That was great. Very pleased to see both the VFL and VFLW sides get the win. The men's game was perhaps a bit more exciting than necessary thanks to some unnecessary turnovers, but that was an excellent last quarter to retake the lead not once but three times. Absolutely brilliant final-quarter efforts from so many players - Baldwin, Hird, Rudd, Van Es, Rankin, Hobbs, Tovey, Bedendo, Downie, Dimattina, Polkinghorne, Sparkman all with good moments in the last and really I could name most of the team as it was an excellent group effort.
About halfway through the third I was mentally writing a post analysing everything that went wrong. Fortunately that pessimism turned out to be premature, though I'll be making use of some of that analysis below anyway. In that hypothetical post I was also going to state that I was refraining from sharing my thoughts on the umpiring. I still have very definite thoughts on the quality, or lack thereof, of today's umpiring, and it is perhaps better form to make such comments after a win than after a loss or draw, but at any rate the umpires did manage to recognize some free kicks going our way late, not to mention that 50-metre penalty.
Back to the game itself, and starting with positives since we pulled off the win. We definitely did look best when we were able to get the handball chains going and move the ball quickly. It was very, very good to see the mostly accurate goalkicking - those extra sessions you mentioned, Mega, must be paying off. Our pressure in the second half, and especially in the fourth quarter when I gather the wind was against us, was largely excellent. Some though not all of Tasmania's fourth-quarter inaccuracy can be put down to Port Melbourne pressure - there were definitely some unforced errors on their part (it's good to be on the right side for once of a game decided partly by inaccurate goalkicking), but three of the behinds were rushed and we did force them into a few low-percentage shots.
I don't think we were making the best use of Hird in the first half and especially in the second quarter. I was not pleased to see him named forward on the team sheet; on the one hand, perhaps I was wrong given that he did kick 2 goals in a 4-point win and still had an impact in the midfield starting partway through the third quarter (that isn't when he first lined up in the midfield again but is when he started playing solely as a midfielder again). On the other hand, if he'd been moved into the midfield sooner, do Tasmania get on quite such a big run in the second quarter? I'm not sure they do. Their second quarter clearance work was great, and I think Hird stops some of it if he's in there. He's generally good defensively in the midfield and is a strong tackler - going into this round he was equal 3rd for tackles among all VFL players, and he finishes the round in 6th despite not playing a full game in the midfield. So it was very strange to see Tasmania dominating through the midfield in the second quarter while one of our best mids was rarely in a position to touch the ball or lay a tackle because he was actually playing forward. Granted, part of the reason for moving him seems to have been to give Josh Green more midfield time - we have more players who are best played in the midfield than we have midfield spots. I'll concede that we haven't necessarily been making the best use of Green in recent weeks, and Green had some important plays as well. But playing Hird anywhere but the midfield for a significant portion of the game isn't making the best use of him either. Hawkins being in the midfield rotation while Hird was forward seemed a particularly strange choice.
We were definitely vulnerable to Tasmania's fast ball movement. Van Es has been in very good form since returning to the backline, and Graham and Gahan had some big plays as well - although Gahan did then make a number of mistakes in the fourth quarter even then he was still involved in a number of good chains of possession from the back half. It was a solid debut from Ryan Eyre as well. The usually well-informed commentators didn't seem to know his name, perhaps because he was wearing the number 30 jumper instead of the 29 he was listed with in the team announcement (at least I assume that was him as all others are accounted for with their usual numbers). But I'd say he's kept his spot for next week. Still, the second quarter, and the second half of the first quarter, showed some of the same mistakes we've made in other games where the opposition moves the ball so quickly that our backline is out of position.
We did have some very poor turnovers going forward again. Some of that may be down to the wind carrying the ball farther than expected, but there were some surprising turnovers by hand as well. Later in the game we did have enough composure to pick out forward 50 targets often enough to get the win, but it's still an area that could use some improvement. At times communication seemed to be an issue - for instance, at one point there was a ground ball that Tassie won, and it looked like Sparkman and Hobbs each thought the other was going for it. We definitely still miss George as he's one with a knack for getting into space and getting the ball moving.
