What Changed in the Final Quarter?

[Vader]

After 3 quarters of pitiful, insipid and generally woeful football, the Crows put in a very good performance in the final quarter tonight. That's not to say that there's anything much in the way of positives to come out of the game - it was very much a case of shutting the gate after the horse had bolted (and was running free 10 miles down the road).

My question is what changed between the 3rd quarter and the 4th quarter, which turned things in our favour?

Obviously North took their foot off the pedal. I reject the assumption that they ran out of legs because of Hale's injury. Two or three such injuries can lead to that sort of problem, one injury barely changes the rotations at all. North led by 54 points and knew they had the game in the bag - as a result, they dropped their intensity by 3-5% and that was all it took.

The Adelaide players were all completely fresh going into the final term. It's not hard to understand why - most of them hadn't done a damn thing for 3 quarters, certainly they hadn't been running hard and/or chasing their opponents.

Fresh players + an opponent who took their foot off the pedal = turnaround.

What else, if anything changed? Apparently Craig didn't tell them to do anything different in his 3/4 time address, so we can assume that the changes didn't come from the coaches box - they must have come from the players on the ground.

 

[King Elvis]

Led by the youngsters, we took the game on and actually made an effort.

 

[Cap]

North were a man down and buggered.

We can ook for as many postives as we want, but as has been shown all season we are not capable of playing good football at the right time.

the final qtr is completly irrelevant in terms of the scoreboard.

what is not irrevant are the players that chose to DO SOMETHING

 

[Smoooothy]

no pressure to win perhaps?

 

[King Elvis]

I recorded it, will probably watch it tommorow; with a view to identifying the players who couldn't be bothered in the first three quarters, as well as the guys who turned it on in the last quarter.

 

[Smoooothy]

I recorded it, will probably watch it tommorow; with a view to identifying the players who couldn't be bothered in the first three quarters, as well as the guys who turned it on in the last quarter.

i'd suggest that would be a reasonably long list..

 

[Bicks]

Sadly.....Crows 2010 = Classic Downhill Skiers!!!!!

When the pressure, pace and intensity of the opposition drops off the Crows 2010 come to play!!!

 

[Allefgib]

Led by the youngsters, we took the game on and actually made an effort.

This.

Hopefully it was noted who led the charge and the same youngsters have the confidence in themselves to not wait for the seniors and 2nd-tier guys to do it next week.

**** we are short on leadership at the moment.

 

[Caramelas13]

Lets be honest here. Nth Melb took the foot off the pedal and allowed us back in. They played their guts out for 3 qtrs and got a more than well deserved lead which in the end was enough for them to win.

That was a pathetic display of football tonight. One of the worst i've ever seen. Too scared to take the game on against a bunch of nobody's. Geez you'd think we were playing against the Kangas of the 1990's. Shameful performance.

 

[King Elvis]

Kangas were flat in the last, no question; but we also seriously stepped up our game.

 

[Caramelas13]

Of course we stepped up our game. The pressure from the opposition dropped and we started looking a million bucks. For me that last qtr was irrelevant. You've got to be honest with yourself here.

 

[Allefgib]

Of course we stepped up our game. The pressure from the opposition dropped and we started looking a million bucks. For me that last qtr was irrelevant. You've got to be honest with yourself here.

I think we are being honest. We were shit. But we shouldn't be!

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

The only thing that changed was the Kangaroos. The intensity, pressure and will to win they were playing with disappeared, because they are an average team that already had the win in their keeping.

The absolute outstanding teams keep going right to the final siren with the same intensity. NM aren't one of those. So they slackened off.

 

[Caramelas13]

I think we are being honest. We were shit. But we shouldn't be!

No we shouldn't be shit but we are. All i'm saying is i don't want people on this forum to think we were the real deal in the last qtr. Anyone that thinks that way has no idea about the game. We lost to a bunch of nobody's.

 

[Coopers]

Led by the youngsters, we took the game on and actually made an effort.

Goodwin in the centre bounces was also fantastic in the last quarter.

But completely absent in the first 3... when you'd want your captain to find some voice.

 

[aneale]

nothing. North's rotations started to suffer, just like it did with us in the Melbourne game. It was obvious as the nose on your face that the North players could no longer keep up the frontal pressure and there was all of a sudden holes in their sideways rolling zone and the game opened up. They just could no longer get to the right spots on the ground like they had in the first 3.

We couldn't get a clearance all night and in the last we got 4 in a row from the centre square. Their ruck was knackered going on his own all night and it finally got to them. This is what made the 2nd and 3rd quarters such a disgrace as it was apparent to all this would eventually happen in this day and age of football.

We didn't step up one iota, the game opened up and all the relatively fresh Crows players got on the end of the ball, played how they want to play and the forward line got quicker and better entries which they capitalised on.

Anyone taking silver linings out of that are deluded. Geelong would have kicked 10 goals on us in that last quarter, good teams keep it up for 4 quarters, North are full of kids and pretty average to boot and can't sustain it for the whole game. Its worth noting that the NMFC v PAFC game last year was almost identical, Port nearly and undeservedly snatched that as well. Its just North.