Williamstown vs Northern Bullants: Finals Week One

[fan4collingwood]

Thanks for all the updates, great to be able to find out how Willy went and our youngsters.

[Cam]

Big Game Daiz should be the catch cry. This kid has Norm Smith written all over him if we can get in during his career.

[HieroHero]

I cant wait to see Thomas in the AFL finals next week..you know hes gonna turn it on!

[Johnson#26]

Fantastic news re Daisy. That boy is built for the big stage.

[wasis]

Great to hear that so many listed boys went well. Starting to become excited by reports on Toovey. Spewing I couldn't make it up the road to see it first hand. Could be an unexpected filip for the Pies.

[WKB]

These are the days thats makes you remember why you love going to the footy. If anyone put a bet on the final result being this big I say good luck to you as you are brilliant.

I thought if we were ever going to get them it was now, they had a few injuries, won the 14 on the trot, were expected to win and we had all but a full list to pick from.

But all that takes away from the brilliant performance put on by the whole team today.

The first quarter we had as much as the ball as they did (saying this without seeing exact stats), though they did seem dangerous on the turnaround, able to get players loose. We missed relatively easy shots at goal and thought the lack of scoreboard pressure could be a trouble.

Start of the second quarter the Bullants were all over us, Harford just owned the stoppages and they had players running everywhere. At one stage they got out to a 6 goal lead. But to our credit we showed some great spirit to reel them in late in the quarter and got the last 2 goals to get within four at half-time.

Came out and kicked the first couple in the 3rd and look to be gaining some control. Then they got a scrappy goal but we kept coming at them. Daisy had a shot on the 3 quarter time siren that would have put us within 9 points. He missed and you could almost see the relief on the Bullants players face.

The last quarter we did everything right, the defence completely owned the bullants, the midfield ran in large numbers and was able to find space or create space for others, the forwards lead well and the final score showed we were able to bang home most of the chances we had.

Although most would be interested in the Collingwood contingent I have to give some mention to some of the great Williamstown players

Johnson has been great for us all year and was great again today. Greene seemed to be playing on Harford at times but they played off each other if so and Greene was damaging down the wings and running through the centre. Heath Lawry was fantastic today, if he wasn't marking he was making everythign a contest on the ground. Patrick Rose, for those of you who saw the Port Melbourne game you saw this kid almost get killed going for a courageous mark, was great today. Willo, worked hard on the lead all day, though the first half wasn't rewarded with some poor passes to him, came out and kicked 3 or 4 in the last quarter. Someone mentioned Scott Meyer, this kid can play, tall but oddly deceptively tall (I know that doesn't make sense but I know what I mean). Mackenzie has arguably been the find of the year of the Williamstown players. Liam Picken, I defy anyone to come and watch a few Williamstown games and not have this kid as one of their favourites. And finally Brad Lloyd, quietish start but worked his way into the game and some of his clearences in the last quarter were vintage Lloyd, to watch him jumping around like a little kid in the centre when we put through a goal that all but sealed it for us put a smile on your face, shows footys not about flooding and tv rights and alternative strips, its about blokes out their playing their hearts out for a club and enjoying themselves.

Now the Collingwood boys

Tex Walker - Was forward and back all day. In the third was forward and provided some good contests, in the last up back was fantastic. did some things I've been dying to see him do forever, that is use his bulk to crash packs and bowl blokes over.

David Fanning - Fair to say he had a dirty day, but he was umpired off the field. For reasons only known to those idiots I think almost every ruck contest he went for in the first quarter he was given a free kick against, at one stage he snapped and was letting the umpire know what he thought. Not long after he took this frustration out on a bullant player and later was dragged to be play only small part for the remainder of the game. WAsn't helped that once Meyer came on he really took a hold of the game, this is more misfortune than anything directly related to Fanning's game. But yes he was pretty minimal in his input.

Stanley - Fair dinkum give him lighter hair and he is Burnsy (that's not putting to much pressure on him is it). Was a strong leading forward in that 3rd quarter which built the platform for the last quarter deluge. He's not a big player but strong overhead and a good kick.

