Good, Bad and Ugly- Finals Edition

[alex_is_on_fire]

Ugly; Why didn't we go man-on-man?

Because at the end of the day, we only have a handful of player who have the ability to actually perform at the level whist playing man on man football.

We play a style of football that will beat young, bad and inexperienced sides but once we play good sides and we want to play man on man, we get found out. We're not as good as we believe we are.

 

[ftmch]

Bad
We lost to our bitches

I think this formally ends the era of them being our bitches

 

[King Elvis]

And Talia broke his arm RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME; was obviously straight away - his hand went completely limp and was just hanging there.


At the ground, I thought we did play man on man? Our zone didn't setup based on space, our players were following theirs everywhere...

 

[BigLefty]

* the fact that I couldn't scream '****' really loudly when it would have made me feel so much better.

why not?

good post, but i thought Radar was our best today. Truck was good though.

 

[Vader]

VB had a shocker and the only captain thing he did was that goal. 13 possessions from your skipper who is playing on the wing is unacceptable.

VB actually had a very good game. He started on Jetta and had him virtually silenced, then was moved to McGlynn after he was running rampant - and quietened him down as well. Fairly sure he was playing on Goodes too later in the game, while Goodes was up the field (Smith took him when he went forward). VB might not have had a lot of the ball himself, but he played a damn fine Captain's game - worthy of BTM votes.

 

[BACCS]

Not sure how Michael Doughty can be talked about as having a good game when A) he was a defender and B) the player he was on tore us a new one with his pace and speed.

I guess as long as he get a few touches, that's ok.

Haha, you have got to be ****ing kidding me Alex.

 

[Elite Crow]

VB actually had a very good game. He started on Jetta and had him virtually silenced, then was moved to McGlynn after he was running rampant - and quietened him down as well. Fairly sure he was playing on Goodes too later in the game, while Goodes was up the field (Smith took him when he went forward). VB might not have had a lot of the ball himself, but he played a damn fine Captain's game - worthy of BTM votes.

Really? Because where I sat, I'm sure VB started on Goodes and Doughty was on Jetta.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Haha, you have got to be ******* kidding me Alex.

Jetta played like a weak arse bitch did he?

Thought not.

Defenders are supposed to defend. I know it's a novel idea but it's sport 101.

He tore us a new one.

 

[Trevanian]

Good;

Thompson: under pressure all day, his disposal not the best but when you have Sydney players hanging off you all day and no chop-outs it's still a gutsy effort, never stopped. A lot of others in the team can learn from him.

Smith: wow just gets better! Can we clone this guy?

Douglas Reilly and Truck: lets play the kids brigade silent for at least one week on this board.

Mackay did okay.... i noticed him, that's a start and some nice incisive runs

Douglas like Mackay at least put in.

The Crowd, bless'em never stopped. But you can't make a silk purse out of a Sow's ear.

VB Played a captain's game shut out Jedda

BAD;

No point having the ball if you can't do anything with it

Poor set shot's for goal. reminds me of MCG vs Hawks earlier in the year

Not enough courage shown by some players to have a shot for goals but a cop-out trying for the perfect pass which after first quarter was evidently not going to happen against this Awesome Sydney Side.

Tippet seriosuly i am getting to the stage of Put up or Shutup. Just HAS to find the Pill next week, Cloke >>>> Tippet by a country mile. Prove me wrong or GTFO and go to GC. Spare me he's important for structure's crap at least for this week, Kick a few then get back to me.

Shaw lets not hate him, understand he is young and learning, he is 9% of 91% of the Crap the rest of the team put out. Noticeable when magnified but take a larger perspective.

Vince...sigh love the guy but %&%me sideways can you for ONCE this year do something....You cannot expect Dangerfield, Sloane and Especially Thommo to do EVERYTHING, Grow up.....MAN Up, stop manscaping and get me 35+ Possies next week or seriously trade bait. Let's not remind ourselves of what we know he has been in the past....people SMITH > Vince enough said.

We need tackles!!!!! That STICK.

Walker i love you.....but please USE your hands when taking a mark!!!!!! Hands>Chest

Ugly;

Game Plan under pressure, Sydney tore us a new one. Fun Fact? We won't play them till the GF!

Summation:

WE Can win next week, fact. I know we will. Geelong or Freo we got'em.

Sydney were magnificent the whole is greater than the parts. Umps played no part in it. We got what we deserved.

 

[Hinkstuff]

Good
- subbing our third highest goal kicker in the last quarter when four goals down and immediately after he kicks a goal. Sorry but what the?

The paperwork to sub him was probably already written up before he kicked the goal. He was likely told at 3/4 time that he was getting subbed out and that he had 5 minutes to do something and to be honest before he kicked that goal he never really looked close to kicking one anyway.

 

[King Elvis]

Exaggerating much? I'm sure someone with 23 disposals has has less than 65% disposal efficiency. How about Porps with 10 possessions at 50%, are you trying to say he was better than Vince?

