Murray MiddletonRound Twenty
August 17th 2008 15:46
1. Crows Destroy Bombers
On Saturday afternoon Adelaide easily accounted for Essendon. It was the Crows fourth win in a row and gave them a faint chance of making the top four. Coming into the match the odds were quite even. Adelaide had never beaten the Bombers in Melbourne and had a depleted forward line. Unheralded forward Nick Gill kicked five goals in the best game of his short career. Gill is an unorthodox player who throws himself into marking contests with reckless regard for his own safety. However Gill lacks some of the basic skills; a weakness that may still prevent him from forging a career at the highest level. To be blunt, any side who is taken apart by Nick Gill is not very good.
The Bombers have enjoyed a rich vein of form through the middle section of the season. Their performance on Saturday was reminiscent of earlier in the season. Essendon was unable to match it with the Crows at the clearances, which meant that their defence was under the pump from the beginning of the match. Adelaide are a well drilled team. Their main strength is in the way that they peel away from the stoppages in numbers and run the ball up the field. This strategy will be much harder to implement against the likes of Geelong and Hawthorn in the finals. But against a substandard Essendon outfit, it resembled champaigne football.
Essendon have some tough decisions to make. Their good form this season coincided with Scott Lucas' return to the team. Their poor form at the beginning and the end of the season has coincided with Lucas' injury-induced absence. He is, arguably, the most important player to their structure. Jason Laycock played another disappointing match on Saturday. There is now a good chance that he will be on offer during trade week. Adam Ramanauskas is really labouring at the moment. Although it has been a great effort for Rama to return to senior football, it is time for the club to make a tough decision. On the flip side, it is time they offer Damien Peverell one more season. He is only twenty-eight years old and is playing some servicable football. He gives much better value to the team than some of the younger players.
2. Eagles Lose...But Really Win
In his post match press conference West Coast Eagles coach John Worsfold lashed out at suggestions that his side had tanked against Melbourne. Afterwards he is reputed to have returned to his hotel room to drink champaigne and watch video tapes of Daniel Rich and Nicholas Natanui while taking a warm bath. The Eagles play Hawthorn and Geelong in their next two matches. They could not win these two matches even if they tried. In effect, Saturday's loss to Melbourne secured the club a priority draft pick. After their poor start to 2008 there is no doubt that the club made this their objective.
The Eagles did not select David Wirrpunda or Ashley Hansen on the weekend. They joined a host of Eagles players on the sidelines - Kerr, Hunter, B.Jones, Waters, Masten, Hurn. It is another example of a team making it almost impossible to win a match by selecting poor personel. In my opinion this constitutes tanking. It is not the Eagles fault. The rule exists therefore it might as well be exploited (the same, incidentally, applies to Joel Bowden's tactics that helped his team beat Essendon). Clearly Worsfold was afraid that if he played Hansen and Wirrpunda, his team might accidentally beat Melbourne.
Prior to Saturday's debacle the Eagles had won two of their previous three matches. They had beaten both Essendon and St.Kilda in Subiaco, who are decent teams. Many experts argued that this meant they were definately not tanking. This was naive. What it demonstrated was, in fact, the complete opposite. It showed that the Eagles have the ability to be a very competitive team when they want to be. Having beaten Essendon, there is little doubt that John Worsfold realised that his team would be too good for Melbourne. Rather than instructing the players to lose, or of coaching poorly, the only option left was to play players who would have no impact against the Demons. Anyone who saw Notte's debut on the weekend ought to give John Worsfold a pat on the shoulder for a job well done.
3. Cats Almost Unbeatable
Geelong accounted for Sydney comfortably on the weekend. The Swans are a good team, but they were made to look second rate. There isn't much to say about Geelong that hasn't already been said. The main interest lies in the decisions that will be made at the selection table. Wojcinski, Scarlett, Milburn and Chapman are all due back this week. Mark Thompson effectively has two games to finalise the line-up that he wants to take into the finals. Very few changes are made during the finals. The problem, if it is one, is that all of the club's fringe players are performing well. Shannon Byrnes is the only player in the team who is clearly not up to it. The next tier - Gamble, Varcoe, Lonegan, Prismall, Taylor - all perform important roles for the team.
The Cats are a great team to watch. They play the game as it should be played. Their brand is fast, fluent and damaging. Mark Thompson adopts a refreshing approach when discussing his champion team. He is not afraid to compliment his players because the team is built on selfless acts, rather than inflated egos. Considering the current form of Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs, it is almost impossible to see Geelong losing the grand final in 2008. All that stands in their way are injuries. The grand final is a match like no other. It is played at a frenetic pace; a pace that sometimes takes its tole on player's bodies. If everyone stays fit, grand final day will offer another drubbing/ lovesfest down at the Cattery.
