Macca19
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- Moderator
- #1
I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed
I said on the podcast on Thursday night that I was expecting we may suffer a bit of a mental letdown this week. After such a big and important start to the year, there was a chance we may be mentally a bit flat after its all finished and facing a non premiership threat this week. Sadly it seems that came to fruition this evening.
We looked flat, at stages disinterested, bereft of ideas, lacking skills and trying to over-finesse everything we did. West Coast came with a plan to stop us and they played it out well. Fill our space, drop players back into our forward 50 making our tall forwards useless and try and use their winning midfield to their advantage. It shouldn't have worked, but it did. Well done to them.
I've seen a few people say and not just tonight that our run is gone. I'm not sure it is. We are trying hard to get our running game going, we just aren't putting it into practice very well. We run to the wrong spots and now are forced to play very wide. We aren't going to see many super quick end to end goals any more. Opposition teams evolve and know that one of our major weapons last year was from our kick in. They now set up 20-30m back from where they were last year which means we are forced into negative sideways kicks in the defensive 50 before kick-n-hoping to a group of 15 which ends up in a ball up that we usually lose.
This obsession we seem to have at playing perfect team football has seemed to come at the expense of our instinct, particularly up forward. Its like we are trying to play Arsenal style football. A goal isn't good enough unless every player has a touch and we can run it from one end of the ground to the other by hand and we end up with a player dropping the ball on their big toe and it rolls in for a goal. Unfortunately football isn't played like that. The obsession to never have a shot on goal unless we are 15m in the clear or 20m dead out in front is anger inducing. I'm sick of seeing 4-5-6-7 long handball strings i our forward 50 because noone is game enough to have a snap shot at goal. Outside of Hartlett, noone is game enough to have a shot from 50. As much as I love Schulzy (and i dont believe its his fault), I'd much rather see Cobra, Pittard, Boak, Gray, Westhoff etc have some shots from 50 rather than seeing Jay turn into Brett Ebert and lead into Row Z to take a mark cm's from the boundary.
Defensively, I thought we were very good. Our defensive group were excellent for the most part and outside of Jonas, they all beat their man. It was the midfield and forward line where we struggled. We had plenty of the ball in the middle and the stats will show that we matched them for clearances, but as we spoke about last week, the quality of clearances just wasn't there - this time for us. Theirs saw them drive inside 50. Ours saw us handball constantly behind us and turn it over. We much have had a world record for smothered handballs today. So many players with these entirely readable dinky handballs over an opponent that were picked off so easily. Frustrating.
Does the heat come on Voss? Is it his fault our ruckman can't win hitouts? For much of last year it was the same story, I think people forget that. Last year we had to bring extra players into the stoppages just to be able to win our fair share. Its a similar story this year. We rob Peter to pay Paul in that regard. I guess its up to Hinkley and Voss to come up with strategies to see us get our run going, to see us win clearances without needing a +2 at every contest and to see us playing more direct.
Others have said are we playing too tall up forward? Again I dont think we are. I think our issue particularly tonight was that we weren't direct enough. We took too long getting it in deep. As much as I like Kane Mitchell, he is the worst culprit we've ever had in the AFL of every time he gets the ball he takes his full quota in getting rid of it. We allowed West Coast to set up defensively by taking too long to get it forward. Our inability to play direct this year has cost us.
Is top 4 over? No its not. Its a silly thing to say. We could win the next 10 matches. The only team seemingly guaranteed of a top 4 spot is Freo, and even that might be saying it too soon given what happened to us last year. IT was the best chance to get a game over Hawthorn and close the gap on the top 4, but it's not the end of the world that we didn't win.
Hopefully this a reality check for the club.
PLAYER REVIEWS
The Best
Krakouer - Thought he was our best player tonight. Defensively he did a fine job on Josh Hill and kept him to minimal influence. Not only that, I thought his attack from the half back line was brilliant. So hard at the ball and he must have won most of the 50/50 balls he went for. Used the ball smartly. Whilst he may have tired as the game wore on, I thought he was a big reason why we had our half time lead. It's great to see him back and playing some inspired football.
Carlile - Defensively very good once again, not conceding a goal on Kennedy during the night. Carlile was very good on him inside 50 and forced Kennedy far and wide for his kicks. It must be said that he is now in career best form.
Gray - The master mind in the midfield. Won plenty of contested ball and was arguably our only midfielder winning the clearances on the night as well. Was able to go forward and kick 3 goals in a vintage Robbie Gray display. A little sloppy with some handballs and maybe a bit of indecisiveness is all that stopped him from being best on ground.
