Just a comment on the academy player making his NEAFL debut this weekend - Kyle Martin. Of the less heralded players who played in the NAB League series (ie those not in the AFL academy or selected for the initial Allies squad), Martin was the one who most caught my eye as having potential AFL attributes. He played as a small defender in the NAB League series, and was ultra-competitive in one-on-one defensive duels, showed good overhead marking ability, and also displayed the daring and pace to take the game on when running the ball out of defence. I was surprised when I looked at the team sheet to see that he is listed at 178cm because he plays a lot taller than that. I'm very keen to see how he looks at NEAFL level. I've watched far more of that than I have u18 football so it gives me a better feel for how players' attributes stand up against nearly-AFL standard, as opposed to under-age players.
Thanks for the kind words.
My short comments would be:
- Good to see Cameron is okay after whatever he suffered in the Sydney Uni game.
- Pink's going to have a huge task on an in-form Sam Day. He will only have Stoddart and probably Ling as listed player support down in defence now that Reynolds is out (for how long?). Ling's yet to play a full game which is a little surprising.
- We'll miss Clarke's ball gathering numbers but Rowbottom will be more than an adequate replacement for him. Hopefully more midfield time for Ronke and Wicks.
Last edited by ugg; 24th May 2019 at 02:05 PM.
Just listening to the pre-game talk, I hear that Sheather has also been included in the side to make his debut. He's the Isaac Heeney clone that I mentioned who played throughout the NAB League series. He's still at U17 level so may struggle a bit to have impact at senior NEAFL level but he has a few tricks. They also mentioned he's from Heeney territory - Newcastle area.
I thought that Stoddart was our best that quarter: some very creative ball use. Rowbottom and Foot busy. Kilpatrick continuing his improvement. Good effort to be just in front, of a team that seems to have much more AFL experience.
I haven't seen Ling; was he a late out?
Good work that quarter to get a few goals in front. Earlier in the quarter, some really nice tap work from Cameron and Amartey, meant plenty of clearances from Rowbottom and Ronke. Then once we got outside, players like Bell, Stoddart, McInerney and Menzel, all were involved in classy passages of play.
Usual high level of enthusiasm from the academy players. Sheather added a crunching to tackle to his Heeney impersonation.
I thought they played some terrific football in that term, right across the side. They are unlucky not to be much further ahead on the scoreboard.
I know I raved a little about him pre-game, but keep an eye on Kyle Martin in the second half. He hasn't got a lot of the ball, and probably won't, but the few times he has disposed of it today has reminded me of one feature of his game I'd forgotten to mention - he has a lovely penetrating and normally accurate boot on him.
I keep on expecting the greater experience of the Suns, to start swinging the game their way, but increasingly, we seem to be the more composed and purposeful side. Menzel's form in that quarter, might be making Will Hayward a bit nervous.
Menzel a class above. Heeney look alike (56) has a crack.
Menzel. Pure skill and talent. Hope his body can hold up and we get about another 80-100 senior games out of him over the next 5 years!
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