northerner wrote:So what do we make of the recruits at this early stage?
Ten played in the league against North and IMO, 7 easily make up our top 22.
I am still not sure Larkins and Pickering are up to the standard and Pearce is a work in progress.
In the reserves, Carroll and Anzac L would have been best (along with Cowham) whilst Splann took 9 marks including at least 6 in the forward 50.
Ethan Schwerdt ran himself into good touch in his first hit out for the year.
Probably the only two who seem off the pace atm are Hall and McGrath, with work to do before they would be league candidates.
Finally Jacob L is on the sidelines.
Who is the pick of the new group? For me it's Chisholm. Great to have a mid who can match the likes if Aaron Young who absolutely bullied us last season.
Sorry for the long post, a tad excited and got time on my hands.
Chisolm- The big bodied midfielder we have been screaming out for. The fact Young couldn't win a clearance early speaks volumes. To go down and kick a goal was great to see, if we are to improve we need more goals from our midfielders like the good ol days. Did fade as game went on so maybe needs to build an engine for SANFL football.
Jez McLennan- Like Chisolm feels a gap we missed, someone with high level of skill and composure to bring the ball out from defence. Most of our best work was done when rebounding from defensive 50 and Jez was often part of that. Lots of Jay Nash vibes watching him.
Mani Liddy- Looks a bloke ready for his league football opportunity, in and under type. Will make players around him better. Very exciting prospect who I think will become a genuinely good SANFL footballer which we were lacking at the start of the year.
Mihail Lochowiak- A bit like McLeannan added some composure and good ball use to our defence. Compliments McLennan nicely as Mihail likes to run and carry a bit more, break up play and create. Good size as well, could play on a third tall or small. Really enjoyed his game on the weekend.
Dale Pearce- Thought he was pretty decent, four shots on goal and probably dropped a couple of marks he should have taken. Like the way he leads and presents and is a pretty decent kick. A bit more confidence in the hands and think he could be pretty handy.
Munn- A bit to work with... versatile for his size. Appeared to be a bit more athletic than a few of our other big men and i think worked well with Pearce.
Little, Pickering, Larkins- Struggled a bit. Pickering tries hard but i don't think I've ever seen a bloke who looks less coordinated on a football field than him. Maybe its just his size but he look he struggles to put one foot in front of the other. There was one moment as well where he picked the ball up and literally froze dead with it in his hands
Jayden Hall- not sure why we recruited him. Hope im wrong but the bloke plays in the league i play in and when i mentioned to our blokes (three in a row premiers) he had gone to Centrals they had to facebook stalk him to work out who he was. Kicked a bag of goals against the bottom side who were pretty much an under 21 team and didnt nothing else in the season. Didn't even finish in top 25 in the mail medal up here. Actually think the club might have mixed him up for Marcus Hall (no relation) who also plays for BBH. Absolute gun albeit a 30 year old now but is a running machine and won a mail medal a couple of years back i believe.
Not a new recruit but the bloke who impressed me a ton was George Kendall......thought it was Heath Lawry running around out there. Another one who was very clean and composed in the back half. Real decent size as well.....finally another big defender.
I know people will say North had an off day......keeping in mind I've been critical of the Dogs in recent years i honestly think Norths off day was because:
-Forward line pressure and team defence: When we lost possession in the back half blokes were getting into the faces of the defenders whilst the other forwards were getting behind the ball and making that kick extremely hard
-Rebound of 50....we were so clean and composed picking the right times to run and gun and the right times to play tempo footy.
-We could actually match Young in the midfield with a big bloke of our own.
More so than any other win in recent years i thought we ticked a bunch of boxes that good sides just have to do in modern football.
Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:04 pm
