Bendigo Bombers v Casey Scorpions

[Mrs Mercuri]

Bit concerned about Willo (assuming he played) he was our 'big' recruit in the off season but is struggling with Bendigo at the moment. Houli's career in red and black seems to be almost over I reckon.... really needed a big season but hasnt delievered yet. There are a lot of players ahead of him in the pecking order now as well.

[ealesy]

Lost that match due to shocking kicking in the last, kicked 2.7 and held them scoreless to the 30 minute mark of the quarter.

Kicked a behind to level scores, from the resultant kick in they went coast to coast and kicked their only goal, and score, for the quarter. Went back to the centre we won the clearance got it into our forward line, went out of bounds about 15m from our goal and the siren sounded.

6-8 goal breeze going to our end in the last quarter and only managed 2.7. Bad kicking = bad football.

[robbie67]

Bit concerned about Willo (assuming he played) he was our 'big' recruit in the off season but is struggling with Bendigo at the moment. Houli's career in red and black seems to be almost over I reckon.... really needed a big season but hasnt delievered yet. There are a lot of players ahead of him in the pecking order now as well.

Hate to say I told you so, but..............................

And we have three years of it.

[bombercol]

Houli's probably wondring why he should bother. He plays well and gets ignored.

[Mrs Mercuri]

Houli's probably wondring why he should bother. He plays well and gets ignored.

Hasnt played all that well.... barely mentioned in the Bendigo better players this season.

[BenDoolan]

There's is still time for Houli. He has a high work rate and is keen to learn & develop. A few regular senior players took a bit of time to make it - Dyson, Winderlich, Myers (just starting to show his wares), Jetta (haven't we waited ages for him!), Lonergan, Dempsey etc, etc, etc.

At least he works hard. A lot more than you can say for a particular spud on our list.

[saladin]

bit of a photo review:




above; cloke in the first quarter. the despairing lunge to touch the ball just failed as the 30km/hr winds made goal kicking from 60 out relatively simple. actually, this episode was a synopsis of his day. good effort, but it never really clicked.






above: williams still looks far too lacksadaisical for my liking. but we used him up the ground, and even at half back on occasions, to benefit from his kicking skills and he certainly distributed well. no scoreboard effect though. cannot see a role for him in the seniors at this moment.







above: crameri. if he wasn't our best, only hardingham could claim to rival him. played a very versatile game, extremely strong over the ball for centre square work and took some great marks working back into defence. my only criticism was that a few long bombs didn't connect properly. with the wind, he could have roosted the ball 80 meters but usually didn't. missed most of the first term with an eye problem, but after that was great. My B.O.G







above; quinny was ok without being startling. kicked our first goal into the wind, to everyones amazement. took the game on but having got around opponents would then try to chip short when conditions demanded penetrating kicks.








above; darcy had a couple of purple patches, but drifted a bit between them. Really got us going with good marking and dashing runs. Kicked a couple of with-the-wind goals. the one above was a snap that actually was heading away from goal but the gale blew it through! the second was a wonderful kick from a long way out in the pocket late in the last. still have high hopes that he'll be a top utility.







Above: Shinners. every time i see bendigo play, this bloke impresses me. a bit like peter dean, he just gets the defensive job done. good on the spoil, runs out of defence and can take the kick-ins.








Above; could not fault hardinghams game. had a lot of the ball, attacked the footy, used it better than most. not a defensive defender by any stretch, but rather seems to figure that if he's got the ball his opponent doesn't matter. only a winning senior side will prevent him from debuting soonish if he plays like this.







Above; a mixed bag from silverlock. early on he turned the ball over into the wind several times by trying to be too clever. but he get's important touches around the ground, keeps his feet well in congestion and overall his disposal is good. not his finest game, but pretty serviceable in a side that was top heavy and needed the smalls to stand up. I like the look of him.







above; Still got involved in the linking play a bit, but in his main role - marking forward - he struggled. Managed to get well under the ball numorous times when we had the wind. he simply could not pick up the additional distance granted to the kickers. kicked a good goal in the second, butchered one into the wind in the third. frustrating day for him.

[saladin]

Above: Patchy day for ricky. did some nice things, but didn't get enough of the ball for mine. did notice how vocal he was in terms of setting up the structures, obviously feels pretty secure around the club these days. not a bad first hit-out after knee surgery.







above; travis started brightly. gave us some good bursts out of the middle. but like silverlock, turned it over by hand too often. unlike silverlock, faded out as the game went on. don't remember him really having an effect late in the game at all.







Above: apologies for the out of focus. i saw the mark coming, but didn't get it focused in time. excellent hit-out for kyle. not huge numbers, but has an effect on the game with what he does. very nearly kicked goal of the year with a banana from the pocket after taking the ball off two casey defenders. took this excellent mark over crameri (and nearly broke his- stewarts- ribs in the process)








Above; cloke gets a fist to the ball. the casey guy gets a knee to a ball! as i said, not really his day.

[DC2]

Houli just isnt on Knightas favourites list. Simple.

Dyson got a whole year to prove himself and was continually kept in the team regardless of performance. He played very poortly as well for games in Knightas first year. But Knighta backed him and kept him in the team. Shit even Quinn got consecutive games.

Houli needs to be given more of a chance. I believe he has what it takes. If we dont want him GC or Sheeds will def pick him up. And we can watch him develop from afar.

[BenDoolan]

As always Sal, great shots and great summaries. Thanks heaps!

[saladin]

8 goal breeze blowing to the non-city end. moderated a bit in the second half. had chances to win in the last, poor ball usage was costly. played a very good third term into the breeze.

the side is a bit unbalanced - and has been all year - with all the talls. coupled with the resting / rotation of Marig, long etc we were clearly outpointed in the running game. the big forwards like neagle, still, carlisle and the ruckmen just couldn't quite get into gear. casey move and use the ball pretty damn well. on a calm day and with a well balanced side, we'd be every chance.

[Windy_Hill]

Havent seen a bog heap like that for a while - (and I am not talking about Cloke!!). Amazed that the club would risk playing on this sort of surface in this day and age.

[saladin]

nah, a bit of mud is fine. slows the game down a tad, reduces the quality but produces a different type of footy that you rarely see.

[Doctor Fish]

Like the look of Silverlock. Hopefully he and Rigga might get an opportunity later in the season.

Nice work Sal.

=D>

[Mrs Mercuri]

Thanks for the picks from the match.... much appreciated!!

Can't see Knighta changing the senior team all that much this week... only Welsh and Melksham would be a chance to play.