Autopsy Round 21, 2024: Positives and Negatives vs Gold Coast

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Positives:
Atmosphere last quarter live at the ground was pulsating -- that was a fun.
So good to see some fight, hard nosed footy and the will to win.
Harley giving the love to Duggo after the snap goal.
Ginbey playing with some run and creativity.
J Williams again showed the smarts ( BTW, that was a mark after perfect body work not a free against ump,!!! )
Hall, Dewar and Johnston didn't do a heap but all looked at home playing AFL.

Negatives- not too many:
Crippa , awesome goal in the last quarter, but his fumbling and overunning the ball is maddening .
Kelly's disposal by foot is so bad every week----- Is it too late for him to improve that aspect of his game?
I have concluded umps, on the whole, hate the WCE.....I try to be as objective as possible with umps and it just seems we get reemed multiple times every game.
 

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Haven't yelled as loud with joy for such a long time as I did when Cripps kicked that banana goal! Spirited win built on the great pressure and belief that was palpable well before Duggan's go ahead goal.

I know this is a form of social media, and as such, it is overwhelmingly produced through a negative lens (we've evolved for this), but for ****'s sake! The level of vitriol towards certain players, umpires, and commentators is over the top.


While a few umpiring decisions in this game were baffling (not least of all the one against Mac Andrew for time wasting), this goes both ways and is an issue for the AFL moving forward (I don't perceive it as being for or against any particular team);

Some commentators aren't as good as others - Russell resorts to his cliches a fair bit and in here, Will Schofield is perceived as anti-West Coast for example;

and as far as players go, Cripps ****ed up a bit tonight and has fumbles increasingly over the years as he plays in what is widely regarded by people who have actually played AFL as one of the most difficult positions to play in the modern game, and Duggan is a bit of a butcher and sometimes a less than inspiring captain;

But bugger all that: THEY WERE ALL EXEMPLARY in the final 10 minutes of this game - the umpires let what would have been tiggy touchwood calls go, Duggan and Cripps kicked the winning goals after some great work by Maric, Darling and co., and the commentators were actually really good (Schofield made some good calls, and Dwayne is actually not as bad a play-by-play caller as some would have you believe).

As a centrist politically and generally, I believe I see things in a balanced way.

Will Schofield whinges about being "the most dropped player" in West Coast history (esp. under Adam Simpson) and this can be a touch annoying, but aside from this, I do not notice him being biased against West Coast.

Can anyone here who cares enough about this assertion please give me 3 or more time-specific moments on a Kayo replay of any West Coast game where he has been actively biased against the Eagles? NB: This is not about negative comments that would be warranted by a neutral observer, as this is kind of my point (I perceive him to be neutral/objective).

Otherwise, Great ****en win by the boys!!!!
 
fun fact - matt rowell has lost 100% of the games he has played against clay hall
 

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Positives:
Overall Effort - Some momentary lapses but it was a strong effort over the 4 quarters, with a undermanned backline who were often mismatched or in Gov’s case outnumbered.

Darling - Jeez he worked hard. The marks stuck and he didn’t go to ground. Just wish he wasn’t so bloody inconsistent but was great to see that he can still pull out a great performance. His future needs to be half forward pushing up to the wing.

Ginbey - Leave him at half back. Great game. Maybe he’ll go back into the middle eventually but this is where he needs to hone his craft.

Jack Williams - Lots to like, just leave him in there as the spare tall/back up ruckman.

Hall - He didn’t get a lot of it but there is something there I think. Leave him in now. Same applies for Johnston and Dewar - 3 more games each.

Oscar - That little kick to Dewar in the 3rd. Showed his class.

Waterman - Started slowly and looked a bit proper and slow at times but grabbed him opportunities when they presented. Still don’t think we need to go nuts and add 4 years to his contract just yet. 😉

Negatives:

Always sucks doing these after a good win but…

Cripps - Awesome goal to seal the game….but jeez - he is so fumbly, can’t hit targets and that effort for the mark from Gov’s kick in the 2nd was just….pure shit. He needs a tap on the shoulder now. I know he has a contract but I don’t think it ends well for him if he pushes into another season and he’s playing in a position that we can use to develop a young player.

