bondiblue wrote:
AGRO wrote:
bondiblue wrote:
Wojee wrote:
North's kicking seemed a level above as well, more often than not spotted up a teammate perfectly.
Skills are ... well ... not that good this year.
Gone backwards in that area.
Need Gee in the forwardline. Expected McEvoy to step up this year.
I thought McEvoy would be around Prespakis level in year 2, but doesn’t have the Prespakis side step or initial acceleration to get out of trouble.
Me too.
I'm looking for the x factor/ reason she was picked so high in the draft.
McEvoy has had a bit of 2nd year blues, but most of that is due to injury. if she'd had the pre-season a few others had, she'd be playing a lot better. I wouldn't throw her away: her form will improve as her body does. As for why she was chosen, she was a top player in the lower levels for 3 years in a row, waiting only until she was old enough to be drafted. Her play last year is probably more like what you will expect in the future.
I was looking at last year's game against Richmond last night and really noticed a lot of difference in the way we played.
[1] Downie and Moody absolutely killed their opponents in the ruck.
This year that simply hasn't been the case. Moody is rucking well enough, but Downie is really struggling. She played a reasonable defensive role last week, but has just struggled to make an impact. At 36, I don't think she has a lot left in her. That is a real pity, as she was a very intelligent ruck and the perfect foil for the sheer athleticism is Moody.
Last week Moody got killed. Withoiut first use of the ball, our midfield struggled.
[2] Tayla Harris was so good for most of last season. Apart from the Collingwood game, she had an impact every week. She made good tackles and good smothers. She was moving better and her kicking was ... good enough. This year she is struggling to out-body opponents and not getting any frees. Chops her arms and it is play-on. She is trying, but she isn't having an impact and she is the only tall target in our forward line.
[3] Brooke Walker and Chloe Dalton had huge years last year. Their pace and aggression in the forward line really helped us a lot, not to mention the way dalton could (and did) burst from the centre. We have lacked that this year. We don't kick over the opposition wall this year, we kick right to it. Walker will be back, but her injury is also going to limit her impact in the games we have left.
[4] With our midfield going great guns, our defence was really an impenetrable wall. This year it hasn't been. Harrington has been OK, but not as dominant. Mua has missed games and hasn't been quite at the top of her game. Charlotte Wilson has also been below her best, and her kicking has been a weakness. And then the smaller defenders have been in and out with injury. That has left us more vulnerable than we were last year.
[5] We don't get rewarded for our tackles. We probably have more run-down tackles than anyone else, but we don't get rewarded anywhere near as often as we could be. last week was a prime example. Bannister gets a mark that Mua had a lot of, but Gibbs doesn't get a mark that had a lot less contact from anyone else. Throws going unrewarded. God knows how many more frees we missed out on.
Until the Umpires have it in their heads that a Carlton tackle needs to be rewarded, we'll be on the back foot.
All in all, I wouldn't be blaming McEvoy yet. We've had a lot of important injuries and still are not at full strength. Some of our players are considerably down from last year. Other important players just haven't been there. We will be a different proposition with a full list of fit players. I just can't see us making the finals this season.
That said, nobody else has got so close to Collingwood this year. We have really only had one bad loss. But where last year we found a way, because our forwards were winning, this year we haven't been able to get the crucial centre breaks or the goals of importance.