Review R13: The Good, Bad and Ugly vs. Richmond Tigers

[Firewalker]

Has to be worth a mention that our game plan and ball movement put Noah Balta in All Australian contention on the back of 60 minutes of football !!

Does turn into prime Steven May when playing the Crows

 

[cleanhands]

Show off!

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Has to be worth a mention that our game plan and ball movement put Noah Balta in All Australian contention on the back of 60 minutes of football !!

But we did the same for Stewart, Pearce, Sicily, etc... so depends on who we play twice lol.

We love to let the opposition have a spare defender when they have a gun across half back...

 

[crows dude]

Just grim. The coaching is obviously substandard, but heck some of these players are just fried too.

Ugly
Murphy - never again.
Schoenberg - whatever talent he had is gone through injuries and I reckon a lack of real desire to get the best out of himself. never again
Laird - back to half back. two all australians there, we could do with some drive. and hopefully forces him to defend. cooked in the midfield.
Smith - never again.
Burgess. **** me. Never again. I get the recruitment, it was worth a crack. But never again.

Bad
Ned gets a pass. Probably shit, but at least he cracks in and pressures. If we get everything else around him right he might be able to play a role.

Keays the same. He's ****in annoying but he's not the problem. Plays the hardest role in the league pretty well compared to others. Anyone who does this role without the gremlins Keays brings quickly gets promoted out of it.

Jones the same. Bad drafting, but if we get everything else right maybe he plays a role.

Berry's a hard one. Maybe can fit in as the 22nd guy picked as a rotational pressure mid/forward. Doesn't find the ball, but at least he cracks in which most other blokes don't. Not ideal, but not the biggest problem.

Hamill. Give him a few more games. Has problems, but if he can make quelling the most dangerous small his niche it might be worth carrying his issues to free up Max.

Key defenders. Key defenders who don't kick have such low utility in the modern game. It's like basketball. Centres don't need to shoot the three ball, the oppo just need to know you can shoot. When you've got key backs who can't kick and are full time stoppers, it makes it so much ****in easier for the opposition to kill you in transition and with their press. Butts was hardly the worst last night, but he has no role in a self respecting rebuilding side.

Fogarty. Sure, kicked some goals, but **** he's a one trick pony who offers nothing off the ball. His man absolutely shelled us in the first half.

Good-ish
Nank's a good kid. Does the right things. Easy without an opponent though.

Borlase forward - persist. Not a modern defender. Especially with Murray coming back. Slow, undersized, maybe lacking in a tank, and inexperienced forward, but he's got footy crafts & smarts, works hard, cracks in.

Dowling. Real Lyons clone, but that's better than nothing at the moment. Good start.

Rachele. Better. I think he's misunderstood. Back the kid in.

Strachan. Belted at the tap, but the tap's overrated. Was nice to see a contest and some skill around the ground.

Did you notice Strachans tongue hanging out. He was buggered. Doesn’t have the fitness to ruck on his own. Should have played both rucks to change it up a bit.

 

[crows dude]

Good: Keane's handball to himself. Clever/ Hell-funny.

The rest: a huge steaming pile.

That was his gaelic footy expertise

 

[Mutineer]

Has to be worth a mention that our game plan and ball movement put Noah Balta in All Australian contention on the back of 60 minutes of football !!

Noah Balta is a gun!!

Can play back or forward, he's a very good footballer and would be playing AFL for whatever club he was playing for.

 

[crows dude]

Agree with comments about comparisons of Dowling and Lyons. Lyons who by the way looks like dominating vfl again. 3 goals and 30 touches today to go with his 4 and 35 last week. Back to back vfl medals I think will be coming as Brisbane only use him as depth and to help out the youngsters in the VFL

 

[CrowBloke]

I’ve seen McHenry before and realise he’s not usually any good, just thought tonight was some of the best I’ve seen him play and found it weird he was still copping hate.

McHenry-disdain is an acquired taste which has built up over many weeks; it's accumulated.

You realise "he's not usually any good", but think that a single decent quarter as sub against seriously poor opponents merits praise??
Show yourself out; we don't care what you think about McHenry.

