Pre-Match. Magpies v. Power. All comments.

[warburton lad]

A small side note to our selection processes:
Hawthorn has almost always had the policy of giving recruits extended responsibility in their Reserves and it has served them well over their successful era/s

Perhaps the Pies see some of our younger ones needing more time to develop?
Ryan, Jath, De Mattea, Steene, Begg (certainly), Macrae, Richards, Carmichael, Allan, Harrison, Dean would be in this category.

If Pendlebury was to miss through injury, I would like to see Harrison come in- the additional fleet-footed player would be a welcome addition against Port Adelaide.

Will be interested to watch how Sullivan, Bytel and Macrae go today...

[David]

Based on the VFL game, fair to assume Macrae in for Pendles might be our only change?

[Said by Zed]

Based on the VFL game, fair to assume Macrae in for Pendles might be our only change?

I watched the game with great interest hoping to be pleasantly surprised and to come away relieved our cupboard wasn’t as bare as I thought….sadly very disappointed.

Albeit a great 1 point victory (any win over that lot must be acknowledged and celebrated) all I got out of the benign mediocrity on display today was:

1. Finn is the King of Beige - As usual had a lot of hardly noticeable ineffective disposals and far to cordial tackles. Would make Hinkley’s year if selected…and be absolutely pulverised by Ports young midfielders. Enough said.
2. Charlie Dean, Oscar Steene, Ned Long, and to a lesser degree Jack Bytel are worth persisting with.
3. Tew Jiath might have something…did okay today. Could just turn out to be a player but I hope he doesn’t have the Ollie Henry’s about him…just as he starts getting things together the pull to play alongside big bro at Dawks may be too strong…a def wait and see on him.
4. Not so sure about Aiden Begg or Josh Carmichael…not their fault, just don’t seem to be talented enough to make it in the AFL in any capacity…would be utter liabilities…unfortunately can’t even get something for them on the trade table.
5. Ash is talented but our game style has gone past and left him behind…would have been a superstar 10-15 years ago
6. Markov is still serviceable and will be an important inclusion when it happens
7. Hope we have a good Cryogenics program at the AIA Centre because we’re going to have to rely on our Dad’s army ‘old timers’ brigade for a few more years…at least until Wrighty can do his magic with some yet undiscovered young talent and genius drafting and big bucks long term contract FA recruitment…Word is Ugle Hagan and Bailey Smith are practically done deals
8. I really hate Carlscum…how good was it seeing them firstly go down by 2 points to a raucous winless Adelaide at the G, and then by 1 point in the magoos to us! I guess they will just have to be happy with their March premiership…again! Suck it you cheating scumbags!

[David]

Ok, doesn’t sound so promising. Maybe Markov gets a reprieve then? What about Sullivan?

[qldmagpie67]

I watched the port game with interest
My take away
There mids as talented as they are forward runners and don’t work as hard going the other way
They spread wide quickly and use the width well
They like to go deep when entering forward line and hold there depth close to goal
They looked shaky in defence and there slow. Also real tall forwards scare them they panic trying to cover them
Horne Frances played as deep forward a bit and looked dangerous
Butters is a protected species and anytime some one goes near him he gets a free kick
They have speed on every line

To counter act this we need to win the ball at the contest
We need to be mobile up forward and use either Cox or Cameron resting there as much as we can
Our inside mids need to get there hands on the ball first
We need speed on the ball and on the wings
We can’t zone off snd press high in defence there forwards like to stay home


I don’t know how quick Sullivan is but he might be worth a game here
If memory serves me well Harrison is quick he might be needed as well

[Dark Beanie]

Ok, doesn’t sound so promising. Maybe Markov gets a reprieve then? What about Sullivan?

Markov has been serviceable in the VFL but nothing to warrant a call up unless there is an injury.

Sully had a relatively quiet game for him, only 21 disposals.
From the commentary he may have been tagged for part of the game.
He is adapting to the Pies style of play & slightly different role, after coming across from the Bulldogs where he was by their leading disposal & clearance winner.
But what you fo get with Sully is someone who runs & puts in for the whole game.

[Pies2016]

With so many teams playing corridor football, the most important requirement of any player these days, is good hands and good skills. If you turn over the ball in the middle of the ground, you simply get punished going back the other way. Players with speed are a plus but quick ball movement without error, offsets individual leg speed anyway. Scores from turnover has never been higher because risk for reward footy is todays norm.
Based on clean hands and ball use, I thought Bytel was one of our better players yesterday and that’s in a high intensity VFL game where most players were regularly exposed for poor execution under pressure. I’m not suggesting he comes in this week but in the modern game, his strengths may yet be called upon at some stage through the season ( likely on wing )
F Y I - Sullivan spent a fair bit of time at HB on the weekend. I suspect it’s as much about learning accountability for an opponent than it is anything else. He won’t get a game in the seniors until the club feels he has a handle on the defensive requirements of an AFL midfielder.

[Alex]

No changes for mine. Crisp probably back to sub, maybe Hoskin-Elliott. If Pendlebury unavailable then Macrae was the best from the VFL, so he comes in as the sub.