A solid game from Penry despite Tassie winning the hitouts. As a side note, as far as Tassie's ruck goes, I've only watched a few of their games but I was more impressed with Owen today than I'd been with Mapley - presumably I'm missing something there since Mapley was first ruck and was drafted.
Manton has done his best work playing higher up the ground than usual this season. Good to see him more involved this week.
Baldwin up forward is working excellently. Bedendo still leading our goalkicking with 19, but Baldwin's not far behind with 16.
Downie was in great form again after a few quiet weeks.
Polkinghorne was quiet early but his fourth-quarter contributions were important.
Baldwin, Hobbs, Downie, Rankin, Van Es, Hird, Bedendo and Tovey were all particularly good today.
We're now just out of the 10 on percentage. The big losses to Sydney and Box Hill were costly with regard to percentage. If we can beat Williamstown, we'll finish the next round in the 10, although that will likely be short-lived given our bye. I don't think Williamstown will let us get away with playing even a single quarter poorly, but they clearly do have some vulnerabilities. At any rate we're very much in the finals race.
Great game by the girls as well. Very good to see them respond after Tassie got the lead early in the fourth and take the lead back to come away with the 25-point win. Not sure I agree with the commentators that we've had particular difficulty with second halves - the first half against North Melbourne-Werribee was less even than the score made it look, the first 10 minutes aside, and the second half against Darebin was more even than the score made it look. Regardless, 6.0 in the last quarter is a great effort. Communication and structure did seem to be breaking down in the third, but they regrouped pretty much the moment Tassie took the lead and responded. Jones, Caffry, Foran, Davidson, Ashley-Cooper all excellent. A very good debut from Dale as well - she should definitely keep her spot in the side. One goal to White but I thought she looked dangerous. We're now 6th on the ladder, though it will be interesting to see if anyone can challenge North Melbourne-Werribee this year.
Superb results for both the men's and women's sides yesterday. Agree that we looked really good early and late in the game... But that midfield dominance and clean movemen t out of the middle is a real worry. Still, I was mightily pleased with the way both sides responded to regain the lead late in the game is very encouraging and should help build belief in the two playing groups.
For the men, we are likely to regain George, Grant and Clarke in the next week for the Williamstown clash. They will be important ins.
I agree Manton playing across the ground worked well and I think that role might see him hold his place. Some ruck work from him also was notable.
Penry, up against quality talls did well and will be better from this seasons exposure as a first ruckman in Grants absence.
The arch rivals will be tough to beat, and are coming off a loss against a solid Coburg side, so it shapes up as an evenly matched contest.
I thought Sparkman did some really telling things at different stages of the game and overall there is plenty of upside given that we didn't play anywhere near our best in those two middle quarters.
A very healthy crowd rolled up and I wish we could draw those sorts of numbers on a weekly basis. The Devils supporters probably outnumbered us and made plenty of noise. Good signs for their future.
Spiny I'll be. Overseas for several weeks- may I ask.are you able to stream the game to a smart tv from.iverseas ?.sounds like a basic question however when we played Brisbane I was unable to do so and same with my next door neighbour whose also a port fan saying that it isn't possible and that it was a restriction put on.
17 PREMIERSHIPS, 19 X Runners up
THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
I'M PORT MELBURNE BORN, I'M PORT MELBOURNE BRED, I'LL BE PORT UNTIL I'M DEAD!!!
Mega, I currently just watch games on my laptop as I don't have a TV, but in the past I've been able to stream games to a TV with no problems, and I know that it's still possible in the US as my parents are able to stream games to their TV. For the 7 games a VPN set to Australia is needed to watch at all, but I don't know if that would make it possible to stream the others to a TV - no VPN is needed for streaming to the TV in the US, but the restrictions may not be the same in all countries. I know some websites like afltables are blocked in some countries and not others.
NorthPort, that's great news about George, Clarke, and Grant. Agreed on Sparkman and Penry as well. The fact that we've had difficulty playing a solid four quarters is definitely concerning, but as you say the team should at least be gaining in confidence from the wins.
The crowd looked great on the broadcast - glad to hear that was in fact the case. The broadcast picked up the cheering from both the Tassie and Port supporters - sounded like a great atmosphere.
