Hey guys,

Back for round 2 of my player comments and ratings. I'll start with a few general comments this time and then launch into the individual reviews.

Firstly, the most important thing for me in the last two matches is that we have managed to hold on and win tight contests. So many times last year, when challenged, we either succumbed or were pipped at the line. Even with it only being the NAB Cup, the confidence these wins will give the group will help immensely during the main season when they find themselves in similar situations. Secondly, both wins have come against relatively full-strength teams who were definitely looking for a win. Again, not getting ahead of ourselves, but we look like we will definitely be a competitive outfit against most opposition this season. Lastly, how great were the crowd at Aurora. Considering its Hawthorn's home away from home, the crowd was dominated by Blues fans and they were loud and proud! Great work guys! Now, onto the player comments.

Andrew Walker - Played in defence again and started on Boyle. Possibly gave him a bit too much latitude early on and as a result had a couple of goals kicked on him. Sometimes this wasn't entirely his fault as turnovers up the ground resulted in him being out of position. The most impressive thing for me about his game was his link up play with both O'Hailpin and Thornton under pressure in the backline resulting in clearing the defensive area. Ball drop still looks awkward, but thought his disposal was good on Saturday night. Kicking off his non-preferred was very good. R: 8/10

Jordan Russell - another impressive game from Jordan. Didn't seem to spend as much time in the middle of the ground as last week, which was disappointing. Can really notice the extra bulk he has put on, as his tackling is outstanding. Provides good rotation through the middle and after the last two games, I'd have him in our best 22. R - 8/10

Marc Murphy - um how can a guy the size of Murphy kick a super goal off two steps? Also, how can he get tackled by three Hawthorn players, but just manage to shrug the hips, break free and release the handball? Sensational, superstar, freak. Was absolutely outstanding. Won a heap of possession and tackled fantastically. Also, showed some great acceleration through the middle of the ground chasing Franklin - even though he didnt lay the tackle, the pressure affected the kick. R - 9.5/10

Bryce Gibbs - pretty much the same as last week for Bryce. Didnt spend a lot of time on the ground or get a mountain of possessions, but the little things he did gave us glimpses to be very happy with. On a couple of occasions had clean hands in traffic and released for others (a few combinations with Murph had me drooling). As others have mentioned, he is an extremely good tackler. One piece of play impressed me with Bryce and that was his kick to Fevola one out with Crawford. Sized up the situation perfectly and then sent a penetrating kick with the perfect depth and position which gave Crawford no chance but to give away the free kick. R - 8/10

Josh Kennedy - Again, the Unit is one we should be excited about this year. Is moving fantastically, providing a great target and contest and his kicking for goal seems to have improved slightly. Made the one error dropping the chest mark 20m out in the final quarter, but we can't expect perfection at this stage. More than made up for it in the dying stages of the match when he took a great contested mark up on the wing allowing us to retain possession and wind down the clock. Strong hands! Also, chases very well for a big guy. Will provide another excellent option down forward this year. Also, works well up the ground and leads extremely hard to make position. R - 8.5/10

Kade Simpson - Another fantastic game for Simmo. The one piece of play that you have to respect was his effort backing into the contest in front of the leading player and got absolutely crunched. Got up and ended up receiving the ball and clearing onto the wing. This is the example that we have to be setting. Murph did it last week and this week it was Simmo. Nothing less than 100% at a contest should be tolerated. Provided his usual run and dash and if anything, the only thing that I would like to do Simmo more of is run forward of the ball to have more shots on goal. R - 9/10

Adam Bentick - brought into the team this week and main role was primarily on stopping Mitchell around the clearances. Did a reasonable job at this, however, Mitchell was probably one of Hawthorn's best players. Stopping him at clearances is easier said than done. While Bentick couldn't keep him completely quiet, he also managed to get the ball around stoppages quite a few times himself. Looks fitter than last season and seems to have picked up a yard of pace - if he has, this will be important in elevating him from a one-dimesional extractor. However, it is his extraction skills that we need more than anything and think he showed enough of that on Saturday night to remain in the team for next week. R - 8/10

Lance Whitnall - A relatively quiet night for big Lance. Went off with the blood rule early on and spent large portions of the second half on the bench. Very hard to give a comment and wasn't in the play very often. Continues to play up forward and provides the other option. R - 7/10

