CARvsESS – JLT Review

Written by Schwarzwalder on March 1 2019

(Written & Created By The Salamander)

 

Well, that was surprisingly intense for a JLT game. Then again, these are two teams that absolutely hate each other, so maybe it isn’t that surprising.

And now, some observations:

* Both teams were intent on playing fast, attacking football. This new style let Carlton kick 100 points for the first time in a couple of years, so that’s a good sign. Both teams – especially Essendon – went into kick-mark mode in the second quarter, and, for a little while, the scoring dried up. It was very hot, and quite humid, so that might have been a factor in the game slowing down for a little while. More likely, though, is that it was the coaches wanting to tighten things up after a frenetic, free-scoring opening quarter. Which ultimately leads me to a point I’ve made a couple of times before: it’s the coaches, not rule changes, that drive the style in which the game is played.

* Continuing on from that last point, I said last week that 6-6-6 and the new kick-in rules hadn’t noticeably affected the game. That was still the case tonight. I think of all the rule changes, the one that might have the biggest effect on the game is that the umpires are now much more inclined to pay a free-kick for off-the-ball scuffles. This is not to say this will affect the game much, but the other rules will affect it even less.

* Essendon was playing the younger brigade – Parish, McGrath, AMT, and co. – in the midfield, with most of the more experienced mids taking a back-seat, and Merrett and Heppell coming off entirely after half time. This is clearly not how they’re going to do things in the season proper, so for this reason, we shouldn’t draw any conclusions from Essendon’s midfield setup tonight. I suspect a fair few people will be tempted by McGrath’s performance; he was indeed magnificent, but will he still be playing midfield come round 1? Don’t jump on just yet.

* Walsh is magnificent. And he’s worth every cent of the $207,300 he’ll cost your team. Top draft picks over the last few years haven’t been the greatest rookies. I promise you it’s different this time. Pick him

* Setterfield is pretty great, too. If you haven’t already locked him in, do so now.

* Gibbons is interesting. He played very well, but, in contrast to his time in the VFL, he mostly played forward. Now, he’ll play, and, at $102,400, he’ll make plenty of cash. But unless he spends more time in the midfield in JLT2, you might not want to put him on the field.

* SPS (FWD, $364,900), Fisher (FWD/MID, $392,800), Dow (FWD/MID, $323,500), and Cuningham (DEF, $250,100) all had high midfield minutes, and will continue to do so. And they played well, too. If you’re in a draft league, you should definitely bump all four of them up your order a bit. And as cheap forward (or backline, in Cuningham’s case) options in Classic, they’re worth keeping an eye on between now and round 1.

* Hello, Newman! He’s got Docherty’s running/distributing role, he had a ton of the ball, and he’s really cheap. The Phantom declared after the game that he’ll be a top-8 defender, and I agree. You need him.

* Speaking of mid-priced defenders, Weitering (DEF, $354,400) was eye-catching to say the least. As with the quartet I named two points ago, he’s one to bump up the draft order, and watchlist for JLT2.

* In proof that the eye test isn’t everything, Cameron Polson (FWD, $191,800) and Thomas Jok (MID, $117,400) looked lively at times, but scored just 22 points each.

* Jordan Ridley (DEF, $233,100) was in everything for the Bombers. He’s more expensive than your usual rookie, but he’s worth keeping an eye on in JLT2.

* Phillips was the number 1 ruck for Carlton, with Lobbe giving a bit of support, whilst Clarke had the duties for the Bombers. If either Phillips ($278,800) or Clarke ($142,600) could get a sustained run as their club’s no. 1 ruck, they’d be perfect R2s. I’m not sure what the ETA on Bellchambers is, but Kreuzer is expected to be ready for round 1. Neither of them are the most durable players, however, so you never know. Even playing as second-fiddle, Clarke is cheap enough to be a good R3 – he’ll make some cash, and will provide handy bench coverage.

* This has nothing to do with SuperCoach, but I’ve long been critical of Bolton for playing Dale Thomas in the backline, on the grounds that he’s generally been rubbish at it. Today, however, Dale Thomas played an excellent game in the back-half, so credit where it’s due.

* Garlett is still playing in Carlton’s backline, even after last week’s effort. Luckily for both him and the club, he was a lot better at this this week.

* Essendon still has the loudest fans in the AFL. The part of the ground I was sitting in was probably 85 % Carlton, 10 % opposition scouts, and 5 % Essendon, but it didn’t sound that way whenever they kicked a goal!

* Daniher played, but he’s nowhere near 100 % yet.

* As predicted, with Cripps and Fisher back in the middle, Charlie Curnow went back to playing virtually 100 % forward. Jack Silvagni was still getting some midfield minutes, but not enough to suggest he’s going to surge into SuperCoach relevance.

Let me know if you have any questions about the game.

SC-scores from Ben……..

