An early period of dominance set up a 31-point win for the Eagles in the second match of the 2015 NAB Challenge.
They dominated the key stats, leading the disposals 354-236, mostly through uncontested possession as they controlled the ball. They had only 14 more contested possessions than the Blues, but 104 more uncontested possessions. The Eagles dominance was reflected in a comfortable Inside 50 count of 55-30.
The Blues showed some good signs at times but struggled in the western heat and were comfortably outmatched by a star-studded Eagles team when they themselves had sent mostly juniors. The fact they lost the tackle count 64-54 even when the Eagles dominated possession shows just how much they wilted as the game went on.
Still through some good defensive efforts and a little inaccuracy on the Eagles’ behalf the Blues were able to keep the margin respectable and some late super goals to Cameron Wood and Zach Tuohy helped to make the scoreboard a bit prettier.
For the Eagles Josh J Kennedy was dominant, making light of an undermanned Carlton backline to kick four goals, one of them a super, on a day when the big men were struggling. Brownlow Medallist Matt Priddis was typically productive with eight clearances, seven tackles, and a goal in the last term.
Brad Sheppard saw lots of the ball across half back, Luke Shuey was dynamic in the midfield, and Scott Lycett had a good impact around the ground with 6 tackles. Jeremy McGovern played well in defence and Tom Lamb showed some excitement up forward.
The big story from the game for the Eagles though may be the injury to Eric Mackenzie. The Best and Fairest winner landed hard from a marking contest early in the second term and missed the rest of the match. He was able to jog off the ground, but was then later seen on crutches. Time will tell on this one.
For the Blues there were few who stood out but the likes of Tom Bell and Patrick Cripps impressed through the midfield, Cam Wood had an impact and Chris Yarran was at his creative best. Levi Casboult was typically wayward in front of goal, but the Blues got some good moments out of draftee Blaine Boekhorst and saw some impressive stuff in defense from former Giant Kristian Jaksch.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Blues fare when they field a more experienced team, but in the meantime, their younger players are showing promise.
The Eagles on the other hand look like they could push for finals in 2015 with a bit of luck.
FINAL SCORE
WEST COAST 1.9.15 (78)
CARLTON 2.4.5 (47)
After a summer of waiting, footy is finally back and the 2015 NAB Challenge continues today with a Friday Night match-up between the West Coast Eagles and the Carlton Blues in Mandurah, Western Australia. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7.10pm AEDT (4.10pm local).
The Eagles had their first hit-out last week against the Indigenous All-Stars, but this is the first match of the year for Carlton, who are taking in a relatively inexperienced side.
Captain Marc Murphy will miss the game due to hamstring tightness while Andrew Walker and Matthew Kreuzer have both been ruled out due to longer term injuries.
Experienced players Bryce Gibbs, Lachie Henderson, Chris Judd, Dale Thomas and Michael Jamison are being rested from the side also, as the Blues seek to test their young draftees and new trade acquisitions.
Also notable is that senior coach Mick Malthouse will not travel the team. Malthouse is staying in Melbourne to be with his wife who is undergoing surgery.
In Mick’s absence Carlton’s director of coaching Rob Wiley is stepping up to the plate, while key defender Sam Rowe is set to captain the side in place of Marc Murphy.
Draftees Blaine Boekhorst, Dillon Viojo-Rainbow and Clem Smith are all a chance to play for the Blues, as are former Bulldogs Liam Jones and Jason Tutt, former Giant Kristian Jaksch, and former Swan Matthew Dick.
The Eagles on the other hand are taking in a significantly more experienced squad, though that may change by the time final teams are announced.
While Scott Selwood, Nic Naitanui and Jack Darling will all miss, the Eagles side will boast Brownlow Medallist Matt Priddis, new captain Shannon Hurn, reigning Best and Fairest winner Eric Mackenzie, and a host of other established players including Mark LeCras, Andrew Gaff, Luke Shuey and Josh J Kennedy.
Fresh draftees Tom Lamb and Jackson Nelson have both been named in the squad after playing against the All-Stars last week, and in an odd twist of fate former Blue Kane Lucas is likely to line up against the club that delisted him late last year.
One talking point will be the next wave of Carlton midfielders. Young ball-winners Patrick Cripps and Tom Bell are both in the squad after performing well in last week’s intra-club game, both are worth keeping an eye on. We may be getting an early glimpse of the future of Carlton’s midfield.