Cox - Was pretty good without being spectacular, which is meant to be a compliment. He enjoys a run but isn't afraid to stay back and back himself against his opponent, which he did well.

Yakka - Stats again will probably prove me wrong but I'd say he had a servicable, far from a bad i want to emphasise, 1st half. But his in and under and run in the second half can not be underrated. I like the yakka type of footballer and I still think he has a lot to offer at AFL level, and I hope it is with the Pies. His ability to contest the footy at ground level allowed the runners like Greene and Johnson to move from the contest at pace and create the loose option.

Davies - Had a funny old game, seem to play everywhere but in the middle. sometimes you tend to lose players when you are watching the game without the benifit of a replay but I had him situated on the halfback line, backpocket, half-forward line, possibly wing. Did provide some good run and was often a the link running player, I personally thought he wasn't as obvious as the runners in the side but I'm not sure his opponents had a huge influence for the Bullants. No doubt I saw this completely wrong and I certainly remember him getting touches.

Harry - Well Harry played like Harry plays. Always backs himself (sometimes to a fault) to run and get away from anyone. Would say he won his position today. Wasn't the best backman but wasn't beaten. I think most would know what Im saying when I say Harry played like Harry. Does things that i'm not even sure he knows that he's going to do and more often than not gets away with it.

Rowe - I swear there was a period in that second quarter where he looked like he was gone, looked knackered, but boy was I wrong. His run today was fantastic. I thought he was a real standout. Just runs and runs, sticking to the wings, creating that link on a turnover. Drops into the forward line and provides another option and took some good marks.

Pendles - Now this kid is my favourite player by a street so believe me when I say he had a pretty poor first half because it kills me to say it. Now poor in that his disposal and decisions where poor. His ability to get to contests and create space was still there, he had a lot of the ball, but he turned it over a hell of a lot. But I think it shows a lot of a player that they just keep going about their game and his second half was more 'accurate' so to speak. I don't care how ridiculous this sounds to people but I compare his game to Roger Federer's in tennis, effortless. An absolute joy to watch, I think this year I've used the words smooth and gliding to describe how he goes about it. The fact he turned it over a bit in the first and it didn't phase him showed me a lot.

Daisy - You can't help but love this kid. I'm just hoping no one let's him know he's only 50kg soaking wet. Only knows full speed ahead, he just came back from a dislocation and he went at everything. Took a hard knock but got up and after a bit of time on the bench came straight back on in to it. He is the kind of player you pay money to see, was good all day but was the real spark in the 3rd quarter and kicked a great snap goal.

J.Cloke - Was a rock, can't remember him being beaten at all. Gave Digby Morell a bath, the only time he got a touch was when Cox was on him for a bit and even then it was only a couple. Won every contest in the air, shows no fear and a couple of his marks dropping back with the flight of the ball was courage personified. Wasn't a stagnant fullback, was willing to run and his kicking was great. Best part is he beat both of his opponents easily when he was left one-out with them at fullback on a several occasions.

Toovey - Probably would have got my votes today. Has been getting better and better every week but the question most people have with young players is how do they stand up in big pressure games. Well even in losing games this year he has been pretty good, but today in a big final against a team that had only lost once in the home and away rounds, he lifted his game even more. Ability to read the play is one of his strong points. I'm not sure he's overly quick but its reading the play and knowing when to stay and contest or run off his man is superb. Even small things like knowing which side of the contest to get to that will provide him the most space to get run if he is to recieve the ball. And as good an overhead mark as anyone at Williamstown, strong call but I'm sticking by it. I say one thing, don't lose him Collingwood, if it means one more year on the list before putting him on the list proper than do that, but dont' let him slip through the fingers.

Overall was just a great game of footy, and i'll finish how I started by saying its days like that that remind you why you love the footy so much.

[Magpie Since 1986]

Thanks WKB really good write up, appreciate that.

[Johnson#26]

Awesome stuff, WKB. Who are the, say, three or four in line for a promotion next week?

[rand corp]

Sensational stuff WKB, thank you

[WKB]

[jackcass]