Review Good/Bad/Ugly vs Richmond, R5 2022

[Coopers]

Someone tell me how it's possible that sometimes Bergs hands look like he's got double sided tape all over them, and other times KY.

Cos it's gaffa tape and concrete. One of each.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Cotchin could eat a baby on camera and still have a 15 way reach around with the media. Amazing he got a fine.

His wife breaks covid protocols... Victorian media sympathy.

Crows players played kick to kick... hang the players & the club.

 

[SydCrow]

His wife breaks covid protocols... Victorian media sympathy.

Crows players played kick to kick... hang the players & the club.

But he cleaned up the dressing room.

 

[jackster83]

His wife breaks covid protocols... Victorian media sympathy.

Crows players played kick to kick... hang the players & the club.

I'm convinced he's got incriminating photos of someone high up.

 

[Ciao Giacomo]

Yesterday Berry, Murphy, Matt, Laird & Keays combined for 377% which means there’s at least some deepening of the group and rotation through other roles. Plus Rochelle on top of that.

Perhaps you spilled something on the iPad. Murphy was not playing in the midfield, he was playing as a high half forward. He runs through the around the ground stoppages from the defensive side and has been quite effective. Rachele had short stints ias one of our inside mids in previous matches.

Laird, Berry, Crouch and Keays shared almost all of the “300%” inside mids time. Sloane had a couple of brief squirts.

 

[Slippery Pete]

The AFL is a chook raffle. Tribunal, umpiring, sanctions, trade and draft rules, you name it.

You forgot the biggest chook raffle of the lot — the fixture.

 

[Slippery Pete]

Someone tell me how it's possible that sometimes Bergs hands look like he's got double sided tape all over them, and other times KY.

I should change my name to KY Pete.

Reinvent myself.

 

[Bay62]

The fwd line looks so much better with mcadam in there and mchenry out of there...

McAdam up forward
Murphy in the middle
McHenry… still not sold on him

 

[rocket18]

McAdam up forward
Murphy in the middle
McHenry… still not sold on him

This is how it should've been, we've been pissing away games persisting with Rowe, Murph and Ned as our small forwards.

It is very straight forward, play Murph and Ned as predominantly midfielders or dont play them, they are not forwards.

Rowe gets a gig as a forward if injury permits a spot.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

This is how it should've been, we've been pissing away games persisting with Rowe, Murph and Ned as our small forwards.

It is very straight forward, play Murph and Ned as predominantly midfielders or dont play them, they are not forwards.

Rowe gets a gig as a forward if injury permits a spot.

& we could then run deeper midfield rotations.

 

[Dangarman]

You'll have to ask Champion Data about that

View attachment 1375133

Looking at the stats for other players, I think I have it figured out, sort of. There are three categories of possessions, contested, uncontested, and intercept. A possession can result in one of three outcomes - an effective disposal (which includes kicking long to a contest), a turnover(like disposal to opponents, fumble, out on full or dispossessed in tackle to opponent) , or the ball in dispute (which does not appear to be a Stat in itself, but I guess this includes things like ball spilled free in tackle, disposal across the boundary for a throw in, or bounce) . For some players turnovers plus disposals equal number of possessions, but it is usually less.

 

[Bay62]

This is how it should've been, we've been pissing away games persisting with Rowe, Murph and Ned as our small forwards.

It is very straight forward, play Murph and Ned as predominantly midfielders or dont play them, they are not forwards.

Rowe gets a gig as a forward if injury permits a spot.

The arrival of Rachelle has blown up this experiment, fortunately.

And now not enough room for them all forward so a couple go on ball, unfortunately with Sloane out it becomes easier still

We’ve just gotta find out what they’ve got in different positions

 

[Sanders]

The arrival of Rachelle has blown up this experiment, fortunately.

And now not enough room for them all forward so a couple go on ball, unfortunately with Sloane out it becomes easier still

We’ve just gotta find out what they’ve got in different positions

A reminder of why teams always draft best available. You take the best you can and figure out the rest afterwards

 

[jenny61_99]

Plenty.
Your complaints about the Crows mids are justified.

I'd add a 4).
How many times does RoB actually tap the ball to our mids' advantage?
It was exasperating watching his ruck-touches sharked by or worse, go straight to Richmond mids.

Bring in Strachan.
However, Nicks waxed lyrical about RoB's fitness, so it won't happen, even if "fit" does not = "effective".

ROB’s second half, but particularly last quarter, were immense. First half was shit, but he was very good in that last quarter.

 

[jenny61_99]

This is not correct. There has been a huge reduction in Western Stand (Essential Crows) members. There was previously a long wait for these memberships, now they have heaps available.

Strangely, this might be a long term positive. Many of these were previously Footy Park members and were as old AF. Many grumpy old bastards. Hopefully this will result in a renewal of our membership.

