Kangas v Dees Match Reviews

[gokangas]

Come on guys - spill ya guts here!

Bit worried about the score given we had almost a full list. But, it was only a praccy match.

 

[Moti]

QUICK REVIEW:

We looked pretty average, but the game was played at a pretty good level so in comparison with some efforts we were ok.

BIG NEWS:

JWS went down with an agonising injury with 10 to go. Will probably miss Round 1 after that reaction. Screamed out when it happened. Ankle I think.

BIG WORRY:

Daniel Wells is looking very lazy and with virtually no intensity.

More later.

 

[Moti]

Ok, here we go:

GOOD POINTS:

- Smith and Gibson were great in defence. I don't think davey had a possie when Smith was his direct opponent, only when Smith covered other players,which he did a lot! Even looked like he could keep with him on pace;

- Petrie and Thompson looked good, Thompson moreso. Le Cras also showed some good signs while sav was solid with little game time;

- Rawlings looked ok;

- Daniel harris was superb and was a cut above in close;

- Harding crumbed everything, which was great. It was what he did after it that was cringe worthy;

- Hale did well against White, although Hale didn't play a lot;

- Archer appeared! Looked like he might not make Round 1, but you can never count him out.

AVERAGE POINTS:

- Sinclair was beaten in every body contest and played ring a ring a rosy;

- Hay was killed early and late by Neitz, about 7 goals. Had no help though;

- Jones was average and didn't put his body on the line;

- Wells looked very average and is not even looking like taking a step forward. Again, another who doesn't like body contact;

- Makepeace looks slow and small and is really struggling;

Sansbury looked average although he has a little pace and goal sense;

OVERALL:

If our players played to potential, we could be anything. Just too many players looking like they are just not interested or up to it at the moment. The side also looked a touch soft.

HOWEVER, if they all put in even 95%, we could give the whole thing a shake!

PS Simmo, Pratt didn't play.

The team for Round 1 was actually pretty easy. These 22 picked themselves although Smit may miss.

B: Gibson Hay
HB: Smith Brown Watt
C: Wells Simpson Rawlings
HF: Jones Petrie Grant
F: Harding Thompson Le Cras
Foll: Hale Harris Harvey
I/C: Mc Intosh Archer Firitto Rocca Makepeace

 

[1jasonoz]

Just got back, Smith looks like a badly sprained ankle(did it staright infront of me(yes i was drinking the bar dry) as he walked off under assistance. He is the real deal, anyone want to put money on him being a great player for the club, i have a house to back you up!!

Gibson, all over the place, a few stupid plays, but always getting the ball.

Thomo great kicked a heap.

We lost it out of the centre, and letting the Dees kick to many easy first half of the 1/4 goals.

Thats my very short brief, as i have another dozen beers waiting for me.

 

[Wild Kangaroo]

Were we playing at half pace?
Were we trying?
Were we playing a very good Melbourne Team?
Is this an indication of the season?
Do the players give a rats backside?
Are we in trouble for 2006?
or Am I paranoid about how the Kangaroos will go in 2006?

 

[gokangas]

Neitz fires as Dees down Roos
7:01:16 PM Fri 17 March, 2006
Matt Burgan
Exclusive to afl.com.au

Melbourne skipper David Neitz has jagged five goals to help the Demons hold off a determined Kangaroos outfit by 22 points at Princes Park on Friday afternoon, in the final round of the 2006 NAB Challenge.

The Demons 19.7 (121) defeated the Kangaroos 15.9 (99) to finish their pre-season with three wins and one defeat, while the Roos enter the premiership season with just one victory - over last year's premiers Sydney in the opening round of the NAB Cup.

Although Melbourne led for the entire match, the Demons were seriously challenged by the Kangaroos in the third quarter. The red and blue led by eight goals mid-way through the quarter, but the Roos fought back to trail by less than two goals at the final change.

But the story of the match was the strong return to form from Neitz, who led strongly, marked well and had his kicking boots on against new Kangaroos' full-back Jonathan Hay.

The Melbourne skipper will enter the premiership season full of confidence, after an injury-marred 2005.

Along with Neitz, live-wire forward Aaron Davey (four goals), Byron Pickett (three) and Paul Johnson (two) were also key players in Melbourne's attacking zone. Davey capped off a fine pre-season, finishing the pre-season with 10 goals.

Veteran Daniel Ward, playing his first official pre-season match, was among Melbourne's best, while ruckman Jeff White, hard-at-it running defender Matthew Whelan, the ever-reliable Nathan Brown and emerging youngster Col Sylvia also stood tall.

The only sour point for Melbourne was a leg injury to Clint Bizzell just minutes before the end of the match.