Reading other's comments, not sure why there is so much negativity towards our 2s? 2-1 on the season with our only loss being a 2-point loss to Brisbane. Been impressed with Sullivan, Bytel, Richards, and Harrison. Allan showing signs despite his age. Begg played well, but he's a bit of a weird one. 25 tackles, 4 marks on the season. Got dominated in the ruck but then similar to Grundy, can affect the play on the ground. Dean has showed signs and Markov is a good depth player. Carmichael kicked 3.

My emergencies would be Macrae, Begg, and Sullivan, and if Pendlebury unavailable then Bytel next up.

[Johnno75]

Sullivan was quiet on Sunday against Carlton but has been very good in the opening 2 games of VFL. If he can build the form he won’t be far away from selection.

[RudeBoy]

Unfortunately Sullivan, Harrison and Richards were all very quiet in the VFL. Macrae was our best, but did nothing to my eye to inspire confidence he would be good at the AFL level. Carmichael kicked 3 goals and at least is strong bodied, but I worry about his lack of pace. Contrary to others opinions, I was actually impressed by Begg, who was forced to carry all the ruck duties against a bigger opponent, after Steene went off injured.

Disappointingly, Allan was just OK, but doesn't look ready for senior footy.

Markov was quite good, as was Dean.

On that basis I expect there'll be no changes to our team.

[Pies2016]

Sullivan played the first half of the game predominantly at half back against Carlton, so he shouldn’t be expected to return his usual midfield field output. We rotated really heavily through the midfield in the VFL and Sullivan played more as a midfielder in the second half. We had a number of midfielders lining up in the centre square over the course of the game ( MacRae, Bytel, Sparkes, Long, Sullivan and Allan ) so we need to be careful gauging any performance based on possessions. Carmichael played as a forward all day, so I would suggest if the club believes he has any future at the club, it would be forward of centre.
I think Allan is going along according to plan. He’s 194cm and still only 20 years old and missed most of his final season in U18s. He’s creative with the ball rather than impactful, so some might see that as not damaging enough to look at. He should get a good run at senior level in 2025. As Fly constantly says “ we need to set them up to succeed at the higher level, not fail “

[The Black and White Lion]

No issues with setting the youngsters up to succeed. I have an issue with experienced / veteran players not performing however. Loyalty only goes so far as does age. IMO we should be rotating the youngsters through the team including Sullivan. And given the output and performance of many in the first 5 matches, this could have been achieved easily.

Whoever gets named this week, this should be a really good test. Port looks to have improved a fair bit from our last match with few injuries of note so this will be a really good test.

Hope the pies have no bye hangover and can be in the contest from the first bounce. Hoping for no long bombs to the F50 and hoping our smalls will dominate the forward ground ball like against the lions.

[Take_a_Screamer]

Fly hints at Pendles returning to the squad...

"The Magpies will take on Port Adelaide fresh off a bye McRae said his team needed more than we thought” after a heavy workload through the opening rounds that included three straight losses to start their premiership defence. But with two wins on the trot, McRae was also buoyed by how “healthy” his squad was, with former captain Scott Pendlebury “hard to leave out” for the Port clash having recovered enough from broken ribs to train fully on Thursday morning. "

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/ ... 1e613915c7

[stui magpie]

Unfortunately Sullivan, Harrison and Richards were all very quiet in the VFL. Macrae was our best, but did nothing to my eye to inspire confidence he would be good at the AFL level. Carmichael kicked 3 goals and at least is strong bodied, but I worry about his lack of pace. Contrary to others opinions, I was actually impressed by Begg, who was forced to carry all the ruck duties against a bigger opponent, after Steene went off injured.

Disappointingly, Allan was just OK, but doesn't look ready for senior footy.

Markov was quite good, as was Dean.

On that basis I expect there'll be no changes to our team.

I thought Ned Long was the pick of the midfielders in the VFL, Macrae didn't impress me. AFL quality inside mids should dominate at VFL level.

I was also impressed with Begg. The new ruck rules aren't helping him as he was constantly pushed out of the contest by the taller, stronger opponent, but his ground level work was outstanding. If he had a better tank I'd play him as a ruck/rover but failing that play him as a tall forward/2nd ruck with intructions to fly for the ball at every pack and break as many bodies as possible. His attributes are similar to Kreuger but his body is more durable.

[slangman]

I was also impressed with Begg. The new ruck rules aren't helping him as he was constantly pushed out of the contest by the taller, stronger opponent, but his ground level work was outstanding. If he had a better tank I'd play him as a ruck/rover but failing that play him as a tall forward/2nd ruck with intructions to fly for the ball at every pack and break as many bodies as possible. His attributes are similar to Kreuger but his body is more durable.

I have only watched Rd 1 of the VFL (and highlights of the other games) and I was very impressed with Begg’s performance. Yes he is raw and probably doesn’t have a big enough tank to ruck solo in the firsts but he looks like he would contribute at bare minimum the equivalent of Cox’s output this season. I would love to see him get another opportunity to both see what he can provide and give a bit of a ki I up the backside of a few regulars.