2006 NAB Cup - Week 1

[meltiger]

Ahhh footy is back, I hate this comp, it's a mickey mouse comp but it draws in people like me who have been itching for the footy to start for weeks :evil:


What does everyone think of the games?


2006 NAB Cup

Week One

Friday, 24th February

1. Brisbane Lions v Essendon at Carrara 7:40pm AEST

2. Western Bulldogs v Melbourne at Marrara 8:10pm ACST

Saturday, 25th February

3. Kangaroos v Sydney Swans at Manuka Oval 2:10pm AEDT

4 Hawthorn v Richmond at Telstra Dome (Double-Header) 4:10pm AEDT

5 Carlton v Geelong at Telstra Dome (Double-Header) 7:40pm AEDT

Sunday, 26th February

6. Adelaide v Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium 1:40pm ACDT

7. Collingwood v St Kilda at Telstra Dome 4:40pm AEDT

8. West Coast Eagles v Fremantle at Subiaco 4:10pm AWST


The teams in red would be my selections. A Multitude of different reasons for them, the Roos I have tipped because Sydney are going to play a baby side, Hawthorn due to training reports (Can see them starting the season REALLY hard).

Always an interesting comp to watch, some teams never take it seriously whilst others always do.

One interesting point I was thinking about earlier was whether good form in this comp sets you in good stead for the season. Looking at past finals, it may actually be to the contrary.


(2002) Richmond V Port Adelaide - Port minor premiers knocked out in the prelims
(2003) Adelaide V Collingwood - Collingwood lost the GF
(2004) St Kilda V Geelong - Both teams knocked out in the prelims
(2005) Carlton V West Coast - West Coast lost the GF
Interestingly, the premiers in none of those years, made the final of this comp. Given the long season ahead, does reaching the latter stages of this comp hurt your premiership chances? I would certainly argue the evidence points to the teams who made the final of the pre season comp and made the finals seem to run out of legs be the end of September.

[Twizzle]

its hard to pick these teams till you know who is playing

generally onely the lower ranked teams take it seriously

[meltiger]

I'd argue otherwise mate when you look at some of the teams who have made the Grand Final. I think it depends on your coach and their philosophy towards the comp.

As I've said on PRE, I'd certainly like Richmond to go further than 1 week, if only to avoid being sent cross country. Last year we got knocked out in the first round and ended up playing in either Darwin or Alice Springs (Cannot remember which) and also outback Western Australia for bloody practice matches!!


I've based my tips more on the vibe of gotten from most the clubs on how they will treat the comp.

[Rustay]

Yeah its hard to tip cos i have no idea what teams will be put out. Hopefully we go out and smash those inbred docker hillbillies into the ground like they deserve.

Having said that, i couldnt give a toss if we won the NAB cup at all...

[meltiger]

I think that's why they have set the games as they are in the first week, in the hope some of the teams take it more seriously than they otherwise would ... I can't see WC beating Freo - After the GF appearance would be easing their players back into footy.

[CyberKev]

I'd run the same as Craig, except I'd go for Richmond over Hawthorn and St Kilda over Collingwood.

With this comp you can expect the unexpected though.

[meltiger]

I'd go for Richmond over Hawthorn

I hope you're right, because Launceston is certainly more desirable than some hick town in the back of no where in WA lol

But I just get a feeling about Hawthorn and the way they have been training. They are going to be fired up from R1 this year. A good start and mid to late fade would be my prediction for your boys this year.

[Glenn]

Wouldn't read anything into the drab cup, as far form for the season proper goes but FWIW my tips are

Essendon (if they go with a lineup similar to the NSO trial vs Sydney)
Western Bulldogs
Kangaroos
Hawthorn
Carlton
Adelaide
St Kilda
Fremantle

[meltiger]

Essendon (if they go with a lineup similar to the NSO trial vs Sydney)

I assume James Hird didn't play in that game Glenn?

[Glenn]

No Hird, he was named in the team originally for the trial but was a late withdrawal

[Choppies]

If Hawthorn win our 1st game ill be happy. The pre season cup dosent mean much to me if we win it or lose it. Beaussie is quite the oppisite on Pre season cups as JF can attest to :lol:

[Twizzle]

you should be happy if Hawthorne win any game

[CyberKev]

you should be happy if Hawthorne win any game

Correct call.

[Choppies]

you should be happy if Hawthorne win any game

I am mate however rare it is :lol:

[meltiger]

Hawthorn will win 10 games this year!

