Tom Who?

[westdog54]

Much of the doom and gloom that surrounded our run to the finals was that Tom Williams wouldn't be there to carry us to the premiership.

Fast forward 3 weeks, and a cursory read of the Player of the Finals thread indicates that most if not all of our back 6 will end up with a vote or two under their belts.

I'm bloody impressed with how well our backline has responded to being Buddy-ised in week 1.

The one that stands out for me, not because he's the best but because of how he's used the skills he has, is Tim Callan. After the Hawthorn loss there were folks on here queuing up to tell us how he wasn't up to AFL standard and he should be gone at the end of the year. He was magnificent last week and did himself proud again tonight.

Brian Lake will probably end up with the 5 votes. He won the best and fairest last year. Hall kicked 4 on him last week and yet Lake probably still won the contest. Its easy to forget just how good this bloke is.

Dale Morris. All Australian Defender. Club Leader. The Glove. Say no more.

Ryan Hargrave. Its amazing what you can achieve when you play on opponents that you actually match up quite well on. Not only is he a fine defender, he uses the ball very very well when he gets it and runs like the wind. Has always been a favourite of mine.

I'm convinced that Lindsay Gilbee will one day crack a teammate's rib with a 50 metre pass before he retires. I can't recall ever seeing any footballer kick as well as Lindsay does in whatever situation he's in. Doesn't mind actually defending either.

Can we start up an award for most improved player over the finals series? Because Stephen Tiller would give it an almighty shake. Got the call up last week, didn't dissapoint and can hold his head high with his work in this finals series.

Boys, I salute you all.

[The Doctor]

great post Westdog. I concur with your thoughts.

The backline were fabulous last night and it was them that kept us in it when I though we were going to get blown away late in the second.

I'm glad you praised Callan highly. I shuddered a few times last night when Callan did his kamikaze dives into the fray. He has no fear. Pleasing was his run and link play as well.

With Lake, Morris, Hargrave and Gilbee we have the foundation of a settled and experienced backline. This is vitally important. I saw plenty of cohesion in their play last night especially when Geelong applied the pressure. The good things is they will all be around for some time to come yet.

Tommy is the missing link in what should be a terrific backline.

[Dogs 24/7]

How much better would it be to have both Morris and Hargrave playing on smaller opponents most weeks this season? A couple of years back Hargrave was being touted as trade material but I don't think a lot of people knew that he carried a bad ankle for the last half of the 2006 season. For most of this season when not over matched against key forwards he has been a revelation. Morris is an inspiration and I admire his pace, hard at the ball attack and his mental toughness. He is certainly a success story by coming off the rookie list and going to All Australian.
Gilbee, Lake, Morris and Hargrave form a solid core defensive group and hopefully big Tom can top off this list.

[Dancin' Douggy]

You've got to feel sorry for players like Hargreave.
Basically punching above his weight his entire career.
Put him on a reasonable match up and he can shine.
In essence, when we get Williams back we get two players, because
Hargreave is released to play his natural game.

[strebla]

Exellent post tottaly agree on Tiller he has been very good this last 2 weeks and our backline certainly kept us in last night under imence pressure although still numb with bisbelief am very proud of most of our boys last night

[LostDoggy]

Good post:) History tells us that the premiership teams are the ones with a good defence unit and I think our defence is premiership standard - I am proud of the endeavour of the boys last night. I didn't seriously think we could beat Geelong, but I thought we could take it up to them and we did. Can't wait until 2009;)

[bornadog]

Great post Westdog54, I thought the backline was fantastic last night, restricting Geelong who average 18 goals a game to just 4 in the second half with two of those coming from dubious decisions by the Umpire (Rooke should have been given a free against him, and Johnson's tiggy touch wood soft free in the last few minutes)

[BulldogBelle]

I'm convinced that Lindsay Gilbee will one day crack a teammate's rib with a 50 metre pass before he retires. I can't recall ever seeing any footballer kick as well as Lindsay does in whatever situation he's in. Doesn't mind actually defending either.

Good write up westdog54.

Gilbee is awesome to watch he is just so precise with his kicking - the description you have outlined above is spot on!