VFL Round 12

[Dark Beanie]

Pies vs North

Sunday 16 June @ 11.05am. Venue AIA Centre.

Match centre:

https://www.afl.com.au/vfl/matches/6463

Telecast via VFL website or app.

Ladder: Pies 19th (2 wins, 8 losses, 80.5%) North 13th (4 wins, 6 losses, 82.1%)

[Dark Beanie]

Team selection:

B: H. Flynn 71, J. Ryan 24, C. MacDonald 74
HB: C. Lane 48, W. Parker 45, H. DeMattia 13
C: H. Kennedy 53, E. Allan 16, H. Mahoney 72
HF: J. Mathey 58, P. Farrant 68, B. Crocker 47
F: S. Glover 50, A. Johnson 40, J. Eyre 34
R: I. Smit 20, R. Sparkes 51, J. Bytel 27

INT: K. Schreiber 52, C. Mulvogue 68, T. Wilson 56, Y. Ashwin 77, H. Brown 76

EMG: J. Longmire 57, C. Willis 64, J. Hartman 70, R. Penny 62, A. Seivers 59, J. Tomasiello 61

IN: J. Bytel, H. Brown, J. Mathey, C. Mulvogue
OUT: R. McInnes (AFL), L. Quaynor (Eastern Ranges), L. Purcell, J. Tomasiello

NEW: Hayden Brown, 19, Beaconsfield

[The Black and White Lion]

Interesting team. Not a lot of movement from a team that was dominated in the middle and in the air.

Purcell has been dropped leaving Smit to go it alone with only chop outs from Farrant and maybe Johnson. C'mon big Roo!

Will be watching where Glover, Eyre and Johnson play. Eyre's blown the cobwebs out not let's see if he can rediscover the marking and left foot kicks that he showed us all last year and across the preseason.

Mahoney's got a second game and little Mathey from Wodonga has got a second game too.

Ryan Sparkes owns the midfield again. Hopefully Allen, Bytel and DeMattia can provide some solid support

[The Black and White Lion]

Nope spoke to soon. The team playing has been updated even though the AFL site says no late changes. bizarre.

Glover playing our lone medium tall in defense again! Johnson and Eyre up front. No Patrick Farrant no speccies this week.

No Ed Allen. Could be a late change in the AFL

[The Black and White Lion]

Glover having a mare in defense. 4 missed targets by foot, 2 resulting in north scores. Fumbly too missing marks and ground balls.

VFL Pies look a cut below the opposition again. Our team is generally an inch or two shorter across the whole ground.

North's Duursma looks class. Our blokes fumble and tangle and Duursma scoops it up and runs away hitting a target. Smashing Bytel at the moment

North generally too fast and VFL pies not able to man up effectively. Playing too loose

Smit doing well in the ruck but needs to improve his ball drop when kicking. Johnson back up ruck today

4 goals in red time to the Roos. Lead 6 to 1 in no time. The game is gone already for the VFL pies. No point playing Eyre cold at FF with no Fwd 50 supply.

going to be a slow VFL day

[LaurieHolden]

Top 3 disposals ~
Sam Glover 7
Iliro Smit 5 (9 hit-outs, 2 clearances, 2 marks) - he's a monster! (think Wes Fellowes before the roids)
Ryan Sparkes 5

AFL listed disposals / tackles ~
Jack Bytel 5 / 1
Jakob Ryan 4
Ash Johnson 3 / 1
Harry DeMattia 3
Wil Parker 2
Josh Eyre 1

Player Stats ~
https://www.afl.com.au/vfl/matches/6463#player-stats

[The Black and White Lion]

VFL Pies have started the second quarter like they've swapped jumpers with the roos. Full 180 performance. Have laid on 3 goals in 4minutes.

VFL umpires have no idea about the rules. No frontal contact. No push in the back. No head high contact. No 50m penalty for players moving on the mark. Sparkes retaliates to a late hit and gives away a reverse free kick resulting in a Roos goal. Those last 5 minutes would have been better without the umpires being involved

[Dark Beanie]

Half time:

North 10.2.62 lead Pies 6.1.37

Breeze favouring the JCA end.