[CyberKev]

Hawthorn will win 10 games this year!

Does your calculation include:

a) season proper games only; or
b) season proper + NAB cup; or
c) season proper + NAB cup + intra club practice games.

[meltiger]

Lock in A, Eddie.

But :lol: @ C 'Intra Club games' lol

[chileman]

Will they play any NAB cup games down in Tassie this year??

[meltiger]

Winner of Richmond V Hawthorn plays in Launceston 2nd week Chil

[chileman]

Winner of Richmond V Hawthorn plays in Launceston 2nd week Chil
Thanks amigo, have friends going down there hoping to catch some footie!

[meltiger]

Kev, Hawthorn seem to have picked their best line-up but there's no Crawford?

Is he injured?

[CyberKev]

Kev, Hawthorn seem to have picked their best line-up but there's no Crawford?

Is he injured?

A minor knee complaint from what I hear. Has been a very strong trainer over the preseason and I expect this to be a precautionary measure more than anything. I also suspect Hawthorn wants to give Lewis greater responsibility and gametime.

I see a 28 man squad was named, meaning that 4 will have to miss. If it were me, I'd run with:

B: Brent Guerra, Trent Croad, Danny Jacobs
HB: Zac Dawson, Jarryd Roughead, Joel Smith
C: Tim Clarke, Luke Hodge, Chance Bateman
HF: Tom Murphy, Lance Franklin, Rick Ladson
F: Mark Williams, Tim Boyle, Harry Miller
FO: Robert Campbell, Richie Vandenburg, Sam Mitchell
I: Jordan Lewis, Simon Taylor, Stephen Gilham, Brad Sewell, Grant Birchall, Clinton Young
E: Ben Dixon, Nick Ries, Michael Osborne

I'd leave Campbell Brown out as a precautionary measure (still not sure that shoulder is 100%) and I'd give Everitt the game off as I don't want to work him too hard at this time of the year.

Very disappointed that Matthew Little wasn't given a game.

[CyberKev]

Possible Tiger line-up...

B: Brent Hartigan, Darren Gaspar, Chris Newman
HB: Joel Bowden, Jay Schulz, Patrick Bowden
C: Kane Johnson, Jeremy Humm, Richard Tambling
HF: Kayne Pettifer, Matthew Richardson, Adam Pattison
F: David Rodan, Greg Stafford, Andrew Krakouer
FO: Trent Knobel, Brett Deledio, Shane Tuck
I: Troy Simmonds, Chris Hyde, Andrew Kellaway, Cameron Howat, Ray Hall, Nathan Foley
E: Daniel Jackson, Tom Roach, Matthew White

[meltiger]

Possible Tiger line-up...

B: Brent Hartigan, Darren Gaspar, Chris Newman
HB: Joel Bowden, Jay Schulz, Patrick Bowden
C: Kane Johnson, Jeremy Humm, Richard Tambling
HF: Kayne Pettifer, Matthew Richardson, Adam Pattison
F: David Rodan, Greg Stafford, Andrew Krakouer
FO: Trent Knobel, Brett Deledio, Shane Tuck
I: Troy Simmonds, Chris Hyde, Andrew Kellaway, Cameron Howat, Ray Hall, Nathan Foley
E: Daniel Jackson, Tom Roach, Matthew White


Not a bad side, but Paddy's been training in the forward line. Would be suprised to see him line up there. Would expect him to get a run as a HFF to trial him before the season proper.

My HFF line would be - Pettifer, Riiichhoooo, P Bowden

I am also expecting to see Matt White get a run in the 24, has been training the house down from all reports.

Tom Roach - Why even waste the time. Nepotism is the only reason he is on the list.

[CyberKev]

Tom Roach - Why even waste the time. Nepotism is the only reason he is on the list.

Fair enough...

I'd love to be able to blame nepotism for Ben Dixon entering into an eleventh season on our list! ](*,)

[meltiger]

LOL He's better than Tommy Roach!


Big news cxame through overnight .... and is on the back of the HUN this morning...


Nathan Brown played a half of football for Coburg last night.

Reckons if Richmond make the third week of the NAB he'll play :) :)

Certainty to turn out for R1! :D

[Glenn]

Does your calculation include:

a) season proper games only; or
b) season proper + NAB cup; or
c) season proper + NAB cup + intra club practice games.

