Review PF = Sydney 95-94 Collingwood

[3rdMan]

Seeing the behind the goals footage of Moore's bold play late in the game (leaving defence during the boundary throw in inside Sydney's 50), shows just how close we were to pulling the win off.

He did a similar thing against Geelong and that cost us an easy goal over the back.

This time, Moore ended up free in the goal square for that final kick into the 50. Get that ball over the back of the marking contest, or De Goey knocking it on instead of taking the ball to ground, and every chance Moore kicks the goal.

 

[Sea fog]

Re Moore on Reid rather than Franklin, this wasn't really any different to what we did against the Cats. We played Moore on the bigger aerial threat and usually deepest forward in Hawkins, not on the best forward in Cameron.

Against Sydney, Reid was the biggest aerial threat and probably now the overall better forward.

With the entries Sydney had in that first half their tall forwards didn't exactly dominate. And I do agree that Reid, even with Moore on him, was better than Franklin. He may have hurt us even further if we'd gone small against him.

Reid took most of his marks against our ruckmen who were pretty weak on him.

 

[yeee_haaaa!!!!!]

One of the great finals comebacks. If not for the non decision against papley, we are in the GF. Remarkable season really

 

[Sweeetleftfoot]

First I can recall seeing that free kick called this year. I reckon there'd be at least 5 instances of the same "50 metre" free kick in every game I've seen this year and every time the umpire has allowed the player to move back off the mark and into the 9 metre zone. Random call in such a big game - umpiring in the finals has been inconsistent - and that's a really poor look.

Picket got done for the same thing the week before. I agree about the consistency of umpires , seems they pick and choose when to interpret things

 

[catsfootyfan89]

Excuse the intrusion.

It should be another Geelong / Collingwood GF this weekend. Your game was immense, but the fairytale wasn't allowed to occur because of some very questionable decisions. I suppose that's the danger of relying on close-finish games? Sometimes even if you do everything right, you can lose on the back of a couple of bad calls. Not just frees to Sydney, but also frees against you. That 50m penalty - what a farking joke.

Sydney have been great this year, no doubt, but they made the Grand Final on the back of some really poor calls and I hope they and the AFL know it. As for the Pies, I can't remember the last time a team lost a Prelim amidst so much admiration and love from the football world. I know many hate the Pies, but I really do respect your club for the determination, effort and the almost pathologically insane confidence your boys have in what they do, no matter who's in the list and how the game is going. There's just this attitude at the club that persists year after year. I don't understand the hate, because the entire competition is better for having Collingwood in it in my opinion.

Also, Nick Daicos is going to be the best player in the league in a short amount of time. The next Judd/Ablett for sure. There's a lot to look forward to for your club. See you next year.

 

[JLC]

Shocking start - Sydney brought the heat and we couldn't handle it. Too slow to get Moore on Franklin. After May made Buddy look like he should go into retirement, it was a bad mistake re Maynard.

To get up off the canvas numerous times and eventually be the better team was some effort.

Sydney were saved by that Papley goal - Ended up their only goal in the last 40 to 50 minutes of the match? They dodged a bullet.

That Moore pass to Howe was also a shocker where McInerney kicked the goal. Was that their second or third last goal?

Was a tough loss to take and probably still has not sunk in yet.

Crispy, Pendles, Moore were all huge.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[Sweeetleftfoot]

That last point that was rushed, just watched it again, to my eye, the Swans player collected the ball and as he was falling to the ground, he just threw the ball away. Would have been a great pickup by the umpires, I reckon it was a throw.

I think if I remember the passage of play your referring to I think Sidebottom gets a hand or fist to it makes it seem like a throw. The glaringly obvious free for me that no one seems to be talking about is the tunneling on Krueger in the last entry to the forward line. Blakey just takes him out. All game Blakey did it l.

 

[No SPIN]

1. Sydney’s mids and defenders destroyed us for 2 and half qtrs.

2. Reid killed us in round 22, and played extremely well until he was subbed.

3. Swans exploited our lack of a true 2nd tall defender. And regardless of whether Moore plays on Franklin or Reid, the swans would have found ways to exploit it.