 

[CrowBloke]

The fact Strachan has been our number two for a number of years and no club has really tried to recruit him says it all. He is 29 and purely a backup.

Yep.
'Strawny' is scrawny and was monstered physically by Nankervis whom I thought was Richmond's most influential player. Nankervis' taps to his mids sometimes was Silver Service and led directly to goals while befuddled Crows stood and watched.
Post-injury with Strachan off, Nankervis turned his attention to destroying Burgess.

 

[Captain Furious]

Good:
Dowling looks comfortable at the level, pity he missed that goal though - feel we win if he kicks that.

Michalanney - was stoked we got a gun lockdown defender last year, now I feel we undersold him, kid could be anything.

Nankervis - his slipperiness reminds me of Milera at his best. Would love to see these two across half back next year.

Good+: all 3 are super young.

Bad:
Burgess. Yeesh. Don't care how green the Keeper (Junior Murray aka Toby Murray) is, at this point get him in. McHenry would be a better key forward/2nd ruck than Burgess. Game over for him.

Tough to pick on him when there were others way worse but Sholl's inability to compete physically override the possessions he gets, which never seem to lead to much. *has 2 goal assists for the year.

Keane looks like he's checked out now that he's proven himself, just going to fly for marks and have some fun until he heads back to the Pies. Allergic to the hard ball. I'd swing him forward a few times this season, see if we can't increase his trade value as a swing man.

Ugly:
Shoey/Berry/Jones/McHenry..along with Pedlar in the 2s - the lost years of trying to draft the same player over and over again with high draft picks. I still hold a faint edge of hope for Pedlar (as a mid, not a forward) but ineffectual footballers who've had plenty of chances to prove otherwise. All 1st rd, early 2nd rd picks - these guys should be the driving force in the team but they're depth at best.

 

[CrowBloke]

Can't sleep, so plenty of quiet time to re-watch post-half-time.

UGLY:
A minute into the 3rd quarter, we were 7 points up (after Borlase goal).
Nankervis wins next centre tap out wide to E of Centre and Richmond have not forgotten their grub lessons from Hardwick as Laird held back 5m from the ball by Baker; NO free given, but the blue maggot top R of screen is clearly looking that way:


Soon after, Fogarty under no pressure mistake-kicks over Laird's head. Laird gives up and allows Richmond to clear. The kick goes towards Keane who instead of attacking the ball attacks the player, gives away a htm-free and we're now down by 5 points.
3rd quarter, 16.20 to play (shortly after the useless Burgess is outmarked, then sags off his opponent allowing Tiges to switch out to Western side and go end-to-end), look at the Richmond set-up for the throw-in, which is good Coaching --- there's a cluster of Richmond players milling around out to the LHS, on the move, totally bamboozling the defenders. Sholl is alone outside the goalsquare guarding empty space. In front of ruckman Nankervis is about 20-25m clear (Sholl should be blocking that hole, btw) for any opportunistic Tiger to run into, towards goal:


and that's exactly what happens after the throw!
Jones and Sholl(<== totally out of position) are ball-watching and Carmichael on the RHS running in is about to be fed by Nankervis and goal far too easily. Jones is not even watching Carmichael running in from the R:


From 7 points up to 11 points down in about 3 minutes on the back of wasteful Crows' errors (Fogarty/Keane/Burgess) and clueless defensive positioning, including Butts slipping over then later being caught behind Carmichael in that last play.
It gets worse.
15.13 to play, Strachan marks well but shank-kicks inward straight to a Richmond player and they goal, again.
By the time Taranto goals again with 10.10 to play, the Crows are 4 goals down. Another 5-goal run, unhindered by any dynamic changes from Nicks.
Again.

In that awful third quarter Richmond (one win, ten consecutive losses, 17th) kicked 6 goals and had previously had only one 5-goal quarter all season when they inexplicably beat Sydney.
That's how bad the Crows were on Thursday night.
Clueless defence.
Lack of awareness/game-reading.
Thrashed in Ruck (at that stage 60-42 hit-outs, 10-2 to advantage)
Elementary kicking errors (even by Dawson/Fogarty) producing soft, uncontested turnovers.