They were both shit mate.

Vince plays with no intensity, just drifts along trying to avoid getting dirty.

VB is just average; and he struggles under pressure.

Porps is a shadow of himself; we tried all year to get him back in form, just when we thought he was close, he's gone again.

DOUGLAS WAS TERRIBLE. I've stuck up for him all year, but he was rubbish today. HIS DECISION MAKING IS A JOKE; the amount of times he turned it over or made it someone else's problem was absolutely incredible. He gets next week to redeem himself, if he doesn't, I'd trade him. We don't need a team full of players who crack under pressure. Reckon he squibbed a couple too.

Pets and Callinan were both absolutely rubbish. Pets should've been in his element today, and played like a wrecking ball in close, but he was a non event. Johncock was shit too. We have too many small forwards.

Tippett - poor game, and very worrying. I've always given him leeway because he's a fierce competitor, and even if he's having a bad day, he'll just keep busting his arse... He didn't do that today - his work rate was shithouse, and he gave us nothing.

Shaw - worse game I've seen him play. Was soft at the contest, provided very little run, and his disposals were horrible, another who would constantly give it to a player in an even worse position, because he ****ed up.


Thommo was a beast, Smith was very good, Paddy tried, Sloaney was great. Dmc was very good, and at least tried to run and carry.

Tex didn't work hard enough today - he deflated after those early misses, starting dropping marks, and didn't work hard enough to get involved. We needed him and Kurt working up the wings to get out of the crowded back line, and give us an option.

 

[Vader]

I'm mainly going by what the commentators said. They were definite about him starting on Jetta. It's hard to see the match ups from the TV coverage, so I'm definitely not sticking my neck out saying "this is definitely the way it was and I'm 100% right about it".

 

[Elite Crow]

I'm mainly going by what the commentators said. They were definite about him starting on Jetta. It's hard to see the match ups from the TV coverage, so I'm definitely not sticking my neck out saying "this is definitely the way it was and I'm 100% right about it".

I sat on the wing and VB was definitely on Goodes at the start and for large chunks of the first qtr.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Very ugly:

Matthew Pavlich is going to have a field day next week. He is giving Geelong a merry dance. 3 goals in 15 mins of football.

 

[A FEW GOOD MEN]

I sat on the wing and VB was definitely on Goodes at the start and for large chunks of the first qtr.

Correct weight E.C.

Sando moved Brodie Smith on him in the second half. Basically Goodes plays wherever he likes. When he moved from the midfield to the forward line we tended to lose him. He would often charge forward hoping that Sydney would get a turnover and when that happened we couldn't catch him

 

[OrdinaryJoel]

Good:

• We played the contested brand of footy.
• Doughty getting amongst it with Radar and Rutten as well, proving most of us doubters wrong.
• Tex's work rate in 1st half, sadly not rewarded.
• Rory Sloane's 2nd half was very crucial.
• Brodie Smith was impressive with his run and disposal.
• Mackay's run and carry was a staple from half back, needed more from others to do the same.
• Scotty Thompson was at his hard-edged best, albeit the opposition planned for him.
• Cannot faulter Dangerfields endeavour and will for the contest, but he needs to learn to refrain a bit.
• Inside 50's was won, meaning we played ok from the midfield (until...)

Bad:

• INSIDE 50'S WASTED!
• Vince was putrid, not good enough from a classy mid/fwd.
• Porps, Pets, Nutta, Wright, Sauce, Shaw, Tippett and the list goes on of players who played below average.
• The delivery from our midfielders was ****ing deplorable! Reminiscent of Craigy's ploy to bomb it on the heads of our fowards.
• The stagnant players who did not bust a gut to give the player with the ball an option up field. It is a bad habit when we are in a down patch.
• Umpiring, I must say Footy Park must not be our home. We get on the bad side of the Free kick scale each and every time.

Ugly:

• Commentating, with Hamish, Basil and Kirky mentioning the 'Bloods' every ****ing time!
• Injuries and potential injuries on both fronts. Sad to see Talia gone for the year, and hopefully Danger plays next week.

Overall, a ****ing sad and frustrating game to watch. C'mon Freo, I'd rather Adelaide face you guys!

 

[Adelaide Cows]

The Good
Lifted intensity in the second half, captured the momentum.
Douglas's first quarter
Dogga, Reilly and Truck - Experience Counts
The BadCouldn't string two goals together when we'd gained the momentum in the third and forth.
Selection - We needed Jenkins in the rotation. One tall is never enough in finals.
Tippett no longer clunking them (confidence)
Our goa; kicking at home, compared to theirs
The Ugly
Some sections of our supporters turning on players (particulary those out of contract)
Talia

 

[Tex200]

In summary we played a lot of good hard finals footy and we created a lot o good scoring chances. bottom line we kick 1.7. In addition we missed some easy running goals and a number of gettable snaps.
I don't think we should be judging anyone too harshly other than those who wasted the hard work done down field.

if we play like that next week and take our chances we will be ok.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

The Bad:

The number of players who have predominately been picked this year on reputation and not actual form:

Porp
Tippett
Douglas
Vince
Doughty

Doughty aside, the rest swung from average to horrible today. Maybe the writing has been on the wall for awhile.

