VFL Round 11: Northern Blues vs. Frankston

[Swan43]

How big is this kid (giant)?

Big but needs an engine and some understanding of the patterns of play. Tap work is good but tho strong doesn't kick often or get into much space. Lot of work to do on the rest of his game but at least there's something to work with.

[Juddkreuzer]

Jones has always had his "days" where he kick a heap..............then turn to crap the next week.

Malthouse would have him straight back in the side next week but I implore the MC to heed past mistakes and demand he display a level of consistency well above that expected of a VFL level player before he is considered for senior selection.

[RiverRat]

As long as they don't pick Jones based on today.

I'd rather Jones than Watson. Even though Watson did look good against no opposition, Jones looked better and spent a fair bit of time in the ruck as well. One of the goals that Watson gave away was early in the 1/4 when he marked the ball near the goal line, played on and hit the post from a metre or two.

Watson can keep kicking goals in the VFL so that some other club might be foolish enough to trade for him. Promoting him to the AFL will just remind everyone how limited he is.

[Amers]

How big is this kid (giant)?

198cm, 107kg's it says on the NB's website. A little too small to be a ruck in the AFL IMO.

[RiverRat]

Not a lot to be taken out of the game - especially by defenders, because the ball rarely got down there and the Frangars were woefully uncompetitive. Despite that, the Blues were only impressive for about two and a half quarters and spent the last part of the game just racking up possessions by kicking the ball backwards and sideways.

The three highlights were Jones' two entries in the mark of the year competition and the kick in by Field which cleared everybody including the entire centre circle - every bit as good a kick as Watson has ever produced.

Defenders (Jamison, Fields, Jaksch and Smith) had quiet days for obvious reasons. Not impressed by Jaksch, who seems very stiff in the way he moves and often seemed to be wrong-footed. Smith looks to have the skills but too light-weight, too small and not fast enough.

A good indicator of the lack of defensive pressure was the fact that Jones and Watson were taking one-grab marks at most opportunities. Jones also kicked straight and was very effective in the ruck.

Tutt disappeared after some first quarter dashes - either injured or (more likely) held out as an emergency for the seniors.

Dick played on the wing and didn't offer much. Whiley was on the receiving end of dominant rucks but was too often caught with the ball.

As others have mentioned, Walsh looks a useful footballer but hasn't shown anywhere near enough to be considered for AFL just yet.

Viojo-Rainbow struggled to get a kick once more. Russell had it a bit but has a ways to go.

Boeky got lots of possessions but was not particularly damaging and is totally a one-way player ATM - very ordinary without the ball.

Johnson is the player who impressed me (again) as the player who might be worthy of some senior action.

Best game I have seen from Foster - good overhead marking but, as with Watson and Jones, bereft of any decent physical pressure he was able to easily push his opponent away from the contest.

As I said in an earlier post, Watson played well - probably as well as I have seen him play in his 5 years at the club - but Jones has more to offer. They both marked cleanly against week opposition but that is the only way that Watson can get the ball and, at the higher level (even against decent VFL opposition) he struggles to mark the ball unless it is kicked wholly to his advantage and is next to useless when the ball hits the ground. Jones can take a contested mark and chase and tackle and scrap for ground balls. I would much prefer to see him get another senior game now that Barker has the team moving the ball more quickly.

[Juddkreuzer]

I'd be happy to see Blaine get another crack. Ellard would be a viable substitute.

[cookie2]

Saw the last 1 1/2 qtrs and it appeared that Watson was injured. Was standing behind the interchange bench and seemed to be wearing some kind of back brace?

[jearnold]

Watson twisted his ankle in the 3rd. Despite what the stats say Watson played a better game then Jones, Foster was also good however you can take little from it as they were like Sandilands taking on Marc Murphy in a marking comp.

What was impressive for me was the kicking skills from some of our younger guys. DVR is a beautiful kick, cant remember a missed target, just doesnt get it enough at this stage and the big surprise for me for the day was Fields. He is a bigger and better kick than Watson. Pretty impressive 27 touches and 2 goals from the back line and whilst you can't look into the numbers too much, on his kicking ability and size alone he has to be a chance for a senior game before the end of the year.

[crashlander]

Sorry this has taken so long, but things have been busier than expected.

Thanks, RR, for your report. Always appreciated.

My 2 cents worth:

As a number of posters have identified, this was not the best representation of where our guys are really at. It is, however, one of the great demolitions and a record breaker in a number of ways. It also tells you how ordinary Frankston were as an opponent on the day.

