Thoughts On The Port Game (post game)

[brucetiki]

What a pathetic and insipid performance that was. To start out all guns blazing and kick the first two goals only to be completely blown away until the last 8 minutes of the final quarter was pathetic.

This game plan of playing on at all costs and playing to not lose stinks. How many times to we mark it, then play on and sell a player into trouble, whereas if we marked it, stopped and then try and create a play we could actually have more cohesian in our play. I also don't understand why our players stuggle in dewey conditions - why can't they adapt.

Our tackling is either soft or over the top. We either let them run through us like a turnstile, or slam them in the back or take their heads off. The players need tackling practice. They should be out with the tackling bags during training sessions and pre-game getting this right. With the AFL's ridiculous holding the ball interpretations these days, we will create more scoring opportunities by getting this important area of the game right.

 

[Alex99]

Maybe I shouldn't post this, but what did u guys think of Hartlett before he got injured?

thanks.

Brilliant – on par for all 6 Brownlow votes. Give him the rising star award as well.

Na, just being serious. He was good, had clean hands and showed how skillful he was. Everything you would expect from a pick 4 in the national draft.

 

[King Elvis]

Maybe I shouldn't post this, but what did u guys think of Hartlett before he got injured?

thanks.

Same thing we thought before you guys grabbed him - that he was going to be a star.

Really good footballer, also seems like a great kid, and exactly what you need.

 

[Dandy_GO]

Maybe I shouldn't post this, but what did u guys think of Hartlett before he got injured?

thanks.

Yep. He's a superb young player. Wish he was ours. Footskills and decision making in particular are immaculate for a guy his age. A rare talent.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

We had no forward line & lack of system bringing the ball into the forward line.
Stevo has struggled since he has returned. How McPharlin got off is beyond me .. but build that bridge. We need another tall option - probably Moran over Maric, as more flexibility. Should have used Griff more forward & Tippett more on ball tonight IMO.

We should have tried to mix things up more in the coaching box, but failed to do so. Should change players struggling not those doing OK. We were outcoached. ie. Leave Otten in defence, but move Macca. He did look disinterested - easily the poorest of our fab-3. Why was Goody not moved up forward to help out ... or on ball? We had to score goals & we needed to sure up forward line.

This game was for the taking & he were more than disappointing.

 

[mulz]

The final margin flattered us. We should have lost by 60+ points given how poor we were and how exceptionally slick Port were (until time-on in the 4th).

Our gameplan is a complete ****ing joke. We will never be a top 4 side with such a slow, pointless gameplan. Every bloody time we kick it inside 50, we are outnumbered 4-1 and the opposition takes an easy mark and quickly gets it down their end to an open forward line and gets a goal. I'm sick of our goals coming from players having to pull something flukey out of their ass whilst the opposition gets goals running into an open goal. Chad Cornes FFS! Bring back the 2005/2006 gameplan, at least we were good at it.

If you want to play a zone, you need players who are prepared to work their butts off. You also need a gun in the midfield who can split the zone, like an Ablett or a Bateman.

Finally, too many players out there tonight showed a complete lack of heart. Not going to single out players but there were too many players out there who didn't put their bodies on the line. Bock, Vince and Goodwin (with an honourable mention to Petrenko) were the only players prepared to do the hard work. You talk about downhill skiiers, we have plenty of 'em, including a certain Norm Smith medal winner (ok I lied when I wasn't going to single players out).

We showed a total lack of physicality out there tonight, and Port were always first to the ball and they did it too easily. I hope Craigy tears strips off of them (and not just the first year players) after that effort. Why should we buy tickets to the Port home game when we put in a lame effort anyway?

fair post mate, cant argue with any of that. id like to see some tough decisions made at the selection table, but doubt it will happen

 

[StuPendus]

Maybe I shouldn't post this, but what did u guys think of Hartlett before he got injured?

thanks.

Can't bowl, can't bat, can't field. Other than that very composed.

But as he comes from West Adelaide, what else would you expect.

 

[Deaneus!]

Not hard enough at the ball. Not moving the ball forward quickly enough. Otten will be great. Dangerfield too. Not enough four-quarter efforts. Rutten is looking slow. Getting smashed at the clearances. Walker needed to do more tonight, not enough defensive effort. Douglas and Reilly worked hard. Vince is all class. Petrenko is going to be a star. Liked it when Goodwin gave one to Boak on the ground (or was it Salopek?). Not surprised at the result.

