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Joined November 2012
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Samuel is the Pres of the mighty Figtree Kangaroos, the co-host of 'Sports Weekly' on Pulse 94.1FM in Wollongong, and tries to play footy on weekends.
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Nathan Buckley's coaching career has come under more fire this week after his side produced another mediocre performance against an improving Melbourne Demons outfit.…
In light of this week's Brownlow Medal, the All-Australian selectors clearly missed a trick. While the attention in the build-up was focused on whether…
The happy team at Hawthorn came up hapless last Friday night, as the Sydney Swans became only the second team this season to successfully…
The tradition-cracking juggernaut of the naming trial has sailed away and the footy purists can breathe a sigh of relief for a moment. Footy…
The dust has now settled on a dreamy summer of Test triumphs. A Sheffield Shield has gone to New South Wales for only the…
Glenn Maxwell hit a stunning 95 off 43 balls in the Indian Premier League the other day. My initial reaction, like some of his…
Sachin Tendulkar was touted as 'cricketer of the generation' long before Cricinfo gave it some sort of officialdom in March this year. Tendulkar strolled…
The AFL and its legions of hearty fans can't seem to get enough of a slick-footed, fancy midfielder in the modern game. It seems…
The All Australian side is something that is always hotly debated and never quite the perfect showcase of the league's true talent. The standard…
Well I’m pretty happy with those predictions, haha. I was two points off the margin and Buddy did kick five goals.
AFL Round 9 preview
Probably the most frustrating thing for Brisbane is seeing how well Jared Polec is now going over at Port Adelaide.
AFL Round 9 preview
I wouldn’t be surprised if Franklin kicks five or six goals in this match like he should have last week. The Coleman Medal will eventually come down to him and Kennedy. Swans will win this one by about eight goals.
AFL Round 9 preview
I don’t think Fyfe and Barlow have reached their peaks yet either. If Fyfe improves his kicking efficiency he could go close to winning a Brownlow one day. He has a great overhead mark and can push forward in a similar way to Patrick Dangerfield.
The other top midfield is Port Adelaide’s. They have Travis Boak, Jared Polec, Ollie Wines, Brad Ebert, Kanes Cornes and guys like Chad Wingard, Matthew White and Angus Monfries to rotate through the midfield. Probably the most pleasing thing for the Power is that their young stars in Polec, Wines and Wingard have developed so quickly. Polec’s performances this season must almost bring Brisbane Lions fans to tears.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
I not so sure about that, Michael. I might be slightly bias too and suggest that the Magpies should probably just get the nod. In Pendlebury we’re probably looking at this years runner-up in the Brownlow (behind Ablett), Swan’s easily in the top ten players of the last seven years, and Beams is stepping up in importance this year. Beyond Ball and Sidebottom there’s also a quality tagger in Brent Macaffer. Jarryd Blair is very handy and Heritier Lamumba has pushed up to the wing to provide fantastic run. It’s pretty even up to this point, but Collingwood outmuscle Sydney with their ruck options. Brodie Grundy is set to be one of the best rucks in the AFL over the next decade and Jarrod Witts is just very very tall. Pyke and Derickx are okay but they’re not the same as Mumford.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
I actually thought Goodes did quite a number of quality one-percenters in the game though. I know he only picked up 10 disposals but I remember he did a brilliant tap back to Jetta from the boundary which I think might have led to a goal. Back to my article point though- Goodes was that extra target who drew a defender and created space for the other guys.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
Considering Hawthorn didn’t have a quality Full Back or Centre Half Back to match up well at least on Tippett or Franklin, I think the three or four tall forward line was quite effective for this game. Tippett and Franklin are going to be the mainstays in this forward line for the season and the others might come in when they take on another side that might struggle to match up on them. Reid might be pushed to the back line and we all know Goodes could potentially play in a wide range of positions.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
Good points, Jack. When it comes down to it, footy is still a game of 22 players taking on 22 players.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
On another note, if Franklin starts kicking straight I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on to win the Coleman this year.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
So do you think Hawthorn will have Port Adelaide’s forward line covered then? Admittedly it has been the Power’s smalls that have caused the most headaches for opposition’s in the last few games but I wouldn’t be surprised if Schulz or Westhoff find a mismatch and fire.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
Sydney had an extra 17 inside 50s for the match. The ball was pretty much exclusively down their end in the 1st quarter. They probably should have won by seven or eight goals. We saw a taste of what the Sydney forward line can do, but we could have seen an even greater domination. If Hawthorn’s injured stars were in it could have been too close to call.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
They seem to have quite a few quality ruckmen. They could maybe play Zac Clarke at Centre Half Forward and let him do the tap work in the forward 50. Keep Pavlich at Full Forward and let the likes of Ballantyne and Walters rove off him or create their own space while key defenders are drawn to the talls.
