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Ok guys - here we go again. Now seeing as this was a Grand Final, I'm
going to adopt a stricter rating system that will be more like the one
employed in the regular season (if this thing continues that long). Lets
see how much of the game I can remember, I was getting a bit excited for
most of the second half (ie. was going crazy).
Andrew Walker - started the game on Sherman and think this shows his
versatility. Proved what he can do on bigger opponents (see Croad game
last year), but is also capable of taking the small, pacy forwards. Apart
from the goal early, Sherman didnt have much of an impact. Probably would
have liked to see a bit more run from Tex last night, as it would have
helped get the ball over the wall of Lions camped at wing/half back. Some
of this wasn't his fault as he was in acres of space on the far side of
the ground on a couple of occasions, but the switch didnt come. Was a
little too Brown conscious early as well, though most of the defence was.
Steady game for Tex. R - 7.5/10
Jordan Russell - one of our best. Has done the run with role beautifully
this year and has definitely cemented a spot in the team for Round 1. Is
a great size now, sufficiently bulked up, though doesn't seem to have lost
much pace. Kept Power quiet, although Power got a bit of the ball around
the stoppages. Thats the one aspect he'll have to be a little wary of -
not losing his opponents in the congestion at stoppages. Around the
ground though, has great run and great endurance and was very rarely more
than a step behind. His tackling has improved a lot this year too.
Kicked a fantastic goal to cap off a great night. R - 8.5/10
Marc Murphy - Even when he doesn't stand out, he has an outstanding game. 22 possesions and got them consistently across all 4 quarters. However,define Murph's game by two other pieces of play. Firstly, the courage he showed to back into another marking contest - where once again he got crunched, but got up and kept going. Secondly, his tackle on Jonathon Brown running full steam straight at him. For a guy of his size, it was a great tackle (would have preferred a holding the ball decision instead of the too high fend off, but oh well) and he laid 6 tackles for the match. These two pieces of play indicate how much Murph leads through his actions on the field. An absolute class act. R - 8.5/10
Bryce Gibbs - Didnt do a lot and spent a significant amount of time on the
bench. Was super impressed by his shot on goal, even though it was a
point, he monstered it from outside fifty. He was there-abouts on a
couple of occasions running off the line at centre ball ups, but just
couldn't quite get the luck to get him going and consequently got a bit
nervous and dropped a mark he should have taken. Think it might be useful to play him as a half-forward flank and see how he goes there. His
tackling will be really valuable in the forward line to keep the ball in
and his disposal and poise will be useful, but he has the advantage of the
ball coming to him rather than trying to find his own pill for a while. R
- 5/10
Josh Kennedy - can't completely rate his game based on stats. One thing
that you notice about Kennedy (and the rest of the forward line now), is
that they rarely get outmarked. He crashes the pack and if he doesn't
take the mark, at least brings the ball to ground. Moves really well and
works really hard. Was rested for large parts of last night as well.
He's got a surprising amount of pace and gave a few really good chases and tackles. Missed a couple of marks that he should have taken as well,
whether it was pressure or the lights. Will be better for the run and
still think he will have a big year. R - 5/10
Kade Simpson - Improved as the match went on - got enough of the ball and
the thing that impressed me about Simmo's game was that he was getting the
ball in more dangerous positions last night. Similarly to last week,
disposal into the forward line wasn't great in the first half, but
definitely improved as the match went on. Showed his importance in his
willingness to run and take on opponents and thus allowing him the extra
ground to kick over the flood. As I've said before with Simmo, the thing
that is going to take him to the elite level will be nailing those goals
on the run. R - 7.5/10
Adam Bentick - was really surprised at how much time Bentick spent on the
bench last night. Not sure whether he picked up a knock or something, but
he really didnt get a lot of game time. Thought we missed him at times
during the match because we were getting smashed at the clearances, an
area he really excels at. Possibly had the initial job on Simon Black (?)
and got a little carved up. Definitely was not a good game for AB, so
will be interested to hear if anyone knows anything about any minor injury
concern? R - 5/10
Lance Whitnall - Finally gave us something when it counted. Had a woeful
first half, which was epitomised by his unwillingness to bend over to
contest a ball at ground level and his feeble attempt resulted in a
rebound from defence by the Lions, resulting in a goal. Then, it was like
a different guy came out to play in the second half. Led well, marked
well and kicked a great goal (though how good was that pass from Stevo?).
