The biggest thing we’re seeing is the growth of our team. Of course, there have been some excellent individual performances over recent weeks, none more so than Meek and Day, but these boys look like a team that understands the method that Sam is developing. Our ability to absorb opposition pressure (as bad as Q4 was last week, two of their 4 goals for the quarter came in the last 35 seconds) is a huge improvement and the balance between scoring from clearance and turnover is a big step forward (last season, we were quite reliant on stoppage success, especially centre clearances). There’s some balance to our game – we can go fast, and we can hold it up, we can score from turnover and from clearance – and this is a big positive. Love Mick's classifying us as a middleweight - great way to describe it.
While Seamus’s possession numbers may be down, he is an important part of the back six. He is sound defensively and has done a reasonable job on the best small forward in recent weeks. Dimma is fantastic, but he doesn’t provide that run from behind that is so important to moving the ball. Seamus, Jarman and Weddle are our answer to Blakey, Florent, and Roberts/Cunningham. We saw last season, especially in the Melbourne game, what Seamus can do with his speed, kicking, and defensive ability – he’s an important part of what we’re building and is one to persist with. Given his interruptions, he is one we would expect to improve with some continuity, similarly with CJ, whose now played his first two games in over a year and has real upside.
There is still some selection balancing with Gunston and Breust and while not ideal, perhaps Punky’s role for the remainder of the season will be primarily as the sub. While he’s not necessarily the ideal candidate to play that role, I wonder how much value he’s giving as an on the bench coach – he is regularly interacting with players as they come off. It was so good to see his reaction after kicking the final goal – and clearly shows how invested he is. With Watson available this week, selection will be challenging.
Granted Calsher isn’t winning heaps of the ball, but he again hit the scoreboard, had multiple shots at goal and was unlucky not to be paid a contested mark that would have been another shot at goal. He’s also the third option down there and it’s likely that very few entries go his way. Others will know better, but these senior games that Calsher’s having, especially where he’s playing alongside Gunners, is most likely further fast tracking his development and is more beneficial than playing at Box Hill. Watching him is just pure feel-good stuff.
It seems that Mackenzie has taken the role that Josh Ward couldn’t quite nail down – a mix of predominantly wing, with bursts in the middle and at half forward. He looks like a player that’s growing in confidence and his ability to be a helping hand in defence and bob up and kick a goal is testament to his high-level running power. While he fluffed one kick when exiting defence, his kicking otherwise was excellent. He’s developing very nicely.
I feel a little torn with winning as want to preserve a high draft selection this year – is that stupid thinking? A high-end talented player would round out six years of going to the draft (unfortunately, the selection of Denver, who really struggled with Box Hill on the weekend, looks like a failed pick and the jury is out on Josh Ward). In some ways, the Port Adelaide game was the perfect result! Perhaps that’s way off the mark.
On the AFL website, Isaac Smith has a podcast where he interviews coaches and I believe that the most recent interview was with Mitch. It gives real insight into Mitch’s thinkings and his approach to coaching. I know it’s just talk, but it gave me great comfort that we’re in good hands. There was also a strong message that this is a very united playing group. It’s definitely worth a listen.
1. If you don’t learn from your past experiences, then you are doomed to fail – Having “gone to school” on the week before you could clearly see that the tean had been attentive in class and the coaches had been able to break down the learnings from the Port game. As we have noted over the past 2-3 years, “dumb” footballers will not get you anywhere other than down the doomed path of frustration. This should mean that the future will be a period of progression.
2. Now a “middleweight” contender – The past six weeks have clearly shown that the team should be classified in the “middleweight” division of the competition. Being able to perform as it has, both home and away. This is not to say that we will be able to match it with the heavyweights (which is a different discussion now than a month ago), however the manner in which we play and the criteria by which we should be assessed has meant a step up on both forms of analysis.
