Review Good, Bad and Ugly vs Hawthorn

[Kickin_Goals]

No mate. Apologies, I pretty much agree with that bit. Sadly we are about 2 really good players and a good run of injuries away from being a top 4 side.

This year we are only consistency away from the top 4 right now. The top 4 isn't as impressive as the top 2 with Hawks with a full side.
That said I don't see Adelaide as a contender with the way they are going about their game even if they were top 4 now.
Carlton, Melbourne, Essendon, wins that should of been chalked up but went in expecting it to just happen, hell the hawks should of gone down too.
Thompson having someone relevant to sub out for would of just about delivered that game against a massively weakened Hawks team.
12 wins is top 4 right now.

Adelaide are quite capable of controlling the stoppages and contests when people aren't doing idiotic blind handballs, hacks out or shovels from the congestion to the oppositions outside running seagulls, there is no sense in doing that since we have the muscle to pick up the ball and run it out of congestion not the outside players to gather the loose ball. This is how opponents get their clearances and smothers leading to clearances much of the time when not sharking it successfully. This is where the inconsistency stems from, making the game roulette even more then the poor field kicking.

That Talia being dragged out of the back line makes it so easy to score shows exactly where Rutten and Otten fail to deliver as KPDs, they are completely exposed for pace, the same thing happened against GWS with Talia up forward.
Adelaide were horrible in that match just GWS were so immensely better at being horrible. It was a really bad lead up match.
It honestly seemed like Sando showed Hawthorn what they should do in that game with how dysfunctional the back line was with Talia up forward only saved by Wright seemingly being everywhere in the last.

If any of you think they are selecting the best side that's ludicrous, you can't select a best side and gamble on the weather to save your ass at the same time when your selecting slow players to take on quick regardless of conditions and disregarding who is 50/50 to play. Even ruck men slim down to be quicker while Adelaide after selecting a team for pace and getting success goes back to selecting slow players and what happens....

 

[1970crow]

What is this obsession with deep inside 50s?

It's the smallest part of the ground, it causes our forward to be cramped, and it doesn't give the forwards space to lead into.

Especially when the 3 key talls we play can all kick from 55 without much trouble. Jj's probably better at 50 than 20. If we're playing tall to stretch the defense then you surely want to create 1 on 1 contests. Getting in each other's way allows a 2nd tall defender to come over and kill the contest.

 

[Kickin_Goals]

What is this obsession with deep inside 50s?

It's the smallest part of the ground, it causes our forward to be cramped, and it doesn't give the forwards space to lead into.

Especially when the 3 key talls we play can all kick from 55 without much trouble. Jj's probably better at 50 than 20. If we're playing tall to stretch the defense then you surely want to create 1 on 1 contests. Getting in each other's way allows a 2nd tall defender to come over and kill the contest.

They aren't all meant to be back there but they are all looking for the over the back ball and are being led to it often rather then leading, the obsession is to not create rebound 50's that went 5 meters in to the 50 where you're just lobbing it up to that man leading their player to the ball or to the loose man chop out.
It being cramped allows the ball to be trapped in more easily, it puts immense pressure on the opposition when there are stoppages here. Hack kicks from panicked defenders land in our laps 50 meters out where a wall is set up as they flood back more numbers.

 

[Mike Smyth]

The Good:

-Sloane. What a little legend. The heart of a lion.

-Dangerfield. Has been playing injured for over a month. Sensational performance. But please, please lose the blind handball over your head. McDermott – pfft, what a hack.

-Crouch – What a gun we have on our hands.

-Talia – killed Roughie.

-Sauce - Although he didn’t dominate thought he at least broke even. Doing more around the ground than any AFC ruckman since Rehn.

-Jenkins – Still undecided if this guy will make it but can’t complain with 5 goals.

-Smith – Gun

-Rutten –Love him. Our best ever tall defender but the end can’t come soon enough.

-Martin – Not a fan but he was okay.

-Umpiring.

-50,000 Crows supporters. You have to hand it to us even when the chips are down (now being the lowest point in our history) the Crows faithful still show up in full force. However, I expect our average crowds will drop by at least 8000 next year as the AO novelty wears off and people start voting with their wallets if no changes are made at the end of year.


The Ugly:

-Otten – Worst game I have seen him play for the club. Was incredibly poor.

-Our defense, excluding Talia and to a lesser extent Brown.

