AFL Rd 11 2023 Pre Game Prognostications Carlton vs Sydney

[RiverRat]

Dow's strength at U18 level was his ability to burst away from stoppages and blow past defenders who usually didn't have the strength to drag him down. He was continually running and doing what he liked, didn't need many tricks or evasive skills and never had any composure at the end of his runs and just sprayed the ball. But when you get it 40 times a match no one was complaining if at least half of his disposals went in the right direction. He kicked a lot of goals for a mid too and hence he looked like a ready made player who would suit us. The problem is he has never adjusted his game from U18 level or gained the nous and awareness needed and I'm bemused what our assistants and VFL coaches have been doing with him.
He has needed so much more senior football and patience to bring him up to speed and change how he plays...LDU has had that at North and become a player, we have just given up on Dow and let him become a zombie with no identity at the club or at senior level. Its just been a complete development debacle.....

Those observations seem consistent with what he has brought to the table for the Baggers - when he has tried to run with the ball he has generally run in a straight line, which has made him easy to catch, and has not demonstrated any significant evasive skills, which might have been developed by coaching but never were.

[Lods]

Interesting you say the three butchered the ball, I agree about previous weeks but Acres ran at 96DE% for his 25 touches (of which 24 are listed as effective) which is outstanding.

Acres used the ball much better on the weekend but he used it differently

v Bulldogs- 17 disposals 8 kicks 9 handballs at 47%
v Collingwood -25 disposals 7 kicks 18 handballs 96%

...a much better chance of hitting a target with a handball. I suspect they told him "Don't kick the bloody thing"

[ElwoodBlues1]

Our problem wasnt what Acres was doing with the ball it was what his opponents were doing and both J.Daicos and Sidebottom had their usual days out on the wings against us again.
An interesting stat was the metres gained.....J. Daicos was at 680m, Sidebum at 332m and Acres at 116m...Acres must have been handballing to himself because he wasnt advancing the ball much.
Our best was Charlie Curnow who was a touch below 600m....carrying the forward line and working his guts out, he can be proud of how he is playing.

[Lods]

Our problem wasnt what Acres was doing with the ball it was what his opponents were doing and both J.Daicos and Sidebottom had their usual days out on the wings against us again.
An interesting stat was the metres gained.....J. Daicos was at 680m, Sidebum at 332m and Acres at 116m...Acres must have been handballing to himself because he wasnt advancing the ball much.

You don't gain a lot of metres with 18 handballs...but yep, he was nowhere near as effective as the magpies

[Gointocarlton]

Our problem wasnt what Acres was doing with the ball it was what his opponents were doing and both J.Daicos and Sidebottom had their usual days out on the wings against us again.
An interesting stat was the metres gained.....J. Daicos was at 680m, Sidebum at 332m and Acres at 116m...Acres must have been handballing to himself because he wasnt advancing the ball much.
Our best was Charlie Curnow who was a touch below 600m....carrying the forward line and working his guts out, he can be proud of how he is playing.

I actually did the sums on MG for both teams the other, there was only about 200m odd difference between the two teams. 219m to be exact.

[WASurfer]

The non-selection of Dow is a mystery. If they weren't going to play him, why not just delist him in October last year and pay him out...similar to what West Coast did with Zac Langdon who they recruited from GWS. Like most, I'm a huge critic of the guy but there must be something fundamentally and majorly wrong with what he's doing in the VFL that is stopping him from getting a game at the moment when the team is struggling. Yes, there's a big difference between the standards...but getting 40 possessions must mean at least he's getting to the ball? Our delivery into the forward 50 couldn't be any worse. Credit to the guy for keeping his head up and fronting up each week and working hard in the VFL...he could've very easily just pulled the pin.

[Micky0]

The non-selection of Dow is a mystery. If they weren't going to play him, why not just delist him in October last year and pay him out...similar to what West Coast did with Zac Langdon who they recruited from GWS. Like most, I'm a huge critic of the guy but there must be something fundamentally and majorly wrong with what he's doing in the VFL that is stopping him from getting a game at the moment when the team is struggling. Yes, there's a big difference between the standards...but getting 40 possessions must mean at least he's getting to the ball? Our delivery into the forward 50 couldn't be any worse. Credit to the guy for keeping his head up and fronting up each week and working hard in the VFL...he could've very easily just pulled the pin.

It is really very strange and I feel for the kid.

Surprised we haven’t heard rumblings about it from his family in the media… what is going on!? Surely we have a right to an explanation seeing he was our number 1 draft pick too?!

[pinot]

I think we have enough handball first players in the midfield tbh. We need top end footskills. Binns is showing tremendous potential but needs to put on 10kilos.
We need players that can kick to advantage. I think Cerra and Walsh are the only two that can do it consistently.
One reason I think Doc is pushed to the midfield is due to his kicking skills and ability to kick to advantage and even he struggles with it. These money ball kicks like Pendles, Daicos, Sidebottom do consistently will win you more games than lose.

[madbluboy]

Docherty needs to go back. He is the general of the backline.

[Professer E]

I would be hard to pick JSOS this week, what role is he supposed to be playing?