Positives to be taken from today.

[doug85]

I think it's become pretty obvious that we still have a season or two left before we are a serious challenger. So what did people take out of the game today that gives us some hope of a brighter future?

 

[Phone]

instead of crap kicking to standing forwards we did crap kicking to leading forwards, which is better

 

[JD11]

Hurley, hes an absolute beast.

 

[scythe]

we truly are capable of a top 4 performance. it was obvious in the long strings of team effort leading up to solid inside 50 marks. problem is, all that is overshadowed by our complete unwillingness to play a full game.

 

[doug85]

Hurley, hes an absolute beast.

Agree. Winning that 2 on 1 on the forward 50 in the last quarter was gold.

 

[scythe]

Mods should remove smartass negative posts from this thread and card the offenders.

Go to one of the 450 sooky la la threads if you wanna have a bitch.

aren't you a charmer.

we address the issue of a full game effort, we return to glory. that's what i said. nothing smartass or negative about it.

 

[Tommykins]

I thought having Pears back was a positive, he was a little behind the play at times, but not overly so, though Hookers injury could negate that good work, sadly.

Hurley was good, first time he's played like that in a while but still had major moments where he could have used an extra second or two to think about what he was doing, would love to see him play a bit more consistently.

Bellchambers is our number one ruckman at the moment, furthermore, he's a target for long kicks from Fletcher who can consistently take a mark.

Also 31 points down to 6 points up isn't to shabby at all, especially with the lack of Hocking and Hooker.

 

[cAsEy_18]

Plenty of positives from that one for mine. Sure on the surface it looks like a loss to North Melbourne, but we can take a few things:

1. Hurley is a genuine star, both in the future and already.
2. We led, we finally led. It worked a fair few times, other times our kicks fell short, but it is a huge step forward to us improving but leading in the forward line (No doubt in my mind Hurley helps again here).
3. We lost a game because of poor kicking for goal and missed chances. These days happen, and it is frustrating, but we played well enough to win, and on another day we would've won this game. Thought the effort never died off either, which is one thing you can always credit to this group.

 

[Yoda_]

- Michael Hibberd
- Michael Hurley
- Tayte Pears
- Coming back from 31 points down to hit the front by a goal

 

[scythe]

I wasn't refering to your post.

apologies. just seemed like mine was the most likely candidate.

 

[theboxmike]

I don't care that much we lost TBH. all i can say is we are getting back to our earlier season form. Will win next week.

 

[Menza]

The Positives for me:

*We showed some dog and fought our way back into the game after a pitiful start especially kicking ourselves out of the game.

*Stanton found some form.

*Our young players in Heppell, Hibbard, Hurley, Zaharakis and Howlett all played their roles and should hold their heads high in what was a dismal result.

 

[doug85]

I also enjoyed Jetta's game today. Loved his tackling and his ball use was pretty good too. I wanted the club to trade him two years ago. You can't get e'm all right.

 

[scythe]

I don't care that much we lost TBH. all i can say is we are getting back to our earlier season form. Will win next week.

4th on the ladder, 4 wins out of the last 5 games, geelong only managed to effect the one loss by less than a goal, and you think we can get them?

don't get me wrong though, that'd be absolutely delicious. i hate hawthorn with the fire of a thousand suns, way more than carlton or collingwood.

 

[Stratton_Gun]

Play Hille next week and I am sad to say you will dominate the hawks. With the 3 bigs and possibly no Buddy, we will have no answer

 

[daffo]

Pears was ok. I can't wait till he gets fit again.
Hibbard has all the guts in the world. Two things that really worry me about him
1) He can't dispose the ball under pressure
2) He ALWAYS goes for a mark instead of punching. He is a defender. Punch the ball!

 

[Oh Tayteridge]

My big 2 were as follows:

Hurley and general forward structure was much improved. **** Hurley has a presence, and again, those last 3 steps he takes before hitting a contest are absolutely explosive.

Zaharakis. Did his absolute best to get us up, especially in the last. Backs himself, great skills and great pace. People don't recognise him enough as a genuine potential A grade player, and he's starting to show that he can really play.

 

[JD11]

Anyone else think it's a positive that we have a tough draw coming up?

 

[Oh Tayteridge]

Also, Prismall was very good as a sub.

 

[SirJimi05]

My big 2 were as follows:

Hurley and general forward structure was much improved. **** Hurley has a presence, and again, those last 3 steps he takes before hitting a contest are absolutely explosive.

Zaharakis. Did his absolute best to get us up, especially in the last. Backs himself, great skills and great pace. People don't recognise him enough as a genuine potential A grade player, and he's starting to show that he can really play.

Spot one.

Hurley busted a gut out there. Could hardly run at the end.

If only the delivery was a little bit better he would have kicked 6+

 

[Rocky_Star_Pro]

- Pears, played good today and obviously lacked match fitness. Will get better as season goes on.

- Hibberd, gun today. Was seriously unlucky by that ******** that paid the free against him at the end.

- Bellchambers, I wreckon played well in the ruck today, beat Goldstein.

- Zaharakis, absolutely awesome, will be elite.

- Hurley, could have kicked 10 if the ball supply was better

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Hibberd. i was about to wipe him off after 1st qtr, but played a big role in us getting back into it. Looked a bit like a young Bomber Thompson.

 

[George Washington]

Anyone else think it's a positive that we have a tough draw coming up?

Yep, always play better as the underdogs. Will snag a couple of the tough matches coming up.

 

[Kong]

I actually thought we turned a corner today. Sure we stuffed things up, and we ultimately lost to side worse than us, but coming from where we've been the last three weeks, we started to improve where we needed to, at least in stages:

- Kicking inside fifty with actual intent
- "Spreading" at the contest
- Locking the ball inside our forward half
- Tackling and harassing

It all fluctuated, but I saw something today to give me hope for the rest of the season. Pears looked decent enough, and will only get better with match fitness. As will Hurley, as will Watson. Three of our most important players.

 

[DaSawx]

I actually thought we turned a corner today. Sure we stuffed things up, and we ultimately lost to side worse than us, but coming from where we've been the last three weeks, we started to improve where we needed to, at least in stages:

- Kicking inside fifty with actual intent
- "Spreading" at the contest
- Locking the ball inside our forward half
- Tackling and harassing

It all fluctuated, but I saw something today to give me hope for the rest of the season. Pears looked decent enough, and will only get better with match fitness. As will Hurley, as will Watson. Three of our most important players.

Still either too short or too long most of the time, which really summed up the last month.

Apart from that I totally agree.

My main positive, we were still the better team.