Combined, a nightmare of Nicks' making because our players don't know what to do or how/when to do it.

 

[1970crow]

Yeah I hope all the Matt Crouch knockers that carry on about his kick/handball ratio take the time to watch that and see how many of those handballs set up positive Crows forays forward. None so blind as those who will not see..

Ah disposal number fans, gotta love their swagger. A game we lost easily had us with the top 5 disposal winners on the ground, Crouch the #1, with 35. 9 ahead of Newcombe and 12 ahead of Day. Both those players getting at least a vote from each coach, whilst Crouch racked up a donut.

You're right about the blind thing, might be time you realise that racking up touches without damage whilst allowing your direct opponents to cut through us, is a nett negative to the team's performance. Crouch isn't our biggest problem, but he's definitely a player we need to get out of the club. Unfortunately, as we've found out, nobody wants what he brings. Strange that.

 

[1970crow]

There is something there with Borlase, I think moving him away from a pure defensive role to a more attacking defender/HF position that suits his game style? He has presence and is deceptively strong to take on people much taller than him.

Liked him ahead of the ball. Hopefully it wasn't a once-off and we see him develop further up there.

 

[CrowBloke]

Our players are coached abysmally for crucial moments. Whether they have the quality of execution is another matter, but the coaching needs to be addressed first because otherwise you end up with class players being coached the wrong way, turning them into shells of their former self.

Some dynamic, high-ceiling players have been turned into Sholls of their former selves.
Rachele springs to mind. Pedlar, too. Both have been Nicksed.

 

[CrowBloke]

I can't agree with this enough. Old school coach would of dragged him and given him a rocket. For me it was the most infuriating thing of the night until his other pathetic attemlt to mark. He had IS an absolute stinker.

ftfy

 

[CrowBloke]

The Good……… I didn’t watch

 

[pjcrows]

Graham Cornes running with:

"Why is Tim Silvers getting heat?"
"This isn't John Olsen's fault"
"I fully support the re-signing of Nicks because if you didn't re-sign him, imagine the heat on the club"
"Too much hysteria"
"People like Stephen Rowe are not objective"
"You can query some board appointments but who cares who it is, really?"

This sums up everything. You guys realise that absolutely nothing will change even if people move in and out, right?

 

[Harris1991]

Trading down to pick up mcasey while leaving serong on the table is a good one also

You clould be

Good:
Dowling looks comfortable at the level, pity he missed that goal though - feel we win if he kicks that.

Michalanney - was stoked we got a gun lockdown defender last year, now I feel we undersold him, kid could be anything.

Nankervis - his slipperiness reminds me of Milera at his best. Would love to see these two across half back next year.

Good+: all 3 are super young.

Bad:
Burgess. Yeesh. Don't care how green the Keeper (Junior Murray aka Toby Murray) is, at this point get him in. McHenry would be a better key forward/2nd ruck than Burgess. Game over for him.

Tough to pick on him when there were others way worse but Sholl's inability to compete physically override the possessions he gets, which never seem to lead to much. *has 2 goal assists for the year.

Keane looks like he's checked out now that he's proven himself, just going to fly for marks and have some fun until he heads back to the Pies. Allergic to the hard ball. I'd swing him forward a few times this season, see if we can't increase his trade value as a swing man.

Ugly:
Shoey/Berry/Jones/McHenry..along with Pedlar in the 2s - the lost years of trying to draft the same player over and over again with high draft picks. I still hold a faint edge of hope for Pedlar (as a mid, not a forward) but ineffectual footballers who've had plenty of chances to prove otherwise. All 1st rd, early 2nd rd picks - these guys should be the driving force in the team but they're depth at best.

In defense of Shoey, Berry and Pedlar they were genuine young midfielders we brought in and left them to rot on the wasteland that is HFF so we could pesist with Laird, Keays (up until last year) and then Crouch in the midfield. You can see already we intend to do exactly the same thing with Dowling.

Our recruiting has been woeful but how we develop young players is almost as bad.