-Douglas – fumbled, double grabbed, fell over at critical times. Seems Bad Richie has raised his head again this year. If we can get a pick in the low 20’s for him I say trade him. Couldn’t bare to see us carry another 1-2 year wonder through to a 150+ games.

-Tex/Betts/Lynch.

-Kim Dillon – Just when you thought 5AA couldn’t get any lower along comes Mr Bimbo. “awwwww, why can’t we all just get along”.

-Porp – Why? He was finished as an AFL footballer 2 years ago.

-The lack of any form of aggression from our back 6. I just wanted to see one player, just one player physically take it up to the incredibly cocky Gunston.

-The talk mid-week that Goodwin will be our next coach. Isn’t this the guy who said that aggression and intimidation were no longer relevant in today’s game.

-KPP’s – Our stocks are currently the worst they have been in our entire history. If you take out Rutten and Podsisadly (who will both be finished at years end) we only have 2 proven talls – Walker and Talia.

-Watching Hawthorn and realising how far we are away from having the talent/skill/toughness to be able to be a genuine premiership contender.

 

[Wood_Duck]

What is this obsession with deep inside 50s?

It's the smallest part of the ground, it causes our forward to be cramped, and it doesn't give the forwards space to lead into.

Allows you to use your zone.

 

[maxlilly]

What is this obsession with deep inside 50s?

It's the smallest part of the ground, it causes our forward to be cramped, and it doesn't give the forwards space to lead into.

So we can always kick it to their loose man in defence ?

 

[StonesThrow]

What is this obsession with deep inside 50s?

It's the smallest part of the ground, it causes our forward to be cramped, and it doesn't give the forwards space to lead into.

A Tactic showing the lack of faith in any of our mids to hit up a leading target and cause a quick rebounding turnover???

Bomb it to the top of the square and hedge all our betts on locking it in there to create an opportunistic goal or put them under enough pressure to cause a turnover.

Playing the cards you were dealt! Brilliant Sando!

 

[BobaFett]

The Good:

-Sloane. What a little legend. The heart of a lion.

-Dangerfield. Has been playing injured for over a month. Sensational performance. But please, please lose the blind handball over your head. McDermott – pfft, what a hack.

-Crouch – What a gun we have on our hands.

-Talia – killed Roughie.

-Sauce - Although he didn’t dominate thought he at least broke even. Doing more around the ground than any AFC ruckman since Rehn.

-Jenkins – Still undecided if this guy will make it but can’t complain with 5 goals.

-Smith – Gun

-Rutten –Love him. Our best ever tall defender but the end can’t come soon enough.

-Martin – Not a fan but he was okay.

-Umpiring.

-50,000 Crows supporters. You have to hand it to us even when the chips are down (now being the lowest point in our history) the Crows faithful still show up in full force. However, I expect our average crowds will drop by at least 8000 next year as the AO novelty wears off and people start voting with their wallets if no changes are made at the end of year.


The Ugly:

-Otten – Worst game I have seen him play for the club. Was incredibly poor.

-Our defense, excluding Talia and to a lesser extent Brown.

-Douglas – fumbled, double grabbed, fell over at critical times. Seems Bad Richie has raised his head again this year. If we can get a pick in the low 20’s for him I say trade him. Couldn’t bare to see us carry another 1-2 year wonder through to a 150+ games.

-Tex/Betts/Lynch.

-Kim Dillon – Just when you thought 5AA couldn’t get any lower along comes Mr Bimbo. “awwwww, why can’t we all just get along”.

-Porp – Why? He was finished as an AFL footballer 2 years ago.

-The lack of any form of aggression from our back 6. I just wanted to see one player, just one player physically take it up to the incredibly cocky Gunston.

-The talk mid-week that Goodwin will be our next coach. Isn’t this the guy who said that aggression and intimidation were no longer relevant in today’s game.

-KPP’s – Our stocks are currently the worst they have been in our entire history. If you take out Rutten and Podsisadly (who will both be finished at years end) we only have 2 proven talls – Walker and Talia.

-Watching Hawthorn and realising how far we are away from having the talent/skill/toughness to be able to be a genuine premiership contender.

First Bolded Part:
Its good to know that when supposedly walker and lynch play a game that is considered 'ugly', they still manage 2 goals each.

Walker could of kicked 3, and could hardly move from the toll AFL is taking, plus less ball is being directed at him due to pods

Lynch could of kicked 4, had the second highest tackles, and kept birchall to 5 touches after half time.

