QF: Port v West Coast Review

[Predator.]

PB as rebounding defender = electrifying.

When he gets the ball inside their 50, has a quick look around and decides "f... it, I'm off!!!", it's quite simply something to behold!

 

[Ford Fairlane]

****ing abominable umpiring today, and the amount of bullshit cheap shots West Coast got away with was astounding. Westhoff would've got a less thorough cavity search if he raided the APEC summit.

The kid's a freak. For all that rectal examination he was still taking some huge grabs when it mattered.

What was the story with his "goal" that the goal umpire was going to pay but was talked out of by the WCE defenders and the field umpire? Did it hit the post - they didn't replay it at the ground.

 

[silky-smooth]

exactly, what a massive game! 8 clearances and 21 effective disposals... what s legend.

And there was no chippy crap either (well, not as much). He had 10 long kicks, followed by Ebert (seven) and Motlop (five) for Port. No one else had more on the ground than PB.

 

[Predator.]

Did it hit the post - they didn't replay it at the ground.

Yeah it did. Though you wouldn't have thought so looking at Chad going thermo-nuclear.

 

[Total Power]

And there was no chippy crap either (well, not as much). He had 10 long kicks, followed by Ebert (seven) and Motlop (five) for Port. No one else had more on the ground than PB.

i am interested to know chappys stats.Can you provide that please?

 

[Captain Wacky]

Watching the replay and geez Salopek is a beast in this last quarter.

I'm having visions of him with a Norm Smith around his neck.

 

[silky-smooth]

i am interested to know chappys stats.Can you provide that please?

Nine kicks (two long), 24 disposals (20 effective), 10 marks (two cont), six cont poss and six over the lines (three I50, three R50). And a goal!

 

[PJ Power]

Statistically Sal hasn't had enormous games this year, but he has taken his footy to another level in terms of composure, toughness and leadership.

A super important player to our side, and I reckon Boaky is going to be every bit as good.

 

[Portia]

Yeah, I had to give Salopek 5 votes for taking that bump, then coming back on like he did and putting in some real hardnut class football.

 

[BWST]

Thanks for the summary Macca.

I simply couldnt watch the game. I actually felt very sick before the first bounce, and nearly threw up

I listened on the radio in periods. And in the last quarter took off for a drive, and turned my phone off.

I'm so proud of the boys in snagging this one. Our youngsters have now experienced finals pressure. Very valuable.

I dont care what happens from here, this year. But i feel we will be on the G, on that last Saturday.

 

[Total Power]

Thanks for the summary Macca.

I simply couldnt watch the game. I actually felt very sick before the first bounce, and nearly threw up

I listened on the radio in periods. And in the last quarter took off for a drive, and turned my phone off.

I'm so proud of the boys in snagging this one. Our youngsters have now experienced finals pressure. Very valuable.

I dont care what happens from here, this year. But i feel we will be on the G, on that last Saturday.

I did the same thing, had my lunch but then......well.....now i need to go and eat.

 

[Portia]

I'd also like to say that I loved the crowd tonight. A few Weagles fans around thinking they'd come to some nice social event, and ended up in a vindictive feral storm of Port support. Hahahaha lovely.

 

[carnaroys08]

Port looked pretty ordinary to me fellas.Not impressive at all.Far too many set shot misses,and the entire side went to sleep for 10 minutes in the Premiership Quarter.Are you Chokers? Your opposition was very very weak last night.

 

[spice18]

Port looked pretty ordinary to me fellas.Not impressive at all.Far too many set shot misses,and the entire side went to sleep for 10 minutes in the Premiership Quarter.Are you Chokers? Your opposition was very very weak last night.

Maybe if u make the 8 next year (or the year after) u might provide better opposition. Will wait for that with some degree of interest thanks. Now continue mad-monday.

 

[Port_GW]

Maybe if u make the 8 next year (or the year after) u might provide better opposition. Will wait for that with some degree of interest thanks. Now continue mad-monday.

Apparently they're getting another 3 zone picks, 5 extra rookies, and another $500,000 added to their salary cap next year so they're a fair chance of getting back into the 8 next year, so we'll be able to see then if they choke again like they did in the 04 GF

 

[tribey]

Tredrea - Terrible first half. Was a liability up forward but his second half was as important as anyone elses. Some huge bumps, tackles and assists.