Trengove - Thought he was an absolute rock down back. Took his opponents completely out of the game and thought he was calm under pressure. Won a lot of contests and used the ball well, particularly whilst being tackled. Is now coming into some of his best form.
Hombsch - Like Trengove and Carlile I thought he was great down back. Not only defensively but he gave us plenty of drive. He uses the ball so well coming out of the back line and nothing really seems to faze him much...except when he's in shooting range. Would love to see him slot a goal from 50!
The Rest
Hartlett - Was very good at times but a bit frustrating at others. Gave up probably 2 goals from poor disposal. Worked tirelessly throughout the night though and unlucky not to be in my top 5. Seems to be over whatever niggles he had early in the year.
Boak - Some have said he is having a down year this year and in parts I guess thats true, I just don't think he's getting the support he has had in previous years. His inside work is as good as it's ever been. He's winning a lot of the ball in close and is getting it out to our runners. It's his outside game that has gone missing a bit this year. Teams are putting more and more attention onto him, knowing they can't really stop Gray. Every touch Boak gets is under pressure and he hasn't had the time this year to use the ball at his best. He's also spent minimal time up forward which he has done in previous years. More support from his teammates and he'll get more on the outside.
Wingard - Had a blistering first half playing through the midfield. Was collecting the ball at will and using it well. Disappointing after half time playing more up forward.
Ebert - Followed his form line of last week with a huge first half before struggling after half time. Copped a corky which would be a reason for it this week.
Mitchell - Another that was good in the 2nd quarter but struggled to impact after half time. Rushed his disposal in the 2nd half a fair bit. Can someone please teach him how to snap the ball so it doesn't just go 30 metres in the air and fall back on his head.
White - Tried ever so hard to get things going and I thought he found plenty of space to run and carry, more space than he's had all year. His disposal was questionable. Nearly at his best, but finding that final 10% seems to be troubling him
Cornes - Was alright on Gaff but looked a bit tired and slow out there tonight. Not at his best.
Schulz - Worked tirelessly to win the ball but just couldn't get anything going inside 50. Was forced to get most of his kicks outside the 50. delivery to him was poor.
Ryder - Should have ripped this game open but didn't. Went up for about 20 marks inside 50 and took maybe 1. Ruckwork was ok. Just wanted more from him tonight.
Lobbe - Well he took a mark, that was something. And he kicked a goal. Thats about it. Was well beaten in the ruck and whilst he was fine at keeping the ball in etc. he just couldnt find our players regularly with the ball.
Pittard - Well the bandwagon lost a wheel tonight. After such a brilliant start to the year, he was absolutely pantsed tonight. Was smacked in the first half by Yeo and just second guessed himself with the ball for much of the night. That OOF was ludicrous but you could see it coming a mile off. Hopefully its a one off and hes back to his best next week.
Monfries - I thought this was one of the best games he's played for a while. I just wish he could get into goal scoring range more often. Worked super hard to present and create across the half forward and middle of the ground. To get up from that bump was incredible. I'd be in a morgue right about now.
Westhoff - Apart from 40 minutes of footy in the Showdown playing on a 3rd game rookie list player he hasn't fired a shot all year. Tonight was no different. Just an absolute non event. Personally, I'd prefer Butcher up forward at the moment. At least you know he will chase and tackle and go hard at the ball. Needs to pull his finger out big time.
Broadbent - Hasnt been great all year and tonight he seemed off his game again. Some nice intercept work but just isn't providing the run or the quality of ball that he was last year.
Jonas - Given the run around big time by LeCras. Not his best effort by a long stretch.
Young - Noticed 3 or 4 things he did that I really liked, but that was it. Has been given an invaluable chance to cement his spot in the team. Has he done that? I'm not sure. His last two weeks were good. Just needs to desperately find some ball on the outside.
AhChee - Loved that he came into the game and ended up manning Priddis at the stoppages. Thought he did a reasonable job in there of getting his own ball and noticed 3-4 things he did, whether it be clearances or big tackles. And that handball. I haven't seen a handball like that for 20 years.
POTY Votes
10
9
8 - Krakouer, Carlile, Gray
7 - Trengove, Hombsch, Hartlett
6 - Wingard, Monfries
5 - White, Boak
4 - Mitchell, Ebert, Schulz
3 - Young, Ah Chee, Lobbe, Cornes
2 - Ryder, Broadbent
1 - Jonas, Westhoff, Pittard
0
I said on the podcast on Thursday night that I was expecting we may suffer a bit of a mental letdown this week. After such a big and important start to the year, there was a chance we may be mentally a bit flat after its all finished and facing a non premiership threat this week. Sadly it seems that came to fruition this evening.
