With another week of pre-season action under our belt, what have we learned ahead of the 2015 AFL season?
1. The many sides of Essendon
Regardless of what happens by way of player suspensions, it is hard to reasonably expect Essendon to be an AFL threat in 2015. As James Hird pointed out after the loss to St Kilda at the weekend, this is so much more than just trying to coach a side.
With seemingly every player in a different situation, it is hard to drive a message of leadership when every individual has differing concerns. The best player list for Essendon at weekend told a full story of where the club is at.
Jackson Merret was a player that broke ranks to prove his value, Mitch Brown is a top-up player, Jon Giles was a player brought in over the last off-season, Paul Chapman was brought in two off-seasons ago and Jason Ashby is a newer face that the club continues to promote.
With such a collection of personnel and perspectives in the Essendon team it is really hard to imagine the side being competitive early in the 2015 season regardless of who and who isn’t suspended.
2. Brisbane’s midfield win
It was easy to justify Brisbane’s win over Sydney as merely proof the team with the stronger side winning the day, but more credit should be paid to Brisbane being able to win the midfield battle.
Given Sydney’s five leading possession winners were Kieran Jack, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Tom Mitchell and Dan Hannebery, there is not a massive amount of talent to come back to that midfield group.
Instead Brisbane with Tom Rockliff and Dayne Beams leading the way were able to outpoint their fancied midfield rivals and win the midfield battle. While what happened forward and back can be written off somewhat because of the personnel missing, this Brisbane midfield battle win was a statement even if it is only pre-season.
3. The more things change, the more they stay the same
Old saying, proven adage in the AFL. Every off-season teams and their fans hope that improvement is going to come in specific areas.
Coaches will always talk up areas of the game where they are sensing improvement coming. Yet when the games actually roll around, more often than not, for all the subtle variations, teams play similar ways.
The chief proof of this came in the Fremantle and Melbourne clash. Despite Melbourne claiming they were going to be more potent around goals in 2015, they could only muster six goals and a score of 43.
Fremantle again despite claims of a more attacking brand of football settled for a grind it out win, winning this match on the strength of their pressure and defence.
Coaches may signal new tunes, but it is still the golden oldies that come up early in an AFL pre-season.
4. Old dog
It is hard to go past former Bulldog and new Giant, Ryan Griffen as the performer of the weekend.
Ahead of the Giants pre-season clash with the Suns, doubts were being raised about the injury status of Griffen with some doomsday theories claiming that Griffen may not have any impact for GWS.
In one pre-season performance, Griffen put any doubts about his ability to impact this budding Giants side to bed. The overall numbers were impressive with 31 possessions and a goal, but it was the advanced stats that indicate the value that Griffen can be.
Nine clearances, with six coming from the centre bounce. 13 contested possessions. 90 per cent disposal efficiency and five inside 50s prove the value that Griffen can be as an attacking force an area where GWS needs it’s most improvement to come from.
5. Timing of the pre-season byes
Over a five week pre-season leading into the season proper clubs are only playing three games.
Indeed trying to get momentum in this pre-season appears a stretch. Feel for the six teams that did not play this weekend. They have been subjected to a game, a bye before having two matches in the next two weeks and then another bye before the season begins.
The punctuated pre-season might be considered a win for the AFLPA but seems difficult on the actual players themselves. What result that actually has come Round 1 of the season is an unknown but is worth considering about pre-season form.
6. A game of momentum
As has been the case for the past two seasons and the grand final of 2012, momentum football is still a big part of the AFL. Being able to capatilise when a team is on top of the game is crucial in the final victory as well as being able to time the run of a momentum shift.
Both Sunday games were defined by momentum shifts. Port Adelaide started hot against West Coast, were able to halt the West Coast momentum run of the second quarter and then take the game away in the third term.
Meanwhile, Hawthorn and North Melbourne shared momentum runs, but it was North Melbourne that were able to control the last 15 minutes of the game and time their victory run to perfection with a narrow win over the reigning premiers.
Expect momentum to again play a big part when the 2015 season starts proper.
7. Contested possession again
Chalk it up as 11 for 11 when a team wins the contested possession battle that they have won the match in this pre-season. The Essendon and St Kilda match finished with 112 contested possessions each, but in the other five it was the team that held sway in this area that won the match.
The pre-season is notorious for having little read into it statistically, but every year season trends can be picked up at this early stage and contested possession looms large as the key are heading into 2015.
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