Analysis 2023 Preseason Games

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From the HS

CARLTON PLAYER NOTES
1. Jack Silvagni - Competed well floating through half-forward. Far from Carlton’s worst.
2. Paddy Dow - Pretty quiet game which ended early with an upper body knock.
3. Jesse Motlop - Kicked a goal but wasn’t a major threat.
4. Lochie O’Brien - Has fallen behind Hollands and Acres and had negligible impact.
5. Adam Cerra - Needed to do more when the heat was on early but found a bit of the ball.
7. Matt Kennedy - Overawed in the first quarter storm before working his way into the game.
12. Tom De Koning - On a tough night for talls he was beaten in the first half but took a couple of excellent second half marks.
13. Blake Acres - Will play round one, clearly. Did his bit including kicking a long-range major.
14. Ollie Hollands - Held down a wing again and looks well in the round one mix.
15. Sam Docherty - Rotated through half-back and the midfield and was typically prolific.
16. Jack Carroll - Played less than a quarter but found the footy.
20. Lachie Plowman - Was a liability at times down back, didn’t look comfortable.
23. Jacob Weitering - One of his side’s best, stopping Franklin for the most part and holding up against the tide.
25. Zac Fisher - Ran hard and kicked a goal but not a massive night.
26. Lachie Cowan - Only the 10 disposals but one excellent contested mark and generally composed.
27. Marc Pittonet - De Koning got the first go in the middle although Pittonet had a crack when given the chance.
29. George Hewett - Finished with 26 disposals but really didn’t do enough to stop the damage early given his defensive importance.
30. Charlie Curnow - Weather didn’t help but the superstar held up his end of the bargain in the absence of Harry McKay.
33. Lewis Young - Outgunned in the air by the Swans, needs more help.
35. Ed Curnow. - Looked a bit off the pace after so little footy in recent times.
36. Josh Honey - Played less than half the game and barely sighted.
38. Sam Durdin - Came on for a quarter and performed solidly.
40. Alex Cincotta - Not as impressive as seven days earlier against the Pies but doesn’t look out of place.
42. Adam Saad - Off the pace, especially given how much ball was coming into the Blues’ defensive 50.
44. Matt Owies - Created chances but couldn’t take them. On the fringes.
 
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From the HS

SYDNEY PLAYER NOTES
1. Chad Warner - Played as an inside midfielder, was busy early, overshadowed by Gulden.
2. Hayden McLean - Played two-thirds of the game, rotating forward and ruck, took a nice grab and kicked two
3. Dylan Stephens - Tidy if unobtrusive performance on the wing.
5. Isaac Heeney - Was on restricted minutes but had some moments of brilliance playing as a deep forward with midfield bursts.
6. Logan McDonald - Went goalless but was industrious and had his best moment with a strong defensive grab.
7. Harry Cunningham - The veteran has been redeployed as a small forward in the absence of Ryan Clarke and it reaped dividends with two goals.
8. James Rowbottom - Did plenty of grunt work around the ball but others were more prominent.
9. Will Hayward - Appeared in flashes but didn’t impact scoreboard until many others.
13. Ollie Florent - Solid display down back where to be fair things were quiet.
16. Braeden Campbell - Worked into the game nicely, drifted forward and kicked an impressive goal.
19. Peter Ladhams - Arguably the best tall on the ground. Beat the Blues rucks around the contest and fought on despite copping a knock to the jaw.
20. Sam Reid - Not yet a spent force on this showing. Looked dangerous and kicked two goals.
21. Errol Gulden - Simply magnificent. Hard to imagine anyone playing a better game. Was everywhere, finished well, an aerial presence even at his height and pressured maniacally.
22. Nick Blakey - A strong game from the rebounding defender, who pushed forward to kick a goal.
23. Lance Franklin - Provided one of the moments of the night with a sublime dribbled goal but looked frustrated and slow at times.
24. Dane Rampe - Serviceable and kept the Blues’ small forwards pretty quiet.
26. Luke Parker - Was excellent, no-fuss Parker. Found a lot of the ball and played a handy second fiddle to Gulden.
27. Justin McInerney - Wasn’t overly influential playing on a wing.
28. Will Edwarfds - Was given a brief taste but barely sighted.
29. Angus Sheldrick - Got his hands on it a bit during what was around a quarter of game time.
30. Tom McCartin - Had his hands full with Charlie Curnow but battled reasonably well.
34. Matt Roberts - Youngster had some nice involvements on the wing to put himself in the round one frame.
39. Paddy McCartin - Wasn’t an especially busy night but did his job.
41. Lachlan Rankin - Untested second-year forward only had a small taste of the action.
44. Jake Lloyd - Steady down back without being needed a great deal.
46. Lachlan McAndrew - Conditions didn’t suit him and he struggled to make an impact from limited game time.
 

