AFL Autopsy Round 10: 15 Point Loss To Richmond

[BrunoV]

Yet we won the contested ball last night.
Q
The vibe coming out of the club past 12 hours was. We didnt use tha ball well, that was the difference, basic skill errors. Dropping marks when no one was around.

Not sure i agree that was the only reason but last two weeks our contested work has improved.
I do have a slight concern that our entire game falls apart when skills are down. Finals are hard contested games usually, if we are relying on cute skillful footy as a brand that cant be played to 100% in rain, or under pressure then there are some issues.

Wouldn't the numbers just be all of the handballs that Richmond pressured into error?

Richmond murdered us with their pressure and it felt like they dominated the contest.

 

[citizen-erased]

Yet we won the contested ball last night.

The vibe coming out of the club past 12 hours was. We didnt use tha ball well, that was the difference, basic skill errors. Dropping marks when no one was around.

Not sure i agree that was the only reason but last two weeks our contested work has improved.
I do have a slight concern that our entire game falls apart when skills are down. Finals are hard contested games usually, if we are relying on cute skillful footy as a brand that cant be played to 100% in rain, or under pressure then there are some issues.

lack a Plan B to deal with that sort of pressure. Or even just a player to help break us out of the rut. McGrath looks the most likely to try win it off his own boot at the moment. Or Daniher.
None of our mids though.

 

[efcboy]

lack a Plan B to deal with that sort of pressure. Or even just a player to help break us out of the rut. McGrath looks the most likely to try win it off his own boot at the moment. Or Daniher.
None of our mids though.

Fantasia and Goddard are two others

 

[citizen-erased]

Fantasia and Goddard are two others

Goddard gives his all for 4 quarters. But i think his days of breaking open games are over.
Fanta certainly could. He looked on in the first 5 mins Saturday.
In everything, clean hands and feet.

still gutted that effort fell away. We could have demoralised them in the first quarter.

 

[sregit]

I like our list. I haven't previously. But this is the best we've looked since early 2000s

Small forwards - Fantasia is close to elite. Tippa brings pressure and tackling. Green and Colyer are handy
Tall forwards - One star in Daniher. Strong FF in Hooker. Stewart, Francis, Langford, Begley - all handy in the 3rd tall role
Midfield - Heppell, Merrett & Goddard are A grade. Zaka & Parish are both very good and McGrath will go through there soon enough. Needs another clearance/bull mid (i.e. Martin)
Tall Defenders - hurley is elite. Ambrose is very good at shutting down mobile defenders. Hartley is ok (i like him as a no frills spoiler and his kicking is pretty good).
Small defenders - rely on Kelly and Baguley a bit. McGrath is a gun.

We've been pretty stable in the dropping of players for a few weeks now. Berger was sick this week. Dea came in to cover Ambrose's injury.
Other than, i think our best 22 has run out the last 3-4 weeks.

we need less list work than most people think. we need some consistency in effort and hunger at the contest.

You are right it's not a bad list, however, still 4 or 5 players short of a list that can contend for a flag. Ditto for Richmond.

 

[efcboy]

Goddard gives his all for 4 quarters. But i think his days of breaking open games are over.
Fanta certainly could. He looked on in the first 5 mins Saturday.
In everything, clean hands and feet.

still gutted that effort fell away. We could have demoralised them in the first quarter.

Yeah we need guys like Francis and Laverde to step up next year.

 

[citizen-erased]

Yeah we need guys like Francis and Laverde to step up next year.

or get Martin. He was everywhere in the last half on the weekend. That pounce to goal to give them the lead is exactly what we are missing

 

[Mercurial89]

Wouldn't the numbers just be all of the handballs that Richmond pressured into error?

Richmond murdered us with their pressure and it felt like they dominated the contest.

Possibly. Just pointing out it has improved as we go along.

 

[Killer_Mike]

We were lucky to be anywhere near them - they tried very hard to Richmond it into a close game by missing some of the easiest set shots you can get and we still weren't good enough.

We didn't blow anything - the point is you are missing the point.

They - were - much - better - than - us.

Try to learn to give credit where its due.

Spot on.

That high intensity, tackling game plan has always been our kryptonite.

It has also proven that its hard to sustain over a whole season and has yet to win a flag so I'm glad we aren't going down that route.

Our gameplan will take us a little longer to fully develop but I feel ours will prove to be more competitive going forward.