I'll take C thanks :lol: (Sorry Choppies)

[meltiger]

Name: CyberKev
Posts: 26 (0.684 per day)
Position: Tiger Cub
Date Registered: January 16, 2006, 04:09:06 pm
Last Active: Today at 08:12:22 AM

Tiger Cub :) :) LMAO I like the sound of that.

Did some Hawthorn bagging on PRE annoy you Kev ;-)

[Glenn]

Swans Squad for game vs North Melb @ Manuka

Sydney Swans squad: Luke Ablett, Ed Barlow, Craig Bolton, Ryan Brabazon, Amon Buchanan, Paul Chambers, Paul Currie, Sean Dempster, Stephen Doyle, Stefan Garrubba, Heath Grundy, Kieren Jack, Matthew Laidlaw, Nick Malceski, Ben Mathews, Jarred Moore, Ryan O'Keefe, Simon Phillips, Adam Prior, Ted Richards, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Sam Rowe, Jonathan Simpkin, David Spriggs, Kristin Thornton, Luke Vogels, Jame Wall

[meltiger]

Will get flogged. I hope Keiran Jack does well though :)

[Glenn]

Yep as always Swans are going down the pre season path of blooding the younger players give them that taste of what it is like. If Sydney gets within 5-10 goals of North I will be happy.
As for Keiran Jack, looks very promising in the trial vs Essendon but just needs to bulk up alot.

[meltiger]

but just needs to bulk up alot.

I thought the same thing when I saw photos of him at the U18 Carnival.


His old man was never a big bloke though.


Swans have still picked some good players. More than i thoguht they would.

[Glenn]

Some good recruiting by Sydney considering they didn't have a draft pick till very late in piece.

Probably the recruit most likely to see Senior Football this year would be Ted Richards, looked sharp against Essendon in the trial.

As for Keiren Jack, very much like his father in terms of body build and a great tackling technique as well probably a couple of years off Senior Football atm

[CyberKev]

Tiger Cub :) :) LMAO I like the sound of that.

Did some Hawthorn bagging on PRE annoy you Kev ;-)

The opposite actually.

Phantom started one of his typically worthy threads (this time with a clear Hawthorn focus) and I thought it was too strong a thread to stay out of.

[camsmith]

:D:D

Footy is on in 30 mintues!! i wouldn't care if it was the legends match as long as it looks like footy im excited!!

I'll be going along to watch the mighty tiges tomorrow as part of the double header, will be great to see Pat Bowden (always wanted him at Richmond) get a run. It may be only preseason but its always good to see how the players are coming along, what kind of shape the boys are in and also how certain players respond to playing in different poisitions.

I think the next game (as part of the double header) is Carlton vs Geelong (?)

You know what that means.. i'll get to see Lance - im in the best shape of my career and ready for a big season - Whitnall in action LOL!

The only reason i want us to win the first couple of games is so we will continue to be on tv!

[meltiger]

I think the next game (as part of the double header) is Carlton vs Geelong (?)


Yep

You know what that means.. i'll get to see Lance - im in the best shape of my career and ready for a big season - Whitnall in action LOL!


LOL! :)

[CyberKev]

Well, the Hawthorn vs Richmond game seemed to follow recent trends with Hawthorn getting away early and Richmond reeling them in. When the Tigers sneaked a point clear late in the game I thought they were home, but Hawthorn did well to steady at the death knell.

For mine, Shane Tuck was clearly the best player on the park and was instrumental in the Tigers second half recovery.

Sam Mitchell would have been best for the Hawks, playing strongly out of the middle across the four quarters.

Outside of Mitchell, Guerra and Bateman were great for much of the game, although both went missing (along with practically all of their team mates in the third term). Boyle faded late (like Bateman clearly lacking hard match fitness), but again showed why he carries a buzz rating far in advance to what you'd expect for a player with only 2 senior games under his belt. His horror leg woes have clearly cost Hawthorn much over the past two years. Clinton Young again showed good signs, Mark Williams was ever dangerous and Robert Campbell surprised with some solid work in defence.

On the downside, Everitt sat out almost all the game injured (although you sense it was largely precautionary), Hodge was surprisingly flat, and Jordan Lewis had a full-on shocker.

For the Tigers, they would have been disappointed with their inability to make more of the unsettling height advantage they seemed to carry up forward. Both Richo and Stafford looked dangerous in the second half, hence my certainty that we would be overran.

