NAB Cup Rnd 1

[sydney-dog]

Footy is finally back, even though it is dangerous using the NAB cup as a season form line, I was interested in members early observations the games, recruits and players

Power v Crows

The Power looked a bit further advanced in there preperation and even though Tredders was missing they definitely had a stronger team structure on the night, if Port can keep there best side on the park, they do have the Capability to push for a top 8 position, but one watch point, they need to play a more direct game, they seem to like to release a runner out wide with a lateral 25 metre kick

Crows, the side definitely lacked structure, I am convinced Kenny will play CHB and Bock up forward, Perrie will come back in at CHF, while Burton, Goody, Johncock and Roo will add to the midfield mix. Positives on the night, Knights found plenty of the ball, McIntyre looks to be a quality defender of the future, Griffen has given Craigy and Maric plenty to think about, with Vince, Massie and Hinge the club seems to have the depth to challenge a top 4 spot

On a negative, Mattner playing on the last line, it's not Mattner's game and he did not seem confident or comfortable on the last line. On the loss, it does give the crows some added flexibility in bringing players back over the next couple of weeks, as there is no team restrictions in the number of players you can play in the loser pool games

Kanga's v Pies

Watched the first half, the Kangas are definitely up and running early and well in front of their preperation at this stage in the season, good signs was a more attacking style of polay from the Kanga's

Pies, obviously fielded a very inexperienced side, but one concern is the teams lack of leg speed that may hurt them in 2007

Carlton v Essendon

Even though a trial I think the Bombers will be feeling a bit disappointed with the loss, the Bombers have definitely set themselves for strong early performances and there has been a lot of talk in recent weeks from the bombers camp of an quick rise. On the Positives the Bombers have a host of exciting aboriginal players, but consistency may be the critical issue.

Carlton, Pagen claimed after the game the club is on the way back, I have no doubt the club is on the right path with Gibbs and Murphy future leaders, but both sides will need to field it's best sides throughout the year

WB v Sydney

Both teams fielded second string line ups, WB look like they have the class, speed and runners to push for a top 4 position, a fit Darcy up forward will be the icing on the cake, Aka will provide plenty of experience to an excitiong midfield

Sydney, the past two season the Swans have had an outstanding run with injuries, the swans best 22 can challenge all top clubs in the comp but I am not convinced with the depth at the club, and I suspect for the swans to be there again this year, they will need another great run with injuries

St Kilda v Lions

well this game was more of a water polo game, the clubs will be happy to escape without any serious injuries

[stan]

Footy is finally back, even though it is dangerous using the NAB cup as a season form line, I was interested in members early observations the games, recruits and players

Power v Crows

The Power looked a bit further advanced in there preperation and even though Tredders was missing they definitely had a stronger team structure on the night, if Port can keep there best side on the park, they do have the Capability to push for a top 8 position, but one watch point, they need to play a more direct game, they seem to like to release a runner out wide with a lateral 25 metre kick

Crows, the side definitely lacked structure, I am convinced Kenny will play CHB and Bock up forward, Perrie will come back in at CHF, while Burton, Goody, Johncock and Roo will add to the midfield mix. Positives on the night, Knights found plenty of the ball, McIntyre looks to be a quality defender of the future, Griffen has given Craigy and Maric plenty to think about, with Vince, Massie and Hinge the club seems to have the depth to challenge a top 4 spot

Intersting comment. I disagree with you there. While Griffen played well and looks like he'll be a fine player, hes probably not ready at the moment to take on the rucks from other top 4 prospects. With Hudson they look alright in the ruck and maybe a top 4 side. But if they lose Hudson then they will be in trouble.

Also I was at the game and I would say port look to have plenty of pace around the ground, made the crows look slow at times. Im expecting port to finish 8 - 12.

[sydney-dog]

Stan

Obviously Hudson will lead the ruck, I thought his game was fantstic, my comments on Griffen was in reference to most people think either Maric or Meesen was next in line to support Hudson. Meesen may be out for 6 weeks, so this leaves Maric and Griffen to battle out the final ruck position, not many people had Griffen in the equation prior to Friday night.

Griffen performance places competition pressure on Maric, and I also sense Craig wants the ruckman to habve the ability to push forward, Griffen definitely showed he has the potential to do this....

I agree if Hudson falls over this will be a difficult void to fill, but 70% of clubs are in the same position, there are not too many clubs out there who have 2 top class ruckman.

[Rik E Boy]

Power: A lot of pundits are prepared to pump up the Powers' tyres but the forward line still relies on Lade and Tredrea and I reckon they will miss the penatrative boot of Dew. Pearce will get tagged out of existence but having both Burgoynes in tandem will benefit Port this season. Defence looks very average, as does Willits who looks lost out there. Both Cornes' boys had a dog of a night. I still don't think they'll make the eight.

Crows: Plenty to like in the NAB effort but watching Meeson go down must have sent a shiver through a few fans' spines. The Ruck stocks and the ability to consistently win centre clearances will be a challenge for the Crows this season but Hudson's match was a solid hit out. Inside Football has Simon Goodwin as the most important Crow this season but if Hudson goes down they will fail to make the eight.

