Autopsy Port overrun Dogs 66-64

Remove this Banner Ad

Unfit players and a lack of composure with the ball is killing us. We simply refuse to maintain possession and play the game as it needs to be played in the current climate.

we look defenceless when teams chip the ball around and playing way too impatiently in both phases of the game.

players look mentally burdened. Give them a week off and focus on having a laugh together.
I've had opposition supporters with no particular grudge against our club tell me we would be unlikely to go anywhere in the finals anywhere because we lack the necessary fortitude. I can't argue with that.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Yeah nah. Sydney basically got Hickey for free and he's been in the top 6 rucks this season.

What makes my blood boil is that there are rucks out there that don't cost the bank. I'm not even kidding but even Tom Campbell would have been handy to have in the past 3-4 weeks. And we could easily find a better one for minimal cost.

Also what rucks would be available that would even be worth considering not chasing Darcy. Basically none.

With respect, you wouldn’t know what’s available.

That’s why we employ Sam Power and the recruitment team. It’s their job to go out there and source players that we need to improve our list.

If we dangle some picks and $, we might be able to dislodge a decent mature ruckman from another AFL list.

If we do this, then it completes our midfield department and we can possibly win a flag next year.

We should be thinking big picture. Why not go after Grundy? He is 27 and facing a rebuild at Collingwood. He could be playing flags for us. I would happily trade out a first round pick, plus a second round pick next year plus a decent player (B.Smith) and give him a 6 year deal. We need to take some risks, it worked with T. Boyd.

Now it may not be possible to extract Grundy, but it’s worth asking the question. We need to think big, otherwise this list may be wasted.
 
Wouldn't really matter what Bev said on that members video, people will find fault in it. He speaks from the heart and says what he is feeling and that means he is making excuses. He says nothing on it and then people would say we deserve better and he needs to give us some answers.
I reckon he coached pretty well last night. Three goals in front with ten minutes to go and the players out there should have got the job done for him.

We were only three goals in front due to Port innaccuarcy. The reason they had so many enteries and shots on goal and Dogs beaten in the midfeild is down to Bevo and MC without a proper ruck. Same thing that took place in 2020 including the final. People need to read the whole picture already. A win would have been a massive band aid.
 
At the end of the third quarter we looked completely spent. As in, the whole season has caught up with us and we are now tired in our bones type of spent. Normally good and reliable players who have fought the fight time and again were making simple errors (Macrae, Libba for example, but they weren't alone). The pressure from Port contributes to this for sure, but it looked like something else too. Fatigue.
Not a lot of talk out there last night either. We looked jagged, jerky, hesitant at critical times, and how often did we need to stop because there were no options in the forward half? A few brilliant solo efforts kept us alive, but for the most part we lacked flow. Unnecessary handballing, kicking down the line to an outnumber (the bad kind), sprinkle that with a few underdone players, add some more who are out of form and set the timer for the end of the third. Ding! Cooked.
English was knackered before the end of the game last week, so this week we try and spare him by bringing in Young - who did about as well as you could expect him to do. Respect to him, but it's not the answer at this time of the year. Then it got to the stage of having Bont ruck while English was in the area. Not only has he carried us in a few games this season, he's now rucking late in games two weeks in a row.
It's no wonder we were out of petrol.

With a fair bit of help from Port's goal kicking, after all this we lose by one kick. We are so frustrating.
 
I've had opposition supporters with no particular grudge against our club tell me we would be unlikely to go anywhere in the finals anywhere because we lack the necessary fortitude. I can't argue with that.

I disagree with that. I would like out taller blokes to be more aggressive though.

I feel we lack the will or skill to control the ball and therefore the game by foot.
 
I blew up as soon as team selection was announced and we didn't bring in Sweet or Martin - Had a bit of a rant and rave about it and got it out of my system. Obviously for some the pressure built up and boiled over when we lost the game by 2 points last night so the venting here is understandable. I'm bloody gutted but I'm getting over it now and I'm not looking to point fingers and blame anyone.
For what's it worth I though Young did a great job in the ruck and Roarke Smith was inspiring across half back with a couple of his high flying efforts.
Yes, Port had a lot more scoring shots but no one seemed to mention that when we were in exactly the same position against Essendon 3 weeks ago and kicked ourselves out of it. Inaccurate footy is bad footy and we were kicking them straight last night.
We turned our form around last night which is a positive. And we did that whilst getting nothing from Bont and B Smith who have been down the last few weeks. The backline were very good.

