Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

[Bulldog4life]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

With Roughy's outstanding palm work down to them and pinch hitting and CHG and Liam Jones (My Man/boy Crush). The window might be ina few years...

I think man crush sounds better.

[Bornadog]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

Whats the weather looking like tomorrow for Point Artic?

Its a given , when you go down there, rug up.

IMO. Gone. All a bit too hard for him after the longest pre-season in history. He was forced to train since the loss to Geelong in the Prelim to hold his spot on the Bulldogs list.

Shame about Lynch if its true he is gone?

[LostDoggy]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

I'm bringing sunscreen, an umbrella and a nice warm coat - got to be ready for four seasons in one day in Melbourne : )

[GVGjr]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

Just back from the game. Williamstown had easy wins in both games although the seniors converted poorly in the good conditions. The seniors won by something like 42 points and kicked 3 goals 7 in the last quarter.

Some of the headlines before I write something a bit more substantial:

Lynch had a goal fest in the reserves after a quiet start and had a good game
Mulligan played FB and was rock solid with his marking.

Stack didn't play for the firsts or seconds.
Boumann had a very good game for the seniors mainly at FB and except for one OOBOTF used the ball well.
Skipper had a solid day against three good talls.
Tiller didn't have a great game.

A couple of the old Port ladies went hard at the umpires for 7 quarters but pretty much shut-up in the last quarter when the games was beyond Ports reach
These people who can't put together an 8 quarter effort deserve no respect

[mighty_west]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

A couple of the old Port ladies went hard at the umpires for 7 quarters but pretty much shut-up in the last quarter when the games was beyond Ports reach
These people who can't put together an 8 quarter effort deserve no respect

What else do you expect from the Port ferals? They usually bring out the brollies to whack opposition supporters & players & umps over the head, they are probably worse than Pies & Tiger supporters.

[Mofra]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

I went, had a can with ErnieSigley, enjoyed a good win by the boys.

Just a few quick random thoughts on a couple of players:

Cordy - I think he is a fair way off AFL football, but he looks like an absolute gem once he is developed. He presents as much as possible (always a trait to look for as a forward), he can rove packs well, he looked good in a short stint in the ruck in the 4th, kick one or two goals, and was genuinely annoyed at himself when he missed a mark in the 3rd.
Forget Cordy in 2009, but get excited about Cordy 2010 & beyond. His acceleration & closing speed for a big guy is phenominal. He moves better than many midfielders, from a guy only 7cm shorter than Street!

Tiller - Just slightly too good for VFL football, he owned the defensive 50 in the first half of the game. After the break Port seemed to try and drag him away, but his courage overhead, hardness at the football and hard running to provide an option leads me to think he could easily step in and play AFL football if needed.

Grant - Blew up hard in the 3rd and 4th, looks beautiful as a burst player but is clearly in the "developing" stage of his career. Has super-sticky hands and is really just physical development away from being a player. Took the right options when he had it which is a promising sign, didn't get much of it which is less promising.

O'Keefe - Better overhead than I expected, gets the football due to better judgement / reading of the play. Played in the middle and looked comfortable in traffic. Not sure if he is ready for AFL duties yet but certainly would be in our better players today.

Reid - One of our best IMO. Has an amazing physique for football, made the right choices with the footy, tackled hard and looks comfortable inside. He seems to be running harder to receive the football than I remember from last year, which is also a good sign.

Skipper - Very good in the ruck, didn't really play anywhere else, rucked with almost no break. Shame for Skipper, he seems to be an unlucky player at times, probably an inch or two too short to ruck regularly at AFL level, and not tried anywhere else. Did battle hard when he didn't have the ball, including a nice chase-down tackle.

Wight - Took a couple of nice marks, had an unlucky free paid against him in the 4th. Not much rebound as Tiller had that aspect of the game covered, but no glaring errors for Wight today on a very good VFL forward.

Boumann - Seemed to make the step up to senior VFL football with no fuss, body positioning was good. Quiet but certainly not poor, kept his opponent largely in check. Moves well for a tall.

Wood - Must not be too far off senior duties, his attack on the ball was a feature today. Played all over the place at different stages, looks like he will be a player. The ball felt "safe" in his hands.

