NAB Cup 1 - Richmond vs Melbourne vs North Melbourne

[tony_montana]

Do we still have a chance of going through to the next round of this comp? Pretty sure some lucky losers go through? Thinking with a 15 pt win and a 4 pt loss might be enough? Would be nice to go through and play this for another round or 2 rather than the regional grounds.

[Gigantor]

Was at the game tonight and made a point of watching martin.some of his disposal and ability to spot a free player is truly elite.What i was more interested though was his "engine".I know this is the pre season and players sometimes dont give it their all,but it just seems to me that although this lad has unique skills and abilities ,but an engine is not one of them.He doesnt seem to chase the contest like a cotch or a foley does,or even an ablett and watson.or Lenny hayes...
He will undoubtedly be a very important player for us and i still think he will beocme one of the elite players of the AFL,however it wont be as a midfielder like the above mentioned.he will spend a lot of time up forward where i think he will kick bags of goals .I guess what I'm saying he seems like a game changer rather than someone who will amass loads of possesions

[WilliamPowell]

Do we still have a chance of going through to the next round of this comp? Pretty sure some lucky losers go through? Thinking with a 15 pt win and a 4 pt loss might be enough? Would be nice to go through and play this for another round or 2 rather than the regional grounds.

Next round?

All teams play 3 rounds.

Round 1 is what we had tonight

Our round 2 is next week against the Bumbers in Wangaratta

Round 3 we play the Hawks in Tassie

Top 2 teams (= most wins after the 3 rounds with best %) play in the NAB Grand Final

Currently, Pies and N0rt sit on top of the NAB cup ladder because they have won both of their games

[Loui Tufga]

Do we still have a chance of going through to the next round of this comp? Pretty sure some lucky losers go through? Thinking with a 15 pt win and a 4 pt loss might be enough? Would be nice to go through and play this for another round or 2 rather than the regional grounds.

lol Ramps, that's so 2008!! We play through regardless! Most wins + percentage plays off in he GF

[tony_montana]

poo hey    thanks lads

[the claw]

We are in desperate need of a second ruckman and if we can find another quality midfielder with some decent leadership ability we will be right in the van 

That's why Vicks is under the microscope IMO. He really needs to step-up and help Ivan out in the Ruck.

watched him close tonight and imo was disappointing. also will say again if hes to play chf forget about him playing in the ruck.
imo we are desperately in need of a smart chf.
we need to find a decent replacement in case maric goes down geez how poor were we when he wasnt there.
fumbles mcguane and turnover jackson continue to be exactly the same old same old. white is just poo for a sml player.

thought vlastuin very good batchelor was clean and one touch and had to play out of his division again.
ball movement was good at times griffiths imo did little where it counts. knights  looks a clean player but needs to get involved a bit more.
ellis and conca showed they will improve on last yr.
overall was pretty pleased with how they went and they showed some real good system at times for this time of the yr one has to be happy id say.

i still believe griffiths should play forward. thought a edwards did little and i reckon newman should be a permanent part of midfield rotations.  mcguane should never ever be allowed to play back what a joke.

would love another steve morris type with better skills.
we are in search of a genuine quality run with mid who can put the clamps on opposition play makers in the mid field

finally i know its nab cup and i normally refuse to go down this path  but bloody hell are north the best looked after side in the comp concerning umps. .

[Hellenic Tiger]

I thought our commitment and tackling we're great.
The issues that concern me 3.9 will win games against Melb not against better sides.

More lost opportunities. Thing is clutch moments in our games fall to blokes who can't make them count.
White and Titch I am talking about you.

All in all I think we will be better than last year and we have more depth from what I saw.
Think in making the 8 will depend on whether we have learnt to have composure deep in games when the game is close.

[Bengal]

Just back from the footy.. Walking in the first thing i noticed, Gee its good to have the footy back.

Was a hard game to gauge i didnt understand half the umpiring calls as there were some baffling decisions. New rules suck

i thought we dominated the 1st game and 3/4 of the 2nd.  Vlastuin looks the goods and has probably taken Arnots chances away who was servicable but nothing more.  Was really impressed with Petterd thought he did really well.

Tackling was a highlight.

im still wondering how Grigga gets his space. Thought Newman did alright but still coming to terms with his new role as i noticed he drifted into his old role on occasions.

Vickery is a player and its good to see him getting some mongrel into his game.  He badly needed it.

Jackson.. what do you say.  he may struggle to get a game this year. White the same.  Our young blokes are steamrolling past them, which was always going to happen if we improved as a team.  which we have.

Am worried for O'Hanlon thought he looked slow.

We have the best midfield going around and Lids, Cotch, Dusty, Tuck and Conca have become a machine and with outsiders like Grigg, Ellis and Bacha we have the makings, nay they are formidable now!

JAck looked like he was having fun and wasnt taking it to serious but he's a star.

It was a practice match i have no doubt about that, we werent there to win but there to give the young blokes a go. 

Am looking forward to seeing the replay.

[Hellenic Tiger]

White will be lucky to play 5 games this year.
Vlaustin will be a star.
Saw improvement in Conca.
Petterd and Knights were reasonable from the recycled boys.

We have an elite midfield.
Need another gun ruckman.

[Tigers of Old]

Can't play all of Houli, Ellis, Petterd & Newman can we?

[Hellenic Tiger]

Can't play all of Houli, Ellis, Petterd & Newman can we?

Newman and Ellis wii play.
Houli is top 22-27
Petterd is depth

[Bengal]

i think we might be able to.. Newman played wing Ellis played forward and midfield and Petterd played loose down back with Houli running off half back. 

Who knows though, probably depends on who we're playing but i doubt  it myself..  i have a bad feeling for Newman he seemed to me to be confused with his new role.  At times he was out on a wing by himself but probably a little to far from the kicker

[Bengal]

Can't play all of Houli, Ellis, Petterd & Newman can we?

Newman and Ellis wii play.
Houli is top 22-27
Petterd is depth

It will depend on roles but i can see Petterd really putting pressure the selectors to get a game..

[Tigers of Old]

Can't play all of Houli, Ellis, Petterd & Newman can we?

Newman and Ellis wii play.
Houli is top 22-27
Petterd is depth

I don't quite see it like that. Will be interesting.

[Stripes]

I watched the game from the bottom level to get a different perspective from the H&A season and I was most impressed by Houli. He is much better than I thought he was. He just seems to be able to find space and deliver the ball. He rarely was tackled because he twists and turns and throws his opponent off balance enough to give himself time to pinpoint a pass. I always thought he had space because he played unaccountable football, well away from an opponent but I was quietly impressed.

Vlaustin was extremely impressive. Morris with more tricks and skills in imho. Just keeps going and very elusive. Such a level head and nice deliver of the ball too. A real find.

Petterd was also much better than I thought he would be across the half back. Unrushed and clean. Did not panic under pressure and one of his long handballs to a running target was awe inspiring. Could be a real find.

A Edwards was almost invisible. May be a dead eye dick in fount of goal but may struggle to get away from his opponent and take a grab. Hope he steps up to be our third tall.

Elton seemed lost but, to be fair, wasn't used. Derickx is embarrassing - the Big O must be better  . White and Jackson don't deserve a game and Nahas was ordinary in the first game imo.

We will beat North this year. We took it right up to them with a very young team and have their midfield covered. The Mullet needs to stay fit this year though or we will under preform. Umpires must have been all in training tonight because they were very ordinary and reactive.

Good to have the footy back though