3. Clean hands and quick ball movement means “speed kills” – Whilst our mids don’t have natural break away leg speed, once again the ability to be clean around the clearance contests, particularly centre square, meant that we were able to get speed on the ball. This was highlighted by Worpel who, with the centre square set up, often ends up with the inside 50 kick, where he lowered his eyes and worked to his strengths with passes over 20-30 metres rather than long bombs to Chol and Dear.
4. Marvel works for us (now) – For our defenders, it allows our mids to push back to support as well as allowing our undersized defenders to get assistance with a third or fourth man up in the marking contests. For our mids wining a clean centre clearance being able to hit up a leading forward with a 20-30 metre pass certainly works for some of mids who aren’t efficient long kicks e.g. Worpel. Similarly, with the level of inexperience in the forward line in terms of games played and connection between the forwards, Marvel works well for us as the forwards don’t get lost up on the wings which I think may have been part of the issues at Adelaide Oval last week. Similarly, for t
5. Chol has proved his worth – Over the season, the early calls on Chol have focused on his manner rather than his actions. Whilst supporters readily warm to those players who may “fly the flag” or “throw their weight” around in an aggressive manner, Chol’s laconic manner has “penalized” him for the manner in which he has attacked high balls to packs forward and especially on the wings to either break even or win the contest. Along with his chasing and tackling in the forward 50, he has added a dimension to the team that supporters were crying out for last year when others were being asked to perform these actions.
6. Mids playing off half forward – With the return of Day, there has been a structural change to the team with both Newcombe and Day playing as half forwards for small periods this week. This proved to be beneficial to the scoreboard with Day kicking a goal and it would have been good to see Newcombe take a shot from 50m out in the 3rd quarter rather than passing it to the other side and slightly further out.
7. Don’t overlook the “unheralded” performances – As always there are some players who don’t get the immediate recognition and this week, I’d suggest Nash should get some credit for his work, particularly when Meek went off the ground in the last 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter. The Lions had the run of the play in this quarter and in the period that Meek was off, we more or less broke even kicking 1.2 to their 1.3 without a true ruckman. Equally, his role in quelling Dunkley was vital as it meant that Neale played a lone hand in their midfield. Similarly, the role of Jiath, as a “defensive disruptor”, won’t necessarily show up in the stats, however his capacity to cover the ground to get into a defensive position definitely assists our back half and aggressive mids.
Observations:
• Mackenzie using his left foot out of a centre square clearance allowed Day to be one on one in a forward 50 marking contest, which ended up with Zorko giving up a 50m penalty as his direct opponent had gotten goal side. Being able to get the ball I50 quickly, more often works to the benefit of the forwards rather than doing a 360 degree which often puts forwards out of rhythm. D’Ambrosio also used his right foot as well.
• Mids getting their kicking licences – it was pleasing to see Worpel hit up two inside 50 passes over 20-30 metres as his longer passes by foot are much more hit and miss, especially if compared to Newcombe (hit Dear up in the last quarter) and Nash (gave Chol a chance to his favoured side to mark one out) who I prefer over distance than shorter passes. The only one who has both short and long passing licence would be Day.
• Practice makes perfect for Gunston – given the amount of time Gunston spent with Dear last week working on Dear’s “around the corner” shots there was no way that he was going to miss this week. By the way, Dear doesn’t have a set routine for this type of kick on his left foot which just reflects how raw he is at the moment.
• For Dear, the mids et al going inside 50 need to realise that they can’t kick the ball on top of his head when he is contesting with a strong defender such as Andrews or Payne. Better to kick it short to give him a chance to react quicker to where the ball will drop.
• D’Ambrosio’s game had a strong game with his contested work and for the ground he won for the team. His kicking is still a work in progress going at 65% efficiency. Like lefties in many sports, they are looked through the “leftie lens” which often gives them points for style as against effectiveness e.g. think of left handed bats in cricket. (The last “ugly” left footer I can think of would be Des Meagher who would not be familiar to many HIs.)
