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Geelong’s Mid-Season Review

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
1st to 2nd. Despite the result of last year’s Grand Final we couldn’t go past the Cats as our premiership favorites this year. The thought of Ablett moving forward for larger portions of games excited us as the Cats forward line was our only concern, beyond that we expected it to be business as usual in defense and the midfield. See the full preview here.

Current Situation
Geelong in 2009 remains undefeated which will come as no surprise to many within the Football community. Geelong has at times looked a team that is just doing what it needs to do to win. This differs to the attitudes of 2007 and 2008 where Geelong really looked to dominate teams.

Backline
Geelong’s backline has been its most unsettled in recent years. The loss of Josh Hunt has been a problem for the Cats but the move of James Kelly into the backline has helped to ease this issue. Harry Taylor continues to improve while Matthew Scarlett looks as solid as ever at full back. Injuries have not helped in 2009 with Captain Tom Harley not being able to string games together. Geelong’s backline still is one of the most impressive backlines in the AFL but has room to improve in 2009.

Midfield
Geelong arguably has the best midfield in the competition, with the likes of Ablett, Bartel, Corey and Selwood having great years in 2009. Geelong is able to cover most injuries to midfield with the depth acquired over the past season proving valuable so far this year.

The only issue with the Cats midfield is the tagging of the opposition. Cameron Ling is a great tagger, don’t get me wrong, but when he is now faced with a quicker opponent he is beginning to struggle. Against a quality midfield Geelong’s lack of leg speed could also become an issue.

Geelong’s ruck division is another issue. Mark Blake is becoming a bigger worry every week that Brad Ottens is on the sidelines. Blake’s lack of presence in a contest and around the ground is an increasing concern. Shane Mumford is showing promise and when Ottens returns I would not be surprised if Mumford holds his spot and Blake is dropped to the reserves.

Forwards
The lack of a dominant forward for Geelong has been an issue and continues to be an issue in 2009. Cameron Mooney’s season has been indifferent (with question marks) while Tom Hawkins is still a work in progress. Steven Johnson is in career best form and leads Geelong’s goal kicking. The vast improvement of Travis Varcoe and Shannon Bynres is helping the forward line but the dearth of a good key forward is obvious.


Geelong is generally able to kick enough goals through the midfield to negate the lack of a true key forward. Chapman is integral to the success of Geelong and also its forward line. If Mooney is able to regain his form and Hawkins can establish himself as an AFL player the forward line will continue to work in 2009.

Coach
Mark Thompson since the end of 2007 has become one of the most relaxed coaches in the AFL. It is hard to establish when Thompson is severely under pressure as he believes in his players and their ability to come through with the points. I am waiting to see what Thompson will have planned for the round 14 clash with St Kilda.

Best Performed Player
Gary Ablett is hard to go past as Geelong’s best player in 2009. Many people thought Ablett may not get better than he was in 2008. To prove them wrong Ablett has shown an ability to find the ball and continue to improve in 2009. I am concerned by his handball rate, but we can’t be sure of the reason.

Looking Forward
Like St Kilda we’ll know more about what is going to happen in 2009 after they have played each other in round 14, what is clear however is Geelong haven’t fallen back to the pack. Top 2 finish for mine.



By Brent Jewell and James Rose

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St Kilda Mid-Season Review

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 1st
Flag odds $4.00

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
4th to 6th. At ContestedFooty we thought St Kilda was a bit harshly done by with regards to the ‘worst top 4 side’ theory that was floating around at the end of 2008.

Looking at St Kilda’s draw and their love of ‘Docklands’ it was hard to see them falling lower than 6th but we didn’t predict the form the Saints have shown so far this year. See the preview here.

Current Situation
St Kilda has beaten every team they have faced and have done so in convincing fashion, at least most of the time. No one knows just how much this St Kilda side is capable of at the moment as they have a monster of a challenge ahead in the form of Geelong and in 2 weeks we’ll have more of an idea as the most anticipated clash of the year in St Kilda vs. Geelong will be taking place.