Jason Saddington - Again, sat on the bench for the entire first half and the start of the second half. Came on and went into the defensive half, as opposed to last week where he came on and played as a HFF. Gave away one in the back free kick that I thought was a bit reckless and unnecessary, but that is going to be something he'll have to watch this year, as he is a bit undersized in some match-ups. Combined nicely with the guys in defence a couple of times in the last quarter. R - 7.5/10

Cain Ackland - The BIG improver from last week, which may indicate that he was hampered by the rolled ankle against Essendon*. Kicked 3 goals and they were nearly all kicked when he was playing as a ruckman. If he can do that work around the ground, we will be super happy. Displayed strong hands and a good vertical leap. Was probably out-pointed by Campbell at the centre bounces, but provided a contest and were very few times where Campbell had a direct tap to a rover. If he can keep those contests and provided the target around the ground, he'll be very very handy. R - 9/10

Matthew Lappin - spent significant time on the bench, but came on and did some very nice things. In particular, his centering kick off the left foot that resulted in a goal was sensational. Seems to be back enjoying his footy and looks in great shape and skills look very good. Again, the question of where to play him hasn't been answered - but it seems to be letting him go where he thinks he is needed at the moment. R - 8/10

Brad Fisher - quiet game for Fish and spent some time on the bench. Kicked the set shot from the boundary line which was fantastic. Sure most people wished the ball was in someone else's hands at the time, but he proved us wrong. Kicking is the main thing that is stopping him from taking his game to the elite level, so this is what he needs to continue to focus on. Steady game. R - 7.5/10

Setanta O'Hailpin - lined up on Roughead, who gave him the slip a couple of times. Probably not as impressive as his game on Lloyd, but still at least broke even in his match-up. Is cementing his spot at full-back and thats something we needed, someone to take that position and make it their own. Was interesting to note that when he got the ball on the last line of defence, more often than not there was always a runner alongside him to receive the handball (usually Walker, Scotland or Thornton). Not sure whether this is to not expose his kicking in such a dangerous area or was just the way it happened - either way, his link play back there was good to watch. R - 8/10

Eddie Betts - I'll start with the bad Eddie. The bad Eddie is the one that flew for a contested mark in the same pack as Josh Kennedy and his opponent. Should not be doing things like this, as he should realise that if JK doesn't mark it, at least he will bring the ball to ground, which is where Eddie should be ready for the crumbs. Apart from that one incident, Eddie did what Eddie does best. Snapped a good goal and more importantly, provided lots of forward pressure (which as a whole was outstanding on Sat night and didnt allow Hawthorn to stream out of defence). His tackling is superb and doesn't stop chasing. Another incident to note (which the commentators highlight for Crawford's tackle "sigh") is that in that contest, Eddie started a few metres behind Crawf but overtook him at pace and picked up the ball cleanly. Just thought it was good to see him do that to one of the better athletes in the game. R - 8/10

Nick Stevens - another really good game for Stevo. Won plenty of ball in the midfield and can't remember any major turnovers coming from his boot. Also showed signs that passion is well and truly flowing through him this year - numerous times got very frustrated with himself for just not being able to get clearances away. Obviously, wants to set a high standard for himself and for teammates. Really good to see. Same comment as Simmo, would love to see him push forward into an attacking position more often and have a few shots on goal per game. R - 9/10

Brendan Fevola - Got a bit of everything from Fev on Saturday night. Got the good Fev (kicked goals, marked strongly and pressured his opponent) and got a bit of the bad Fev as well (the banana in the last quarter looked a bit too laidback and the handball off to Simmo for the 9-point probably should have just been taken as a regulation 6-pointer). The one thing you can say is that it is clear that he is enjoying his football and I think thats important. His enthusiasm will be infectious to the younger kids, just needs to temper it a little bit and still focus on doing the basics. His pick-up and handball in the one motion to Lappin was outstanding. R - 8/10

Cameron Cloke - once again, was really impressed with Cloke. Thing that impressed me most about his performance on Saturday night is that his physical conditioning seems to be better than I've ever seen him (think that's mostly due to him and hard work and also partially due to Paul Ford, who seems to be doing great things at the club). One piece of play stands out from the last quarter where he ran 50-60m to present himself as a target. Dont think the Cameron Cloke of previous years would have been willing or able to do that. Work around the ground was good again and contested in ruck contests. Continues to pleasantly surprise me. R - 8/10

