Yay I do not know about you but I am glad the football is back, the cricket is boring this summer and personally it was great to see the Eagles (currently) undefeated for 2010.
West Coast defeated Essendon by 35 points
In the opening commentary the so called ‘experts’ where asked about Nic Naitanui and they all agreed he will improve but 2011 or 2012 will be the year he will amaze us. Well two quarters later they all changed their mind with a staring role in the ruck with 4 goals, 8 tackles and 21 hitouts.
Nic Naitanui lead the ruck division with a staring role
However the night will always be remembered for when Video Reply was used for the first time, this was not a new NAB rule but it worked. Gieschen says they did not use the Video reply that was replayed on the stadium tv screen but I doubt anyone believes that.
Another interesting umpire blunder was that even they struggled with the new ‘advantage’ rule, after pulling an Essendon player back after ‘no advantage’ to the player with the ball tried to play on.
Essendons’ forward line look dangerous at times but if you add Gumbleton, Ryder/ Hille, Hurley and or Neagle it will look that more complete.
Port Adelaide defeated Adelaide by 56 points
I know its only pre season but when it comes to playing your rivals, there is no quarter given, whether its February or September.
We all know its only the first game in the year but I am sure Neil Craig would not be happy about his teams performance. This was the perfect opportunity for his young future guns to shine and show that last year was not a fluke.
Port surprised me and while its only pre season, can they be a threat and make the top 8? To me the win only continues the questions we had about the team but Westhoff showed that maybe he could fill the ruck spot, but where does that leave Matthew Lobbe, everyone’s Dreamteam hopeful?
I guess we will find out more when they play West Coast in Subiaco in round 2.
Hawthorn defeated Richmond by 73 points
Hawthorn look hungry, one fan said they look like Geelong in 2007 as they look to prove something and he may be onto something. The players look fit, slim and ready to get back into the top four after a year from hell.
Richmond look like they will again struggle for the year but Hardwick will be good and while this year may be a long one. You can see the future with Martin and Deledio in the middle kicking the ball to Riewoldt up front with who kicked 3 goals for the night.
Buddy kicked 5 and looked like he will bounce back for another 100 goals if Saturday night was a outlook for 2010, I may have to rejig my Dreamteam to add him in. Roughead chipped in with 3 and with Hodge playing midfield along with Mitchell (38 possessions) you think they may at least give this pre season comp a shake.
Bulldogs defeated Brisbane by 8 points
Winter came early to Canberra with a wet day at the football but it was good to see a close match with the lead swapping several times in a tight second half of the game.
While it was not a great game for forwards, I am sure the hit out will be beneficial for the new Lions full forward Brendon Fevola. On the other hand the Dogs could not kick straight which seems to be a consistent trend from the past few years.
What will please both coaches is that it was the 2nd tier players from both clubs that starred with Griffen kicking 3 from the midfield and Andreas Everitt kicking two playing from the forward line. For the Lions Sherman did his best to keep his team in the game along with Amon Buchanan part of the forgein legion.
NAB Round One Talking Points
Gieschen said the umpires did not use video replay but Channel 7 said they did. Whats the truth?
Even though we only saw four games this weekend, I am sure we all have many issues, point of views and arguments we want to jump on the soapbox and talk about. Well this is your chance…
Please give us your thoughts in the comments section below or add your own talking points. The questions will be asked in bold and my response will be un-bold under them. Your input and comments help us make Kick2Kick a better website, so please express your opinions.
- Will we see Video Reply again? Did you like the result?
- I liked the fact they changed the goal to a behind but I am still undecided if it should come in regularly. My main fear is the time that can be wasted looking at countless replays.
- How did you like the NAB new rules?
- The umpires calling back the players after they have played on, to me shows the rule is bogas.
- Can Kennedy, Hansen, Lynch and McKinley all fit in the same team for West Coast?
- Nope, Hansen and McKinley to me will struggle to play a regular game.
- Do Essendon need Gumbleton, Ryder/ Hille or Hurley to be a realistic chance to make the finals this year?
- Neagle imo is a waste of space, if you can get Gumbleton fit and rotate Hille & Ryder down forward then Williams and the other speedy forwards will be dangerous.
