Bankers and Anchors - Round 6

[Eastdog]

This is the round 6 edition of the Weekly Bankers and Anchors Thread. Once the game against St. Kilda is concluded post your nominations for:

The Bankers = 3 guys that you we banked on to do the right thing during the game
The Anchors = 3 guys that weighed us down by their errors or poor play

Please limit it to no more than three of each, but feel free to make honourable/dishonourable mentions. As usual try to make it constructive criticism.

Try and restrict it to individual players rather than aspects of the overall match.

The thread is named in honour of a popular WOOF Contributor, The Banker, who passed away on 22/04/2012 after a six month battle with cancer.

[GVGjr]

Bump

[bulldogtragic]

B:

JJ
Boyd (less goal kicking)
Stringer

A:

Clays knee
Hunter (looked un energised)
Losing after being 55 points up. That's simply awful.

[always right]

B:
Just loved the way JJ kept taking the game on.
Our forwardline pressure was immense in the first half.
That first half from Wood was as good as it gets.

A:
Macrae's ball use was appalling.
Hunter took some short steps on more than one occasion....flashiness isn't always impressive.
Stringer flies for mark of the year when he had the sit for a simple mark and goal.....symptomatic of the team's attitude in the third quarter.
Clay Smith.

[F'scary]

B:
Wood
JJ
Brett Goodes, fresh legs showed.

A:
Tom Boyd discovering the wonders of the yips and not increasing his general involvement. Not what we needed.
Match Committee for not dealing with issues arising from the Sydney game - sore players like Webb, Roberts, Crameri, Smith, Macrae, et al perhaps not being honestly assessed before the side was put together. Two or three probably should have missed.
Match Committee for being cute with the CHF and ruck issues and for thinking that Hunter is a genuine mid, he is not.

[jeemak]

B:

Picken has taken his game to a new level these past two weeks. I can think of only one blemish/error by foot as a knock on him this past fortnight, and I normally look for them pretty hard as he's a bit of a hobby horse of mine

Cordy's marking around the ground and the finish on the left displayed his talents. Also six tackles for the game (the most was seven - our team averaged under three) when the captain couldn't register one showed a willingness to do the hard yards as well. Once he gets stronger through the legs and core he will be able to play a bit

Wood's first half was unbelievable

A:

It's pretty obvious and been covered, but the head space of our club this week and after half time has engineered nothing short of a disgraceful outcome

Composure with the footy when under pressure

Coaching in the second half wasn't where it needed to be, and should present as a learning experience for an inexperienced team

[bornadog]

Bankers

1. The first half
2. Cordy around the ground
3. Picken once again showed he is more than just a tagger when he plays midfield

Anchors

1. *!*!*!*!ing Clay Smiths bad luck - I nearly cried when I saw him go down
2. The second half
3. Boyd's two give me goals missed.

[ratsmac]

Bankers

1. JJ - his run and carry is breathtaking.
2. Wood - he was unstoppable in the first half.
3. The team willing to fly the flag and all got involved in the half time dust up. This could of been what sparked Stkilda but it was still good to see they back one another.

Anchors.

1. Getting ahead of ourselves - Losing from being 9 goals up shouldn't ever happen.
2. Clay Smith's knee - shattered.
3. Team selection - I hope we take a lot of of this. Younger bodys obviously need a break from gruelling games. We should've rested some more players.

[AndrewP6]

B
1. JJ - love his willingness and ability to take the game on
2. Wood - terrific, particularly in the first half.
3 Stringer.

A
Murph. Some uncharacteristic errors, didn't think it was a great day.
Coaching - need to improve as the group does.
Hunter - not a mid.

Feel shattered for Clay.

[G-Mo77]

Bankers.

Wood. What a game today. He's just superb right now.
JJ's improvemtn is amazing. Those dashes he took tonight were fantastic. Good to see him backing himself.
Cordy was real good tonight. Worked hard around the ground. Kicked a great goal in the 4th. Best game he's played

Anchors.
Smith's injury. So cruel!
A bit of a millionaires game from quite a few tonight.
The horrible lows of being a Dogs supporter.

[hujsh]

Banker
Cordy generally around the ground

Anchor
Cordy in the ruck

[Remi Moses]

Banker
Cordy generally around the ground

Anchor
Cordy in the ruck
Come on that's nonsense . I'm not one for scapegoats, but it's getting a tad silly the continual bashing

[Remi Moses]

B- Wood, great first half( could say that for everyone )
Goodes, second best game for the club
Stringer , like everyone great first half
A. The obvious
Not tagging Armitage (gotta have at least one stopper)
Bit of fancy dan , good time Charlie footy shouldn't be tolerated
Clays's injury - devastated for the kid

[Remi Moses]

Just an observation on Big Tom
Reckon he needs to get more demonstrative to the officials .
Tending to be held, and needs to show a bit more oomph .
Early days I know

[comrade]

Banker
Cordy generally around the ground

Anchor
Cordy in the ruck

He's valued by Bevo for his work around the ground, much more than his ruck work so he's done his job today.