One of the things it did suggest is that the new confidence and freedom of play that the seniors have discovered has filtered down somewhat to the NB's. For almost 3 quarters we attacked incessantly and moved the ball much better than we did only a few weeks ago. In the last quarter we played a more Malthouse sort of style and went round and round the mulberry bush. With Frankston playing their best footy, we really lost momentum.
However, you cannot be anything but pleased by the result.

The players:
[1] Liam Jones
Jones had a day out, no doubt about it. He actually held a few marks – one grabbing them even. He also took 2 contenders for mark of the year. Because we didn’t muck around much early in the game, Jones didn’t have to work the way he had needed to earlier: a single lead was usually enough and he did manage to get some space. Nor was he under as much body on body pressure and it showed. Once he got his confidence up, he was unbeatable. Even his kicking was decent.
Jones spent time in the ruck and was good, but Frankston really didn’t have a proper ruckman.

[2] Blaine Boekhorst
Blaine did his best work early and got a lot of the ball. Like Jones, he thrived under the lack of physical pressure and was involved in some cleaver things. His run was nice.
However, to me he still did not look like a 1st round draft choice. He did have 4 tackles, but he really didn’t run and chase that much. RR described him as playing one way and I would back his thoughts totally. There is much work to be done to turn Blaine into a serious senior player.

[3] Tom Fields
In many ways Fields impressed the most. His kicking is always a feature, but in the dome it really stood out as a weapon. It was also about the 1st time he played on someone smaller than he was. He ran well, made space when attacking and chose targets excellently.
I would like to see him work more on his defensive game: he is, after all, a defender. But his rebound is as good as any and his kick is a real feature.

[4] Matt Dick
Dick played his most impressive game in our colours. He thrived against Frankston and he did an excellent job linking up and finding targets. He was one of the offenders in the ring a ring a rosie stuff, but nobody is perfect. He did more than most to suggest he might have a future, but there was considerable room for improvement.

[5] Blaine Johnson
Blaine exhibited his best and his worst today. His best was very good. He had 14 possessions and played more of a small forward role, instead of a leading forward role. He took 6 marks and 1 tackle. He got up the Frankston players’ noses as well. His kicking was good and he managed to get goals with hard work and smarts. However, he rarely get the possessions he really needs to make it at the top level. He relative lack of pace hurts him as well.
Blaine has been ordinary this year, but he had his best game and showed his strengths rather than his weaknesses.

[6] Jamo
Jamo was the general down back and he ran down field as necessary. He really returned to form and looked like he is ready for a senior recall.

[7] Jayden Foster
Foster moved around very well today and took a lot of marks. His kicking was good. If he can move around and offer a target like that every week, then he has a future. He did managed to out body his opponents, something that doesn’t always happen, but he got on his bike for a change. I liked that. He needs to do it more.

[8] Matthew Watson
I cannot but echo RR’s words: Watson was really strong for 2.5 quarters until he landed awkwardly after taking a big mark. He took 10 grabs, most in the first half. He looks like he wants another go at senior footy.

[9] Mark Whiley
Looking at the lad, I don’t think he is going to be the success we were hoping for. He gets caught too often for mine. Still, he has something to work with and he did get the ball.

[10] Kristian Jaksch
I didn’t think Jaksch was that bad. He needs to work on his movement as a defender, as he doesn’t have a huge amount of closing speed. His marking was good. He would make a better forward, I feel, as he doesn’t react as quickly as a defender often needs to, and he needs to work a LOT on his body work. He is much better when he is proactive.

[11] Fraser Russell
Russell doesn’t get enough of the ball, yet, but he has made great strides on where he was at last year. He took a couple of nice marks and kicks the ball effectively. He is getting better and may have a future on that effort. But he needs to be involved more.

[12] Brad Walsh
Not as impressive as he has been, this time around. Walsh got 20 possessions but his kicking was definitely off. He makes good decisions and looks like he may make it, but the game didn’t suit his inside style this time: we got the ball out of the middle too easily. He needs to work on his outside game.

[13] Clem Smith
Smith worries me. I’ll get back to him another time, but he played OK.

[14] Dillon Viojo-Rainbow
Our worst player by some margin. He is really worrying me. Give him time and he is deadly, but under pressure he isn’t there. He is looking very lemony at the moment.

[15] Jason Tutt
Good until half time, but he was Tutt. Without the pressure he was deadly.

[shadesy]

Fields impressed me in the NAB challenge and seems to be developing nicely.

Going to make the call...He'll be a good player for us

*Sorry Tom*