Backline
St Kilda’s backline has received great praise throughout 2009 and with good reason as the Saints have only conceded an average score of 61 points. If you ask anyone at the club though they’ll be quick to point out that defense is the whole teams responsibility and St Kilda more than any club this year have demonstrated that with hard defensive running and attack on the football and their opposition.

The form of Zac Dawson in particular has been a revelation for St Kilda and with the return of Max Hudghton there is a theory St Kilda are too tall down back, St Kilda aren’t likely to change this unless exposed mind you.


Midfield
Once upon a time St Kilda was criticized for lacking depth in the midfield, whilst everyone thought the Saints had as good a first string midfield as anyone, it was widely accepted that the Saints fell away after that.

It is odd then that with the retirement of Robert Harvey the view has shifted to one were St Kilda suddenly possess good depth in this area. This is largely a credit to players such as Clinton Jones and Andrew McQualter who have stepped up to be consistent performers but also due to players such as Gram, Fisher and Goddard spending more time in the midfield supporting the first string midfielders such as Hayes, Ball, Dal Santo and Montagna.

St Kilda’s ruckman have by and large performed with Michael Gardiner turning back the clock just a little, King providing a solid contest and some toughness as always and young McEvoy showing solid form when required.

St Kilda’s midfield is able to match it with the best of them and with the ruckman showing form it’s a hard task to stop them all.

Forwards
Previously an area that was much vaunted for St Kilda- often without justification, the Saints forward line is finally delivering the potency they have promised for so long. Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt are consistently providing headaches for opposition coaches before you even think about Adam Schneider and Stephen Milne snapping at their heels.

With St Kilda’s forward line showing form the last thing other teams want to hear is that the midfield is happy to have a shot at goals themselves- removing the old predictability and adding yet another layer to the Saints game.
Shut down ‘Kosi’ and ‘Roo’ and you have gone someway to limiting St Kilda’s score- whether it is enough will be a case by case basis however.

Coach
Ross Lyon- Has now been accepted by all at St Kilda, including Grant Thomas and has shown he is no slouch as an AFL coach. He has St Kilda delivering a disciplined game style based around that new buzz word ‘frontal pressure’ and has allowed his players enough freedom to put big scores on the board at the same time.

Potentially a premiership coach this year, one would hope St Kilda don’t sack another coach too soon.

Best Performed Player
Leigh Montagna- Now one of St Kilda’s most important players, ‘Monty’ or ‘Joey’ has really lifted his work rate in 2009 and has been rewarded for it. A genuine Brownlow smokey, Montagna deserves as much credit for St Kilda’s 2009 success to date as anyone.

Looking Forward
It’s hard to see St Kilda missing the Grand Final- in fact if they do it’ll make history as no team has ever won their first 12 games and not done so. How successful St Kilda is will be determined by how they perform against another team that has won 12 straight in Geelong. St Kilda, widely accepted as the second best team, still have some work to do to be number one.

You can find more of our AFL mid-season reviews here.

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Western Bulldogs Mid-Season Review

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 3rd
Flag odds $7.50
Top 4 odd $1.22

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
3rd to 5th. At ContestedFooty we saw through the Bulldogs poor preseason form and still had them penciled in as the 3rd best team in the competition. In Vish’s preview he sighted last year’s good form and enough depth to keep the team honest as reasons to expect another good year from the Bulldogs. See the preview here.

Current Situation
The Western Bulldogs true to Vish’s prediction has emerged as a clear 3rd in the competition at the time being, with perhaps their most impressive moment being a narrow loss to Geelong in round 9. The Bulldogs have proven effective at putting scores on the board with only Geelong scoring more heavily so far.

