Preview 2024 Preseason: Hawks v Dogs in Tassie

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Chol looked a million bucks playing against our defenders.

Shame he can't line up on them week in and week out.

Our KPD options are diabolical and need sorting out at the end of the year.

We tried to bring in Mackay, he would have been an improvement for us.

The problem we face is there are no quality KPD's available in FA this season, and we now won't know whether Blanck is the answer for another two years. Would we trade for one?
 
We tried to bring in Mackay, he would have been an improvement for us.

The problem we face is there are no quality KPD's available in FA this season, and we now won't know whether Blanck is the answer for another two years. Would we trade for one?

I think Blanck could hold down FB as a pure stopper. He's got the size, athleticism and is disciplined enough not to give stupid frees. It's a massive shame he's out for the year. Would have been a good development year.

Really need someone at CHB though. I hope Denver can have that break out season we are hoping for. Unfortunately injured as well. Maybe next year?

We're going to have to get creative as the FA pool is poor this year for what we need.
 
I think Blanck could hold down FB as a pure stopper. He's got the size, athleticism and is disciplined enough not to give stupid frees. It's a massive shame he's out for the year. Would have been a good development year.

Really need someone at CHB though. I hope Denver can have that break out season we are hoping for. Unfortunately injured as well. Maybe next year?

We're going to have to get creative as the FA pool is poor this year for what we need.
 

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It's so hard to read a practice match and know what the coaches are trying out.

eg if we are trying out Hustwaite and Ward as midfielders and they're playing their topline we can expect to lose but learn a lot? (Love hustwaite by the way).

Thoughts:
  • Sicily, Lewis, Hardwick, Worpel Nash, Amon, all looked very much in cruise control. Actually really hard to be excited about Lewis given that preseason but we know he can kick 5-6 goals with good delivery.
  • Ginnivan looks like he comes from a premiership team - great pickup
  • Day has the kind of class we love and miss when he's not around.
  • Frost is chaos but I love him. Think we're lucky to have him despite the offesnive madness
  • Newcombe is awesome
  • Dogs looked a cut above us. They made the easy things look easy - we often made them look hard.
  • Please don't expect Chol to be the saviour. If he's 10% better than Kosi that's a huge win for us.
  • mcKenzie or McDonald - we need one of these guys to step up from potential gun to actual gun this year.
  • That backline wasn't working at all today. 10 goal loss to a side we saw last week isn't reallllly what we want I don't think
 
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. It's a pre season game where we tried a few different things at times. Look at the positives from the game.
  • Jai continues to shine brightly
  • Mass' kick to Croc was delightful
  • Second quarter we flicked the switch, moved the ball quickly and took the game on - we piled on points quickly
  • Ginni's work rate - his work ethic had been questioned by many but loved his endeavour
  • Frenchie starting to believe in himself and his kicking will be something we love seeing over time
  • Ethan Phillips had a good shot last night and I thought he showed enough promise. He'll be better for the run.
  • Chol's kick to Croc on the run in the 3rd quarter. Chol will be a good acquisition - don't write him off based on a pre season match.
  • Croc kicks two as a half forward and continues to develop as a player to watch.

Sure, there were some negatives from the match, but wait until after the first few rounds to see what we can do before writing the season off and microwaving your memberships. Ride the bumps with a grin.
 
We need high end talent - we just don't have it apart from Jai
People in talent pathway and scouting think we potentially will have 3 top 10-15 rated players from the 2022 draft on review.
Frenchie, Weddle and HH .

Thats pretty much nailing it without being giving draft concessions. Give it time.
 
Oh, was I slammed by the melters when I said I looked forward to the unhinged melting at the start of this season. Or the first four matches, only Essendon is a reasonable win chance for us. Every other side is settled and very experienced with strong midfields and defences. Melbourne, Geelong and then Collingwood follow the Bombers. If your calm is upset hard by a practice match, wait until after the first month.


The forward line is going to have difficulty settling, especially against that experienced opposition. We’ll soon see if the Bruest and Gunners show can help those boys get smart quickly. There will be a lot of on-field coaching.

The backline will be fine. I’m not sure why it’s suddenly become the whipping boy. At the end of last year, it was our clearly most settled and coordinated unit. All the same players are there.

The midfield has to have been working on defensive play this preseason. It didn’t show yesterday. But defense is 98% effort. Playing a practice match at 80% effort will be lucky to demonstrate consistent offensive output, much less any defensive outcomes.


We’ll see for real what’s what and who’s who in that Essendon match when players have it all on the line. And we’ll finally see who is in our top squad. And knowing Sammy’s style, it will be the players he trusts to make a 100% effort. Fingers crossed they’re the shizzle.
 
I think people need to review or maybe look at these pre season games differently.
Coaches/fitness staff priority is to get 'game' fitness into players without injury .
New players hopefully build a bit of synergy with teamates.

Why would we roll out system/stratergy we have been working on pre season into a game for '0 points' so our opponants can have a look at it before round 1?
That would make no sense .

I guess its a good chance to get the autopsy form going early
 
I think people need to review or maybe look at these pre season games differently.
Coaches/fitness staff priority is to get 'game' fitness into players without injury .
New players hopefully build a bit of synergy with teamates.

Why would we roll out system/stratergy we have been working on pre season into a game for '0 points' so our opponants can have a look at it before round 1?
That would make no sense .

