Spoilers, Guns and Money

[GVGjr]

I thought this might be worth a try.

Spoilers = A (One) player that did not quite measure up to expectations and the reasons why.
Guns = 3 players that stood out on the night and the reasons why.
Money = Someone who's skills stood out in the game. This can be one particular passage of play.

I'd like to hear some thoughts

[BulldogBelle]

Spoiler: Gilbee. Not as clean by foot as usual. Copped a shoulder 'stinger'. Seemed a bit off the pace.

Guns: Griffen, breaking lines with desire though slightly off by hand.
Cross, great defensive pressure (tackling) all night.
Hall, He is a terrfic player, no doubt. Selfless, courageous, fit and strong. Came back on for the last 2 mins when we were behind.

Money: Akermanis. Tackling, knock ons, quick handballs and exquisite foot skills.

[Mofra]

Spoiler - Eagleton seems to be playing 2005 football; he looked rusty and obviously needed the run

Guns:
Griffen played closer to his potential tonight; major reason why we got over the line
Morris is the best close-checking defender in the league.
Cooney just makes things happen anytime he is near it

Money - Murphy. His dancing is back and will be a real match-up headache for opposition selectors this year

[comrade]

Spoiler

Brian. Fumbled more balls in one game than all of last year. It was actually entertaining watching him make up new ways to screw up tonight.

Guns

Griff. Some really damaging runs and his disposal into the forward 50 was top notch. Set for a big year if his pre-season form is anything to go by.

Moles. His first half was very good in particular, with some very nice ground level work and some pinpoint disposal. Definitely ahead of Eagleton (and maybe Ward) for a Rd 1 spot.

Cooney. His ability to hit packs at speed and win his own ball will be crucial in breaking down the really good team's defensive structures. He looks fit and strong.

Money

Bobby. His ability to weave out of heavy traffic and then make a creative decision is first class. His hit up of Higgins after dodging a couple of Port players was total money. Easily within our top 3 most important players.

[Hotdog60]

Spoiler - Clean hands, so many skill errors which let the opposition in

Guns:
Griffen if can continue to shine through the season we are in for something special.
Picken play a role and did it well, made an error and straight away redeem himself.
Cooney just what has already been mentioned
Money - Murphy. As quoted from Mofra "His dancing is back and will be a real match-up headache for opposition selectors this year"

On a side note special courage award to Wood for not taking his eyes of the ball.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Spoiler

Harbrow. His decision making was bad and his disposal was the worst I've seen it. He hasn't had the best pre-season form to date so hopefully he can put things together next week.

Guns

Griffen. Looks fit, strong and very quick. Disposal was good and hit Hall on the chest twice in quick succession.

Morris. Rarely gets beaten by bigs or smalls. Thompson is really quick but Morris nailed him a couple of times. His ability to keep up to pace with small quicks and match it for strength with power forwards is amazing.

Moles. He's got really clean hands in tight situations. We've seen him pick the ball up and fire out a handball or a neat pass when most others have fumbled. Looks composed and a good find.

Money

Akermanis. As another posted said, some crucial knock ons and quick little handpasses in close to release other players. Not to mention - a fine left foot goal on the run.

[LostDoggy]

Spoilers
Harbrow because of poor skills and decision making on the night.
He had at least 2 other mates though.

Guns
Murphy, getting back to his best. Poised and skillful.

Morris, great game and probably our most versatile player they way he can move between tall and smaller opponents.

Griffen, starting to show the form he is capable of.

Money
Griffen. There was two kicks to Hall in the forward line that were just full of class.

[KT31]

Spoilers: Williams and Lakes poor games also our kicking for goal.

Griffen: getting back to 2008 form.

Moles : great second efforts.

Hall : goals at crucial moments and the pack grab under pressure.

Money : Ackers, tackling and 1%'s

[Go_Dogs]

Spoiler:
Eagleton - Needed the run, but did a few poor things.

Guns:
Griffen
Hall
Cross

Money:
Griff bursting away through and from traffic, creating the space and delivering like we know he can. (A fairly frequent passage of play that was repeated quite a few times)

[G-Mo77]

Spoiler:
Gilbee I thought was pretty poor last night. I've never seen him kick that badly. I guess we are all used to his perfection.

The team as a whole fumbled a lot under pressure. That final minute after we hit the lead we fumbled nearly everything.

Guns:
Morris. Stood strong all night. I think we are all guilty of forgetting how valuable this guy is to our team.

Murphy was classy all night. I haven't seen him this good in a long time. His evasive skills are fantastic.

Hall. That mark he took at the end made me wish we had him a year earlier. It's exactly what we wanted.

Money:
Murphy again. There was a passage of play were he evaded 2 Port players an hit Higgins on the chest with a pass. It made the defenders look baffled. I jumped out of my seat when it happened, if anyone is a fan of basketball it's the kind of reaction you get when a defender is left for dead after a killer cross over. :eek:

[LostDoggy]

Spoilers - Eagleton and Lake. Slow in thought and deed tonight and/or fumbled. (partly expected in these games as they may be still rusty and lacking in match fitness). Ward also seemed off his game...not as sure as he can be.

Guns -

Griff - breaking lines and looks fitter, more balanced
Morris - hard working and close checking
Murph - worked hard to get to the ball and always looked to move it on quickly

Money - Aker. Very unselfish, worked hard at the one percenters, and delivered the ball with intelligence.

[LostDoggy]

Top thread GVGjr.

As i didn't watch the game, it is interesting reading peoples thoughts.

[AndrewP6]

Great thread - title sounds like a good band name or movie title!

Spoiler - Lake and his "interesting"night.
Guns - Cooney, getting the ball out of tight spaces. Griff - the dash is back, he looked terrific bolting away and delivering into F50. Murph looking like he's getting his game back.

Money - Hall, for the last big grab, and for standing tall (literally and figuratively) when it was most needed. Honourable mention to Aker - when he's near it, he does well.

[LostDoggy]

Spoiler:
- Kicking for goal. 17 behinds, half of those from 30 metres right in front. Should have been lights out for Port by half-time.

Guns:
- Hargrave + Morris, the best medium-sized defensive unit in the league, hands down, bar none. Nuff 'said.

Money:
- Cross's tackle despite being outnumbered 3-1 when Port were streaming up the ground resulting in a quick turnover and a shot on goal for the Dogs.
- Honorable mention to Will's pass to Bazza in the hole in the first quarter (which Bazz then proceeded to miss -- see 'spoiler').