Heath Scotland - Plays the quarterback role so well. Positioned himself beautifully to rebound from defence and cut off numerous kicks forward. Is always there to help out the defence and used the ball extremely well, hitting targets effectively all night. My one concern is that will need to start being wary of opposing teams playing through his direct opponent. Will need to know when to play loose and when to man-up - can't see teams letting him play free forever. R - 9/10

Jarrad Waite - very similar game to last week when he started very shakily in the first quarter. Think he was about the only person in Australia that was fooled by that baulk by Franklin, over-committed when he should have been mainly focussing on keeping Franklin off his left side. Tried to flout the in the back rule and not surprisingly got pinged (though his initial movement was with the forearm). Also made a costly handball mistake, which resulted in a goal going the other way. After that however, he kept Franklin relatively quiet and at least minimised his effectiveness close to goal. Provided some run and dash and at one point in the last quarter, his attack on the ball, arching the back and delivery to the forward was sensational. Had a massive job and did really well. R - 8/10

Bret Thornton - Kept the match-up from previous seasons with him playing on Williams and did a fantastic job with Williams goalless. Almost kicked a goal himself with the snap off the left foot which would have been fantastic. His coolness in a crisis down back, especially in the last quarter, was crucial and provides the steady head back there linking beautifully with Walker and Scotland. R - 8.5/10

Ryan Houlihan - Probably didnt stand out as much as last week, but thats not necessarily a bad thing. Didnt make any blunders and conversely, his effort in coralling and then tackling Crawford in the dying stages was potentially match-saving. Effort at the contest, which has been questioned, was first-rate and skill levels, as always, were high. Seems to have cemented himself as a midfielder, rather than his rebounding half back flank role of previous years. R - 8/10

Ryan Jackson - Spent a large part of the start of the game on the bench, but when he came on he did show some great signs. Has a great engine, good pace and showed some composure and good use of the ball that would have raised a few eyebrows. Definitely didnt look out of place. Good to see him getting game time while he can. R - 8/10

Anthony Koutoufides - Again, was started on the bench but came on and played up forward. Major criticism was that his kicking for goal was a bit wayward and missed 4 potential shots, but hopefully thats just a bit of pre-season rust. Was thrown into the midfield towards the end and his nine touches in the last quarter were critical and he has certainly proved that he is still a midfield force, when used in bursts. His tackling is sensational - his arms are the jaws of life and you aren't escaping. R - 8.5/10

Andrew Carrazzo - so come on, admit it - who closed their eyes when Carrots had that set shot for goal in the last quarter? Yeah, I found it hard to watch too. But steered it through and can only give him confidence to realise he CAN kick for goal!! Appeared to play more as a forward than a midfielder, which is slightly disappointing. Still got some features of his game to iron out, but showing some signs that he can take the next step. R 8/10

Wish you were my coach with those rankings. 7.5/10 for being on the bench for 3/4s is very generous!

I preferred the 8/10 for getting killed by Sam Mitchell.

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"Carlton's most loyal, their bruised and battered egos now seemingly a bad dream, drank beers, murdered pies and cheered every time Judd touched the ball."

And so it begins...

Can't say I didn't warn you.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

did anyone play poorly?

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"I had to eat"

The rankings were given based on what they did when they were on the ground - can't penalise a player for being sat on the bench.

Think thats a little harsh - whilst Mitchell was probably Hawthorn's best player, Bentick wasn't on him the whole time - we rotated people off of him and I thought that Bentick was probably the best of the players we had on him at shutting him down around the clearances.

When Bentick was on Mitchell, more of Mitchell's possessions came around the ground especially across half-back. His work at stoppages was decreased, which is his biggest weapon. As well as that, Bentick had 15 possessions and 5 tackles and resulted in us getting a few clearances as well.

The ratings are not particularly harsh, I'll admit that. But at this stage of the season they are based on one major factor - did they do anything particularly wrong and did they have an impact on the game? The answer is Bentick's case is no - no one is going to shut Sam Mitchell down completely. I thought Bentick had a positive influence on our midfield - therefore the rating of 8. A rating of 8 is basically that they didnt stand out, but did a few nice things and earned their spot in the side for the night.

