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Hayden’s stamina and ability to cover a lot of ground are not well publicised but he is generally one of the players with the highest distance covered
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Like others, I found Ronke, McDonald and Ladhams' games most notable.
Ronke has seemed a bit overawed in recent years - run past the ball, fumbled, kicked too quickly. This year, he's looked more focused, confident and aggressive. With self-belief; like a weapon! There was one contested possession he won in a one-on-one on the wing after bodying out his opponent. His kick to Heeney in the goal square was a beauty. He's best 22 on this form, keeping out Wicks when Papley returns.
McDonald has such a booming kick. That 55m bomb on the run was out of a cannon. But he's also an excellent field kick. He had a game-high 3 score assists and two were pinpoint long kicks. Great running. Missed a couple of contested marks, but they'll come as he becomes accustomed to AFL defenders. Some great chase-down tackles too - 3 inside 50. Really liked his game.
Wow, Ladhams. Significant contributor to our dominance in the first half, winning the ruck contest and beating his opponent around the ground. Looked a good AFL player. Needs to working his tackle technique, but I'm sure they'll do that with him.
Special mentions to
- Mills: second straight game our best 4 quarter performer
- Gulden: the rolls royce is back
- Warner: absolutely shredded them out of the centre square - as Longmire would say: an energy giver
- Parker: marauded the forward half. Irresistible in that mood - game high 12 score involvements, 13 contested possessions, 5 clearances, 4 tackles inside 50. Beauty.
(Only negative reflection: I feel a little nervous about our defence, particularly the small defenders. Cunningham and Lloyd just feel a liiiittle off, as does Rampe. We feel a bit vulnerable back there when teams get a roll on.)Comment
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Hayward and Florent are so disappointing .Comment
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It's interesting how Ronke now seems to be back to his old self. I'm starting to wonder if he had some sort of strange, long-term after effect of a concussion, that affected his visual processing? For a while, he constantly missed tackles that he previously would have made and rarely handled the ball efficiently, but he was physically fit enough to still be a ball of energy on the field. It's just that the energy wasn't used productively. So maybe his perception wasn't quite right?
It will also be interesting to see how McDonald goes over the next week or two, in the absence of Buddy. Will he make a strong enough case, to remain in the side when Buddy comes back? Reasonable chance.
I think we should be okay with small defenders. Cunningham has possibly been a bit down this year, but is usually consistently good taking the best small forward. Some will say that the execrable Weightman gave him a beating, but Weightman got some crucial umpiring assistance. Also, some of Campbell's defensive efforts this year have been very good, and should only improve, when he gets more experience in a role that he never played as a junior.Comment
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We recruited Campbell as a wing / HF but I wonder whether his best value is to play off HB. Excellent kick, great speed and just bloody tough. His spoiling last night and ability to wear his opponent like a glove are starting to come to the fore.
Which brings me to Cunningham and Lloyd. Every game, Lloyd is gifting goals with unforced errors. Something is up. Is he sleep deprived like Reg was when he had his first kid? His kicking is off in general. Seems to be chipping it when a flat bullet is more what is required. Cunningham seems to be getting beaten on the lead. Is he injured or has he lost a yard of pace?
Whatever is happening with these two needs to be resolved. Melbourne, Free kick doggies and Lions all have dangerous small forwards that need to be kept in check and our depth beyond Lloyd and Cunningham is pretty shallow. COR and Fox honest footballers but if they're in our best 22 against the best teams, we could be struggling.
Maybe we could try Stephens as a defender. I remember Jared Crouch was recruited as a fleet footed midfielder who then became one of our best lockdown defenders, as was Nick Smith.Comment
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I think our best tall forward line is Franklin, McLean and McDonald. McLean's marking presence, ability to draw a free (11FF and 3FA this year) and straight kicking are all assets that keep him in. He's also durable - he keeps flying into those packs, bringing the ball to ground. Hard to remember him ever being outmarked. Also, the dude's averaging 1.6 goals a game.
Reid's main asset, in my view, is he's a superior backup ruckman, but that shouldn't get him run as a forward over McDonald or McLean.
The challenge for McDonald and John and his staff is to find a way to keep Logan involved when Lance is back.
Re the defence, yes, perhaps I should just relax and enjoy the Iron McCartin.
Not a criticism, but I wondered what happened with Campbell in the second half. Eight disposals in the first half, none in the third, two in the fourth. I thought he might have been off injured, until he picked up a possession midway through the fourth (poor turnover kick). He seemed to hobble back after that. Maybe a corkie? 77% TOG.Comment
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Yes, I suspect that one of the main reasons why Reid was picked last night, was that they wanted an experienced player in the forward line. That's much less of a need when Franklin and Papley return. On form, McDonald might have the edge on Reid.
Not really sure why Campbell was a bit quiet in the second half. It could have been that the ball didn't get into his area? Which is often the case for somebody playing in a pocket. 77% TOG is fairly standard for a young player, who's possibly still developing their tank.Comment
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