4. Our inside fwd 50 was atrocious in 1st half at 27%. Our mids and fwds got no time to breathe and when they got the ball mad bad decisions.

5. Sydney played on the thin side of the ground, kicked long and direct off Collingwood turnovers putting our defence under immense pressure.

6. Our players didn’t execute. They didn’t stand up under Sydney’s immense pressure. We chose to use the members wing to attack, as it’s wider it means you are slower to transition from HB to HF. That changed in the last qtr and half, we played direct up the middle and used the thin side.

8. We kicked 4.5 to 1.1 in the 4th. Had our destiny in our hands and didn’t execute.

7. Nothing the defence can do to help our mids and HF line function efficiently.

8. Moore or Howe etc have no influence on players running into goal from 25m and kicking points, like Kruger did or not hitting targets by foot and hand like many other did or over handpassing streaming thru the middle.

Kruger kicks the goal in the 4th it’s a 9 point game with 11mins to go. He misses. Then we rebound off half back - pendlebury steaming thru the middle and handpasses badly to noble, stoppage. From the stoppage they kick fwd and papley shoves Moore in the back, marks and goals.

Kruger or Pendlebury execute and it’s a 9 or 8 point game instead of 20 point game.

9. Sydney dominated us everywhere in 1st half. We dominated in 4th qtr. Backline match ups had little to no bearing on the result because we simply didn’t play well enough for long enough.

10. To blame the loss on defensive match ups and single out McRae is short sighted and a cop out. We had 62 inside 50s yet only 39% ins50 efficiency and ranked 14th for the year. It needs to improve by 5-8% consistently if we are to improve in 2023. Personally, I don’t think our fwds know how to lead correctly or work together to create space for each other. I’d be looking to hire a new fwd coach if I was McRae.


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Great post - point 10 is where the huge improvement lies, and will ultimately determine our prospects in 2023.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I think if I remember the passage of play your referring to I think Sidebottom gets a hand or fist to it makes it seem like a throw. The glaringly obvious free for me that no one seems to be talking about is the tunneling on Krueger in the last entry to the forward line. Blakey just takes him out. All game Blakey did it l.

I saw this and thought the same, but figured maybe the slo-mo looked worse than realtime.

 

[PIES 4 LIFE]

Their ability to hit targets under pressure is sublime. The best in the league. We are nowhere near that level. Also, don't get me started with the ball handling skills. They have us covered by a long long way. How we only lost the game by a point is a testament to our players huge hearts.

I have a different take on how we play. Its our fitness and endurance that gets us over the line. Early in the game both teams are at there prime fitness, we figure out if we can or can't match them, if we can't, we minimise the damage and try and keep it close. Then late in the game, when the other team is shot, we start our comeback, unfortunately we weren't able to win the last game, hopefully with time, we will be able to match teams early and then overrun them at the end of games.

 

[Mukesh]

1. Sydney’s mids and defenders destroyed us for 2 and half qtrs.

2. Reid killed us in round 22, and played extremely well until he was subbed.

3. Swans exploited our lack of a true 2nd tall defender. And regardless of whether Moore plays on Franklin or Reid, the swans would have found ways to exploit it.

4. Our inside fwd 50 was atrocious in 1st half at 27%. Our mids and fwds got no time to breathe and when they got the ball mad bad decisions.

5. Sydney played on the thin side of the ground, kicked long and direct off Collingwood turnovers putting our defence under immense pressure.

6. Our players didn’t execute. They didn’t stand up under Sydney’s immense pressure. We chose to use the members wing to attack, as it’s wider it means you are slower to transition from HB to HF. That changed in the last qtr and half, we played direct up the middle and used the thin side.

8. We kicked 4.5 to 1.1 in the 4th. Had our destiny in our hands and didn’t execute.

7. Nothing the defence can do to help our mids and HF line function efficiently.

8. Moore or Howe etc have no influence on players running into goal from 25m and kicking points, like Kruger did or not hitting targets by foot and hand like many other did or over handpassing streaming thru the middle.

