Pre-Match. Round 9. Magpies v. Bulldogs.

[slangman]

Darcy Moore once kicked 5 goals against the Bulldogs as a 19yo.
We had a promising KPF who we moved to defence. All the while still crying out for that elusive KPF.

Darcy Moore to the F50!!!!

[qldmagpie67]

I think people are underestimating the loss of Roughhead
He’s our stay home tight defender playing on there tallest forward
Moore is a CHB who at this take last year was AA CHB
His strengths are leaving his man to be 3rd man up or intercepting mark
He doesn’t play man on man defence well
Howe isnt tall enough to play on second tall especially when opposition has twin towers
Our defensive structure looks lost at times as we push up hard and if the ball is turned over we get exposed
Also I think our midfield pressure has been down
Too many half baked attempted tackles broken
We don’t have enough class to be making as many mistakes as we make by foot
Our kicking needs to improve dramatically for us to be winning regularly
I would keep playing Begg until we can see he is physically spent
He is fast tracking his learning at the moment and for our future that’s important
Also can anyone explain why Adams is spending so much time as a half forward ? He’s our best in and under player we want extracting it out and giving it to someone else to kick not be the guy on the outside
Could he still be struggling after Covid ?
Also JDG needs to really lift. He’s been drifting badly in and out of games and isn’t impacting the scoreboard regularly as well
We need some more speed around the ball could we give Beau more time on the ball his burst of speed is good and he’s a decent kick
Look we were never going to be a true top 8 team this year
We win on the weekend and we are 5-5 and to me that would have been a fair start considering we are playing a new style and interpreting more younger players
We’ve also been unable to settle on a regular 22 each week for whatever reason
If we can bring out best I think we can beat the dogs there not playing well either

[warburton lad]

We are currently 4 and 4 after 8 rounds...

Whilst we may have hoped for better, we can be well pleased with some of the progress this year.

Specifically:

* Ginnivan is developing very well and provides some spark
* Quaynor has begun to have more impact on contests
* Crisp has maintained his progression to an A grader
* Begg has looked promising.
* Kreuger showed glimpses of why we got him- sadly cut down by injury
* Lipinski is a good young mid who is still a work in progress
* Nick daicos- has met every challenge put to him...
* Cameron has shown more with greater responsibility
* Pendlebury continues to lead well- sacrificing one's own game is a great example for the rest of the boys.
* Howe has come back well from injury
* McCreery ís a wrecking ball who will improve with greater exposure at the level and improved fitness...

We need to see some of the following in the last 14 rounds:

* A solid comeback from Jamie Elliott, Grundy, Roughead, Dean and Murphy from their injury concerns.
* Exposure of Poulter and Macrae, McMahon and Kelly at the AFL level.
* A definitive run of senior exposure from the Brown brothers, Bianco, Ruscoe to make judgement calls at season's end as to whether they are worth persisting with (I would keep Tyler and Ruscoe but delist the other two at this stage...)
* Some experimentation with who rotates through the midfield- let's see the Browns, Nick and Josh Daicos, McCreery, Macrae, Poulter, Ginnivan, Bianco, Lipinski in the heat of battle.
* Brave selections (Moore at full-forward- Hoskin-Elliot at centre half back- McMahon and Kelly at Centre half forward, Quaynor on a wing- Noble as a rover)

Given a reasonable run with injuries in our AFL team, we could see our VFL team finish top four and our kids could get finals exposure, albeit at the lower level..

Floreat Pica

[Lazza]

As usual an excellent post WL. You have this inate ability to turn a somewhat gloomy current situation into a fairly positive outlook. I like all your points and the VFL expectations are brilliant if all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Here’s hoping

[Quincy]

We need to have more young players getting exposed in the seniors.

[Piesnchess]

^ at seasons end, maybe Howe, Rougie, and sidey, should call it a day, and be replaced by young kids, more youngsters. like short term pain, for long term gain, we are after all, in the early stages of a total rebuild, lets not kid ourselves any longer.

[Pies4shaw]

We need to have more young players getting exposed in the seniors.

We do.

For that to happen, we need more young players playing well enough in the VFL to justify them being given a crack at the seniors (and, unless we pick him up in the midseason draft, that means players who aren't named Lachie Tardrew - because he can't play for us unless he gets a spot on the senior list).

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the Browns keep getting elevated because they're the ones who stand out in the VFL. The guys we all hope will come on mostly drift in and out of games, get injured or generally disappoint.

Ginnivan is a fixture in the senior side this season because he looked the goods in the VFL last season, came up and delivered. Henry should be a lock in the senior team - and I think eventually will be - but his senior form has been up and down. You saw at the weekend what happened when Bianco was given a game in circumstances where a number of us thought his "5-goal haul" was actually pretty unimpressive, given the way the opposition played (Essendon, who are last in a 21-team VFL competition). It would be wonderful if Poulter or Finn could crack it for a game soon - but they need to show some consistent form and this year they've struggled with that, so far.

[Lazza]

^ at seasons end, maybe Howe, Rougie, and sidey, should call it a day, and be replaced by young kids, more youngsters. like short term pain, for long term gain, we are after all, in the early stages of a total rebuild, lets not kid ourselves any longer.

I get what you are saying piesnchess but I love Howe and hope he plays one more season with Pendles and they both retire together! That’s my forlorn hope and wish. Of course a miracle flag would be the best way send them off!
I have stated elsewhere that I hope Collingwood try to win every game this season but if they fall short, we will have very good draft picks. Bonus!

[Lazza]

For that to happen, we need more young players playing well enough in the VFL to justify them being given a crack at the seniors (and, unless we pick him up in the midseason draft, that means players who aren't named Lachie Tardrew - because he can't play for us unless he gets a spot on the senior list).