Is this Fremantle's last chance for a premiership?
I agree with a lot of what you said there, Aransan. I thought Ross Lyon was the best coach in the AFL last year. You have to work with what you have and I think his defensive strategies suited Fremantle very well. A back-line boasting McPharlin, Dawson and Johnson can match-up very well against any sizeable opposition, then you also have quality rebound players like Ibbotson and Duffield. The problem with his defensive strategy is that he needs buy-in from every player. Injuries have hit them harder this season and losing key defenders means the whole defensive stranglehold is loosened.
Is this Fremantle's last chance for a premiership?
Johnson was an All-Australian last year. I’m really not sure how you ended up putting him in Fremantle’s 2nd tier group.
Is this Fremantle's last chance for a premiership?
Gibson is probably their best defender and might have done a slightly better job on Hawkins, but he does struggle on the bigger targets even though his spoiling ability is fantastic. Tippett seemed a bit too much for him on Friday night. Do Hawthorn have any decent tall defenders in the VFL or other places to call upon?
Hawthorn’s one small problem
I’m not sure if Roughead’s the answer but that Cheney on Hawkins match-up was certainly one of the strangest pairings I’ve seen this season. Cheney was giving away some considerable height and weight and was thrown around accordingly.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
Fortunately for the Hawks, their top class midfield has probably covered over their fragility in defence on a number of occasions. The Swans had 65 inside 50s compared to the Hawks 48 on Friday night though. If other sides can dominate Hawthorn’s injury-stricken midfield like that and post similar inside 50 numbers than we could see more cracks in the Hawks defence as the season goes on.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
I used the term ‘monstered’ in reference to Franklin’s marking ability over his opponents. He easily took more marks than anyone else in the match and double that of all the Hawthorn defenders. It certainly got quite close in the second half but the Swans really should have put the game to bed much earlier. It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers Franklin racks up for Sydney when he gets his kicking radar going straight.
Hawthorn’s one small problem
I’m from NSW and I’m loving watching how Port are playing at the moment. They’ve already conquered some very tough opponents too, notably Geelong and Fremantle.
Are we making enough fuss about Port Adelaide?
Fascinating post, Bayman. You should submit something like that as an article if you like. As a guy who has mostly grown up in NSW I would love to gain a better understanding of great clubs in traditional Australian Football heartlands.
Are we making enough fuss about Port Adelaide?
Good point, Bayman. There’s certainly something special about a club that can quickly produce a winning culture.
Are we making enough fuss about Port Adelaide?
To be honest, I think a lot of players and fans often exaggerate the idea of a home ground advantage. Sure, having a big home crowd cheering you on can be nice, but when it comes down to playing it is simply two teams competing on another oval. I think players can often get too caught up in the psychological battle of competing at an away venue. My local 1st grade footy team have actually won all our away games this season but have lost all our home games.
Are we making enough fuss about Port Adelaide?
People laugh about South African spin bowlers because they’ve picked some fairly ordinary ones in recent years. Imran Tahir bowled absolute pies when he came out to Australia and he was deservedly smashed to every part of the ground. If you go back slightly further they were picking Johan Botha who I think had questions over his bowling action, and Paul Adams who has the funniest action the game of cricket has ever seen.
It would be nice to see if they have anyone better coming through. Remember South African First Class cricket might not be quite as strong as the Australian domestic scene.
South African spin bowlers are underrated
I have noticed that they like to go for some pretty bland headlines. I rarely seem to get the headline I want but maybe my headlines are a bit lame, haha. I imagine it probably comes down to Search Engine Optimisation. The current title is probably more likely to pop up if someone happens to Google “AFL Round 7”. Print publications can afford wittier headlines.
18 AFL Talking Points: Round 7
Fairly spot on there, Steele. If Jackson Bird is fit he has to get a game before pretty much any other quick.
Stop messing Mitchell Starc around