My god that last play when Astro nearly marked it... He takes those marks 9 times out of 10 but he couldn't save us last night. It really is a game of inches...
Bloody hell it's hard to deal with but we are in the finals and our form line is trending up which is great. I repeat, there is no doubt that are form line has turned.

We just have to win every game from here on. We get Essendon again who we have covered. Then we play one of the losers from the 2 qualifying finals and we know we can mix it with any of them. Should have beaten Geelong and we will on a neutral ground. Beat Melbourne comfortably in round 19 (3 weeks ago). Beat Port comfortably on their home deck and then lost the rematch by only 2 points.

My recommendation: Go for a run or a walk and get some fresh air, its a beautiful day outside. Forget about the game last night and focus on the fact that we are up to our eyeballs in this finals series. Its exciting! Cheer up! Get up and about!
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Half way through the season someone at the football club made a strategic decision to not utilize the bye week to give the players a freshen up. This has backfired spectacularly, even more so now that head office has scrapped the pre-finals week off - someone has to be held accountable for this as it has come home to roost and too many players looked cooked.

When the post mortem is done on the season, that and the Josh Bruce injury, will be the 2 biggest sliding doors moments of the season. Unless there is a 3rd, positive moment like 2016 - one can only hope.
 
I haven't read every page but I'm surprised about the lack of comments on Wood.

He was awful.
Directly responsible for 3 Port goals.
I'm not sure I can stomach watching the whole game again, but I'll watch the first quarter and jot down every one of his involvements. (If for no other reason than to prove to myself that I'm not going mad.)
 
Not in a month of Sundays was that goingto be called a legal handball. You need to open your other eye...
Yeah.. that was a handball

Wines' goal was from an early leap as well which wasn't paid.

Also their last goal was from a kicking in danger.

We still should have won given the position with time left..
 
Compare our forward line right now of Naughton Hannan JJ Weightman Vandermeer English to a team that also had to deal with only having one key forward: Richmond 2017 which had Riewoldt Rioli Butler Caddy Townsend and Martin doing whatever he wanted because the team could stand on its own without him at times.

You may think some of those names are not higher quality than ours, but them and their game plan got. the. job. done. Look at our forward line setup and you wonder what is going on with our team and coaches.

Our backline also relies too much on having the mids run back. They are either too small or have players currently not up to it like Wood and at times Williams. both going for the backwards handball to a teammate under pressure and Wood costing us 3 goals. Richmond on the other hand had 3-4 players OVER 190cm in the backline. We have 2, 1 of them needing to be a 3rd tall so we are missing a 2nd tall. In spite of this though I'd say our backline has actually stood up very well against the odds and with its deficiencies.

Not gonna talk about the ruck, we all know our problems there.

I know not ever premiership side is 100% the same and completely comparable but we simply have too many players in the team that do not contribute or are not up to it unfortunately. Right now the team is maybe a 1 flag winning side with the amount of talent its got but not a multiple flag winning side.
 
I haven't read every page but I'm surprised about the lack of comments on Wood.

He was awful.
Directly responsible for 3 Port goals.
I'm not sure I can stomach watching the whole game again, but I'll watch the first quarter and jot down every one of his involvements. (If for no other reason than to prove to myself that I'm not going mad.)

Also killed our momentum in the hawks game with that inexplicable decision to kick it back into play and right into Mitchell’s hands.

He’s done. Great servant, premiership captain, thanks Easton. But he’s a liability now.
 
Thought the match committee and the coach had a good night. As with the last three weeks, our midfield was beaten and so went the ball game. Some of you won’t be happy until Bevo throws on his old jumper and starts getting some contested footy. Our much maligned forwards (did well with their opportunities) and backs can hold their heads high. Lewis Young can too. Libba, Treloar, Bont, Dunks and Smith were simply not good enough against Boak, Wines and that ginger fella.
 
The best part about games like this is you get to see who the “I’m not watching next week, this club is pathetic” types are. I hope Bevo reads them The Man in the Arena this week.
 
Boat 3 votes by a country mile. Thought wines was terrible until the 4th we he stepped in up and stopped, turning it over. No way in hell Wines gets 3, not sure even 2 but not sure who could get the 2
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Autopsy Port overrun Dogs 66-64

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top