Well, that wasn’t exactly unexpected… Was it?

Round 3 saw a matchup with the 2014 premiers, and to be honest, watching it brought back a lot of 2014 memories. Targets were missed – by hand and foot, we seemed to have lost the few split seconds that we had gained in the first couple of rounds, bad positioning around contests, too many passengers, and a depleted bench after the first quarter made the going very tough. The only things worse than our skills in the windy conditions was the TV production (Did anyone actually see where Birchall kicked that apparently monster goal from?)

I don’t want this blog to be too negative, but it has to be said that too many players turned in a shocker on Sunday, with the charge disappointingly led by two big improvers of the first two rounds, Roughead down back, and Stringer up forward. Bad games are going to happen, but all of the young blokes are going to have to learn how to make an impact on the game when things just aren’t going their way. I only single these two out because I see them solidly in our best 22 for the coming years. Cordy, Goodes, Dickson and JJ all turned in well below par performances but I don’t necessarily see them in the same category.

There were a number of shining lights though, the brightest of which was undoubtedly Tom Boyd. The big recruit did everything we could ask of him and was clearly our best player in my opinion, and wasn’t it good watching him out position and out mark Brian Lake a few times. Money well spent here.

Lukas Webb played a great first game, got in good positions and read the play well with a couple of big spoils and interceptions. I was surprised to see that he only had 10 possessions, which is a good sign I guess, he was right there in the thick of the action.

Dahlhaus and Jong continued their pretty good seasons, and were vital cogs in our spluttering engine. The more games these two play like this the better we’ll be as a whole.

Injuries obviously hurt us badly, both before and during the game. We missed the cool head of MBoyd and the silky skills of Bontempelli badly, and losing Morris and Wallis pretty early on certainly didn’t do us any favours. Nathan Hrovat and Koby Stevens got the late call ups for TheBont and MBoyd, and both worked into the game, Hrovat becoming one of our better players in the second half. Both players will be better for the run.

This week on the track I think we need Talia kicking on the run. Non. Stop. He reads the play well, can take a grab, and generally looks like a natural. Until he has to kick on the run. Awkward style, rarely hits a target under any sort of pressure. I like the kid, but a lot of work is needed.

Round 3 votes:
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3. TBoyd
2. Dahlhaus
1. Jong

As for changes for Adelaide next week, I predict Hrovat will keep his spot with Wallis being out for a couple with back problems.

Predicted changes:
Out: Morris (inj), Wallis (inj), Cordy, Stevens
In: MBoyd, Bontempelli, Redpath, Roberts

Those are in order of likelyhood, with the first two being dead certs, the third a distinct possibility (please!), and the Stevens/Roberts change being pretty unlikely. Stevens did nothing wrong, but Roberts may cover the loss of Morris down back a little better. He could also make us too tall though. I’m glad I’m not on the selection panel.