3 things Learned - Round 13 vs Hawthorn, 2025

[Mofra]

It’s a worry.

Bevo says it’s the execution and connection to him that is hurting and I think that’s part of it, but he is just so far off the peaks we’ve seen from him. The fitness base is a huge factor, he is clearly a player that needs the solid foundations of a preseason to put his strengths in motion. I thought his mentality and approach have been fine and even some competitiveness coming back into his game in recent weeks, but the last fortnight seems like the confidence has taken a hit.

He’s not flying for the ball. His bread and butter.
He can’t get separation on the defenders and wrestles. Bad habit.
Conversion remains an issue.

Having a poor season. It’s going to impact his reputation.

The delivery to him is poor but he's also running under the ball constantly.
His timing is just off, so he had to double back a little and engage the defender. Right now he's playing on no 1 defenders who are stronger than him.

If he can time his launch better and we can kick a tiny bit shallower it would solve most of the issues.

[Scott2016]

We dont have a bottom 6 we have a bottom 10! Which is the problem. Commentators see our top 6 and over state our true team on paper. These players are not afl standard Mcneil Bramble Gardner Buku Cleary VDM Duryea Dolan and Davidson. Throw in West Williams and Naughton who play a good game 4 times a year. Throw in Sanders and Odonnell who are getting better. Libba Harmes and Treloar are ageing.

Everyone relies on Bont Richards Dale Lobb Kennedy and English to win the game against a team who has 20 out of their 23 doing a great job and making a contribution. If any of these 6 have an off night it gets nasty real quick.

We need to get games into the new guys, rather see them getting games and losing, as against players who have been axed by other clubs. We keep persisting with them and keep thinking its going to get better. Well it aint going to.

Dont want to see scott Baker Poulter come into the side from the vfl as they only add to the bottom 10 who are not going to make it.

For me its the lack of contribution our bottom 10 give us. Based on stats Tom Barass had 7 stats and Maginness had 11. But I would say what they did contributed to their win. Mcniel had 9 stats and I would say he contributed to the loss.

[mighty_west]

1. iI haven't been one to want to play Naughton back however i think he could do with a few games where he can read the play behind the ball, just get his hands on the ball and find his confidence even for a few weeks, Darcy is back next week anyway so we have that luxury of playing Darce and Buku forward with Naughton and Lobb as our key backs along with JOD, sometimes a player can have a bit of a change just to find some form so i think it's time for Naughts to free himself up somewhat.

2. Our defense is a worry, has been for sometime, when sides cut us up we don't seem to have a way to stem the flow like good teams do, time and time again the Hawks had free players everywhere on the rebound yet when it was our turn to attack the pressure was on from the Hawks making us turning the ball over, fumbling, kicking to a pack etc, we don't seem to get that same separation around the ground, is it work ethic running back? game style? Until we fix that we'll be a mediocre side that bully's the weak, does Daniel Pratt copy any flack for what happened last night? Because Bevo certainty has.

3. It's funny, when winning and full of confidence our depth seems to be really good but when we lose, our bottom 6 sucks and are not up to standard, it's a fickle world the AFL, that said too many players had a mare last night, Rhylee West, WTF was that? get's talked about in the media on how good he is blah blah yet performs like that, you could have flipped a coin on who could have been subbed out whether it being McNeil, West, Gardner, we could have subbed out Gardner and put Naughton back and gone in with a smaller forward line just to shake things up, lower the eyes going forward and lead out and seperate.

[Rusty12]

1 - We are pretenders, plain and simple. Many reasons why (As above), but that's what we are right now. (One reason I haven't seen above was our inability to lock the ball inside 50)

2 - We have enough evidence of who we cannot trust (Pound for Pound ratings clearly show this, no bias) in pressure games; they should never play again, unless injuries thin the list out.

3 - Trelor's running gait was cooked from the opening bounce. He was not ready for AFL football. He has all the signs of cotton wall training, and trying to get him over the line VS, pushing him to the edge, either break him or get him ready. He was shuffle running, or trying to get hip drive, without pushing off his toes, so obvious. He is either not ready or is protecting himself; either way, he cannot play again until he can cover the ground.

[Bornadog]

4. I'm still trying to figure out is Naughton injured, lazy, or just does give a shit? He finally came to life in the 2nd half... but damn a very underwhelming season.

With only 18 inside 50s in the first half, the forwards were starved of opportunities.

Naughton seems to have lost some confidence and he is also not jumping for the ball. The preseason is still hurting him, but he needs to find form quickly.