Henry White - Didn't seem to get near it much so hard to say. Didn't do badly the few occassions he was near the ball, just needs to get to more contests.

As an aside, a couple of Willy seniors guys (ie Johnson & Cloke) seemed to be a step below the Bulldogs listed bloke in terms of disposal, especially Johnson. I thought for Willy that Cam Lockwood played ok, Stretton & Egan played well, Meyer seemed to be beated a few times. Davies, Jolly & Little all worked hard.

[GVGjr]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

Great report Mofra. Regarding Henry White, he spent a large chunk of the game off the ground but came back on in the last quarter and got a fair bit of it in a 10 minute burst.

[Mofra]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

Great report Mofra. Regarding Henry White, he spent a large chunk of the game off the ground but came back on in the last quarter and got a fair bit of it in a 10 minute burst.

You're right, to be honest the 4th was the only time I saw him get near it. Again I was very impressed with Cordy, I now understand what the hype was about. He will take a bit of time but gadzooks he looks like he will be worth it.

FWIW I saw Mulligan, Shaw & Roughead walking along the outer at the latter stages of the game, and Roughead is a massive kid for 18 years old. I know we only took 3 players at the last draft but it seems a year to genuinely get excited about.

[Cyberdoggie]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

I thought Tiller had an excellent game. Only 1.5 things he did wrong, got caught with the ball in the 1st quarter and all but took a nice mark in defence but fumbled it on the way down which resulted in a port goal. Apart from that was rock solid.

Bouman and Wight were also good in defense. Willy's defenders clearly on top of Port all day. They also had fair too much leg speed through the middle. When they switched play across the ground they were particularly damaging.

Port's Bonnadio got a good reminder from Gary Ayres at 3 quarter time. I think he asked him if he was going to take a mark for the day.

[Mofra]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

I thought Tiller had an excellent game. Only 1.5 things he did wrong, got caught with the ball in the 1st quarter and all but took a nice mark in defence but fumbled it on the way down which resulted in a port goal. Apart from that was rock solid.

Even that dropped mark was a gutsy effort to run back with the flight of the ball, which you'd rather see a guy go for. I was very impressed with Tiller, seemed to really own his area on the ground. Went in very hard.

[GVGjr]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

You're right, to be honest the 4th was the only time I saw him get near it. Again I was very impressed with Cordy, I now understand what the hype was about. He will take a bit of time but gadzooks he looks like he will be worth it.

FWIW I saw Mulligan, Shaw & Roughead walking along the outer at the latter stages of the game, and Roughead is a massive kid for 18 years old. I know we only took 3 players at the last draft but it seems a year to genuinely get excited about.

Liam Jones is a big boy as well and wouldn't be much shorter than those guys. At last some genuine talls.
I have some doubts that both Mulligan and Shaw will make it to the senior lists but the last couple of games I have seen both of them are improving. Mulligan in particular was impressive today.

[Mofra]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

With Minson still fairly young in ruck terms, Cordy & Roughead on the list, it does make things difficult for Shaw as a pure ruck. Milligan is an interesting one depending on where he is developed.

[azabob]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

Liam Jones is a big boy as well and wouldn't be much shorter than those guys. At last some genuine talls.
I have some doubts that both Mulligan and Shaw will make it to the senior lists but the last couple of games I have seen both of them are improving. Mulligan in particular was impressive today.

From my understanding this will be Mulligan's, Shaw's and White's last year on the rookie list? Should be a few changes off the senior list at years end but Picken you'd assume would take one of those spots. With Boumann developing maybe better than expected could that also impact if Mulligan gets listed as they seem to be trying to develop him as a KP defender?

[Cyberdoggie]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

Even that dropped mark was a gutsy effort to run back with the flight of the ball, which you'd rather see a guy go for. I was very impressed with Tiller, seemed to really own his area on the ground. Went in very hard.

Yes it was. Great effort but he dropped it and it cost them, that's why i considered that a half a mistake

Apart from those two incidents he didn't put a foot wrong. I think he's actually a far more gutsy player these days, regularly throws the body in front of packs and he's a good spoiler.

[Hot_Doggies]

Re: Williamstown vs Port Melbourne

Good to hear Wood playing well. Do the regular Willi watchers think he could take Tim Callan's spot? Same type of player but Wood seems to be more skilled, fast and obviously younger.