Rnd 1 Carlton vs Richmond - Pre-Game

[flyboy77]

Yes I agree, we do seem to be lacking in the opposition analysis department. But I think part of the problem is our medium sized players are generally too slow. Last season guys like E. Curnow, Kerridge, Lamb, Thomas, Plowman, White, Smedts, Graham, Gibbs, etc., just couldn't keep up with the oppositions breakaway players.

Add to that, we let defenders run off guys like Wright, Thomas and Silvagni while bombing the ball predictably to either Casboult or Kreuzer instead of looking for the loose players. We can have all the talls we like, but if we fail to make use of those in the open we won't win many games.

Better and faster ball use will help in this regard too!

[LP]

Hopefully the new guys like Pickett and Garlett will help in this regard. But we are generally a slow team. You need exceptional talent like a Sam Mitchell type to offset a lack of speed. And the game seems to be getting faster.

Hard to imagine why being able to kick both feet is no longer valued in recruiting, the reason Mitchell was so good was that he could go either way and deliver the ball efficiently to someone 25 - 30m away. It broke up the opposition defense, in a way we don't.

Pickett looks interesting to me, he's the one who looks to have the X-Factor, but can he deliver it regularly enough or for long enough!

Garlett has the leg speed, he's got SPS covered in this regard. SPS is a magnificent lateral mover but might lack the pace that saw him compared early in his career to a McLeod type player.

Garlett and SPS are both hard as nails, but their size is a problem because it's leave them less than durable. You need a deep list that can carry them late into the season, a bit like the way the Dawks have mothballed Rioli in recent years.

[LP]

Better and faster ball use will help in this regard too!

First hands on the ball hasn't helped, faster ball use only comes into play when you have the ball. Nthmond built a flag on causing turnovers in their defence and running like chooks out of D50, we along with other clubs couldn't keep up with them. If we tried that on they would run us down.

[flyboy77]

Yet, it's a style of play very hard to maintain for 4 quarters against a fast skilled opposition.

Did you watch when the Saints obliterated them mid year?

And yes, good ball use usually suggests you have the ball in hand!    :o

[LP]

I thought two clubs intimidated Nthmond last season, Adelaide and St Kilda, on both occasions it was the opposition smalls who ran riot against them. Rance was poor in both games, partly because both opposition sides had more than 10 goal kickers and Rance cannot cover them all. Which is one of the reasons I think expecting two or three talls to kick bags against Nthmond is a losing strategy. The two times opponents really got hold of them medium / smalls kicked bags.

Nthmond reversed the trend when it mattered.

[PaulP]

I thought two clubs intimidated Nthmond last season, Adelaide and St Kilda, on both occasions it was the opposition smalls who ran riot against them. Rance was poor in both games, partly because both opposition sides had more than 10 goal kickers and Rance cannot cover them all. Which is one of the reasons I think expecting two or three talls to kick bags against Nthmond is a losing strategy. The two times opponents really got hold of them medium / smalls kicked bags.

Nthmond reversed the trend when it mattered.

Yes, no doubt. But I bet other teams watched those games, and tried to repeat the dose, and failed. Even the Crows themselves couldn't repeat it. The sign of a good team when you can right the ship the way the Tigers did.

[LP]

Yes, no doubt. But I bet other teams watched those games, and tried to repeat the dose, and failed. Even the Crows themselves couldn't repeat it. The sign of a good team when you can right the ship the way the Tigers did.

But you can dead-set bet they have analysed the life out of those games over the pre-season.

Very few clubs have lists that can learn on the run, this might be Dimma's luckiest coincidence, that he's got a bunch of self-coaching fast learners and pretty much no discernible structure that can opponents cane identify.

[PaulP]

But you can dead-set bet they have analysed the life out of those games over the pre-season.

Very few clubs have lists that can learn on the run, this might be Dimma's luckiest coincidence, that he's got a bunch of self-coaching fast learners and pretty much no discernible structure that can opponents cane identify.

Maybe. But apart from Prestia, Caddy and Nankervis (and getting rid of Vickery), wasn't the list fairly constant before that ? Maybe they're the type that put things together much later in the process, because prior to 2017, they showed very little IMO.

[kruddler]

I understand the pessimism given the last decade and more of misery but the tide has turned and will keep turning.

I think we match up very well with the Tigers.

I know there's a lot more to it than height and weight but:

Levi - 201cm, 103kg.

Big H - 204cm, 100kg+

Rance - 194cm, 94kg.

Astbury - 195cm, 95kg (Crippa size)

That;s a big height weight difference.....

and Charlie

195cm, 92kg.

Rance
175 games
4x all australian
1x all australian captain
1x B+F winner
2x B+F runner up
1x premiership player


Astbury
85 games
1x premiership player

Casboult
94 games
1x leading goalkicker
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-
-
-


McKay
2 games
-
-
-
-
-

Curnowfides
27 games
-
-
-
-


Yep....a little more than height/weight.

[LP]

Maybe. But apart from Prestia, Caddy and Nankervis (and getting rid of Vickery), wasn't the list fairly constant before that ? Maybe they're the type that put things together much later in the process, because prior to 2017, they showed very little IMO.

More like the coach woke up to the fact that he's a spud and was better off letting them play football unhindered by his input!