2014 AFL season discussion

MANUTD99

I know he kicked a couple of late goals but for me Franklin stunk big time it that game. How many goal chances did he waste. Sydney should have won that game easily. Tippett with a good performance.

Have bet on a Swans/Port double this weekend. Looking good so far

Tigerandahalf

I got to see the Swans Hawks game this morning.
Sydney had about 17 behinds and Franklin kicked at least 7 of those. He is not a team player and just seems to love trying to goal from impossible angles. His work rate does not look good either. Sydney now have an abundance of players to play in the central forward positions with Goodes, Sam Reid, Franklin and Tippett. Plus T Walsh if he can make it after his injury.
Hannebury seems to be Sydney's key player. He has an outstanding workrate, is a real groundhog in fighting for the ball, disposes of the ball well off hand and foot and he is a great competitor. When he was off the field Sydney struggled.
McVeigh is still a great player. Any time I have seen him he does things well.

jackbhoy

MANUTD99 wrote: »

I know he kicked a couple of late goals but for me Franklin stunk big time it that game. How many goal chances did he waste. Sydney should have won that game easily. Tippett with a good performance.

Have bet on a Swans/Port double this weekend. Looking good so far

Yep, hilarious that newspapers and news this morning saying Buddy "came back to haunt Hawks" and "Buddy wins game with 2 goals in last quarter". Think media just wanted the story so badly they ignored his 3 quarters of inept kicking. If he had taken 50% of his chances in first 3 quarters Swans would never have been in danger, overpaid show pony imo.

jackbhoy

Wow, this is an impressive last quarter by Port. Still cannot believe how far they have come. Two years ago I would have closed the curtains if they were playing in backyard, now I don't think there is a better side to watch in the league.

Mad4simmental

jackbhoy wrote: »

Wow, this is an impressive last quarter by Port. Still cannot believe how far they have come. Two years ago I would have closed the curtains if they were playing in backyard, now I don't think there is a better side to watch in the league.

Can't be leave freo lost, hats off to port they are very impressive this year!

Real FM

Port were incredible. Wingard will draw all the plaudits but Ollie Wines is a freak of a man for his age. He looks like he's been playing AFL for 10 years.

Freo were good until the 4th quarter. Suban played well, as did Fyfe and Pav was solid as usual.

The outcome of the game was as expected. Port taking advantage of a weak defence and eventually running us into the ground.

Johnson was strong enough, Duffield was intent on kicking every ball over the boundary line, Spurr was non-existent against Wingard and Silvagni didn't have a shocker but has again shown that he's not good enough at this level. So too with Crozier, he'll make it in the AFL, but he's not good enough at this stage. Added nothing to the team today. Danyle Pearce is another one who had a nightmare.

I wouldn't be overly concerned if I was a cats fan.

seipeal1

jackbhoy wrote: »

Wow, this is an impressive last quarter by Port. Still cannot believe how far they have come. Two years ago I would have closed the curtains if they were playing in backyard, now I don't think there is a better side to watch in the league.

They are fit, strong, resilient and getting more confident by the week. I was there today. Freo played pretty well. It was a real test for Port and they answered it pretty good. Freowill be thereabouts at end of season, in my opinion. Probably best team Port has played to date.

MANUTD99

Delighted with result today. Power were brilliant in the last quarter. I doubt they can keep this intensity up all season though. Dockers looked ok up untill mid 3rd quarter. I hope Port are not peaking to early

Nice break to look forward to for the lads.

AAMI was a kip to go to when I was in Adelaide. Oval is rocking!!

SSK

Only saw highlights of the Swans Hawks game but I though Buddy was pretty impressive. Sure his kicking was way off but he was running and marking at a level I haven't seen him at for a couple of years. The Swans are certainly a dangerous proposition now that they're forwardline is fit and the likes of Hanneberry and Jack have found some form in the middle.

It's ironic that the first bye weekend has produced probably the best round of footy so far, all the games have been enjoyable with the result in doubt until close to the very end. I still for the life of me can't understand why Carlton and the Saints are playing on a Monday night though.

Mad4simmental

I still for the life of me can't understand cydectinwhy Carlton and the Saints are playing on a Monday night though.[/quote]

Is it a public holladay in Vic?

jackbhoy

Mad4simmental wrote: »

I still for the life of me can't understand cydectinwhy Carlton and the Saints are playing on a Monday night though.

Is it a public holladay in Vic?[/quote]

Nope. You'd think if AFL are trying to sell Monday night footy they'd put something a bit more attractive on the card.

Mad4simmental

Nope. You'd think if AFL are trying to sell Monday night footy they'd put something a bit more attractive on the card.[/quote]

True, even do it was well won it was a good game. A few scraps to rare these days but good.

seipeal1

Was at the "Crowval" tonight to watch Adelaide beat Collingwood. Great atmosphere, great stadium, great result. Even the 7 year old daughter enjoyed it. 50,000 fans. Noise was awesome. Unusual for a Crows match. And NOBODY left early!!! Happy days.
PS Remember the name, Charlie Cameron. Everybody is going to know his name in a few years.

jj1

Big game in Perth tomorrow for the Dockers. Up against it & a must win if they're to have any chance of the top 4.