I’m happily biased but if Collingwood don’t sign up Tardrew I will be spitting chips. He is a must from our VFL team. A gun with enormous potential.

[dalyc]

Lachie’s 25. We’re not contending for 5 years. I wish him well and hope he gets picked up but I don’t believe he’s the right pick for us at this moment.

[Pies2016]

As for untapped or untried talent, we have been a bit unlucky with Dean, Johnson and Krueger. All three of them are at least 20 years + and while we don’t know their capabilities yet, it’s been very frustrating not seeing them able to take their opportunities due to injury. Without knocking Madgen, I can’t help but think Dean is already an upgrade on Madgen. At 20, Dean was already awarded the VFL young player of the year medal and has already been granted a contract extension.
If Dean, Krueger and possibly Johnson were all available this season, I can’t help but think we would be travelling just that little better right about now.
That’s footy !

[Magpietothemax]

I think people are underestimating the loss of Roughhead
He’s our stay home tight defender playing on there tallest forward
Moore is a CHB who at this take last year was AA CHB
His strengths are leaving his man to be 3rd man up or intercepting mark
He doesn’t play man on man defence well
Howe isnt tall enough to play on second tall especially when opposition has twin towers
Our defensive structure looks lost at times as we push up hard and if the ball is turned over we get exposed
Also I think our midfield pressure has been down
Too many half baked attempted tackles broken
We don’t have enough class to be making as many mistakes as we make by foot
Our kicking needs to improve dramatically for us to be winning regularly
I would keep playing Begg until we can see he is physically spent
He is fast tracking his learning at the moment and for our future that’s important
Also can anyone explain why Adams is spending so much time as a half forward ? He’s our best in and under player we want extracting it out and giving it to someone else to kick not be the guy on the outside
Could he still be struggling after Covid ?
Also JDG needs to really lift. He’s been drifting badly in and out of games and isn’t impacting the scoreboard regularly as well
We need some more speed around the ball could we give Beau more time on the ball his burst of speed is good and he’s a decent kick
Look we were never going to be a true top 8 team this year
We win on the weekend and we are 5-5 and to me that would have been a fair start considering we are playing a new style and interpreting more younger players
We’ve also been unable to settle on a regular 22 each week for whatever reason
If we can bring out best I think we can beat the dogs there not playing well either

Agree with several points, Qld.
1) yes, i think you are right about loss of Roughie, and how that might be impacting Darcy. I also think the defensive system is not properly established, and our mids are not yet contributing as effectively in this respect as they did in previous years (due no doubt to the transformation in game plan).
2) Agree about form of JDG, but i will cut slack, given that he has been sick lately. Will scrutinise him more next game.
3) Agree that Tay (and I think others, such as JDG, Maynard) have lately been unwell and perhaps as a result the energy levels last week were not as "crash hot" as earlier in season.
4) Injuries to key players in our team have hampered cohesion and consolidation of new game plan.
I would add that the loss of Grundy, irrespective of his critics, is a pivotal blow in the sense that his contribution is the undercurrent that is taken for granted and often only detected when it is missed. We are now adjusting to a temporary world without Grundy, and that requires considerable realignment and readjustment of previous structures and assumption.
Where I disagree:
Would not play Beau on the ball...bis tackling is a massive asset in f50 and
should at this early stage in his career keep focussing on his f50 impact.

[RudeBoy]

As for untapped or untried talent, we have been a bit unlucky with Dean, Johnson and Krueger. All three of them are at least 20 years + and while we don’t know their capabilities yet, it’s been very frustrating not seeing them able to take their opportunities due to injury. Without knocking Madgen, I can’t help but think Dean is already an upgrade on Madgen. At 20, Dean was already awarded the VFL young player of the year medal and has already been granted a contract extension.
If Dean, Krueger and possibly Johnson were all available this season, I can’t help but think we would be travelling just that little better right about now.
That’s footy !

And let's not forget Grundy. I can't ever recall so many KPPs injured at the same time - Grundy, Roughead, Kreuger, Johnson and Dean. And to make matters worse, Wilson and Kelly are both injured from our VFL side as well. That makes 7 KPPs unavailable. If we had even 3 of those available, we'd be a very much improved team.

[The Black and White Lion]

Well we were up and about early for the first game at Marvel versus the Saints. You could see the excitement from the team. No idea what happened with the eagles but we’ve continued to celebrate as a team every time we kick a goal.

Hoping we can bring some excitement back and some accurate kicking against the dogs. That’s helped us get on top and stay in the game in a few matches including the saints and bombers wins.

Our regular structure aside, one interesting move could be to play Madgen to release Moore forward so we have two marking talls forward. Maybe not for the whole game but would be good to see for a quarter or two. I reckon we will need Moore to take Naughton however but may still struggle with English’s height if he plays down there at the same time.

Would like another tall to come in to provide cover this week but get the feeling the selectors may go in unchanged given the tight confines of Marvel

[Podpicken]

Let's put this in perspective. I honestly thought if we could scratch together 2-3 wins after 8 rounds, that would be a reasonable effort. The experts were saying 0-6 for us, and pre-season no one would have been thinking we'd beat Saints and Bombers, and be super competitive against Brisbane and Geelong.
Throw in some damaging injuries and COVID/flu battles (even though a lot of others are too), we're much better placed that most of us would have expected. Grundy, Elliott, Roughhead, young Dean all out are big outs, especially the first 3.
On top of this, our new game style is great to watch, despite getting opened up defensively on the rebound (key position backs out doesn't help, of course).
This is bloody good stuff.
Bring on the kids, let them run and learn, and let's hope we can find a way to roll those Doggies! I'm managing expectations and expecting a Dogs win. But if these kids keep having a crack, and our older crew go shoulder to shoulder with them, I'll be happy.
Go Pies.