Patrick Bowden made a fine debut for the side though, working hard and showing plenty of good signs. Kane Johnson gathered momentum the further the game went on and was finishing very strongly. Jeremy Humm did well, particularly in the first half when the Tigers were getting badly beaten out of the centre. White did a couple of nice things on debut (great goal) and looks a good get and I thought Jay Shulz played soundly out of defence. Brent Hartigan made some promising runs and always tried to get involved, although he needs to improve his awareness, getting caught a couple of times and almost ran down a few more.

In general, it wasn't a particularly pretty game with skill errors the order of the day, especially among the yellow (silver?) and blacks. Umpiring was ordinary to say the least across the game, and given there were four of them on the park, you've got to ask whether less may indeed be more.

The new rules didn't have a huge impact, although I thought Richmond showed a greater capacity to exploit the quick kick out after a point.

[lockyno1]

Cyber, I was very impressed with Danny Jacobs! That was his best game for years!

[CyberKev]

Cyber, I was very impressed with Danny Jacobs! That was his best game for years!

He wasn't too bad today.

He actually played four successive exceedingly strong games late last year only to have his purple patch ended by a season-ending broken jaw.

Is handy so long as he only has to pick-up a third tall forward, but can still be caught out in a key defensive post.

[Twizzle]

Kent Kingsley is a matchwinnner :D :clap:

[Twizzle]

Kingsley nine as Cats nab Blues
10:11:15 PM Sat 25 February, 2006
Matt Burgan
Exclusive to afl.com.au

Geelong full-forward Kent Kingsley has produced his finest individual goalkicking effort in an official AFL fixture to help his side hold off a gritty Carlton outfit by 28 points at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.

In the second match of the double-header at the Dome, Geelong 0.15.8 (98) defeated Carlton 1.8.13 (70) to advance into the quarter finals of the NAB Cup. The Cats will play the Kangaroos at Cazaly Stadium in Cairns next Saturday night.

Kingsley, whose previous personal best was seven goals against Essendon in round nine 2004, booted nine goals.

His tally against the Blues is the best effort by a Geelong player in a pre-season/night series fixture, eclipsing Billy Brownless' eight-goal haul against West Coast in 1992.

Kingsley also became the 10th player in pre-season/night series matches to kick nine goals or more since these games were first played in 1956.

He shone in two quarters, booting five in the first term, before jagging four in the final term - including the last of the match after the final siren.

Matthew Scarlett in defence was at his All-Australian best for the Cats, while ball-magnets Jimmy Bartel, Cameron Ling, James Kelly and Darren Milburn combined for almost 80 touches.

Lance Whitnall, in his role across half-back was one of Carlton's best, while Ryan Houlihan and Matthew Lappin were the leading possession winners for the match with 25 disposals each.

Entering the match, Carlton was at virtually full strength, with new recruit and former Swan Jason Saddington (knee) the only first-choice player on the sidelines.

Geelong went in without skipper Steven King, Tom Harley, Steve Johnson, Brad Ottens, Peter Riccardi, David Wojcinski, Henry Playfair and Andrew Mackie.

Carlton's outstanding pre-season of 2005 looked set to continue into the new year, when it slammed three goals to zip, which included goals to Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin and first-gamer Marc Murphy.

Despite the Blues' impressive start, it soon became the Kingsley show.

In the space of 15 minutes, Kingsley jagged five unanswered goals, giving the Cats an 11-point lead at quarter-time.

The Geelong spearhead had several opponents during this period, including Bret Thornton, Whitnall and Adam Hartlett.

An entertaining opening was followed by a dour term, which featured just two goals.

Charlie Gardiner became Geelong's second goalkicker in the early stages of the second term, while Carlton's only major came after the siren, when new Blue Dylan McLaren kicked truly.

The deficit was reduced to just eight points at the main break.

Major ball-winners to half-time included Lappin (15 disposals) and Whitnall (12) for Carlton, while Darren Milburn and Cameron Mooney had 11 touches each for the Cats.

Gary Ablett booted the first of the second half, extending Geelong's lead to 12 points, yet it came in a period when goals were hard to come by.

Carlton peppered its 50-metre zone for much of the third term - and this was reflected on the scoreboard when it scored six behinds for the quarter - but the Blues lacked system and fluency.

Carlton's tenacity eventually paid dividends when Nick Stevens banged through the first and only super-goal of the night at the 17-minute mark.