Reid - He has a way to go and I think we can forget that sometimes. 7 free kicks against tonight and there were times where he just judged the contest poorly and let him frustration get the better of him. He was definitely pushing himself to smash through Matt Rowell a few times - a guy who has a few years on Harley and is clearly an absolute unit - a noble endeavour but it cost as a few times tonight.

Kelly - His work by foot, especially early in the game, was so bad.

Edwards - Crap time to cop a concussion for him as we settle into the Barrass-less reality of the future.
 
I have concluded umps, on the whole, hate the WCE.....I try to be as objective as possible with umps and it just seems we get reemed multiple times every game.
Dont attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetance. They were horrendous lastnight and yea, the three bs 50s went against us but overall I dont think it was biased, just very ordinary. The last quarter was a great game of footy and partly because the maggots put the whistle away.
 
Do you watch the wafl each week? Be honest?

If you did you would know Dewar / Harvey have been pretty good all year. They dont have to be 'beating the door down' when players in the team are absolutely terrible. Its also pretty hard for a small forward / wing to dominate in a terrible wafl team.
If they're just coming into the main side to play the shit wing role Chesser was lumped with all year then maybe they're better off in the WAFL.

I'd have had no issues with them playing more games, as I said to you before it's been since Simmo is gone that they've gotten more games. I dont know why you're trying to use that against what I said, if they're performing well they'll get games
 
We looked far better when j Williams rucked. Didn’t win taps but witts couldn’t do what he wanted. He is having a much bigger impact than b Williams. This week against north, who don’t have 2xruckmen will be interesting (whether Bailey plays).

Johnston and dewar is reason for extra anger towards Simpson. Same with ginbey. Now sort out Chesser schoey.
 
Excuse the intrusion guys but I need to express my thoughts on something briefly.

As WC usually play off broadway (for us in Victoria) I dont get to watch you play much, as I usually have sh*t on.
Last night however, being a Friday night, you were there for all to see.
I took a couple of things away from the game.

Firstly I love our boy Nick and he is going to give us joy for many years to come.

But Harley Reid, just WOW.
I have a place in Echuca and my sons played for Echuca United (ironically the Eagles) and have crossed paths with young Harley.
In their words as a junior "it was like a man playing with children"
Keep him, do whatever it takes, just keep him, as that boy is generational.

Secondly, I must give credit to your supporter base.
Whether you are flying or are struggling, you show up. Week in, week out, you are there.
There are other teams in the competition that could learn from you and the passion you have.

The noise felt more like 60k, than 40k and the people in the crowd were smiling and just joyful.
You have won four games for the year and the look of the crowd, you could be forgiven for thinking you were about to play finals. Awesome.

Congratulations on the win last night.
Your team may still have some work to do but you are a great club.
 
Best thing about Ginbeys game today was just how well he read the play. A fair few times I saw him basically sprinting into position knowing where the ball was going next. Only player ive seen be able to read the play that well up the ground in the AFL at the moment is Tom Stewart.

Im happy to leave Ginbey at HB for rest of his career if this is the impact he can have in that spot. Not every top 10 pick has to be a midfielder. A All Australian half back at pick 9 is just fine with me
 
If they're just coming into the main side to play the shit wing role Chesser was lumped with all year then maybe they're better off in the WAFL.

I'd have had no issues with them playing more games, as I said to you before it's been since Simmo is gone that they've gotten more games. I dont know why you're trying to use that against what I said, if they're performing well they'll get games

Someone gotta play that shit wing role. I just dont think Clay Hall or Chesser is the player to do it. This is the time for the older players to put some big boy pants on and take one for the team. A combination of Tom Cole, Jamie Cripps, Liam Duggan and whoever plays next week besides Alex Witherden should be playing the wing role.
 

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Autopsy Round 21, 2024: Positives and Negatives vs Gold Coast

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