Looking forward to when these two play a good game....

Both are guns.

Roughead at the other end played an absolute shocker, and spuds like watts have 12 touches and no goals weekly. Our guys don't dominate, and instantly they are 'ugly'. We expect too much

Second Bolded Part:
That is a ridiculous call, are you high?

One of the best ruckmen in the league? tick
One of the best stopping defenders in the league? tick
One of the best key forwards in the league? tick
Jenkins isn't proven? would love to see what is considered proven
Lynch isn't a KPP, but still can play tall

Our forward line is set for 6 years.

Backline? we have Hartigan/ LT fighting for Trucks spot next year at the moment. This is the only area we are shy.

How many teams in the league can tick off the positions we have ticked off?
Sydney yes
Hawthorn (can they really tick off two key defenders?)
Fremantle (Pav and Mcpharlin are at the end, they will be left with silvagni and mayne...)
Essendon yes
GC Suns yes
North (Petrie is finished. They have some untried VFL player, and aaron black who can't win a hard ball up forward,)
Power: No KP forward line depth, no KP defensive depth.
West Coast yes

All teams struggle to have KP depth in the reserves, because if they are any good, they move clubs to get a game

Everything else you said was spot on though, especially the part about not one defensive player getting physical with gunston. The guy has the body of a ballerina, someone needs to put body on body!!

 

[Elder van Berlo]

Especially when the 3 key talls we play can all kick from 55 without much trouble. Jj's probably better at 50 than 20. If we're playing tall to stretch the defense then you surely want to create 1 on 1 contests. Getting in each other's way allows a 2nd tall defender to come over and kill the contest.

YES! I have been trying to figure out a way to put this into words all season.

So sick of seeing Pods, Tex and Jenkins trying to out mark each other.

 

[Mike Smyth]

First Bolded Part:
Its good to know that when supposedly walker and lynch play a game that is considered 'ugly', they still manage 2 goals each.

Walker could of kicked 3, and could hardly move from the toll AFL is taking, plus less ball is being directed at him due to pods

Lynch could of kicked 4, had the second highest tackles, and kept birchall to 5 touches after half time.

Looking forward to when these two play a good game....

Both are guns.

Roughead at the other end played an absolute shocker, and spuds like watts have 12 touches and no goals weekly. Our guys don't dominate, and instantly they are 'ugly'. We expect too much

Second Bolded Part:
That is a ridiculous call, are you high?

One of the best ruckmen in the league? tick
One of the best stopping defenders in the league? tick
One of the best key forwards in the league? tick
Jenkins isn't proven? would love to see what is considered proven
Lynch isn't a KPP, but still can play tall

Our forward line is set for 6 years.

Backline? we have Hartigan/ LT fighting for Trucks spot next year at the moment. This is the only area we are shy.

How many teams in the league can tick off the positions we have ticked off?
Sydney yes
Hawthorn (can they really tick off two key defenders?)
Fremantle (Pav and Mcpharlin are at the end, they will be left with silvagni and mayne...)
Essendon yes
GC Suns yes
North (Petrie is finished. They have some untried VFL player, and aaron black who can't win a hard ball up forward,)
Power: No KP forward line depth, no KP defensive depth.
West Coast yes

All teams struggle to have KP depth in the reserves, because if they are any good, they move clubs to get a game

Everything else you said was spot on though, especially the part about not one defensive player getting physical with gunston. The guy has the body of a ballerina, someone needs to put body on body!!

Gee you get offended easy don't you. I didn't think Lynch, walker and Betts played a good game hence they are in the ugly column. All 3 are really good players just had a bad week.

As of next year, we don't have 2 "proven" key defenders we have one. The rest could all be busts.

 

[King Elvis]

Otten would be close to a proven defender.

 

[Mike Smyth]

We need to find out now, not in 6 weeks time, if we have another key defender on our list. Bring Hartigan in and play him for the remainder of the year. Would love to see Siggins get a handful of games but from what ive heard he is physically nowhere near being ready for AFL football. Mind you, i did hear the same thing said about Davis before his debut.

 

[Mike Smyth]

Otten would be close to a proven defender.

yeah im being way to harsh on Otten but god he was dreadful on Friday night. Mind you in his defense he was way out of his depth. He should only ever be standing the oppositions 3rd choice tall. In a perfect world Rutten would go to roughie and Talia would have stood Gunston. But because rutts is injured/struggling with fitness, Otten had to play the role of our 2nd tall defender. We need to find out if that second choice tall defender is on our list.