• For the first time this season, Scrimshaw had 5 minutes where he played like it was 2023, giving away a free to Cameron in a marking contest where he panicked a little and then followed up not long after missing two teammates exiting the defensive 50 to pick out Neale. Having done that, he didn’t retreat into his shell for the remainder of the game.
• Weddle and CMac having shots at goal on the run are works in progress. Weddle looks to put himself off balance when he takes his shots whereas CMac appears to overextend when taking his shots. When you look back at the way Mackenzie took his early shots in general play to now, he has certainly worked to ensure that he is generally well balanced to take his shots.
• Kicking 100 points for the game will always keep you in it. Again, being able to take shots in the centre corridor assists with accuracy.
• It was noticeable that the Lions had done their homework and weren’t going to allow us to have “switch kick in” to the open side and options further up the ground.
Starting 4:
1st qrt: Day (16) Nash (18) Newcombe (18)
2nd qrt: Worpel (18) Day Newcombe
3rd qrt: Day Nash Newcombe
4th qrt: Day Newcombe Worpel
(Meek 24, Moore 8, Chol 3, Mackenzie 3)
Coach killers:
• Sicily handballing straight to the opposition 30m out from goal was unfathomable.
(Closely followed by Amon taking the assertive kick in the midfield which was poorly executed – risk and reward benefit here.)
Issue for the week:
How will we go at the ‘G?
Being 0-4 at the ‘G this year, it will be a test to see how we play against the Crows who I think play well there, although their win/loss record doesn’t reflect this. With games in his legs, Day should assist with covering the extra space on the ground and the same applies to Jiath being able to assist with leg speed over the ground and through the midfield. A key factor may be Meek’s fitness as O’Brien is a ruckman who has been assisted by the new ruck rules. Also, the physical strength of their forward half will be another test for our back six.
Fantastic Mick, you should be doing Mark Robinson's job.
Do you think there's much difference playing at Docklands vs the G? The teams we've played at the G this year are all pretty handy - Essendon who are 2nd, Melbourne 4th, Swans 1st and Geelong 6th, who were in the middle of a 7 game winning streak. Hopefully, it's more the opposition and the way we played in those games, rather than the venue itself.
We seem to line up ok against Adelaide in the midfield - Dawson is their elite midfielder and their answer to our Will Day, but we should be able to match Laird, Crouch, Schoenberg etc. Adelaide will have started 2024 with high hopes and this weekend is a very big game for them if their season is to remain alive and will be a good test for our boys.
I think that there is a significant difference between the 'G and Docklands with the extra width at the 'G, giving more space inside 50 and on the wings. Think of Worpel coming out of the centre square as he did on Sunday and the space that could be opened up I50 if the other forwards create separation.
Given we haven't played there since Round 3, I'm more confident in our ability to manage the ground, particularly with Day & Jiath giving us more midfield run. Also, looking at the Port game at Adelaide Oval, I think having Gunston, Chol & Dear will assist with our ability to have some tall representation across the ground, assuming Dear isn't managed this week - he must be due for a break (it's unfortunate our bye isn't until Rd.15). I think we lost our "tall" shape against PA without the third tall.
On the Crows, I'm not overly concerned with their mids, but the Meek/O'Brien contest will be a key here - the injury report will be a watch here. Structurally, I'm a little more concerned by the body strength of their forwards e.g. Walker, Fogarty & Burgess, so we don't want to be caught one out in marking contests. The weather may become a factor either way on this.
The team should give a good account of themselves.
The Lions run in the third coincided with an incredible run with the umpires, 7-1 in the frees not just Meek going off for about half the quarter. Just like last week against Port we had a great run in the first and dominated, then an abysmal run in the last and got rolled. Umpires have an effect on the game if they are not consistent.
