Review R22: Port v Adelaide review

[JAlexG]

Westhoff needs to get involved more for a 200+ gamer.
Lobbe had 1 mark.
Good to see 4/5 top possession gatherers was pretty much our midfield.
Amon getting better each week.
Impey is going to be all class and superstar.
Wouldn't be too bothered if both oshea and neade never played for us again.

 

[*PAF]

...
The way we play is entirely predictable, incredibly wasteful and relies on luck and individual brilliance as opposed to any recognisable gameplan or system. I'd understand our kick-ins being the same every, single, *******, time if it actually worked, but it doesn't. I'd understand our midfield just blindly banging it on the boot if our forward line had the structure to deal with it and players in the right place to win the ball, but we don't. I'd understand not playing Butcher and not putting in someone like Stewart to help with their super tall forward line if it meant we moved the ball quickly, but we didn't.
...

Thought I was reading the 2016 in review thread.

 

[simmo_bc]

I love Schulzy but I can't see how he can physically get up next year, he has slowed down dramatically which was always going to happen at some point.

 

[Macca19]

And also, what sort of ****ing ******* do you have to be to a) throw something at a player and b) end up throwing a banana at an aboriginal player. Ban the campaigner for life.

 

[Smithy7]

Think the players liked Jesse Palmer's first goal in AFL

 

[Port 2004]

Sloane incident will get thrown out. Hes favourite for the brownlow. It will be.. well 50 was payed and that fits the crime.

No no. Sloan is in trouble for,that one.

 

[Dentshop]

Just going on the record that I absolutely condemn the actions of the supporter who threw a banana at the Crows players.

Regardless of the intent of the supporter, throwing objects at players is shit form and the reason why people don't want to take their kids to games.

 

[PJ Power]

I feel like going all Alan Stewart on everyone as we came to win and we didn't win. I'm sick in the stomach that we've once again become a club that compliments the "team" on putting in effort, because its become such a ******* surprise when they look like a cohesive unit for more than 10 minutes a match.

The way we play is entirely predictable, incredibly wasteful and relies on luck and individual brilliance as opposed to any recognisable gameplan or system. I'd understand our kick-ins being the same every, single, *******, time if it actually worked, but it doesn't. I'd understand our midfield just blindly banging it on the boot if our forward line had the structure to deal with it and players in the right place to win the ball, but we don't. I'd understand not playing Butcher and not putting in someone like Stewart to help with their super tall forward line if it meant we moved the ball quickly, but we didn't.

Our skills and decision making let us down. Just like the Dogs game, the Carlton game and the GWS game, we had the momentum. We had the run of the play and the crowd behind us going into that last quarter and the players bottled it. To turn it over 3 or 4 times in the first couple minutes of the last just through sheer lazy skills and poor decision making is enough to make you cry. There is no confidence in what we are doing, because there is no system and no idea what it is that we are actually meant to do.

Wines is a star. Sammy did a great job on Bad Couch, Robbie looked great at times and the backline largely held up under pressure, even though individually the players struggled (especially Krak and Pittard). But, in the end, we are here to win games. We had the chance to win this one and bottled it. Again.

PLAYER REVIEWS
Wines - Probably the best player on the park for both teams. Kept fighting, kept winning the ball and did everything he could to get us over the line.

R Gray - Was wasteful at times with his quick kicks forward going to noone in particular, but outside of that he had a great game and worked hard to the final siren.

Boak - More solid than anything spectacular, though his goal was pretty good! Didn't do much wrong, but lacked some spark at times.

Ebert - He came, he played well, he bled, he went home. Standard Brad game.

S Gray - Great defensively and really good with the ball. Has played well since coming back in the team in the second half of the season, now to put it together for a full year.

Pittard - Thought he was pants on McGovern, pants on Lynch, turned the ball over and lacked team play. Worst game in a long time.

Impey - Love his run and creativity but for **** sake Jarman, buy some boots with some ******* sprigs in them. I adore his runs but him slipping over and being caught holding the ball in bad positions is really starting to get annoying.

Broadbent - Nice goal at the end, thats basically all I remember him doing. Struggled to impact.

Westhoff - The most frustrating footballer to ever play for Port Adelaide. Shithouse positioning, unrealistic expectations of his teammates kicking capability, constantly looked for the cheap kick over the ball, poor decision making, poor kicking for goal. His career and the clubs form since he became a player mirrors perfectly. Flashes of brilliance, constant frustration, couple of decent seasons and thats it. The moment where we had Palmer all alone in the square in the 3rd quarter, only for Westhoff to not look, to throw it on his boot and spray a snap from 20 in front almost made me walk out.

O'Shea - Thought he had a good 2nd half, but his first and especially his 2nd quarter was awful. As much as I have loved him, his time his up. That should be his last game for the club.