 

[fairfooty]

-The talk mid-week that Goodwin will be our next coach. Isn’t this the guy who said that aggression and intimidation were no longer relevant in today’s game.

I hope you're joking. Regardless of the outcome he will always be tarred with the Essendon scandal brush. Don't want him anywhere near us.

 

[King Elvis]

Bass or bust.

 

[Slippery Pete]

I hope you're joking. Regardless of the outcome he will always be tarred with the Essendon scandal brush. Don't want him anywhere near us.

I'm having nightmares about a Chapman-Smart-Goodwin trio, and the club selling it to us as "change."

 

[1achie]

Trigg definitely has stuffed this club - badly. But I agree that he hasn't f*cked us up for a decade from this point on - a few years, definitely, but not a decade. But (in my opinion) his "influence" (and Craig's and the Board's) has stopped us bottoming out years ago when we so clearly should have. And this has ruined this club for roughly a decade already, and this is why I am so angry at him. His recent bullsh*t is just the icing on the cake.

I agree spot on in what you're saying. We do have a reasonably good list, but the approach we've been taking has been killing us; with a few rare exceptions, we just haven't been recruiting any top shelf talent over a decent length of time. We've been good enough to make the Finals for years on end, only to be bundled out continuously in straight sets. A smart Coach and Administration will make a tough, realistic assessment of their list and decide whether or not they have a realistic chance in Finals. Not just to make the Finals....but to make serious inroads when we get there. And if the Coach and Hierarchy believes we can't, then we should head straight to the bottom of the Ladder as quickly as we can. This is what almost every team in the AFL does, except the Crows. We've continuously finished Mid-Table for years and years, as it's been pointed out many times, and this is the worst possible long term scenario for any AFL Club.

You've pointed out the types of players we need in bold. We've desperately needed these since 2011 onwards, yet we haven't been able to get them. And this is destroying us out on Paddock. You've done very well in identifying what the issues are - spot on. But the Crows being able to fix these problems is another matter entirely.

Good post though .

I'm getting really sick of this we need to bottom out bullish!t.
Q: who are the greatest tankers of the last decade?
A: Melbourne, Richmond, Carlton
Q: where are they now?
A: all in the bottom 8 with little sign of improvement.
Q: Why?
A: because tanking breeds a losing culture that even loads of top draft picks and good coaches can't overcome in a hurry.

Get over this tanking rubbish. If you can't even hope that we're a chance to win EVERY week then go and "support" another team.

 

[Messiah]

-KPP’s – Our stocks are currently the worst they have been in our entire history. If you take out Rutten and Podsisadly (who will both be finished at years end) we only have 2 proven talls – Walker and Talia.

Well I for one still remember Bass as FB, Sarge (rubber chest) Perrie and Ken (jam tin) McGregor being our KPPs and still regularly lose whilst having one of the best midfields ever seen in the comp.
We are nowhere near that low yet.
Every year we'd blow our wad on some dud next-white-hope KPF who would just fail miserably.
This went on for years.
At least now we have shown we can pick the good ones even if they end up leaving (Gunston, Tippett).
Back then all our KPF picks were just garbage. There appeared to be no hope at all.

 

[Rear Admiral]

I'm getting really sick of this we need to bottom out bullish!t.
Q: who are the greatest tankers of the last decade?
A: Melbourne, Richmond, Carlton
Q: where are they now?
A: all in the bottom 8 with little sign of improvement.
Q: Why?
A: because tanking breeds a losing culture that even loads of top draft picks and good coaches can't overcome in a hurry.

Get over this tanking rubbish. If you can't even hope that we're a chance to win EVERY week then go and "support" another team.

If my memory serves me correctly, several years ago Hawthorn bottomed out. And where are they now? You need to accumulate good players to have any realistic chance at a Flag. Sure, player development and a strong culture helps, but if you don't have the cattle to begin with - forget it.

I am in no way interested in deliberately losing. But what I am interested in is offloading older players, no matter what their current form, when it's clear we're either -

1. Not going to make the Finals
2. Or only barely scrape into the Finals by our fingernails, only to get bundled out in straight sets.