 

[Killer_Mike]

Richmond and Essendon lists are just average and sadly for both of us we have only one key forward. We have about 4 or 5 players each that just do not provide solid consistent performances and are not truly up to the required standard. These players come in from the 2s fail and then return to the 2s again. The cycle continues.
List improvement is the only way either side will contend. Both sides will need courage to go with their youth. Making finals should be the aim but not be the priority. As a Richmond supporter I have seen us go with half arsed rebuilds for years. Both lists are reasonable but need more youth injected and game time invested in the youth or we will remain mediocre.

Our list is fine it just needs time.

It's easy for you to sit back and make assumptions based on the result but we have lots of growth still in our list.

Most of our important players are still young and we still have lots of talented kids that can't crack the team at the moment.

This off season will tell us a lot about where we think the club is. If we go down the same path as you have and get in other teams mid range players then I will be disappointed. I believe we still need to hit the draft to add depth and then start chasing players next year or even the year after. So many teams get to this stage of a rebuild and then over evaluate where their list is at and start topping up with players that wont take the club forward. Hopefully we don't make that mistake.

 

[BrunoV]

I think history has told us that that those gameplans can only get you so far. They are not only hard to sustain over a whole year but also found wanting come finals time. Thats my thoughts anyway.

When has manic attack on the footy supporting a press been found wanting?

 

[Killer_Mike]

When has manic attack on the footy supporting a press been found wanting?

In every Grand Final that I can remember.

Successful teams have a balance of defence and attack.

 

[eth-dog]

In every Grand Final that I can remember.

Successful teams have a balance of defence and attack.

Bulldogs won the GF last year based on that game plan for the most part. Sydney in 2012.

 

[Killer_Mike]

Bulldogs won the GF last year based on that game plan for the most part. Sydney in 2012.

Bulldogs was based on an incredibly strong midfield that move the ball with handball and carry. In no way are they are pressing team.

 

[eth-dog]

Bulldogs was based on an incredibly strong midfield that move the ball with handball and carry. In no way are they are pressing team.

Their press was great. That's how they covered their seriously undersized defence last year.

 

[BrunoV]

Bulldogs won the GF last year based on that game plan for the most part. Sydney in 2012.

Hawthorn flick the switch on GF day and do it too.

 

[Killer_Mike]

Hawthorn flick the switch on GF day and do it too.

Yeah they just flick a switch

 

[JayJ20]

Spot on.

That high intensity, tackling game plan has always been our kryptonite.

It has also proven that its hard to sustain over a whole season and has yet to win a flag so I'm glad we aren't going down that route.

Our gameplan will take us a little longer to fully develop but I feel ours will prove to be more competitive going forward.

I'm sorry come again?

You've just described finals footy and Bulldogs won a premiership that way

 

[Killer_Mike]

I'm sorry come again?

You've just described finals footy and Bulldogs won a premiership that way

Bulldogs were the 12th highest tackling team last year.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

another very much Jekyll and Hyde game from Essendon.

Absolutely dominate 2 top 4 teams in consecutive weeks and then lose to the likes of Richmond......

Once the boys mature and string together consistent footy we are going to be scary.

happy to be 5-5 though.

 

[Killer_Mike]

And for Hawthorns threepeat they were ranked 10th, 16th and 8th.

 

[eth-dog]

Bulldogs were the 12th highest tackling team last year.

The lowest in inside 50's conceded team as well

 

[Killer_Mike]

The lowest in inside 50's conceded team as well

Strongest midfield of this decade will do that.

 

[eth-dog]

Strongest midfield of this decade will do that.

What? Geelong's 2009 midfield of Ablett, Corey, Selwood, Bartel, Chapman, Ling, Kelly was the best in the past decade. Collingwood's 2010 of Pendlebury, Swan, Thomas, Didak, Ball, Beams, Sidebottom was also pretty good. In fact I'd have taken Sydney's 2016 midfield of Parker, Kennedy, Mitchell, Hannebery, Jack, McVeigh, Heeney, Lloyd ahead of the Dogs.

 

[tesla1962]

And for Hawthorns threepeat they were ranked 10th, 16th and 8th.

To me what stands out in that 3 peat was the ability to hit targets by foot under pressure. Not being able to hit targets by hand and foot under pressure is what cost us on Saturday night. The manic tackling was there against WC. The ability to hit targets is a bit hit and miss this year but hopefully will become more consistent as the younger players develop and serial offenders are gradually sifted out of the team.