Round 14 • Port v Sydney Swans @ Adelaide

[TheBloods]

But doesn’t it happen that the best players cannot hold their position on the ground and sucked into the contest in a young team as they are not confident that a younger player would be able to do the right thing and needs support in the contest which creates an opposition spare. So players such as Florent, Blakey, Dawson would do well When the team structure and Inside grunt becomes good as they can hold their position or run into holes.

What more does our inside grunt need? We have Kennedy and Parker two of the best bulls of the last decade inside. That is more than most teams have. Some of the contenders like Richmond, West Coast and Brisbane don't have more than one bull. We have the luxury of having two, three if you want to include the protege Paddlebum.

My gripe with those I mentioned is more about their impact on the game. Hayward doesn't seem to get bigger, no matter how many pre-season photos show him bulking up he's too easily moved out of a contest. His Siamese twin Florent is the same, not enough strength to be on the inside, and poor execution to be on the outside. Dawson is the best kick in the team, playing at HB which is the easiest area of the ground to rack up possessions, but can't get his hands on it enough. Averaging just 16 disposals this season. Not good enough. Blakey is the most talented player on the field most weeks but I struggle to see what he is going to be able to do with the body type he has. Too slight to be an inside mid, too tall to be a wingman, too skinny to be a key forward.

I can't see where improving our already good inside stocks makes any difference to those four.

[Markwebbos]

Port had a lot of bulls in their side yesterday: Wines, Powell-Pepper, Rockcliff, Boak. I think our bulls are too slow and the next generation isn’t there yet.

Plus 2 of the 3 mainstays of our midfield have been injured (3 out of 4 if you count Naismith). And it was JPKs 2nd game back.

I actually believe progress is going to come as the plodders give way to the faster brigade, and we resolve the ruck problem.

We won the second half and pretty much squared the clearances once AA moved into the ruck.

Not sure what happened to Rowbottom. I thought I saw him win the odd clearance. He did get hit early on. I don’t know if he attended the usual number of centre bounces now that JPK is back? Or it was just an off-game?

[Captain]

Have you watched Campbell play? Don't want to burden him but he has elite written all over him

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BOG two weeks ago!

He was very good then. Unfortunately the good games are too far and few in between.

[111431]

People are very hard on mcinerney. He's actually played very little footy. Hardly played in the under 18 comp and had just graduated to his school's senior team when he was drafted from memory. His game today was OK I thought. He makes good position and isn't afraid to take the game on. To me he is miles in front of the likes of Wicks Foote and Bell and has a brighter future than the likes of Clarke or Thurlow. I reckon the way he moves he shows a bit of class.

I’m with you on this - he just needs to get a bit stronger and develop the confidence that he belongs and he’ll be a beauty

[111431]

Sinclair's effort in the ruck since joining us has been commendable. He has virtually been our only genuine fit ruckman for 3 seasons. However, it needs to be recognised that when compared to the other teams' starting ruckmen he is at the lower end of effectiveness. Our last two premierships featured very effective ruckmen - Jolly in 2005 and Pyke/Mummy in 2012.

I suspect a lot of our weak performances at centre clearances and stoppages reflect Sinclair's inability to achieve any really effective taps to advantage. In yesterday's game, Big Charlie did a beautiful tap to advantage at a boundary throw in, resulting directly in a Port goal. We rarely see this happen for us. Remember Jolly's famous tap to advantage to Nick Davis that resulted in that famous goal in the final against Geelong? Will those days ever return? We can only hope. Trading in or drafting a top line ruckman needs to be a priority for us going forward. We cannot assume Naismith can come back and play injury free.

I think Jason ball gave the tap to nick davis who saved us

[MightyBloods]

We struggled to get a centre clearance and couldn’t take a grab I50.

When those two issues are corrected , we’ll go OK . Our defence had to work overtime all day as usual.

I thought our performance yesterday was very encouraging given we still had a number of players out of form. Put Dixon in that Swans team yesterday and we win.

[Thunder Shaker]

Have you watched Campbell play? Don't want to burden him but he has elite written all over him

This is why we need to secure more draft points if we want to use our first round pick before matching a bid on Campbell. Recruiters from the 17 other clubs are neither blind nor stupid. Some of them will appreciate Campbell's potential.