POTY Votes
10 - P Burgoyne, Chaplin
9
8 - Motlop
7 - Lade, K Cornes, Wilson, Pettigrew
6 - Rodan, Surjan, C Cornes
5 - Tredrea, Salopek, Thurstans, Ebert
4 - Boak, Carlile, Cassisi
3 - S Burgoyne, Brogan, Logan, Westhoff
2 - Pearce
1

First off, yes I am biased on a level probably just below Gary Tredrea and on a par with Mrs. Tredrea, but only a 5?

You're right in that his first half was quite poor, but when the game had to be first turned and then won Tredders was at the forefront. Second and third efforts, beating odds of 3-to-1 on the deck, an inspiring goal, a cracking tackle and a tredmendous hip-and-shoulder shepherd on the Perth-based timber salesman.

Completely worthy of at least a 7 for mine - and clearly superior to the likes of Surj and Rodan.

 

[carnaroys08]

Lions dont choke! Would you think it fair to lose your earned home ground advantage in the Preliminary AND cop the shorter turn around for the granny? The Lions ran out of legs that year . Beaten by the AFL & a fresher side.Really look forward to next season;for the Lions to extract some revenge!Got close with a young list this year and with Bradshaw (70+ Goals 2006) back ,you can count on those Lions being there 08.Go the Non Victorian Clubs!

 

[Captain Wacky]

Port looked pretty ordinary to me fellas.

Yeah that's why they have a home prelim.

Thanks for your input though, noob.

 

[marcus]

Have a lot of respect for the lions, I look forward to you playing finals for the next few years and I look forward to the blowhard Victorian clubs not being able to blame your success on differences in salary cap etc.

WC chose to play an injured 22 and gamble on the finals experience and bigger bodies being more important than fitness. That might have worked at Telstra Dome but not on a warm night at AAMI.

It was a real finals game and all that now matters is who has to play next week and who doesnt. Our kids now know what finals footy is all about and we won't have the same disposal issues in the prelim that we had for the first half in last nights game.

And Choco gets a relatively quiet week with his newly extended family.

 

[*PAF]

Well call me biased but the resurgence came from the Territory boys. YEAH!!
Logan was the spark, he came on, chased, tackled, harassed, pissed them off, caused turnovers, kept us in the game at a time when they could have easily run away with it. Anyone that doesn't think we need a player like that in the side has got rocks in their heads.

Motlop, well what can one say. If any aspiring youngsters want to model their game on someone, just watch Motlop's and Thurstans' game from last night. They both were having a dog of a day, yet they stuck at it, stuck at it, lifted to the max of their ability, stuck at it even more and in the end were a big big part of why we won.
Motlop's kicking was having an off night but he did everything else to 100% to make up for it. That is super impressive stuff that comes from the sack.

PB the other territorian is a proven big game player and delivered in spades yet again. BOG in capital everything.

There was a time, not too far back, that if a Territorian played in a GF he would get the Norm Smith. Winning side or losing side made no difference. In fact the very first to come from a losing side was Maurice Rioli.
PB was unlucky not to have joined the NS club in 2004, given another chance he will.


Thurstans (not a territorian) was having a dog of a time with Lynch. Lynch will always take a big mark or two and kick long range bombs. He is strong and powerful.
Last night Thurstans was left one out with him far too often. Some of the kicks to Lynch were the type that no defender can stop. However he still found room to read the play and zone off to help others, harassed as much as anyone, do those 1 %ers, rebounded everytime he was in a position to do so and still get back in time to do his job. Sometimes we take too much notice of goals against, had the others filled the gaps and Lynch got no goals we would have been saying how good a game he had even though he would have done nothing more than he did. He ended up having a very good game and broke even with Lynch in everything except goals scored, plus did some other defender things that Lynch as a forward obviously will not do.

Pettigrew and Surjan. Around the middle of the first half of the the year I was critical of both for trying to rebound at all cost and forgetting to do their main jobs, well that all changed a while back and now they are good, good, good with a capital G.

Chaplin, words cannot express how good he is becoming. Mead and Paco all in one?