Geelong youngster Tom Lonergan answered with a fine snap but Brendan Fevola immediately replied, pegging the Cats' lead back to just two points heading into the final stanza.

The Blues hit the front at the start of the last quarter, when Brad Fisher kicked the first of two goals for the term.

But when Kingsley bobbed up again with four of Geelong's six final quarter goals, the Cats were home.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson was pleased with the first-up win, but added that Carlton put a good level of pressure on his side.

"You can't expect too much from the players, really. We started well and we had a good first quarter, but the little bits in between, we looked like we were a side that was playing their first game," Thompson said.

Thompson said Kingsley played a fantastic match.

"I wish he could kick like that every week - it'd be nice - and it'd make my job easier," Thompson said with a chuckle.

"He's just had a good summer. He looks strong, he looks quick and he looks confident.

"Sometimes key forwards - Alastair Lynch comes to mind - when you're 26 or 27 (years old), you can really play that key position role and I think Kent could be in for a big year."

Carlton coach Denis Pagan said the biggest difference in the match was the polish and the usage of the ball between the two sides.

"Our hardness, we were equal. Our entries, equal. We won the clearances. But just our usage of the ball, we made turnovers and that was the difference in the finish," Pagan said.

"Accuracy was another area too. We had our chances but we couldn't capitalise on them."

CARLTON: 0.3.2, 0.4.7, 1.5.13, 1.8.13 (70)
GEELONG: 0.5.1, 0.6.3, 0.8.6, 0.15.8 (98)

NINE POINT GOALS: Carlton: Stevens
Geelong: Nil
SIX POINT GOALS: Carlton: Fevola 2, Fisher 2, Deluca, McLaren, Murphy, S.O'hAilpin
Geelong: Kingsley 9, Lonergan 2, G.Ablett, Gardiner, Ling, Milburn
BEST: Carlton: Whitnall, Lappin, Houlihan, Stevens, S.O'hAilpin, Fisher
Geelong: Kingsley, Scarlett, Bartel, Ling, Kelly, Milburn
INJURIES: Carlton: Nil
Geelong: Mooney (buttock)
REPORTS: Nil
UMPIRES: Farmer, James, Jennings, Schmitt
CROWD: 31,297 at Telstra Dome

[from Geelong FC]

[Twizzle]

shame we didn't kick stright, score could have really blown out

[CyberKev]

I hear that Mitchell Clarke looked a likely type for Brisbane in their opener.

Has a lot of potential to seriously embarrass 5 other AFL clubs does big Mitch.

Will watch him with interest.

[CyberKev]

shame we didn't kick stright, score could have really blown out

LOL.

Given that you only had 1 extra scoring shot for the game it could feasibly be argued that you were lucky to have won by as much as you did.

Bad sign for Carlton if Kingsley could get 9 on them though :shock:

[meltiger]

All I will say is thank f**k Tommy Roach won't spend half a game standing Mark Williams come the regular season lol

I said last week he wasn't up to it!

[CyberKev]

All I will say is thank f**k Tommy Roach won't spend half a game standing Mark Williams come the regular season lol

I said last week he wasn't up to it!

In his defence, there are a lot of players in the comp who would find Williams a tough task. For mine, he is the hardest forward to match-up on in the comp.

[meltiger]

In his defence, there are a lot of players in the comp who would find Williams a tough task. For mine, he is the hardest forward to match-up on in the comp.

Thursfield would have done a better job.

In Tommy's defence, it was just a bad match-up

I'm not overly worried as I said on PRE. Having Gaspar, AK and Will all out left our backline bare as anything.

[CyberKev]

Thursfield would have done a better job.

In Tommy's defence, it was just a bad match-up

I'm not overly worried as I said on PRE. Having Gaspar, AK and Will all out left our backline bare as anything.

Thursfield, particularly given his inexperience, would also have struggled.

I think he may have fared better on the likes of Boyle.

I don't think anyone at Richmond is particularly well suited to a player like Williams, which is a good thing, given that he and Boyle were the only two forwards to perform up to scratch on the weekend.

The players you mention will undoubtedly improve the Tiger backline, but wouldn't have necessarily had a lot greater impact on Saturday as all of them are not greatly suited match-ups for the only two Hawk forwards who fired.

[meltiger]

Thursfield, particularly given his inexperience, would also have struggled.

