FOOTY IS BACK! And with that is my first review of the season. I’m trying something a little different with this one – before the game began, I sat down and wrote some points based on how I thought the game would play out and how I thought certain players would play. I didn’t get them all right, I’m no Nostradamus after all – but I was pretty happy with these “expectations” and how they played out.
Both teams came in with a number of new faces: Rioli and Noble debuting for the Suns, and for West Coast there was Graham, Baker, Owies and Archer Reid debuting. A couple of big outs in the middle for West Coast in Sheed and Yeo, and they were sorely missed. The game was really won in the middle with guys like Rowell, Anderson and Miller receiving silver service from Witts, the sheer weight of clearances they were able to win led to an avalanche of inside 50’s that West Coast could only defend for so long.
Gold Coast struggled to win away from home last season, so they would be very pleased with running out 87-point winners in the first game of the season over in Perth. We all know West Coast is in a rebuilding phase, but this was as comprehensive a win as you’ll see. There were winners all over the park for Gold Coast, whereas for West Coast it was a little harder to take any positives out of the gam,e but Baker and Graham fought hard all day (unlike some of their more fancied teammates), Ginbey was good in defence, and Owies looks to be a shrewd pickup.
A couple of big injuries for both teams, with Ballard subbed out with a knee injury that is hopefully not too serious, and Waterman subbed out with a calf. Gold Coast would be very pleased with their first game of the season, and unfortunately it looks like another long season for West Coast. So let’s get stuck into the “expectations”:
“Gold Coast to record their first win of the season”
Not exactly groundbreaking I know, but boy did they do it comprehensively. The midfield trio of Anderson, Rowell and Miller combined for 39 clearances – to put that into perspective, West Coast’s entire team had 33 clearances. These three blokes were immense in the middle, and a lot of it came down to attitude and/or work rate. They wanted this win, they wanted it badly, and it showed in the way they went about it. This clearance domination lead to 67 inside 50’s for the match, in the first quarter alone Gold Coast went inside 50 on 23 occasions, West Coast only four. The game was almost out of reach after the first quarter if not for Gold Coast being slightly wasteful going forward and squandering some opportunities.
Their forward line really clicked as well, Ethan Read was a handy foil for Ben King, keeping Jeremy McGovern busy after kicking the first goal of the game. Ben King attacked the ball like I’ve never seen him do before on his way to six goals and took a nice hanger, as well. Ben Long worked his backside off for his four goals, Rogers added some flair with three goals of his own, and new recruit Rioli managed to slot two goals, himself, playing halfback. It really was all one way traffic, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Suns player who didn’t contribute today.
“McGovern to record ten intercepts”
This one did not come to fruition. He had seven intercept possessions for the game, and I actually expected him to have more than ten with the sheer amount of ball that was coming in. But as I mentioned earlier, Ethan Read did a pretty good job of making McGovern accountable, and there weren’t too many occasions where he was able to come off his man and impact aerially. Too often young Harry Edwards found himself one out on Ben King with no support, and although he tried hard, King was just too good for him in that matchup.
I don’t think McQualter changed that match up at any point – perhaps aiming for a bit of a baptism of fire for young Edwards, but geez it’s tough way to learn the caper.
“Allen and Waterman to kick 6 goals between them”
This one also didn’t go to plan – although it looked good early in the first quarter when Waterman got West Coast’s first, and then Allen got their second – unfortunately these were the only two goals the entire team kicked for the first half! It wasn’t really the fault of Waterman or Allen, they just got no service. Considering the way the game played and the fact that Waterman went off injured, they actually did well to kick 4 goals between them. If West Coast can sort out their midfield, these two are always dangerous up forward.
“Harley Reid to have at least three fend offs/Harley Reid’s future to be mentioned at least three times in commentary”
This one didn’t happen either, and to be honest it was probably because Harley was virtually non-existent in this one, there wasn’t really too many opportunities for the commentators to mention him!
I don’t want to be too hard on a guy who is only in his second season, but in this game we saw the two sides of Harley Reid. He struggled to get into the game playing largely forward, and then after slotting a fantastic goal from just outside 50, he attended the next centre bounce where he lined up on Touk Miller. Gold Coast won the clearance and the players began running towards Gold Coast’s goal, Reid pushed Miller over, and then just wandered off. Meanwhile, Miller got back to his feet and ran hard to collect the next disposal and goaled on the run with Reid nowhere in sight.
No doubt, this kid has heaps of talent, but I think he needs to learn about the workrate of some of the better players in the league to really go to the next level. I also don’t think it’s a great look when your team is getting smashed, you are having no impact, and you’re constantly laughing and smiling like you don’t have a care in the world. I know he is only in his second year, but he is a number one pick and with that comes some expectations – expectations that I feel Reid did not meet in this game.
“Tim Kelly to show just how disinterested he is in football”
Never a good sign when a player comes out in pre-season saying he needs to find his love for the game again. An even worse sign when it’s a player on big money who cost you four draft picks, and based on today, I don’t think he has found his love for the game. He was part of a midfield unit that was thoroughly outworked, and while he wasn’t alone, there were times when he flat out looked disinterested.
While guys like Graham and Baker were fighting and chasing and tackling, Kelly seemed to just drift around on cruise control. A look at his stats might tell you he had an okay game, but the eye test showed me that this bloke maybe doesn’t want to be there right now, and it’s not a great look to have a senior player running around like that in a team that is rebuilding. I am sure he will have better games throughout the season, he has too much talent not to, but I hope for his and West Coast’s sake he figures out a way to love the game again because this team could really use a Tim Kelly in full flight.
“Witts to dominate Flynn in the ruck”
Well – I definitely got this right. Big Witts had 68 hit outs today, and while that stat can often be misleading, a lot of those hit outs were the reasons for Gold Coast’s clearance and midfield dominance. The combination of Flynn and Archer Reid could only manage 19 hit outs between them, and Witts’ dominance really gave Gold Coast an armchair ride in the middle, which is how the win was set up.
Some might say that having a good ruckman is not important, and hit outs stats mean nothing, but today that was not the case. In my opinion, Witts was a massive reason for Gold Coast’s dominance, and showed just how important a good ruckman can be.
“Ben Long to kick 2 goals as a direct result of his pressure and work rate”
He got four, and they all came as a result of hard work. His third goal, slotted from the boundary should be a goal of the year contender and not just because of the ridiculous angle he slotted it from. He was involved in the first contest where he flat out refused to let his opponent win that contest, he hit the ground, he then got back up and received a handball from a teammate – in a worse position that that teammate, and still managed to collect the ball before it went out and slot from an impossible angle.
While he may not have got any of his goals as a direct result of pressure (I was imagining a holding the ball inside 50) his work rate is what got him his four goals today. I love the way he goes about his footy, next time you watch a Gold Coast game, watch how hard Ben Long works, whether it is pressuring the opposition without the footy, or making lead after lead after lead to create space in the forward line, he works his backside off, and maybe some of the West Coast players I mentioned earlier could take a few notes off Long. He might not be the most talented small forward in the league, but he certainly gets the most of himself and earns every goal he kicks.
And that will do me. A comprehensive win for Gold Coast that makes me wonder is this the year they actually make finals? A tough day for West Coast who may be in for another long season.
Let me know what you think of this new format!