That was great. Very pleased to see both the VFL and VFLW sides get the win. The men's game was perhaps a bit more exciting than necessary thanks to some unnecessary turnovers, but that was an excellent last quarter to retake the lead not once but three times. Absolutely brilliant final-quarter efforts from so many players - Baldwin, Hird, Rudd, Van Es, Rankin, Hobbs, Tovey, Bedendo, Downie, Dimattina, Polkinghorne, Sparkman all with good moments in the last and really I could name most of the team as it was an excellent group effort.
About halfway through the third I was mentally writing a post analysing everything that went wrong. Fortunately that pessimism turned out to be premature, though I'll be making use of some of that analysis below anyway. In that hypothetical post I was also going to state that I was refraining from sharing my thoughts on the umpiring. I still have very definite thoughts on the quality, or lack thereof, of today's umpiring, and it is perhaps better form to make such comments after a win than after a loss or draw, but at any rate the umpires did manage to recognize some free kicks going our way late, not to mention that 50-metre penalty.
Back to the game itself, and starting with positives since we pulled off the win. We definitely did look best when we were able to get the handball chains going and move the ball quickly. It was very, very good to see the mostly accurate goalkicking - those extra sessions you mentioned, Mega, must be paying off. Our pressure in the second half, and especially in the fourth quarter when I gather the wind was against us, was largely excellent. Some though not all of Tasmania's fourth-quarter inaccuracy can be put down to Port Melbourne pressure - there were definitely some unforced errors on their part (it's good to be on the right side for once of a game decided partly by inaccurate goalkicking), but three of the behinds were rushed and we did force them into a few low-percentage shots.
I don't think we were making the best use of Hird in the first half and especially in the second quarter. I was not pleased to see him named forward on the team sheet; on the one hand, perhaps I was wrong given that he did kick 2 goals in a 4-point win and still had an impact in the midfield starting partway through the third quarter (that isn't when he first lined up in the midfield again but is when he started playing solely as a midfielder again). On the other hand, if he'd been moved into the midfield sooner, do Tasmania get on quite such a big run in the second quarter? I'm not sure they do. Their second quarter clearance work was great, and I think Hird stops some of it if he's in there. He's generally good defensively in the midfield and is a strong tackler - going into this round he was equal 3rd for tackles among all VFL players, and he finishes the round in 6th despite not playing a full game in the midfield. So it was very strange to see Tasmania dominating through the midfield in the second quarter while one of our best mids was rarely in a position to touch the ball or lay a tackle because he was actually playing forward. Granted, part of the reason for moving him seems to have been to give Josh Green more midfield time - we have more players who are best played in the midfield than we have midfield spots. I'll concede that we haven't necessarily been making the best use of Green in recent weeks, and Green had some important plays as well. But playing Hird anywhere but the midfield for a significant portion of the game isn't making the best use of him either. Hawkins being in the midfield rotation while Hird was forward seemed a particularly strange choice.
We were definitely vulnerable to Tasmania's fast ball movement. Van Es has been in very good form since returning to the backline, and Graham and Gahan had some big plays as well - although Gahan did then make a number of mistakes in the fourth quarter even then he was still involved in a number of good chains of possession from the back half. It was a solid debut from Ryan Eyre as well. The usually well-informed commentators didn't seem to know his name, perhaps because he was wearing the number 30 jumper instead of the 29 he was listed with in the team announcement (at least I assume that was him as all others are accounted for with their usual numbers). But I'd say he's kept his spot for next week. Still, the second quarter, and the second half of the first quarter, showed some of the same mistakes we've made in other games where the opposition moves the ball so quickly that our backline is out of position.
We did have some very poor turnovers going forward again. Some of that may be down to the wind carrying the ball farther than expected, but there were some surprising turnovers by hand as well. Later in the game we did have enough composure to pick out forward 50 targets often enough to get the win, but it's still an area that could use some improvement. At times communication seemed to be an issue - for instance, at one point there was a ground ball that Tassie won, and it looked like Sparkman and Hobbs each thought the other was going for it. We definitely still miss George as he's one with a knack for getting into space and getting the ball moving.
A solid game from Penry despite Tassie winning the hitouts. As a side note, as far as Tassie's ruck goes, I've only watched a few of their games but I was more impressed with Owen today than I'd been with Mapley - presumably I'm missing something there since Mapley was first ruck and was drafted.