Rowsus

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Amazing game from Goal-den! 😉
Admittedly he won’t be racking up 45 possessions (including 17 contested) and kicking 3 goals every week.
No Mills in that game. Can we trust Horse? How much midfield time will he get in the real stuff?
I remember picking Luke Parker in his breakout year when he played with the Swans.
Worth the risk and see how things go (in my opinion).
It's not about anyone expecting him to replicate that game.
It's more about you might have had him pegged at 95-97, and with the potential shown in this game, it's not unreasonable to bump that to 103-105, which is gold at his price.
Any Fwd priced at $450k+, that you expect to lift their price, must come under serious consideration
 
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It's not about anyone expecting him to replicate that game.
It's more about you might have had him pegged at 95-97, and with the potential shown in this game, it's not unreasonable to bump that to 103-105, which is gold at his price.
Any Fwd priced at $450k+, that you expect to lift their price, must come under serious consideration
💯% agreed!
 
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It's not about anyone expecting him to replicate that game.
It's more about you might have had him pegged at 95-97, and with the potential shown in this game, it's not unreasonable to bump that to 103-105, which is gold at his price.
Any Fwd priced at $450k+, that you expect to lift their price, must come under serious consideration
Just opportunity now - that's all it comes down to.
 
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Pre-season games have given plenty to think about. Flanders and Gulden are the 2 i hadn't even considered and am thinking about now. I think that is probably being reactionary to 1 preseason game. For example Bowey last year went only averaged 69 but had a 151 in 1 game. He went 58, 151, 89, 47 in a 4 game stretch. If he drops that 151 in pre-season (like Gulden and Flanders just have) then everyone would have started him. If he drops 89, 47 in the pre-season no one starts him. It highly probable that Gulden and Flanders have both just scored their best scores for the year.
 
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Pre-season games have given plenty to think about. Flanders and Gulden are the 2 i hadn't even considered and am thinking about now. I think that is probably being reactionary to 1 preseason game. For example Bowey last year went only averaged 69 but had a 151 in 1 game. He went 58, 151, 89, 47 in a 4 game stretch. If he drops that 151 in pre-season (like Gulden and Flanders just have) then everyone would have started him. If he drops 89, 47 in the pre-season no one starts him. It highly probable that Gulden and Flanders have both just scored their best scores for the year.
Guldens growth isn't coming from raising the ceiling. He's shown the potential for 120s a few times. It coming from raising the floor. Those smattering of 50s he's dished up turn into 75s and the average is where it needs to be.

Lots of people will see it as a pre season bolter game but it screams natural progression to me.
 
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Guldens growth isn't coming from raising the ceiling. He's shown the potential for 120s a few times. It coming from raising the floor. Those smattering of 50s he's dished up turn into 75s and the average is where it needs to be.

Lots of people will see it as a pre season bolter game but it screams natural progression to me.
Yeah I 100% agree with Russ above - the question now will be whether he gets the opportunity in the season to increase his midfield minutes to allow that floor to rise. It's one that could go either way, he's an easy fix though IMO if you take him and he doesn't look like getting those minutes and you can go to a Fyfe/Bruhn/Cunnington/Ziebell type with cash to spend elsewhere. Might be a little challenging going the other way though.
 
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Pre-season games have given plenty to think about. Flanders and Gulden are the 2 i hadn't even considered and am thinking about now. I think that is probably being reactionary to 1 preseason game. For example Bowey last year went only averaged 69 but had a 151 in 1 game. He went 58, 151, 89, 47 in a 4 game stretch. If he drops that 151 in pre-season (like Gulden and Flanders just have) then everyone would have started him. If he drops 89, 47 in the pre-season no one starts him. It highly probable that Gulden and Flanders have both just scored their best scores for the year.
Preseason scoring is irrelevant. We're looking for rookie TOG, opportunities for scoring gained or lost. Contested players usually look worse and uncontested players look better because there is less pressure.
 