Step Two……. the Worlds Oldest Cheer Squad .

Don’t you bitch about these people! They give up a huge amount of time for this club and they pay to travel to every frigging game. Not only that, they pay to transport the flags and banner AND they’ve got to get it to and from airports/hotels/grounds and it won’t fit in a regular car! (They’ve walked kilometres lugging this stuff because they couldn’t get a big enough transport!). And often on away games, the team don’t even acknowledge them after a match. Shit of a job and I can’t imagine younger folk doing that.

 

[feenix67]

Don’t you bitch about these people! They give up a huge amount of time for this club and they pay to travel to every frigging game. Not only that, they pay to transport the flags and banner AND they’ve got to get it to and from airports/hotels/grounds and it won’t fit in a regular car! (They’ve walked kilometres lugging this stuff because they couldn’t get a big enough transport!). And often on away games, the team don’t even acknowledge them after a match. Shit of a job and I can’t imagine younger folk doing that.

Because it's lame?

 

[Sanders]

Don’t you bitch about these people! They give up a huge amount of time for this club and they pay to travel to every frigging game. Not only that, they pay to transport the flags and banner AND they’ve got to get it to and from airports/hotels/grounds and it won’t fit in a regular car! (They’ve walked kilometres lugging this stuff because they couldn’t get a big enough transport!). And often on away games, the team don’t even acknowledge them after a match. Shit of a job and I can’t imagine younger folk doing that.

Kinda agree with this. There’s a lot of commitment to the club for not much back in return

 

[skittlebrew]

Tigers get on top in the third quarter … umpires say ‘Hold my beer’. Full strength Adel except for Seedsman. 32-13 in free kicks and you kicked 12-1 from set shots. It’s nice to win but I’d probably cool the celebrations - wouldn’t want to celebrate too early like in GF week of 2017 when Tex saved a seat on the plane for the cup


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

What an amazing post - We really need to encourage more opposition posters to come on here.

 

[Carmo]

Plenty.
Your complaints about the Crows mids are justified.

I'd add a 4).
How many times does RoB actually tap the ball to our mids' advantage?
It was exasperating watching his ruck-touches sharked by or worse, go straight to Richmond mids.

Bring in Strachan.
However, Nicks waxed lyrical about RoB's fitness, so it won't happen, even if "fit" does not = "effective".

Our gameplan is to keep the ball in tight, get it on the ground, make it a scrap and then beat them at the groundball scrap. We rate ourselves at the groundball and the contest. This is how it will be in finals. So its a template built for finals from day 1. We know some other teams arent keen about the contest and like the wide open stuff and the more we can keep it like that and the better we are at it, the more we can draw frustration out of other teams. This all requires nullifying good taps from the oppo, keeping our taps in as close to the ruckman as possible and getting a secondary stoppage from centerbounces since its much better to get the in close taps when ROB can engage in wrestling with the opponent, not having them have a clean jump at it.

You'll almost never see us tap to the mid running past for a clean free flowing exit. That's not our game. Especially not at center bounces and in defense. The more forward it is, the more we'll open it up.

 

[Sanders]

Our gameplan is to keep the ball in tight, get it on the ground, make it a scrap and then beat them at the groundball scrap. We rate ourselves at the groundball and the contest. This is how it will be in finals. So its a template built for finals from day 1. We know some other teams arent keen about the contest and like the wide open stuff and the more we can keep it like that and the better we are at it, the more we can draw frustration out of other teams. This all requires nullifying good taps from the oppo, keeping our taps in as close to the ruckman as possible and getting a secondary stoppage from centerbounces since its much better to get the in close taps when ROB can engage in wrestling with the opponent, not having them have a clean jump at it.

You'll almost never see us tap to the mid running past for a clean free flowing exit. That's not our game. Especially not at center bounces and in defense. The more forward it is, the more we'll open it up.

I mean this is awful. No mention of how we try to move the ball, how we setup, just cliches bolted together that don’t match what happens on the park.

Which is fine, but you present it like you think this is somehow revelatory insights into how we play.

Relax and don’t try to take yourself so seriously.

 

[GreyCrow]

Our gameplan is to keep the ball in tight, get it on the ground, make it a scrap and then beat them at the groundball scrap. We rate ourselves at the groundball and the contest. This is how it will be in finals. So its a template built for finals from day 1. We know some other teams arent keen about the contest and like the wide open stuff and the more we can keep it like that and the better we are at it, the more we can draw frustration out of other teams. This all requires nullifying good taps from the oppo, keeping our taps in as close to the ruckman as possible and getting a secondary stoppage from centerbounces since its much better to get the in close taps when ROB can engage in wrestling with the opponent, not having them have a clean jump at it.

You'll almost never see us tap to the mid running past for a clean free flowing exit. That's not our game. Especially not at center bounces and in defense. The more forward it is, the more we'll open it up.