I won't defend Mchenry and Jones as they are both rubbish.

 

[Harris1991]

Some dynamic, high-ceiling players have been turned into Sholls of their former selves.
Rachele springs to mind. Pedlar, too. Both have been Nicksed.

Both need to leave the club before this incompetent football dept ruins their career.

 

[Harris1991]

Graham Cornes running with:

"Why is Tim Silvers getting heat?"
"This isn't John Olsen's fault"
"I fully support the re-signing of Nicks because if you didn't re-sign him, imagine the heat on the club"
"Too much hysteria"
"People like Stephen Rowe are not objective"
"You can query some board appointments but who cares who it is, really?"

This sums up everything. You guys realise that absolutely nothing will change even if people move in and out, right?

I have to turn Cornes off. Is he still on the payroll.

 

[IntelligentFish]

Good: Richmond kicked it up a notch. No-one can argue that they fell into the win.
Bad: The depth of our team is non-existent. There is a significant gap between the old guard and the new blood, no-one to fill in the gaps.
Ugly: With Tasmania coming through, any chance of trading our way to better depth can't happen. The club has squandered it's rebuild opportunity, and there's no way to recover.

 

[hugecannon]

You clould be


In defense of Shoey, Berry and Pedlar they were genuine young midfielders we brought in and left them to rot on the wasteland that is HFF so we could pesist with Laird, Keays (up until last year) and then Crouch in the midfield. You can see already we intend to do exactly the same thing with Dowling.

Our recruiting has been woeful but how we develop young players is almost as bad.

I won't defend Mchenry and Jones as they are both rubbish.

this, instead of drafting some genuine small/mid sized forwards who can push up the ground, we draft midfielders and then play them exclusively at HF without letting them develop into midfielders.

We have drafted such an unbalanced list without really succeeding in addressing some core player issues.

 

[ABAB]

You clould be


In defense of Shoey, Berry and Pedlar they were genuine young midfielders we brought in and left them to rot on the wasteland that is HFF so we could pesist with Laird, Keays (up until last year) and then Crouch in the midfield. You can see already we intend to do exactly the same thing with Dowling.

Our recruiting has been woeful but how we develop young players is almost as bad.

I won't defend Mchenry and Jones as they are both rubbish.

But this time it's Dawson, Soligo and Rankine in the midfield.

 

[cleanhands]

View attachment 2013516

Lack of interest

 

[CrowBloke]

Graham Cornes running with: "Why is Tim Silvers getting heat?" "This isn't John Olsen's fault"
"I fully support the re-signing of Nicks because if you didn't re-sign him, imagine the heat on the club"
"Too much hysteria" "People like Stephen Rowe are not objective"
"You can query some board appointments but who cares who it is, really?"

Thanks for posting those comments which are proof positive that Cornes, for all his experience, is an idiot.
However, I just can't agree with your remarks below:

This sums up everything. You guys realise that absolutely nothing will change even if people move in and out, right?

Nothing Cornes said above is worth considering plus I doubt he has any clout within the Club.
Also, nothing will change? Ever?
That's a nihilist's extreme position.
I'm as low and disillusioned as I've ever been about the Crows but I've got to believe that changes and improvements will be made.
For starters:
--- Roo's gotta go; he has way too much influence within the hierarchy which translates negatively to the Coach and playing group.
--- Kelly is useless; sack him.
--- get rid of VB, Burns, also Godden, Wright and Bello all of whom have "Development" in their titles at which they've failed miserably. Rahilly was a huge loss.

As for Nicks, nice bloke, dud senior Coach; the playing group is going nowhere under him. Many have regressed.
Many promising Juniors have yet to be given an AFL game. Others are played out of position (too many to list!) or have their spirit and creativity crushed (Curtin, Pedlar, Rachele). Meanwhile he continues to favour ineffective scrappers like Murphy and McHenry and turn-to-water-under-pressure feebles like Sholl, all the while keeping the faith with cooked underperformers like Smith and Laird.

Nicks --- nix tricks, game day bricks, ticks no boxes, confusing selection picks, I see no fix.