AFLW 2019 GF: Carlton vs Adelaide

[DJC]

Moody improved as the season went on and produced some great cameo performances.  Her run from the wing to the 50 reminded me of Harry Madden’s momentous run    Time will tell if she can can perform consistently.

[LP]

They'll be fine, a lot of our girls are elite sporting converts, while the Crows are bringing the best seasoned female football talent out of SA and NT competitions.

One thing that may be difficult for Carlton fans to accept in coming seasons will be the diminished influence of Vesio. Her star shone brightly at the start simply off the back of her superior strength, skills, agility and mobility. But with more girls getting semi-professional training and exposer Darcy's natural advantages will evaporate. Even the girls coming from other elite sports realise now they have to go to another level to meet the demands of playing AFL at a high level.

You can't just be big or strong, fast, agile, smart or brave to be a star in AFL, you have to have it all!

[kruddler]

Not the only issue but so many of our victories in the run to the GF revolved around Al Downie's ruckwork and the clearances that followed.

She was well beaten against Nth Melb and again today and we were well beaten as well.

I was very surprised to see so many people give Downie votes in the GF. I thought she tried well, but it was from the ruck that the crows won the game.

Downie has given us 1st service all year and helped Prespakis and co get us moving forward, but we couldn't get the same service in the granny and as a result, couldn't get our hands on the ball enough.

Downie will be top 5 in the B+F, but was far from top 5 in the GF IMO.

As for Moody, i hope it was a lack of pre-season that hurt her this year, because if it wasn't, i wouldn't even offer her a spot on the list! Can't kick, too slow and rubbish when the ball is on the deck. Traditionally, she's a dinosaur ruck.

[LP]

I was very surprised to see so many people give Downie votes in the GF. I thought she tried well, but it was from the ruck that the crows won the game.

Downie has given us 1st service all year and helped Prespakis and co get us moving forward, but we couldn't get the same service in the granny and as a result, couldn't get our hands on the ball enough.

Downie will be top 5 in the B+F, but was far from top 5 in the GF IMO.

As for Moody, i hope it was a lack of pre-season that hurt her this year, because if it wasn't, i wouldn't even offer her a spot on the list! Can't kick, too slow and rubbish when the ball is on the deck. Traditionally, she's a dinosaur ruck.

I don't think Downie was beaten around the ground at all, if the only measure is the tap then perhaps but that is a very narrow focus, on 2nd efforts and around the ground she probably came out on top!

I suppose stating Downie was beaten is no different to claiming Phillips did well despite his direct opponents twice being rated by many as BoG. There is a bigger picture.

I think the better measure of a ruck is often what they do when they aren't winning the tap. It's also a good measure of the midfield, what they do when their ruck isn't dominant, I think it showed our midfield inexperience, and I'm not sure the clearances would have been much different even if we had a dominant ruck.

[kruddler]

I don't think Downie was beaten around the ground at all, if the only measure is the tap then perhaps but that is a very narrow focus, on 2nd efforts and around the ground she probably came out on top!

I suppose stating Downie was beaten is no different to claiming Phillips did well despite his direct opponents twice being rated by many as BoG. There is a bigger picture.

I think the better measure of a ruck is often what they do when they aren't winning the tap. It's also a good measure of the midfield, what they do when their ruck isn't dominant, I think it showed our midfield inexperience, and I'm not sure the clearances would have been much different even if we had a dominant ruck.

I'm not doubting her effort around the ground. I was more disappointed with her lack of resilliance in the ruck.

She's been big enough and strong enough to stand there and push and shove and win the ruck most weeks. This wasn't working. Did she try a different tactic? She was a basketballer, she can jump, maybe try that for a change. Just go the old big punch forward every now and then ala Clark Keating.

Around the ground is why i think Moody is a very poor 2nd option by comparison. Downie dominated her in that area.