My girlfriend says:
1. They think it's a training drill
2. Too much handball handball handball
3. They can't kick goals (i.e., they don't kick straight)

 

[StuPendus]

fair post mate, cant argue with any of that. id like to see some tough decisions made at the selection table, but doubt it will happen

But we don't have enough players to come in for all that didn't play this evening, so........... so not much.

 

[noddy]

Maybe I shouldn't post this, but what did u guys think of Hartlett before he got injured?

thanks.

Who ?


I 'll tell you what i think & that is he is showing why he went at pick 4 in last years draft very skillful & has a canny awareness of what's around him.

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

once again thanks for the comments.

nice to hear good things about him from opposition supporters.

 

[SydCrow]

Bock (booed all night, there's a surprise), Reilly (great game), Petrenko (I love this guy), Vince, Otten, Stiffy, Danger, Tippett, no injuries

Dougie's decision making and handball skills, chipping it around (how to beat the zone? Apparently nobody knows), clearance work - why can't we win clean ball out of the middle?

 

[jackster83]

once again thanks for the comments.

nice to hear good things about him from opposition supporters.

He will be the next Nathan Buckley. Mark it down

 

[Elite Crow]

once again thanks for the comments.

nice to hear good things about him from opposition supporters.

When you tank and call the seasonn off after round 13 its a fair bet your going to get a good player. Congratulations youve done well.

 

[Adelaide Cows]

Maybe I shouldn't post this, but what did u guys think of Hartlett before he got injured?

thanks.

I thought he was injury prone.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Maybe I shouldn't post this, but what did u guys think of Hartlett before he got injured?

thanks.

GUN!

Arguably the best kick on your list and thats a pretty big claim considering the number of players you have with neat footskills.

 

[Go the Guts]

we are about 50 games away from having a potent side.

Agreed.

Tackling
FFS can we get a tackling coach to the club, we give away to many sloppy frees

Absolutely spot on. Tackling and intensity, 2 very important ingredients of great sides that were not there for us AGAIN tonight. Happy to let the kids make blues etc, but at least do it while going in bloody hard.

Not hard enough at the ball. Not moving the ball forward quickly enough. Otten will be great. Dangerfield too. Not enough four-quarter efforts. Rutten is looking slow. Getting smashed at the clearances. Walker needed to do more tonight, not enough defensive effort. Douglas and Reilly worked hard. Vince is all class. Petrenko is going to be a star. Liked it when Goodwin gave one to Boak on the ground (or was it Salopek?). Not surprised at the result.

My girlfriend says:
1. They think it's a training drill
2. Too much handball handball handball
3. They can't kick goals (i.e., they don't kick straight)

You're girlfriend is spot on! And the rest of your post I totally agree with on all counts. Dangerfield was disappointing for mine, he is so talented, but looked slow around the ball tonight and just couldn't get his hands on it. A few chases by him he just didn't look interested either. 2 goals saved his arse for another week I think. Goody and Eddy just keep on keeping on. Geez I love Edwards, always have, he just never gives in.

Unfotunately though, I think our old three tenors are just about to sing their final song at the end of 09. Seeing as Macca is giving us less and less drive off half back these days, maybe it's time to pop him up forward to kick 2 or 3 each week. He has the mark, kick, and evasive skills.

 

[BunjiMac]

I agree with what most people have said, but I think we should give the veterans a break. I think some people still expect them to be game breakers, when they clearly will not be. They are in the twilight of their career, we should only expect them to be the supporting cast, with the focus and reliance on the next generation to play the major roles in the side, and to decide matches. I believe their role is to help the younger players along and provide a cool head and some leadership. To expect them to have the same impact they did in the past is fanciful, lets accept that.

 

[footy4ever]

No surprise to note that the our last 4 goals came when port were stuffed, granted, but they came by kicking the #%^&ing ball forwards. Yes, I understand the game has changed, but it is pretty much impossible to kick goals from a set shot in the back 50!!

Gameplan is deplorable and predictable.

Porps you gun.
Edwards you gun.
Vince you gun.
Rutten...don't underestimate his game tonight
Danger...gun to be.
Patrenks...honest as
Walker...at that stage of the game, walk back and take a set shot son! A goal then may have changed the whole game.

 

[Elite Crow]

Our kids go missing in games for much too long and i think 5 is too many. I think Walker and one of Cook/Petrenko/Dangerfield needs to go this week.

