bluegirl72 wrote:
Just watched ABC news,and was surprised to see they say we gave Fev a hostile reception by booing...from where i sat..the boos were pretty friendly..people were just razzing him a bit.
Agree. Friendliest boos I've ever heard, at least en masse.
Ok, missed the first quarter entirely so can't comment on that, save for that we'd managed 4.7 and seemingly could have been in front at quarter time.
Defensive unit was very solid, but did cough up the ball with regularity after doing all the hard work. Case of gaining touch and fluency that you expect in the pre-season, should not be an issue come round 1. That was probably the key match-up for the game and for the most part we won it.
Despite the Lions having Fev & Brown, on paper we were the superior side and if this was the regular season we would have won by a considerable margin. Didn't bother to bring the squad lists with me so I didn't pay much attention to the Lions and the matchups aside from the obvious ones, although I did note Proud was more impressive as the game wore on particularly with ball use and Hawksley was also impressive.
I think the problem for Brisbane is quite simply a man named Voss. When the recruiting team get to their job, they do very well. When he gets stuck in, he runs very close to ruining all their good work. Ditto his game plan vs his senior players' efforts. People scoff at Ratts' but Voss runs a very simplistic system and relies on his players to generate something special. Fev looks set to get some stress fractures with a good 10 kilos back on him from last year. Looked slow at times.
Anyway, onto our boys:
Walker - physically superior but blowing out the cobwebs with his skills, good contributor and looked especially dangerous up forward. Went for a hanger and stupidly shoved his man in the back. A few boys were bringing down the good work they were doing with similar efforts, although there was some shocking umpiring in the mix as well.
Russell - cool, calm, collected. A few fluffed kicks when judging the flight of the ball but nothing that won't have been ironed out round 1. Russell of the second half of last year is the real deal and he's not going anywhere. Played a little forward of HB this time around.
Gibbs - faded out of the game for a short while late in the second and early in the third but otherwise was doing the best of what he did last season where he was one of our key passing players (that's the world game stat, Prowess uses ones like scoring involvements). Definitely not hanging off the back and was roaming all through midfield assisting play.
Judd - need I say more? Did what he had to do today, although keeps calling for/receiving the ball in tight spots. If I could knock one thing it's that he seems to be suffering a little bit under his training work load, perhaps he is in the same boat as McLean?
Simpson - good for his first hit out, got involved in the play, takes a good grab as usual and would follow up in a chain of possession to help assist/finish. Slotted a goal through such work. Will have another fine season.
McLean - still getting used to the 'Carlton way' but a better showing from him possession wise. Took a very solid hit in the third and after a case of the stumbles (which one Lions supporter near me labelled him soft for; female, presumably had never copped a spoil in the form of a haymaker) recovered to remain a part of ball movement. Is currently playing second fiddle to Hadley in the stoppage work, both through performance and instruction (I believe).
Kreuzer - his usual self. Not flash up forward but created a contest. I doubt he will see much time there this year as Warnock and Hampson have looked more impressive. That's not to say he won't score goals, but they'll be from drifting forward or having a ping on the run. Ground out the game with Warnock and allowed us to dominate the centre square clearances, but he regularly featured through the midfield play.
Hadley - really moving smoothly. Did his usual stoppage work and featured regularly in link play with the odd skill error like everyone else. The McLean trade has motivated him to work even harder and he looks to be flying. Will get a gig ahead of McLean if this continues, but might just be the beneficiary of McLean's current work load.
Warnock - just got better in every aspect as the game went on. Clearly relished the opportunity to tandem with Kreuzer as the only two rucks in the team. Has superb hands and great decision making and he is surprisingly slick with the ball in hand. We seem to have three ruckmen on the list who can genuinely rove their own taps, which is utterly frightening. Looked a handful up forward with his height, acceleration and leap. Put his hand up to play alongside Krezuer today.
Robinson - another good game from Robbo, continually does team stuff that makes you clap, then fires out the odd piece of stellar play on top of that. Back to business for him after trying to do the low percentage thing every time late last season. I still don't rate his pace and I fear he isn't good enough to create real havoc in the regular season. Mean side-step though. Another pre-season or two and he will cause headaches through the midfield drifting forward and back. For now, not quite in our 22. Motor is better than last year but you can tell it won't last the season.
Yarran - another fine game from him despite the crowd protests. Played second fiddle in the small forward role to Eddie and didn't particularly push into midfield but he really went about his decision making well when in possession and caused his fair share of forward pressure. The closest thing I saw to a squib was kicking the ball off the deck when in the thick of a bunch of players after the ball had spilled from a contest, but he was fending off a Lions player. Nothing wrong with this kid at all. Will feature round 1.
