Tigers vs Essendon practice match @ Morwell, Sat 3.30pm

[WA Tiger]

Tuck I agree, not sure, must have pictures of Hardwick with a goat

Why do you say that?

Crikey he's not considered that good by very many otherwise he'd be elsewhere this season. 

Tuck is a typical old Tiger. Half full.

Is he really, wasn't he our best last year for clearances?? How many half full glasses were out there yesterday?? At least he has a go, might not be the future but he evens up our side IMO. While he may "not be considered that good by very many" I am afraid we need him at the moment otherwise players like Martin, Cotch and Lids will have to go it alone and that may affect them playing their natural game for the future.

[jackstar is back again]

Tuck I agree, not sure, must have pictures of Hardwick with a goat

Why do you say that?

Crikey he's not considered that good by very many otherwise he'd be elsewhere this season. 

Tuck is a typical old Tiger. Half full.

Is he really, wasn't he our best last year for clearances?? How many half full glasses were out there yesterday?? At least he has a go, might not be the future but he evens up our side IMO. While he may "not be considered that good by very many" I am afraid we need him at the moment otherwise players like Martin, Cotch and Lids will have to go it alone and that may affect them playing their natural game for the future.

Very simple, I would play Tuck before Thompson

[Hellenic Tiger]

Tuck is a solid body I agree but let the kids play in the midfield and learn their trade. With Tuck in the middle or not we will still get flogged anyway so putting another kid in the midfield to replace Tuck will only be beneficial because at the least we will find out who can play at this level and who can't. Tuck will be one in the firing line to be delisted at the end of the year so let's see if he is more than a one trick pony.

Furthermore Tuck can compete and maybe his bigger body can be used in the forward line where his competitiveness can be used to hold a ball in as well as ensuring balls come to the ground to give Morton Nahas Edwards a chance to crumb some goals. At least with his suspect skills if does give away the ball its up forward where it will still give us a chance to set up and repel rather than be horribly exposed as we run forward giving the ball away. Despite this misgivings with his skills he is a fairly accurate shot for goal. He is 28ish so he won't be in the next flag so a pinch hitting talisman type of role of a half forward stuff may help the side and himself prolong his career by an extra year or so at best if it works out.

[WA Tiger]

Tuck is a solid body I agree but let the kids play in the midfield and learn their trade. With Tuck in the middle or not we will still get flogged anyway so putting another kid in the midfield to replace Tuck will only be beneficial because at the least we will find out who can play at this level and who can't. Tuck will be one in the firing line to be delisted at the end of the year so let's see if he is more than a one trick pony.

Furthermore Tuck can compete and maybe his bigger body can be used in the forward line where his competitiveness can be used to hold a ball in as well as ensuring balls come to the ground to give Morton Nahas Edwards a chance to crumb some goals. At least with his suspect skills if does give away the ball its up forward where it will still give us a chance to set up and repel rather than be horribly exposed as we run forward giving the ball away. Despite this misgivings with his skills he is a fairly accurate shot for goal. He is 28ish so he won't be in the next flag so a pinch hitting talisman type of role of a half forward stuff may help the side and himself prolong his career by an extra year or so at best if it works out.

When I suggested Vickery play No.1 ruck I was shot down because apparently he is too young and small bodied and he would be bashed to a pulp but you say play the kids in the centre to "learn their trade". Agree with the rest of you post post though because you then went on to say Tuck would benificial in the centre so..... ???

Anywho, not sure what you mean with Edwards crumbing for goal, he has been in the backline for most if not all of the pre season. Also I really don't rate Edwards, never have and to this point in time he has not proved me wrong..... Polo is the same IMO.

[WilliamPowell]

Our lack of leadership when things turn to pooh was on display for all to see yesterday (with the exception of Lids).... that for me at least is a massive problem... has been for yonks and continues to be

I must apologise to Simmo as I forgot he is back inthe leadership group

I thought he was good yesterday - had some strange calls go against him the ruck. Compared to this time last year he is moving really well and he is a our number one ruckman by a long long way. I think Vickery is a much better ruckman when Simmo is in the team showing him the way 

[WilliamPowell]

2011

this yr is doomed already

all we wanted is a team that showd something

we show nothing

we are a joke and always will be

3 0 75k

wont happen , we will not be around and be kicked out of the afl

 

The Tigers will always be around because of people like you and me X who despite everything that happens stick with them for reasons that clearly defy logic and sanity. Sure we get ticked off beyond belief but we stick .... why ... because as you said somewhere in this thread we care.... see defies logic and sanity 

Remember that 

[WilliamPowell]

