Review Good/Bad v Essendon, Round 21. TOP 2 = SEALED

[SydCrow]

It might be the Guiness talking but the lid is off. For the next two weeks anyway.

 

[Scorpus]

IMO since the Hawks game, one of the key reasons we've improved is Douggie playing better. He is playing like a 200+ gamer should.

First time Douglas has hit some really excellent form since his B&F year

 

[VKCrow]

Talia's form is worrying me. Not sure if he is injured but seems slow. Keath for mine has added to our backline and must stay in finals time.

It's more his demeanor which worries me. He seems pissed off with something.

 

[Golumless]

Brad Crouch has really lifted and has been great the last 8 weeks but he needs to work on his disposal. Will be the thing holding him back from being a star of the comp if he doesn't improve it.

Usually is a solid kick of the football, so i think this week was just a down week more so than anything else.

 

[radiojake]

So after going ahead of Port on the head to head ledger for the first time in 17 yrs last week, Crows went ahead of Essendon on head to head ledger for first time ever ( don't think the first trial game in '91 counts )

Level with Carlton

Only Collingwood / Geelong / Hawthorn / West Coast / Western Bulldogs in front on head to head ledgers

 

[Bicks]

Basic Stats

 

[Bicks]

Advanced Stats

 

[cmndstab]

So not only did Matt Crouch win 35 touches, including 20 contested possessions and 7 clearances, he was effective with 29 of them. Absolute gun

Atkins leading our metres gained stat is very pleasing, too. He really had his early-season mojo back today, spinning in and out of trouble and then streaming forward. Only wasted two touches for the whole game.

Meanwhile, Brodie Smith with ten(!) bounces, hahaha.

 

[StonesThrow]

At the game tonight.

Rat had his best game for a long time. I've been a harsh critic lately but that was really good.

Smith bog easily. He had turned into an a grade footballer. So valuable and important come finals.

Crouch.
Jenkins

 

[macca23]

If you take another look at it, you'll notice the player didn't overly complain. That's because he juggled it over the boundary line. 1sr grab inside the boundary line, the 2nd grab and completion was over the boundary line. Correctly called a throw-in

 

[mattymac]

Matty Crouch's kicking is starting to impress me. Seems to have found his range and his teammates seem to have worked out where they need to be to get laced.

 

[mattymac]

IMO since the Hawks game, one of the key reasons we've improved is Douggie playing better. He is playing like a 200+ gamer should.

I get the sense Dougie is giving it everything and wants a flag this year. May be concerned opportunities may not present much longer, especially if we bring in a mid or two.

Smith also been gunning it up since Hawthorn.

 

[chazwazza]

Hey folks, congrats on the win.

Don't want to put a dampener on things but this is VelvetSledge's partner. He's been coward punch / king hit tonight by a Crows fan just outside Southern Cross Station near platform 10. If anyone saw anything or knows anything then please PM me or just reply here. I'm taking him to the hospital now, he's very badly concussed. The guy was around 5'11", kind of round body shape, with brown hair and a Crows jumper with #9 on it. Thanks again all.

Sad to hear that, hope he's ok and the perpetrator is found and dealt with. Best wishes.

 

[TrainRoo32]

TOP 2. SEALED. HOME FINAL

We are getting a home qualifying final! How about that?! ******* amazing

Good

• Got the job done. Played some nice football at times. Did what was required.
• Brodie Smith was elite. Single handedly stopped us from getting destroyed in the 3rd quarter
• Richard Douglas was fantastic. Kept us in the game and helped turn it in the 2nd when we were getting crushed
• Matt Crouch is an absolute beast. Dominated in the middle
• Rory Atkins was very productive. Liked his work and elite kicking.
• Jenkins was clearly our best tall forward today. Just nailed those crucial goals to turn momentum
• Thought both Laird and Mackay had good games too. Mackay certainly earning his spot right now.
• Greenwood took some really nice marks. Not a complete game from him, but didn't embarrass himself.
• Keath. Looks the goods. Daniher was only dominant when he wasn't there.
• Arrested the momentum several times at key points. That's crucial for our success in finals where we might not have it our way the entire time.