 

[Robfan100]

The Good
Lifted intensity in the second half, captured the momentum.
Douglas's first quarter
Dogga, Reilly and Truck - Experience Counts
The BadCouldn't string two goals together when we'd gained the momentum in the third and forth.
Selection - We needed Jenkins in the rotation. One tall is never enough in finals.
Tippett no longer clunking them (confidence)
Our goa; kicking at home, compared to theirs
The Ugly
Some sections of our supporters turning on players (particulary those out of contract)
Talia

This. So called supporters rubbishing the crap out of the players from halfway thru the first quarter. We had 9 players who hadn't played in a final and none of the players went out to intentionally lose the game.

And to the 4' high midget that abused the players as they walked off at the end of the game, I'd like to see you play better than any of the players on the ground. Disgraceful behaviour. We won't make the same mistakes next week. We'll bounce back.

 

[NTRabbit]

I sat on the wing and VB was definitely on Goodes at the start and for large chunks of the first qtr.

VB most definitely started on Goodes out on the wing, and spent much of the first quarter on him with very little effect.

 

[OrdinaryJoel]

The Bad:

The number of players who have predominately been picked this year on reputation and not actual form:

Porp
Tippett
Douglas
Vince
Doughty

Doughty aside, the rest swung from average to horrible today. Maybe the writing has been on the wall for awhile.

It was just an off game, chill the **** out. People need to just thing rationally, these guys are a lock for best 22 all day, everyday.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Sigh... I hate September

Today was sooooo familiar. It was Crows Finals Football in a nutshell.

Ugly
We fumbled. Could not handle the ball cleanly to save ourselves, even our better players. Anytime we needed to do something quickly or cleanly we didn't.

We panicked. Rushed ourselves into errors on countless occasions. If there's some heat, take the tackle, get your hands free and find a team mate. Sydney managed to do this all day. We coughed up the footy.

We were careful with the ball. Slow, sideways chipping was back with a vengeance. No run. Fifty fewer handball receives than Sydney - and Sydney are not a run-and-carry team by any measure. It was like the 2009 Semi Final second half all over again.

Disposal errors. How many kicks and handballs hit the ground? I know it was a final and there is pressure around but it was a comedy at times. Add finals pressure, a good opposition and a tricky wind and that was enough for our skill level to go through the floor.

Mindless Bombing. I thought we'd ditched this proven failure of a tactic out the window this season. Boy, was it back in vogue. We kicked HIGH. We did not spot up any short targets. We did not lift our eyes. It meant that we didn't keep Malceski and Mattner accountable. As a result they were able to zone off all day and create 2 on 1's.

In summary... when pressured we fell back into all our old bad habits. One loss does not undo a season of work but it's a reminder that Sando can't just wave a wand over a playing group that has hovered between non-entity and finals flop for the last 13 years.

Good
The David Mackay attitude. Why can't more of our players play like this? He did not play a perfect game by any stretch but he seemed to actually want to do something about the situation we were in. He tried to impact the game and - take note Patty - still managed to engage his brain while doing so.

Effort, Daring PLUS Brains

That is what's needed. Too many of our players played with 100% intensity and effort but no poise, decision-making or finesse (Dangerfield, Petrenko) or played an ok 'numbers game' without any risk, daring or hurt factor (Doughty, Vince).

Bad
Nathan van Berlo. Had a real Neil Maxwell. Started with a fluffed chest mark and got run ragged by Goodes in the first half. Absolutely taken to the cleaners and had to be relieved by second year player Brodie Smith. His goal was great but that was his only positive moment. We desperately needed leadership and for someone to stand up and show us the way - sadly VB couldn't provide it.

Jason Porplyzia - worst game he's ever played

Richard Douglas - very promising first quarter but disgustingly bad after that

Matthew Wright, Jared Petrenko, Ian Callinan - had absolutely no impact

Kurt Tippett - struggled to get into the game at all. Confidence seems low, dropped marks, whinged to the umpires, didn't get to enough contests, kicked along the ground at goal when they had a player back... close contest with Petrenko, Shaw and Porplyzia for worst on ground.

Sam Shaw - struggled big time.

 

[King Elvis]

Another thing in the very ugly.

I couldn't believe the number of times one of our players would take a mark or win a free; look upfield to see open players, not kick it.. Wait 5 seconds until Sydney had covered all the free players... AND THEN KICK IT TO THE SAME SPOT THEY SHOULD HAVE TO START WITH... BEFORE ALL OF THE SYDNEY PLAYERS GOT THERE!!!

 

[Elite Crow]

Sigh... I hate September

Today was sooooo familiar. It was Crows Finals Football in a nutshell.
......

Close the thread because there is nothing more to discuss. This post sums it up perfectly.