Match Reports – Week 4 NAB Cup

Western V Port Adelaide

I think my mate Kyle said it best…

“He’s big! He’s bad! He’s bustling! He’s back!”

Eade hinted in the week leading up to the game that Hall would continue to roam as he did at Sydney and then he did. It appears as though his positioning in the goal-square against Hawthorn was merely a match-fitness decision. Hall now becomes a legitimate quandary. The only concerns on him at the moment are his age and temper, but his price excellent, so he’s probably worth the punt.

Bob Murphy also appears to be back after scoring over 70 in both of his last two games. He is priced at more than Hall, but we know he can score big and his average is based on scores he achieved last year when the Dogs feel he wasn’t fully fit. The only query is whether the presence of Hall will lower his scores. They probably will up forward, but I think Bob will roam a bit more anyway.

Pleasingly, Everitt started to get a bit more of the ball against the Hawks. However, on the opposite side of the coin, Roughead’s scores have continued to fall over the last three weeks. It will be interesting to see if he gets a game in the NAB GF, because I suspect he is very popular on a lot of DT benches.

After a pre-season of mega-hype and then a dramatic delay to his unveiling, Robbie Gray finally got to show his stuff. He didn’t disappoint. He’s a bold pick for anyone with the cojones, as he is in a similar price-range to Buddy and Roughead, yet more expensive than Hall. He handballed a fair bit more than I would like, but his five tackles and two goals more than made up for it. Ready to bloom.

Banner continues to try and push himself ahead of Barlow and Martin, but isn’t succeeding. That’s not to say he played badly, I’m just noting his place in the pecking order. He needs a score over 100 this week to go ahead of the other two boys.

Westhoff, Hitchcock, Harding and the Stewart boys all put in performances that were not extraordinary, but not mediocre either. It’s probably good for variation, because it will be a role of the dice as to which of these players get a spot on DT teams this year. They are all worth a look.

Followers of the ruck situation at Port will be amused to know that Brogan cemented his spot as #1 and Cloke cemented his spot on the rookie list.

St Kilda V Fremantle

It is difficult to know what to make of Clinton Jones efforts against Freo. I think it unlikely that he will be freed up like that very often, but it is a bit scary to think of how much talent there now is in that Saints midfield. I’m sure he had a ripping good time and gained some confidence out of the game. Good for him.

Armitage returned to his best after presumably not getting a tag this week. Freo rightly felt it more important to shut down Dal Santo and Montagna. This is probably a better indication of how things will pan out for him, but it still worries me that he hasn’t dominated when playing alongside Hayes.

For the Dockers, Zac Clarke was very, very ordinary. To score 2 points when rucking alongside Bradley was a terrible effort. If he has any sense, his confidence will be shattered now. Chaff.

I have to admit Morabito wasn’t bad though. He only scored 65, but relative to his teammates, it was a very good effort. I still think there is better value though. Barlow for example…

Silvani scored slightly more this week and could be an alternative to Matt Maguire for a backline bench spot. He seems like he’ll be good for a 40 or 50 each week, which could well reap a reasonable sum of money. While Clancee Pearce was disappointing and could well have played himself out of many Dream Teams with his 35. No-one wants a score like that in their backline.

Collingwood V Richmond

The Magpies kicked an extraordinary 13 points against the Tiggers during the last quarter of their practice match on Friday. It unclear how many of these points were kicked by Travis Cloke, but we know the Tiggers still managed to lose that quarter by four points. They will be very lucky if they finish ninth this year.

For Collingwood, mid-range midfielders Wellingham and McCarthy both managed to make it on the list of best players- in a team that was missing Pendlebury, Didak, Swan, Thomas, Shaw, Beams, O’Brien and Davis. McCarthy is a bit of an unknown entity. He’s hovering around the forward flank and midfield at the moment. Having had bad luck with injuries so far, he will find it hard to squeeze in consistently through the season, but he did kick a couple of exciting goals as part of his 20 touches.

Wellingham is probably a year ahead of McCarthy in terms of development and established himself inside the best 22 last year after playing 16 games. While he was tagging a fair bit towards the end of the season, I’m not convinced that this will be his ongoing role. He averaged about 5.5 contested possessions a game last year and occasionally does something special with his tremendous pace. He would be a massive punt, but the Magpies could well let him run alone this year.

After getting far too much praise last week against Adelaide, Freako then went on to reveal that Ben Sinclair scored an embarrassing 26. He just snuck on the best players list again this week, so we’ll have to wait till Thursday to see what Freako thought about him against the Tiggers. Assistant coach Scott Watters described him as a “revelation” so far this pre-season. I’m not convinced. The Magpies were also, once again, very happy with the output of Ball and Jolly.

Sadly for the Tiggers, there is very little news here. Tuck, Jackson and Morton made up there best, but it is unlikely they have a next level they can rise to. Polak was disappointing, but I’m sure the ball wouldn’t have come to him that often. The only DT prospect to do well was probably Relton Roberts, who continued his good form from last week 17 scoring shots to 35 really tells the story for the Tiggers. Meow.

West Coast V Carlton

After looking a bit shy and clumsy in front of the cameras last week, bargain-Beau Waters apparently returned to his best against the Blues on the weekend. To be (arguably) the Eagles second best player in a winning team is a sign that he is very close to full fitness. We eagerly await what the Freako Gods bring us on Thursday…

Not content with Ebert, Masten and Kerr as almost irresistible mid-range midfielders, the Eagles thought they’d throw up a couple more. Tom Swift stood up in the absence of his three mates to help dominate a Blues midfield that only had Judd to defend it. Judd himself has his hands full with Pat McGinnity doing an eye-catching job on him that was so good he could be pushing for a round one game now.