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Preseason scoring is irrelevant. We're looking for rookie TOG, opportunities for scoring gained or lost. Contested players usually look worse and uncontested players look better because there is less pressure.
Yep, reason why I'm sceptical of Callaghan still. Would have scored at least 30 of his points directly from Gold Coast turnovers where their players kicked the ball to him in the first quarter. The best wingmen peak at what, 95 ppg? What's a second season player going to get playing that role? What's the pass mark at his price, 75?
 
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Yep, reason why I'm sceptical of Callaghan still. Would have scored at least 30 of his points directly from Gold Coast turnovers where their players kicked the ball to him in the first quarter. The best wingmen peak at what, 95 ppg? What's a second season player going to get playing that role? What's the pass mark at his price, 75?
Doesnt worry me as much when its a high quality talent thats playing on the wing, think you're more likely to have him in the top echelon of guys that play the position than the bottom, especially as GWS use their wingers more than just about any club in the comp.
 
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Doesnt worry me as much when its a high quality talent thats playing on the wing, think you're more likely to have him in the top echelon of guys that play the position than the bottom, especially as GWS use their wingers more than just about any club in the comp.
We've only seen them once so far under their new coach and it was an open game (as most preseason games are), he came from the Richmond system. Being a high quality talent is great and all that but when the role isn't, then the scoring potential for SC is neutralised, no matter how talented the player is.
 
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Haha, I'm getting slack in my old age :)

Definitely watch first, I don't look at scores or read this thread before watching to try and ensure I write what I saw instead of watching for what others saw, the most interesting ones for me are when I see something and then others saw different things, questioning yourself is very important in this caper!

Definitely looks like a potentially very interesting season, loving there are so many rookie options at very wild price ranges that could shift the structure of teams a lot depending on who each coach chooses. Also a few very viable mid price options but none of the Coniglio/Brodie locks that were in every single side. Hopefully it means that the end of season teams are a lot more varied also.
Midpricers do tend to be more Caldwell than Brodie. The mistake is in thinking that more is more with them in initial team set-up.

Assuming that 4 will be the number to 'break out', having a go at 6 of them might help you pick all 4 but it certainly is no guarantee. What it DOES guarantee though is that you have 2 problem spots on field from day 1. We know how hard it can be to correct a midpricer.

In the above example, you are better off backing 4 midpricers and accepting that you are highly likely to have picked a couple wrong. You can then trade them directly at round 3 for the two you've missed. Easy peasy if you've got your rookies mostly right.

I realise it assumes you have predicted the correct number of breakout midpricers for the year in the first place. '4' seems a sensible number though
 
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Just for fun plugged in the SC scores from the praccy matches this weekend into my team

A very surprising 2,624 with laird as C.

Granted Errol isn't gonna punch out a 180 plus every week or Marshall a 155 but hopefully McLean isn't gonna score 45 and clarry 95 either.

So drop down to 2400 to kick off be a very happy pappy. 🙂

Hope rd 1 is as kind. LOL.
 
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We've only seen them once so far under their new coach and it was an open game (as most preseason games are), he came from the Richmond system. Being a high quality talent is great and all that but when the role isn't, then the scoring potential for SC is neutralised, no matter how talented the player is.
We do tend to just look at scores in preseason, but as you say, the context is very relevant.

Callaghan will be a good player, but he had a good half playing themselves in week 1, then another good game in an open affair against a bottom half team from last year.

Then you look at Hollands (who also played wing) who played 2 games against top 4 sides from last year. The Sydney game was also in the wet, making it less open and flowing.

How can you possibly line up the 2 supercoach performances against each other? Hollands didn't get the ball heaps, but to my eye he was in the TV frame a hell of a lot, which bodes well for good scores against weaker opposition.
 
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For those considering Ziebell, just remember there's a couple of defenders due back in Corr and Hall. The dynamic will change and his role would most likely be affected.
Further to this, Sheezel was switched to defence in the last quarter, he had 10 touches and moved to all the right spots for handball receives and moved the ball forward. I think it was Leigh Tudor who said he and Clarko were impressed with how he played in the last quarter and were seriously considering playing him there in round 1.
 
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