For the Kangaroos, key forward Nathan Thompson was also not to be outdone, also booting five goals - and was arguably his side's best - while Sav Rocca also bobbed up with two majors.

Brady Rawlings continued his excellent pre-season for the Roos, winning the ball about 30 times, while teammates Shannon Grant, Daniel Harris and Jess Sinclair were also prominent for the Roos.

Promoted rookie Josh Gibson continues to look a player - having been a terrific low-budget find - while youngster Jess Smith again showed his class at times. Unfortunately, though, he was taken from the field in the final term in the hands of trainers.

Melbourne went into the match without leaders Russell Robertson, Cameron Bruce and Brad Miller, while regulars Jared Rivers, Brock McLean, Ben Holland and Daniel Bell were also missing.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos were virtually at full strength with skipper Adam Simpson the only major omission.

Melbourne started the match in emphatic style. The Demons booted seven goals to two - including the opening five majors - to gain a 30-point lead at the first change.

Neitz (three goals) and Davey (two goals) shone during this period, while Thompson was the lone goalkicker for the Roos with two majors.

The Kangas fought back early in the second term with a hat-trick of goals, reducing the deficit to just 12 points. But when Davey jagged his third and Adem Yze kicked truly later in the quarter, the Demons took an 18-point lead into the main break.

Brown (15 disposals), Ward (14) and Bizzell (14) were the major ball-winners for the Demons in the first half, while B.Rawlings (16 possessions) led the way for the Kangaroos.

The match looked set to be over mid-way through the third term after Melbourne slammed five in a row, running away to a 48-point lead.

Neitz booted his fourth and Pickett added a couple and a thrashing dished out to the Kangaroos looked on the cards, until the Roos began a super revival.

The Kangas booted six goals to zip in less than 15 minutes to enter the final stanza trailing by just 10 points.

Although a fascinating final term loomed, Melbourne booted five goals to three in the final term to win comfortably.


KANGAROOS: 2.2 6.4 12.7 15.9 (99)
MELBOURNE: 7.2 9.4 14.5 19.7 (121)
GOALS - Kangaroos: Thompson 5, Rocca 2, Archer, Green, Harding, Harris, Co.Jones, LeCras, Petrie, Sansbury
Melbourne: Neitz 5, Davey 4, Pickett 3, P.Johnson 2, Sylvia 2, Green, McDonald, Yze
BEST - Kangaroos: Thompson, B.Rawlings, Grant, Harris, Sinclair, Gibson
Melbourne: Neitz, Davey, Ward, White, Whelan, Brown, Sylvia
INJURIES - Kangaroos: Smith (ankle), Archer (concussion)
Melbourne: Wheatley (finger), Bizzell (leg)
REPORTS - Nil
UMPIRES - Donlan, Head, M.Nicholls, Wenn
CROWD - about 1500 at Princes Park

 

[Moti]

Were we playing at half pace?
Were we trying?
Were we playing a very good Melbourne Team?
Is this an indication of the season?
Do the players give a rats backside?
Are we in trouble for 2006?
or Am I paranoid about how the Kangaroos will go in 2006?

I think we were trying but we made a lot of mistakes and the team was thrown around a bit.

This is pre season so all results should be taken with a grain of salt, but there are some worrying signs from some, although the fact that we have made improvements in key areas, such as run from defence and strength in small to mid sized players (Gibbo, Smith) as well as a nother KP defender (Hay) and a ruckman (Mc Intosh) as well as an improved engine for Harris and a leading forward (Le Cras) as well as Drew's improvement.

It really depends how the likes of Wells respond during the big stuff as to whether we miss or make the finals, beacuse on paper, I think we are right up there.

 

[Tas]

Hay has had a very restricted pre-season, he will take longer to get up to speed, also, most of our senior players have not played a huge amount of football so these practice matches are more about building up for round 1 rather than winning the practice match.

We have not been pumped up to fire at full speed early in the season like we have in previous years so we will look sluggish at the start but as the season goes on get stronger and stronger rather than run out of legs late in the year.

It is just a different type of preparation to the year. Take swans last year that looked ordinary and powered on late in the year, it is the type of approach I think the club has planned for.

Not sure if it will work or not, but that is the theory.

 

[scooby1279]

i think we need to look at when we played the cats for an indication of things to come in 2006. We have several senior players out and we lead for three quarters. Also take into account last week we kicked 7 goals in the third quarter to 1, and also against melbourne we kicked about 6 goals in 15 mins in the third. Just goes to show that when they wanna play they can play.

 

[mattyc2422]

So Hay's had 10 kicked on him in 2 games? How interesting.

