Round 10: Collinwood v Werribee

[maggies2003]

Rusling wont be on a Collingwood list at seasons end.. cant survive on potential.. unlucky with injuries..

[twaters]

positives from today:

Blair and Francis - onball pressure and hurt factor in delivery

Macaffa - can play behind the ball with great composure and skill

Dawes is not a dill when he gets on his bike and motors as a deep lead up forward.

Having Medders/Rocca/big rucks up forward today probably helped us to see the wider skill that the Caffa and Dawes possess and can bring to the seniors in time, as they took on newer roles today.

negatives from today:

that our AFL experienced mids mostly had grand accumulation figures but little hurt factor

the policy of recycle everyone tall into a defender isn't working yet if we expected to find AFL defensive replacements from within our current list; Dawes will probably be next tried there and not without good hope; Reid is a very vague possible but not even close to an AFL level KPB at the moment.

Second half-year may help resolve KPB from within current list, but at the moment hopefully our recruiters are at least listing potential KP defenders as key options at rounds one or two in this year's draft.

[WKB]

Dawesy had another solid game but he really suffered today with Rocca in the side, took him a little time to adapt to the set up but continued to work.

Ben Reid does a lot of work, he can read the play quite well.

Blair was down on his efforts the previous two weeks but was still in the best 2 or 3 and had a great game, which is saying a lot for how well he's played.

Just reading the paper 1.2, 5 marks, 10 touches. Not world beating but not a bad first back effort by Rocca really. Wasn't a great day for big forwards, swirly windy conditions, rain was a factor, greasy ball.

Blight is solid but needs to play the percentages more.

The bloke who is flying under the radar this year is Thoolen. This kid has come on in leaps and bounds from last year. He played the whole game on Thompson and I think he probably just edged him out. While not the greatest player Thompson is not far removed from AFL and still has AFL body-size and Thools was able to keep with him. For a few times he had the bigger bodied (but soft as butter) Pask as well who is another who's played senior AFL footy and another Thools beat.

[AN_Inkling]

I won't read too much into the result. We were playing three guys who were never going to give us much (Rocca, Rusling, Medhurst) and lost Macaffer and Rusling during the game. As Rowdy said, given our injuries and lack of running players, it was always going to be tough to run the game out in the last quarter.

A few notes though - even at VFL level, Stanley does not look an assured player. Corrie looked a class above most with his skill. Reid was decent in defense, but is still a ways from being a regular at senior level. Reed and Dyas showed some positive signs.

Dawes did not impress me at all. Seems a long way from being able to play a "Rocca-like" role. Seriously lacks physical presence. Did quite well as a lead up forward, but doubt he has the pace or the stamina to play this role in the seniors, and we have far better options. For mine, Rocca, provided he can get some match fitness, is clearly still our number one power forward. Leigh Brown's probably number two. Dawes needs to do more to break into the seniors. Looks to me that they're using the VFL to improve some of his weaknesses, which may be why he's playing so far up the ground. If that's the case, I don't think we'll see him play this season.

[WKB]

Yesterday Dawes played a completely different role to any he's played all year. This year he's shared the leading up forward position with big Bear. But yesterday there was Medhurst, Rocca, Bear, he continued to present and drop back to clog up holes when Werribee moved forward. But he is better as the main focal point up forward.

Dyas seems to be getting crucified for a couple of bad kick outs. It was a great game from Kev, he looked assured, ran with the ball, did a lot of smart one percenters.

Corrie yesterday was a man possessed, considering the previous weeks effort. He actually put his head over the ball and body on the line on a number of occasions.

One thing i'll say about Cooky is that he isn't afraid of hard contest or body contact from the opposition...cause he kept bloody turning himself into at every opportunity yesterday.

[jack_spain]

Why is Rocca still on our list? Would have to be the most overrated footballer in the AFL at the moment.

[jackcass]

[jackcass]

[Captain_MyCaptain]

[woftam]

[Fire Up]

who else could of we used to kick the ball back in?

[Macedonian Marvel #35]

Bounce back boys

[Usurper]

I don't usually take the time to watch our VFL side, but with no main game this weekend, thought I'd give it a squiz, and comments for the ones I remember..

Brent Macaffer - Before he hyperextended his leg was close to Best on Ground I thought, he was clean, everything he touched was nicely done, and in the conditions that was very noticeable compared to most others.

Medhurst - Limited time, but showed plenty, he'll be in vs Sydney you'd think.

Rocca - Nowhere near fit enough, as you'd expect I suppose.

Beams - Did alright when he got close, pretty clean

Wood - Good game.

Barham - If he could kick I would put him in our top 5 at the elite level, he has it all, almost to the point where you'd take him for his bulldog qualities. Im not saying everyone at the top level can kick, but ... well, they can, compared to Barham. Get those skills right damnit.

Danny Stanley - Was looking pretty good until the second half when he kept getting caught. Haven't seen him play like that at AFL level, probably won't.

Francis - His physique looks like he's ready to get in under the packs, thought he played quite a good game for the most part, would expect him to get a game this year.

As I said - dont watch the VFL much/at all, so they're just my impressions off the one game.

[mattdally]

I finally was able to watch the VFL for the 2nd time this season, few thoughts from the players mentioned already:

Tristen Francis - I think this kid is a really tough player. Nice kicking action and a decent kick. Gets the hard ball. Would like to see him on the list and in the seniors in a year or two. Can play

Danny Stanley - Best player for us. Looks like he is destined for a great VFL career as I can't see him breaking into the seniors any time soon.

Brent Macaffer - should be in the 1's. Not sure who for? Maybe Cox? Is quick and his ability to get the ball around the packs is a positive. I think next year will be a break out season for him in the seniors.

Cam Wood - Not sure, seems to be ok at times, but always goes missing during a game. Big worry for us as I dont think he is the back up ruck we were hoping for.

Beams - Gun, will be a star for us. Clean and hard at it.

Medders - should be in the seniors. Just needed a run

Rocca - I think he's finished. Looks slow, kicking was terrible, looks fat too - best to head off to NFL

Barham - No good. If you cannot dispose of the ball by foot then you are useless. Sorry if that's harsh, but we have kept (and keep) too many players on our list who are great at getting it, but stuff up when they dispose of it. I can't remember him hitting a target by foot all game.

Dawes - getting better each week. I think he should be in line for a call up pretty soon.

Reid - Liked his game. He is bulking up and I think he is starting to show signs that he can play. Would like to see him down back in the seniors should he get a call up as he is a useless forward.

Reed - I think this kid will be a good player for us. He is a beautiful kick and I dont think the conditions suited him as I have seen him play before

[fan4collingwood]

Did the Rupe play? Mr J thought channel 7 mentioned that he did when they were talking about Liam Jurrah.