Wake up people - that loss was vintage AFC

[Slippery Pete]

At 3/4 time last night, I said to my mate: "We'll lose this by less than a kick."

He agreed.

How did we know??

After the game, I truly felt Neil Craig's pain as he threw his headphones away in disgust.

Then, in the next shot, Scott Thompson and Brent Reilly were laughing and chatting with some of their Collingwood opponents. At this moment, I threw the remote square at the TV in absolute disgust.

I am so SICK and TIRED of teams like Collingwood beating us up, stealing our lunch money and holding our head down the toilet. Sure, you can say we were $11 underdogs, you can say Collingwood had more scoring opportunities and you can say with all the players we have out of the side, we had no right to be within 10 goals of the Pies. We put up a valiant display, no question.

But you know what? Valiant doesn't cut it in this competition. There was a game of footy to be won last night, and we BLEW it. It is INEXCUSABLE to lose a contest that you've lead for 97% of game time. I don't care who the opponent is - this kind of result has happened FAR too often to us in games much more important than last night and it is NOT acceptable.

The Reilly and Thompson vision made me SO angry. Look at your coach boys - look at how utterly jacked off he was, and look how quickly he exited the arena. That's how YOU should be feeling, not milling around having a leisurely laugh and a chat with your opponents.

Our guys are too nice, too clean, too fair and don't hate losing to anywhere near the extent that is required at this level.

 

[whitey_1975]

Dude bad case of the "roidrage" there
Seriously though you have some merit in what your saying, however in Reilly's defence he has been good friends with Dane Swan since his junior days, and if he was laughing with him after the match thats ok, he did a number on him for the game, and that is what matters the most.
Like i said though you have some merit in your post, I also felt at 1/2 time we would eventually get pipped at the post, but I feel there is a lot to look forward to, don't dwell on the past, if players had this same opinion in close games in the back of their minds before the game, then it stands to reason it will keep happening.
One thing I do not want to see happen next year is Craigy getting a coaching extension part way through a season. I would really like the club to be more open in regards to how the players and Craigy are jelling, I have some concerns regarding some of the younger players and how they feel now the 'old guard' is gone. Not that I believe some of the shit pedalled by people on this site, its more of a 'feeling' based on our season and how it started and ultimately died within 6 rounds.
Choosing a captain will be the next very interesting decision the coaches/playing group has to make, and yes i am looking forward to the draft now we are almost over, but that doesn't involve the current players.
Oh yeah and the coaching/fitness/club review, that should be good.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Pete

I do not believe that the Pies beat up on us last night, and I dont have an issue with Radar chatting / smiling with Swan after the game as the contest is very much finished......

I expect the side to be absolutely fierce in every contest however win, lose or draw I expect the team to show humility.... and that does not mean you are soft as a group......

I dont agree that the loss was vintage AFC, however I do agree that we dont want to accept Valiant defeats as a win either.

However with this in mind what I believe we are seeing is a young new group that are committed to each other and prepared to work for each other and if they maintain this trait the wins against top sides will come more regularly as they build more experience, strength, fitness and improve their offensive skills......

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

If he picked players with skills, ability to play the game and beat their direct opponent in one on one contest winning close games will be a thing he wont have to worry about.

Implementing a game plan where you rely on effort and heart of the entire game will only last so long.

Everyone needs a heart but to win everyone needs skill as well, heart wins only wins admiration.

 

[Slippery Pete]

If he picked players with skills, ability to play the game and beat their direct opponent in one on one contest winning close games will be a thing he wont have to worry about.

Implementing a game plan where you rely on effort and heart of the entire game will only last so long.

Everyone needs a heart but to win everyone needs skill as well, heart wins only wins admiration.

Dead right. But to achieve this he also has to allow the players on the list to use this skill. It's obvious to me a guy like Taylor Walker is now second guessing his natural instinct.

When Stiffy kicked a torp in the last quarter to try and win the game, I nearly fell off my chair! How often do we see this kind of thing? Hardly ever.

Playing us is like playing against the Xbox- there's no surprises for the challenger just varying levels of difficulty.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Dead right. But to achieve this he also has to allow the players on the list to use this skill. It's obvious to me a guy like Taylor Walker is now second guessing his natural instinct.

