Went and watched both games at TD and have some thoughts:
- It was a bargain for $15. Pity parking was $20 on its own... eek!
- Both Richmond and Hawthorn's style of football is shocking - all this pussy footing around chipping sideways and then coughing it up. I know its pre-season but far out it was farcical at times.
- If Hawks pull their finger out and play direct they could do well this year.
- Tigers are no good without Nathan Brown in the forward line.
- Brett Deledio is a superstar and once he gets his decision making right, he will be to Richmond what Judd is to West Coast.
Oh yeah there was a Carlton game on too
- Standard of football for the most part was much better - quick counter attacks, more open play, more free flowing.
- The Good: O`hAilpin loves to play and you can't fault him for the amount of effort he puts in. He's got a long way to go to be more than just 'useful' but his determination is impressive. Blackwell, Simpson, Fisher, Bentick and Murphy need to play as much together as possible because they are going to be the ones to raise our Titanic from the bottom of the ocean. They brought a smile to the old choppers.
- The Reasonable: Whitnall will get pantsed by big mobile forwards (thought Thornton played alright though). Walker seems to me like he's trying to be a hero rather than a team player, and it's effecting his decision making under pressure. Fevola and Stevens are just getting warmed up. Waite could be anything. French and McLaren combination look like it could work, but French needs to work on his -around the ground- work. A few times he didn't drop back to cover a hole he was near and subsequently Geelong exploited that hole to launch an attack.
- The Bad & Ugly: Ryan Houlihan... 24 possessions and i could only count 3 that were effective. 2 of his direct turnovers resulted in goals for the opposition. Not only that, his 1%ers were 0%ers and often caught his teammates out. Good god I hope that was just a bad game by him. I'm convinced Ian Prendergast is beyond the AFL. I'd rather see some more kids get a game.
Overall, even though it's pre-season I'm can't really expect any more than stone motherless last. The kids coming throuhg look alright. There's some massive deficiencies down back again, particularly players manning up (instead of pointing the finger for someone else to do it). Interesting that for most of the night Carlton had more scoring shots - but they need to work on two major areas, being ability to convert under pressure, and making better decisions (such as not giving a running Stevens a hospital pass).
But overall there were some positives which, long term, might generate into something more.
P.S. Real shame that the club has called off the Family Day. Are they re-scheduling it or is it gone for good this year?
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