No, I'm not going to "support" another team, nor am I going to apologise for being a realist. What the Crows absolutely must focus on at the moment is accumulating the best players, not whether we win or lose in coming weeks. Feel free to agree or disagree, but I'm not going to stop supporting the Crows....to win a Flag. Neil Craig had an amazing win-loss record, but what did he really achieve in Finals? F*ck all. The Crows are in a dynamic environment with rules that the AFL stipulates. At the moment, being (just) a "good" side is not good enough, where you need to take a realistic approach if you want to succeed.

 

[Vader]

There's a difference between bottoming out and tanking.

Hawthorn bottomed out around 10-years ago. In 2004 they finished 15th and had 3 picks inside the top-10 (Roughead, Franklin, Lewis). In 2005 they finished 14th and had 4 picks in the top-20 (Ellis, Dowler, Birchall, Bailey). Some of those draft picks were due to trading, but many of them were the result of finishing near the bottom of the ladder.

 

[Rear Admiral]

There's a difference between bottoming out and tanking.

Hawthorn bottomed out around 10-years ago. In 2004 they finished 15th and had 3 picks inside the top-10 (Roughead, Franklin, Lewis). In 2005 they finished 14th and had 4 picks in the top-20 (Ellis, Dowler, Birchall, Bailey). Some of those draft picks were due to trading, but many of them were the result of finishing near the bottom of the ladder.

Thankyou Vader .

And to people that sh!t can this idea....what have Hawthorn managed to achieve since 2004-2005? Not much?

 

[Kickin_Goals]

Please don't call yourself a realist, it in no way helps your argument to qualify it.

Current AFL top 50 via AFL.com.au
Not sure how Gray misses out for the likes of Montagna.

Leigh montagna pick 37
Brent Harvey pick 47
Dayne Beams pick 29
Matt Priddis pick 31
Aaron Sandilands pick 33
Scott Thompson (NM) pick 37
Steven Motlop pick 39
Lenny Hayes Pick 11
Luke McPharlin pick 10
Jack Steven pick 42
Darren Glass pick 11
Cyril Rioli scholarship
Adam Goodes pick 43
Brendon Goddard pick 1 (was available)
Rory Sloane pick 44
Dean Cox pick 28
Chad Wingard pick 6
Andrew Swallow pick 43
Nic Naitanui pick 2 (over rated)
Jimmy Bartel pick 8
Brett Deledio pick 1 (Richmond)
Matthew Pavlich pick 4 (overlooked 1998 so really could of been pick 70 odd)
Corey Enright pick 47
Josh Kennedy (WCE) pick 4
Marc Murphy pick 1
David Mundy pick 19
Harry Taylor pick 17
Jeremy Cameron underage recruit
Chris Judd pick 3
Nick Riewoldt pick 1
Travis Cloke Pick 39
Travis Boak pick 5
Josh Kennedy (sydney) pick 40
Jarrad McVeigh pick 5
Daniel Hannebury pick 30
Kieren Jack Rookie draft
Jarryd Roughhead pick 2
Luke Hodge pick 1
Steve Johnson pick 24
Ryan Griffen pick 3
Sam Mitchell pick 36
Trent Cotchin pick 2
Lance Franklin pick 5
Nat Fyfe pick 20
Dane Swan pick 58
Jobe Watson pick 40
Patrick Dangerfield pick 10
Joel Selwood pick 7
Scott Pendlebury pick 5
Gary Ablett Father son

If you are paying attention not just cherry picking, you should realize it's just a matter of having draft picks not as much where they come from.
Melbourne has noone listed there, I doubt they have anyone close.
Richmond and Carlton have quality players from their picks/trades but do little with them.
GWS has all the picks GC as well, they aren't threatening either, they've had one of the softest draws, the Suns play four bottom-six teams twice and play 13 games in their home state
Arguably the hawks most important player is pick 36

 

[Rear Admiral]

Squarking Bad...
The selection of Truck...HE IS DONE! Sando no bloody more...was like playing one short all night...so much so we had to swap him and Pods in the last.
Thommo shouldn't have played...still having a very light fitness test 30 minutes before the game.
Porps shouldn't have been the sub, either he plays from the start or he doesn't play at all.

Handball happy

Spot on. Nailed it .
Big issue I have with Sando, more than anything else, isn't so much his match day coaching....as his team selection. I'm not at all looking to turf him out (yet), but his apparent Man Love with our Veterans has totally worn a hole in the floor. We could post some "questionable" photos of the Crows Veterans with Sando's wife, and he'd still pick them each week . Thommo is usually racking up a huge possession tally each week, but the fact that he's our most experienced Midfielder and does not get tagged, ever - that speaks volumes. Yes, agreed, he gets the Pill, but can someone actually tell me what he does with it?