When Stiffy kicked a torp in the last quarter to try and win the game, I nearly fell off my chair! How often do we see this kind of thing? Hardly ever.

Playing us is like playing against the Xbox- there's no surprises for the challenger just varying levels of difficulty.

But we’re not a predictable side remember?

 

[Mackay train12]

Completely agree, if you have been a close follower of the AFC since Craig has taken over, you just knew that we would not win that game.

 

[fryingpan]

Gotta agree. Turned to my mate at three quarter time and said "we'll lose this, I know we will" .. then spoke to my old boy this afternoon and he said "you know what, even when we were up at the last change, I knew we'd lose"

It was a typical Crows loss, but considering the guys we had out, how young our team was and the fact that it was a nothing match, I think we can excuse this one.

 

[23Legend]

Ease up mate, they almost beat the top side! they put up a good effort, kept trying and it just shows the crows just arent plain good enough just yet, and come on, they're probably just good mates! They gave there all on the field, so what if they decide to have a laugh with their mates after the game

p.s. i reckon bunji will play on next year! he would of retired by now if he wasnt, i hope he does, he deserves to get to 350

 

[Cap]

we always lose the close ones, I don't remember the last time we won a real tough close game.

its ****ing frustrating.

 

[Briggzy]

Gotta agree. Turned to my mate at three quarter time and said "we'll lose this, I know we will" .. then spoke to my old boy this afternoon and he said "you know what, even when we were up at the last change, I knew we'd lose"

It was a typical Crows loss, but considering the guys we had out, how young our team was and the fact that it was a nothing match, I think we can excuse this one.

Sad to say I said the same thing as well

We suck at <1 goal score margins. Interesting re: Thompson and Reilly after the game, I can't believe you kept watching after the siren, I turned the T.V. off ASAP.

 

[adelaidecrows]

The season has been over for a couple of weeks now, the players know it and hence the performance and attitude is more of looking towards next year then worrying about losing. If that game ended the season as far as finals were concerned you wouldnt have seen reilly and thommo having a laugh.

Sure your sick of losing to collingwood but last night was not a game where crows supporters should be upset. We were really inexperienced and we put enough pressue on them to take them away from there normal game. at the end of the day we couldnt kick goals and we were lucky the pies missed some sitters.

At this time of year these are things you need to remember when watching your team

1/ If they are not in the finals race expect losses against finals bound opponants

2/ Dont watch a game demanding a win. the coach tends to experiment at this time of year, looking at next seasons squad.

3/ Watch the kids and take notes on who will make the grade in 2011

4/ Drink plenty of beer and simple smile at the mistakes and work out why we are not in the finals.

 

[PCORF]

Yeah ..... vintage AFC in games by 3 points or less. Still winless in 3 point games since 2002. Its a new decade god dammit, we should end that drought in the next few years.

 

[PCORF]

Double post

 

[PCORF]

we always lose the close ones, I don't remember the last time we won a real tough close game.

its ****ing frustrating.

Couldn't agree more.

Round 1 last year was our closest win in years. We also had a 4 point win in Round 18, 2006. But haven't won by 3 points or less since 2002 as my above post says.

Oh, and not to mention there was a 4 point win vs Sydney in 2003.

 

[rayven]

Collingwood whinging they were abit off, meh
Adelaide fans whinging we were too soft in a roundabouts way, meh

We were not good enough, our list management our preperation our endevour has been piss poor all year........

You are right in 1 respect, we were too nice to Trent Potential(he should of been pissed off last year)
We were to nice to the pretentious Tyson Edwards(he should of been pissed off after his hissy fit)
We are to fair when we get shit from the AFL (Port took the us against them mentality to far, we not far enough)
Bock should of trained into the ground and played as ruck rover without a rest, fulfilling his contract obligations that he excepted a wage for.

 

[Slippery Pete]

Couldn't agree more.

Round 1 last year was our closest win in years. We also had a 4 point win in Round 18, 2006. But haven't won by 3 points or less since 2002 as my above post says.

Oh, and not to mention there was a 4 point win vs Sydney in 2003.

We must have really pissed the footy gods off in the 1997 prelim.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Agree that the result had a sense of inevitability about it. Not for one second of that game did I believe we were going to win, even though we played some pretty damned good football, especially in the first half. Just coughed up leads too often now for me to feel at all confident in the ability of our players to hold on.