Polec - Creative, damaging and provided good run all night. A really good performance.

Amon - Probably a step back from what he's done in the last month or so. Just didn't find enough quality ball to impact and found himself in some poor positions defensively. Great goal in the last though.

Palmer - Great start to the game but fizzled out in terms of his impact, though he kept competing and trying to create. Loved that he got his first goal, took some really nice grabs. I think he has a future.

Young - Good to see him kick a few goals again, although the struggled to get any consistency to his game all night.

Clurey - Was decent on Walker. Walker probably should have ended with a couple more goals (missed some sitters), but thought Clurey competed well, spoiled well and won some decent one on ones through the second half.

Neade - One great goal, a couple of tackles and that was it. Pretty standard Neadey game.

Lobbe - Offered zero around the ground, couldnt keep up with Jacobs, but his ruckwork was I thought really really good. He didn't allow Jacobs to dominate the stoppages. A big step forward for his ruckwork, but he just doesnt do anything else.

Trengove - Thought he was great on Jenkins. Outside of a couple of dodgy free kicks, Jenkins didnt really have any input in the game at all. Would have liked to have seen Trengove spend a bit more time in the ruck to change things up but we had noone else that could run with Jenkins.

Krakouer - Meh. Beaten by Betts early, moved off him in 15 minutes, then was alright on him in the 2nd half. But, he is so damn lazy with the ball, doesn't run, doesn't hit targets and makes incredibly poor decisions. If we want to improve as a football club, then I don't think someone like Krakouer should be here.

Toumpas - It was a performance that could end his career. I've been calling for him to come in on the podcast but now we know why he hasn't played more this year. So tentative, poorly skilled, lacks run and almost zero defensive capability. You could see as soon as he got the ball in that last quarter **** up that he would stuff it up. Look sideways to options, ignore them, look inside, nope, look back to the side, oh maybe I should have a little run, I know, lets do a dinky little handball straight into a Crow. Game over. Career over. Having said all that, I think he should play next week

DBJ - Was ok at times but couldn't handle Betts when moved onto him. Improved through the 2nd half, but probably one of his worse games for the year.

Schulz - What happens with Jay over the next few weeks will tell us all we need to know about the direction of this club.

POTY Votes
10
9
8 - Wines, R Gray, S Gray
7 - Trengove
6
5 - Ebert, Boak, Polec
4 - Lobbe, Impey, Clurey
3 - Palmer, Amon
2 - Young
1 - Krakouer, Broadbent, Pittard, DBJ
0 - Schulz, Toumpas, O'Shea, Westhoff, Neade

I think this may be your best review ever. Every point hits the mark. Agree with it all.

 

[simmo_bc]

No no. Sloan is in trouble for,that one.

agreed. There is no such thing as an accident in the AFL these days, Ebert took a hit to the head.

 

[Raffo]

Neade - One great goal, a couple of tackles and that was it. Pretty standard Neadey game.

Neade got two goals.

Really don't get how you can give a small forward 0 when he kicks 2 goals?

 

[PJ Power]

I love Schulzy but I can't see how he can physically get up next year, he has slowed down dramatically which was always going to happen at some point.

When our ball movement consists exclusively of high kicks forward and your two tall forwards trail their opponents consistently to the drop zone, it is a problem.

Ken has tried to get Jay back into this team. He once again selected him and Dixon over this past three weeks over Butcher despite their lack of fitness and form and despite Butcher not being as bad as either when he's played at AFL level. Schulz is pretty much cooked. Butcher is on the way out. Personally, I have no faith in Dixon's ability as of now and have had enough of Westhoff. Our one other tall forward is young, promising but seriously injured. We're on track to field a very uninspiring tall forward line next year - much like Freo have this year.

We need two new tall forwards in the group and two new midfielders. The recruiters have some work to do. Hope they've had their thinking caps on.

 

[PowerBaz]

agreed. There is no such thing as an accident in the AFL these days, Ebert took a hit to the head.

I think Sloane knows too - he'll get one.

 

[PJ Power]

Neade got two goals.

Really don't get how you can give a small forward 0 when he kicks 2 goals?

But only one was great

 

[Schulzenfest]

The whole 'Toumpas as a half back' thing needs to stop. I don't think I've ever seen him get the ball in the defensive 50 and not shit himself. His disposal is usually OK when he's forward of centre (i.e. that excellent goal assist in the Brisbane game and the goal he kicked today) but give him the ball in the defensive 50 and his brain goes full 2012 Ben Jacobs. Never go full 2012 Ben Jacobs.