The biggest thing we’re seeing is the growth of our team. Of course, there have been some excellent individual performances over recent weeks, none more so than Meek and Day, but these boys look like a team that understands the method that Sam is developing. Our ability to absorb opposition pressure (as bad as Q4 was last week, two of their 4 goals for the quarter came in the last 35 seconds) is a huge improvement and the balance between scoring from clearance and turnover is a big step forward (last season, we were quite reliant on stoppage success, especially centre clearances). There’s some balance to our game – we can go fast, and we can hold it up, we can score from turnover and from clearance – and this is a big positive. Love Mick's classifying us as a middleweight - great way to describe it.
While Seamus’s possession numbers may be down, he is an important part of the back six. He is sound defensively and has done a reasonable job on the best small forward in recent weeks. Dimma is fantastic, but he doesn’t provide that run from behind that is so important to moving the ball. Seamus, Jarman and Weddle are our answer to Blakey, Florent, and Roberts/Cunningham. We saw last season, especially in the Melbourne game, what Seamus can do with his speed, kicking, and defensive ability – he’s an important part of what we’re building and is one to persist with. Given his interruptions, he is one we would expect to improve with some continuity, similarly with CJ, whose now played his first two games in over a year and has real upside.
There is still some selection balancing with Gunston and Breust and while not ideal, perhaps Punky’s role for the remainder of the season will be primarily as the sub. While he’s not necessarily the ideal candidate to play that role, I wonder how much value he’s giving as an on the bench coach – he is regularly interacting with players as they come off. It was so good to see his reaction after kicking the final goal – and clearly shows how invested he is. With Watson available this week, selection will be challenging.
Granted Calsher isn’t winning heaps of the ball, but he again hit the scoreboard, had multiple shots at goal and was unlucky not to be paid a contested mark that would have been another shot at goal. He’s also the third option down there and it’s likely that very few entries go his way. Others will know better, but these senior games that Calsher’s having, especially where he’s playing alongside Gunners, is most likely further fast tracking his development and is more beneficial than playing at Box Hill. Watching him is just pure feel-good stuff.
It seems that Mackenzie has taken the role that Josh Ward couldn’t quite nail down – a mix of predominantly wing, with bursts in the middle and at half forward. He looks like a player that’s growing in confidence and his ability to be a helping hand in defence and bob up and kick a goal is testament to his high-level running power. While he fluffed one kick when exiting defence, his kicking otherwise was excellent. He’s developing very nicely.
I feel a little torn with winning as want to preserve a high draft selection this year – is that stupid thinking? A high-end talented player would round out six years of going to the draft (unfortunately, the selection of Denver, who really struggled with Box Hill on the weekend, looks like a failed pick and the jury is out on Josh Ward). In some ways, the Port Adelaide game was the perfect result! Perhaps that’s way off the mark.
On the AFL website, Isaac Smith has a podcast where he interviews coaches and I believe that the most recent interview was with Mitch. It gives real insight into Mitch’s thinkings and his approach to coaching. I know it’s just talk, but it gave me great comfort that we’re in good hands. There was also a strong message that this is a very united playing group. It’s definitely worth a listen.
happy to announce the safe arrival of Sherrin Sicily
What was learnt:
1. If you don’t learn from your past experiences, then you are doomed to fail – Having “gone to school” on the week before you could clearly see that the tean had been attentive in class and the coaches had been able to break down the learnings from the Port game. As we have noted over the past 2-3 years, “dumb” footballers will not get you anywhere other than down the doomed path of frustration. This should mean that the future will be a period of progression.
2. Now a “middleweight” contender – The past six weeks have clearly shown that the team should be classified in the “middleweight” division of the competition. Being able to perform as it has, both home and away. This is not to say that we will be able to match it with the heavyweights (which is a different discussion now than a month ago), however the manner in which we play and the criteria by which we should be assessed has meant a step up on both forms of analysis.
3. Clean hands and quick ball movement means “speed kills” – Whilst our mids don’t have natural break away leg speed, once again the ability to be clean around the clearance contests, particularly centre square, meant that we were able to get speed on the ball. This was highlighted by Worpel who, with the centre square set up, often ends up with the inside 50 kick, where he lowered his eyes and worked to his strengths with passes over 20-30 metres rather than long bombs to Chol and Dear.