Thursfield managed to beat Milne for most of the game (Milne kicked 3 with 2 late goals) the 2nd time we played St Kilda, and we we comprehensively trounced that day.

Also managed to beat O'Loughlin too, certainly someone I would argue is as difficult to play on as Williams.

With Gas & AK - The confidence levels of the backline are always down when those two are out, quite simply, you can't run on with 3 of your best 4 backmen off the field and expect to be overly competitive.

[CyberKev]

Thursfield managed to beat Milne for most of the game (Milne kicked 3 with 2 late goals) the 2nd time we played St Kilda, and we we comprehensively trounced that day.

Also managed to beat O'Loughlin too, certainly someone I would argue is as difficult to play on as Williams.


Milne is a crumbing pocket, whereas Williams plays centrally and generally uses smart, lightning leads that can be finished with either a strong overhead mark, or a Dunstall style chest mark that gives the defender practically no hope of spoiling when Williams gets a foot on him. Milne can be damaging, for sure, but he is also part of a much stronger forward set-up and would get less direct opportunity to Williams who tends to draw a majority of Hawthorn forward thrusts. This makes Williams a more difficult assignment, particularly for a young player who is only a flanking peripheral defender.

O'Loughlin also tends to drift around the 50 arc where sometimes he will take a good few marks and have an impact, and sometimes he'll scarcely come into play. He is a talented footballer, but is anything but consistent, does not play a similar style to Williams, and is never the central focus of the Swan attack.

Williams was in good nick on Saturday and got good delivery for the times at which he took his marks. When Williams is on song with his leads and getting some good delivery we will beat any direct opponent 9 times in 10, much less the raw and inexperienced ones.

He also dropped a few marks that he should have swallowed on the weekend (opponent well beaten, unforced errors) and could've got a few more.

[livingintheghetto]

I just finished watching the brisbane bombers game ...fantastic win there by the might lions

[camsmith]

I'll watch the reply of the Hawthorn v Richmond game later, but i was pretty impressed with new blokes, Humm was probably the standout.

We missed Cogs in the middle, and even Pets up around the 50 meter mark would have been handy, so i think the signs are good for us for the year ahead, although we will be doing it tough to get into the finals. We still need to find more space all over the ground and its great running the ball out of the backline, but we need to be able to give the ball off to someone who DOESN'T have a player right on him.

We just need to run harder and open up the ground and then guys like Lids and Harts and room to run and show us what they can do.

Anyway i might have more to add after ive seen the replay... next week i believe we play the Dogs at Shep.

[meltiger]

We still need to find more space all over the ground and its great running the ball out of the backline, but we need to be able to give the ball off to someone who DOESN'T have a player right on him.

You can thank the Hawthorn mega-flood for that.


Pettifer was sorely missed. Many like to bag him but I honestly believe he is an important part of our main line up.

People hitting the panic buttons around the place and Hawthorn people going into raptures makes me laugh.

I'll give them a NAB Cup win if it keeps them warm and fuzzy inside. They play like that in the main season and they will lose by 100 every week. They are sh*t, there's no two ways about it.

We won't repeat that performance too often.

[camsmith]

Yeah, but to be fair to Hawthorn, we did flood quite a bit aswell.

Watching the replay and hearing what TW had to say, i think he knows what his doing. He didn't take this game too seriously..
Good to hear him acknowledge that we were handballing too much, i completly agree.

People hitting the panic buttons around the place and Hawthorn people going into raptures makes me laugh

Yeah you would have thought this game was for a place into the Grand Final going by the celebrations of the Hawks supporters when the final siren went. After the game walking to the car, a mate of mine who goes for hawthorn said, "im going to get a membership now.." I attempted not to laugh, almost as bad as Carlton and St Kilda supporters when it comes to the Preseason cup.

[CyberKev]

You can thank the Hawthorn mega-flood for that.

Both teams extensively dropped players back behind the ball throughout the game. This is an age old tactic and is removed from full-on flooding, hence the loose, uncontested nature of the game. Forwards from both sides had plenty of opportunity, but failed to make the most of them.

Pettifer was sorely missed. Many like to bag him but I honestly believe he is an important part of our main line up.

Agreed.

People hitting the panic buttons around the place and Hawthorn people going into raptures makes me laugh.

Agree that its crazy to hit panic buttons over a first-up NAB cup game, but a cursory glance at HHQ will show that most Hawthorn fans weren't overly excited by the performance on the weekend.