 

[la roux]

So Hay's had 10 kicked on him in 2 games? How interesting.

yeah? so? he's pacing himself OK?

 

[Benno_900]

So Hay's had 10 kicked on him in 2 games? How interesting.

Four games.

He didn't play on Rocca for the full game though (so only about 8 in 4 games). But his pre-season form has been a bit worrying.

 

[Tas]

So Hay's had 10 kicked on him in 2 games? How interesting.

That isn't surprising, there is no defensive pressure in practice matches in the middle, all they have to do is just keep kicking out in front of him.

When it comes to H&A there will be more pressure and the half back line will make an effort to actually fill the gaps in defensive 50.

Hay is also a little underdone from the extra rest he had to have to get over his Hawthorn legacy.

Don't worry, you will have time to sink the boot in if he doesn't do well in the H&A season.

 

[speedy]

Huddo on SEN said Smith will have scans on his ankle tomorrow. It sounds serious.

FUKC! It had to be Smith.

 

[ShovelstoShovels]

The greatest worry about this team, is it's bloody poor disposal.

It has been a worry for a number of years, and the last two praccy matches are showing the we are not getting any better in this department.

We also look unsure about ourselves, we don't understand our team mates and the bloody forward delivery is s###.

 

[mighty mick]

in regards to hay, the club spoke of having to nurse him through the season as they did with colby, do you think he would be going full pace atm or holding back?

hope smith isnt to bad

 

[Rhombus]

I only caught the last half of the game.

Positives:

Thompson - Looked really good. Marked everything. Some really strong marks under pressure

Jesse W Smith: Really good. Looks like he hurt his ankle big time, hopefully just a bad sprain.

Schwarze: Did some good things in the last quarter. Backed himself and ran with the ball. His disposal and decision making look pretty scratchy though.

Gibson: Looks like he could be a find. Still needs to eliminate the rough edges though.

Harris: good in close. Looked polished as well.

Harding: Still has trouble finishing but he was lively.

Negatives:

J Hay: Looked disinterested and out of shape. Couldn't keep up.

Jesse W: See Positives

Petrie: Gave away a lot of dumb frees

Umpires: Just wanted to blow the whistle at every opportunity. Get ready for an umpire backlash in the first few rounds.

 

[Event Horizon]

I must have watched a different game to Moti.
I thought Harro was average - some good in close ball gets but crap disposals and he was tackled far too often.
Rawlings was crap as well - shocking disposal and decision making.
Archer was IMO clearly best out of our blokes at quarter time. A certainty for rounfd 1.

Now to my overall feel:
Yes Wells was terrible and lazy, but so was most of the side.
The only blokes with any intensity were Gibson, Smith, Archer, Thommo (best), Petrie, and in patches Hale and Rocca. Brown was good, especially in the second quarter on the wing against Motlop.

I know it's a practice match and it's hard to read anything into it, but gee, after the preseason we've had, trying to focus on round 1, I thought a win today was very important, but more so a good effort.

Q1. It started out as a very open contest. We got the ball into the forward 50 as often as they did early, but they were much more precise. Neitz and Davey cut up Hay and Sinclair respectively but the main problem was overall lack of intensity especially in the back half. Goals were often kicked by their blokes walking (not running) into an open goal.

Arch was great though - as though he didn't miss all that footy. Gibson was initially finding it tough on Yze, but foght for every posession and got on top in the end.

Down by 5 goals.

Q2. We closed the game up and started flooding back a lot more. Put a lose man into the backline and overall closed the game down. A lot better on the score board as we cut the margin by 2 goals to 18 points.
Hay got on top of Netz as the gaps were closed by defenders around him. Smith went on to Davey and did well.
Watt was doing ok on big Johnson but his disposal was shocking.
In the middle we weren't clean at all, with countless silly handballs at each stoppage trying to clear it out to the wing, and more often than not lost out.
Rawlings was particularly bad at these.
A few of their goals were direct results of our passes to them.
Thommo was very good through out.

Q3. A very slow start saw them kick the first 4 goals in 6 minutes and the margin got out to aroung 50 points. The hiding looked on the cards but Melbourne took the foot off the pedal briefly (they were well in control of the match) and we got a few lucky umpiring decisions. Jones who was crap for the second week running, kicked a goal from soft free and all of a sudden we banged 6 goals straight. I didn't see it coming as we weren't really in the game.
Thompson was outstanding with good leads and clean hands, Harding was good (until he missed a seater from 15 metres out on a slight angle after a set shot).
Kasey Green was interesting in this quarter. He may have had some decision making problems but he at least was winning 50/50 balls that not many of our blokes even cared to contest. He will play round 1 on that form, although I don't know why Pratt didn't play.
Rocca got in on the act after coming on. For some puzzling reason Hale didn't reappear again, and Petrie who was presenting very well up to that point ended up in the ruck with H on the bench. I guess Laidley wanted to try Thommo and Rocca forward line for a bit.
The margin was reduced to 10 points and a big last quarter was needed to shake everyone up and get them into the round 1 mode.

