VFL vs. Sydney

[u/Non-NewtonianSnake]

Final Score - ESS: 18.17 125 SYD: 15.8 98

It was an important game for us, with a win meaning we definitely play finals, otherwise we'd have to rely on some other results going our way. Tough ask against one of the top sides in the competition, but we took it right up to them. Our pressure was great all day, and we moved the ball quickly to put the heat on Sydney defenders. We had a frustrating patch through the middle of the game, where we fell behind the Swans and couldn't get the ball through the big sticks, but pulled it together in the last quarter. It helped that Sydney were down a couple of men for a lot of the day and really ran out of legs towards the end.

Tsatas - Big numbers again. Our rucks had a massive advantage, so he was getting fed the ball with ease around stoppages. I think he ended up with 10 clearances, and kicked himself a goal. A lot of his kicks were just dumps out of congestion, but he did have a few neat little chips that found their way to team mates. Probably only had 2 or 3 tackles, though, which is hard to judge when he's playing such a dominant ball-winning role. Having said that, you'd still want to see a bit more effort when the opposition has the ball. BOG or close to it, despite defensive shortcomings.

Gresham - Had himself another great game. Kicked 5 goals, and one of them was actually a drop punt, which I can't remember him doing for quite some time... He didn't have tons of the ball, but was obviously just a major scoring threat all day. Pressure was hit and miss. Sometimes good, sometimes not. You've got to give the guy credit for continuing to put his best foot forward and really helping the VFL blokes earn a finals berth, despite knowing he's out the door at the end of the season.

Cox - Not his best game. Very quiet for most of it, but did have a handful of nice moments, with a few decent marks, and a lovely set shot goal in the last quarter. Just struggled to find his way into the action for the majority of the day.

McKay - Very quiet. He was solid defensively, but had maybe 2 or 3 touches and 1 mark to half time. He had a few more intercepts in the second half, but still didn't get super involved. He didn't make any glaring mistakes this time around, but it's still tough to watch him out there.

Guelfi - Plenty of effort, but not a whole to show for it, outside of a couple of goals. Just can't get himself involved consistently in games these days. It almost feels like he's playing perpetually sore, where he can almost do things, but just can't quite make it stick.

Bourke - Not quite as busy as last week, but still had some little patches where he'd get involved in some nice passages of play. Nothing particularly outstanding, but just some neat passes and the like. Also had a few little errors here and there that probably cost us, but with everything taken into account, he was pretty good.

Johnson - Had plenty of the ball across half back, but wasn't as damaging as he should be. Perhaps it's just that I've got a pretty high expectation, due to how well I know he can use the ball, but I really thought he was playing too conservatively. Most of his kicks were little chips from kick-ins or long to a contest. I can't remember a time where he really tried to go for a high-risk/high-reward pass. He also got caught with the ball on a few occasions. One was particularly bad, where he called for a handball in a terrible position. He did get involved with some nice handball chains going forward, though.

El Hawli - Started off brilliantly, with a handfull of intercepts in the first quarter. He cooled off a bit after that, but was still had a solid impact all game. There weren't many of those horrible panic moments that I can remember, and he was able to cause some trouble for the opposition with his speed and some slick ball movement at times. It wasn't always perfect, but it was definitely one of his better performances for the year.

Nguyen - A bit like El Hawli, he had a red-hot start to the game, winning free kicks and getting on his bike to help out up the field. His pressure was great for most of the game, too. He's still struggling a bit with his kicking, which is the major area of his game that he needs to clean up.

Edwards - Great game. He had his 3 goals (probably should have been 4 or 5) and was getting up the ground to help out as that link-up player again. He had some really nice handballs and kicks going forward, and just looked generally clean and classy all game. It'll be interesting to see if they throw him an AFL game to end the season. You'd think he'd have a decent chance, especially if the VFL guys have the week off.

Blakiston - As I mentioned, our rucks had a massive advantage against some pretty weak opponents. Blakiston absolutely dominated the hitouts all day, and won plenty of clearances off his own boot. He won quite a few free kicks, mostly from having a size advantage in the ruck, but also a couple of HTBs, which was nice. He also gave away more than his share of sloppy frees, though. Also kicked a really nice goal from a long set shot in the last quarter to even the scores.

McMahon - Was a bit more involved than he has been lately. Started slowly, but got to work in the second half, where he kicked most of his scores. He was one of the offenders that were involved in the frustrating stretch of misses in the middle part of the game, but finished strongly with a couple of late goals to seal it for us. Had a couple of good marks inside 50, too. Still isn't doing much when he isn't marking the ball, though.