Grest result for the crows last night & the Swans looked good again tonight.

jj1

seipeal1 wrote: »

Was at the "Crowval" tonight to watch Adelaide beat Collingwood. Great atmosphere, great stadium, great result. Even the 7 year old daughter enjoyed it. 50,000 fans. Noise was awesome. Unusual for a Crows match. And NOBODY left early!!! Happy days.
PS Remember the name, Charlie Cameron. Everybody is going to know his name in a few years.

I'd say the main thing is your daughter enjoyed it otherwise you mightn't have got the chance to enjoy it.

Tigerandahalf

Never saw it but a good win for the Swans today. Buddy Franklin with 5 goals and Tippett and McVeigh with 3 each. Essendon do not seem to be going great (havent seen them) and you would expect Buddy and Tippett to score highly in these type of games.
Who do ye think will make up the top 4?
Have to admit I have only seen Sydney against the Hawks so far.
I see from the ladder that the Gold Coast are going great guns this year.
The Brisbane Lions arent showing much.

jackbhoy

Absolutely sh1thouse performance by Richmond.

No ruckman for 1/3 of game meant Dees won practically every centre clearance. 20 behinds kicked. Hammered in contested marks.

Blah, season over.....

MANUTD99

Good win for the Dockers yesterday. The high intensity play in first 2 quarters blew the Cats away and were on a uphill battle from then on.

Rest of the games this weekend were a bit meh for me!

Power V Hawks next weekend will be class. Soon as I signed up for the AFL pass ESPN have showed/will show 2 Port games in a row.

WTF is with ESPN showing nearly every single Collingwood game?

bruschi

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Good win for the Dockers yesterday. The high intensity play in first 2 quarters blew the Cats away and were on a uphill battle from then on.

Rest of the games this weekend were a bit meh for me!

Power V Hawks next weekend will be class. Soon as I signed up for the AFL pass ESPN have showed/will show 2 Port games in a row.

WTF is with ESPN showing nearly every single Collingwood game?

For whatever reason, that's not unusual. It's been like that for as long as they have had the rights. Pies I reckon get more Friday night games anyway, but even despite that it's still far more than normal. Maybe it's the fact they are generally considered the biggest team around, so they command the most fans and therefore demand.

Doesn't excuse it tho

seipeal1

seipeal1 wrote: »

Was at the "Crowval" tonight to watch Adelaide beat Collingwood. Great atmosphere, great stadium, great result. Even the 7 year old daughter enjoyed it. 50,000 fans. Noise was awesome. Unusual for a Crows match. And NOBODY left early!!! Happy days.
PS Remember the name, Charlie Cameron. Everybody is going to know his name in a few years.

Just watched it there.

Terrible again from the Pies... scored about 10 points after HT.

That and the Freo game, those performances have been pathetic.
It's one thing to lose, but there was no positives to take from either of those games.

Cloke is having a shocking year... he's only had one decent game.
In the previous two years, if he was on form from set shots it determined whether they won or not.
I'd even go as far to say if he nailed 70-80% of his set shots it would have been enough to win the flag, he was taking a vast number.
Now he's barely taking any, I guess a plus there is they're still competitive with the losses and that change from previous years.

Mackman

bruschi wrote: »

For whatever reason, that's not unusual. It's been like that for as long as they have had the rights. Pies I reckon get more Friday night games anyway, but even despite that it's still far more than normal. Maybe it's the fact they are generally considered the biggest team around, so they command the most fans and therefore demand.

Doesn't excuse it tho

It's because the AFL is all about the $. Collingwood have the biggest fan base, = higher ratings for the highest profile game of the weekend.

Great win by Freo, back to 2013 form. If they can keep that up, along with an easier second half of the season, top four could still be on.

It was great to be there for Pav's 300th. When he kicked his 600th goal the place went nuts, great atmosphere.

Great win by the crows too, looks like they just clicked. Like Manutd99, rest of the games were a bit meh. Except for Melbourne getting over the line Against Richmond, very low point for the tiges, especially after such a promising season last year. Hardwick is under a fair bit of pressure

Mackman

Absolute cracker of a game between the pies and eagles. Another potential cracker starting now. Gotta love football

MANUTD99

WOW just ****ing WOW, What a game at the Oval. Chad Wingard. Legend in the making.

I honestly think the only team who could stop the Power winning a Grand Final is the Swans

seipeal1

MANUTD99 wrote: »

WOW just ****ing WOW, What a game at the Oval. Chad Wingard. Legend in the making.

I honestly think the only team who could stop the Power winning a Grand Final is the Swans

Was at the game tonight. Hard fought win for Power. Hawthorne will put it up to everybody again. They are a class team. Interested to see how Power do against the top teams away from Adelaide. They are really good, but still not Premiership favorites, in my opinion. Wingard is excellent. Boak and Ebert are reaching elite status. Robbie Gray having a great season.
Adelaide Oval is such a pleasure to attend. 52,300 tonight.

