Review R20: Port v Hawthorn Review

[Macca19]

Well about 40 minutes of decent football and well thumped in the rest. To be expected I guess. Hawthorn did what they had to do and not much more. Put the hammer down for 30 minutes and its what won them the match.

Boak was best on ground by a clear margin. Brad worked his way into the game after a slow start, Schulz was a winner up forward . Thought Stewart played a fine flankers game and Pearce played ok behind the goal. Blee did alright on Gunston on debut.

But once again its just not good enough. To be 15 points behind a few minutes into the last quarter and lose by 72 points isnt acceptable. Once again, pride in performance takes a backward step. A lot of experienced players played pretty horrid games.

Trengove, well I didnt think he could get any worse than some of the matches hes played over the last 4-6 weeks but today took the cake. Awful match. Beaten in just about every contest he went for. Not only that, the incessant whinging after his opponent took a mark was pathetic. Every week I think 'gee how far has he fallen', and then he gets worse. Hartlett for all the supposed talent in the world isnt good enough, doesnt hit enough targets and is too scared of going near a contest. Chaplin was a passenger against a Schoenmakers who controlled the half forward line like Franklin. Rodan had his 1 customary run and bounce and hit the lead then did nothing else. Lobbe again shows all and sundry he isnt an AFL player. Logan torn a new one by Puopolo. Cassisi, a passenger once again.

Looking forward to a new coach next year, hopefully some aggressive trading/FA targets, some good drafting, a new fitness regime, a new strength regime, some assistant coaches that know what they are doing and hopefully we can have a new lease on life as a football club next year, because for now, im sure im not the only one counting down the quarters till the season is over.

Player Reviews:
Boak - The midfield leader today with a number of telling disposals both free and in contested situations. Best by a long way. Hopefully not his last very good game for the club.

Brad Ebert - Not given a whole lot of space to work with today and had a number of his disposals hurried as a result. Thought his was a slow burn of a match, started slowly but worked his way into it well. Overall, better than average.

Schulz - The best forward on the park for us today, led well, marked well, kicked well. Desperately needs help.

Cornes - Pretty inconspicuous performance today. Got a lot of the ball but didnt really impact with his disposals

Cassisi - Just doesnt lead by example. Spent half the match arguing with the umpires. One of his worst of 2012

Westhoff - Played better than he has as a pure half forward today. Didnt really need to go into the backlines to pad his stats for once

Pearce - Liked his play, especially in the first half. Tried to create, gave some run. Some didnt work, but much of it did. One of our better players

Redden - Less than ordinary in defence, quite good in the ruck. Must persist with him

Hartlett - Nowhere near as good as he thinks he is. Gave us nothing today except turnovers and shirking contests. Should be better, doubt he'll live up to his potential

Brett Ebert - 2 goals was a fair return for his efforts today. Took some strong grabs and found more space than hes used to.

Lobbe - Once again well beaten by his opponent in the ruck. Did ok around teh ground but we dont need a 200cm bloke getting some loose kicks on a back flank. We need a 200cm to get his hands on the ball in the ruck, and he doesnt do it. Doubt he'll make it

Broadbent - Couple of goals but well beaten in the midfield.

Trengove - Worst performance of the year. Sulky performance, easily brushed off the ball. No strength, no feel for the game. No leadership.

Logan - Ok on Rioli early but well beaten by Puopolo after half time

Thomas - Really enjoyed his grunt work today and at least tried to stand up to the Hawks midfielders. Not a lot of the ball, but thought he was better than most

P Stewart - Similar to Thomas, didnt have a lot of the ball but kicked a goal and set up at least 4-5 scoring shots. Thought he played well

Rodan - First game for a while. Probably last game for good. 1 decent run and carry, not much else.