I'll give them a NAB Cup win if it keeps them warm and fuzzy inside. They play like that in the main season and they will lose by 100 every week. They are sh*t, there's no two ways about it.

Meh, the Tigers were lucky not to be 12+ goals down at halftime. Guess its a good thing for both sides that its not the main season.

We won't repeat that performance too often.

You were belted on numerous occasions last year with that brand of performance. Hopefully things will go better in 2006.

[meltiger]

You were belted on numerous occasions last year with that brand of performance. Hopefully things will go better in 2006.

We didn't have a backline last weekend! You can run from that all you like ... It is a fact. Jay is looking to be at the least serviceable. If we can get him in the short term playing the role Benny Gale did in 2001 ... We will be a completely different team.

& I don't care what you say, Thursfield would have done a better job than Tommy.

We'll also not see as pathetically gutless a performance as what we did by Joel Bowden either. Several goals were directly a result of his turnovers.


On Hawthorn, they are sh*t, but they seem to be moving in the right direction. I still tip em to win 10 games this year come the real stuff.

[CyberKev]

We didn't have a backline last weekend! You can run from that all you like ... It is a fact.

And Hawthorn didn't have a forward line outside of Williams (who you don't have a sound match-up for) last weekend and you can run from that all you like.

& I don't care what you say, Thursfield would have done a better job than Tommy.

And I don't care what you say, Williams would have still kicked 5 because its a poor matchup.

We'll also not see as pathetically gutless a performance as what we did by Joel Bowden either. Several goals were directly a result of his turnovers.

As with all other defenders, Bowden makes errors, he made a couple of forced ones under pressure on the weekend and they were punished. Richmond, as with Hawthorn, as with all sides at some point or other, but with sides outside the eight more often than is desirable, get goals kicked on them from turnovers.

On Hawthorn, they are sh*t, but they seem to be moving in the right direction. I still tip em to win 10 games this year come the real stuff.

Time will tell.

The side could've won 10 last year and didn't, so I'll not look beyond the first win (whenever it arrives) at this point.

[meltiger]

And I don't care what you say, Williams would have still kicked 5 because its a poor matchup.

Absoloute rubbish Kev. He's not that good.

[meltiger]

& regardless of which, you may not have had a forward line but the only notable out was Crawford. Along with Everit sitting down for most of the game.

Two players who could improve your team to come back & you beat us by only 10 points & same as always, straighter kicking from our forwards would have changed the result. better decision making also would have changed the result ... The point Richo kicked to put us in front should have been a 9 pointer to Joel Bowden and game over.

We had at the very least, 6 players out who would walk into the main side. As I've said all along you lot can take your NAB win all you like, if you think your anywhere near us in terms of how the team is progressing though your kidding yourselves. We are miles ahead.

[CyberKev]

& regardless of which, you may not have had a forward line but the only notable out was Crawford. Along with Everit sitting down for most of the game.

Both of whom would have contributed heavily to the contest, as would Brown & Coughlan for the Tigers (and possibly Pettifer). The other outs for the Tigers were scarcely different from the lesser outs for the Hawks, with the sole exception of Gaspar, who would have had no impact on the game because he couldn't have matched up on Williams.

Two players who could improve your team to come back & you beat us by only 10 points & same as always, straighter kicking from our forwards would have changed the result. better decision making also would have changed the result ... The point Richo kicked to put us in front should have been a 9 pointer to Joel Bowden and game over.

Irrelevant.

Had Hawthorn had more than 1 forward firing and thus been able to exploit weight of opportunity they would have been 12+ goals ahead at half-time and it would have effectively been game over.

Better decision making???

Better decision making going inside 50 during the first half of almost total Hawk ground play dominance would have, as mentioned above, contributed to a 12+ goal halftime lead.

We had at the very least, 6 players out who would walk into the main side. As I've said all along you lot can take your NAB win all you like, if you think your anywhere near us in terms of how the team is progressing though your kidding yourselves. We are miles ahead.

The players to come back into your side are no more than a reflection on the relative strength of the side. Only 3 of them could've genuinely had any real impact on the game (due to positional importance and match-up capability) as distinct from the 2 from Hawthorn (which even then is assuming Barker couldn't have a similar impact for an underperforming Hawk forward structure as Pettifer would have for the Tiger one).

As always your uncontrollable bias and ignorance of footballing facets beyond the superficial result in you making delusional and outlandish statements.