Kruger kicks the goal in the 4th it’s a 9 point game with 11mins to go. He misses. Then we rebound off half back - pendlebury steaming thru the middle and handpasses badly to noble, stoppage. From the stoppage they kick fwd and papley shoves Moore in the back, marks and goals.

Kruger or Pendlebury execute and it’s a 9 or 8 point game instead of 20 point game.

9. Sydney dominated us everywhere in 1st half. We dominated in 4th qtr. Backline match ups had little to no bearing on the result because we simply didn’t play well enough for long enough.

10. To blame the loss on defensive match ups and single out McRae is short sighted and a cop out. We had 62 inside 50s yet only 39% ins50 efficiency and ranked 14th for the year. It needs to improve by 5-8% consistently if we are to improve in 2023. Personally, I don’t think our fwds know how to lead correctly or work together to create space for each other. I’d be looking to hire a new fwd coach if I was McRae.


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The first 8. says it all really… the game comes down to taking the opportunities presented..

 

[anshell]

Another umpiring mistake cost us dearly in that game.At the end of the third quarter the umpire paid a mark to Heeney right on the siren,yet the ball barely travelled ten metres let alone 15 metres.He ended up kicking a point,but considering we lost by a point that was a very costly decision for us.

 

[brysie]

There were numerous umpiring decisions that ultimately cost us the game.

From memory, some of the big ones were:

1. Hickey receiving the benefit of a 50m call as the umpire had called 'stand' and Mihocek moved backwards, seeking to exercise his right to clear the mark by 5m. Hickey advanced to his attacking forward 50, kicked to the square where Franklin brought the ball to ground and Clark snapped a goal.
2. McCartin not being called for holding the ball in the 2nd quarter, despite taking 2 tacklers on and failing to dispose of the ball, 15m out directly in front.
3. Rowbottom taking tacklers on in the next phase of that play, getting caught and not disposing of the ball. Again, 15 to 20 metres out, directly in front of goal
4. The Noble 50m penalty. Too many times the umpires have failed to penalise players for delay of game, usually giving the players the benefit of the doubt. Noble probably deserved to incur the 50 (as did Warner in the first quarter when we received a free on the wing and he handballed it away a few seconds after the whistle), however the 50 paid by the umpire was very generous and put Papley almost in the goal square
5. Despite the 50m infringement paid against Ginnivan, the same was not applied at the top of the 50 when we were exiting our back 50. The ball was then kicked across the ground, leading to the incident described above with Papley being awarded the 50m penalty and kicking the goal
6. There was a player in the 3rd quarter (McInerney or Fox) who tried to break multiple tackles deep in and, similar to McCartin, failed to dispose of the ball correctly when just outside the top of the goal square.
7. Heeney's 'mark' and subsequent point
8. The Papley hands in the back non-call.
9. The shove from Hayward on Howe which took him out of the marking contest and allowed Buddy to take a contested mark with just over 1 minute left on the clock

 

[Countrypie]

After listening to and reading most of the post-game analysis, I wondered if I'd watched the same game.

So, I rewatched the entire game.
We lost this game in the first 12 minutes, retrieved it and then lost it again in the shadows of halftime. On both occasions when we lost control, Buddy was not a factor other than making a contest and bringing the ball to ground. he had a purple patch at the start of the 2nd quarter when he took 2 contested marks. Maynard was moved off him after the 1st one. Howe seemed to have the job up until halftime. Moore and Murphy shared the job in the 2nd half.


The key factors in these critical moments were Sydney's pressure, midfield dominance and Reid who killed us early. When we matched them in the first two areas we were well in the game and were able to limit Sydney's pinpoint kicking to their forward's advantage.

Essentially, in the second half, Sydney's forward line became impotent when Reid left the field. This enabled our backline to lock down on the traffic that largely went through Buddy. Moore's blistering rebounding last quarter was enabled by this fact. Murphy was often entrusted wth the one on ones with Buddy and did a reasonable job. This allowed Moore to become the attacking weapon that very nearly won us the game.