Backline
The Bulldogs backline has been consistent this year and has held most teams well with only 5 clubs scoring over 100 points against them in the first 12 rounds. The last 3 weeks in particular have been impressive with scores of 44, 89 and 77 being recorded against them.

This performance is largely down to the stability of their backline and players such as Lake playing every week and rarely being disgraced.

Midfield
Although you could argue the Bulldogs midfield has underperformed this year, largely due to the form of Adam Cooney; they have won more contests than they have lost and finally look to be running into consistent form.

Any midfield that potentially includes Cooney, Cross, Griffen, Akermanis and Boyd among its numbers deserves respect and as they start to hit form again, the Bulldogs will be an even harder proposition.

Forwards
An area you don’t immediately fear from the Bulldogs lineup is nonetheless, one the one that has performed well despite the absence of Robert Murphy for a few games this year. The spread of goal kicking options in Akermanis, Johnson, Hill, Giansiracusa, Hahn, Higgins, Gilbee and Griffen amongst other contributors has really made them a hard team to shut down.

The key to the Bulldogs is they don’t rely on any one target and that really makes them dangerous.

Coach
Rodney Eade is one of the coaches waiting for a new contract despite how well he is respected. Eade has a knack for generating successful sides but there are question marks regarding his ability to lift teams to the next level.

Personally I rate him and hope the Bulldogs offer him a new contract as he is clearly one of the better coaches out there.

Best Performed Player
Mathew Boyd- In a club that has such an even spread of contributors, it is hard to pick a standout performer but Boyd through sheer consistency stands out, often one of the players who continues to perform when his club isn’t. Boyd’s sheer work rate would have him leading his clubs best and fairest to date.

Looking Forward
I have been seriously impressed with the evenness of the Bulldogs performances. They seem to lack any identifiable weakness which is a big change from years gone past where you would try to exploit their short backline. Perhaps a quality tall forward or two short of a premiership contender at the moment, the Bulldogs will beat everyone else but St Kilda and Geelong at the moment, unless they have an off day.3rd to 5th.

You can find more of our AFL mid-season reviews here.

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Brisbane’s Mid-Season Review

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 5th
Flag odds $31.00
Top 8 odds 1.12
Top 4 odd 3.25

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
8th to 10th. Due to Brisbane’s inexperienced list and coach we thought the Lions would get off to a slow start in 2009 and due to their impressive depth and a nice scattering of ‘experienced gems’ they’d push hard for the top 8 by season’s end; so far they have out done our expectations. See the preview here.

Current Situation
A clinical win against a struggling Hawthorn last round has lead to Brisbane being talked up as a top 4 possibility and when you look at their other results so far this year that mightn’t be foolish. Close loses to Carlton, St Kilda and Collingwood have shown Brisbane can push some of the better clubs. This combined with convincing wins against Adelaide and Essendon show they can beat the other clubs who have looked promising. The only real blemish for mine is the demolition job Geelong performed on the Lions in round 5.

Backline
Brisbane has held teams very well so far this year, and a large reason for this is their impressive tackling pressure. Brisbane has shown they can compete with the best in this regard, with a prime example being the St Kilda game in which they out tackled the Saints.

Whilst Brisbane’s backline has been young, it has done its job throughout the year and whenever they have been struggling, Voss hasn’t be afraid to pull the changes often sending the experienced Bradshaw back to do a job on someone.

Brisbane’s backline only looks like getting better- particularly offensively over the next few weeks.

Midfield
Luke Power and Simon Black have shown the form that makes them some of the game’s premier midfielders so far in 2009 and they have had a decent support cast along the way in the likes of Brennan, Rischitelli, Proud and Rising Star contender Rich.

The Lions midfield has been able to match it with almost every club and most pleasingly has shown a willingness to tackle hard when they aren’t in possession themselves. They have the right attitude to go with their talent and won’t be beaten out of the midfield without a fight this year.