[mighty_west]

1 - We are pretenders, plain and simple. Many reasons why (As above), but that's what we are right now. (One reason I haven't seen above was our inability to lock the ball inside 50)

2 - We have enough evidence of who we cannot trust (Pound for Pound ratings clearly show this, no bias) in pressure games; they should never play again, unless injuries thin the list out.

3 - Trelor's running gait was cooked from the opening bounce. He was not ready for AFL football. He has all the signs of cotton wall training, and trying to get him over the line VS, pushing him to the edge, either break him or get him ready. He was shuffle running, or trying to get hip drive, without pushing off his toes, so obvious. He is either not ready or is protecting himself; either way, he cannot play again until he can cover the ground.

Was a bit like when JJ was rushed back, just needed at least one game in the VFL to get himself ready to go full fitness with no excuses.

[Rusty12]

I don't think he will make much of a defender because of the ease with which Naughton gets pushed off or under the ball.
I have said this before, he is a 3rd tall, or tall, pressure forward, apart from the odd hanger, his profile is not one of a key position player.
I would love for him to play a defensive forward role on the Oppos best intercepter, lead often and early, use him if the intercepter does not follow, otherwise, play from behind, and get the ball to the ground for once.

[Bornadog]

I don't think he will make much of a defender because of the ease with which Naughton gets pushed off or under the ball.
I have said this before, he is a 3rd tall, or tall, pressure forward, apart from the odd hanger, his profile is not one of a key position player.
I would love for him to play a defensive forward role on the Oppos best intercepter, lead often and early, use him if the intercepter does not follow, otherwise, play from behind, and get the ball to the ground for once.

He seems to run under the ball too often

[Rusty12]

Was a bit like when JJ was rushed back, just needed at least one game in the VFL to get himself ready to go full fitness with no excuses.

I think it is deeper, or worse than that, this time around. 1 game in the VFL may not have been enough. We have switched into Trelor management mode, not Trelor high-performance mode, and that is a way bigger problem.

[Scott2016]

1. Our bottom 6 is really a bottom 10
2 Our skill in using the ball is well below the Hawks
3. Being the highest scoring team means nothing when you dont have any real forwards. Our makeshift players are just names on paper that fill in the teamsheet. They all dont have a forward upbringing and it shows when they up against good defenders. Darcy will not be able to fill the void of 6 spots. He needs 5 other forwards with craft to get the job done. The opposition will focus on him as the others are not dangerous week in week out. West is an example gets 3 goals one week then doesnt score a goal for a few games. Then will get another 3. Guys like Higgins doing it week in week out. Its rare higgins misses out.

[mighty_west]

I think it is deeper, or worse than that, this time around. 1 game in the VFL may not have been enough. We have switched into Trelor management mode, not Trelor high-performance mode, and that is a way bigger problem.

Sounds like the end is near for Adz if that is the case and will his body ever be fully trusted again, we obviously know how good and important to the midfield mix he can be, could it be a case of knowing his body will go on him again but just hoping it can hold up for at least the rest of this season.

[Scott2016]

Sounds like the end is near for Adz if that is the case and will his body ever be fully trusted again, we obviously know how good and important to the midfield mix he can be, could it be a case of knowing his body will go on him again but just hoping it can hold up for at least the rest of this season.

I thought his second half was reasonable. His tackles stuck which was not the same for many others. May be we try him as a small forward not as a midfielder. We dont have any real forwards but he might be able to score more compared to the others we have

[Rusty12]

I thought his second half was reasonable. His tackles stuck which was not the same for many others. May be we try him as a small forward not as a midfielder. We dont have any real forwards but he might be able to score more compared to the others we have

In and under, and inside the contest, he was fine all night. Once the ball got outside, he had no run, I felt sorry for him.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

We had an off game, we weren't ready for the Hawks pressure, Mitchell out coaches Bevo again, has his boys ready for the first time in a month!
Yes and Naughton is now a Clydesdale...
Put him back, he's lost his mojo.
Lobb forward until Darcy returns...

[Mantis]

I don't think he will make much of a defender because of the ease with which Naughton gets pushed off or under the ball.
I have said this before, he is a 3rd tall, or tall, pressure forward, apart from the odd hanger, his profile is not one of a key position player.
I would love for him to play a defensive forward role on the Oppos best intercepter, lead often and early, use him if the intercepter does not follow, otherwise, play from behind, and get the ball to the ground for once.

If only we had Darcy and Marra in the team so he could play his most suited role… *sigh*

He ain’t the main banana with only Khamis or Davidson to support.