Manton has done his best work playing higher up the ground than usual this season. Good to see him more involved this week.
Baldwin up forward is working excellently. Bedendo still leading our goalkicking with 19, but Baldwin's not far behind with 16.
Downie was in great form again after a few quiet weeks.
Polkinghorne was quiet early but his fourth-quarter contributions were important.
Baldwin, Hobbs, Downie, Rankin, Van Es, Hird, Bedendo and Tovey were all particularly good today.
We're now just out of the 10 on percentage. The big losses to Sydney and Box Hill were costly with regard to percentage. If we can beat Williamstown, we'll finish the next round in the 10, although that will likely be short-lived given our bye. I don't think Williamstown will let us get away with playing even a single quarter poorly, but they clearly do have some vulnerabilities. At any rate we're very much in the finals race.
Great game by the girls as well. Very good to see them respond after Tassie got the lead early in the fourth and take the lead back to come away with the 25-point win. Not sure I agree with the commentators that we've had particular difficulty with second halves - the first half against North Melbourne-Werribee was less even than the score made it look, the first 10 minutes aside, and the second half against Darebin was more even than the score made it look. Regardless, 6.0 in the last quarter is a great effort. Communication and structure did seem to be breaking down in the third, but they regrouped pretty much the moment Tassie took the lead and responded. Jones, Caffry, Foran, Davidson, Ashley-Cooper all excellent. A very good debut from Dale as well - she should definitely keep her spot in the side. One goal to White but I thought she looked dangerous. We're now 6th on the ladder, though it will be interesting to see if anyone can challenge North Melbourne-Werribee this year.
Superb results for both the men's and women's sides yesterday. Agree that we looked really good early and late in the game... But that midfield dominance and clean movemen t out of the middle is a real worry. Still, I was mightily pleased with the way both sides responded to regain the lead late in the game is very encouraging and should help build belief in the two playing groups.
For the men, we are likely to regain George, Grant and Clarke in the next week for the Williamstown clash. They will be important ins.
I agree Manton playing across the ground worked well and I think that role might see him hold his place. Some ruck work from him also was notable.
Penry, up against quality talls did well and will be better from this seasons exposure as a first ruckman in Grants absence.
The arch rivals will be tough to beat, and are coming off a loss against a solid Coburg side, so it shapes up as an evenly matched contest.
I thought Sparkman did some really telling things at different stages of the game and overall there is plenty of upside given that we didn't play anywhere near our best in those two middle quarters.
A very healthy crowd rolled up and I wish we could draw those sorts of numbers on a weekly basis. The Devils supporters probably outnumbered us and made plenty of noise. Good signs for their future.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Spiny I'll be. Overseas for several weeks- may I ask.are you able to stream the game to a smart tv from.iverseas ?.sounds like a basic question however when we played Brisbane I was unable to do so and same with my next door neighbour whose also a port fan saying that it isn't possible and that it was a restriction put on.
17 PREMIERSHIPS, 19 X Runners up
THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
I'M PORT MELBURNE BORN, I'M PORT MELBOURNE BRED, I'LL BE PORT UNTIL I'M DEAD!!!
Mega, I currently just watch games on my laptop as I don't have a TV, but in the past I've been able to stream games to a TV with no problems, and I know that it's still possible in the US as my parents are able to stream games to their TV. For the 7 games a VPN set to Australia is needed to watch at all, but I don't know if that would make it possible to stream the others to a TV - no VPN is needed for streaming to the TV in the US, but the restrictions may not be the same in all countries. I know some websites like afltables are blocked in some countries and not others.
NorthPort, that's great news about George, Clarke, and Grant. Agreed on Sparkman and Penry as well. The fact that we've had difficulty playing a solid four quarters is definitely concerning, but as you say the team should at least be gaining in confidence from the wins.
The crowd looked great on the broadcast - glad to hear that was in fact the case. The broadcast picked up the cheering from both the Tassie and Port supporters - sounded like a great atmosphere.
If you get a chance (and it's still accessible) the SEN Tasmania radio team do a terrific (and biased) call of the game.
MegaA, I can make games (replays) available to you if you are having no success with the VPNs.
Fraser Rosman is the other core player due back next week that I fogot to mention.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
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