Q4. Melbourne again got 2 early goals and the game was over. Thompson and Rocca continue to toil admirably, but the inensity in the middle that was lacking all day, became non existant.

Gibson was good all day, but Harro, Rawlings and Shagga were below par.
Boomer was very quiet and at times disinterested. But I am not too worried about that one.

Smith's injury was the worst thing that could have happened, as with games like this, the least you want is injury free outcome. He looked a definite round 1 started before he went down. Came down heavily on his ankle after the marking contest with Davey. The stretcher came out initially, but he was helped off by the trainers, walking very slowly and limping badly. Looked at least 4-6 weeks, provided there was no break.

Overall, practice match or not, but the feeling ahead of the season opening isn't great. Lets hope we can get the intensity back immediately when the real thing starts, but we aren't such a good side yet, that can afford to be lazy and then just turn it on when needed.

McIntosh a mixed bag. Showed great athletisism at times, won the ball well, but his field kicking was shocking. A few times he didn't just miss the target - he kicked it to places where our blokes weren't even withing the bull's roar.
He should come good, but will need some senior games off the bench (hopefully 22 weeks of them) to become a better player.

What is wrong with Wells? A quiet and extremely lazy game from him. If he is fit, something else must be on his mind.

Hay is a better spoiler than Watt but that only works when you're close enough to your opponent. He did look a bit slow off the mark today, although a lot of it was due to absolutely no pressure in the middle.
We are notorious for being ordinary chasing without the ball, but today must have been our lowest tackle count for a long time. I will optimistically attribute it entirely to it being a practice match.

Simmo better be fit by round 1 as we're gonna need him.

 

[ShovelstoShovels]

I hope hay isn't going at full pace atm.

He has a slow reaction time, which is a sign of true fitness levels. If he lines up round 1, we need someone in there to fill the hole. Thats where Smith could come in.

fingers crossed

 

[Mailman]

I went and watched the last half....just in time to see the Demons blow us away at the start of the 3rd. We played an inexperienced midfield...I think Harding was even in there...and got destroyed. When Grant went in there about halfway through the 3rd there was a complete turn-around. We slaughtered them for the rest of the quarter. The jets seemed to be turned off in the fourth and Melbourne won comfortably.

Smiths injury didnt look good. He was struggling bigtime hobbling down the race.

Wells looked shocking as others have said. First time Ive seen him get smashed in a tackle while he was trying to run away. Holding the ball....

It was hard to really get any insight into the game. One things for sure, Sylvia is the real deal!!! He was very damaging. White killed McIntosh. Hamish didnt have the engine to go with him at all.

I just really hope LeCras gets a good go this season. He could be the difference.

 

[Carlos]

Crap skills, low intensity and a painfully disorganised backline were the things that i thought killed us today.

I lost count of the number of silly kicks to dumb positions or to out-numbered teammates by our blokes. And again, our inability to just execute basic skills by hand and foot was glaring today. Too many of our blokes over cook the thing when handballing in close and we have too few who can execute a well-weighted drop punt.

Brady Rawlings was again one of the worst offenders. Yes, he got stacks of it and i'm sure whoever he was running with barely saw it (can't tell ya who that was sorry). But he also let us down with plenty of horrible foot skill errors and turn overs.

And the backline looked terrible today. Just not enough blokes working hard to chop out his mate when it was in the air and whenever it hit the deck it was like Melbourne had 5 exra players such was the ease with which they were able to gather and use it. Individually i actually thought Brown and Watt had ok games. Hay was a victim of Melbourne's ability to move the ball quickly into its forward line (with absolutely no pressure from our midfield) and open space for Neitz to lead into. He probably broke even in the one-on-one's but was carved on the lead.

But the medium/small defenders were the real worry. Sinclair looked scattered, Makepeace was attrocious and Firrito was ordinary. Gibson did some ok things but sometimes looked to lack a bit of composure and was a little over-zealous when charging into ground level contests, but he was far from our worst.