Did make one stupid mistake when he tried to be too cute with his handball
to Hartlett, but all in all, I think everyone would have been pleased to
see a return to a bit of form for Big Red. R - 7/10
Cain Ackland - for some reason, Cain was jumping exceptionally early last
night. Didn't really make sense because, especially when opposed to Wood,
he should have been jumping straight into him to utilize his extra body
strength. His ruck work around the ground was also a bit suspect, with a
number of taps going straight to the opposition. Definitely not his best
game, but hopefully his chemistry with the midfield will improve in the
coming weeks. R - 6/10
Matthew Lappin - Definitely played more as a sweeper in the backline last
night, which released Scotland into the midfield. Showed courage on a
number of occasions to provide a timely fist and thought generally his
disposal was very good coming out of defence. Looks like he is refreshed
and enjoying his footy this year and with a few spells on the bench, think
he will play some really good meaningful footy for us. R - 7.5/10
Brad Fisher - definitely his best game this year. His kicking has
improved out of sight and got himself into dangerous positions. Kicked
four goals and I think his second and fourth goals especially highlighted
when he will be really dangerous for us this year. When he is able to
float into contests less than 30 metres out for goal, he will be deadly.
Has a great overhead mark and if he can convert 80% or more of his
opportunities, he'll provide that support that Fev needs. R - 8.5/10
Setanta O'Hailpin - well got the big job and I think it was a great move.
Yes Brown had 11 marks (5 in the last quarter) but the factor that I think stands out is that Brown played full-forward for nearly the whole match and only had 3 shots on goal. Thought he did remarkably well in the one-on-one contests considering he was against probably the strongest CHF in the game. Made him work up the ground for his possessions. Read the play very well and even managed to run off Brown on a couple of occasions later in the game and disposed of the ball well (see his pass to Stevo). As he said himself after the game, "it was a privilege to play on him and I've learnt so much". R - 8.5/10
Eddie Betts - Eddie looked a little flat to me for some reason, didnt have the same energy we are used to seeing. He always just seemed to be a couple of steps behind where he needed to be to get the crumbs from the pack or he'd get the crumb but just be a second away from breaking clear. Guess thats the life of a small forward though and its a very hard job to play. Definitely was a change in roles for him from the game against the Kangaroos, where he played (extremely successfully) as a lead up forward. Needs to try and find ways to still have an impact on games even when he has nights like Saturday. R - 6/10
Adam Hartlett - not much to say about Harts - spent a large part of the game on the bench. In terms of positives, he has gone through two games without getting injured and he is clearly full of potential. If he can get a full-season together, then its going to help his development significantly. Moves extremely well for his size and gives us another option down forward. Unfortunately, will probably be one of the 2 players dropped for Round 1. R - 5/10
Nick Stevens - the Michael Tuck medallist. Had an outstanding Grand Final to cap off an outstanding pre-season. Looks in great shape, is running and working extremely hard and his disposal was first-rate on Saturday night. His pass to Lance was searing - one of the best you'll see. Also importantly, laid 6 tackles - which showed he was getting in there and not just receiving. Really leading by example this year - as many of the other players have commented on. Put some money on him as an outside chance of the Brownlow. R - 9.5/10
Brendan Fevola - was a good, but interesting, game from Fev. Firstly, we didnt see any of the bad Fev which involved staging for free kicks, mouthing off at the umpire or refusing to chase. Instead, we got the Fev that chased hard and provided a lot of defensive pressure in the forward line. This was evident in one of his leads where the pass wasn't positioned brilliantly and Fev had to really steam into the contest to provide the spoil and get a throw in. The surprising part of his game for mine was that they tended to focus on kicking the ball long and over the back to him - rather than attempting to hit him on the lead. This may have been a strategy they thought they could employ to target a weakness of Roe or just because there were too many Lions players dropping back into his leading space. Kicked four and really provided the spark in the second half. R - 8.5/10