I guess its a good chance to get the autopsy form going early

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I think Blanck could hold down FB as a pure stopper. He's got the size, athleticism and is disciplined enough not to give stupid frees. It's a massive shame he's out for the year. Would have been a good development year.

Really need someone at CHB though. I hope Denver can have that break out season we are hoping for. Unfortunately injured as well. Maybe next year?

We're going to have to get creative as the FA pool is poor this year for what we need.

It has to be Weddle, at least short term. Not the gurilla guy, but can be twin chb with Sicily. It is stealing from what he could be up the field
 
Oh, was I slammed by the melters when I said I looked forward to the unhinged melting at the start of this season. Or the first four matches, only Essendon is a reasonable win chance for us. Every other side is settled and very experienced with strong midfields and defences. Melbourne, Geelong and then Collingwood follow the Bombers. If your calm is upset hard by a practice match, wait until after the first month.


The forward line is going to have difficulty settling, especially against that experienced opposition. We’ll soon see if the Bruest and Gunners show can help those boys get smart quickly. There will be a lot of on-field coaching.

The backline will be fine. I’m not sure why it’s suddenly become the whipping boy. At the end of last year, it was our clearly most settled and coordinated unit. All the same players are there.

The midfield has to have been working on defensive play this preseason. It didn’t show yesterday. But defense is 98% effort. Playing a practice match at 80% effort will be lucky to demonstrate consistent offensive output, much less any defensive outcomes.


We’ll see for real what’s what and who’s who in that Essendon match when players have it all on the line. And we’ll finally see who is in our top squad. And knowing Sammy’s style, it will be the players he trusts to make a 100% effort. Fingers crossed they’re the shizzle.

Those four games became much more of a challenge when day and possibly others became unavailable
 
It really comes down to whether the midfield are able to at least square their area and particularly their defensive mindset when the opposition are in top.

The backline isn’t under pressure when / if the opposition ball movement is slow or from deep in our forward line.

Last night, frankly aside from Newk our mids were rubbish (especially our experienced ones) and theirs dominated for 3/4 of the game. Hence the forwards look disinterested and the backs look near incompetent at times.

Improvement can only come from working better defensively (which is what we were able to do when we played well in the second half of last year).
 
Midfield seems to do better when reeves is doing better. And unfortunately the way ruck contests are umpired is a factor there. When the opponent makes reeves the target not the contest? Yet as usual all the ruck frees went to the dogs
 
Okay I am going speak about the elephant in the room.

I’m afraid for Ward. Gave early glimpses and hope but has not come on at all.

Seeing Saunders’ run and linking up with their gun mids is what we should be expecting from him in his 3rd season. Last night he was invisible when he should be shining.

He is playing like the world is on his shoulders. No freedom at all. A real concern for the squad going fwd. Top picks like him should be who we build the team and rebuild around, yet he really isn’t best 22 at the moment as Hus and McKenzie have gone past him already.

He is our most highly regarded midfield draft pick since Hodge with huge expectations.

That he can’t can’t displace an Irish rookie, an apprentice chippie off the street and pick 44 as the starting mids and is now probably behind a pick 80 winger (Morrison) a Sudanese rookie and now another rookie traded from Essendon for a wing is telling.

He has avoided serious scrutiny up till now. No one in the team should have higher expectations on them in 2024 than him. I believe he knows it and is really affecting his game.
 
You can’t help but feel envious of the Dogs’ list of talls. They appear to have a surplus playing Darcy in the seconds when he would waltz into our lineup with ease. Unfortunately as a father son selection I doubt he would ever leave the Dogs.
I cannot comprehend how Lobb is selected ahead of him, although I suspect that will change very soon. Disclaimer : I am not a great fan of Lobb.
There is no doubt the Dogs’ salary cap is going to be at bursting point as they try to keep Naughton, English, Ugle-Hagan et al.
Someone will be squeezed out methinks!
 
Apologies I probably should have stated what coaches/staffs objectives would be rather than Ethan/players wanting to secure a round 1 spot in the team

read the bit in the middle...

"Why would we roll out system/stratergy we have been working on pre season into a game for '0 points' so our opponants can have a look at it before round 1?
That would make no sense ."

the notion that we work on game plan all summer... hide it then unleash it in rd 1 is nonsense to me... we need to practice it as much as possible vs oppo as much as possible
 
Okay I am going speak about the elephant in the room.

I’m afraid for Ward. Gave early glimpses and hope but has not come on at all.

Seeing Saunders’ run and linking up with their gun mids is what we should be expecting from him in his 3rd season. Last night he was invisible when he should be shining.

He is playing like the world is on his shoulders. No freedom at all. A real concern for the squad going fwd. Top picks like him should be who we build the team and rebuild around, yet he really isn’t best 22 at the moment as Hus and McKenzie have gone past him already.

He is our most highly regarded midfield draft pick since Hodge with huge expectations.

That he can’t can’t displace an Irish rookie, an apprentice chippie off the street and pick 44 as the starting mids and is now probably behind a pick 80 winger (Morrison) a Sudanese rookie and now another rookie traded from Essendon for a wing is telling.

He has avoided serious scrutiny up till now. No one in the team should have higher expectations on them in 2024 than him. I believe he knows it and is really affecting his game.

sanders has established & experience guns around him. including game plan & system.

that said, our high pick crop need to keep improving
 
We’re potting Ward based on one praccy game- he’s a young talented mid still finding his way and largely played out of position - give the bloke a break…

I’d be looking at more established players like Nash and Worpel who offered no resistance if we’re looking for a scapegoat…
 

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