The girl that Downie was up against was as green as they come. She only joined the team 2 weeks before the season....or was turned into a ruckman 2 weeks before (or both). Gotta be smarter than that.

[LP]

I'm not doubting her effort around the ground. I was more disappointed with her lack of resilliance in the ruck.

She's been big enough and strong enough to stand there and push and shove and win the ruck most weeks. This wasn't working. Did she try a different tactic? She was a basketballer, she can jump, maybe try that for a change. Just go the old big punch forward every now and then ala Clark Keating.

Around the ground is why i think Moody is a very poor 2nd option by comparison. Downie dominated her in that area.

The girl that Downie was up against was as green as they come. She only joined the team 2 weeks before the season....or was turned into a ruckman 2 weeks before (or both). Gotta be smarter than that.

No doubt Downie was being jumped over in the center square, maybe there was a reason for that, we may never know.

On a separate issue, I was interested to hear Harf explaining that Tayla was injured in the 3rd and so didn't return. I suspect she entered the game carrying an injury and we won't know about that either, but it was clear she was well off focus from the first bounce. She was certainly affected by something, I hope it wasn't something more sinister given recent events, yet it would not be a surprise given the nutters out in the real world!

[kruddler]

No doubt Downie was being jumped over in the center square, maybe there was a reason for that, we may never know.

On a separate issue, I was interested to hear Harf explaining that Tayla was injured in the 3rd and so didn't return. I suspect she entered the game carrying an injury and we won't know about that either, but it was clear she was well off focus from the first bounce. She was certainly affected by something, I hope it wasn't something more sinister given recent events, yet it would not be a surprise given the nutters out in the real world!

Put your tinfoil hat away LP, no conspiracy with Tayla.

She was having a shocker early.
She was put into the midfield at the opening bounce of the 2nd half, and was getting the clearance before running into Davey, both hurt themselves. Tayla barely returned. Davey soldiered on like a true champ.

I've got a bit of a theory with Tayla. She is very much a confidence player and when things don't go her way, you'll struggle to turn her around in a game. Chelsea Randall flogged in the AFLW1.0 GF. I'm sure she was reminded of that fact.

Also, i don't think Tayla can play with injury. There is no bigger fan of Tayla than I, but i am starting to question her ability to play after getting a knock. She pulled out of the Crows game first time round with a shoulder injury (She played the week before and week after - how bad was it?) She got a knock in the GF and despite getting strapped up, wouldn't stay on the ground because she wasn't right.

Time may show that she had a legitimate injury from the GF, and maybe other times as well. But looking at how the Hoskings, Loynes and Davey go about it....i'm not sure Tayla has the same internal drive / hunger / belief in her own body.

[LP]

Tayla is walking along behind play in our F50 zone  looking exhausted just 90 seconds into the game!

Not normal at all for a player known for their pressure acts!

[kruddler]

Tayla is walking along behind play in our F50 zone  looking exhausted just 90 seconds into the game!

Not normal at all for a player known for their pressure acts!

Think of Tayla as Fev.

Fev could do the incredible when he was on. He had that magnificent run down tackle just outside 50 against the Saints i think. When he was on, he was on.

Alternatively, when the ball was just 2m away, he was too busy arguing with umpires and teammates to care.

He wasn't 'known' for his pressure acts, but when he was on, they were a sight to behold.

Similar with Tayla, when she is up and about, she will tackle with the best. She will fly through the air without a care for the world, she will kick goals from 50.

When she is not, she wil struggle to lift herself off the ground, miss goals from the goalsquare and feel sorry for herself.

Taylas state of mind dictates her effort.
Taylas body dictates her state of mind.

Whether she was injured or not already, her head wasn't in the game. Coming off such a huge week, its somewhat understandable....she is still very young after all.

[LP]

Whether she was injured or not already, her head wasn't in the game. Coming off such a huge week, its somewhat understandable....she is still very young after all.

That's all I asserted earlier and you labelled it a conspiracy theory, have you abandoned your own stance?