Walker
Yes he is a talent, yes he is young and yes he will benefit from having some bigger more experienced forwards next to him, however he needs to start flying for everything, Griff was obviously not happy with Taylor pulling out of a marking contest, he needs to stop chasing the cheap goals

Imagine being a young forward in a team with a gameplan that leads to slow delivery into the forward line and with players ahead of you who cant hit a target or dont honour a lead?

And if anyone should be pissed off it should be Walker with Griffin, it was the 3rd qtr, griffin had walker loose 15 out from goal, what does he do? he ignores him kicks to a contest and stuffs it up.

FFS our entry into the forward line is a disgrace. Our first instinct is backwards, sidewards, backwards some more then kick to a contest or try to find a player but because the movement was so slow he is manned up. We kicked 7 goals against Melbourne, any game plan that allows that to happen is flawed.

 

[SydCrow]

Edwards pretty much kept us in the game tonight

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

I agree with what most people have said, but I think we should give the veterans a break. I think some people still expect them to be game breakers, when they clearly will not be. They are in the twilight of their career, we should only expect them to be the supporting cast, with the focus and reliance on the next generation to play the major roles in the side, and to decide matches. I believe their role is to help the younger players along and provide a cool head and some leadership. To expect them to have the same impact they did in the past is fanciful, lets accept that.

I do not believe we expect them to have the same impact however I expect them to be vibrant and do there best to inject themselves in the game

Like I said Nacca is a club legend however I am concerned that in his last couple of games he has not looked hungry, once this goes your in trouble

 

[cmndstab]

Agreed on the Hartlett calls, he looks like a very good pickup for the Power. Not hard to see why the Crows rated him as highly as they did


Long sprawling post ahead...

For me tonight, I think the biggest issue was the clearances. We were absolutely destroyed in them, I'd be surprised if we got ten the whole match. From there, we were relying on getting the ball back in the backlines (not easy when the ball was routinely coming in quickly) and then having to find a way to work it through the Port zone to our forward line. By the time we got there we had nothing worth kicking too and they had a bunch of big bodies back there able to prevent the mark, and we had no real speedy players (other than Petrenko) at the fall of the ball to stop the likes of Surjan and Krakouer from taking it out.

I'll say this, I always see Surjan getting a bum wrap from people - Port themselves don't seem to rate him, but I think he's a brilliant player and have said so for years. Fearless attack on the ball and always seems to find a way to clear it out of his area.

As much as I love Taylor Walker, I can't help but think he might be gone this week - probably should have been gone already. On the other hand, if this is a learning year, he's not going to learn much in the SANFL where his bad habits are rewarded with goals. He at least is trying to chase now but he really is slow. Can we make him faster? I know we can make him fitter, but can we make his faster? I don't know. At least he got one goal at the end so I have something to add to my highlights video The other four kids though, I'd keep playing them. Cook did some great things today, Dangerfield is absolutely required since our clearance work is bad enough even with him there, let alone without him, and Petrenko probably played his best match for the club. Otten was Andy Otten. I'll probably talk more about them soon.


The must frustrating part of the match was the times when Port got free ball in their forward line and were able to run the ball unhampered. You can be having a crappy match but you can always work hard. There should never, even one time in a whole year of matches, be a situation where a player can get the ball on the 50m line and run straight at the goals. You should always have a player there to make him either duck around you, or dish a handball off, or rush a kick, or something. How did they get free players in their goal square so often? I know the turnovers can kill you but that situation simply cannot be allowed to occur.


I don't think the game plan is wrong, like so many here seem to. The game plan is sound, but the current execution of it is nowhere near up to scratch. If you are going to switch via foot, you must do it quickly and without giving up too much ground. It's okay to give up a bunch of ground with the first kick, but only if you have an immediate option to regain the ground with the second kick. If you take too long, you gain nothing from the switch as the players simply move along with the slow ball. If you have to kick to a contest to do the switch then it is pointless and you should just be instructed to kick forwards to the contest. I remember in the past there was this thing made out of how Craigy was different from Ayres because he encouraged players to take the game on and if they made mistakes, never mind. I wish we could have that back when it comes to movement forward. Let the players know, if the man on the mark looks around and can't get a quick switch, there should be some signal or something, so they know he's going to bomb it forward. The opposition zone will ensure that whoever he kicks it to will be outnumbers so have the Crows players understand that they also need to then be prepared to enter the contest as well and back their skills and speed in the win the ball.

