R11 Sydney v Carlton at the SCG, The Marn Grook Game - Match Thread

[BRS328]

Auntie,

Very good analysis. Big players take longer to develop, and the signs are there for McAndrew. Clearly he has a long way to go, but he has size and mobility, important ingredients for a ruckman

[i'm-uninformed2]

Thanks for your considered reply. At the moment I'm not as optimistic but I'll try to keep an open mind. I still think we are a chance of making finals this year. We've had our rough run of injuries and could really do some damage with our best 22.

Not at all. And don't get me wrong - he still has a good bit to work on.

His contribution in general play is still very light, and his contested marking needs real work. I also sense he's more comfortable at centre bounces where he can use his reach and angles to tap the ball, whereas he is still working out the best way to be effective at stoppages, which is a bit more of a wrestle and where his relative lack of strength as a young, tall ruckman counts against him (despite what I said earlier about him holding off Goldstein in that stretch of play).

But I think he has three great assets which suggest his promise. One - he has reach and leap, and soft hands. Some of his tap work against North was very good, albeit there were a few times where his placement was a bit off due to a lack of synchronicity with the mids. But that'll come with time and I reckon opposing rucks will find it increasingly difficult to combat the angles he can achieve. Two - while he is still relatively light, he's unafraid of contact, which is perhaps a function of his rugby background. You see a lot of beanpole ruckmen wary of the brutal contact that comes with the position. Not so McAndrew. And three - he seems an extraordinarily fast learner. He's played, what, maybe 50 games of Aussie rules in his life? If this is where he's already got to, I like the prospect of what's ahead.

I suspect he'll be back out of the team soon, and he certainly looked a bit tired on the weekend, and flagged in the last quarter vs North. But that's ok. He can take what he observed in his few games in the seniors and go back and work on the next phase of his development.

[KSAS]

Melbourne experienced an earthquake last night. Possible aftershocks is predicted for Carlton.

[707]

Melbourne experienced an earthquake last night. Possible aftershocks is predicted for Carlton.

A ten year Carrton board member resigned today

[Blood Fever]

Pokies king's proxy vote. Good riddance but his white ant of an uncle could cause havoc. Shades of John Elliott.

[Blood Fever]

Karma for all their ill gotten gains

[Sandridge]

We should probably be insulted that Carlton is taking losing to us as a sign of how bad they're going but I'm having too much fun watching them implode to be offended!

Long may they linger at the foot of the ladder!

[dejavoodoo44]

We should probably be insulted that Carlton is taking losing to us as a sign of how bad they're going but I'm having too much fun watching them implode to be offended!

Long may they linger at the foot of the ladder!

For a bit of enjoyable schadenfreude, I went to Big Footy and read the first couple of hundred posts of the Carlton match autopsy thread. Of those 200 posts, there was perhaps 4 or 5 along the lines, "We're only one and half games out of the eight, we can still make it" and "Sydney are a good side, there's no shame in losing to them". The rest were more like, "Why am I following this @@@@ club!" and "They told us it was going to be different this year, but it’s just as @@@@@@ as ever!"

Though to be fair, a few posts were quite witty. Like, "Next we have Melbourne, St Kilda, Gold Coast and the bye. So, four tough games then." And, "My membership is renewed automatically, but I'm going to cancel that on Monday. I just keep wasting one whole day every weekend."

[dejavoodoo44]

Coaches votes.

9 Chad Warner (SYD)
9 Nick Blakey (SYD)
3 Jacob Weitering (CARL)
3 Sam Walsh (CARL)
2 Jake Lloyd (SYD)
2 Charlie Curnow (CARL)
1 Luke Parker (SYD)
1 Isaac Heeney (SYD)

Looks like Chad getting the medal wasn't the surprise that many of us thought. Recency bias, perhaps? Also, nobody really mentioned Lloyd earlier in the thread, but he did quietly gather a heap of possessions, as he often does.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

There was adiscussion regarding McAndrew in November last year. To which I contributed

I've only seen seen 6 of his VFL games, which isn't a lot, but he's already had quite the share of injuries. On the other hand I'm a bit mono minded when it comes to the rucks, so I pay close attention.
He gallups around the ground well enough as you say, but he's very well behaved as he does so.
I'd like to see him win more hit outs given his height, but his body work lacks authority at the ruck contest and smaller opponents are allowed to get to the ball or more often render his taps ineffective. Which is what worries me, because his reach is his biggest asset. He's never going to be a "human bulldozer", but "awkward bugger" should be within his grasp and is an acceptable ruck type
As to his ruck work, It's early days - this stuff can be learnt WITH TIME, but does he have it? I think he needs to use both arms at the ruck contest and I've never seen him flick back, smack the tap clear of the stoppage or hit a moving target.

I remain as agnostic/unconvinced regarding McAndrew as I was earlier in the year, but I am very [leased he is getting a look in the seniors, trust me, if I see anything that I consider noteworthy - you'll hear about it.

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of noteworthy,
did anyone else note the interraction between Lloyd and the Lizard in the first quarter as to who was going to take a kick in?

[MattW]

Coaches votes.

9 Chad Warner (SYD)
9 Nick Blakey (SYD)
3 Jacob Weitering (CARL)
3 Sam Walsh (CARL)
2 Jake Lloyd (SYD)
2 Charlie Curnow (CARL)
1 Luke Parker (SYD)
1 Isaac Heeney (SYD)

Looks like Chad getting the medal wasn't the surprise that many of us thought. Recency bias, perhaps? Also, nobody really mentioned Lloyd earlier in the thread, but he did quietly gather a heap of possessions, as he often does.

Curnow? Voss is kidding, surely.

Kicked 1.3 at 39% efficiency.

Lloyd is putting together another very solid year.

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[Scottee]

I understand how harsh I sound given our circumstances but he really did not provide much assistance for Hickey anyway. His best work is at centre bounce but he only attended 6 of these. He attended 28 ruck contests in total and won the hit out only 7 times. In general play, he provided almost nothing. I'd seriously rather play Sheldrick and give him the learning experience. McLean can ruck for the same amount of time that McAndrew did and we can go with a smaller forward line in that time. If they don't want to do that then play a mid as the ruck and be resigned to losing the hit out.

I get that he is young and that he has potential but it will hurt us in the ones giving him that learning experience there.

Much better than Darcy Cameron's debut and saved Hickey from being completely exhausted. He is going to be OK.

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