Forwards
Brown and Bradshaw have combined for 70 goals from the first 12 games of the year; a good result when you consider Bradshaw has been used as a key defender on a few occasions. Sherman and Hooper have chipped in nicely with an average of two and half goals a game, and 18 other players have put a goal or more on the board in a sign the club isn’t relying on their big name forwards as often which is a good sign.

Despite this if Brisbane are going to have a true impact on the rest of the season, it is important that Brown and Bradshaw match their start in the remaining 10 rounds and hopefully for Brisbane fans, a few finals as well.

Coach
Michael Voss has done as well as anyone expected him to and better than I personally had. You have to wonder if it’s been an asset for him having captained and earned the key players respect before taking on the coaching role- thus allowing an easier transition than most coach’s experience.

Regardless of whether you’re a fan of Voss or young coaches, it would seem Voss is already accumulating runs on the board and what happens for the rest of the year might impact other clubs philosophies for choosing a new coach.

Best Performed Player
Simon Black- Jonathan Brown has made a late charge for this honor but Black has been amazing yet again in 2009 and has consistently won and used the ball beautifully for the Brisbane Lions. The younger players on the Lions list will really appreciate having such a great player to learn from.

Looking Forward
Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Geelong and Fremantle are Brisbane’s next four games and they’ll go some way to shaping their season. One would expect them to win at least two of them.If they want to stay in striking distance of the top 4,then they’d be wanting to win three of them and in the unlikely situation they manage all four then surely we have to be talking about them as a top 4 team and possible flag chance.

It’s my belief they’ll manage to win 3 of those games as their attitude has been a credit to them so far this year. 4th to 6th.

You can find more of our AFL mid-season reviews here.

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Carlton’s Mid-Season Review

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Current Ladder Position 7th
Flag odds $17.00
Top 8 odds 1.10
Top 4 odd 3.00

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
6th to 8th. Carlton’s young list had us worried at the start of the year that we’d be seeing the beginning of another Carlton dynasty, we couldn’t see a way they’d miss the eight, as much as we wanted to find one. See the preview here.

Current Situation
Carlton has just come off a narrow loss to St Kilda in a game that has earned the club a lot of respect. Carlton’s start of the year slogan of ‘they know we are coming’ may have been a bit premature but in the last 5 games they have only lost two- to an undefeated St Kilda and a young and rapidly improving Adelaide side- Carlton are coming but the question is will it be this year?

Backline
For all the hype about Carlton being able to put big scores on the board, they actually have one of the better scores against (7th) which has been an underestimated factor in their ladder position.


With the inclusion of Jarrad Waite in Carlton’s backline next year they’ll look even stronger as Bower and his cohorts have done a very reasonable job in his absence.

Midfield
Without a doubt the most hyped up part of this Carlton side is their onballers and with good reason. This team possesses names such as Judd, Gibbs, Murphy, Stevens and Simpson however there have been question marks on some of them, particularly when the going gets tough, thankfully for Carlton supporters a lot of these questions have been answered over the last few weeks.


The Carlton midfield has performed so far this year and only looks like getting better with time.

Forwards
While Fevola has had a good year so far with 41 goals it is the fact that Carlton has had 28 goal scorers with 16 of them scoring 4 or more has made the Blues a hard team to shut down. Betts and Murphy in particular have been pleasing and whilst Carlton could do with one more quality key forward it is no enviable task to try and limit their goals.

Coach
Brett Ratten has done more than enough to impress and Carlton seem to be right on the track he wants them on. There will be things Ratten and Carlton want to see improvement on (see consistency) but it would seem both parties will be satisfied with their relationship for at least the next two years.

Best Performed Player
Chris Judd- The Carlton captain has been a consistent performer for the club in 2009 and in his last game showed yet another fantastic trait in his ability to play through a broken nose and still perform to an acceptable standard- it is indicative of his impact on Carlton though that some of their fans question if the result would have been different had Judd not had to spend so much time off the ground due to the blood rule.