As for our forward entries, we seemed to either kick a sideways ball low and flat that was never going to hit a target through a zone, or simply bomb the ball to inexperienced forwards/small targets. Fast movement will help this but either way, we need practise for it. I constantly see the Crows practising moving the ball out of defence against a zone, which they do quite well, and yet I never see them practise moving it forward. Perhaps they are afraid of impact injuries but dammit, we need the practise. It would help the players learn to crumb, too.


In the end, though, I'm convinced it came down to clearances, which is why it was fair that Brogan won the Showdown medal. I can't believe how badly we got smashed in the clearances. We just didn't even look like winning them, which I can deal with if we at least try to just force ball ups so they don't win clean clearances. At one clearance the ball went to Rodan who would have been less than a metre from the ruckmen and we had literally nobody on the Port goalside of him... how can that be allowed to happen?! If you are losing the clearances and they have superior ruckmen, you surely have to go man on man. Thompson is the senior man in there, he needs to be the ones to marshall the troops.


I felt for Reilly today, he tried hard but just seemed to keep slipping over at the wrong time, or make the wrong decision, or execute the handball wrong or whatever. Not his best game.


One person who we simply must build our backlines around for the next ten years is Andy Otten. He heart-in-the-mouth to watch because he absolutely always plays on. I can't ever remember him kicking over the mark, he just insists on playing on even when under pressure deep in the back line. It can make you squirm to watch him, but on the other hand, it's exactly what we need, because it creates quick ball movement. Furthermore, his playing on sends the ball forward more often than not. If more players would take that attitude to playing, we would be better off.

Petrenko is going to be massive for the club, he is desperate as hell and has great skills. I loved the passage of play where he was the only one creating pressure, but missed the tackle, sliding away, and forced the Port player to dispose of the ball. He then jumped straight up, chased the ball and got a holding the ball free for, it was brilliant. He seems to be able to pop up with a goal or two a game too.

Cook seems to realise just how much of a benefit his elite pace is and he is desperate as hell too. He took a brilliant mark from a ball that was jammed forward from the centre. His kicking was much better today, even if one did get kicked straight into the face of a Port player


That's enough for now. There were positive signs there today but we're still a long way off and need to move the ball faster. The best part is it's our younger players that are taking the game on and trying to move it fast, so that is bright signs for the future.

 

[King Elvis]

Stabby, if the players aren't capable of executing the gameplan, then it's flawed.

 

[Stiffy_18]

My thoughts:

ONe of the softest, most insipid performances that I have seen from us. We got absolutly SMASHED in clearences (especially centre clearences, that was ****ing embarassing). I lost the number of times that Port literally walked it out of the centre square under the most minimal of pressure. The tackling was as soft as butter. My dead grandma would shrug those pathetic attempts at tackling.

We were always going to get smashed in the ruck but FFS how hard is it to get inside your man, stand side by side and not let him walk it away from a "contest".

People we carry on about the game plan but thats bullshit. The Power were great defensively and we hard absolutly NOTHING to kick to. People want us to kick it long and not dick about with it and we saw EXACTLY what that leads to. 90% of the time we went long to the forward line and we had no hope of getting anything. Port were great at spoiling and going 3rd man up.

Some of the players didn't bother showing up. The "leadership" group showed no leadership. They were the biggest culprits in terms of softness. Big thumbs up to a couple of kids who actually hunt the footy. Petrenko and Dangerfield know the meaning of contested footy and tackling. Petrenko is easily our best tackler and probably the hardest at it player. While thats great, its sad at the same time. When a 5th game player is your hardest player and best tackler, well to me that means you have a pretty big problem.

I have to give a massive thumbs up to Bernie Vince who was our best player, especially in the first half.

Tyson Edwards was our best senior player.

While Rutten got spanked, to be fair, there wasn't a hell of a lot he could have done with some of the passes and space that Tredrea had in the first half.

Andy Otten was once again VERY good.

Scott Stevens is REALLY off the boil.

Graham Johncock is in AA form.

Porplyzia couldn't get near it but still kicked 3 goals and keeps the streak alive.

Walker REALLY needs to lift. He doesn't work anywhere near hard enough and tries to get some cheap goals rather than do the team thing.

Griffin was soft as butter.

I liked the flashes the kids have shown. As someone else said, we are about 50 games away from having a potent side.