AFL Rd 2 2023 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Geelong

[tonyo]

It seems to me that the Blues (perhaps more specifically Weitering) are keen to expose Young to the opposition’s best tall forward but if he starts wilting he switches to a more manageable opponent. That was particularly so against the Tigers. He started on Lynch but was as nervous as a junior player who had been given a game in the seniors. He played with no confidence and was completely reactive. Lynch was well on top. He quickly switched to Riewoldt and he soon acted like a veteran star defender against a junior forward. When he switched back to Lynch, he continued to play with confidence and did well.

If this is how Young’s being handled (and I might be imagining it) then bravo. The last thing we need is to see him destroyed by an AFL star. Weiters is good enough and confident enough to take all comers and is selfless enough to give his team mates a chop out when required.

Every backman has a tough night (even SOS had 10+ kicked on him a couple of times), it's all part of the learning experience.  Cameron is a very different beast from most of the forward line gorillas - he is extremely mobile, and can drill them from 60, a tall defender's nightmare.  The secret to making his life hard is to limit easy supply from the midfield, and to jam the leading lanes in the forward line. 

We need to do a lot more work on having the midfielders fill holes during defensive set plays - have a look at the set play where Henry took a chest mark on the lead 30m out from goal - that should just not happen.