Papley's mark should not have been allowed, but by the same token, we got away with a few too. I've rewatched the last 5 minutes maybe a dozen times and predictably it's full of "almost" moments for both sides. It's a gut-wrenching way to bow out, but I suspect that this week may have been a bridge too far.

There's every possibility that we'll go backwards next year, but it won't be too far and this core group has a lot to look forward to as Fly shapes this team

 

[Doc1763]

There were numerous umpiring decisions that ultimately cost us the game.

From memory, some of the big ones were:

1. Hickey receiving the benefit of a 50m call as the umpire had called 'stand' and Mihocek moved backwards, seeking to exercise his right to clear the mark by 5m. Hickey advanced to his attacking forward 50, kicked to the square where Franklin brought the ball to ground and Clark snapped a goal.
2. McCartin not being called for holding the ball in the 2nd quarter, despite taking 2 tacklers on and failing to dispose of the ball, 15m out directly in front.
3. Rowbottom taking tacklers on in the next phase of that play, getting caught and not disposing of the ball. Again, 15 to 20 metres out, directly in front of goal
4. The Noble 50m penalty. Too many times the umpires have failed to penalise players for delay of game, usually giving the players the benefit of the doubt. Noble probably deserved to incur the 50 (as did Warner in the first quarter when we received a free on the wing and he handballed it away a few seconds after the whistle), however the 50 paid by the umpire was very generous and put Papley almost in the goal square
5. Despite the 50m infringement paid against Ginnivan, the same was not applied at the top of the 50 when we were exiting our back 50. The ball was then kicked across the ground, leading to the incident described above with Papley being awarded the 50m penalty and kicking the goal
6. There was a player in the 3rd quarter (McInerney or Fox) who tried to break multiple tackles deep in and, similar to McCartin, failed to dispose of the ball correctly when just outside the top of the goal square.
7. Heeney's 'mark' and subsequent point
8. The Papley hands in the back non-call.
9. The shove from Hayward on Howe which took him out of the marking contest and allowed Buddy to take a contested mark with just over 1 minute left on the clock

Re #1. What don't you understand about the word 'stand'?
Once the umpire calls stand, you can't move sideways or backwards. If you want to take the 5, you have to do it before the umpire calls stand.

 

[cwoodgal]

It's been a few days since the loss and I've started to accept it for what it is. We lost it in the first half and created our fightback too late. We might have got lucky in the H/A matches but couldn't get it done on Saturday. I think if papley didn't get the free or kreugs kicked straight we would of snatched it.

Credit to Sydney though I had a feeling they'd be too strong for us. It was a good thing Reid got subbed out when he did otherwise I don't think we would of got so close.

It is what it is I guess. I hope the players learn the lessons from it and come back stronger next year.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[brysie]

Re #1. What don't you understand about the word 'stand'?
Once the umpire calls stand, you can't move sideways or backwards. If you want to take the 5, you have to do it before the umpire calls stand.

The call in this instance was almost instantaneous from the Sydney player taking the mark - that's what I didn't like about it (aside from disliking the rule in general)

 

[Robroy22]

After listening to and reading most of the post-game analysis, I wondered if I'd watched the same game.

So, I rewatched the entire game.
We lost this game in the first 12 minutes, retrieved it and then lost it again in the shadows of halftime. On both occasions when we lost control, Buddy was not a factor other than making a contest and bringing the ball to ground. he had a purple patch at the start of the 2nd quarter when he took 2 contested marks. Maynard was moved off him after the 1st one. Howe seemed to have the job up until halftime. Moore and Murphy shared the job in the 2nd half.


The key factors in these critical moments were Sydney's pressure, midfield dominance and Reid who killed us early. When we matched them in the first two areas we were well in the game and were able to limit Sydney's pinpoint kicking to their forward's advantage.

