Round 5 v Richmond at the Adelaide Oval for Gather Round

[Roadrunner]

I wore Max Papley's number 11 on my south jumper when I was a kid. He crossed over to by vfa club Williamstown as captain/coach without a clearance as there was a feud between vfa and vfl at the time. Only left south brvause thry wouldn't let him play cricket in summe. Originally from Moorabbin..Freak player.

I remember Max Papley as a player who could do the impossible- as Skilts says, he was incredible!

Jeff Bray was pretty good himself so obviously Tom has inherited the talent but has worked on his game to reach this elite level. He inspires the team like no other and is a joy to watch- long may it continue!

On another note, I was happy with Gould’s game and hopefully he will get a few now with our key defenders injured, though I’m hoping Tom will be back next week.

[redstarforever]

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Yes boys! And Papley with a career high 6 goals. Love how the Melbourne commentators kept referring to Tiger's injury list but not mention ours once. That's what being from Melbourne, and a one quarter 38 point turnaround does

???? word

[redstarforever]

blew em outta there in the end.

happy that papley got scored a pb

blakey was impressive the way he handled things back there and his kicking i've always liked,, simply a beauty to watch

[MattW]

As others have said, it wasn't the highest quality game; Richmond imploded.

I thought we won on the back of 7-8 excellent performances, supported by another 5-6 solid performances.

Two were elite: Papley and Blakey.

I agree with Taylor's comment that Papley kept us in the game in the third; he was super hard, won each contest and finished with a deserved haul. He had 25 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 13 score involvements (competition leader for that stat averages 9.6) to go with 6 goals.

Blakey was a revelation. He thrived in an opportunity in a leadership role. He has reduced errors in kicking and overly ambitious running - I'm not sure he's been caught htb all year. Showed tremendous poise. 30 possessions at 93%! Extremely promising.

Heeney was back near his best. Probably the other one who propelled us forward in the second half. Finished with 20 disposals, 15 contested possessions (match high), 7 tackles (team high) and 8 score involvements. Great to see him back.

Chad Warner, Lloyd and Gulden were all great and also kept us ticking. Those three have been consistent all year. Chad just needs to kick a few straight!

Another excellent, very promising performance from Campbell, who is having a breakout year. 94% TOG is a great sign and indicative of the confidence the coaches have in him.

Wholehearted performance from Ladhams, who's trying his best. Am looking forward to a fit Hickey back, though, to steady things a bit.

Great to have Fox back.

I thought Logan did some good things in a difficult role once Amartey went down.

On the debutants, Warner did a couple of good things, including kick straight! His first contested possession was a beauty. There was at least one occasion where he could have chased a bit harder - a teachable moment.

Gould also. The double-fist spoil from a near certain Riewoldt mark, I think early in the fourth, was great. He did look a little casual at times, but will be better for the run.

Roberts was ok. He was clean, going at 93% efficiency, and looks comfortable in possession. His lack of pace was notable on a few occasions, particularly defensively, and I do wonder how limiting that will be in the long run.

I thought Stephens and McInerney were pretty poor again. Stephens to be lacking confidence in both his disposals and in contested situations. Not really playing at the level, but we're very thin right now and he still offers more than Corey in that role.

Cunningham still tries very hard, but has lost a bit of the pace which provided a point of difference. In as a steadying veteran at the moment, but Clarke might take his place soon.



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[aardvark]

I like Ladhams but he's got to be the dumbest bloke ever to play AFL I reckon.

[longmile]

I like Ladhams but he's got to be the dumbest bloke ever to play AFL I reckon.

I actually don't think he's dumbest in the traditional sense, but definitely up there with the dumbest in terms of football IQ

[waswan]

I actually don't think he's dumbest in the traditional sense, but definitely up there with the dumbest in terms of football IQ

25yrs old and 40 games......still a pup in a ruck sense
Also better get used to it, Hickey at 32 and over 2months out with little preseason is a 50/50 proposition for the rest of the year


Gould did well as a 1st gamer when you consider we had the experience of the Mccartins and Rampe missing

[giant]

What a fabulous win, has made me feel happy all weekend.

Being a terrible supporter I never gave us a chance, even at the 3Q break. But the leaders, especially Paps and Heeney of course, but even Lloyd and Hayward, really stood up in that last quarter. We had so many great wins last year, but this was surely the equal of any of those.

Absolutely delighted for the first gamers who both had their moments. Hope they continue to get chances but gee it doesn't get any easier from here.

EDIT: Meant to call out the coaches box that also had a great night - the scramble to cover Amartey's loss must have been desperate (do they plan for such contingencies in advance I wonder?) but it was quite masterful. And the brave move to push Mills back was a masterstroke (made a tad easier by the complete lack of contribution from Cotchin). I got a sense that Rowbottam wore Prestia pretty hard all night too. Anyway, many great moves from the box, both planned and extemporised.