Another Blue to keep an eye on is Matthew Watson. After struggling to maintain a place in the Blues best 22 as a defender, the 195cm Watson was sent forward in the last round of 2014 and booted four goals. He followed this up with six goals in the Blues intra-club match last week. It’s early days yet, but Carlton may have found the answer to their key forward dilemma.
From the Eagles, Scott Lycett is one to keep an eye on. He has some big shoes to fill as the likely successor to six-time All Australian ruckman Dean Cox, but from what we saw of him last season he shows promise.
Former Lion Elliot Yeo, entering his second year at the club, is also one to watch on as he seeks to establish himself in the side after recovering from a broken hand.
Prediction:
The squad the Eagles have named is considerably more experienced than that of the Blues, and while this may change by the time the final teams are announced, they will likely still have the advantage on their home turf.
West Coast by 30 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4.10 pm local time (7.10 pm AEDT).
Macca
Guest
Hey Col, if you are looking for a laugh have a look at the report on the game on th CFC app, apparently the Blues depth really drops away when you remove "the likes of Murphy Gibbs, Judd, Thomas, Henderson & Jamison" no mention of the other 5 first 22 players or the fact that most teams depth would be tested when you take out the best 4 on ballers and your 2 bookends.
Macca
Guest
Gecko - Last year Henderson (after hip surgery in the off season) had a ordinary Season and kicked 28 goals from 17 games, Menzel in just his second year and battling a shoulder injury kicked 26 goals in 19 games (some of which he was the sub for) so I would say even without any improvement on 2014 they would fill some the holes in our forward line let alone after the natural improvement you could expect with being injury free and having another preseason into a 24 and 20 year old.
Macca
Guest
Gecko - To get our midfield back to the depth it had last night we have to get injuries to ALL of Murphy, Gibbs, Judd, Thomas and Carrazzo- highly unlikely. And the holes at each end won't just be plugged by Henderson and Menzel forward (which you surely have to admit are handy players) and Everitt and Walker at both ends, again no slouches but also Jamison at full back. Regardless of whether you think these players are A B or C grade they are all a big step forward on the players they will replace from last night.
Gecko
Guest
Col and Macca, what we can agree on is that if those bonafide 3 midfielders can stay fit throughout 2015, and if they can get improvement from Bell and/or revival from Thomas, they'll be competitive around the middle of the ground. Sounds good on paper but if some of those injuries re-occur (with Judd it's almost a certainty), your midfield is back on a level with West Coast (who still found it easy last night), Saints, and Melbourne. And you've still got holes at each end of the ground (which you apparently think will be patched with stars like Everitt, Menzel, Walker and Henderson). Hawks' depth was proven when they copped injuries last year. Blues' lack of depth was proven last year. But for 2015, it's early days - you guys could prove to be correct.
Macca
Guest
Col, I didn't realise Menzel & Everitt were missing as well, there is more rebound from defence and goal scoring power right there. Even if you only took Judd, Murphy & Gibbs out I defy any side to be competitive at clearance and stoppages without their 3 best mids. A lot of positives IMO Col.
Col of Brissie
Guest
Macca by my reckoning there were 11 of our best starting line-up missing. Walker, Menzel, Murphy, Gibbs, Judd, Kreuzer, Henderson, Everitt, Thomas, Jamieson and Carrazzo. To go down by only 31 points to West Coast who were probably without 3 or 4 from their best 22 and who also had the benefit of playing the week before against the All Stars is a positive in my book. Gecko, considering the Hawks went down to Collinwood by 46 points the night before are you writing them off too?
Macca
Guest
Gecko - Thomas hasn't been injury free in years and the player supposedly on his last legs has had his first injury free preseason in 5 years and by all accounts is training the house down. But all that aside my point is given about 10 (according to Robert Wiley) of the blues first choice side wasn't playing including their 4 best mids it is bit much to say you saw the frailties of carlton exposed. The individual performances of Jaksch, Cripps and Bell (the later 2 will help solve that midfield depth issue you are raising) are real positives from the game. Also in depth, most sides have a couple of "bona fire" mids and a cast of B graders who know how to play their role plus a good tagger, in Gibbs, Murphy & Judd the Blues have the Bona Fide covered, Curnow (who was amongst the blues best last night) has the tagger covered, Thomas at the very least is a quality B grader and This year we will see the likes of Docherty, Bell and Cripps emerge has good solid B graders.
