Watched the Tigers intra-club.
3 periods of full length, very few players switching teams. Good intensity to the hitout.
Notable outs include: Dusty, Lynch, Lambert and Graham, all 4 are realistically best 22.
Teams were black vs yellow. Black was the first midfield and forwards, yellow had the 1st team defenders. There were very few changes to the teams, will note them below.
Have to say, if the Tigers end up needing their VFL guys they had several that were really good. Shout out to D'Ambrosio, Hicks, Lefau and Jorgensen in particular.
Numerical order:
Vlastuin - Stock standard. Took several
kick-ins, basically whoever was closest out of Short and Vlastuin took them unless there was a quick play on offer, tactically they went short to the pocket on 95% of them, with Rioli, Short and Vlastuin the targets on all but a couple of them. Seemed a very set tactic for the yellow defense and is very fantasy friendly for that trio, basically they either get the kick-in or a mark+kick on 2/3 of the kick-ins.
Grimes - Stock standard, we know what he is.
Prestia - Looked in ripping nick. Played the whole game which surprised me a bit and is probably a great indicator of confidence in the body. Draft league only for me but not the worst little bargain buy out there.
Ross - In the main midfield group for the yellow team, was solid but didn't stand out.
Tarrant - FB for the black team. Solid game for him, accountable role as Grimes and Vlastuin took the intercept positions pretty much exclusively all day.
Baker - Was excellent up forward for the blacks, kicked 4 I believe, all pretty decent workrate goals. Looks in ripping touch, limited midfield rotations but did get some.
Riewoldt - Soundly beaten by Gibcus, his goal was a bad handball turnover straight to him, his I believe 4 marks for the game were all on turnover quick exits where he had a lot of room to work in, otherwise Gibcus beat him soundly in one on one contests and gave him no rope to work with. He looked solid as well so more a statement for the kid.
Cotchin - Played 2/3 and was solid. Standard Cotchin basically.
Edwards - Also played 2/3 from what I could tell, forward pushing up with limited midfield minutes.
Castagna - High HF role and was really good, most consistent marking target for them with relentless leading. Was on the black side.
Short - Standard for him, took majority of kick-ins, involved in linkup work. Definitely had a pretty chilled outlook to it and wasn't working too hard.
Aarts - Played on the wing for the black team all game, was solid but definitely not prolific.
Rioli - Gluttonous role for him, would have had somewhere in the 10-15 marks range, pretty much all inside defensive 50 or on switches on the wing. Had a couple of clanger kicks but otherwise solid. Probably biggest negative is he was definitely on Baker for significant parts of the game including at least a couple of the goals so still a bit of work defensively to come but looked very confident demanding the ball and run and carry. Really awkward price but I feel pretty good that he should average 85+ and probably 90+ this year.
Soldo - Nank ran the game out better but Soldo was even to slightly ahead in the ruck contests. Gives so little around the ground though and Nank's hitout wins are much higher quality, Soldo gets hands on it a lot but little control, Nank doesn't get hands on a lot but very good directional skills. Was on the yellow team.
Balta - Playing forward/2nd ruck for the black team, seems to be his role. Was solid in the ruck, especially at ground level, and did enough up forward against good opposition to say it's a good fit. Interesting to see how they fit Riewoldt, Lynch and Balta in though, I liked the smaller balance they had today.
Caddy - Looked back to his best, in great shape and working really hard up and back from that HF role. On the black team, definitely got multiple options for that spot.
Nank - See Soldo, he was good, kicked a couple I think, intercept work was good and his hitouts were decisive when he won them. I think he's a much better player than Soldo and should be the #1 on his own as is much better doing that.
RCD - Best mid for the yellow, faded a bit towards the 2nd half of the 2nd period but was probably the best mid on the field to that point. I wonder how they squeeze him in given he seems to be kind of limited to that inside role only but he's going to be really good.
Gibcus - The standout takeaway from a fantasy perspective for mine. Manning Riewoldt for the 1st defense and beat him very well. Kid is seriously impressive. Not a lot to him but he's one of those "skinny muscular" wiry strong types, not dissimilar to Grimes. Read the play excellently, intercepted and spoiled probably half a dozen times, was confident leaving Riewoldt to help out and backing his judgement, perhaps most impressively was his confidence to leave Riewoldt and be an offensive option or to give the bailout kick for teammates. Would have had around 15 touches and a half dozen marks by my count, reckon it was a solid 85 type of fantasy game, possibly a bit more with the hidden points. About the only "negative" I could say about his game was that Broad was also really good
I might be reading too much into it but it sure seems that moving Balta forward and his role in the 1st defense in this game is a statement about what they think of him internally. Tiger fans are going to love him if this is any indicator!
Bolton - Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it... now that's out of the way, god he looks tempting. Would have been about 80% midfield in this game and he was the clear best midfielder on the ground for the most part, Prestia had a few moments but for impact it was Bolton. Created space where there wasn't any, actually worked well defensively and when he did push forward he found space. I think I need to get a "No dickheads" policy to save myself from him but there was nothing in this game to suggest he doesn't belong in the Heeney, Butters or Thomas group. The real question is how much does Lambert, Martin and Graham impact that role, which is probably enough doubt that we probably don't get an answer to for me to wait and see but I wouldn't begrudge anyone who started him.
Mansell - Was solid off half back for the black (2nds) defense. Didn't do anything to standout above the existing HB though so think that's a fair indicator of position in squad.
McIntosh - Wing for blacks, solid.
Broad - Was excellent for the black defense. Caveat here is that the delivery into the yellow forwardline was significantly lower quality which makes that intercept role a lot easier, I couldn't actually tell you who he manned most of the game he was that open, but he played outstandingly well, definitely going to at best keep the pressure on Gibcus and at worst knock him out. As mentioned, he's really the only negative to the Gibcus pick right now
Martyn - Had some nice moments but didn't do anything to demand a 1st team gig in a very good role for the second team.
Parker - Started wing for the yellow team, didn't do much. Switched to HF for the black team when Edwards came off and was significantly better but I can't see how anyone could say he's ahead of any of the forwards playing from the start or the guys missing.
Cumberland - Good left boot on him, did some nice things as a forward for the yellows but think he's 5 players out of the side for now.
Sonsie - Really strong midfield role for the 2nd team, he was decent but definitely not prolific enough or doing anything to demand a spot just yet.
Stack - Playing HF for the yellow team, was pretty ineffectual throughout and definitely going through the motions. Like Cumberland for mine but can also play HB if needed.
Ralphsmith - Primary rebounder with Broad for the yellow 2nd defense, he was really solid and definitely at least keeping Rioli honest for that position but I'd be pretty surprised if he could take the spot, good depth with him, Mansell and Stack though for them in that position.
Miller - Playing KPD for the blacks. What he did was solid but nothing to suggest he's close to a game.
Nyoun - No real impact on the game to the point where I had to go back to my notes to confirm that he was playing defense for the blacks
Rioli - Forward for the yellows, had a couple of nice touches and a couple of good pressure acts but that's literally all he had.
Pickett - Wing for the yellow team, stock standard from him.