Although, it shouldn’t really surprise if he gets a game in round 1, as he did play seven of the last eight games last year. Prospectus has him pigeon-holed as stagger, but his 81.4% disposal efficiency suggests the Eagles will want him to have the ball in his hands. If he does tag, my opinion at this stage is that he will tag in the accumulator (Kornes) mould as he (apparently) did against Judd on the weekend.

The other interesting factor for the Eagles is Natanui, who was blanketed by Hampson and Warnock in the first two quarters. He then came out after half-time and turned his game around by kicking two goals and asserting his influence on the result as only he can. It is worrying for Cox fans that he wasn’t ready to play again after last week, Natanui may yet be the #1 ruckman for West Coast this year. Scary.

While Hampson and Warnock did well as a team against Natanui in the first half, only Hampson managed to make it in to the list of best players. When questioned about Warnock, Ratten responded that he still felt the ex-Docker would lead the ruck for them this season. It is difficult to believe he is their preferred option at the moment, but at his price, many will have no choice but to select him anyway.

Betts and Scotland were both reasonable for the Blues as well. Even if Scotland does well this year, I suspect his price is about right. I’m a bit worried for Betts though. If he keeps this form up, he may find himself parked at full-forward come round one. Okay, that’s a bit of a silly comment, but who else is putting their hand up..?

Blues fans were very happy to see Waite get through uninjured and Murphy actually do very well to kick a couple of goals up forward in a half. Only a true gambling addict would still be considering Murphy though. I man-love him as much as the next bloke, but his pre-season has been too worrying to pick him up at his price.

North Melbourne V Hawthorn

What a nightmare for the Hawks. Right now, it’s hard to see how this year is going to be any different to the last. Now that Taylor is out for four months with a fractured fibula and Sewell is unlikely to be seen until round 5 with his broken collarbone, the workload is only going to get heavier for the players still standing.

For the young Roos, it was another very impressive display against a team who claim to be contenders. What a performance from Wells in his 1^st game back, to kick 3 goals and be BOG in only a half of football is simply incredible. Then again, he was one of the better performed players of last year’s pre-season as well, so be careful.

While the Hawks lost Taylor and Sewell, the Roos were unlucky to lose Ed Lower. He had been impressive without setting the world on fire this pre-season and will no doubt be missed. Although, not as much as the Hawk boys.

The good news for Hawks fans is that Buddy tried for a quarter and managed three goals, while Moss continued his good build up to 2010. He still needs to be upgraded though, so it will be an interesting couple of weeks for the Hawks as they look at him and Skipper. I’m tempted to assume Skipper will be upgraded as soon as Taylor is put on the LTI list, but Roughead could well be used as a mobile ruckman instead. If they are confident in Buddy this year, this could be a tempting option.

Geelong V Brisbane

This game was rained out. Everyone knows cats don’t like water.

Adelaide V Melbourne

Kurt Tippett kicked five goals to drag Adelaide over the line against an improving Melbourne outfit. He hadn’t done much else to influence DT coaches so far this pre-season, so it was a welcome display that will make ignoring him more difficult. He is definitely the future of the Crows and has the flexibility of being classified as both forward and ruckman. In this sense, he offers a handy tactical option to those who need to cover Drew Petrie during the first couple of rounds.

Emerging midfielders David Mackay and Myke Cook were also very good in the win. Neither have been big accumulators of points so far in their careers, but the Crows will need to start giving more responsibility to the kids that are going to replace Goodwin and Mcleod eventually.

For the Demons, this game was probably a very promising glimpse in to the future. Scully was listed as best on for them, with Gysberts close behind in just his first game and Trengove also mentioned as one of the best. The kids seem as though they are really starting to take control of that midfield and I am now prepared to predict Sculgrove and Trenny will indeed line up for round one. However, I accept no responsibility for how Bailey and his mates decided to nurse them after that.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all priority picks and roses for the Demons on the weekend. Poor Liam Jurrah did his shoulder and won’t be back until at least halfway through the season. This is very, very bad news for a Demons team that will now rely on Miller, part-timer Petterd and work-in-progress-Watts for goals. Good luck.

Sydney V Essendon

The Swans have actually put in an unexpectedly impressive pre-season so far. They easily managed the Bombers at Blacktown and it was Rohan and Jetta that once again caught the eye. It is unclear how much they scored, but the kids were both listed in the Swans best along with forward Jesse White.

Both of these kids offer excitement and creativity to a Swans team that is sorely in need of these qualities. The only concern at this stage is whether they can go in to round one with both of them. If they decid only one can play, it is difficult to predict which one they will choose. I get the sense that Rohan could handle any role they hand to him, but Jetta’s pace has the ability to deconstruct an opposition game plan. I think Rohan is the favourite purely because the Swans already have Maceski, Shaw and Kennelly to supply pace.

Adam Goodes apparently woke from him slumber to drop a few easy marks, but still managed to be their best. It would be a fairly massive understatement to suggest that I am mildly keen to see what he scored. I am a little concerned that he may not be coping with being out of the play when roaming forward, but we’ll wait and see on that one.

It is difficult to know what to make of the Essendon effort. Davey was their best after a pre-season spent increasing his lung-capacity, but I’m not convinced he will play midfield. Zaharakis also made the best list, although he seems about to become a forward pocket rather than anything else. The most interesting news was probably that Houli played well. I’ve said before that he will be elite if he can get his body right and it appears that he may have finally done that. Fingers crossed.

The really good news for Essendon is that Gumbleton didn’t get injured again. Although, I should really wait an extra week before making a statement like that, as the Bombers are very likely to hide it if he does get injured again. Maybe next time he can play, not get injured and then actually kick a goal. That would really impress me.