Gecko
Guest
Let's leave out Thomas (hasn't played consistent footy for years, is highly suspect injury-wise and should only be given cameos in the midfield anyway) and Carazzo. You've got 3 bonafide midfielders, one of whom is on his last legs. Even if you're very lucky and get through most of the season with two of these three, they're gonna need support and your next best barely qualify as B-graders. You'll need a lot of luck injury-wise to stay out of the bottom 4.
Macca
Guest
I'd agree on the satisfaction Col, Cripps and Bell playing well as number 1 & 2 mids is a good sign for when they are 5 & 6, Jaksch's form was a positive and the forward line should function much better with Henderson in and a better mid field delivering the ball to it.
Macca
Guest
Gecko - I might be going out on a limb here Gecko but midfield depth issues may be fixed by the inclusion of Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Thomas and maybe Carrazzo. Goal kicking power will be improved by Henderson returning and defensive rebounding power by the inclusion of Walker plus both areas will be improved by the return of our first choice midfield.
Josh
Expert
It was a great match for beards between JJK, Tuohy and Simpson.
Gecko
Guest
Good to see you got some positives out of that performance Macca. Watching the Blues, those gaps re defensive rebound, goal-kicking power and midfield depth were about the only thing that stood out. I know it's early days but they looked bottom 4 material.
Macca
Guest
A lot of the players the blues needed good performances from seemed to go well, would have liked more from Buckley and Graham and I won't judge Casboult & Jones until they play in front of a more full strength mid field, but to get good performances out of Cripps,Bell, Jaksch and Boekhorst is a real positive.
Col from Brissie
Guest
A bit harsh on big Levi. He had 2 shots at goal, the first from the pocket where no goals were scored all game and was described by the commentators as "the impossible pocket" and the second shot was for a super goal. All in all though a pretty good summary.
Josh
Expert
That's all from me tonight but I'll be back to cover more NAB Challenge games over the coming weeks. Here's to a big 2015!
Col from Brissie
Guest
Didn't do a whole lot Macca but showed some pace and a bit of agro. Jacksh impressed, Cripps & Bell got a bit of the ball but West Coast with all their top midfielders playing dominated the clearances. With so many inexperienced players there were a lot of turnovers and not much system going forward. All in all considering the number of first choice players not playing I think there would be some satisfaction for the coaching staff.
Josh
Expert
Big write up above this now, but let me know if you have any further players you're curious on.
Josh
Expert
Didn't necessarily see a lot of it, but popped up for a few highlights. Cult hero in the making.
Josh
Expert
An early period of dominance set up a 31-point win for the Eagles in the second match of the 2015 NAB Challenge. They dominated the key stats, leading the disposals 354-236, mostly through uncontested possession as they controlled the ball. They had only 14 more contested possessions than the Blues, but 104 more uncontested possessions. The Eagles dominance was reflected in a comfortable Inside 50 count of 55-30. The Blues showed some good signs at times but struggled in the western heat and were comfortably outmatched by a star-studded Eagles team when they themselves had sent mostly juniors. The fact they lost the tackle count 64-54 even when the Eagles dominated possession shows just how much they wilted as the game went on. Still through some good defensive efforts and a little inaccuracy on the Eagles' behalf the Blues were able to keep the margin respectable and some late super goals to Cameron Wood and Zach Tuohy helped to make the scoreboard a bit prettier. For the Eagles Josh J Kennedy was dominant, making light of an undermanned Carlton backline to kick four goals, one of them a super, on a day when the big men were struggling. Brownlow Medallist Matt Priddis was typically productive with eight clearances, seven tackles, and a goal in the last term. Brad Sheppard saw lots of the ball across half back, Luke Shuey was dynamic in the midfield, and Scott Lycett had a good impact around the ground with 6 tackles. Jeremy McGovern played well in defence and Tom Lamb showed some excitement up forward. The big story from the game for the Eagles though may be the injury to Eric Mackenzie. The Best and Fairest winner landed hard from a marking contest early in the second term and missed the rest of the match. He was able to jog off the ground, but was then later seen on crutches. Time will tell on this one. For the Blues there were few who stood out but the likes of Tom Bell and Patrick Cripps impressed through the midfield, Cam Wood had an impact and Chris Yarran was at his creative best. Levi Casboult was typically wayward in front of goal, but the Blues got some good moments out of draftee Blaine Boekhorst and saw some impressive stuff in defense from former Giant Kristian Jaksch. It’ll be interesting to see how the Blues fare when they field a more experienced team, but in the meantime, their younger players are showing promise. The Eagles on the other hand look like they could push for finals in 2015 with a bit of luck.
Macca
Guest
How did clem smith go?