06-02-2024, 07:30 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-02-2024, 07:33 AM by crashlander.)
Very disappointed. Being beaten by Preston is inexcusable, even on their patch.
[1] Not having someone pick up Velissaris was stupid in the extreme. But both of the Bullants' main mids had a picnic, as our mids have no idea how to play in the centre square.
I was blue in the face looking at the ruck contests. Mirkov isn't going to make it, but that doesn't mean he has to be manhandled as he was. If he looked away, he gave away a free, but his opponents could do anything but kill him and it meant nothing. That irritated me no end.
Our mids were always in the wrong spot, so Preston just walked the ball out of the middle.
The only mid we had that did anything in the centre square was Carroll, but even he did better work at the ballups.
[2] Umpires: a pet peeve. I know how difficult the game is to umpire as I've done my share of doing so. but even so, this was almost as bad as the senior game against Gold Coast. In the 3rd quarter we got 2 frees to their 10 in a seventeen minute period. Our players were looking around in horror at the decisions, because they couldn't believe them. And this when every single ruck contest had the Preston rucks grabbing Mirkov's jumper and trying to shepherd him out. He looked around and couldn't believe it either.
In the end, I couldn't watch any more and went to do some shopping.
[3] Kicking for goal: like the seniors, we couldn't buy a goal. Our kicking at goal was ordinary in the extreme. But one of the reasons was that we weren't getting a lot of easy shots. The number of times miskicks and the like ended up as Preston goals was mind-blowing. Yet, we could muck up almost anything.
[4] Senior players didn't contribute much: other than Carroll, who played a very solid game (and his disposal wasn't bad either), the other senior players contributed little. Motlop had 8 possessions, 6 coming when he was on the ball. Corey Durdin had 15 and a goal, but he couldn't have tackled me. Moir's 12 possessions were an improvement, but he still has some way to go. Even Binns was relatively quiet (21 possessions). Marchbank was ordinary, as was Young, but the ball came down pretty easily. The same could not be said going the other way.
[5] Monahan looks promising, but he has a long way to go. And we don't seem to use him very well. I'd be getting him to lead from deep so he can use his pace, somewhat like we used to do with brad Pearce. That would play to his strengths instead of his weaknesses.
Lemmey wasn't as bad as he has been: he took a couple of nice marks, but he has a long way to go.
Moir was better, but still a long way from being a senior player.
[6] Poor skills: we struggled to hold a tackle, especially in the 3rd and 1st quarters. They had an advantage in body size and strength and we didn't bring them down often enough. That was bad, but it was the kicking and handballing that was nowhere near a team mate that hurt.
[7] I brought this up in the pres-season: is Power the man for the job? I have been quite happy with his work developing some of our youngsters, but his coaching leaves me wondering if we shouldn't have someone else. We don't seem to play for each other enough. Robert Walls always said 'make your team mate the best player on the ground': I don't see that with the 2's.
Granted that we lack talent, especially in the middle of the ground, but ...
[8] I am really disappointed in our midfield this year. last year Dow got 30 - 40 possessions each week as Mirkov hit the ball in his direction. Mirkov is still getting taps, but our mids do not get the clearances. Grant you that we have VFL mids, but other clubs seems to have better, stronger, faster mids than we do.
[1] Not having someone pick up Velissaris was stupid in the extreme. But both of the Bullants' main mids had a picnic, as our mids have no idea how to play in the centre square.
I was blue in the face looking at the ruck contests. Mirkov isn't going to make it, but that doesn't mean he has to be manhandled as he was. If he looked away, he gave away a free, but his opponents could do anything but kill him and it meant nothing. That irritated me no end.
Our mids were always in the wrong spot, so Preston just walked the ball out of the middle.
The only mid we had that did anything in the centre square was Carroll, but even he did better work at the ballups.
[2] Umpires: a pet peeve. I know how difficult the game is to umpire as I've done my share of doing so. but even so, this was almost as bad as the senior game against Gold Coast. In the 3rd quarter we got 2 frees to their 10 in a seventeen minute period. Our players were looking around in horror at the decisions, because they couldn't believe them. And this when every single ruck contest had the Preston rucks grabbing Mirkov's jumper and trying to shepherd him out. He looked around and couldn't believe it either.
In the end, I couldn't watch any more and went to do some shopping.
[3] Kicking for goal: like the seniors, we couldn't buy a goal. Our kicking at goal was ordinary in the extreme. But one of the reasons was that we weren't getting a lot of easy shots. The number of times miskicks and the like ended up as Preston goals was mind-blowing. Yet, we could muck up almost anything.
[4] Senior players didn't contribute much: other than Carroll, who played a very solid game (and his disposal wasn't bad either), the other senior players contributed little. Motlop had 8 possessions, 6 coming when he was on the ball. Corey Durdin had 15 and a goal, but he couldn't have tackled me. Moir's 12 possessions were an improvement, but he still has some way to go. Even Binns was relatively quiet (21 possessions). Marchbank was ordinary, as was Young, but the ball came down pretty easily. The same could not be said going the other way.
[5] Monahan looks promising, but he has a long way to go. And we don't seem to use him very well. I'd be getting him to lead from deep so he can use his pace, somewhat like we used to do with brad Pearce. That would play to his strengths instead of his weaknesses.
Lemmey wasn't as bad as he has been: he took a couple of nice marks, but he has a long way to go.
Moir was better, but still a long way from being a senior player.
[6] Poor skills: we struggled to hold a tackle, especially in the 3rd and 1st quarters. They had an advantage in body size and strength and we didn't bring them down often enough. That was bad, but it was the kicking and handballing that was nowhere near a team mate that hurt.
[7] I brought this up in the pres-season: is Power the man for the job? I have been quite happy with his work developing some of our youngsters, but his coaching leaves me wondering if we shouldn't have someone else. We don't seem to play for each other enough. Robert Walls always said 'make your team mate the best player on the ground': I don't see that with the 2's.
Granted that we lack talent, especially in the middle of the ground, but ...
[8] I am really disappointed in our midfield this year. last year Dow got 30 - 40 possessions each week as Mirkov hit the ball in his direction. Mirkov is still getting taps, but our mids do not get the clearances. Grant you that we have VFL mids, but other clubs seems to have better, stronger, faster mids than we do.
Live Long and Prosper!