Well here's how i thought they went.... remember MHO only  

3. Brett Deledio - best Tiger on the day by a long way. Showed great leadership and determination to get the ball. Continues to improve in 2nd & 3rd effort area (2nd & 3rd efforts are a must in my book). Granted his disposal a couple of times was poor especially hte long bombs into the F50 but at least he was trying to make the play

5. Troy Simmonds - liked his game. Moving very very well compared to last year. Copped a couple of cheap nasty shots by some bombers players which really fired him up  

8. Jack Riewoldt - attacked the contest hard but struggled the first half. Was much better in the 3rd and was hardly sighted in the 4th. I sometimes think he needs to lead more directly = up the middle. Seems to lead too wide on the flanks

9. Trent Cotchin - not Cotch's best day. Disposal was average but the good news he has got through the pre-seaosn and is right to go for the season proper

10. Shane Edwards - most noticeable thing about young Shane yesterday was the cropped hair... quiet

14. Dean Polo - late call up for Benny Cousins. Played all his game time across HB. Took a couple of good contested marks and won some good contested footy and overall his disposal was good. Why he was matched up on Gumbleton? In a word "strange"  

15. Mitch Farmer- I like this kid. Granted his disposal at times yesterday was average (he wasn't alone there) I wish more of our blokes had his determination to win the contest. I've seen 3 out of 4 of these pre-season games and he has been very consistent. Has to play round 1

16. Luke McGuane - what was he thinking when defending on the goal line he punched the ball back into play 10-15 metres straight to an un-marked Bombers player....   He was frustrated, we were frustrated...

17. Chris Newman - the reviews said solid - I disagree. I was disappointed as I hardly noticed him especially when things went to pooh in the 2nd. Leadership isn't just about calling the boys into a huddle before going off at half time...

19. Daniel Connors - started well but his disposal let him down as the game went on. And I still have concerns with his defensive efforts - he needs to chase harder.. actually at this point I'd just like to see him chase

20. Mitch Morton - did he play? Seriously, hardly noticed Mitch at all.

23. Daniel Jackson - did a couple of nice things but overall I was very disappointed with Jacko's game. He spent most of the day as Jobe Watson's tag. Now Jobe aint fast, where as Jacko is very quick, I was staggered at the number of times Jacko didn't try when the opportunity presented itself to try and exploit Jobe's lack of pace by trying to run off him. Also, his decdion making was poor yesterday, didn't take the first option often enough which meant a lot of his kicks were just kicks in hope

26. Robin Nahas - Jack summed it up beautifully - Nahas shouldn't play outside the F50.  

27. Tom Hislop - it is a real pity Tommy cannot kick. He can get the thing but his disposal is...   .... er.... frustrating

29. Tyrone Vickery - Improving, showed a bit as a forward, took a couple of really strong contested grabs. He seems much more confident as ruckman when he is partnering Simmo

30. Richard Tambling - Richie got it but his disposal was overall average. I thought he was alot better in the final qtr. But I do like seeing him and Lids sweeping off the wings at the centre square ball ups  

31. Adam Thomson - started well in the first but hardly sighted after that. Disappointing....next

33. David Gourdis - was without doubt the best game I've seen Goo play and I have seen him alot over the last 3 years. Put his body on the line many times and won a number of contests against the Bomber tall forwards (especially against Hille). Disposal is still "heart in the mouth stuff" but overall it wasn't too bad. Was our best tall down back yesterday by along way.  

34. Andrew Browne - not a great day for the kid and we should not lose sight of the fact he is only a kid in his 2nd season. Really should have kicked a goal in the final qtr

36. Dustin Martin - solid/good. But I thought he let himslef down with some of his decision making and disposal. I just thought there were times he should have gone the first option instead of taking the opposition on. But having said that he ready to go and I still reckon he will be an absolute gun

40. Kel Moore - disappointing ...next

44. Troy Taylor - didn't seem "switched on" in the first half. No doubting his ability and skill but I don't think he deserve to play round 1. Defensively he needs to work a lot harder

47. Ben Nason - surprise packet of the pre-season for me. Just love the way he goes about it in 2 simple steps 1/ getting the ball = will fight tooth and nail to win the ball and 2/ his disposal = reliable by foot or by hand. Deserves to debut in round 1 IMHO    

50. Relton Roberts - a close 2nd in the surprise packet stakes for me. Silky skills and raw natural ability. Like Nason deserves to play round 1

[Jacosh]

Just got home from game.
 

Can't wait for your report JS....

Whats the point,
Tell you what I think but you will disagree anyway

Jack seriously here tell me what you think of McGuane

What about in the first quarter when he knocked the ball down straight down to an Essendon player instead of killing the ball, WTF.