In answering the other question, I dont think any of our players did have a particularly bad night (even if I was rating harshly). Sure, there were players who didnt have a large impact on the game - but that doesn't necessarily mean that they player badly. The ratings are not particularly comparable - as some players spent a lot more time on the ground than others. Once the main season starts, the ratings will become a bit more accurate and representative on a players output and overall influence on the game. At this stage of the season, I thought it would be more beneficial to give readers who haven't been able to watch the game a broad overview of the good and bad aspects of a players game and then rate it accordingly. If I give Saddington a rating of 2, it gives the wrong indication that he had a shocking game, rather than he just sat on the bench for 3/4.

Excellent reply. FFS people, the glass is half full these days - if not more.

timetodeliver2004, I also got a bit of a tremor in the trousers when Jackson had his hands on the ball... Looks like the type of kid who is a good study of the game and his teammates. Really impressive.

Hopefully Bower gets a run this week then we will see something special in the back six!

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

who will bower replace in the back six?

saddington

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"I can't wait to win a premiership with this club" - Fev

9/10 for Stevens?

you taking the piss

i lost count of how many times his kicks fell 1m short, or his lack of effort, he did some okay things, but a player of "his quality" should not be missing the target time and time again.

the one thing from that game, is it appeared my likely that the mistakes would come from senior players, rather than the kids.

9/10 you must be having a laugh

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Hey I'm not going to argue with anyone who gives me a POW.


But if Brad Fisher was actually lining up that kick for goal - I will walk from here to back of Burke, naked and in a stooped position.

He was looking at everything else but the goals as he was taking that kick and I reckon he was actually aiming for the top of the square (which is a good thing).

I think he should try this method on a permanent basis in the future.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Never played footy have you? I played A grade amateurs - was better at other sports - but let me say this...Am I the only one on here who thinks that Heath Scotland gets away with murder on the footy field - loose man across half back before he was accountable for an opponent and was beaten - the kids name was McGlynn and he was doing his job and Scotland wasn't. His disposal is just ok...his decision making is average and I think that Simon Wiggins would do a better job in his position. That's not to say Heath isn't in our best 22 - he is - but his game against the Hawks was 4/10 at best.

the role that Scotland plays at times, is a very easy position to play.

certainly not a 9/10 though.

he, like Stevens, seems to get caught too often, take too much time with the ball, and at times their disposal can be shithouse.

9/10 for both of them is way of the mark.

murphy was about the only 9/10 and even then made a few decisions wrong (which is perfectly acceptable considering his age and experience levels)

murphy is a wonder though - within 5 years will be in the top 5 players of the league, such is his quality.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

You're not a fan of Scotto Dr?
I didnt know that.

Next you'll be telling me Bluehammer doesnt rate Stevens.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

First off, I have played footy. And secondly, didnt I specifically mention in my post that I was concerned about how he would play when opposition coaches began to man him up. I also wouldn't say that McGlynn beat him when he was moved onto him - apart from the one occasion where he was left alone in the F50 and had a shot on goal. I also dont know how you can have a go at Scotland - criticising his game, when his specific role for the match was to play that loose man across half back. Also, I think you are way too critical of his disposal and decision making. I'd love to know how many clangers he made on Saturday night, but I'm guessing it wasn't many. As for Wiggins doing a better job, I love Wiggo - but he would not suit that role at all. Half forward flank is his position.

Anyone who thinks Wiggo can play the loose man in defence and deliver the ball up the field better than Scotland needs help. He may be more accountable but you need a guy like Scotland. I thought Glynn was just ok.

Jacobs not playing for the Dorks is a huge loss because he plays that loose man in defence well. They had to use Hodge there when he could be let loose in the middle.

If Scotland wasnt doing what the coach wanted him to do, he wouldnt be playing the same possie every week.

Stevens was pretty good.9/10 may be a bit optimistic but he wa easily one of the best

Murphy is the best player to ever play the game

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T E A M

TTD2004



Very good response.

You highlight some very important aspects of the game for those that allow their opinion and understanding/ expectation of the player's role when they are directed to play a certain role by the coach, and in doing so forget that they are the spectator, and the player is following orders.

Glass is half full.

Stevens and Scotland are 2 of our best. When the kids catch up and overtake, then that's when they become our best.

I think Stevens' disposal was good (and yeah could have been better on a couple of occassions) against the Hawks; definetely not a disaster as he is made out to be.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

He's not in our back 6.