Essentially, in the second half, Sydney's forward line became impotent when Reid left the field. This enabled our backline to lock down on the traffic that largely went through Buddy. Moore's blistering rebounding last quarter was enabled by this fact. Murphy was often entrusted wth the one on ones with Buddy and did a reasonable job. This allowed Moore to become the attacking weapon that very nearly won us the game.

Papley's mark should not have been allowed, but by the same token, we got away with a few too. I've rewatched the last 5 minutes maybe a dozen times and predictably it's full of "almost" moments for both sides. It's a gut-wrenching way to bow out, but I suspect that this week may have been a bridge too far.

There's every possibility that we'll go backwards next year, but it won't be too far and this core group has a lot to look forward to as Fly shapes this team

Brilliant summary Country....watching the game from the confines of the Jindabyne Bowling club (Home of the mighty Jindi Bush Pigs) it was apparent just as you stated that early on Sydney ran out the front of the centre bounces and that Reid was the worry due to his arial strength. We settled towards the end of the first quarter but by then they'd rattled on 6 and we were chasing tail all over the place. Local AFL aficionados, "Merv and Paddy" were asking me "Why doesn't Collingwood just leave that big fella Cox in the ruck?" I had to shrug and agree because Hickey was towelling young Cameron.

Buddy had his moments of glory before and after quarter time and Papley was really trying to get Bruzzy to hit him (come to think of it ALL the Swans players targeted Bruzz whenever they could because they must have had good intel that he was "gettable" and unable to fight back due to injury)....the NRL chapter up here reckoned that it would have been worth 10 minutes in the sin bin for Bruz just to snot the little sniper. We fought back in quarter 2 but the Swans weight of midfield dominance was just keeping them 3-4 goals ahead.

When Reid went off the game changed and Sydney quickly became impotent. Our matchups were far better and it allowed us to play our game (attacking from back half intercepts). Losing Cox was a blow and probably unbalanced us more than Fly admits because he was forced to use Kruger more as a ruck than a marking target forward. Our lack of a marking tall meant that we had to scrap for goals from stoppages but still we hung in. Merv and Paddy reckoned the game was over at 3 quarter time and went into the dining room for tea, but I still held out a glimmer of hope.

The last quarter was all OUR sort of footy. Heart, hard running, taking chances and making mistakes but as we showed against Geelong...when we go, oppo teams don't know how to match up the run. We swarmed all over the Swans and because they were hopeless themselves up forward we held the advantage. We manufactured goals from half chances WHE, Trenna and Sidey's snap but then the luck ran out and they forced enough points to hang on.

It was a great game (another one in this most memorable year). Had we won it and faced Geelong maybe without Bruz and Coxy they'd probably have pantsed us (I'd rather remember the fear on their faces when we were level with a minute to go in the semi final...)
I reckon they'll smash the Swans now without Reid and Papley will get his just resorts in the end.

In some ways it was good being up here in Jindi, catching a few fish and spending time with my mates (especially Tom who has just survived chemo...he can't help being a Tiger supporter)...that game was just indicative of what our club has grown to become in 2022. They wouldn't lie down, they wouldn't stop trying to take chances. Seeing the footage of Darcy Moore streaming down the ground (leaving Buddy) and trying in a last ditch effort to win the game for us just sums us up really.

I've loved footy again in 2022, thanks to my footy team. Thanks Lads (and ladettes)....and all concerned.
Go Pies.

 

[Sea fog]

Shocking start - Sydney brought the heat and we couldn't handle it. Too slow to get Moore on Franklin. After May made Buddy look like he should go into retirement, it was a bad mistake re Maynard.

To get up off the canvas numerous times and eventually be the better team was some effort.

Sydney were saved by that Papley goal - Ended up their only goal in the last 40 to 50 minutes of the match? They dodged a bullet.

That Moore pass to Howe was also a shocker where McInerney kicked the goal. Was that their second or third last goal?

Was a tough loss to take and probably still has not sunk in yet.

Crispy, Pendles, Moore were all huge.

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Poor decision-making but poor from Howe as well, he called for it and stood there flat-footed instead of attacking the ball once he saw it was floating.