Finally Sal and Boak. How good are they now and how good will they be in the future?
Boak will be a super gun. Selwood will be good, but Boak has even more upside IMO. Not hard to see why he was both Port's and Geelong's preferred choice.
Sal is a gun now. Tough as nails, tough as nails and then tough as nails some more, plus skills and a super brain to boot. Only thing missing is that extra experience he could have had if it wasn't for those weird injuries early in his career.


My votes for the game

5. PB
4. Chaplin
3. Pettigrew

1. Motlop
1. Thurstans
1. Logan

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Yeah, Boak. His hands were like lightning in that firestorm last quarter. He is super-impressive. And he can lay a hard tackle too.

Westhoff gives me the impression of drifting in and out of games, but when he's in them you can't help but be mighty impressed. Took some big grabs, and he actually can kick a long way. He might have skinny arms and shoulders, but he's got big hands and he knows how to control a footy with them.

 

[Andre]

A few quick thoughts on a few players.

Motlop - On the main board there was a thread on finals X-factors. I thought Motlop was an obvious one for that. He managed to combine great marking, smothering, tackling, chasing with atrocious kicking on goal to keep us in the game at critical times, whilst simultaneously almost losing it with point after point, after OOF. If we make the GF and he kicks straight, he'll win the Norm Smith.

PB - who'd have thought 4 - 5 years ago we'd call him a player to stand up under finals pressure?! A top game last night. Whilst I like him in defence, he's also needed in the midfield each quarter. I'd like him starting in defense each quarter, before moving in the centre around the 20 minute mark, when the best opposition midfielders are usually rotated off. He'll have great impact then.

Lade/Brogan - Brogan played like he was half fit and the two weeks will certainly help. Last night we faced the one ruck opponent in Cox capable of matching them. If by some chance we face West Coast again this year, I'd go slightly left field and have Thurstans ruck against Seaby, Brogan to face Cox at the centre bounces and Lade to follow him around the ground. The tag team effort to wear him down. He is the lynch pin of west coast. He almost single handedly got them over the line.

There was a lot to like in the second half, but a lot to be concerned about early. If I was asked to describe our team in one word it'd be brittle. We can be brilliant, but can crack when pressure is applied. Hopefully now the blowtorch of finals pressure has been applied we stand up to opposition pressure a bit better next time around.

 

[*PAF]

Yeah, Boak. His hands were like lightning in that firestorm last quarter. He is super-impressive. And he can lay a hard tackle too.

Westhoff gives me the impression of drifting in and out of games, but when he's in them you can't help but be mighty impressed. Took some big grabs, and he actually can kick a long way. He might have skinny arms and shoulders, but he's got big hands and he knows how to control a footy with them.

Westhoff is a gun and just like you said in another thread, when he realises how good he can be he will be a powerhouse.
Last night he was unlucky not to get a number of frees, however that should be good learning experience in as far as, even though things might not be going your way, one can still have a major influence in the game by working hard and doing all those 1%. That he did.

 

[Eddie Woloschek]

PB BOG by a mile. Salopek inspring, Chaplin briiliant - he's improved his decision-making ten-fold over the last month. Gray for Pearce (a real worry); and Wake for the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Carlisle, and we are in business.

Some great TV moments:

Cometti on Cousins: (sometime after he lifted his jumper to reveal a tatt on his guts that says 'Such is Life') "It's hard when you have to read your on stomach"

Cometti on Westhoff: "And next year he'll have shoulders!"

The CCornes sledge on Cousins' fitness post-game was also magnificent.

 

[*PAF]

... If I was asked to describe our team in one word it'd be brittle. We can be brilliant, but can crack when pressure is applied. ...

I have to disagree this time Andre.
In 2001 to 2004 I would have agreed with you. There were times that once the pressure got past a certain point we would not be able to find a way back.
Nowadays we are still capable of working our way back into the game no matter how the game is going.
Not just the last few weeks either, it has been something we have been working towards from the very first game of the year.
We have a good blend of youngsters with no fear coupled with a bunch of players that were members of the St Kilda prelim.
That prelim was oh so important. We can talk about the history of the club all we like, but having players in the team that are part of that history is where the good habits get passed on. Father to son who then passes on to his son who does the same etc. Not from the son reading about his Great Grand Father in books.