Looking Forward
We will know more about Carlton after the next month of football, during this time Carlton will face Essendon, Fremantle (in Subiaco), Richmond and Sydney; if Carlton are to be any chance at a top 4 finish they need to win all 4 of those games and whilst I think they’ll finish the season strongly I can’t see them achieving that. 5th to 7th.

You can find more of our AFL mid-season reviews here.

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Collingwoods Mid-Season Review

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 7th
Flag odds $15.00
Top 8 odds 1.10
Top 4 odd 3.00

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
3rd to 5th. We expected the Pies to do well providing that their experienced group play at a decent and consistent level not seen in previous years. See the preview here.

Current Situation
The Pies currently sit at 7th place on percentage, with a game in hand on most around them.
Its 6 & 5 win/loss record could and should be 8 & 3, if it wasn’t for the close losses that were snatched from the jaws of victory against Adelaide and Essendon.

Two embarrassing losses against the Saints and Carlton by a combined total 139pt’s threatened to spoil their season. Given that it coincided with a glut of injuries to their forward-line; it’s not hard to see why they struggled at the time. The season seems to be back on track after three victories in a row after the low of the Carlton loss.

Backline
One of the major positives for Collingwood this year has been its unheralded backline which according to the stats is the 3rd best, conceding 86pt’s a game. It’s not really much of a surprise given the lack of injuries that the Pies have had in that area. The excellent stopping form of Simon Prestigiacomo has been a particular highlight, along with the improvement in Nathan Brown. Apart from the consistent efforts of Harry O’Brien, the backline has been lacking in run‘ and creativity, although the return to form of Heath Shaw and Shannon Cox has helped in that issue.

First-year captain Nick Maxwell’s efforts as the 3rd man up, as well as his new-found ability to beat his direct opponent in the last three weeks has been a big reason for the Magpies turnaround.

Midfield
The Pies have gone from a team lacking major ball-winners, to a team that, by the end of the round will have the top two ball-winners in the comp with Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury. Add Leon Davis being in career best form, and the Pies midfield has gone from its weakest area, to one of its strongest areas. Davis has been a bit off the boil over the last few games against Port and Melbourne but this has led to emergence of Sharrod Wellingham who has been essentially covering for Leon.
If Wellingham can continue with his form, the Pies will have another talented midfielder to add to its rotation mix.

Josh Fraser as polarising as he is, has done okay as a ruckman but very well as a follower around the ground averaging 19 possessions as a link man.

The lack of a tagger is an issue against the better teams, but due to its heavy-rotations, it’s just not possible for them to have one. This as we have seen, really hurts them against teams like the Blues, Geelong and the Saints who have dominant midfielders who have long-stints in the midfield.

Forwards
The Collingwood forward line has had its issues with some out-of-form players in Cloke and Thomas and its injured All-Australians Alan Didak and Paul Medhurst.
This has led to the emergence of John Anthony as a decent forward and whilst he is definitely not a number-one target, he is damn dangerous with his sticky-hands and excellent finishing.

Tarkyn Lockyer’s best season yet has been a great help with his hard running game leading to 18 goals so far this year.

Brad Dick may be able to replace Leon Davis’s presence up forward as shown with 8 goals in his past two games, but given his inexperience and that he’s coming off a knee’, it would be a surprise to see him keep this form up.

The lack of involvement from Didak, Medhurst and Cloke shows the improvement left in the team which is good news for Pie fans.

Coach
Even though he has lost 5 times this year, Malthouse hasn’t coached too badly.
His failure to put someone on McLeod in the first round against Adelaide, for me lost the game and his inability to coach a team against the zone’ was seen by everyone against the Saints.

The ANZAC day embarrassment was down to a lack of on-field leadership rather than bad coaching you would think.

His win against Brisbane at the GABBA would have to be his best coaching effort of the year with a typical back’s against the wall performance after falling to a 4-gaol deficit late in the first quarter.