Anyway, on the positive side:

Smith is a gun. His first half was far and away the best of any of our players. He played mainly across half back on Davey but often moved up the ground and was insrumental in many of our forward moves. He just looked so confident every time he went near a contest and is a terrific user of the ball. He was tenacious in the 50/50's and in lots of instances managed to find space when there was little on offer and make the rigth decision under pressure. But his highlight IMO was when he dropped in the hole in front of hard leading David Neitz and won the ball. It was so encouraging because it wasn't one of those split second things, he actually had time to make a decision to put his body on the line or squib it and he passed with flying colours. Awesome effort. he did fade a little in the second half but still held his own. Its a terrible shame about the injury though. He looked in all sorts of bother getting helped from the ground.

Loved Hamish's effort. Ran hard to get to as many contests as he could while he was on, and really put in. His ruck work was really clean and noitcebly influential, especially in the 3rd quarter. Melbourne were all over us when he was off and Drew was rucking, but as soon as H came back on we got our run on and knocked up winning it out of the guts.

Really liked Harding's game. Seemed to be all over the ground and just worked really hard whenever it was his turn. Won a fair bit of the ball and used it pretty for the most part i thought. And i was thrilled with his chasing and 1% stuff.

And Harro was great. Just typical engine room stuff as we're used to from him and was one of the better users of it on the day. Just seems to be getting classier and classier with each year.

Agree that Wells looked a bit disinterested. Just lacked work rate and while there was still the odd flash of brilliance, there were also long stretches where he was unseen.

Drew was ok although i dont get why he spoent as much time in the ruck as he did with Hale and Hamish warming the bench. He provided a target when he was at CHF and wasn;t terrible, although the marks werent quite sticking.

Thomo was terrific despite often having 2 and 3 blokes hanging off him. His contesting and leading were great despite some terrible delivery and he kicked a couple of nice long set shots.

Sav provided a presence when he was on (although WTF was with Dean throwing him into the ruck when he first appeared in the 2nd quarter?!?! Not the best management of a 32 year old i wouldnt have thought?!?!)

Not quite sure how Grant got in the bests in that report. Looked to be cruising and his work rate was far from his best. Always looked a cut above when he had it in his hands though and was one of the few who Thomo and co. would ahve been glad to be leading to.

Boomer was only ok too. Just didnt seem overly inclined to run all that hard to too many contests.

Hale was pretty quiet, Jones was rubbish, Green worries me (although he does look good with the ball in his hands... which doesnt happen too often though), and Archer was Arch. Played like his life depended on it and hit the contests ridiculously hard, but did look like a bloke who hasnt played much footy this year.

All in all, when we looked like we cared we were pretty good to watch. Quick movement out of the guts, hard running and a dynamic forward line. Only oproblem was that was for about 20 minutes all up. The rest of the time we looked like we had cement in our boots and were as flat as a tack.

 

[Benno_900]

Smith's injury was the worst thing that could have happened, as with games like this, the least you want is injury free outcome. He looked a definite round 1 started before he went down. Came down heavily on his ankle after the marking contest with Davey. The stretcher came out initially, but he was helped off by the trainers, walking very slowly and limping badly. Looked at least 4-6 weeks, provided there was no break.

Not happy hearing that!

From all reports dosen't look like he'll play rnd 1. Let's hope it's not too bad and he'll only be out for 2-3 weeks.

 

[Event Horizon]

Too many of our blokes over cook the thing when handballing in close and we have too few who can execute a well-weighted drop punt.

Brady Rawlings was again one of the worst offenders. Yes, he got stacks of it and i'm sure whoever he was running with barely saw it (can't tell ya who that was sorry). But he also let us down with plenty of horrible foot skill errors and turn overs.

yes there were plenty of handballs in close that were to hot to handle but as Pagan would say, why bother? Just kick the damn thing forward if in traffic.

Rawlings played on Johnstone for a lot of the game, and yes he wasn't really seen much, but gee, Brady was terrble todayl. I couldn't believe that Moti and AFL report put him among the best players.

 

[Flag Man]

Thanks for the reports guys.

It seems like last weeks overpossesion of the ball and very poor disposal were back to haunt us again.

I can't help but think, and I have said it for the last couple of years, but geez we would do a lot better by just playing a longer kicking game with the players we have.

A pity about Smith, as I was eagerly awaiting him to burst on the scene come round 1 and show all the doubters out there that he is the real deal.

No doubt someone will be along shortly with the it's just March, it's just a practice match schpiel.

Problem is that it's just March and it's just a practice match for all the sides we have been playing poorly against, too.

Let's hope we get focused in time for Port.

Can anyone tell me about Trotter and Sansbury?

 

[Carlos]

Trotts didnt play for reasons unknown to me, and Sansbury was just ok. Was playing more as a winger at times and had a bit of it in the 2nd half, but nothing remarkable comes to mind.