If only reality equalled output

There is merit in the idea of keeping it scrappy for finals - but thats future proofing not building. Circumstances must dictate you work with your talent not make the talent fit the plan

It was good when Sloane and Thommo and Dangerfield were at peak - its ok when M Crouch is in there

We used to rate ourselves at the groundball and the contest but its gone past as our talent slowed down.

You'll almost never see us tap to the mid running past for a clean free flowing exit. That's not our game.

This makes me vomit - 'thats not our game' ????? WTAF. It hasnt been our game for 15 years and you would think some change up might be required

Utilise the talent you have - I wonder who is the idiot driving the above policy

 

[MRB37]

A reminder of why teams always draft best available. You take the best you can and figure out the rest afterwards

Not a 100% rule, but there's a reason "You draft for talent and trade for needs" gets repeated in sports.

 

[footy4ever]

You forgot the biggest chook raffle of the lot — the fixture.

Actually, the fixture is probably the least like a chook raffle.

It's a premeditated fix to ensure; the next fairytale happens, that certain AFL clubs get a cruisey ride, that non-Vic legit challenging teams get the minimum exposure to the MCG, that non-Vic teams get sent to the shithole venues, that shit financial basket case clubs like Port even though finishing top 4, get the easiest fixture two years in a row hoping to increase attendances for income, that Carlton and bulldogs never have to face the Crows at AO. ETheckin'GCETERA!



*might or might not be a conspiracy theory.

 

[footy4ever]

ROB’s second half, but particularly last quarter, were immense. First half was shit, but he was very good in that last quarter.

He took the most important clunker of the match, and slotted the most important goal of the match in the third qtr when Richmond had a run on, and took a few more saving contested clunkers from then on. He was massive in the last half and the criticism of that is laughable.

 

[CrowBloke]

ROB’s second half, but particularly last quarter, were immense. First half was shit, but he was very good in that last quarter.

It was interesting that you and Carmo (below) replied to the same post. Both made me think more about RoB:
--- RoB has played enough footy to know that Premierships are not built on a player or team having a shit first half.
--- if he found a way to change/improve his game after half-time, kudos to him. It's on me that I didn't notice it.
--- RoB's mark and goal in Q3 were good, too, but did you find yourself thinking "Oh jeez, he won't kick this" from 30m out? I did and I'd love to have more confidence in his kicking.
However, the comments below put an entirely different slant on what RoB does and might explain why he hasn't been dropped for Strachan, IF he's acting under Nicks' instruction.

Our gameplan is to keep the ball in tight, get it on the ground, make it a scrap and then beat them at the groundball scrap. We rate ourselves at the groundball and the contest. This is how it will be in finals. So its a template built for finals from day 1. We know some other teams arent keen about the contest and like the wide open stuff and the more we can keep it like that and the better we are at it, the more we can draw frustration out of other teams. This all requires nullifying good taps from the oppo, keeping our taps in as close to the ruckman as possible and getting a secondary stoppage from centerbounces since its much better to get the in close taps when ROB can engage in wrestling with the opponent, not having them have a clean jump at it.
You'll almost never see us tap to the mid running past for a clean free flowing exit. That's not our game. Especially not at center bounces and in defense. The more forward it is, the more we'll open it up.

Your thoughtful post made me think hard about my perspective on the whole ruckwork 'problem' (which is not a problem if it's a part of the game play as you suggest, but that's a big IF). This point especially:
"This is how it will be in finals. So its a template built for finals from day 1." is a bold statement.

Is Nicks astute enough to have planned the above, way back at the rebuild stage? ie "Let's do this now, so that in 4-5 years when we're playing Finals ....".
Sorry, but I doubt it.
I think the scrapping you discuss just makes best use of RoB's limitations and minimises the damage from CBs and stoppages. RoB sometimes gets a decent tap but many are sharked by or down the throat of oppo mids and away they go, because they set up outside better and our mids defend poorly.
That scrapping is also exaggerated because our mids often find themselves close together, all ball-hunting --- hence the panicked handballs in tight to a static teammate a metre away.

I think:
"You'll almost never see us tap to the mid running past for a clean free flowing exit. That's not our game...." is because RoB is not a very good tap ruckman and our mids set up badly in close. Please go the highlights, with 0.38 to play in Q1. RoB gets a good tap to Keays, quick-kick forward under pressure, McAdam strong mark and quick pass to Tex, goal. Top-4 teams need %-making wins built on that kind of footy.

Having said that, I do like the let's-scrap mentality which is a big part of Finals' footy once a team makes Top-4. Might be useful in 2024-5.
It also brings better teams back to the Crows now, prevents blow-out losses and creates honorable losses as in to Freo and Essendon. That might prevent Nicks from being sacked before his contract is up, but as Pies Coach McRae said after their close loss on the weekend:
"22 honorable losses means you finish bottom".