Actually saw that quite well Jack and to the most part i agree with what you are saying but he also did get a fairly good shove as he was about to punch the ball and he had his body twisted on a weird angle, i was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

No excuse for poor defending.  the option is to kill the ball or force the ball deep into pockets.
3 times in the same quarter l seen McGuane have & mental breakdown on footy basic's. He gave away goals which he created himself
He would never play league footy again under me until he put more thought into his game.
There is no questions be it his under preasure or whatever.  Its professional football & he should be mentally drilled to make the correct decision.
He should be at his elite now his apprenticeship is over. no more excuses for this player plz

Hold on Monk, i said i agree with most of the post. on ONE occasion i was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, due to quite a shove "in his back" from an Bummers player.

[Mr Magic]

Great report WP. Thanks.

Is he really

Yes very.

[WilliamPowell]

Another question for those that have seen a number of these games.

Putting aside your pre-conceptions about Polak, does the forward line structure better with him there or without him, or no real difference?

Interesting question al.

I've seen 3 out of the 4 games. The only 1 I didn't see was the game against the Pies

In tassie I don't think the forward line worked too well at all (Polly played). In tassie Polly & Jack seemed to be leading to the same area or alternatively, Polly stayed in the goal square for the long bomb but our crumbers weren't smart enough to get back and actually crumb

In Yea the forward line set up with Polak worked because he was able to take Scarlett out of the game, which allowed Jack to have the next best defender rather than the best defender. granted on the stats sheet it will show that Polly dind't kcik many or have many kicks but I reckon on that day that wasn't his role

Yesterday the set ups appeared to be OK but Jack spent too much time leading to the boundary line and Mitch seemed to staying back in the square more but wasn't marking the thing....  One of the problems we had yesterday was we didn't work hard enough to keep the ballin F50 - Bombers cleared it far too easily at times

At the moment I just think our forward line is a massive WIP as they try to work out the right balance. For round 1 I'd go with Polly simply because he is a bigger body and the Carlton backline isn't full of gorillas and Polly does bring the ball to ground in a contest

that's just my take

[Jacosh]

23. Daniel Jackson - did a couple of nice things but overall I was very disappointed with Jacko's game. He spent most of the day as Jobe Watson's tag. Now Jobe aint fast, where as Jacko is very quick, I was staggered at the number of times Jacko didn't try when the opportunity presented itself to try and exploit Jobe's lack of pace by trying to run off him. Also, his decdion making was poor yesterday, didn't take the first option often enough which meant a lot of his kicks were just kicks in hope

The way i saw it yesterday WP.  What i have highlighted pretty much sums it up for most of the team. We were only to happy to make the late contest and hand out a free kick but to put in that extra 2% effort to try and get there on time and spoil the mark just seemed beyond most of our players and forget the gut running to chase to opposition, that was almost non existant. That ranged from our esteemed captain down to first year players (one RR) on different occasions.

[TigerTimeII]

2011

this yr is doomed already

all we wanted is a team that showd something

we show nothing

we are a joke and always will be

3 0 75k

wont happen , we will not be around and be kicked out of the afl

 

The Tigers will always be around because of people like you and me X who despite everything that happens stick with them for reasons that clearly defy logic and sanity. Sure we get ticked off beyond belief but we stick .... why ... because as you said somewhere in this thread we care.... see defies logic and sanity 

Remember that 

so true wp

so true

but all we wanna see is them have a dip and improve


lets hope hardwick was foxing and the real game plan and spririt comes out in rnd 1

[Penelope]

Cheers for that WP.

Interesting what you say about the long bombs to Polly while jack leads, at Tassie. I get the impression Roberts would quickly work that one out.

[jackstar is back again]

WP, you summary is spot on we were obviously at the same game, 
Interesting thing with Dean Polo.
I did the long fun run this at bumped into Dean about to do the short fun .
Fair effort after a game of footy, considering he had training afterwards today at 11.00

Also watching Simmo yesterday will mean the end for Gus Graham . Even before the season starts we already have players earmarked to be moved on at years end.

I am also really concerned about Thompson.  Needs to win a bit more of his "'own ball"".and not just run along side the opposition when they have are about to gain possesion.
Really disappointed with Kel Moore.

McGaune wasnt flash either, although had serious injury some 3 weeks ago

[Mr Magic]

Also watching Simmo yesterday will mean the end for Gus Graham . Even before the season starts we already have players earmarked to be moved on at years end.

Gus may well be cut but Simmo will also be going. Where will that leave us?