Pfeiffer - Good early, but really couldnt get any feel for the game at all today

Moore - Worst game for the year by far. Just didnt get involved apart from giving away silly free kicks. Rightfully subbed

Chaplin - Well pantsed by a bloke that spends most weeks playing at full back

Blee - Defensively sound against Gunston. Not much of the ball offensively

McCarthy - Got a bit of the ball but couldnt do much with it as sub

POTY Votes
10
9
8 - Boak
7
6 - Schulz
5 - Pearce, Thomas
4 - Brad Ebert, Brett Ebert, P Stewart
3 - Cornes, WEsthoff, Redden, Blee
2 - Broadbent
1 - Lobbe, Logan, Rodan, Chaplin
0 - Cassisi, Hartlett, Trengove, Pfeiffer, Moore, McCarthy

 

[HugeJohnson]

Crowd vs West Coast?

10274

 

[PJ Power]

Agree mostly with your individual reviews, Macca.

But the top four were pretty clear to me, today. Pearce, Brad and Boak looked like they were trying in the midfield. They ran hard, they chased, they tried to tackle. Along with Schulz, they were our best four. The HFFs were ok and competed hard, but I didn't think they crumbed the ball well, nor did they keep it locked in our forward line as much as we needed.

The entire defence was terrible.

 

[QPower]

 

[BornPort]

Hartlett doesn't look like he has any confidence in his body.

 

[PJ Power]

Hartlett and Moore are learning too well from Trengove. Lots of huff and puff, and push and shove when the ball is 100m away and nothing resembling hardness at the ball when it is anywhere near them.

 

[Portmanteau]

Tom Logan heroball must end.

 

[PJ Power]

Tom Logan heroball was very dumb today and quite laughable. Puopolo was gifted at least three of his goals from it.

 

[Portia]

I know its probably easy to write down the first quarter as all good, but even then there were lazy signs I didn't like. eg. when the ball is slowly heading to the boundary in the forward pocket, Westhoff & Stewart(?) are the two nearest players & both have room & can intercept to play on, but they let it go over the line because they can't be ****ed. What.

Also, I am 100% ready to trade Lobbe now. Even when he does good things, it looks like he's barely managed to coordinate his arms and legs.

 

[PJ Power]

Also, I am 100% ready to trade Lobbe now. Even when he does good things, it looks like he's barely managed to coordinate his arms and legs.

Agree on this. Can't see much to like now that the novelty of his first few games has worn off. He dropped two high marks late in the game that had soft written all over them.

 

[Portmanteau]

Lobbe is and has always been too heavy in the lower body to make it as an AFL ruckman. Look at all the best rucks - Cox, Jacobs, McEvoy, Gardiner (in year's past), they have the same long-legged, strong upper body shape. Maybe it's slow vs fast twitch muscle fibres - Lobbe was always talked up for his endurance running ability (Choco's revolution!).

 

[itisnt2hard]

As expected but some good signs early that we do have the ability to run and carry. Fair to say neither of our ruckmen will ever have the ability to be a true mobile cover the ground player. Our backline was always going to be a problem from the first bounce this year. Gotta feeling Bobby will be part of a trade deal, and Chappy really has his mind in other places. Fitness is another major concern as we just cant run out 4 quarters. Sam Mitchells tank is where we need to be. I dont know where we are going to get them all from but we need Mids, and Key backs minimum. All in all late in the season had a crack, I have my 6 DCM,S written out ready to be delivered after today.

 

[PJ Power]

One positive today was that we kicked goals in every quarter and registered a reasonable score. Pity the defensive efforts all over the ground were poor, but I'd probably prefer a 12 goal loss to Hawthorn under those circumstances than the five goal loss to Freo two weeks ago.

 

[findonite]

One positive today was that we kicked goals in every quarter and registered a reasonable score. Pity the defensive efforts all over the ground were poor, but I'd probably prefer a 12 goal loss to Hawthorn under those circumstances than the five goal loss to Freo two weeks ago.

Doesnt convince me - Hawks were coasting

 

[bomberclifford]

Tom Logan heroball was very dumb today and quite laughable. Puopolo was gifted at least three of his goals from it.

My one year old daughter is just learning to walk.
She spent more time on her feet during the game than Logan did.

 

[Puddy]

Boak - was really good today, got alot of the ball (32 touches) and kicked a goal.