MANUTD99

seipeal1 wrote: »

Was at the game tonight. Hard fought win for Power. Hawthorne will put it up to everybody again. They are a class team. Interested to see how Power do against the top teams away from Adelaide. They are really good, but still not Premiership favorites, in my opinion. Wingard is excellent. Boak and Ebert are reaching elite status. Robbie Gray having a great season.
Adelaide Oval is such a pleasure to attend. 52,300 tonight.

Who would you have as favorites?

2 very winnable games coming up against the Demons and the Saints before away to Swans

jackbhoy

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Who would you have as favorites?

2 very winnable games coming up against the Demons and the Saints before away to Swans

Would love to see Port win it but I wouldn't class them as favs just yet, mainly because:
- They haven't shown they can beat the big sides when it counts or outside of Adelaide yet.
- It's one thing to beat an under strength Hawthorn in May, a full side in September will be a completely different proposition, especially if it is in Melbourne. It's a credit to Hawk's depth that they still competed well minus their 4 most important players and spine of their team.
- They have been very lucky with injuries, they don't have depth of some of big sides so a couple of injuries to key personnel would really hurt their chances.
- A huge part of winning flags is about mental strength when pressure is on, finals footy has killed some very good teams mentally. Sydney, Hawthorn, Geelong have that massively important finals experience which is key come end of year.

Would be a fantastic story if Port could win it though, would give hope to every side in the league!

MANUTD99

jackbhoy wrote: »

Would love to see Port win it but I wouldn't class them as favs just yet, mainly because:
- They haven't shown they can beat the big sides when it counts or outside of Adelaide yet.
- It's one thing to beat an under strength Hawthorn in May, a full side in September will be a completely different proposition, especially if it is in Melbourne. It's a credit to Hawk's depth that they still competed well minus their 4 most important players and spine of their team.
- They have been very lucky with injuries, they don't have depth of some of big sides so a couple of injuries to key personnel would really hurt their chances.
- A huge part of winning flags is about mental strength when pressure is on, finals footy has killed some very good teams mentally. Sydney, Hawthorn, Geelong have that massively important finals experience which is key come end of year.

Would be a fantastic story if Port could win it though, would give hope to every side in the league!

Well they haven't played any of the big 3 yet away from home so its unfair to say they haven't proved themselves on that point you made. They have won away to Carlton, WCE, GWS & should of won the game against Melbourne. They lost it in the last quarter.

The fixture list favors them this year in that they don't travel to Geelong or against the Hawks. If they could get home advantage come the play offs they have a good enough chance. Swans, Dockers, Suns & Magpies would be there toughest away games on paper for their remaining fixtures

Also now that they have a reserve team playing in the SNFL there is a lot of players getting competitive experience under their belt and changeling for the first team. I have being following them as much as I can and some very talented players in there.

Your right though very early days to be talking about grand finals. The game against Sydney in 3 weeks will be a indication of how serious a team they are this year

SSK

Port are very deservedly leading the comp at the moment but I have a couple of worries about them come finals:

- If Shulz or Lobbe get injured they have very little depth at key forward and pretty much none at ruck. I wouldn't trust Butcher to come in and be able to do a job as the main tall forward and they would be looking at Trengove being the number 1 ruck if Lobbe goes down which robs them of their number 1 key defender.

- How will they perform in a finals like environment away from the AO? On the basis of last season this shouldn't be a problem as they beat (an admittedly very poor) Collingwood side in the MCG and then could have beaten Geelong the following week. Assuming a top 2 finish, this may not be an issue until the Grand Final but as we saw with Freo last year, the occasion can get to players who haven't experienced it before, particularly if they come up against recent winners Sydney or Hawthorn.

Apart from that, I was at both MCG games at the weekend. Collingwood squeaked over the line against West Coast, which was particularly satisfying considering we had Goldsack, Toovey and Maxwell manning Kennedy, Darling and Coxanui for the entirety of the second half. Cloke is still playing terrible but we're getting good contributions out of second tier players like Blair, Witts and Macaffer while our extra class in the midfield carried us home even though we were second best in the clinches for much of the game.

Yesterday was a hugely entertaining but completely error-strewn game. Carlton were just about value for their win and would have been a bit more comfortable had they not gone completely to sleep for 5 minutes at the end of the 3rd. Having said that, if Dangerfield didn't play on after taking that mark or if Sloane had managed to get his kick away at the end it could have gone the other way. I didn't have either side in the 8 at the start of the year and nothing I saw yesterday convinced me otherwise. Menzel is all class though, he's going to be an out and out gun.

skippymac6

Some whopping the Swans put on the cats this morning. Tippett and Buddy dovetailing well at the minute!

SSK

skippymac6 wrote: »

Some whopping the Swans put on the cats this morning. Tippett and Buddy dovetailing well at the minute!

Being honest, if the Swans can maintain that kind of focus and intensity until the end of the season they'll be hard stopped. Their mids and forwards are downright scary when they're up and about.