Bad

• Charlie Cameron and Eddie Betts were both largely ineffective. Wouldn't be upset if we traded Cameron, who was abysmal and has been bad for about 2-3 months now.
• Brad Crouch had his first poor game in weeks. Had a shocker.
• Lever was terrible, especially in the first half. Can't defend one on one.
• Thought Sloane struggled at times, and didn't like him getting injured, though he played out the game.
• Essendon were dominant at times and we couldn't get near them. Daniher and Hooker really troubled us when they weren't on our ideal defensive match-ups. Also, what was with them nailing fluke goals from outside 50?

The last 2 years our forward line has been devastating!
Surely has to be the best forward line in the AFL era?

 

[TrainRoo32]

Yeah and 4 of those against PA last week, 2 of which were brilliant.


I'm starting to think that Eddie might be feeling pressure to do something genius/different/uncanny every time the ball comes close. If so, "back to basics" is probably good advice, but Huntercrow is spot-on. 1) he'll always attract the opposition's best small defender and 2) his presence and opportunity-creating are still elite, even if he has (by his own standards) a quiet game.

I've started to believe, that it is actually impossible for all our forwards to fire up every week!
Because there is so much talent up there, it makes hard for an individual to dominate consistently!
I'm just glad someone always Steps up when required....

 

[mick500]

Think the OP might be a bit harsh on the "bad" side of things. We cruised to a easy win against a team fighting for a finals spot at the pointy end of the year away from home against a hostile crowd and won comfortably without getting out of 2nd gear.

GOOD: We are putting in pretty close to 4 qtr performances for the last 8 weeks or so, since we got done by hawthorn. That's the big difference.

BAD: Defense looked a little vulnerable at times playing against a team with 2 key forwards in hooker and Daniher. Hooker was clearly a threat. Having otten to swing back there as the interceptor would have been nice , hopefully he recovers from his injury and gets back in the team ASAP.

UGLY: Essendon supporter in the game day thread saying Eddie would be hated if he wasn't black. He then backed up that comment with "it's a shame cy Walsh didn't kill you as well as phil" when I called him on his racism. Username was/is " Knox Harrington" . Please permanently ban his account mods. Lowest of the low.

 

[Carmo]

I only have 3 comments:

That was a good game, it wasn't on a platter for us, we had to work and work hard at times for it, which is exactly what we need

They must have had the lightest week on the training track, we looked slow and sore by comparison, especially early in the game, the two week break will do us wonders. I am pretty sure we rested Sauce in game a fair bit tonight, Jenkins rucked for extended periods, and stayed rucking even when we got killed in the center (when they got the run-ons). Will we rest more?

They were damn lucky they kicked multiple freak goals from outside 50 and we missed multiple gimmes from inside.

 

[crows dude]

Thought Keith was pretty good tonight, hartigan lucky he'll need to be put back onto the category B rookie list

Why does he need to go back on the rookie list. We have CEY on Long term = Greenwood and our Free upgrade mid year = Keath. Beech back onto the Rookie list.

 

[skoobydoo]

Were not ruthless enough at times, should of killed that game off at periods of the game, lynch OMG how do you miss that, 41pts half time lead would of been that. Anyway professional win, beat the swans this week secure top spot. Eddie needs to get real, bar the showdown he's been awful, towed up again by a first year player (who is a gun). Back to basic mate.

Should have, would have..........

 

[Alwaysacrow]

Think the OP might be a bit harsh on the "bad" side of things. We cruised to a easy win against a team fighting for a finals spot at the pointy end of the year away from home against a hostile crowd and won comfortably without getting out of 2nd gear.

GOOD: We are putting in pretty close to 4 qtr performances for the last 8 weeks or so, since we got done by hawthorn. That's the big difference.

BAD: Defense looked a little vulnerable at times playing against a team with 2 key forwards in hooker and Daniher. Hooker was clearly a threat. Having otten to swing back there as the interceptor would have been nice , hopefully he recovers from his injury and gets back in the team ASAP.

UGLY: Essendon supporter in the game day thread saying Eddie would be hated if he wasn't black. He then backed up that comment with "it's a shame cy Walsh didn't kill you as well as phil" when I called him on his racism. Username was/is " Knox Harrington" . Please permanently ban his account mods. Lowest of the low.

Wow! That's disgusting. He should never be allowed back with that sort of crap.