 

[HeathySure]

I have a different take on how we play. Its our fitness and endurance that gets us over the line. Early in the game both teams are at there prime fitness, we figure out if we can or can't match them, if we can't, we minimise the damage and try and keep it close. Then late in the game, when the other team is shot, we start our comeback, unfortunately we weren't able to win the last game, hopefully with time, we will be able to match teams early and then overrun them at the end of games.

this is my take too, At the start of the year we blew our load early, then Macrae adjusted and finished like a bomb almost every game

 

[HeathySure]

After listening to and reading most of the post-game analysis, I wondered if I'd watched the same game.

So, I rewatched the entire game.
We lost this game in the first 12 minutes, retrieved it and then lost it again in the shadows of halftime. On both occasions when we lost control, Buddy was not a factor other than making a contest and bringing the ball to ground. he had a purple patch at the start of the 2nd quarter when he took 2 contested marks. Maynard was moved off him after the 1st one. Howe seemed to have the job up until halftime. Moore and Murphy shared the job in the 2nd half.


The key factors in these critical moments were Sydney's pressure, midfield dominance and Reid who killed us early. When we matched them in the first two areas we were well in the game and were able to limit Sydney's pinpoint kicking to their forward's advantage.

Essentially, in the second half, Sydney's forward line became impotent when Reid left the field. This enabled our backline to lock down on the traffic that largely went through Buddy. Moore's blistering rebounding last quarter was enabled by this fact. Murphy was often entrusted wth the one on ones with Buddy and did a reasonable job. This allowed Moore to become the attacking weapon that very nearly won us the game.

Papley's mark should not have been allowed, but by the same token, we got away with a few too. I've rewatched the last 5 minutes maybe a dozen times and predictably it's full of "almost" moments for both sides. It's a gut-wrenching way to bow out, but I suspect that this week may have been a bridge too far.

There's every possibility that we'll go backwards next year, but it won't be too far and this core group has a lot to look forward to as Fly shapes this team

yep , the umpiring whinge is ridiculous. I was watching with a neutral mate and the number of times i said, we were lucky to get way with that free was more than 5. I am convinced umpires pay decisions to even up the game. We got a lot when we were way down

 

[jonbe54]

It's been a few days since the loss and I've started to accept it for what it is. We lost it in the first half and created our fightback too late. We might have got lucky in the H/A matches but couldn't get it done on Saturday. I think if papley didn't get the free or kreugs kicked straight we would of snatched it.

Credit to Sydney though I had a feeling they'd be too strong for us. It was a good thing Reid got subbed out when he did otherwise I don't think we would of got so close.

It is what it is I guess. I hope the players learn the lessons from it and come back stronger next year.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

No luck involved in it all.

When you win that often it's heart and fitness.

 

[Countrypie]

yep , the umpiring whinge is ridiculous. I was watching with a neutral mate and the number of times i said, we were lucky to get way with that free was more than 5. I am convinced umpires pay decisions to even up the game. We got a lot when we were way down

That last surge when we came off half-back, Crisp's initial touch looked dubious. 10 seconds later you could make a case that Kreuger was tunnelled by Blakey. Either call could have been made. Swings and roundabouts

 

[jonbe54]

In the end it comes down to a single incontestable fact.

The umpiring all year - not to mention just the finals series - has been sub-standard at best.

It will remain that way until they are made more accountable.

 

[Heater3923]

Shocking start - Sydney brought the heat and we couldn't handle it. Too slow to get Moore on Franklin. After May made Buddy look like he should go into retirement, it was a bad mistake re Maynard.


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I wish people, including on the couch types and other talking heads, would get the narrative right.


Howe and Maynard shared Buddy in the 1st. Moore and Murphy when he came on took MacDonald/Reid. With Reid’s injury Moore and Murphy mostly shared responsibility on Buddy in the second half.

Moore took buddy for first 13 mins of the 3rd.

And how did that go?

Repeat ins50 bombed long to the square - MacDonald out marks Howe, while Buddy successfully out positions Moore who lost contact with him.