We looked flat, at stages disinterested, bereft of ideas, lacking skills and trying to over-finesse everything we did. West Coast came with a plan to stop us and they played it out well. Fill our space, drop players back into our forward 50 making our tall forwards useless and try and use their winning midfield to their advantage. It shouldn't have worked, but it did. Well done to them.
I've seen a few people say and not just tonight that our run is gone. I'm not sure it is. We are trying hard to get our running game going, we just aren't putting it into practice very well. We run to the wrong spots and now are forced to play very wide. We aren't going to see many super quick end to end goals any more. Opposition teams evolve and know that one of our major weapons last year was from our kick in. They now set up 20-30m back from where they were last year which means we are forced into negative sideways kicks in the defensive 50 before kick-n-hoping to a group of 15 which ends up in a ball up that we usually lose.
This obsession we seem to have at playing perfect team football has seemed to come at the expense of our instinct, particularly up forward. Its like we are trying to play Arsenal style football. A goal isn't good enough unless every player has a touch and we can run it from one end of the ground to the other by hand and we end up with a player dropping the ball on their big toe and it rolls in for a goal. Unfortunately football isn't played like that. The obsession to never have a shot on goal unless we are 15m in the clear or 20m dead out in front is anger inducing. I'm sick of seeing 4-5-6-7 long handball strings i our forward 50 because noone is game enough to have a snap shot at goal. Outside of Hartlett, noone is game enough to have a shot from 50. As much as I love Schulzy (and i dont believe its his fault), I'd much rather see Cobra, Pittard, Boak, Gray, Westhoff etc have some shots from 50 rather than seeing Jay turn into Brett Ebert and lead into Row Z to take a mark cm's from the boundary.
Defensively, I thought we were very good. Our defensive group were excellent for the most part and outside of Jonas, they all beat their man. It was the midfield and forward line where we struggled. We had plenty of the ball in the middle and the stats will show that we matched them for clearances, but as we spoke about last week, the quality of clearances just wasn't there - this time for us. Theirs saw them drive inside 50. Ours saw us handball constantly behind us and turn it over. We much have had a world record for smothered handballs today. So many players with these entirely readable dinky handballs over an opponent that were picked off so easily. Frustrating.
Does the heat come on Voss? Is it his fault our ruckman can't win hitouts? For much of last year it was the same story, I think people forget that. Last year we had to bring extra players into the stoppages just to be able to win our fair share. Its a similar story this year. We rob Peter to pay Paul in that regard. I guess its up to Hinkley and Voss to come up with strategies to see us get our run going, to see us win clearances without needing a +2 at every contest and to see us playing more direct.
Others have said are we playing too tall up forward? Again I dont think we are. I think our issue particularly tonight was that we weren't direct enough. We took too long getting it in deep. As much as I like Kane Mitchell, he is the worst culprit we've ever had in the AFL of every time he gets the ball he takes his full quota in getting rid of it. We allowed West Coast to set up defensively by taking too long to get it forward. Our inability to play direct this year has cost us.
Is top 4 over? No its not. Its a silly thing to say. We could win the next 10 matches. The only team seemingly guaranteed of a top 4 spot is Freo, and even that might be saying it too soon given what happened to us last year. IT was the best chance to get a game over Hawthorn and close the gap on the top 4, but it's not the end of the world that we didn't win.
Hopefully this a reality check for the club.
PLAYER REVIEWS
The Best
Krakouer - Thought he was our best player tonight. Defensively he did a fine job on Josh Hill and kept him to minimal influence. Not only that, I thought his attack from the half back line was brilliant. So hard at the ball and he must have won most of the 50/50 balls he went for. Used the ball smartly. Whilst he may have tired as the game wore on, I thought he was a big reason why we had our half time lead. It's great to see him back and playing some inspired football.
Carlile - Defensively very good once again, not conceding a goal on Kennedy during the night. Carlile was very good on him inside 50 and forced Kennedy far and wide for his kicks. It must be said that he is now in career best form.
Gray - The master mind in the midfield. Won plenty of contested ball and was arguably our only midfielder winning the clearances on the night as well. Was able to go forward and kick 3 goals in a vintage Robbie Gray display. A little sloppy with some handballs and maybe a bit of indecisiveness is all that stopped him from being best on ground.