It’s looking extremely likely that he will get another contract going by reports but still, a top-4 finish is a must if he want’s to keep the supporters on his side.

Best Performed Player
Considering that he is playing with an injured knee at the moment, Dane Swans performances have been exceptional. His ability to be a link man in the stoppages has been very helpful in clearing the ball.

Scott Pendlebury, Simon Prestigiacomo and Leon Davis are others that are unlucky here but deserve mentions.

Looking Forward
There is a heap of improvement left in this team due to the lack of input from the likes of Didak, Medhurst, Cloke and Thomas and the stats show as much with them having the 3rd most inside-50’s but the 10th most points scored.
If injuries stay away to their key mids’ and defenders, Top-4 should definitely be their aim and anything less will be considered a failure.

You can find more of our AFL mid-season reviews here.

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Hawthorn Mid-Season Review

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 8th
Flag odds $15.00
Top 4 odds $5.00
Top 8 odds $1.27

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
2nd. Like most people, we at ContestedFooty thought Hawthorn would continue on its 2008 form and demolish a lot of the struggling teams with only the Cats being able to pip them at the end of the year. See the full preview here.

Current Situation
Heart. Do Hawthorn have any at the moment? Their football is uninspiring and their endeavor has been inconsistent all year. We have seen flashes of the Hawthorn everyone fears but lately the players seem content to take the easy way out and blame injuries, instead of getting the job done themselves.

Hawthorn, even with all the hurdles they have had to overcome this year are better than their fringe of the 8 position suggests; but will they show it?

Backline
From what was once one of the hardest teams to score against, has now become one of the easiest. It is hard to purely blame the backline as Hawthorn believe in defense all over the field but surely their defenders have to take a bit more responsibility when the going gets tough?

Trent Croad’s absence has been noticeable and I’m not for a moment suggesting Hawthorn haven’t had a tough run. It is the general attitude of the team that bothers me. Luke Hodge has battled on gamely despite his own fitness issues and should be an example to his team mates.

Midfield
Despite the drop off in form, Hawthorn still possess a very good midfield. This year it has been led by Sam Mitchell and Brad Sewell who have both worked extremely hard on a regular basis and gotten reward for their labor. Chance Bateman hasn’t had the impact of previous seasons, but is still finding a bit of the ball and has been damaging in patches,

For mine, it’s time for Hodge to start rotating through the midfield on a more regular basis if Hawthorn is a chance to challenge for top four.

Forwards
Franklin, Roughead, Williams, Rioli, Dew and Moss are Hawthorns top 5 goal kickers and have all shown what they can do at various stages. Franklin needs to find the form of last year to inspire his team mates to those same lofty heights and then, with that great support cast mentioned, we will all be talking about Hawthorn’s back to back chances.

Coach
Alastair Clarkson has a lot to answer for. The school of thought that young coaches are the way of the future is largely due to his success. Despite looking like a jockey, Clarkson is surely one of the more respected members of his field and rightfully so; he built a list and had the right strategies for them to deliver an elusive premiership last year against arguably one of the best teams ever, in Geelong.

Best Performed Player
Sam Mitchell & Brad Sewell- It is too hard to split these players, both have accumulated a heap of the ball and really worked hard in all three phases of the game; when you have it, when they have it and when it’s in dispute.

If the Hawks could get just a handful of players to follow their lead, Hawthorn supporters would be much happier and I’d be writing nicer things.

Looking Forward
Undoubtedly Hawthorn has ridiculous amounts of talent, but that wasn’t what won them the premiership last year. They won the flag because of a hard working and intense game style, individual talents and a smidge of luck; the sooner they remember that and stop waiting for it to happen the sooner they’ll get their act together. I unfortunately think it’ll be too late 7th to 9th.

