Two things stood out for me
- our forward 50 entries are diabolical, which made our forwards look bad
- our defence seemed to be unable to cope with Melbourne’s system, I continually saw our backs “moved” out of the contest by Melbourne players making room for their mates, which made Young and Kemp look worse than they really were. Maybe that’s just the experience of Weiters missing, so maybe Durdin would do better?

Didnt really get the old running game going through the middle with the forward hand passes and that extra chip kick just outside 50. Sort of play we did in last years streak that made the forward entries a non issue.
However, it was a praccy game. Did I see Curnow kick one from a set shot from 10m out directly in front on the left foot around the corner? I have the feeling we were going at it with less effort than the dees. Tapering for the big game next week.

I have watched a replay of the game and we were pretty awful.
Not sure what to make of our pre season but I have a bad feeling about this year.
Expectations are high and there has been lots of positive news so far.
I really hope I am wrong but other teams will improve and our backline looks so vulnerable without Weitering. Lets hope he only misses a couple of games.
Time will tell.

Literally been our problem for the last two years (Voss years).
2022 we were 11th for marks inside 50.
2023 we were 9th for marks inside 50.

Melbourne were 6th in 2023 and they went out and targeted Billings and drafted Caleb Windsor to help them change that part of their game.
2022 we traded/drafted 2 wings that can't kick like that.
2023 we traded/drafted in no midfield support, just players that "could" help with that part of our game and we clearly haven't practiced it at all in the off season.

I wouldn't be expecting any changes this year with our F50 delivery based on the above info and what we have seen in the practice games.
Which is mind blowing when you have 2 of the best talls in the league.

Watched the Final vs Dees today followed by replay of last night.

Sure we were missing Weitering Marchbank in defence, Walsh and Kennedy in midfield, Martin in forwadline and Williams, and they will make a huge difference to our 2024 team, but what was obviously missing in the praccy game was the appetite for the contest and closing down space. Exception was Ollie, Saad, Hewett and Harry

Vossy prefers the HHF to add numbers to midfield which leaves us one short in the forwardline. We don’t seem to have added any layer or anything new to our forward entry and bombing it high To Harry and Charlie calling for the long bomb vs 3, basically giving the ball back to Dees to start their charge forward and kick goals from turnover. Not smart against a top 4 team. The forward press wasn’t evident and Dees waltzed out with ease.

Dees changed their forward entry with diagonal kicks in forward half for forwards to lead into. Pretty obvious only Harry has a height advantage against May and Lever, and taking Harry out of the ruck provided discussion for commentators but robbed us of a genuine marking target forward. Harry is quick and should lead more. Ditto Charlie albeit not as quick as Harry.

The other thing I noticed was Pitto did not play anywhere near the contested game vs Gawn in the praccy where in the Final he crashed and bashed Gainey every chance he has and wore him down for TDK,s jump to be more effective against Gawn. A reflection of the lack of contest last night.

What happened to the forward handball we practised in the preseason and the manic run with handball. Speaking of handball we are still one of the worst skilled teams by handball; have been for 2 decades. Get Wayne Britain back to teach them

I saw a lot of players jogging yesterday, including our mids. In the Final there was more energy and a sense of urgency no one jogging. It was very not yesterday. Same for the Dees.

It’s only a praccy game.

Mad if we play Gov and Kemp on Daniher and Hipwood. They are not KPs and rarely win body on body and allow their opponent to jump freely. That wasn’t Young’s fault. I didn’t mind Young’s game. Some good spoils. A couple marks and I witnessed a dirty knee into an opponent.

Sure Kemp improved in 2nd half but imo he’s peripheral and lacks poise to play defence against good teams. Sam Durdin played his first game in a long long time and just got through in VFL. Let’s not make out he’s our saviour. He’s no better than Young. I wish he was fit enough to play whilst Weiters and Marchy are out. Lions KPs are huge and bloody quick. We might need both tall KPs. Doubt Sam is ready though.

I expect the tempo to increase next week and expect a good year from the Baggers. Move the ball quicker and stop bombing it to a 3 on 2…and Charlie should lead to open areas instead of calling for it with his nemesis May standing next to him….I hope he learns how to play against May.

Tweak it Vossy. We will learn from last night. A solid hit out against a Top 4 team before we play another top 4 team next week.

Go Blues.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

one thing that didn't happen was Charlie leading up the ground (much), we know he has the tank and could run most defenders into the game, maybe it was taken as a light hitout across the board. I share everyone's nervousness though

_________________
Between our dreams and actions lies this world

I suspect with the interruptions we have had to some key players post the Christmas break, it will be a slow start to the season.
But we will be right. I'm happy to build into the season and be peaking in the second half of the year. Hopefully we catch a break on the injury front.

I’m fine with building into the season but we cannot afford to fall as far back as we did last year.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

1979- 1982 3 premierships, zero preseason wins. Just sayin'.

Same time last year

Sent from my SM-F926B using Tapatalk

_________________
If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

nothing has changed ,we still kick the long ball inside 50 and if we dont change our F50 entries we are going no where ,our opposition are going to read theplay so easy. Funny thing is i made the same comments after last season practice games. I can recall Daicos saying we new where the ball was headed inside our F50"

So how about the pre-season eh?