Brad Ebert - started slowly but ended up with 27 and for the most part used the ball well, good game

Schulz - Our best forward today, starting to gain some touch

Cornes - Got a fair bit of the ball but didnt really notice him, fairly average game

Cassisi - spend most the of match at war with the umpires. Just isnt giving us anything atm and hasnt for most of the year

Westhoff - started really well up forward, dunno why he went to defence (apart from the cheap stats)

Pearce - Tried to create, used the ball way better than he has for a month and got lots of it, good game

Redden - crap around the ground but played well in the ruck

Hartlett - He was living in Turnover city, most of his kicks were shanks, very poor

Brett Ebert - 2 goals is a good return for Brett, he is in pretty good form, I think its time to play him as a midfielder for the last 3 weeks to show if he has it though.

Lobbe - Lobbe has really struggled this year, he gets beated in the ruck and while he gets a bit of the ball around the ground he isnt showing enough

Broadbent - Couple of goals but didnt get enough of the ball

Trengove - A victim of beleiving his own hype, shouldnt play AFL for the rest of the year. He was average last year and has been pathetic this year. I dont care how young he is atm I dont think he is going to make it

Logan - started really well but Puoppollo killed him

Thomas - didnt get loads of the ball but used his body in the midfield, good game

P Stewart - set up a few goals and kicked a beauty

Rodan - Needs to play as the sub for the rest of the year. We dont want to be embarrassed like we have been with Chad this year if he leaves and burns it up at another club next year

Pfeiffer - didnt get much ball but he had the best spoil I have ever seen

Moore - Really bad, got subbed and should be dropped

Chaplin - Almost as bad as Trengove

Blee - Defensively sound against Gunston. probably our best defender

McCarthy - should never be the sub. He started the year so well but has turned to shit with his kicking, poor game

 

[Macca19]

Yeah the heroball thing was annoying. Its something I forgot to mention. Hawthorn must have kicked 6-7 goals running/walking into an open goal because everyone flew for a pointless contest.

Its a pity about Lobbe because we really needed him to come good, but as mentioned, he can barely coordinate himself, only takes marks by accident and cant get near the ball at a ruck contest. The 07 draft is the worst drafting ive seen. Worse than 04.

 

[Portia]

Its a pity about Lobbe because we really needed him to come good, but as mentioned, he can barely coordinate himself, only takes marks by accident and cant get near the ball at a ruck contest. The 07 draft is the worst drafting ive seen. Worse than 04.

Our worst in the AFL comfortably, and that was just when you see we drafted Matt Westhoff as a 2nd round pick.

 

[PJ Power]

2009 could be a bust too, considering that we had three top 16 picks. I realise injury has played its part, but when you see guys like Gunston (think he was from 2009) and Talia strutting their stuff, you realise how badly we got it wrong with Moore and Pittard.

 

[noot]

pittard will be alright m8 worry not

 

[HugeJohnson]

To be fair, after our 1st pick most of the 2007 draft has been pretty underwhelming so far, apart from 4 or 5 guys.

Edit: just had another look, maybe double that actually. Including 3 guns taken straight after Lobbe in Taylor, Ward and Rance

 

[PAFCsince1870]

Does anyone else suspect Cam Falloon is inadequately resourced to complete his role to a remotely acceptable level? If not, he is a disgrace. Every week we're lucky to get 2/3's of our 'best 22' on the park and the ones who do manage to play look like they're running on the spot by 3/4 time.

Also, how bad will our midfield be if/when Boak leaves? I'd hate to think what will happen if/when the tag shifts to someone else.

 

[PJ Power]

Yeah, without Pearce and Boak it won't look good. Doesn't help that Broadbent is back to his old ways.

 

[BIG DADDY]

Crowd vs West Coast?

10274

10273
Lost interest

 

[iskaral]

As expected, the "post we killed a coach" burst came to the fore in the first qtr (wish I'd balls'd up and had a Port,Hawks,Hawks,Hawks bet), only to be followed by the usual let down.

Anyone have issues with Foolloon getting the boot? Didn't think so. Could an AFL team be more unfit?

Did anyone under the gun save their careers today. Probably not.

To think there is so much writing on the wall and still not perfom is beyond me. What more motivation do they need?

Shits me. Need a drink.