North able to rebound the ball too easily from defence and their run and carry much better.

Unless there is an obvious free kick, VFL umpires will let the game go until it's a ball up. North playing to the whistle - getting away with infringements.

[LaurieHolden]

Scrappy play, not unexpected given the inexperienced lists. Not as scrappy as the umpiring though, some howlers given and more missed. That bald umpires #6 shiny dome makes him look like a one of Immortan Joe's War Boys from Mad Max Fury Road.

Top 3 disposals ~
Jack Bytel 13 (4 clearances)
Ryan Sparkes 12 (3 clearances)
Sam Glover 10 (6 marks)

AFL listed disposals / tackles ~
Jack Bytel 13 / 1 (using his experience to impose himself on the contest, key link player enabling us to get back into the match)
Iliro Smit 8 / 1 / 15 hit-outs (playing well despite his 18 y/o, he's a massive unit. If he proves coachable over the next 2 seasons, he might prove a real find)
Wil Parker 7 / 4 (elite by foot, the type of creative disposal that brings team-mates into games. We've got one here. I reckon he's going to be a Sidebottom replacement - no pressure...)
Ash Johnson 7 / 1 / 1 goal (lacks physicality required for AFL football. Someone needs to tell this bloke, chase an opponent like he just stole your wallet, and if you catch him, make him eat worms)
Harry DeMattia 6 / 1 (seems to read the game pretty well. He's built like an arrowroot biscuit, so doesn't have physicality to impact the contest, but is creative by hand)
Jakob Ryan 4 / 1 (just not impacting, if he's unable to add some pressure, I'd get him onto the wing)
Josh Eyre 2 (hasn't found any game rhythm. If someone said he was injured it might explain his lack of impact)

Roos are down 2 players so we might be able to run them ragged by the end of the day. We'll be coming home with what looks like a 3-goal wind.

Player Stats ~
https://www.afl.com.au/vfl/matches/6463#player-stats

[LaurieHolden]

Top 3 disposals ~
Jack Bytel 27 (5 clearances)
Sam Glover 19 (9 marks)
Ryan Sparkes 18 (4 clearances)

AFL listed disposals / tackles ~
Jack Bytel 27 / 1 (using his experience to impose himself on the contest, key link player enabling us to get back into the match)
Iliro Smit 9 / 2 / 21 hit-outs (playing well despite his 18 y/o, he's a massive unit. If he proves coachable over the next 2 seasons, he might prove a real find)
Wil Parker 11 / 2 (elite by foot, the type of creative disposal that brings team-mates into games. We've got one here. I reckon he's going to be a Sidebottom replacement - no pressure...)
Ash Johnson 10 / 1 / 3 goals (Someone needs to tell this bloke, chase an opponent like he just stole your wallet, and if you catch him, make him eat worms. 1 great lead up mark and goal, 1 goal gifted by Crocker)
Harry DeMattia 6 / 1 (seems to read the game pretty well. He's built like an arrowroot biscuit, so doesn't have physicality to impact the contest, but is creative by hand)
Jakob Ryan 12 / 1 (just not impacting, if he's unable to add some pressure, I'd get him onto the wing)
Josh Eyre 4 (hasn't found any game rhythm. If someone said he was injured it might explain his lack of impact)

Roos are down 2 players so we might be able to run them ragged by the end of the day. We'll be coming home with what looks like a 3-goal wind.

Player Stats ~
https://www.afl.com.au/vfl/matches/6463#player-stats

[LaurieHolden]

Top 3 disposals ~
Jack Bytel 36 (6 clearances)
Ryan Sparkes 23 (5 clearances)
Campbell Lane 23 (2 clearances)

Sam Glover 22 (10 marks) played another solid game.

