Round 21: GWS v Sydney Match Thread 5 Aug23

[Blood Fever]

Two quick things:

1. Not every player will ‘pull a Gulden’ every game;

2. When the player who gets subbed out had a pretty good game, you know the team overall are playing pretty well.

McDonald has a very good football brain and invariably thinks very quickly and takes the right option. Really like him as a player. Hope he can build his body up and become a gun KPF.

[Captain]

McDonald has a very good football brain and invariably thinks very quickly and takes the right option. Really like him as a player. Hope he can build his body up and become a gun KPF.

He looks really nicely built now. Can see him having a huge year next year.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Logan was on track for a 40 goal season before that injury and missed games in the middle of the year, which is deeply impressive for a third year KPF. He’s an elite field kick, has soft hands in general play and is building a huge tank. The way he worked up to the wings and made or evened a batch of contests last night was so impressive. His pack marking is starting to show some signs too.

He’s a total beauty and given even the best KPF don’t come into their own till season four or five, it’s gonna be great to watch.

[MattW]

McDonald has a very good football brain and invariably thinks very quickly and takes the right option. Really like him as a player. Hope he can build his body up and become a gun KPF.

Well said. He has great touch and executes under pressure. I really like him as a player.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I’ve been wondering when sides will try to tag Errol, and I’m sure it’ll happen. But then I looked at his heat map from last night, which was ridiculous. And it’s kind of summed up by the lead up to that checkside goal of the year contender.

While Bedford is having a shot for goal, Errol is literally standing 10m out from their goals. With the kick in, he then drifts towards the arc. After the ball is kicked to the pack where we flicked around a couple of handballs before McLean’s clearing kick, you see Gulden push past. Then, he seems to sense there’ll be spillage from the Clarke-Whitfield marking contest and puts on 10 quick steps before tapping the ball to himself. Whitfield closes in on him when he handballs to Wicks. He then puts on another surge to get himself clear for the receive, while Whitfield - one of the elite runners in the comp - falls off and effectively concedes he can’t go with him.

He’s run the length of the field, put in two sharp surges, and at the end of it, he’s got the energy and composure to kick THAT goal. He must have one helluva tank.

Good luck trying to tag that.

[dejavoodoo44]

I’ve been wondering when sides will try to tag Errol, and I’m sure it’ll happen. But then I looked at his heat map from last night, which was ridiculous. And it’s kind of summed up by the lead up to that checkside goal of the year contender.

While Bedford is having a shot for goal, Errol is literally standing 10m out from their goals. With the kick in, he then drifts towards the arc. After the ball is kicked to the pack where we flicked around a couple of handballs before McLean’s clearing kick, you see Gulden push past. Then, he seems to sense there’ll be spillage from the Clarke-Whitfield marking contest and puts on 10 quick steps before tapping the ball to himself. Whitfield closes in on him when he handballs to Wicks. He then puts on another surge to get himself clear for the receive, while Whitfield - one of the elite runners in the comp - falls off and effectively concedes he can’t go with him.

He’s run the length of the field, put in two sharp surges, and at the end of it, he’s got the energy and composure to kick THAT goal. He must have one helluva tank.

Good luck trying to tag that.

Assuming that he doesn't develop any chronic injuries, I suspect that he'll be hugely difficult to tag. Largely because of his incredible ability to get from contest to contest, that you described, but also because he appears to see the game so well. That is, he's highly likely to know where to go, a whole lot faster than the sort of player who gets used as a tagger. So, always being those few steps behind, just makes the task more stressful and tiring.

[crackedactor 01]

McDonald has a very good football brain and invariably thinks very quickly and takes the right option. Really like him as a player. Hope he can build his body up and become a gun KPF.

Just on Errol and Logan. I remember Logan saying about 2 years ago that Errol was probably the best player he had ever seen. I laughed at the time, but now???? Oh Errol!!!

[dejavoodoo44]

Just on Errol and Logan. I remember Logan saying about 2 years ago that Errol was probably the best player he had ever seen. I laughed at the time, but now???? Oh Errol!!!

Cal Sinclair was doing radio commentary on one of our games, a couple of months ago. He said that Errol was the most skilful player that he's ever played with.

[MattW]

Bedford, Daniels and Braeden all suspended for a week: MATCH REVIEW: Giants pair, young Swan banned after bruising derby - MATCH REVIEW: Giants pair, young Swan banned after bruising derby.

Mixed news, obviously. The Giants play away to Port next week in a game we would benefit from them losing. Bedford was good for them last night and Daniels is an important player for them.

Unless we successfully challenge Campbell's suspension, I'd expect Stephens to get his chance and Corey to come into the sub role.

[Industrial Fan]

Fair enough all round really. Greene knows (most of the time) how to skirt the line to avoid suspension. Had many plays that could have been cited for rough play.

[The Big Cat]

Bedford, Daniels and Braeden all suspended for a week: MATCH REVIEW: Giants pair, young Swan banned after bruising derby - MATCH REVIEW: Giants pair, young Swan banned after bruising derby.

Mixed news, obviously. The Giants play away to Port next week in a game we would benefit from them losing. Bedford was good for them last night and Daniels is an important player for them.

Unless we successfully challenge Campbell's suspension, I'd expect Stephens to get his chance and Corey to come into the sub role.

Have to challenge Campbell's Medium Impact ruling that was graded the same as the one that had Lloyd on the deck for a couple of minutes and off the ground being tested for yonks. Whitfield jumped up and didn't even shake his head.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Suns - home
Adelaide - away
Melbourne - home

Big finish coming up

[Hotpotato]

I’ve been wondering when sides will try to tag Errol, and I’m sure it’ll happen. But then I looked at his heat map from last night, which was ridiculous. And it’s kind of summed up by the lead up to that checkside goal of the year contender.

While Bedford is having a shot for goal, Errol is literally standing 10m out from their goals. With the kick in, he then drifts towards the arc. After the ball is kicked to the pack where we flicked around a couple of handballs before McLean’s clearing kick, you see Gulden push past. Then, he seems to sense there’ll be spillage from the Clarke-Whitfield marking contest and puts on 10 quick steps before tapping the ball to himself. Whitfield closes in on him when he handballs to Wicks. He then puts on another surge to get himself clear for the receive, while Whitfield - one of the elite runners in the comp - falls off and effectively concedes he can’t go with him.

He’s run the length of the field, put in two sharp surges, and at the end of it, he’s got the energy and composure to kick THAT goal. He must have one helluva tank.

Good luck trying to tag that.

Excellent read, thanks, maybe yr better informed than most of us!

[Kafka's Ghost]

Regarding the Inside 50 differential in this game, interestingly it was set up in the first and second quarters, before the game turned into a total wet weather affair, and most - albeit not all - were from quite shallow Giants’ re-entries. When we went forward we were far more efficient, took more marks and kicked goals, decreasing the potential for re-entries. Stats like these tell us that the simple number can actually be quite misleading. It also tells us that our backline is not only defensively far more sound than earlier in the season, they’re also highly adept at setting up attacking chains. There’ll always be the odd clanger, but overall they’re doing a mighty job both defensively and offensively.


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[BRS328]

Good post. Recognition of the backline goes unnoticed at times. What was pleasing was the efforts of Francis, McCartin, Fox and Lloyd who stood up while Florent and Blackey were tagged.