Bankers & Anchors: Rnd 4, 2024 vs Geelong

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

This is the Round 4, 2024 edition of the weekly Bankers and Anchors thread. Once tonight's game against Geelong is concluded post your nominations for:

The Bankers = 3 guys/aspects of the game that we banked on to do the right thing during the game
The Anchors = 3 guys/aspects of the game that weighed us down by their errors or poor play

Please limit it to no more than three of each player or aspect of the game, but feel free to make honourable/dishonourable mentions. As usual try to make it constructive criticism.

Try and restrict it to individual players rather than aspects of the overall match - I will allow more freedom now as the thread seems to be going down more of the aspects of the game path so you can have 3 for each made up of aspects of the game and individual players.

The thread is named in honour of a popular WOOF Contributor, The Banker, who passed away on 22/04/2012 after a six month battle with cancer.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Bankers

1. For once we didn't bomb it to Stewart!!!

2. Jones and Khamis worked very well tonight.

3. Libba and Bont went next level.. gosh it would've been epic to have won that tonight.

Anchors

1. a passage of play where VDM, Buku, and Bramble all whiffed it defensively.. They're gonna know about it in the review that's for sure
2. Our forwards just don't lead enough, and we end up just putting it on their heads every time. I know Naughts, Darcy, JUH and Weightman are great aerially, but you can't build an effective scoring plan around taking speccy's every forward 50 entry.
3. Umpires. I know the inevitable free kick even up happened, but its not the number, it's the inconsistency, and the moments they occur and where. We got screwed tonight on multiple occasions that cost at least 2 goals.

[meenies]

Bankers: We are not far away
keep trusting match committee on most selections
we are believing we should beat cats each time
Our fitness has improved

anchors:
channel 7 commentators, our home game so give us some love!
English seems like we reads too many of last years AA reviews
hate losing to the cats

[westbulldog]

Bankers (other than Bont and Libba's hurculean games)

Liam Jones (Hawkins 0.1)
Rhylee West - consistently hard at the contest.
Ryley Sanders - other than running the wrong way had another consistent game, didn't do much wrong.

Anchors
Naughton - not as effective as he can and should be.
Khamis - I know he has admirers but to me he looked lost as to where to position himself, I would bring back O'Donnell.
Vandermeer should have been bussed to Stawell not AO.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

.
Vandermeer should have been bussed to Stawell not AO.

This gave me the laugh I needed.

[AshMac]

Bankers

- bukus overall performance, zoning off Cameron to win contests was outstanding
- the young talent coming through - Darcy, Sanders, Gallagher early
- Bont and Libba hitting beast mode in the same game. Was truly glorious
- our ruck setup in the first quarter - really liked English back and center bounces, Darcy forward half of ground and then splitting the around the ground stoppages


Anchors

- our structure - over committing to the ball and continually killed on turnover
- high looping long kicks to space - not even players
- the ease with which the cats transitioned the ball - multiple free overlap runners through the ground all day
- the umpiring. Though it almost made amends when Williams push in the back was missed for his goal
- with one minute left in the game seeing not one player other than Bont or Libba genuinely out their body in for the contest
- a few performances from very important key players
- watching a team with no system play against the most disciplined and drilled coaching system in the league

[Sedat]

I'm going to banker and anchor Bevo simultaneously. His instincts on Daniel and Macrae, relevant to the way the game is being played in 2024, are spot on (despite the white noise from the clickbait crowd in the media). But both were still selected against an opponent who transitions the ball with speed. We really could have done with a Garcia type to better cover the ground with speed against Geelong.

We need to be ruthless as a footy club, and if that means Daniel and Macrae aren't giving us the best mix of players to execute 2024 style footy, they need to be playing 2nds.

I was very disappointed with Naughton and JUH last night. They didn't impact anywhere near enough, and the Cats defenders weren't put under pressure often enough.

[Grantysghost]

Anchors :

- Our plan for Cameron. What plan? Dominates up field and drifts into the dangerous spots forward. When Buku decided to go near him he competed well (not having a go at Khamis he did well and whar he was instructed to do).
He kicked 2.4 he really could have put the game to bed and we just watched him do it.

