Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

[Greystache]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

I was standing with Slim so my thoughts are probably pretty similar but in case it adds something;

Grant- Played a totally different role, played on the wing and through the midfield. Got on his own quite a bit, seemed to work pretty hard, and got a bit of the footy. Not really a role that he's suited to given his lack of kicking skills, but his body language was much better this week.

Vez- Played across half back and was pretty good, quite composed with ball in hand and generally used it well. I still worry about him defensively one out but wasn't really an issue this week.

Williams- Started forward and was a non-factor, moved back to defence at quarter time and was serviceable against a few of the giants Collingwood had up forward.

Roberts- Played deep in defence and matched up on a mix of Tarrant and a couple of really tall forwards, had his challenges but generally competed well and held his own.

Jones- Took some of his trademark contested marks and converted. Seems to enjoy being the prime target at this level and comfortably beat Nathan Brown. He actually receives better delivery at Williamstown which is just scary. I'd give him another couple at Willi to really get his confidence up.

Skinner- Played deep forward and took a few marks that he flew for which was a nice change, although his conversion is a worry. Provided a target in the forward line, but he just needs to do more.

Talia- Not a great day for him, struggled to go with Tarrant on the lead, battled with the really tall forwards, and dropped a couple of marks when he had the chance to intercept. His lack of pace is a bit of a concern.

Greenwood- Struggled to get involved.

JJ- Was pretty good, provided some run and used the ball fairly well in difficult conditions. His contested footy looks to be an area he has made significant improvement.

Redpath- Very poor

Panos- Started in defence and did a very good job on a player at least 10cm taller, was moved to the forward line after Williams wasn't able to have an impact and was a bit quieter there. Made the most of his chances but played his best footy in defence.

Roughead, Pearce, and Moles didn't play. As has been a regular theme this year, Williamstown's best players were non-Bulldogs listed players.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Thanks for the write-up's guys.

Few questions:

- Is JJ somebody we should look closely at elevating, or would you keep him as a rookie for another year given it's likely we'll upgrade Austin and Campbell?

- Are there concerns yet whether Talia will make it? The weekly reports on him haven't been great and from what I've seen he does look a little off the pace.

- What role would Roberts play at AFL level? Third tall defender?

[Rocco Jones]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

- Is JJ somebody we should look closely at elevating, or would you keep him as a rookie for another year given it's likely we'll upgrade Austin and Campbell?

I've said this about other rookie elevations but IMO it's pretty simple, two things need to be checked for a rookie to be elevated.

1- they are good enough to be on our list
2- our 'intelligence' tells us that another club will pick them up if we don't elevated them

BOTH are needed to correctly elevate a rookie.

[Greystache]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Thanks for the write-up's guys.

Few questions:

- Is JJ somebody we should look closely at elevating, or would you keep him as a rookie for another year given it's likely we'll upgrade Austin and Campbell?

- Are there concerns yet whether Talia will make it? The weekly reports on him haven't been great and from what I've seen he does look a little off the pace.

- What role would Roberts play at AFL level? Third tall defender?

With JJ it's one I've been tossing up, at this stage I'd say another year as a rookie, but I'm on the fence. He has pace, has put on size, uses the ball quite well, and has improved his contested ball work significantly, but at the same time he hasn't really dominated games yet. If it is possible I'd love to see him get a couple of games at AFL level this year.

Talia- I think half a season is way too early to make a call on a KPD, but I'd want to see significant improvement next year. He's a mature body but seems to struggle against forwards who are either very tall or quick.

Roberts- Key defender, full back our CHB, he's got a frame that will be huge in a couple of years, and already competes well against big forwards. We definitely should give him a few games at the end of the season. For a first year KPD he is having a very very good year.

[Sedat]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Roberts- Key defender, full back our CHB, he's got a frame that will be huge in a couple of years, and already competes well against big forwards. We definitely should give him a few games at the end of the season. For a first year KPD he is having a very very good year.

He's been a success story for us at VFL level and he only got to the club as a result of the last minute decision to delist Schofield. Really happy to hear his progress and he's jumped ahead of most young talls that were already on our list.

[Rocco Jones]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

He's been a success story for us at VFL level and he only got to the club as a result of the last minute decision to delist Schofield. Really happy to hear his progress and he's jumped ahead of most young talls that were already on our list.

Yep. I haven't seen much of him but what I have seen, I love! He just seems such a natural/clever defender, hard to believe he play his junior footy as a forward.