So exactly what I said would have happened if Moore goes to Buddy in 1st qtr - swans exploit the match up that don’t include Moore. Moore also cut across and made a great spoil over Heeney and Papley in the 1st. That don’t happen if he’s locking down Buddy.

So we moved Moore off Reid/MacDonald to Buddy (put howe on MacDonald) - and within 2-3 mins they exploit it and kick their first goal they kick is to the 2nd tall exploiting our lack of height. It’s fools gold and robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The next goal came from Darcy out-marking Buddy and then switch kicking poorly to Howe and McInerney sprinting to kick an easy goal. Perhaps if Moore wasn’t thinking so much about Buddy, he don’t make a mistake like that?

Then from 7mins left Buddy appeared to have a rest and Moore went to MacDonald and floated as loose man for the remainder of the qtr. While Murphy was buddy’s direct opponent for the rest of the qtr once Buddy came back on.

Murphy started on Buddy in the 4th, with Moore taking MacDonald (greater aerial threat) and remained on Buddy for the bulk of the 4th qtr. Darcy was able to lag off and was lose at times, while spending some time on Heywood and Papeley at different stages.

At later stages of the game maynard and howe rotated on Buddy, I assume to keep our two talls back in defence to intercept and launch from half back while Buddy run up the field.

What helped us (Moore and Murphy) defend Buddy effectively in second half was Reid going off, and our midfield pressure and possession lifting. Had nothing to do with with match ups that could have existed in 1st half.

I love how it’s trotted out “Well look what May did for Buddy… we should have done that…”. We lost by a point (and really should have pinched it) while Melbourne got belted on the MCG. So tell me again how shutting down Buddy wins the game exactly?

How exactly did the May/Buddy match up stop Reid’s papeleys, Heywood, mills, lloyd, Parker, Rowbottom, Stephen’s influence? The truth is it didn’t. It was fools gold to put May on Buddy. They focused on curbing “one threat” when Sydney have many.

Just as it would have been fools gold to put Moore on Buddy for the entirety of the game. Had we done that, we get no intercepts and run off half back from Moore in the 2nd half at all cause he’s just a caravan on the back of Buddy.

Moore value is on an aerial specialist and moving him around to be loose to intercept and rebound. Which is exactly what hurt the Swans once Reid went down.

Buddy kicked all his scoring shots off centre clearance and quick thinking on his part. Very few defenders including Moore could have stopped that.

Our midfielders and HFFs let our defenders down in the 1st half. Once they lifted the pressure it’s no surprise our defensive group dominated with Reid off the park.

Go back and watch round 22 when Moore started on Buddy, and was on him for large parts of the game.

For those that can’t be bothered watching it, Moore was not good on Buddy. With Moore predominately focused on Buddy, Franklin kicked 3.1, 15 touches, 9 score involvements and 2 goal assists. In short Moore got towelled up.

Franklin managed 2.1, 11 touches, 6 score involvements and 0 goal assists in the preliminary final.

We should be praising the coaching staff for their match ups. They identified that completely shutting down Franklin with your best defender (like Melbourne did) is not necessary and takes away from Moores greatest strengths - aerial contest, intercepts and rebound.

We won 7.9 to 3.4 in the Second half. It had sweet **** all to do with getting our defensive match up on Buddy wrong in the first half and everything with us exploiting the Reid injury and. Our mids and HFFs doing their job.

The three goals Sydney kicked in the 2nd half:

1. Bomb to MacDonald while Moore out positioned on Buddy and howe out marked for height (doesn’t happen in the 1st half cause Moore is on McDonald)

2. Moore intercepts on Buddy, kicks a shocker to Howe - intercept to swans east goal - maybe Moore don’t make a simple mistake like that if he ain’t on Buddy.

3. Papley out marks (shoves) Moore.

So where’s the outrage that Moore not being on McDonald cost us the 1st goal of 2nd half and the game? After all if moore is still on McDonald, swans only get to 89 and we get to 94???

The point is Moore can’t be everywhere all at once. We are short a 2nd tall defender and Swans exploited it. Simple as that.

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