Trengove - Thought he was an absolute rock down back. Took his opponents completely out of the game and thought he was calm under pressure. Won a lot of contests and used the ball well, particularly whilst being tackled. Is now coming into some of his best form.
Hombsch - Like Trengove and Carlile I thought he was great down back. Not only defensively but he gave us plenty of drive. He uses the ball so well coming out of the back line and nothing really seems to faze him much...except when he's in shooting range. Would love to see him slot a goal from 50!
The Rest
Hartlett - Was very good at times but a bit frustrating at others. Gave up probably 2 goals from poor disposal. Worked tirelessly throughout the night though and unlucky not to be in my top 5. Seems to be over whatever niggles he had early in the year.
Boak - Some have said he is having a down year this year and in parts I guess thats true, I just don't think he's getting the support he has had in previous years. His inside work is as good as it's ever been. He's winning a lot of the ball in close and is getting it out to our runners. It's his outside game that has gone missing a bit this year. Teams are putting more and more attention onto him, knowing they can't really stop Gray. Every touch Boak gets is under pressure and he hasn't had the time this year to use the ball at his best. He's also spent minimal time up forward which he has done in previous years. More support from his teammates and he'll get more on the outside.
Wingard - Had a blistering first half playing through the midfield. Was collecting the ball at will and using it well. Disappointing after half time playing more up forward.
Ebert - Followed his form line of last week with a huge first half before struggling after half time. Copped a corky which would be a reason for it this week.
Mitchell - Another that was good in the 2nd quarter but struggled to impact after half time. Rushed his disposal in the 2nd half a fair bit. Can someone please teach him how to snap the ball so it doesn't just go 30 metres in the air and fall back on his head.
White - Tried ever so hard to get things going and I thought he found plenty of space to run and carry, more space than he's had all year. His disposal was questionable. Nearly at his best, but finding that final 10% seems to be troubling him
Cornes - Was alright on Gaff but looked a bit tired and slow out there tonight. Not at his best.
Schulz - Worked tirelessly to win the ball but just couldn't get anything going inside 50. Was forced to get most of his kicks outside the 50. delivery to him was poor.
Ryder - Should have ripped this game open but didn't. Went up for about 20 marks inside 50 and took maybe 1. Ruckwork was ok. Just wanted more from him tonight.
Lobbe - Well he took a mark, that was something. And he kicked a goal. Thats about it. Was well beaten in the ruck and whilst he was fine at keeping the ball in etc. he just couldnt find our players regularly with the ball.
Pittard - Well the bandwagon lost a wheel tonight. After such a brilliant start to the year, he was absolutely pantsed tonight. Was smacked in the first half by Yeo and just second guessed himself with the ball for much of the night. That OOF was ludicrous but you could see it coming a mile off. Hopefully its a one off and hes back to his best next week.
Monfries - I thought this was one of the best games he's played for a while. I just wish he could get into goal scoring range more often. Worked super hard to present and create across the half forward and middle of the ground. To get up from that bump was incredible. I'd be in a morgue right about now.
Westhoff - Apart from 40 minutes of footy in the Showdown playing on a 3rd game rookie list player he hasn't fired a shot all year. Tonight was no different. Just an absolute non event. Personally, I'd prefer Butcher up forward at the moment. At least you know he will chase and tackle and go hard at the ball. Needs to pull his finger out big time.
Broadbent - Hasnt been great all year and tonight he seemed off his game again. Some nice intercept work but just isn't providing the run or the quality of ball that he was last year.
Jonas - Given the run around big time by LeCras. Not his best effort by a long stretch.
Young - Noticed 3 or 4 things he did that I really liked, but that was it. Has been given an invaluable chance to cement his spot in the team. Has he done that? I'm not sure. His last two weeks were good. Just needs to desperately find some ball on the outside.
AhChee - Loved that he came into the game and ended up manning Priddis at the stoppages. Thought he did a reasonable job in there of getting his own ball and noticed 3-4 things he did, whether it be clearances or big tackles. And that handball. I haven't seen a handball like that for 20 years.
POTY Votes
10
9
8 - Krakouer, Carlile, Gray
7 - Trengove, Hombsch, Hartlett
6 - Wingard, Monfries
5 - White, Boak
4 - Mitchell, Ebert, Schulz
3 - Young, Ah Chee, Lobbe, Cornes
2 - Ryder, Broadbent
1 - Jonas, Westhoff, Pittard
0
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