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Port Adelaide’s Mid-Season Review

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 9th
Flag odds $126.00
Top 4 odds $26.00
Top 8 odds $2.30

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
6th. The theory at the start of the year was that Port Adelaide underachieved in 2008 and that their midfield is as good as anyone’s, this combined with some off-field stability in 2009 had some of us thinking they’d be doing better than they currently are. See the full preview here.

Current Situation
Having lost 3 of the last 4 Port are truly struggling to achieve what many of us expected of them at the start of the year, despite that they have teased us not least in their victory against Fremantle. There is still hope for them to have an impact on season 2009, but they need to get their act together fast.

Backline
Port Adelaide’s backline has provided the team with some great attacking run so far this year through the likes of Krakoeur so far this year, unfortunately they haven’t been able to restrict opposition forward lines effectively in the process. The lack of an experienced quality key defender is obvious and as a result defenders need to take it upon themselves to chop out their team mates more often than they are if they are to improve.

Midfield
Despite the undoubted ability of Port Adelaide’s midfield; injuries and a willingness to work hard defensively have really hurt their team’s prospects this season. Chad Cornes and Shaun Burgoyne are two of the better midfielders in the competition and two of the best at Port Adelaide, when you take two of a clubs best midfielders out of any side they are going to struggle.

Forwards
Perhaps another club that are another genuine key forward short of being very potent up forward, however the Power have the ever dangerous Motlop to help Tredrea out in that regard and he has been dangerous all year. Port has managed to put acceptable scores on the board and whilst they are missing something up forward it is the least of their worries at the moment.

Coach
Mark Williams is a recognized premiership coach, the rumor goes he and the administration don’t get along- if that is the case Port Adelaide’s loss will be another clubs gain as Williams surely has one of the better football brains in football.

At times though it doesn’t look like he has all the players on the same page, is this a symptom of the instability of his tenure at the club or has he simply been there too long meaning he and the club need fresh starts.

Best Performed Player
Kane Cornes- Undoubtedly one of the best taggers in the game at the moment, Kane Cornes has been able to shut down some of the best midfielders in the game whilst also getting a lot of the ball himself. His ability to work both ways should really be an example to the other midfielders at Port Adelaide of what is required to be truly successful.

Looking Forward
It has been a disappointing start to the year for Port Adeladie, but you can’t help feel if they hit some form they’ll win more than they lose, the challenge is will they? I don’t think they will be disgraced in the latter half of 2009 but I do expect them to struggle for consistency and we may see a change of coach before the year is out. 9th to 11th for mine.

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Essendon’s Mid-Season Review

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 11th
Flag odds $126.00
Top 4 odds $51.00
Top 8 odds $3.60

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
10th- 12th. When we looked at the Bombers at the start of the season we felt they still had a fair bit of rebuilding to do but expected them to continue to put some good performances on the board. The view was the young players in the team would struggle for consistency but 2009 could be a good launching pad for future campaigns. See the full preview here.

Current Situation
Sitting smack bang in the middle of Ben’s start of year predication the Bombers have taken the path he expected; having shown great form for a few weeks including a great competitive performance against St Kilda the Bombers have struggled to consistently show that very dangerous form.

Backline
Essendon has not had its first choice backline at any stage this year due to injuries and many expected this to cost them a lot of games, to their credit it hasn’t. Essendon have attacked the ball well all over the field but some of their younger defenders have really stood up, I’m a particular fan of Tayte Pears and will watch his progress into the future with interest.

Midfield
Ben has written an excellent post on Essendons midfield that I highly recommend. For mine Essendon’s midfield is very promising and has a nice balance of inside/outside players. Jobe Watson has really impressed me so far this year and has gone head to head with some of the best players in the game.


One nitpick I do have to make though is a need for a bit more mongrel in the team, but then I think that of a lot of teams.

Forwards
Lloyd has shown that he still has potency if the Bombers can get the ball in his hands and with his foil in Lucas returning to some form last week he should be even more dangerous. While the Bombers have been one more prominent key forward short for much of the year this shouldn’t be an issue now allowing some of the younger players an easier opponent and less pressure to perform.