4. Marvel works for us (now) – For our defenders, it allows our mids to push back to support as well as allowing our undersized defenders to get assistance with a third or fourth man up in the marking contests. For our mids wining a clean centre clearance being able to hit up a leading forward with a 20-30 metre pass certainly works for some of mids who aren’t efficient long kicks e.g. Worpel. Similarly, with the level of inexperience in the forward line in terms of games played and connection between the forwards, Marvel works well for us as the forwards don’t get lost up on the wings which I think may have been part of the issues at Adelaide Oval last week. Similarly, for t
5. Chol has proved his worth – Over the season, the early calls on Chol have focused on his manner rather than his actions. Whilst supporters readily warm to those players who may “fly the flag” or “throw their weight” around in an aggressive manner, Chol’s laconic manner has “penalized” him for the manner in which he has attacked high balls to packs forward and especially on the wings to either break even or win the contest. Along with his chasing and tackling in the forward 50, he has added a dimension to the team that supporters were crying out for last year when others were being asked to perform these actions.
6. Mids playing off half forward – With the return of Day, there has been a structural change to the team with both Newcombe and Day playing as half forwards for small periods this week. This proved to be beneficial to the scoreboard with Day kicking a goal and it would have been good to see Newcombe take a shot from 50m out in the 3rd quarter rather than passing it to the other side and slightly further out.
7. Don’t overlook the “unheralded” performances – As always there are some players who don’t get the immediate recognition and this week, I’d suggest Nash should get some credit for his work, particularly when Meek went off the ground in the last 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter. The Lions had the run of the play in this quarter and in the period that Meek was off, we more or less broke even kicking 1.2 to their 1.3 without a true ruckman. Equally, his role in quelling Dunkley was vital as it meant that Neale played a lone hand in their midfield. Similarly, the role of Jiath, as a “defensive disruptor”, won’t necessarily show up in the stats, however his capacity to cover the ground to get into a defensive position definitely assists our back half and aggressive mids.
Observations:
• Mackenzie using his left foot out of a centre square clearance allowed Day to be one on one in a forward 50 marking contest, which ended up with Zorko giving up a 50m penalty as his direct opponent had gotten goal side. Being able to get the ball I50 quickly, more often works to the benefit of the forwards rather than doing a 360 degree which often puts forwards out of rhythm. D’Ambrosio also used his right foot as well.
• Mids getting their kicking licences – it was pleasing to see Worpel hit up two inside 50 passes over 20-30 metres as his longer passes by foot are much more hit and miss, especially if compared to Newcombe (hit Dear up in the last quarter) and Nash (gave Chol a chance to his favoured side to mark one out) who I prefer over distance than shorter passes. The only one who has both short and long passing licence would be Day.
• Practice makes perfect for Gunston – given the amount of time Gunston spent with Dear last week working on Dear’s “around the corner” shots there was no way that he was going to miss this week. By the way, Dear doesn’t have a set routine for this type of kick on his left foot which just reflects how raw he is at the moment.
• For Dear, the mids et al going inside 50 need to realise that they can’t kick the ball on top of his head when he is contesting with a strong defender such as Andrews or Payne. Better to kick it short to give him a chance to react quicker to where the ball will drop.
• D’Ambrosio’s game had a strong game with his contested work and for the ground he won for the team. His kicking is still a work in progress going at 65% efficiency. Like lefties in many sports, they are looked through the “leftie lens” which often gives them points for style as against effectiveness e.g. think of left handed bats in cricket. (The last “ugly” left footer I can think of would be Des Meagher who would not be familiar to many HIs.)
• For the first time this season, Scrimshaw had 5 minutes where he played like it was 2023, giving away a free to Cameron in a marking contest where he panicked a little and then followed up not long after missing two teammates exiting the defensive 50 to pick out Neale. Having done that, he didn’t retreat into his shell for the remainder of the game.