[G-Mo77]

Come on that's nonsense . I'm not one for scapegoats, but it's getting a tad silly the continual bashing

What did Longer do that was so great today? Did everyone just look at 30 odd hitouts on the stat sheet and say Cordy was slaughtered? I hardly noticed Longer all day. I don't get the bashing either Remi. He's dammed if he does, dammed if he doesn't.

[Rance Fan]

Bankers
Stringer strong up front
Wood strong down back
Picken strong in the mid

Anchors

Goodes - made some minor errors that cost
Bonts - thought he had an off game by his standards
TBoyd - gotta kick the easy ones

[Mantis]

He's valued by Bevo for his work around the ground, much more than his ruck work so he's done his job today.

Doesn't mean he has to valued by the supporters for the same things as the coach.. In all 3 games he has played as 1st ruck Cordy has been hammered in the hit out stats.. It hurt us today especially when we were light on for inside mids and continually put an extra play into the ruck contest to try and counter Cordy's inability to get his hands on the ball.

[Go_Dogs]

Doesn't mean he has to valued by the supporters for the same things as the coach.. In all 3 games he has played as 1st ruck Cordy has been hammered in the hit out stats.. It hurt us today especially when we were light on for inside mids and continually put an extra play into the ruck contest to try and counter Cordy's inability to get his hands on the ball.

Did he do enough to somewhat offset the hit out-stat tonight, in your opinion?

[Remi Moses]

Doesn't mean he has to valued by the supporters for the same things as the coach.. In all 3 games he has played as 1st ruck Cordy has been hammered in the hit out stats.. It hurt us today especially when we were light on for inside mids and continually put an extra play into the ruck contest to try and counter Cordy's inability to get his hands on the ball.

Hit outs are fine, but what about to advantage

[bornadog]

Hit outs are fine, but what about to advantage

We were killed in hitouts to advantage.

If we continue these same game plans, ie not worrying about hitouts, then wait till next week. Sandliands and the Freo midfield will murder us.. Essendon is finding out tonight.

[hujsh]

Come on that's nonsense . I'm not one for scapegoats, but it's getting a tad silly the continual bashing

One piece of criticism with one bit of praise and I'm 'bashing' him?


What did Longer do that was so great today? Did everyone just look at 30 odd hitouts on the stat sheet and say Cordy was slaughtered? I hardly noticed Longer all day. I don't get the bashing either Remi. He's dammed if he does, dammed if he doesn't.

Saints got first use of the ball just like Sydney did and just like Adelaide did. I'd be very surprised if my general point of 'Cordy did fairly well around the ground with a few ruckman like errors but is pretty horrible in the actual ruck' wasn't the consensus.

And for everyone deriding the 'Cordy-bashing' I'll just say that if Minson was performing like Cordy is he'd be getting a hammering here. I understand they're at different points in their career and have different expectations placed on them but Cordy has been selected as the sole ruckman so we are essentially weighing up Minson or Campbell's output against Cordy's output.

[The Underdog]

We were killed in hitouts to advantage.

If we continue these same game plans, ie not worrying about hitouts, then wait till next week. Sandliands and the Freo midfield will murder us.. Essendon is finding out tonight.

What's you're suggestion for not getting murdered in the ruck by Freo? Don't say Minson because they destroy him too.

[bornadog]

What's you're suggestion for not getting murdered in the ruck by Freo? Don't say Minson because they destroy him too.

Cordy is not a ruckman at the moment.

Maybe its Campbell because if its not Minson or Cordy then no one left.

Cordy did ok around the ground, but you need to win the centre bounces.

[comrade]

Doesn't mean he has to valued by the supporters for the same things as the coach.. In all 3 games he has played as 1st ruck Cordy has been hammered in the hit out stats.. It hurt us today especially when we were light on for inside mids and continually put an extra play into the ruck contest to try and counter Cordy's inability to get his hands on the ball.

But we had more clearances and centre clearances today, despite losing the hit outs.

I get your point about the third man up leaving us short in the contest but that's clearly a set play, so we should have set up with an extra man.

I think it's too easy to single out the hit out stats and point to those as a reason why we lost.

