VFL Finals Week 1 Sunday 28th August Collingwood v Carlton at Victoria park 1PM

[DJC]

I think you are commenting from memory.

Mirkov's 2nd-1/2 of the season has been very ordinary, low mobility, little involvement away from the stoppage. He's been playing like a traffic cone, probably carrying an injury.

Today Cripps was actively tackling and shepherding for his Mids, he got involved in many marking contests and brought the ball to ground in our favour. We had run and he allowed us to the take advantage of it. If his selection was planned and not as a result of injury it was coaching genius.

Akuei was average in the ruck, but much like Silvagni, he was more than useful at applying 1% type pressure to the opposition around the stoppages he was involved in, and also contested well overhead without taking many marks. He needs a pre-season in the gym.

Always quick dismiss anyone else's ability to watch and analyse games of footy while enjoying the spectacle LP  :

My memory may not be as good as it once was but I remember that Cripps hasn't played since round 14 because his form didn't justify selection.  I also remember that Mirkov hasn't been quite as good since coming back from his ankle injury.  However, he still dominated the hit outs and got plenty of the ball until his gashed knee. For example, in our Round 16 clash with Port Melbourne, Mirkov had 43 hit outs and 12 disposals and was effective around the ground.

If Akuei was average in the ruck today with only 13 hit outs, how many did Cripps get?  And remember that Akuei is only 192cm whereas Begg and Kreuger are 197cm and 196cm respectively.

Akuei and Cripps both laid three tackles and Cripps failed to hold a mark.  Akuei had 3 clearances and Cripps had 4.  It wasn't a bad game from Cripps, but Akuei was better, and a fit Mirkov would have dominated.  Akuei's second and third efforts often resulted in possessions to teammates and his spoiling in marking contests was great.

We were lucky that O'Keefe decided to recall Cripps, but playing Akuei in the ruck instead of as a defender or forward was a masterstroke.