CARLTON

P. Cripps 124

W. Setterfield 113

S. Walsh 102

D. Cuningham 100

N. Newman 97

J. Weitering 92

D. Thomas 88

S. Petrevski 86

A. Phillips 81

E. Curnow 75

Z. Fisher 72

H. McKay 71

M. Gibbons 68

P. Dow 65

K. Simpson 62

C. Curnow 62

M. Murphy 61

J. Garlett 54

J. Silvagni 50

M. Lobbe 43

L. Jones 42

L. Plowman 38

M. McGovern 27

C. Polson 22

A. Schumacher 4

ESSENDON

J. Ridley 97

M. Brown 97

J. Stringer 93

Z. Clarke 89

A. Francis 85

A. McGrath 85

A. McDonald-Tipungwuti 82

M. Hartley 82

C. McKenna 80

A. Saad 79

D. Zaharakis 79

P. Ambrose 72

M. Guelfi 64

M. Hurley 61

J. Long 56

D. Heppell 56

D. Smith 54

D. Shiel 50

D. Parish 44

J. Laverde 41

K. Langford 35

J. Daniher 35

Z. Merrett 27

M. Baguley 25

T. Jok 22

S. McKernan 10

**If you watch any of the JLT Series (live or on TV) and write a similar match report in our Forum, you will also get your own thread…….great work, Salamander!**

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17 thoughts on “CARvsESS – JLT Review”

    1. From what I saw, he seemed to spend a fair amount of time in the midfield. This is mainly due to Zerrett and Heppell coming off at half time where Smith only played the 2nd half. Shiel was also off for the final quarter. Smith had 12 disposals with 5 being contested, had 4 I50 and 3 clearances.

      From this I would take very little from his role last night, you will have to wait until JLT 2 and see how well they line-up the midfield.

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  1. Jesus christ Cunners looked amazing for Carlton, I think we’ve finally got a decent crummer in the team.

    Walsh is an absolute lock should average 80 odd
    Gibbons nice fwd pressure and kicked a few. Basement priced no brainer
    Newman very good first half but fell asleep in the second with 4 kicks, 3 tackles and 1 mark. Watchlisted however

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  2. No change. Cripps, Walsh, Setterfield and Gibbons (on bench) locked.
    Great stuff you two. Thanks for sharing observations and numbers 🙂

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  3. Not good signs for the Bombers the only reason they got back into it in the last quarter was that they had a lot of players who’d played limited minutes to that stage/fresher legs. When they get outplayed by a team of kids who won another wooden spoon last year the bombers need to reassess what their prospects are for 2019. Based on last nights game they wont finish top 8. I hope everybody jumps off Merrett now and has a look at McGrath ( I’ve been suggesting it for weeks and getting heaps of thumbs downs for it)
    Ridley looks good as did cunningham, so many bargains in the backline this year I’m thinking of starting only 1 Premo priced def and loading up in the middle

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    1. Results means very little in the JLT. I will bring up a reminder of the years 2007 and 2005. Carlton won the Nab cup both years, but then finished 15th and the won the wooden spoon in those same years. Also look at what players were played on a restricted time plan, like Zerrett, Heppell, Smith. Don’t be so quick to judge

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    2. I honestly would not read into JLT form a hell of a lot based on teams projected performances. Everyone jumped off the eagles after they got belted by Free this time last year and look what happened. Now I’m not saying that the Bombers are going to replicate what the Eagles did, but I would by no means write them off based on tonight

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    1. Ambrose ran with CCurnow for a bit. Don’t tend to see much tagging in JLT, so again, don’t read too much into JLT.
      The 3rd year players and up are simply going through the motions in the hope they don’t get injured. The rookies are playing for their AFL careers!

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  4. At this point is selecting players players who may get a point boost from the kick in still worth looking at? Or just try to pick the guys playing mid over them?
    Or just won’t get a good read until Lloyd, witherden, hurt, Ryan etc have a crack.
    Know it’s early but thoughts so far.

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    1. Have never really considered it and won’t. Frankly, it annoys the bejaysus out of me. Will start Lloyd tho’ simply cos I’m fairly certain he’ll play 22 games and be a top6 DEF. Whitfield the only other premo for me. I don’t count Zac Williams as a premo. Yet!

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    2. Only if they’re already a premium (e.g. Lloyd) or close enough to it (Tuohy, for example).

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  5. Liked the look of Francis myself. Scored well from limited possessions, 15 at 87%DE, 7 contested and 3 one percenters. Same SC score as Mcgrath

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    1. Alex

      I wouldn’t worry too much about Premo performances in JLT.

      They often “make way” in their roles to give the younger “fringe” players a proper run.

      Simo / Smith etc will be back to their old scoring R1 ,when there’s points on the line.

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    2. He took some, along with Thomas, Plowman, and Newman. This quartet seems to be the designated kick-in group for the Blues this year, with the closest of the four to take it.

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