VFL Round 18: Northern Blues (2nds) vs. Sandringham at Carlton

[RiverRat]

DISPOSALS: Walsh 26, Tutt 23, Johnston 21, Wilson 21, Menzel 18.
Still no Yarran in the best players, but neither were Wood nor Menzel mentioned in dispatches.

Walsh had a few possessions but was not much more effective than Tutt and virtually a non-factor when he didn't have the ball because he is painfully slow when chasing - assuming you would glorify his efforts by describing them as chasing.

Johnston (not the Carlton listed player) was easily the best for the Blues - followed by Johnson (the Carlton one).

I was happy with Menzel's effort - with and without the ball for a change - although he is far too selfish when he wins the ball within range of goals.

The reason Yarran wasn't in the best players was because he was rubbish - no run or chase - no second efforts - and when he couldn't avoid getting the ball he generally kicked it directly to an opponent - even Watson tried more - although he was just as ineffective.

Laughable to see Watson having a run in the ruck - no body pressure - no ability to get off the ground - no idea - although he would have probably covered twice as much distance as Yarran in an effort to get his hands on the ball - just wasn't any good at it.

Jones was not much better although he made multiple efforts to take mark of the year - got his hands on most of them - held one or two - was able to chase and catch opponents - and was able to jump high enough to win some ruck contests when Webb decided he had given us enough laughs by using Watson as relief ruckman (more like comedy relief) - I liked Jones better as a defender because he can spoil just about any marking attempt.

Wood was easily beaten in ruck contests and offered little else.

Rainbow was even more as invisible than Yarran.

Rice didn't show much and probably wouldn't have warranted a spot in the Zebra's team.

Fields was well beaten but kept on trying and can kick - sounds a lot like Watson in his early years (except for the part about keeping on trying)

Russell showed some brilliant pace in the early game and did some nice things but spoiled much of his efforts by poor disposal.

[MilkIt]

Is Wood injured or do you reckon he's been told he won't be required next year? Seems to have dropped off quite a bit.

[RiverRat]

Is Wood injured or do you reckon he's been told he won't be required next year? Seems to have dropped off quite a bit.

He was a warrior early in the year when he spent most of the day in the ruck. Several weeks ago he couldn't get off the ground and now he is being beaten in the VFL and getting relieved in the ruck by Watson - I doubt that the reserves are tanking so my guess is that he is out of gas and carrying one or more niggling injuries.

I think he has another year to run on his contract and it's not as though we have lots of ruckmen - like the days when we had Hampson and Jacobs - so I imagine he will be retained for depth.

[LP]

Tutt and Jones into the seniors next week.....we need to be creative with our team selections to achieve the desired results...

Are you an accountant EB1?

[townsendcalling]

The only interest I had in either game yesterday was the chance that there may have been some Axiom ('A little ray of sunshine') in the performance of Cameron Giles as he is about the only one we haven't got a decent handle on in terms of potential.

Wouldn't he be a bonus if he gave us something to shout about next year....basically a brand new recruit with a more mature body, and hopefully some genuine football ability!

[mina1]

jones can be our new chb get him ready now for 2016

[ElwoodBlues1]

Are you an accountant EB1?

No..my father was/is.... , Good Carlton supporter too.....never leave things to chance is one of his best bits of advice so I reckon we shore up the team with players who we know
might help us to that No 1 pick.....

[LP]

No..my father was/is.... , Good Carlton supporter too.....never leave things to chance is one of his best bits of advice so I reckon we shore up the team with players who we know
might help us to that No 1 pick.....

If there were a few more bean counters around the world would understand why it is that when players like Tutt getting 30 possessions the balance sheet often ends up in the red!

So I completely understand your line of thinking, Jones and Tutt in!

[ElCapitan]

mina, after seeing him yesterday, i reckon he will be our new CH bench.

between he and Watson, i can understand why RR is so frustrated. After seeing them in person for the first time, it was very hard to watch

[crashlander]

Some of those numbers are simply ridiculous: C. Jones 44 possessions, Ray 34 possessions. It does show how little we have on the field.
Very disappointing to see so little from Wood and Watson. I guess Wood is ready for the end of the season. This time last year he was playing excellent football in the seniors. Watson is just marking time.
I guess I expect about 8 possessions for Jones and about a dozen for DVR.