AFL listed disposals / tackles ~
Jack Bytel 36 / 3 / 6 clearances (using his experience to impose himself on the contest, key link player who tried all day)
Wil Parker 17 / 6 (elite by foot, the type of creative disposal that brings team-mates into games. We've got one here. A potential Sidebottom replacement - no pressure...)
Ash Johnson 13 / 1 / 3 goals / 8 marks (Someone needs to tell this bloke, chase an opponent like he just stole your wallet, and if you catch him, make him eat worms. 1 great lead up mark and goal, 1 goal gifted by Crocker. Finished the game off better than he started)
Jakob Ryan 17 / (just not impacting through the game, has not bought the required game day pressure that would warrant selectors putting him forward for consideration, finished the game off well. While contracted to 2026 he'll need an uninterrupted pre-season and impact early in to extend his time with us)
Harry DeMattia 13 / 3 (seems to read the game pretty well. He's built like an arrowroot biscuit, so doesn't have physicality to impact the contest, but is creative by hand)
Iliro Smit 10 / 2 / 26 hit-outs / 3 clearances (playing well despite his 18 y/o, he's a massive unit. If he proves coachable over the next 2 seasons, he might prove a real find. Tried all day)
Josh Eyre 7 / 2 (hasn't found any game rhythm. If someone said he was injured it might explain his lack of impact)

[The Black and White Lion]

I don't get Josh Fraser's VFL game plan. If anyone genuinely knows what it is I would love to hear about it.

Even our small backline was undersized.

There can only be Fly instructions pushing Eyre forward but I'm not sure for what gain. Sam Glover is all VFL heart but FFS help the poor sucker out. 2 weeks in a row we've pretty much relied on one VFL bloke to defend VFL talls, intercept and rebound. Most of the game last week against Casey and today against Norf was the same. The oppo win the clearance and send it forward and we either can't defend it or get a break but then struggle to get the ball forward of 50.

Why don't we pick the likes of Ben Silvagni and Purcell and just play them as key backs to give some balance to our defence. Glover, Ryan and Parker and MacDonald then have a chance. Puts less pressure on Sparkes Bytel and DeMattia having to transition to chop out the under siege defense on every entry. Gives more of a chance when we do win it and transition up the ground.

I love that we've debuted 6 players this year but Dean is the only KB from the VFL backline. We haven't replaced him since he was elevated.

I would like to see a more even team selected to give our AFL players a chance

[pietillidie]

^Nice progressive overview and insight, Laurie. Appreciated.

[Dark Beanie]

Final score:

North 18.12.120 defeated Pies 12.7.79

Goals: Johnson & Crocker 3, Willis, Wilson, Mahoney, MacDonald, Eyre, Brown

Top disposals: See Lauries post above

AF points: Bytel 121, Glover 110, Johnson 91

Match replay:

https://www.afl.com.au/video/1152919/vfl-match-replay-r12-collingwood-v-north-melbourne?videoId=1152919&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1718500051001&references=AFL_MATCH:6463

Mini match:

https://www.afl.com.au/video/1152683/vfl-mini-match-r12-collingwood-v-north-melbourne?videoId=1152683&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1718500008001&references=AFL_MATCH:6463

[Dark Beanie]

Bytel was huge yesterday, playing pretty much as the only midfielder in a losing side. His disposal can let him down as times but yesterday he was showing good leadership, encouring players to fill holes, get into better positions etc.

AJ was pinch hitting in the ruck, still struggling to hold marks but thought his 2nd efforts were better.

Not sure about Eyre in the forward line as he was pushed of the ball too easily a few times. Has missed a lot of footy so will take a bit of time.

Smit is a solid boy with a great leap, Not afraid to get the ball himself if it hits the deck. Good to him get some games but don't expect too much. Early days.

Fraser spoke about the lack of experience post match. Younger players having to step up from suburban/country footy are struggling to maintain intensity for 4 quarters. Constan changes each week aren't helping.

Re. B&W Lions question about Purcell & Silvagni, from what I have seen neither are really suited to the back line. Unless you want a big body to match a forward man on man, they wouldn't be able to keep up with a leading forward, especially when the ball in coming on fast like yesterday.
Glover definately needs more help down back but also the ball was rebounding out of the Pies forward line way too easy.