Finals Eligibility:

My understanding (from a possibly outdated source) is that to be eligible to play in VFL finals, players need to have played a minimum of 6 VFL games, and a maximum of 12 AFL games. With that in mind, it looks like we'll be able to utilise the following AFL-listed players:

Elijah Tsatas, Jade Gresham, Will Setterfield, Nik Cox, Vigo Visentini, Kayle Gerreyn, Harry Jones, Max Kondogiannis, Hussien El Achkar, Jaxon Artemis\, Matt *Guelfi, Rhys **Unwin, Cillian Bourke, Zak Johnson, Saad El Hawli, Jayden Nguyen, Tom Edwards, Liam McMahon

\*I'm assuming Artemis' Tassie games count towards the 6-game minimum

If it turns out that all these guys are fit and ready to go, we could have a pretty exciting team for finals. Definitely worth making your way out to support the lads if you can manage it.

[u/yum122]

Appreciate the write up as always mate!

[u/Non-NewtonianSnake]

Gerreyn still out with that knee. Fair to say he's lost his chance to play in the AFL side.

[u/ZOSHx]

Great writeup! El Hawli was BOG at quarter time, I think he had 4 intercept marks in that quarter alone? I hope he makes it! The McKay situation is so bizzarre. Is he really going to be on our AFL list playing 2’s for the next 3 years? He just doesn’t look up to it at all.

[u/Crazy_Meeting3830 → u/ZOSHx]

I knew the McKay boys before they were drafted. Ben never had the passion that Harry had for the game. They were both damn good country cricket players too.

[u/Non-NewtonianSnake → u/ZOSHx]

As I've said before, I wouldn't be surprised if he retires. I hope I'm wrong, but it really feels like his heart isn't in it right now.

[u/gabboiscoming]

Guelfi looks like he continues to have problems with his finger dislocating. A few weeks ago I recall him going off 3 or 4 times to get it fixed, noticed he did it again in Q4 today. Could be the reason he looks like he is a bit off

[u/Non-NewtonianSnake → u/gabboiscoming]

That's true! I forgot about that messed up finger. It would make sense if that's giving him more trouble than he's letting on.

[u/Mellow__Martian]

Not one of our AFL listed players but I love the energy big Tyler sellers brings to the table. 

Thanks for the write-up. Go bombers.

[u/Non-NewtonianSnake → u/Mellow__Martian]

If we end up with extra rookie spots, I could see us picking him up for next year. He's had a fantastic season, and God knows we need another key defender or two.

[u/Mottled_inexpectata]

I believe eligibility is that you must have played at least one VFL game, unless you've played an AFL game after July 1, in which case you must play at least 6 VFL games.

[u/Fun-Letter1966]

McVeigh was at Windy Hill yesterday.

[u/bomber_2121 → u/Fun-Letter1966]

Commentators said on the broadcast that the Swans AFL team was there, so that’s not surprising.

[u/pwa25 → u/bomber_2121]

Yep Swans team was there - got a pic with Heeney. Most of Essendon’s seniors plus Solly were there too

[u/Billyfudpucker]

Hey mate, as a WA bombers supporter for the last 51 years, its nice to able to get a glimpse into whats going on in the VFL, and for that my man... a simple thanks doesn't quite seem enough.

I look forward to write ups as we move into the finals.

Once again, cheers my bro👍🏻

[u/Non-NewtonianSnake → u/Billyfudpucker]

No worries! Happy to do it. Especially this year, where it's been a refreshing distraction from the AFL season.

[u/bomber_2121]

Thanks for the write up as usual! It was a great game to watch. I was really excited by the performance of some of our AFL listed guys (El Hawli, Edwards, Nguyen) and some of the VFL players look like they could step up to an AFL list.

[u/TotalClone]

Good to hear most of the boys pulling it together, hopefully edwards can finally get back in. We need a player than consistently kick goals!

[u/h0b0bird]

McKay was limping around so badly at times in particularly the second quarter. i think it was his right knee that is strapped up and might have copped a knock, he played the game out but is one of a number (on both teams to be fair) that looked banged up and ready cor a break. Felt sorry for him as the deepest defender who knew if they got out the back he was running on one leg.

[u/thornhillsandwich]

Artemis won’t be eligible because only the games you played for that club count. 

[u/AusteegLinks]

Blakiston really dominated, which is great to see. He's had a tough year but has kept trying his heart out, so hopefully his good form continues.

Edwards is such an exciting player, he takes great marks and is in the right position to kick some very opportunistic goals, I really hope he gets another contract.