Bulldogs: An inconsistent effort against a side that doesn't give a toss about winning pre-season matches. Their best football will be very tough to match this season but a few kinks need to be worked out by Eade at this early stage which is of course perfectly natural.

Kangaroos: Very advanced in their preparation and duly thrashed a team of Pie greenhorns in Carrara. Will go a long way in this NAB cup.

Blues: Looked impressive with O'Halphin and Waite down back and with Big Red up front with Fev. Had the Bombers on toast and should have finished them off but Pagan would have to be happy with the first up effort.

Bombers: Got left behind by the Blues but battled away. Lloyd shook off some of the rust and McVeigh continued to give away stupid goals by shooting his mouth off. Monfries played a good one and looks set for a big year.

Hawthorn: Gutsy win on the back of Franklin's efforts and did well to come back when the game looked shot in the third quarter. Zac Dawson still laughable.

Melbourne: The Demons with plenty out still managed to dominate about a quarter and a half and nearly embarrassed Hawthorn today.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Stan

Obviously Hudson will lead the ruck, I thought his game was fantstic, my comments on Griffen was in reference to most people think either Maric or Meesen was next in line to support Hudson. Meesen may be out for 6 weeks, so this leaves Maric and Griffen to battle out the final ruck position, not many people had Griffen in the equation prior to Friday night.

Griffen performance places competition pressure on Maric, and I also sense Craig wants the ruckman to habve the ability to push forward, Griffen definitely showed he has the potential to do this....

I agree if Hudson falls over this will be a difficult void to fill, but 70% of clubs are in the same position, there are not too many clubs out there who have 2 top class ruckman.

Unfortunately syd, 70% of those clubs don't have the number one ruck option coming back from major knee surgery. Maric vs. Ottens, Jamar, Jolly, Clarke, Brogan and other 'secondary' ruckmen doesn't bear thinking about for Cows fans.

regards,

REB

[Stumps]

I think Maric will definately feature ahead of griffen, although he showed some good signs friday night. Maric appears to have a more developed body meaning he can compete when it's purely body on body (boundary throw ins) whereas griffen got pushed off pretty easy. Hudson is fantastic isnt he, tries his guts out, a few games in the finals for north late last yr has really given this season a kick start i think. purely stumps' thoughts though

[Zorro]

Power: A lot of pundits are prepared to pump up the Powers' tyres but the forward line still relies on Lade and Tredrea and I reckon they will miss the penatrative boot of Dew. Pearce will get tagged out of existence but having both Burgoynes in tandem will benefit Port this season. Defence looks very average, as does Willits who looks lost out there. Both Cornes' boys had a dog of a night. I still don't think they'll make the eight.

Crows: Plenty to like in the NAB effort but watching Meeson go down must have sent a shiver through a few fans' spines. The Ruck stocks and the ability to consistently win centre clearances will be a challenge for the Crows this season but Hudson's match was a solid hit out. Inside Football has Simon Goodwin as the most important Crow this season but if Hudson goes down they will fail to make the eight.

Bulldogs: An inconsistent effort against a side that doesn't give a toss about winning pre-season matches. Their best football will be very tough to match this season but a few kinks need to be worked out by Eade at this early stage which is of course perfectly natural.

Kangaroos: Very advanced in their preparation and duly thrashed a team of Pie greenhorns in Carrara. Will go a long way in this NAB cup.

Blues: Looked impressive with O'Halphin and Waite down back and with Big Red up front with Fev. Had the Bombers on toast and should have finished them off but Pagan would have to be happy with the first up effort.

Bombers: Got left behind by the Blues but battled away. Lloyd shook off some of the rust and McVeigh continued to give away stupid goals by shooting his mouth off. Monfries played a good one and looks set for a big year.

Hawthorn: Gutsy win on the back of Franklin's efforts and did well to come back when the game looked shot in the third quarter. Zac Dawson still laughable.

Melbourne: The Demons with plenty out still managed to dominate about a quarter and a half and nearly embarrassed Hawthorn today.

regards,

REB

Good assessment REB. Hudson easily the Crows most important player this year, but we knew that as soon as Swayze went down and Doc Clarke was allowed to fly the nest. I reckon Port will just miss the eight and the Crows will finish bottom half of the eight. If they lose Hudson anytime in the first 3/4 of the season, forget about finals.

I'm interested in other's thoughts re the Bombers. It's early days but I think their list is solid and doubt that Sheeds will have another chance if they don't perform this year. Perhaps I'm overrating them?

[Aerie]

Yep, agree stumps. Would have like to see Hudson included in the Crows finals campaign last year, but he did look well and truly ready on Friday night. Massive expectations for him because I don't think Meesen or Griffin are ready. Maric can play the 2nd ruck role competently so as McDermott said in his article and others have said on here, Hudson is just about the most important player this year.

Didn't see much of the other games on the weekend, but very much like the look of Hawthorn and Buddy Franklin in particular. Richmond were very disappointing (again) and Geelong were equally impressive. Selwood looks a player and every one knows if Ottens can just have one year of reaching his potential he could drag Geelong back up to the top 4.