On Saturday afternoon Adelaide easily accounted for Essendon. It was the Crows fourth win in a row and gave them a faint chance of making the top four. Coming into the match the odds were quite even. Adelaide had never beaten the Bombers in Melbourne and had a depleted forward line. Unheralded forward Nick Gill kicked five goals in the best game of his short career. Gill is an unorthodox player who throws himself into marking contests with reckless regard for his own safety. However Gill lacks some of the basic skills; a weakness that may still prevent him from forging a career at the highest level. To be blunt, any side who is taken apart by Nick Gill is not very good.
The Bombers have enjoyed a rich vein of form through the middle section of the season. Their performance on Saturday was reminiscent of earlier in the season. Essendon was unable to match it with the Crows at the clearances, which meant that their defence was under the pump from the beginning of the match. Adelaide are a well drilled team. Their main strength is in the way that they peel away from the stoppages in numbers and run the ball up the field. This strategy will be much harder to implement against the likes of Geelong and Hawthorn in the finals. But against a substandard Essendon outfit, it resembled champaigne football.
Essendon have some tough decisions to make. Their good form this season coincided with Scott Lucas' return to the team. Their poor form at the beginning and the end of the season has coincided with Lucas' injury-induced absence. He is, arguably, the most important player to their structure. Jason Laycock played another disappointing match on Saturday. There is now a good chance that he will be on offer during trade week. Adam Ramanauskas is really labouring at the moment. Although it has been a great effort for Rama to return to senior football, it is time for the club to make a tough decision. On the flip side, it is time they offer Damien Peverell one more season. He is only twenty-eight years old and is playing some servicable football. He gives much better value to the team than some of the younger players.
2. Eagles Lose...But Really Win
In his post match press conference West Coast Eagles coach John Worsfold lashed out at suggestions that his side had tanked against Melbourne. Afterwards he is reputed to have returned to his hotel room to drink champaigne and watch video tapes of Daniel Rich and Nicholas Natanui while taking a warm bath. The Eagles play Hawthorn and Geelong in their next two matches. They could not win these two matches even if they tried. In effect, Saturday's loss to Melbourne secured the club a priority draft pick. After their poor start to 2008 there is no doubt that the club made this their objective.
The Eagles did not select David Wirrpunda or Ashley Hansen on the weekend. They joined a host of Eagles players on the sidelines - Kerr, Hunter, B.Jones, Waters, Masten, Hurn. It is another example of a team making it almost impossible to win a match by selecting poor personel. In my opinion this constitutes tanking. It is not the Eagles fault. The rule exists therefore it might as well be exploited (the same, incidentally, applies to Joel Bowden's tactics that helped his team beat Essendon). Clearly Worsfold was afraid that if he played Hansen and Wirrpunda, his team might accidentally beat Melbourne.
Prior to Saturday's debacle the Eagles had won two of their previous three matches. They had beaten both Essendon and St.Kilda in Subiaco, who are decent teams. Many experts argued that this meant they were definately not tanking. This was naive. What it demonstrated was, in fact, the complete opposite. It showed that the Eagles have the ability to be a very competitive team when they want to be. Having beaten Essendon, there is little doubt that John Worsfold realised that his team would be too good for Melbourne. Rather than instructing the players to lose, or of coaching poorly, the only option left was to play players who would have no impact against the Demons. Anyone who saw Notte's debut on the weekend ought to give John Worsfold a pat on the shoulder for a job well done.
3. Cats Almost Unbeatable
Geelong accounted for Sydney comfortably on the weekend. The Swans are a good team, but they were made to look second rate. There isn't much to say about Geelong that hasn't already been said. The main interest lies in the decisions that will be made at the selection table. Wojcinski, Scarlett, Milburn and Chapman are all due back this week. Mark Thompson effectively has two games to finalise the line-up that he wants to take into the finals. Very few changes are made during the finals. The problem, if it is one, is that all of the club's fringe players are performing well. Shannon Byrnes is the only player in the team who is clearly not up to it. The next tier - Gamble, Varcoe, Lonegan, Prismall, Taylor - all perform important roles for the team.
The Cats are a great team to watch. They play the game as it should be played. Their brand is fast, fluent and damaging. Mark Thompson adopts a refreshing approach when discussing his champion team. He is not afraid to compliment his players because the team is built on selfless acts, rather than inflated egos. Considering the current form of Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs, it is almost impossible to see Geelong losing the grand final in 2008. All that stands in their way are injuries. The grand final is a match like no other. It is played at a frenetic pace; a pace that sometimes takes its tole on player's bodies. If everyone stays fit, grand final day will offer another drubbing/ lovesfest down at the Cattery.
| 57 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