What is really pleasing from a Essendon fan’s point of view is the spread of goal kickers an impressive 27 players have hit the scoreboard with a major score this year with an impressive 18 of them having 4 or more goals; this spread is a large reason Essendon has managed to win games despite the absence of another key forward for much of the year.

Coach
Mathew Knights is surely happy with what he has achieved so far with the Bombers and although there are still things to work on, such as the Bombers slow starts, I’d imagine Essendon fans feel confident that Knights is the man to take the club forward; at least for a few years.

Best Performed Player
Brent Stanton- The hard running midfielder has really stepped up a gear for the Bombers in 2009, especially early in the year, a real highlight was his game against Hawthorn where he managed 36 touches, 14 marks, 2 tackles and a goal.
Definitely a big part of Essendon’s future.

Looking Forward
Essendon teased me enough against St Kilda to get on them for the top 4 as a dark horse and whilst I now think they will fall short of that Essendon should be aiming for a top 8 finish and more importantly getting some experience into the future of the club. Their best has been breathtaking but their worst is uninspiring, 8th to 10th for mine.

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Sydney’s Mid-Season Review

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Current Ladder Position 10th
Flag odds $81.00
Top 4 odds $21.00
Top 8 odds $2.30

ContestedFooty’s start of the year preview
9th to 12th. The theory was that Sydney have over performed on a consistent basis and I expected them to do the same this year, I envisioned a worst case scenario of a bottom 4 result but decided that through sheer work ethic and intensity they wouldn’t fall quite that low. See the preview here.

Current Situation
Currently the Swans have had the indifferent year I had expected from them. At times they have looked woeful but then on other occasions they have taken it right up to the very best teams in the competition. They have done this through that intensity we have come to expect from them, unfortunately they aren’t delivering it as consistently as years past and as such look likely to just miss out on finals football.

Backline
Sydney has not been the stingy, hard to score against team they once were this year, however by no means is it easy to post a huge score against them either. Leo Barry’s absence has been noticeable although the Swans are going to have to get used to life without him soon enough. The backline deserves a pass mark as I believe they have done as much as could have been expected of them.

Midfield
The Swans midfield isn’t getting any younger and this year they have had good and bad returns as a unit. Rhyce Shaw has been a good addition and has added much needed run and carry to their midfield rotations however I still feel they are short a gallop and need some young runners to emerge if they are to remain competitive.

Forwards
It is hard to have a consistent forward line when it is structured around Barry ‘Brain Fade’ Hall and unsurprisingly this has been Sydneys biggest struggle in 2009, kicking goals. With only four players kicking over 10 goals from 11 games it is always going to be hard to win games and when the two major goal scorers are the these days inconsistent Adam Goodes (20 goals) and the aforementioned Hall (25 goals) the task is only going to get harder. Ryan O’Keefe and Michael O’Loughlin really need to stand up in terms of kicking goals or the Swans are certainly set for a bottom 8 finish.

Coach
Paul Roos is a premiership winning coach and one that has delivered consistant form from his teams across the journey, lets hope he can get this Sydney team to lift to its previous levels again rather than him wasting his time whining about the Western Sydney team to come.

Best Performed Player
Adam Goodes- When Goodes is truly firing you can lock a Sydney win away and Goodes has done that on a few occasions this year however over the last few years Adam has given the impression he would rather just do enough which is a worrying sign for Sydney. Whilst Goodes has been the best Sydney player so far this year, he has another gear and the Swans would love to see more of it.

Looking Forward
Sydney are clearly dropping off from the extended period of success they have had recently, now they have to work out how best to rebuild their list and prepare for future campaigns. Barring a big win against Collingwood in their next game I’d expect Paul Roos to start looking to his younger players and try and hold their position on the ladder at the same time.

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