[jeemak]

So was the first half of the contest this week influenced by the tap outs?

[westbulldog]

Bankers
Ayce showed a bit today.
Tom Boyd continues to improve.
Picken, Wood and JJ

Anchors
The fade out - a tough road trip to Sydney for a great win in tiring conditions - hard for the young group to maintain the momentum.
The unlucky Clay Smith, comeback soon.
Fickle supporters, we are all disappointed but we have a great group and coach who will have highs and lows, stick with them.

[Sedat]

What's you're suggestion for not getting murdered in the ruck by Freo? Don't say Minson because they destroy him too.
Bring back the People's Beard. He used to chew up Sandi and spit him out for fun.

[Doc26]

Bankers
Stringer strong up front
Wood strong down back
Picken strong in the mid

Anchors

Goodes - made some minor errors that cost
Bonts - thought he had an off game by his standards
TBoyd - gotta kick the easy ones

Although, as you have mentioned, there were some errors in Brett's game today I thought overall he would've been heading more toward the Bankers column for this week.

[Eastdog]

Bankers

Stringer - Thought he was great up front in the 1st half

Wood - Great game and really important in our back line

Cordy - A good game from him. Took some good marks

Anchors

Bonts - Not his best game ever

Our skills need some more work

Our deplorable 2nd half letting a huge lead slip from our grasp :(

[Eastdog]

Bankers
Stringer strong up front
Wood strong down back
Picken strong in the mid

Anchors

Goodes - made some minor errors that cost
Bonts - thought he had an off game by his standards
TBoyd - gotta kick the easy ones

Agree with that although did once again do ok but yes can't afford misses like that. Where would Roughy have been more towards today banker or anchor - stills need a bit more confidence.

[Remi Moses]

What's you're suggestion for not getting murdered in the ruck by Freo? Don't say Minson because they destroy him too.

You'd imagine ( prey) that they put some serious work into where Sandi hits it .

[Eastdog]

Jack Macrae Banker or Anchor. He needs to get some form back.

[Doc26]

Jack Macrae Banker or Anchor. He needs to get some form back.

I really like this kid but he must start to correct the hook that he's developed with his kicking style. His action also sees him kicking the ball too far back in his stance. It is too indirect, must takes yards of it length, is lacking penetration, and can only confuse his team mates as to what he's going to do with it and where up the ground they should be leading to.

[LostDoggy]

Bankers - JJ tried to keep our running game going
Jake - 4 goals still a good return
Easton - that guy is a rock in defense

Anchors - Clay's knee, footy can be so cruel
Bob, rare mistake but the young guys feed off what he does
Bulldogs of last year, bombing the ball long to outnumbered forwards

[SlimPickens]

Bankers-

Wood- continued good form.

Stringer- something always seems to happen when it's in his area.

Boyd- flying and taking marks.

Anchors-
Clays Knee- terrible.

Boyd Goal Kicking- 2 bad misses early.

Game balance- we went quick when we needed to go slow way to often.

[jeemak]

I was thinking the same Slim but kept quiet about it as I'm not a physio/medico.

[soupman]

Bankers:
JJ was phenomenal at times. A few seasons ago he had really developed into an AFL level footballer who was an ok defender but a dangerous runner, and then the Cameron incident happened. Since then he struggled to regain the confidence and ability he showed before, but this season he has taken a huge step forward and is playing the best footy of his career to date. That last quarter run through the middle was awesome especially considering how tired he must have been. Really impressed with him.

Ayce Cordy. Still struggled in the ruck, but watching him he was always very involved after the contest, and those marks around the ground particularly in the last were exactly what we need from him. There is hope yet.

Easton Wood. That first half was Brian Lake like with the amount of intercept marks he was taking in defence. Another nto have taken huge strides forward.

Anchors
Clay Smith getting injured again. The silence around the ground when he first hurt it shows how many of our supporters care for him, and seeing him crying as he was lying on the ground the second time was devastating. Poor bloke cannot catch a break.

Hunter. I will concede that he came on when the rest of the side faded so lacked the support, but he had to do better. In terms of fresh legs he was outrun by the Saints and a few of our players (particularly JJ, Honeychurch and Cordy) who played last week and this. He isn't an inside mid but at times yesterday there were contests which he had to atleast halve and yet he lost them. I'm not writing him off, but he needs to bring intensity and a contested element to his game if he wants a spot in this side.