Browne - enjoyed his game again and played a mixture of dropping deep in midfield and HB. Not quite there for HB as I've said repeatedly and his disposal is suffering at present, but those who have ever watched him in the real stuff know he is an above average kick. Not worried at all about his progression and am pleased to know when a few midfielders inevitably go down through the season, we can safely rely on a contribution from Stephen. Improved endurance is a feature.
O'hAilpin - Our best forward for 2 of the 3 quarters I watched. Happily rotated between FF & CHF and didn't miss a beat. Set up plenty of play by being ready for a grab or a crumb and can be pleased with his performance. The aforementioned 'fading' in this thread was his spells on the bench. Was dog tired after the intraclub and missed the first NAB game so is still working his fitness base up, and that may prove tricky in his battle for CHF with Hendo.
Bower - another great game, rotated with the usual suspects to cause problems for Fev & Brown, who secured about 3 goals between them off frees. In the regular season the umpires would be up to speed and it would have been maybe 1 conceded, and that's without factoring in the tired ones Bower et al gave away today. As clean as a performance as you could expect defensively in my book. Pushing off HB he is in a league of his own. Great to watch.
Betts - yep BOG. Still made a few errors but was absolutely electric, and kept it up all game. Eddie is set for a big year. Looked in great shape, and his touch is coming together. Motivated like never before. Did a better Simmo than Simmo today; collected the ball up on the wing, disposed, then pushed quickly into the forward 50 to receive and goal.
Henderson - as predicted he looked more comfortable either at CHF or in a more open forward line, and got better as the game wore on. Snuck in two goals and an assist in the last to round out a game where he had worked for four quarters unrewarded on the scoreboard. One B. Fevola would have finished a similar game with 0.3 and a fifty on his sheet. 10 years at CHF, lock it in. Anyone still naming him at FF, don't. When it's congested, he gets bumped out of a pack at this point. Everything else from him is superb, although he's not a confident kick at goal. That will take a little time. The fickle bunch will like what they saw today.
Anderson - played mostly tall today and did a good job, especially judging the flight, but still lacks the attributes he needs at his size, most notably his ability to do more damage in possession. Doing his value no harm though with this performance, and happy to see that even the lower rung of our list can play a role.
Scotland - His usual self, playing on all the flanks and midfield roles offered and doing some good work. Not a feature role today but I suspect that was under instruction in co-ordination with the coaching and fitness/performance staff. In good nick.
Thornton - as he always is nowadays. Great player, and every time I think of trading him he goes up a cog. Still might do it when he's 29 though.
Houla - solid if somewhat unspectacular, skills are up to notch and his fitness seems ok but was just getting miles in the legs for most part. Bit part player who looked to be moving the ball around in close then pushing up to make a link option to distribute to the forwards. Will be fine for round 1 now.
Wiggins - I would label him our weakest player today, however he was still very solid. Featured everywhere forward of HB, and will be solid if called upon. Still a very average set shot however which is a shame because he is otherwise a handful up forward. Not best 22 material IMO.
Jamison - mostly played on Fev and gave him a bath. Great to watch, and is ready to shut down many forwards this year. Absolutely crucial to our fortunes given Waite needing to be played forward and Austin's injury status.
Carrazzo - solid if unspectacular as well. Will settle into the defensive forward turned midfielder role as he fine tunes his disposal for the season proper. Fitness levels are excellent.
Joseph - more prominent early on today and featured in a forward role at times. Just doing his usual stopping role otherwise. I'm sure he's burdened under a heavy training load like a few others given his supreme fitness. Regularly involved in moving the ball around by hand and short pass when on the field.
If I've been a bit sketchy on our more inside players it's because I like to sit a bit lower to the ground and sometimes miss the centre square action, but we absolutely dominated them in that respect. No Black, no Brisbane as far as I'm concerned.
Away from that, really happy with the midfield instructions away from "avoid the corridor" component. We ensure that all our mids and HBs don't just follow their opponents into our F50, dropping off and sitting back in a zone in midfield as I've been asking for from them for some time. My only issue is that it's perhaps a little too defensive; Joey had a huge option to receive and dispose or shoot for goal at one stage when we were heading to the Legends stand end and just sat there in space, which actually put the guy in possession under pressure. Bit silly, but nothing too dramatic.
Everything looks in good shape as well tune up for Richmond. Be afraid Tiges, be very afraid.
good work, was going to post a review, but there is no need, pretty much spot on with everything i took from the game as well.
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