 

[jenny61_99]

No trolling at all. This is very serious. He'll be okay, but the fact that no-one came to his aid at a game with 40,000 people there really makes me sick.

Not even Essendon people? Hope he recovers quickly and they catch and charge the moron that did it.

 

[jenny61_99]

Went to the game tonight – finally broke a run of losses when I’ve attended Crows matches at Etihad!

Overall felt that we never really got out of second gear. When the Bombers got on a run, we were able to respond and kick clear – which we did twice! Footskills were sharp - at times we were getting the ball into our F50 very easily, and able to switch play and work the ball out of our back 50 without turning it over.

Matt Crouch, Smith, Douglas and Rat all had good games. Jenkins took a bag of contested marks and improved as the game went on. Also liked McGoverns game. Eddie (and Tippa) very quiet – I think a lot of people had gone along expecting to see some freakish goals. Lots of Bombers fans around me stayed to the end – “because Eddie could still do something!”

For the Bombers I thought McGrath was very, very good – had the better of Betts and aside from a turnover that cost a goal, always seemed to know which side of the contest the ball would be coming from when they were kicking out from defence to 50/50 contests. Lever on Daniher was a mismatch which the latter took advantage of in the first half.

Not sure what to make of Cale Hooker’s performance or how that reflects on our backline. A few Bombers fans around me were surprised he was that actually kicking goals – apparently he went 2.5 last week, and a couple of them were remembering a match where he we went 0.6 or worse. Possibly earns the award for spud player of the week who we manage to make look good.

Umpiring was a bit off, with quite a few strange decisions that went in our favour – felt doubly weird with the match being interstate. Remember one very dodgy call that had everyone scratching their heads – Bombers player kicked it to a player who marked on the boundary line – should have been a mark or OOTF, but was considered touched over the line and a boundary throw in.

That last one was juggled over the line, so throw in correct decision.

 

[skoobydoo]

Went to the game tonight – finally broke a run of losses when I’ve attended Crows matches at Etihad!

Overall felt that we never really got out of second gear. When the Bombers got on a run, we were able to respond and kick clear – which we did twice! Footskills were sharp - at times we were getting the ball into our F50 very easily, and able to switch play and work the ball out of our back 50 without turning it over.

Matt Crouch, Smith, Douglas and Rat all had good games. Jenkins took a bag of contested marks and improved as the game went on. Also liked McGoverns game. Eddie (and Tippa) very quiet – I think a lot of people had gone along expecting to see some freakish goals. Lots of Bombers fans around me stayed to the end – “because Eddie could still do something!”

For the Bombers I thought McGrath was very, very good – had the better of Betts and aside from a turnover that cost a goal, always seemed to know which side of the contest the ball would be coming from when they were kicking out from defence to 50/50 contests. Lever on Daniher was a mismatch which the latter took advantage of in the first half.

Not sure what to make of Cale Hooker’s performance or how that reflects on our backline. A few Bombers fans around me were surprised he was that actually kicking goals – apparently he went 2.5 last week, and a couple of them were remembering a match where he we went 0.6 or worse. Possibly earns the award for spud player of the week who we manage to make look good.

Umpiring was a bit off, with quite a few strange decisions that went in our favour – felt doubly weird with the match being interstate. Remember one very dodgy call that had everyone scratching their heads – Bombers player kicked it to a player who marked on the boundary line – should have been a mark or OOTF, but was considered touched over the line and a boundary throw in.

Was correct decision by boundary ump. The mark was a small juggle as it crossed the line.

 

[crowsup]

I think that we are so used to getting reamed by the umpires that, when we get frees that are there but have never had them paid before, we think we're having a good run with the umpires.
Last night, apart from a couple we got paid that were not there, ( Gov's 1st mark), all the others were there. It is that, normally, we don't get them paid to us while the opposition get them paid every time.

 

[John Who]

I think that we are so used to getting reamed by the umpires that, when we get frees that are there but have never had them paid before, we think we're having a good run with the umpires.
Last night, apart from a couple we got paid that were not there, ( Gov's 1st mark), all the others were there. It is that, normally, we don't get them paid to us while the opposition get them paid every time.

Yep, I agree. Umpires were consistent on both teams for the majority of the game. The main thing was that there was no real bias being displayed. The better team won, and umpires didn't change the result. Give credit when it's due, well done Umps!