I like the rule with the line across the middle of the pitch. Not sure I like the look of the line, but I'm sure I could get use to it. I also don't mind the minimum 20m kick rule. That hands in the back rule is garbage. The concept is ok, but in reality it's natural for any player behind to use his hands. As long as it's not a PUSH in the back, what is wrong with it? I would imagine when we have a long kick in to the forward line to a pack situation, the umpire will rule a free kick about 50% of the time, which is not what we want.

[Dutchy]

im not a big fan of rule changes but the 20m kick rule is an excellent one, stops the short chipping game and promotes attacking footy...watching the Freo/WCE game yesterday the umpires were hot on it and many times a guy took a mark but was called to play on....I reckon if you brought this in then the kicking backwards rule wouldnt be required as many of those time wasting kicks are less than 20m

[Blue Boy]

Geelong and Fremantle looked pretty sharp to me.

Geelong looked like they were jumpin out of there skins to play and Fremantle looked like a team on a mission to add some silver wear to the cupboard.

Just a foot note what were the 2 crowd figures between Crows v Power and Eagles v Dockers - it looked like subiaco was nearly full.

[Aerie]

Just a foot note what were the 2 crowd figures between Crows v Power and Eagles v Dockers - it looked like subiaco was nearly full.

Yep, I noticed that as well. I think they had a sell out in WA last year as well. The Crows can match WC and Freo, but Port are more like a mid-size Victorian club. We will never have a 3rd club in SA, but I can see a 3rd club coming out of WA in the future.

In a way it goes to show the strength of SANFL footy, that we can still draw bigger crowds than the WAFL even though there are probably more people that follow football in Perth.

[Dutchy]

39,000 out west compared to 16,000 here....from a football rivalry persepctive give me the Western Derby anyday...even in the NAB cup they hate each other!!

and to think 4 years ago Freo couldnt get 15,000 to their games and West Coast were on the bottom!!

[Aerie]

I still think the Port vs Crows rivalry is more intense than the Freo vs Eagles. A bit more history in the showdown (dating back to well before the Power or Crows existed) and the Power and Crows are sort of on an equal footing whereas Freo are a poor man's version of West Coast.

[Dutchy]

I still think the Port vs Crows rivalry is more intense than the Freo vs Eagles. A bit more history in the showdown (dating back to well before the Power or Crows existed) and the Power and Crows are sort of on an equal footing whereas Freo are a poor man's version of West Coast.

please explain?

everything you have said is factually wrong

[Aerie]

I still think the Port vs Crows rivalry is more intense than the Freo vs Eagles. A bit more history in the showdown (dating back to well before the Power or Crows existed) and the Power and Crows are sort of on an equal footing whereas Freo are a poor man's version of West Coast.

please explain?

everything you have said is factually wrong

Well, the win-loss ratio is well in West Coast's favour. Hardly a contest for the first decade. Port and Crows have been reasonably even. Add to that how the Crows first were formed after Port tried to get into the AFL and there is history there. Also, it was always Port Adelaide vs the rest and that is how the Power vs Crows is generally viewed now.

The Showdown holds a lot more weight than the Derby.

[Rik E Boy]

Yeah Geelong on fire but we were only burning rubbish. As last year showed, it didn't really mean much in the long run. If we are playing like that in eight weeks, maybe then I'll get excited.

regards,

REB

[Blue Boy]

Yeah Geelong on fire but we were only burning rubbish. As last year showed, it didn't really mean much in the long run. If we are playing like that in eight weeks, maybe then I'll get excited.

regards,

REB

It must of been a little heart warming to watch !!!

[Blue Boy]

Geelong and Fremantle looked pretty sharp to me.

Geelong looked like they were jumpin out of there skins to play and Fremantle looked like a team on a mission to add some silver wear to the cupboard.

Just a foot note what were the 2 crowd figures between Crows v Power and Eagles v Dockers - it looked like subiaco was nearly full.

Bulldogs looked pretty good to !!!

[Blue Boy]

39,000 out west compared to 16,000 here....from a football rivalry persepctive give me the Western Derby anyday...even in the NAB cup they hate each other!!

and to think 4 years ago Freo couldnt get 15,000 to their games and West Coast were on the bottom!!

A lot of people complaining about the price to get in $20 @ footy park !!!

A massive in crowd in the West - the AFL must be concerned about the SA numbers surely !!!

[Booney]

Port-Forward line is totally reliant on Lade,Tredrea and will need Motlop,Mahoney and Ebert to contibute heavily.Lade and Brogan will spoon feed the Burgoyne boys with the ball most of the year,Pearce will get enough of it,but our back half will allow too many goals.Might scrape in the 8.Need to win 9 or 10 of our home games.(Won 3 last year)

Crows-Have similar woes.Goal scoring power will be upon the smaller forwards.A fit Welsh is crucial,Perrie and Bock need to play out of their skins and every one in the forward half will need to make the most of limited opportunities.
Will be in the bottom half of "Inside 50's" for mine.Will be 5th-8th.Get used to 'pin-ball- games between the Crows and anyone they play across the half back lines.