Bontempelli. For the most part he was good, and this might come across as harsh, but yesterday highlighted some things in his game I want to see fixed. Firstly he gets a shitload of centre clearances, but a bit like Dahlhaus he tends to just boot it forward junior footy style without really assessing his options or picking out a specific target. I think that he is so composed and such a good decision maker that he needs to take the extra 2 seconds here and try and be more constructive than a kick and hope style clearance. We know he is almost impossible to tackle, and can hit up targets even under pressure, so we need him to start backig himself in more to do this. In the last quarter particularly he had many opportunities to really hurt St.Kilda from clearances and instead our tired forwards were asked to win 50-50 contests that were in no way to their advantage.

The other thing I think he needs to improve is his work floating in defence. Whenever he is caught under a high ball in defence, which happened multiple times yesterday and last week, he either flies for the mark, sometimes uncontested, and drops it, or goes for the spoil and at most gets a glancing blow on it. He needs to either mark it or kill it in these situations, it is the one time I think he looks timid and it really gives the opposition an opportunity to make something out of what should be another possession to our most damaging player.

[SonofScray]

B:
Wood, kept making important plays under a barrage of entries grom the Saints. Showed leadership and great work ethic.
Stringer, looks like he can do anything. Was good until very late. Flew he flag.
Cordy, showed some ball winning ability and versatility.

A:
Inability to successfully slow the game down and grind out the result.
The Footy Gods. I will never forgive them for how they have treated Clay. Just cruel and malicious.
Riewoldt. I believe he sledged Clay post injury. I will dance on this prick's grave.

[SonofScray]

Jack Macrae Banker or Anchor. He needs to get some form back.

Anchor. Played some selfish footy at times and needed to use the ball much better than he did. We have higher expectations of him than what he dished up yesterday. One passage of play he ran through the middle and hand passed off towards support streaming towards the HFF. He needed to shepherd and allow them to run and carry. Instead he rounded up for a 1-2 pass. It was a bit weak I thought.

[Doc26]

A:
Riewoldt. I believe he sledged Clay post injury. I will dance on this prick's grave.

It's kind of funny hearing the different perspectives on this.

Just listening to Mark Fine and Robert Shaw, with Finey, of course being a St.Kilda tragic, eluding to Jake being disrespectful of Nick i.e a young upstart getting into a respected veteran of the game

[The Underdog]

Bankers:
Wood - He's a gem. His run back to spoil one handed in the 2nd quarter was brilliant and he was the only player on our team who would have got there.
Ayce - If only for that left footed snap goal at the start of the last
Koby - Yeah, yeah I know, but 15 possies and 7 tackles in a half and then staying on despite hardly being able to walk. Also put his body on the line a number of times in the first half.

Anchors:
Bont - I know he's in the early stages of his career but for a player of his quality he really needed to give us more yesterday.
Murph - Seriously his worst game of an outstanding year and getting caught holding the ball 15 metres out by Hickey...yeeesh
Macrae - Hit more targets in the crowd yesterday than on the ground

[SonofScray]

It's kind of funny hearing the different perspectives on this.

Just listening to Mark Fine and Robert Shaw, with Finey, of course being a St.Kilda tragic, eluding to Jake being disrespectful of Nick i.e a young upstart getting into a respected veteran of the game

I can appreciate the he has been a terrific player for St Kilda, hard running CHF with elite hands, you'd be crazy to suggest he wasn't a star. But he is also an embellishing, cantankerous cheat who, if I what I believe occurred did, is also a very shit bloke.

[Happy Days]

Bankers
Wood - If it wasn't for him then we would have lost the lead 20 minutes earlier. Just continually repelled attacks whilst those around him faltered.

Ayce - He was good! Not even joking. I lay the blame on the centre square deficiencies on the midfield refusing to rate Armitage enough to go anywhere near him. I still think he's not great but he was not at fault yesterday.

Koby - that's two times now that he's played out a game despite not being able to move. I wish certain other players could show that level of determination and fortitude.

Anchors

Hunter - He is that certain other player. He plays football exclusively for the benefit of Lachy Hunter

Murphy - WOW that was a bad game. He's obviously got Bill Gates-level credit in the bank but jesus that was poor.

Macrae - who's kicking deficiencies are being amplified through the arrogance behind his disposal. There was a particular kick to Brett Goodes in the pocket that he tried to screw around the body instead of taking the correct option of Boyd one out, which was 100% because it would look better on tape.

Special mention to the coaching staff. I appreciate that losing two midfielders would rightly stuff the rotations, but seriously adapt or perish. Sydney's refusal to adapt to the conditions cost them the game last week, and it's exactly what happened to us yesterday.

[always right]

Bankers
Wood - If it wasn't for him then we would have lost the lead 20 minutes earlier. Just continually repelled attacks whilst those around him faltered.