Cameron Cloke - could he possibly be a better tap ruckman that Sandilands or Cox? Well, in the excitement of Saturday night, I was proclaiming that. Did some really nice things at the centre bounces and a couple of times tapped the ball exquisitively to the running Nick Stevens. Is competing much better than I thought he would in the ruck contests. Also, being at the game you appreciate how much work he does off the ball. While he didn't get many possessions on Saturday night around the ground, he ran extremely hard on more than one occasion to cover loose players and stop the opposition ruckman providing an option. His second and third efforts around contests are great to see as well. R - 8/10
Heath Scotland - a reasonably quiet night for Heath in terms of possessions, but thats not necessarily a bad thing. Was released into a more midfield role for stages of the match and as a result, more of his possessions were coming in more attacking positions. Kicked a great goal and just provided another classy option in our midfield rotation. Will probably act as a sweeper in the backline and then alternate into the midfield when Lappin comes on to provide that rotation during the season. R - 7.5/10
Jarrad Waite - was another defender who was a bit Brown conscious at the start of the match and tried to be third man up in a couple of contests. Played well and nullified his opponent, got plenty of the ball himself and provided some nice run and carry out of the backline. The issue for Jarrad is still his disposal and he's gotta work to minimise turnovers. Each week his move to CHB looks better and better. R - 7.5/10
Bret Thornton - probably went close to winning the Tuck medal in my opinion. Had an outstanding game. His marking overhead was a feature of his game and more importantly, a few of these marks were taken standing his ground or backing back in front of the Brown lead - which takes a lot of courage. Disposal by foot and hand was very good. Made the one slight mistake when he overcommitted trying to spoil, when the ball wasnt going to have travelled 20 metres anyway. All in all, a really, really good game from T-Bird and think he enjoyed not having to play on Brown for a change. R - 9/10
Ryan Houlihan - continued his impressive pre-season form on Saturday night. Is getting enough of the ball to be damaging and providing some quality possession out of the backline. Made one major blunder in the backline, but apart from that had a solid game. R - 7.5/10
Simon Wiggins - one game, one medal. Jacko must be a little annoyed. First game back and didnt do a lot, but spent a lot of time on the bench as well. Continued on from his role last year of playing as a lead-up half forward and did it to some success when he was on. Showed some great pace when he just sprinted past a couple of Lions players on the flank to get to the ball first and force a throw in. Will probably start the season on the outside looking in, but will provide another option if needed. R - 6/10
Anthony Koutoufides - Alternated between playing in the middle and up forward, whilst spending the start of most quarters on the bench. Was handy around stoppages and managed to kick a goal when he was up forward. Been a steady, easing introduction into 2007 but the signs are there for Kouta to have an impact this year. R - 7/10
Andrew Carrazzo - he's becoming our man for a set shot under pressure, I never doubted that he'd kick that supergoal. Spent a lot of time in the middle of the ground, particularly after half time, as I think he was given the tagging role on Simon Black. Did a good job - as black only got 6 possessions in the second half, whilst getting more of the ball himself. Delivery into the forward line was improved. Needs to keep working to cement a spot for himself in the midfield rotation. R - 7.5/10
Overall notes:
- our backline is now keeping us in games, which is very much reversed from the previous few seasons. When we are committing turnovers up the ground or delivering the ball poorly to our forwards, we still manage to stay in the game because our backline is able to weather the opposition forward thrusts. Not only that, but they are often crucial in us getting back into the game because they provide the starting point for our attacks through run, carry and really good link play.
- we have a forward line structure that is going to stretch a lot of teams with Fevola, Whitnall, Kennedy, Fisher and Betts. This also means we have more options and dont become to Fevola-conscious or reliant on him kicking 8 goals for us to win (though its nice).
- we have a midfield that can finally act positively. Opposition midfields are going to have to start worrying about us, rather than us constantly having to worry about them. Also, we have depth that means they can't shut down one guy and completely stifle our production.
- stand up and take a bow Paul Ford. Our fitness is impeccable at the moment. No injuries and as well as that, we are running out games better than I have seen us do in a long while. We have run over teams that have at least equal amounts of pre-season training, including completely running the Roos off their legs who have supposedly focussed on their fitness.
- the premiership quarter is back!
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