 

[Portia]

Toumpas is an Ah Chee who has shown less at AFL level

 

[SureBuddy]

You play the following:

Ryder instead of Lobbe
Hartlett instead of Krak/Broadbent
Monfries instead of Palmer
Wingard instead of Neade
White instead of Toumpas
Carlile/Austin instead of Clurey
Hombsch instead of O'Shea
Dixon instead of Amon
Jonas I would probably not play

And we win that game by 10 goals. I know there is some angry people because we lost, I also am not happy, but the above really puts it into perspective. There is a huge reason we lacked structure and polish and that's the enormous amount of experience missing.

I would be very happy to not see O'Shea ever play for us again, I just can't see how he can possibly keep getting games. Stewart would've been a way better pick tonight. Hell that might have been enough to sway the game in our favour, that's how bad O'Shea was.

Off season we need to have a football in our hands 24/7. After a 3km time trial, get them to bloody practice kicking for a solid hour. Our foot skills need to improve immensely across the board, not one player should be content with their skills, they are woeful.

I also think the umpiring in that second quarter really killed any momentum from the first. It felt like that Hawks game at home again, where in the 3rd quarter the umps went on a massive spree of free kicks towards them, most in their forward half. Hell the Crows had a count of 8-0 free kicks about 8 minutes in to that quarter. It was actually a good effort for us to fight back.

 

[manureid]

We will file a report of no damage, it was eberts fault for headbutting Sloane.... 1 week for ebert.

 

[Moo87]

0 - Schulz, Toumpas, O'Shea, Westhoff, Neade

One of these is not like the others. Neade was one of 3 multiple goal kickers we had on the night - surely that's worth more than a zero (considering the level of dank the others brought).

 

[OneGreatClub]

I think Sloane knows too - he'll get one.

That would be a most satisfying outcome

 

[1954]

I will be very interested to see how one of the more unsociable coaches, (eg Clarko or Scott ), handle the threat of Eddie Betts in a knock out final.

He will cop a lot more physical pressure than he has in minor round games, and `knock out ' maybe the operative words, particularly if someone like `good bloke ' Hodge is in his vicinity.

 

[OneGreatClub]

agreed. There is no such thing as an accident in the AFL these days, Ebert took a hit to the head.

Our players really riled Sloane up

 

[Magus]

You play the following:

Ryder instead of Lobbe
Hartlett instead of Krak/Broadbent
Monfries instead of Palmer
Wingard instead of Neade
White instead of Toumpas
Carlile/Austin instead of Clurey
Hombsch instead of O'Shea
Dixon instead of Amon
Jonas I would probably not play

And we win that game by 10 goals. I know there is some angry people because we lost, I also am not happy, but the above really puts it into perspective. There is a huge reason we lacked structure and polish and that's the enormous amount of experience missing.

I would be very happy to not see O'Shea ever play for us again, I just can't see how he can possibly keep getting games. Stewart would've been a way better pick tonight. Hell that might have been enough to sway the game in our favour, that's how bad O'Shea was.

Off season we need to have a football in our hands 24/7. After a 3km time trial, get them to bloody practice kicking for a solid hour. Our foot skills need to improve immensely across the board, not one player should be content with their skills, they are woeful.

I also think the umpiring in that second quarter really killed any momentum from the first. It felt like that Hawks game at home again, where in the 3rd quarter the umps went on a massive spree of free kicks towards them, most in their forward half. Hell the Crows had a count of 8-0 free kicks about 8 minutes in to that quarter. It was actually a good effort for us to fight back.

Hartlett is just as much a chronic underperformer and turnover King as Krak/Broadbent.
Palmer played a very good first game.
Clurey was fantastic.

 

[JimmyBeerCans]

I want the recent Sam Gray to show up from Round 1 next year, really has a future if he does.

 

[Schulzenfest]

Toumpas is an Ah Chee who has shown less at AFL level

We set him up to fail last night. Regardless of whether you rate him as a long term prospect or not, 'let's bring back a confidence player who's played one game in three months to play him in defence in a Showdown' was always going to end in tears.

The solution to Toumpas next year might be 'continue to play him and back him in through the mistakes', or it might be 'he'll never be good enough, let him play out the year in the SANFL and cut him at the end of his contract'. But we've mismanaged him this year, and if we continue to treat him like we treat any other fringe player then we'll mismanage him next year as well, and we'll also be mismanaging Snelling or whatever other kid in the SANFL could've played an extra 5-10 games that we wasted on Toumpas.

I firmly believe that if we'd treated 2013 and 2014 Jasper Pittard the same way we treated 2016 Jimmy Toumpas, Jasper would be a VFL player right now.

Also, this has nothing to do with last night's game, but since you brought him up, the 'Ah Chee is vanilla' barrow you're constantly pushing on the podcast is one of the stranger opinions I've heard. He has his issues with consistency of production, but vanilla is the last word I'd use to describe him.

 

[charcolechaddy]

No no. Sloan is in trouble for,that one.

But a lady threw a bannana, nothing so see move along.