Glenelg v Eagles Glenelg oval July 7

The Barton wrote:There’s generally only 8 or so players drafted out of SA each year. Sid Draper is a standout and Welsh is already employed by the Crows Corporation. Herbert could be the only one we lose this year but we could get Hardie and Hayes back. The bigger danger could be the additional concessions handed to the two AFL clubs. We have another batch of talented youngsters coming through and if the concessions get through we’re in trouble.

Talk about th sanfl looking after the competition. It is already so compromised that the following fans have dwindled. You just have to go to the country football to see how big the following there is. If these concessions for the afl intruders get in the comp is totally stuffed. Why are they continually cowtowing to the afl demands in OUR compettion. POQ those sides it is better off without them

The Barton wrote:Mawson a tad unlucky I believe

I believe during the week Beattie and Mawson were smitten by a virus, maybe Mawson was worse than Beattie and they didn't want to risk playing him in the league but were willing to risk him in the reserves.

MichaelScott wrote:This year has been frustrating as IMO we have the best top talent in the competition however as mentioned in other posts the talent falls away with the last 6 or so players and with injuries it can get pretty ugly. As soon as we lost Beecken in the draft that basically ended our premiership hopes as we are lacking that quick rebound from defence to attack that we previously had. In the game today (3rd quarter) and against Centrals and North we have controlled the game in patches and then given up the momentum by the opposition getting the ball forward and then bogging the play up for long periods. That game today should have been out of their reach at 3 quarter time.

Like your post.
I have been saying for quite a while that our bottom six players in the league team are a big problem, they are just not good enough.
I believe the bottom end players have been given plenty of opportunities but all have failed to deliver.
For this season I was not overly optimistic about rising significantly up the ladder. What I was hopeful about was the opportunity for Sam to thoroughly assess what cattle we had and then make strategic additions for next season, I feel he has done this quite well. Also he has to assess some of the U18 super talent.
Three major issues we have as I see it are: Not skillful enough, not enough pace and our very poor marking around the ground.
U18 players like Dodd and Hasting can improve the pace area. I think if Herbert is not drafted his main position is on ball - don't think he has enough pace for a flank but has a good footy brain and can find the ball.
I believe the football club feels they have an excellent chance of regaining Mitch Hardie and Jack Hayes but they think Luke Beecken will be offered a contract by Brisbane. McNeil would have to be border line on whether the Bulldogs retain him.
One of our big problems is the continued injuries to some of our senior players. The lack of continuity by these players is very disruptive because it also takes a few matches for them to find their touch again.

The selfish dummy spitting by the crows and power for wanting to make their reserves teams super powers is appalling.
Both clubs always look at their worst scenarios and base their needs on this, just look at what the crows reserves have done in the last two weeks.
The proposal by these two clubs is that a single SANFL club could lose up to four players, to the crows, one over 21 and one under 21 and to the power, one over 21 and one under 21 this is a scandal of the biggest proportions. I do not trust the lying conniving bastards at all.
The biggest problem facing the SANFL clubs is that they are not working or in agreeance on how to slay this monster, in fact one club might be pushing in favour of the AFL clubs - absolute traitor. I believe our club has been very pro-active in finding a poison for this monster.
A SIGNIFICANT STATEMENT SHOULD BE RELEASED BY THE CLUB THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. Could be worth waiting for.

"Hastings, Dodd, Phillipou, West, Herbert etc I'm far from convinced that they will all get drafted. It will leave us with something to work with next year along with hopefully gaining 2 or 3 of ex Eagles coming back from the AFL."

Slight correction, Phillipou is not eligible for the 2024 draft, will be eligible for 2025 draft.
Agree with your thoughts.
Have a lot of confidence in our new CEO, talks well and is not afraid to take on challenges.
He is a bit like an insurance/car salesman but with a lot better morals.

whybother wrote:Mmmmm. Among the 6 worst performing players on Saturday were Firns, Menzel and Goldsworthy.

Can't disagree. Firn's kicking was absolutely appalling.
Menzel and Goldy back from injury, they take too long to hit form.
Buck just has no skill.
I think our backs are doing a reasonable job but still would like to see Liam Ueding be given a run. Is very consistent week in and week out.

Ryan Bruce heading home to the farm next year so no point giving him additional exposure at League level - agree with Wimpey; if there's a spot to fill let's give Ueding a go

Our kicking skills generally are terrible.  I don't think I have ever seen a side consistently turn over the ball as much as we do.  Ballenden is still a very valuable player for us, but if only he could hold on to more marks - he could have won that game for us.  That last quarter was a very poor effort, why did we not take the game on when it was there to be won?  Two scoring shots (behinds) for the quarter not nearly good enough.

eaglesman wrote:Our kicking skills generally are terrible.  I don't think I have ever seen a side consistently turn over the ball as much as we do.  Ballenden is still a very valuable player for us, but if only he could hold on to more marks - he could have won that game for us.  That last quarter was a very poor effort, why did we not take the game on when it was there to be won?  Two scoring shots (behinds) for the quarter not nearly good enough.

We are simply not quite good enough to compete with the top echelon for a full four quarters.
We've got a very inexperienced forward line outside of Goldy and Menzel and Ballenden to a lesser extent.
Buck is not performing as a small forward but we've tried Nicholls and Neumann to no avail so I don't know what the answer is with our current crop.

To be fair, we were kicking against the wind in Q4 with very few goals kicked to the Northern end in both games.
It was a strange day, quite a strong easterly that turned more NE during the afternoon. And as cold as charity.
Other that it was a good day.....

I agree with your comments re Ballenden  - but if he could hold his overhead marks, and give more 2nd efforts and grunt" when out of position, he would still be on the Brisbane Lions list and we wouldn't have him so it seems we have to accept his faults.
Going forward into 2025, we are not going to be able to easily replace Redden who gives our midfield a good look. Posts on this site have blamed him tapping the ball to opposition but surely our midfielders have to read the ball better coming off Redden's hands than the opposition. I shudder to think how lightly built Brinker-Ritchie would cope with the Crash-bang that Reddo endures each week. Jordan Lukac struggles to exert any influence even in the Seconds.

Our forward line functions abysmally. This is mostly due to poor entries especially from our midfielders. But there is very little leading from the forwards into space. This is partly due to no space being created. (contrast with Glenelg, Norwood Sturt where their forwards will make dummy leads to create a space behind or to the side, a forward may make 2 dummy repeat leads sometimes to create a space - Sheedy pushed forward system well, emphasising angles and not playing down the line. Instead our forwards are stagnant, waiting for the high balls and Ballenden to come down and take the occasional juggled mark. Have we got even 2 set plays that our midfielders, HB flankers and forwards have drilled ?
A lot of work awaits !!!