Eh? Sorry, I thought Stanton, to be honest, owned Jack. I'm a big fan of Jack, but he was often caught a metre or two off the pace today, especially in the first half. The second half saw an improvement, with the two players probably breaking even, but in the first half, Stanton dominated. Well, that's how it appeared at the ground.
Anyway, to be honest, I thought Bird was better than Moore today, although there wasn't much separating them. Bird was simply fantastic in the packs. This wasn't a lucky good game, where he got a lot of cheap possessions and found himself in a lot of space; this was the game of a bloke who, now that he is relaxed at the top level, knows his way around packs, never shirks physicality, and never lets himself out of the contest, always putting in second efforts. Some of his touches at the bottom of the packs were simply outstanding.
Having said that, Moore was fantastic too, especially his work across half-forward. He has been a major difference in our side this year. Last year, a lot of the time if the ball came loose in our forward 50, the opposition would pick it up and rebound; this year, we have Moore charging in with his head over the ball, and either picking it up and spotting up a teammate, or at least squeezing the ball out to a teammate's advantage.
I couldn't be happier with our kids at the moment. Jack hasn't had a bad game yet (only indifferent, like today, and good), Moore has been similar, and Bird has gotten better and better with each passing week. You can clearly see how each week his decision making gets better. It's actually uncanny. Barlow has shown flashes, and is definitely a player for the future, McVeigh and Bevan are playing career best footy, and Grundy is out of the side. I couldn't be happier with where our young guys are at the moment!
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