Just got home after taking my life in my hands driving back up the freeway...could hardly see the lines and aquaplaning at 80 isn't that much fun either...

Shouldn't laugh, I know, but that is funny.

 

[Rear Admiral]

Any time you have more handballs than kicks, whether it be by design, or induced by the opposition's enormous pressure (I have a feeling last night was more of the latter), I can almost guarantee you the final scoreboard is not in your favour.

Was talking to some people that watched the loss to Hawthorn and they mentioned a few points which suprised the heck out of me.
Apparently our field kicking efficiency was only 2% worse than Hawthorn's - only TWO PERCENT?!? I was stunned. Sure, our field kicking was in the toilet, but what really stuffed us was our handpassing. Not only did we massively over-handball, but our handball skills were horrendous - both overuse and shocking quality. When players shank field kicks (which we excel at), at least they've gained a good 30-40m or so. But it's turning over the ball by hand that's the real killer; you've gained no yardage and given the Pill straight back to the opposition. This is what gives the opposition the most goals, more than anything else. This mainly comes from our blokes panicking under pressure and immediately start playing "hot potato", or whatever you want to call it. Sando needs to start instructing our blokes NOT to cough up quick, panicked handballs under pressure situations, and tell them they're far, far, far better off getting caught holding the ball numerous times - at least this stops a fast turnover. Do not give the ball up, even if you're caught with it! And for God's sake, when you do choose to handball, don't give it to a team mate that's standing flat footed and surrounded by opposition players?!? This is something we just cannot learn. At least not at the moment.

Very good post Slippery Pete .

The other thing is opposition teams always play a loose man in Defence against the Crows, and this always causes problems for us. I just can't work out why Sando doen't man these opponents up, yet he rarely chooses to do that. Sure, it gives us a spare Defender at the other end, but it's mostly not working for us. If Sando doesn't learn to adapt, this could eventually spell the end for him.

 

[Kickin_Goals]

Was talking to some people that watched the loss to Hawthorn and they mentioned a few points which suprised the heck out of me.
Apparently our field kicking efficiency was only 2% worse than Hawthorn's - only TWO PERCENT?!? I was stunned. Sure, our field kicking was in the toilet, but what really stuffed us was our handpassing. Not only did we massively over-handball, but our handball skills were horrendous - both overuse and shocking quality. When players shank field kicks (which we excel at), at least they've gained a good 30-40m or so. But it's turning over the ball by hand that's the real killer; you've gained no yardage and given the Pill straight back to the opposition. This is what gives the opposition the most goals, more than anything else. This mainly comes from our blokes panicking under pressure and immediately start playing "hot potato", or whatever you want to call it. Sando needs to start instructing our blokes NOT to cough up quick, panicked handballs under pressure situations, and tell them they're far, far, far better off getting caught holding the ball numerous times - at least this stops a fast turnover. Do not give the ball up, even if you're caught with it! And for God's sake, when you do choose to handball, don't give it to a team mate that's standing flat footed and surrounded by opposition players?!? This is something we just cannot learn. At least not at the moment.

Very good post Slippery Pete .

The other thing is opposition teams always play a loose man in Defence against the Crows, and this always causes problems for us. I just can't work out why Sando doen't man these opponents up, yet he rarely chooses to do that. Sure, it gives us a spare Defender at the other end, but it's mostly not working for us. If Sando doesn't learn to adapt, this could eventually spell the end for him.

DE% counts successful when kicking to a contest. It's nearly pointless as a basis to make any conclusion from.
Uncontested possessions were in Hawks favor, efficiency is a further bogus stat when you don't look at contested and uncontested possessions. Those kickouts that rebounded right away were effective disposals.
Those uncontested balls are their superior spread and field kicking skills.
30-40m gains are wishful thinking, they are often sideways kicks through the corridor or diagonally to half back/forward directly to opponents in the clear.

But yes panicked handballs shovels out and kicks off the ground as I've commented do not aid a team with a lack of outside mids or structure around the contest a kin to the hawthorn blocking, especially when it's our outside mids getting in and doing it.
It's better to get HTB or risk it as this doesn't actually happen often and the contest stops.

Everything stated here I've already said earlier and it should be bleedingly obvious to coaching staff who watch the game over and over.