[Ludwig]

I like Ladhams but he's got to be the dumbest bloke ever to play AFL I reckon.

I like the way he gets involved in the play, but he makes so many unnecessary disposal errors. He needs to learn when to go fast and when to slow down and consider the situation before handballing off to no one. He seems to have controlled his aggression, so he is capable of learning. Maybe getting him to think a split second longer is possible.

Gould also. The double-fist spoil from a near certain Riewoldt mark, I think early in the fourth, was great. He did look a little casual at times, but will be better for the run.

Roberts was ok. He was clean, going at 93% efficiency, and looks comfortable in possession. His lack of pace was notable on a few occasions, particularly defensively, and I do wonder how limiting that will be in the long run.

I thought Stephens and McInerney were pretty poor again. Stephens to be lacking confidence in both his disposals and in contested situations. Not really playing at the level, but we're very thin right now and he still offers more than Corey in that role.

Cunningham still tries very hard, but has lost a bit of the pace which provided a point of difference. In as a steadying veteran at the moment, but Clarke might take his place soon.

I hope we keep Gould in the side as Paddy's replacement. We really don't know if Paddy is coming back, and even if he does, it won't be for a long time. He's our best long-term option right now and we should go with it. It's going to be a different group of players he will have to adjust to, because our regular defenders never play reserves footy. We need him to become a regular in the side.

I noted several times over the past year that Roberts' lack of speed and athleticism might hold him back, but the rest of his game was very good. he's a much improved player this year. There are lots of slowish players who have made it big time in the AFL, so he certainly can do it. Good disposal and good decision making can get him through.

If Gould and Roberts stay in the side and Tom and Rampe return, Mcinerney or Stephens should be dropped, or play sub. We will have and extra in defence, so either Fox or Campbell could move to the wing or HFF. It depends on which one moves up field: Fox to replace JMaac, or Campbell to replace Stephens.

I would leave Cunningham in the forward line, for now. He has quick hands in tight places, learned from his experience as a small defender.

[Scottee]

Those wins really are special. And Paps just played one of the great games we’ve seen, with Blakey not far behind. Real leadership from both of them.

I don’t get the criticism of Hayward. He had most marks on ground and most were contested in those crucial plays on the wing. Heeney’s best game of the year. And thought Lloyd’s experience was crucial tonight.

I also thought it was Campbell’s best game. The Chad was his usual self and thought Ladhams was very good tonight.

Of the young ones, Robert made one or two mistakes, but did a lot right and had a lot of good moments.

Must admit that Hayward had a better game than I thought. Only worried about the form of Stephens and Parker now.

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[Scottee]

Apart from the many memorable aspects of this game, the thing that sticks in my mind is the second quarter, the quarter of injustice to Lloyd. Not only did he have the most obvious free of the century not paid to him when he nearly had his head knocked off by Reiwoldt, but he is denied a goal by a piece of flapping plastic. I mean WTF!!!???

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[Captain]

Great to see Isaac back to form. Our forward line is much more dangerous and unpredictable when he is firing and Buddy isn’t there.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Re Ladhams, the coaches need to stick with him. He’s getting better, has good skills and is part of our long term plans. We’re entering a very long window if we keep managing and adding to our list. We have three elite players aged 26 in Isaac, Mills and Paps, followed by our special crew of 22 years and under youngsters in Chad, Campbell, Gulden, Blakey, McDonald etc. Hickey’s best is still a bit better than Ladhams, he’s been terrific and there will be times we need him. But the long view is the more we play Ladhams, the better he keeps getting and the more he and the guys around him synch.

As for Roberts, he was very good. He can compensate for his lack of athleticism. If I had one knock on his game it was once or twice he ran himself or the teammate he wanted to give the ball off to into a tight spot. It’s very coachable so no biggie, and he seems a smart player anyway.

The other one in hindsight who had an even better game than I realised at first was Logan. He got the bulk of his work done in the first half, but in the second half he made a lot of contests where defenders had an edge and evened them, did a couple of nice blocks, and had the vision to give off good kicks for Papley’s first and final goals of the last quarter. The kicks didn’t need to be perfect; just to space, and he hit them both quickly and correctly. He’s a rare talent and may the footy gods be kind to him.

[gloveski]

Must admit that Hayward had a better game than I thought. Only worried about the form of Stephens and Parker now.

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Hayward is very good defensively, the biggest issue he has is when he takes a mark he takes way to long to dispose of it . Especially when there is a chance for a quick short pass to someone inside 50 . It’s like he doesn’t trust his kicking . Seems to have a knack of taking a mark from a bailout kick right when we need it though


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[Nico]

People are a bit harsh on Ladhams. He had one brain fade, but was good all game. He wins his own centre clearances. One thing people seem to criticise is he taps to the opposition, but he can't help poor bouncing and the mids not reading the play.