[snajik]

Sinclair's effort in the ruck since joining us has been commendable. He has virtually been our only genuine fit ruckman for 3 seasons. However, it needs to be recognised that when compared to the other teams' starting ruckmen he is at the lower end of effectiveness. Our last two premierships featured very effective ruckmen - Jolly in 2005 and Pyke/Mummy in 2012.

I suspect a lot of our weak performances at centre clearances and stoppages reflect Sinclair's inability to achieve any really effective taps to advantage. In yesterday's game, Big Charlie did a beautiful tap to advantage at a boundary throw in, resulting directly in a Port goal. We rarely see this happen for us. Remember Jolly's famous tap to advantage to Nick Davis that resulted in that famous goal in the final against Geelong? Will those days ever return? We can only hope. Trading in or drafting a top line ruckman needs to be a priority for us going forward. We cannot assume Naismith can come back and play injury free.

No doubt. Sinclair is a warrior, but he isn't a ruckman, and certainly not a natural ruckman. I admire his heart though, he has a real tenacity for the contest.

I agree, a top line ruckman should be a priority. A ruckman and a key position forward. The McCartin switch to full back showed his true potential. Only half a game there, but it seems the obvious place to play him now. It was like a piece of the puzzle was solved.

I certainly do remember the tap from Jolly to Nick Davis in the 2005 Semi. Very deft but Davis' anticipation was just as extraordinary. I usually sit in the Noble Stand but by a quirk of fortune the finals tickets allocated to us were behind the Randwick end goals so had a live and upfront view of this piece of magic, which was key to paving our way to the 2005 GF which we ultimately won. The eruption that followed that goal is still with me today.

Aliir, a spare-parts ruckman also, doesn't always have a presence in the ruck, though yesterday his second half effort was excellent providing a lot more athleticism than Sinclair in the first. I'm not convinced he's the answer (though our fortunes improved when he went into the ruck) but did you notice his soft-handed palm down in the 4th quarter? Straight to advantage. So nice to see.

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Yes it was Jason Ball! 15 years is a long time in football.

[troyjones2525]

I've seen bits and pieces of Campbell. He does look the goods. But so did Blakey, Hayward, Florent, Dawson... so much talent that is just under performing.

Check this out. He will be our best kick from day one pre-season IMO.

BRAEDEN CAMPBELL HIGHLIGHTS | 2020 Draft Prospect - YouTube

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[Blood Fever]

Check this out. He will be our best kick from day one pre-season IMO.

BRAEDEN CAMPBELL HIGHLIGHTS | 2020 Draft Prospect - YouTube

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Looks a million bucks. Left leg all class. Kicks it a mile as well. Thx for video!

[Ralph Dawg]

Check this out. He will be our best kick from day one pre-season IMO.

BRAEDEN CAMPBELL HIGHLIGHTS | 2020 Draft Prospect - YouTube

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If he was on our list now, dare say he'd have about a dozen games under his belt by now. His speed, hardness at the contest and left boot look like just what we need.

[TheBloods]

Port had a lot of bulls in their side yesterday: Wines, Powell-Pepper, Rockcliff, Boak. I think our bulls are too slow and the next generation isn’t there yet.

Plus 2 of the 3 mainstays of our midfield have been injured (3 out of 4 if you count Naismith). And it was JPKs 2nd game back.

I actually believe progress is going to come as the plodders give way to the faster brigade, and we resolve the ruck problem.

We won the second half and pretty much squared the clearances once AA moved into the ruck.

Not sure what happened to Rowbottom. I thought I saw him win the odd clearance. He did get hit early on. I don’t know if he attended the usual number of centre bounces now that JPK is back? Or it was just an off-game?

I don't think our bulls were too slow. They don't have a quality ruck giving them first use of the ball, so they are more defensive by nature. We had our share of the ball in the midfield and in general play, but it was those general play types - Blakey, Hayward, Dawson etc that did not win enough one on one balls or use it well enough to turn into meaningful scoring chains. One on ones around the ground in general is a major weakness of ours, not just inside 50.

I did not see the hit on Rowbottom. He might've just had an off day. They happen, and has been good all year. We missed his spark around the contest.