• Weddle and CMac having shots at goal on the run are works in progress. Weddle looks to put himself off balance when he takes his shots whereas CMac appears to overextend when taking his shots. When you look back at the way Mackenzie took his early shots in general play to now, he has certainly worked to ensure that he is generally well balanced to take his shots.
• Kicking 100 points for the game will always keep you in it. Again, being able to take shots in the centre corridor assists with accuracy.
• It was noticeable that the Lions had done their homework and weren’t going to allow us to have “switch kick in” to the open side and options further up the ground.
Starting 4:
1st qrt: Day (16) Nash (18) Newcombe (18)
2nd qrt: Worpel (18) Day Newcombe
3rd qrt: Day Nash Newcombe
4th qrt: Day Newcombe Worpel
(Meek 24, Moore 8, Chol 3, Mackenzie 3)
Coach killers:
• Sicily handballing straight to the opposition 30m out from goal was unfathomable.
(Closely followed by Amon taking the assertive kick in the midfield which was poorly executed – risk and reward benefit here.)
Issue for the week:
How will we go at the ‘G?
Being 0-4 at the ‘G this year, it will be a test to see how we play against the Crows who I think play well there, although their win/loss record doesn’t reflect this. With games in his legs, Day should assist with covering the extra space on the ground and the same applies to Jiath being able to assist with leg speed over the ground and through the midfield. A key factor may be Meek’s fitness as O’Brien is a ruckman who has been assisted by the new ruck rules. Also, the physical strength of their forward half will be another test for our back six.
Fantastic Mick, you should be doing Mark Robinson's job.
Do you think there's much difference playing at Docklands vs the G? The teams we've played at the G this year are all pretty handy - Essendon who are 2nd, Melbourne 4th, Swans 1st and Geelong 6th, who were in the middle of a 7 game winning streak. Hopefully, it's more the opposition and the way we played in those games, rather than the venue itself.
We seem to line up ok against Adelaide in the midfield - Dawson is their elite midfielder and their answer to our Will Day, but we should be able to match Laird, Crouch, Schoenberg etc. Adelaide will have started 2024 with high hopes and this weekend is a very big game for them if their season is to remain alive and will be a good test for our boys.
Hi Stuart
I think that there is a significant difference between the 'G and Docklands with the extra width at the 'G, giving more space inside 50 and on the wings. Think of Worpel coming out of the centre square as he did on Sunday and the space that could be opened up I50 if the other forwards create separation.
Given we haven't played there since Round 3, I'm more confident in our ability to manage the ground, particularly with Day & Jiath giving us more midfield run. Also, looking at the Port game at Adelaide Oval, I think having Gunston, Chol & Dear will assist with our ability to have some tall representation across the ground, assuming Dear isn't managed this week - he must be due for a break (it's unfortunate our bye isn't until Rd.15). I think we lost our "tall" shape against PA without the third tall.
On the Crows, I'm not overly concerned with their mids, but the Meek/O'Brien contest will be a key here - the injury report will be a watch here. Structurally, I'm a little more concerned by the body strength of their forwards e.g. Walker, Fogarty & Burgess, so we don't want to be caught one out in marking contests. The weather may become a factor either way on this.
The team should give a good account of themselves.
The Lions run in the third coincided with an incredible run with the umpires, 7-1 in the frees not just Meek going off for about half the quarter. Just like last week against Port we had a great run in the first and dominated, then an abysmal run in the last and got rolled. Umpires have an effect on the game if they are not consistent.
Things I liked about Sunday
Hawks Won!
Great Game Time for Families and Oldies
Hawks Won!
Plenty of Brown and Gold to be seen
Hawks Won!
Maybe Marvel could work for more home games if they were during the day , the area around the ground can be a bit so-so at night.
Would have been an even better day if all the train lines had been running !
But the best thing was the Hawks Won!