Ayce - He was good! Not even joking. I lay the blame on the centre square deficiencies on the midfield refusing to rate Armitage enough to go anywhere near him. I still think he's not great but he was not at fault yesterday.

Koby - that's two times now that he's played out a game despite not being able to move. I wish certain other players could show that level of determination and fortitude.

Anchors

Hunter - He is that certain other player. He plays football exclusively for the benefit of Lachy Hunter

Murphy - WOW that was a bad game. He's obviously got Bill Gates-level credit in the bank but jesus that was poor.

Macrae - who's kicking deficiencies are being amplified through the arrogance behind his disposal. There was a particular kick to Brett Goodes in the pocket that he tried to screw around the body instead of taking the correct option of Boyd one out, which was 100% because it would look better on tape.

Special mention to the coaching staff. I appreciate that losing two midfielders would rightly stuff the rotations, but seriously adapt or perish. Sydney's refusal to adapt to the conditions cost them the game last week, and it's exactly what happened to us yesterday.
Agree he was poor but now you're reading his mind. Not carried away just a little?

[Remi Moses]

It's kind of funny hearing the different perspectives on this.

Just listening to Mark Fine and Robert Shaw, with Finey, of course being a St.Kilda tragic, eluding to Jake being disrespectful of Nick i.e a young upstart getting into a respected veteran of the game

Oh no someone bagged Riewoldt . Perish the thought

[Ozza]

Bankers:

Wood- outstanding reader of the play, saved us time and time again.
Picken- brought 4 quarters of energy and intensity.
Stevens- stuck it out even though obviously injured.

Anchors:

Macrae- I'm concerned he is becoming a selfish player. Refuses to give the first option, wants to do it all. Defending is a long way off also.
Murphy- had an ordinary game. Didn't defend well and not much out of him the other way.
Coaches- thought we got outplayed in this area too! Didn't quell the influence of Armitage. Didn't handle the Riewoldt to the wing move. We also seemed to give up on Dahl playing his way into the game, and took him out of midfield rotations for 2 quarters- which was a poor message.
Special mention to the medicos for sending Smith back out and to Lachie Hunter who looks miles off bringing the sort of game required to be in our current side.

[Maddog37]

I think Macrae is a bit like George Harrison. Just ok when he is the main man but much better when Ringo, John and Paul are with him. Having Libba, Wallis and Jong in the team make him a much better player and allow him lots more freedom.

[comrade]

I think Macrae is a bit like George Harrison. Just ok when he is the main man but much better when Ringo, John and Paul are with him. Having Libba, Wallis and Jong in the team make him a much better player and allow him lots more freedom.

I like solo George!

[Maddog37]

I like solo George!

Yeah nah.

[Jeanette54]

Bankers:

Ayce Cordy. I am not sure if he's getting the hang of the word mobile, but his across field contributions would seem to indicate that he is. Well done Ayce.

Easton Wood: Superb pair of hands, excellent decision making and effective disposals. Damned if I didn't think that John Jillard has been reincarnated.

Luke Dalhaus & Liam Picken: Just don't know when to quit, great effort as is their usual.

Anchors.

The effort fell away after half time, no question. The manic game we play not only takes a toll of our opponents, but obviously also of our young bodies. We do need a plan B (which has been already mentioned in this thread) for when this happens. The continued efforts of our tired boys to play in an attacking manner made it easy for the saints to counter attack, almost without opposition.

Like everyone else I feltthat the sad injury to Clay Smith put a downer on the game, even if we had of won it would have been a muted celebration..

[bornadog]

Special mention to the medicos for sending Smith back out .

Are you blaming the medicos for the knee?

[G-Mo77]

Are you blaming the medicos for the knee?

I don't think anyone blames them for the injury most are just asking the question why did they risk Smith after the first scare.

[bornadog]

I don't think anyone blames them for the injury most are just asking the question why did they risk Smith after the first scare.

Apparently went through all the tests they could do and he seemed ok.

[G-Mo77]

Apparently went through all the tests they could do and he seemed ok.

They didn't send him in for scans though did they? There is no way of knowing what damage has been done by physical tests in the rooms. With his history I wouldn't have risked him. We subbed Stringer off for precautionary reasons against the Crows why not Smith?

[bornadog]

They didn't send him in for scans though did they? There is no way of knowing what damage has been done by physical tests in the rooms. With his history I wouldn't have risked him. We subbed Stringer off for precautionary reasons against the Crows why not Smith?

All good questions, which only the medicos can answer.

[F'scary]

Yeah nah.

Don't you mean Nah Nah Nah Nah-Nah-Nah Nah?