Here's a match report from the Tiger Talk Yahoo email list
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/tiger-talk/message/84085First Quarter
We started with the following team
Hughes Lids Brown
White Richo Pettifer
Howatt Collins Tivva
McMahon Moore Newman
King Schulz Raines
and Ruck Simmo Tuck and Tambling
Score 5.5 35 to 3.3 21
Rich: Richo 2, Tuck 1, Hughes 1,Polak 1
Highlights
A fantastic four bounce run by Foley from half back to half forward with
a swan on his tail but unable to catch him - Foley's fitness seemed good
Simmo excellent in the ruck in first fifteen minutes - looked slimmer
and fitter than last year but still tired badly after that fifteen minutes
Hughes took a couple of strong marks against a good opponent in Bolton -
had a good first quarter
Matt White was a surprise on a hff and did well - added pace and
defensive pressure and was a good move
Andrew Collins was tagging Kirk in the centre - Kirk didnt do much but
Collins never got a touch - depsite this i noticed he was loud on the
field and quite often was ordering more senior players to man up!
Moore was on Hall and simply wasnt strong enough - tried playing him
from 5m away and using his speed and that didnt work either
Schulz was on their resting ruckman and made a half a dozen terrific
runs into the forward line - worked hard which was a nice surprise
and finally Richo was terrific - forget thoughts of retirement - he was
running around like a youngster and his aerial strength was awesome - he
played on Roberts- Thompson and he was clearly outpointing him to be BOG
in the first quarter
interestingly Terry tended not to make interchanges in the first half of
quarters and then made a raft of them suddenly
whilst we were playing a better standard of footy, there were still 2
skill turnovers that resulted in goals
2nd Quarter 10.7 to 7.7
Rich: Richo 1, Lids 1 , Brown 1, Pettifer 1, Tambling 1
Highlights:
a few changes in defense - with Polak and Thursfield on at the back but
Moore still on Hall
two turnovers again for 2 goals to Hall
Simmo doing well marking around the ground and Polak exceptional in the
air in defense
King and Newman providing enormous run out of defense
Brown running up and down the ground - looks very fit and showed his
skill with some strong marking and stepping past the man on the mark -
showing real glimpses of his best
Foley, Johnson and Tambling in the middle - Johnson showing an
improvement on last year and Tambling exceptional with his pace but also
going in hard for the ball - played more of an inside role than ive seen
from him in the past and also tried to break through packs multiple
times - also some good defensive tackles - really good effort
Patto cant kick, especially short passes!
Schulz backs into a pack - he has no fear - and looked like he copped
someone slamming into his back/ribs - carried off on a stretcher - came
to the bench after half time looking very sore and sorry - i was
disappointed with the lack of attention he seemed to be getting from the
medical staff - the poor bugger keeps getting injured
3rd Quarter 15.9 to 11.9
Rich: Lids 1, Richo 1, Pettifer 1, Johnson 1, White 1
Highlights
Thursfield getting more game time on O'Laughlin and doing well,
especially with his run out of the backline
Foley and Johnson longs stints on the bench
terrific roving off the pack by white sets up a goal
Simmo taps at the centre bounce then runs to the 50m to mark - showing
his fitness was coming along
interesting first part of the third quarter where the swans for the
first time tried to bottle it up - but i was impressed with our pace out
of the middle (Foley when on the ground, Tambling) and out of defense
(King, Newman)
McMahon was quiet in the first half when on the ground at half back -
played the 3rd quarter on the wing - continued to be quiet - and his
disposal didnt live up to my expectations
Howatt played wing and twice got caught because he refuses to use his
right foot
Collins had a much improved third quarter - started to look a little
like he might belong - and unlike others, can use the ball well by foot
Polak came off limping after a fine game in the backline and some
excellent marking - didnt look too serious
4th Quarter 17.11 to 13.10
Rich: Lids 1 Richo 1
Main goal scorers Richo 5, Lids 3, Pettifer 2 (not Johnson)
Highlights
Hall didnt play and the swans had no presence up forward
mind you we had Schulz and Polak off injured
we played without a CHF (had richo and Lids in the square) and three
midgets across half forward
Patto did some smart tap work but boy he cant kick - another turnover
from him - he did ruck well but if he gets the ball, he seems to have
brain freeze
Tucky had been going in hard all night - hope they keep playing him in
the middle and not out of the backline
Thursfield very solid
Pettifer presenting well up forward and Jacko giving us a marking option
Lids took a terrific pack mark and Tivva getting the ball and using it
very well
mind you everyone slowed down in the last quarter
In summary, less turnovers, more pace out of the middle and much more
run out of the backline
Best Players: Richo, Tambling, King, Polak, Newman
The funniest incident was when Browny was coming off the interchange
bench - Hughes came off and Browny noticed the Swans player not looking
- so stayed off the ground as though he was waiting to be interchanged -
the swans player saw this and ignored him and Browny then snuck on once
the swans player turned away - very sneaky!
disappointments Raines and McMahon were very quiet all night
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/tiger-talk/message/84085