- Was it a fluke/ pre season luck for Port Adelaide?
- I am going with fluke at the moment as they do have a history of being amazing one week and then duds the weeks after.
- Are Hawthorn back?
- They looked sharp and while it was only Richmond, it would have been a confidence win after a horrible 2009 year.
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February 15th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
What are Hawthorn doing playing Franklin and Hodge preseason? They are crazy. Everyone knows you don’t risk your stars on rock hard grounds in February. If one of them goes down thats virtually the season gone. It may pay off if they win the comp, but IMO they are far too valuable to waste on this pre-season.
ditto St Kilda if they play Roo.
February 15th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
1. IF the video replay was used by someone, it can hardly have helped as the angle didn’t clarify whether the ball had crossed the line or not. The laws of the game are clear that a ball that touches an umpire, but does not pass [wholly]over the goal line remains in play.
Presumably the umpire felt the ball touch his leg. If it had passed completely over the goal line — and he was pretty much the only person who could know that — then it was a goal.
If the ball had not passed completely over the goal line when it struck the goal umpire’s leg, then it remained in play and hitting the post does mean it’s a point.
Frankly, I’m at a loss to figure out how a field umpire some distance away can have a better view of this critical element of the decision than the goal umpire standing vertically above it!
Gieschen’s explanation is bullshit!
2. I thought the revamped advantage rule worked well. One hiccough isn’t enough to damn it.
3. Hansen is dead meat. McKinley adds an x-factor — he regularly kicks goals out of his bum.
4. Much is being made of Gumbleton, but he’s got to string some games together and show that he can play at the top level yet. I’m a Bombers fan and I’ve seen a couple of glimpses, but the Bombers can’t pin everything on him being fit. Neagle will come good. Hille and Ryder offer forward marking options that will take some heat off Neagle and give him a better opportunity to take some grabs.
5. Don’t care.
6. Frankly, against opposition of that calibre, it’s hard to make any serious prediction.
Naitanui: From what I saw (the whole game, on TV), he didn’t dominate the ruck. Bellchambers got his hand to the ball about as often as Naitanui. Where Naitanui shone was in general play and especially round goals. The goal from the right forward pocket was magic. The boy can play, but let’s wait for a little while yet before anointing him and engraving his name on Charlie!
.-= aussierulesblog´s last blog ..The inadvertent(?) video referral trial =-.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:13 am
@Bob, I do not see any problems to play Hodge and Franklin IF they are over their injuries and ready to play… I am sure they wont play for the whole NAB as no ‘stars’ tend to do these days.
@AussieRulesBlog: I doubt anyone would disagree that Gieschen made up his comments and he is lieing through his bloated (through power) head. Your turning me into a Giesch basher as well mate…
Hansen could be Gold Coast bait, they will need a senior KPP who can provide protection and kick goals for a young side and Hansen could be perfect.
Gumbleton looks like he will be back this week, so lets see if he makes a difference. I think he will be better than Neagle.
Nic Nat, what I find interesting is that there is more ‘noise’ about him after 12 games than Chris Judd and not just from the WA media (I listened to 3AW on Monday night). In regards to hit outs, he had more than the whole Essendon team (21 to 14 for Bellchambers) – afl stats link
Although in saying all that, I agree Brownlow talks is way too much. Let the kid play and remember he isn’t even the number one ruckman for the Eagles.
February 16th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Twenty-one taps, Jermayn, but what did he do with them? Not much more than Bellchamners did with his 14 (thanks for the stats link BTW, I don’t know why I couldn’t find it!). He’s clearly a better player right now than Bellchambers, but I wasn’t at all dissatisfied with the contest Bellchambers supplied. That said, Naitanui’s work outside of the ruck WAS dominant (sorry, being pedantic again!).
.-= aussierulesblog´s last blog ..Saints jury and ‘executioner’ =-.
February 17th, 2010 at 9:36 am
@AussieRulesBlog – You raise a good point and that is how can we judge by looking at stats on how effective the ruckman are? Yes we can look at taps, effective taps and clearances by the team and player but does that really tell how effective a ruckman is?
BTW just in looking at the stats, the clearances where 44 (Eagles) to Essendon’s 20.
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