[Bornadog]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Is Grant ready to be elevated this week.

[Missing Dog]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Thanks for the report fella's

Did you guys see any of the development game? I noticed Hill kicked 5.

[Greystache]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Thanks for the report fella's

Did you guys see any of the development game? I noticed Hill kicked 5.

No, only saw the seniors unfortunately.

[Greystache]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Is Grant ready to be elevated this week.

Probably not , I wouldn't play him in the role he played on the weekend as he's not suited to it, and his form the week before as a forward was poor.

[Mantis]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Probably not , I wouldn't play him in the role he played on the weekend as he's not suited to it, and his form the week before as a forward was poor.

Do you think playing this role will help in his long term development?

[Greystache]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Do you think playing this role will help in his long term development?

One game's not much of sample size but he did get more of the ball and had to work harder than he normally does, so I suppose so. I think pretty much anything other than just going through the motions like he has the past two years would be beneficial.

[stefoid]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

First lock him in the weights room for 4 weeks, then play him on the wing for another 4 weeks....

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

First lock him in the weights room for 4 weeks, then play him on the wing for another 4 weeks....

I don't mind playing Grant on a wing if it means getting him involved in the play more, as Stache said above.

[Bornadog]

Re: Round 15- Williamstown vs Collingwood

Assessed by Peter German

Matthew Panos:

Played in defence for a while and was quite solid early. We pushed him forward in the second or third quarter and he kicked two goals, so he gave us some forward line bite. Matt played a steady game.

Zeph Skinner:

Zeph started forward but he has been playing a fair bit on-ball and ruck in the last couple of weeks, so we are trying to lift his fitness and his ability to play up the ground — he is doing it really well. His ball use is good - took a nice mark in the goal square and kicked a goal then kicked another one. Zephy’s last two or three weeks playing up the ground and as a ruckman have been very surprising and very encouraging.

Tom Williams:

Tom played a bit back and forward this week. He looked at home when he was in defence, nice and strong. Went back and played on Chris Tarrant for a while to curve his influence and he did that really well. He ended up kicking a few points when he was forward. After his long layoff, to get through another game is a real positive.

Pat Veszpremi:

Patty played mainly in defence. His defensive work was very good. We will continue to work on his ability to be able to use his strength and speed to be able to defend and he did that really well. Just has to keep working on his ball use.

Michael Talia:

Tals played back most of the game. He was actually quite good with his defensive play. Really seeing that determined streak in him now to be able to stop his opponent. There’s still little parts of his game that we need to work on but you can see he is getting better each week in those areas. His last two or three weeks have been nice and solid as a defensive player.

Alex Greenwood:

Greeny is really starting to lift his work-rate and his input at senior level this week after playing in our reserves. We gave him the opportunity to really keep building his craft as a midfielder. He is one of our younger players so we still feel that his strength, because of his age, is just a little bit off but this was probably one of his best games with his productiveness as a midfielder and he used the ball really well. Hopefully this game will give him some confidence at senior VFL level.

Fletcher Roberts:

Fletch, like Talia, was pretty good down back. He played on a player who was almost ten centimetres shorter and he did that really well. Made some good decisions down back and is really starting to use the ball really well because of his ability to be able to see the game unfolding up the ground. He is starting to make some really good inroads.

Jack Redpath:

Didn’t hit the scoreboard this week after kicking five goals in the VFL seconds last week. His work rate was better and he set up a couple of goals with his second efforts with some of his handballs to his teammates. Pressured better this week with four tackles. He is starting to get the big picture now of his all over game rather than just kicking goals.

Jason Johannisen:

Was good playing on the wing and half back - gave us run and rebound. It is only his second game back and we see that he is getting more confidence and he is getting stronger both physically and mentally. He is turning out to be a really good player both offensively and defensively for us so we expect even more improvement in the upcoming games.

Jarrad Grant:

Played him in a few different roles - half forward, wing and half back. He got a fair bit of the ball with 20 odd possessions. Bit mixed with his ball use but when it was good it was really damaging for us. The areas that we have been talking to him about with his work rate and ability to stay in the play was really good.

Liam Jones:

Jonesy kicked three goals three behinds and had another couple of shots. Was probably the dominant forward on the ground without really smashing the scoreboard. If things went well he could have quite easily kicked six of seven goals. He had a big role presenting up and his second efforts and pressure were on the improve. That is what we are looking for just an all over game - both offensive targets for us inside 50m and defensive pressure coming out.