margin, the match was closer than I expected but North still won.

- - - Updated - - -

And for those who still think inside 50s are relevant to form, West Coast had more inside 50s than North but still lost. That makes it only one game out of seven this round so far where the side with more inside 50s won.

I really appreciate your posts with such well selected stats. Thanks Thunder Shaker!

[barry]

Do GWS have a ticker problem??

It is clear at the game (hubby's best pal is a Tiggs fan!) and a check at the player stats confirms it!!

They don't have a single mid with over 4 tackles or 20 pressure acts!

Compared with us when we played them in rd 1, we had 5 mids with over 4 tackles and 4 mids with over 20 pressure acts!!

It would appear that none of them want to get their hands dirty and are all expecting the others to do it!

GWS have a coach problem. First round when they played us, it was a good old fashioned shoot out, with lots of daring play and the winner was the one who could shoot straightest. We are in red hot form, so GWS shouldnt have been to disheartened by the loss.

But their coach over-reacts and gets them to play a slow play style like Geelong last year. That just dont work in 2022. Dumb as bat sheeeet. Makes you really appreciate Longmire.

[707]

Didn't watch the game but Crows seem to have easily been beaten by the Pies. Can't help but think that JD has really made such a bad decision, especially after the Friday night our team had..............

Crows have the youngest list in the AFL but just being young doesn't ensure you're going to rise up the ladder as their supporters sprout. A lot of their best 22 young players don't look to be on a trajectory to peak any better than role players. A number of key players rack up possessions but have ordinary disposal, oppositions don't tag Laird or Keays. Dawson is the star in the Crows team so more likely to get paid opposition attention that he was last year with us which he may not enjoy. Crows also have some stalwarts retiring in the next couple of seasons with no obvious replacements.

I'm in Adelaide and have a natural dislike of the Crows, so I'm hoping there is no rise up the ladder and that Dawson regrets the trade, he certainly looked frustrated by the ineptness of some Crows players at the weekend.

[707]

..... and from the Titus O'Reilly (highly recommended) website "I hope Judas Dawson enjoys his Mummy's cooking because he ain't gonna enjoy playing for these losers"

[dejavoodoo44]

..... and from the Titus O'Reilly (highly recommended) website "I hope Judas Dawson enjoys his Mummy's cooking because he ain't gonna enjoy playing for these losers"

I'm not sure if he'll even have his mother's cooking, since last I heard, she's still in his hometown of Robe. If Adelaide's season degenerates further, he might end paying late night visits to Cowley's pie cart and shoving most of a pie floater into his mouth. And then waking up, wondering what the horrible mess on his shirt is.

[bloodspirit]

..... and from the Titus O'Reilly (highly recommended) website "I hope Judas Dawson enjoys his Mummy's cooking because he ain't gonna enjoy playing for these losers"

Those commenters on TOR are often so funny. You wouldn't see that kind of thing here.

But just back to Titus - I just read his last three columns - the preview to round 2 is his best in a good while. So many LOL moments.

[stevoswan]

..... and from the Titus O'Reilly (highly recommended) website "I hope Judas Dawson enjoys his Mummy's cooking because he ain't gonna enjoy playing for these losers"

That was me....glad you liked it.

[Kafka's Ghost]

That was me....glad you liked it.

I did. A Crows’ fan posted he felt sorry for Dawson, as it was was probably dawning on him that he’s unlikely to play finals again for the rest of his career.


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[stevoswan]

I did. A Crows’ fan posted he felt sorry for Dawson, as it was was probably dawning on him that he’s unlikely to play finals again for the rest of his career.

As a Crows fan.....he would.

[Thunder Shaker]

I really appreciate your posts with such well selected stats. Thanks Thunder Shaker!

Thank you for your appreciation.

My pet peeve is the highlighting of stats that are not very relevant to the result. Last year it was hit outs. This year, inside 50s seem to be in vogue.

In round two, only two games out of nine the side winning with more inside 50s (Collingwood vs Adelaide and Fremantle vs St Kilda).

SEN also had an article discussing this, though I can't find it right now. They noted that disposal efficiency inside 50 was more important.

Round two had a few games where one side was significantly more accurate than the other. Here is a list of all round 2 games where one side had six more behinds than the other.
* Western Bulldogs 13.12 (90) Carlton 16.6 (102)
* Sydney 17.5 (107) Geelong 10.17 (77)
* Essendon 10.15 (75) Brisbane Lions 15.7 (97)
* Port Adelaide 7.14 (56) Hawthorn 19.6 (120)

Two things in common: (1) The losing side was much more inaccurate, (2) the losing side had more inside 50s.

So in round 2, being effective inside 50 was far more important than simply getting the ball there.

This was the statistical quirk from round 2. Other rounds will be different.