- Having an extra and still hack kicking it from stoppage. When we chained out with handballs and worked to space we looked good. Anyone blaming the coach here needs to rethink things. When you've fot an extra how can you be so stupid as to hack it to where they have more?

- Geelong, I really hate them! We had most of our good players firing and still can't beat the pricks off a five day break without their best mid and Selwood os gone.

Bankers

- Darcy. Wow, what a future he has. Lobb might be busy on the Tik toks this year.

- Libba and Bont. Grazie Grazie Grazie.

- Gallagher and West. Two real bright lights to start the season, loving their work rate, intensity and ability to hurt the opposition.

Special mention Duryea. I have been harsh on him however he was a really solid contributor last night.

[Grantysghost]

I'm going to banker and anchor Bevo simultaneously. His instincts on Daniel and Macrae, relevant to the way the game is being played in 2024, are spot on (despite the white noise from the clickbait crowd in the media). But both were still selected against an opponent who transitions the ball with speed. We really could have done with a Garcia type to better cover the ground with speed against Geelong.

We need to be ruthless as a footy club, and if that means Daniel and Macrae aren't giving us the best mix of players to execute 2024 style footy, they need to be playing 2nds.

I was very disappointed with Naughton and JUH last night. They didn't impact anywhere near enough, and the Cats defenders weren't put under pressure often enough.

Marra has been off for a few weeks. Not sure what the deal is, hopefully not contract related.

If Lobb keeps performing Marra might get a spell.

[hujsh]

Special mention Duryea. I have been harsh on him however he was a really solid contributor last night.

[ratsmac]

Bankers

1. West. Should've been in the team more last year. He played on Stewart for a fair bit and kept him accountable which is no easy task. His pressure and smarts is overdue in our f50.

2. Libba - what a game. The biggest crime footy is how this bloke hasn't even made the all Australian squad. If I had to pick any 22 players in the league, Libba is my number 1 pick.

3. Not giving up. Round 1 against another bogey team for us was so disappointing how the margin blew out. There were so many times last night we could of dropped our heads and got blown off the park. We aren't far off the pace.

Anchors

1. Getting caught out on the spread time and time again. Seeing the cats kick through our lines then have players open ahead of the ball is 2023 bulldogs.

2. Allowing the cats to take 10 minutes off the clock in the last when they were gassed. We had more run in our legs yet we let them have so many uncontested marks. That's where they won the game. If the shoe was on the other foot, I can't see us controlling the tempo like that. Well done cats

3. Daniel. I don't like to single this little champion out but that performance was the most ineffective that I've ever seen from him. On the other hand their play maker who plays the same role as Caleb in Miers cut us to shreds.

A cheeky 4. The umps- Weightman deliberate OOB was a joke. Why would he want the boundary instead of getting it to Gags who was near him goal side? Bullshit decision that they goaled from. And Stengal marking it from the pie stand. Overruling the umpires call to not to even review on that evidence is why the umpiring this year is the worst for some time.

FWIW we didn't lose because of the umps, we lost when the cats controlled the tempo in the last.

[bornadog]

Bankers

1. Libba, 28 contested possessions - he was a man possessed.
2. Tim English, HTA - second only to Gawn ( he has extra game) in AFL for season, and most in this round with 19. Hitouts are useless if they are not to advantage.
3. Team, not giving up all day and hanging in there to give us a chance

Anchors

1. Umpires per Ratsmac description - AFL are a joke and last touch is inevitable to further ruin this game.
2. JJ and Dale ineffective in backline - we need more run and carry to move the ball faster and not allow Geelong to setup in the backline.
3. Coaches - need to find a role for Caleb as he is a lost sheep at the moment.

[Mantis]

Marra has been off for a few weeks. Not sure what the deal is, hopefully not contract related.

If Lobb keeps performing Marra might get a spell.

Yeah, nah? Marra wasn?t far off kicking 4+ last night.

We couldn?t get clean ball into our F50 until the last qtr when he looked dangerous.

[D Mitchell]

Yeah, nah? Marra wasn?t far off kicking 4+ last night.

We couldn?t get clean ball into our F50 until the last qtr when he looked dangerous.

But he didn't and seldom does. Average 1.5 goals per game so far this season and last. Conversion rate 55 %.