"To hold on" is the key phrase because it does seem like that is what we try to do after half time when we have a lead. We play slow, careful football and basically gun for a nil-all draw after half time so that we can take the points. This was on show again. If you'd heard that we'd only had five scoring shots in a half of football you'd assume we'd been thrashed.

That said I don't care what the players do after the game. They can laugh, cry, fall asleep for all I care. The only thing that matters is what they do in that two hours. Everything either side is irrelevant. Some players seem to go to great lengths to demonstrate just how angry and disappointed they are, basically putting on a show for whoever is watching. This includes the ridiculous chats the captain has on-field after the siren just so that they can been seen to be doing something.

 

[Wood_Duck]

Dead right. But to achieve this he also has to allow the players on the list to use this skill. It's obvious to me a guy like Taylor Walker is now second guessing his natural instinct.

When Stiffy kicked a torp in the last quarter to try and win the game, I nearly fell off my chair! How often do we see this kind of thing? Hardly ever.

Playing us is like playing against the Xbox- there's no surprises for the challenger just varying levels of difficulty.

Oh come on. It was a wonderful effort last night and every single player played out of their skins against the top side in the competition. You guys are not real supporters if you can find a single player to be critical of. They were all so courageous and I am proud of every single one of them. If we can play exactly like that next year we will definately be top 4. I really cant understand what you blokes are carrying on about. I nearly sprained my wrist I was waving my pom pom so hard.

 

[SydCrow]

as for never winning close games - where were you guys last week?

a week is a long time in footy

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Oh come on. It was a wonderful effort last night and every single player played out of their skins against the top side in the competition. You guys are not real supporters if you can find a single player to be critical of. They were all so courageous and I am proud of every single one of them. If we can play exactly like that next year we will definately be top 4. I really cant understand what you blokes are carrying on about. I nearly sprained my wrist I was waving my pom pom so hard.

Yes, I agree with you that they gave 100% (not 101% or 300%....see, a human can only give 100%) for the entire match but at the end of the day that was simply not good enough as we lost. You don't get do over’s or make excuses by saying we had injuries or players retire we lost. I don’t support the AFC see them give 100% effort (that should be a non negotiable), i support them to win. If they don’t do that, I’m going to be critical, if they don’t 100% effort, I’m going to be critical, if their skills are poor...yes, I’m going to be critical as I’m a key stakeholder in this club as I’m a member.

Giving 100% is just not good enough, if I only wasted to see effort, I would go watch the amateurs play but due to the fact i pay good money, i want both....winning and effort and if they are not good enough to win, someone should GO.

 

[robboaustralia]

we always lose the close ones, I don't remember the last time we won a real tough close game.

its ****ing frustrating.

Brisbane game last week was a close one and we won that!

 

[Allbetsroff]

We would of won if a couple of players didn't pull out errors that even a ******ed chimp wouldn't perform.

 

[Cap]

Brisbane game last week was a close one and we won that!

alright

we never win games against teams in a stronger position than us, we never pull off those comback wins.

We are never the Collingwood, Hawthorn or WCE. Get my point?

 

[Slippery Pete]

Oh come on. It was a wonderful effort last night and every single player played out of their skins against the top side in the competition. You guys are not real supporters if you can find a single player to be critical of. They were all so courageous and I am proud of every single one of them. If we can play exactly like that next year we will definately be top 4. I really cant understand what you blokes are carrying on about. I nearly sprained my wrist I was waving my pom pom so hard.

The scary part is, it was anything but an abberation. Losing those types of contests is a worrying trend for us over a long period of time. I've never doubted the players hardness at the contest, determination or spirit. I believe Neil Craig brings those things to the table better than most. But the facts are, our recent record in close games is woeful. Our guys frequently don't seem to have what it takes between the ears to pull these types of results off.

People citing the Brisbane game - I would say THAT game was actually the abberation. We normally lose games like that. And if you look at the Lions' recent record in close games, they are probably the only team with a worse record than us.

Either way, I am not too fussed about what happens in the minor round, especially when we can't even make the eight. HOWEVER, what happened on Saturday night was an eerie reminder of some of our recent finals results.