Autopsy Round 4, 2023: Positives and Negatives vs Melbourne

[CoastersFlag No.5]

Positives
Yeo got thru a game yay!! Did well as an undersized defender.
Gaff and Kelly and Hunt were exceptional.
Young mids showed a bit.
Thought Clark and West probably did enough to keep Trew out but it was marginal particularly West with his turnovers.
BWilliams deserves credit for holding the ruck down with tired legs and only 29 games experience.
Negatives
Faded in the 2nd half.

 

[Altum Volantes]

NEGATIVES:

Just heard Simmo at the press conference saying we are heading home in between our 2 Adelaide matches because we travel too much.

I believe that the constant plane travel does affect longevity of careers and we should be looking to take opportunities like this to avoid plane travel.

Also don't like the mentality of we travel too much regardless if it's true or not.

It’s a funny one…

Travel isn’t just the flight itself, it’s the time away from home, away from family, away from your own bed, your house etc.
As a club, it’s different facilities, staff members etc etc

I don’t like the ‘we travel too much’ mentality either but I understand that the feeling might be to split it up, rather than have 10 day trip or whatever it is Freo are doing.

 

[Boohemian]

Nah. Sorry. Very little icing and a very small cake. He cost us a lot (like Jackson cost the purple people). He’s gotta do a hell of a lot better.


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The cost of drafting him is a sunk cost. With the benefit of hindsight we’d probably be better off holding onto those picks and kickstarting the rebuild sooner.

Obviously we were far closer to the cliff than the club realised. It’s not fair to continually hang shit on the player for woulda, shoulda, coulda.

He’s currently our best midfielder, and would be leading our B&F. He’s providing shelter for the younger guys. We’d be in a world of trouble without him.

 

[RedWeddingGuest]

He's been BoG 2 out of 3 weeks now.

Also been our best mid since he came across.

Not sure he can realistically do much more, considering the supporting cast around him.

TK BoG? Er… okay. He could actually do a lot more – by substantially improving his disposal. And that has nothing to do with his supporting cast.


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[salo]

Also been our best mid since he came across.

Something to do with Shuey and Yeo struggling to get on and stay on the paddock during that time?

Hard to measure given our overall poor performance in his time but tbh he's been a nonfactor every other week.

 

[THE A5]

Give Kelly a break you could say that about every eagles player today .He is trying to carry a midfield of nobodys.

He’s doing a pretty good job considering he’s more of a third receiver than your main bull. Today his supporters consisted of Gaff and kids/fringe players.

 

[bzparkes]

TK BoG? Er… okay. He could actually do a lot more – by substantially improving his disposal. And that has nothing to do with his supporting cast.


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He'll probably get the 10 coaches' votes + 3 brownlow votes for today, so yes.

 

[chaddy22]

Was talking about his game today and not his career in blue and gold.

He’s been bust but if we are in the same position again, it’s one of those things I’d love to see the club do again. Unlike Freo with Jackson we won a flag and we were going all out.

While TK has underperformed it also hasn’t helped him that most of our midfield has missed alot of games while he’s been here

not only our midfield but also nic nat.He was good at geelong because he had some decent midfielders around him.People need to chill out,If he gets it 36 times and butchers it a few times at least he get's it unlike others.He butchers a shot at goal but he kicks two as a midfielder.In the past people have been critical of him for not being a goal kicking mid.Stop your whinging about him.

 

[THE A5]

not only our midfield but also nic nat.He was good at geelong because he had some decent midfielders around him.People need to chill out,If he gets it 36 times and butchers it a few times at least he get's it unlike others.He butchers a shot at goal but he kicks two as a midfielder.In the past people have been critical of him for not being a goal kicking mid.Stop your whinging about him.

His first quarter was when he mostly used it poorly and yet he was still one of the guys that was getting us moving and being influential in there. Fingers crossed we can see Yeo and even Shuey come into the middle and provide him some help

 

[Footywizard]

Looks like you found one with long. Gonna be a serious player I recon

 

[RedWeddingGuest]

Won't accuse you of being a melt, will accuse you of just being an alias account for a previous poster. Something in the realm of banned poster bored in the offseason.

That aside, addressing the content of your post:

West won't ever get there. I agree with this. I like watching him give a * but he's a good honest trier complete depth option at best. However "giving them (I'm not even bothering to address JJ not being best 22) games is sacrificing opportunities for others who might".

Burgiel. Barnett. Dewar. Trew. Winder. O'Neill. Petch. Bazzo (not remotely match fit). Those were the options. Those were who West (or Clark, or JJ if we must) kept out of the side.

Which of those guys is not immediately in the same boat if we pick one of them over, say, West. Or Clark? Play Trew over West and the exact same comment can be made. Petch is the only one that would move me for a better team balance, and when the 22nd player selected is a talking point out of a loss to the Premiership favourites, I reckon that's just clutching at straws.

And as for 'tell me why I'm wrong'. Well let's look at the veteran comments. "Yes we can't drop all the veterans but they're not good anymore". Yes. Hence why we're bottom four and in a full blown rebuild. You're not wrong, just equally a very good chance to win the award for the most stating the obvious post of all time. Very hard to be wrong when you're not actually taking a side or making a point. "I'm not saying we can do anything about this thing but this thing was bad. Tell me I'm wrong". Indeed.

We added just under 1000 games to the injury list this week and made seven changes. Gaff played his best game of the season against the odds tonight. Barrass kept he flood gates vaguely intact. Going on about the veterans weren't good tonight - some were some weren't. But ultimately....ok? And? What's the actionable element of that? What's the meat on the bones to be discussed there?

We all know it's going to be a long season. Firing up a sock puppet account to whinge and/or troll about it won't speed it up.

I obviously struck a nerve. I’m not a sock puppet and I don’t know who you think I am (or used to be). This is my first and only identity on this forum. I only joined about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I can see it’s a pretty welcoming place!

Sorry for my comments not being insightful. I just do the best I can. Probably just lack the depth of knowledge and understanding more experienced posters acquire. I need a few more posts under my belt, but I’ll get there… The veteran posters (and in that regard, I’m guessing you’re the Big Cahuna) are showing me the ropes, that’s for sure.

As for telling me I’m wrong, you didn’t do too badly – in spite of basically agreeing with me.


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[Godfather32]

HoneyBadger35 =The Big Cahuna

 

[RedWeddingGuest]

He'll probably get the 10 coaches' votes + 3 brownlow votes for today, so yes.

You may well be right. If he has the ball, the opposition doesn’t have it. That’s a good thing. Now put me straight about his disposal, please.


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[KERRPOW]

You know the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder"

Well cole missing all of 2022 made me think he was a much better player than he really is.

 

[WCEswift]

those saying Hough wont make it need to uppercut themselves he is pure silk and class.

Culley and ginbey just need more time playing next to each other

 

[Crimson King]

Luke Edwards has always shown good signs when given games so hopefully, he can stay injury free as he looks like a good player in the making.

On the game itself, quite pleased to see we are finally developing a consistent ground ball game. We won't win the ground battle every week but if the intent is there then that's all we can ask for. Good signs.

 

[THE A5]

Suma’s such a hack. You can guarantee that he was hanging out for a poor SPS game

 

[Godfather32]

Suma’s such a hack. You can guarantee that he was hanging out for a poor SPS game
View attachment 1655216

The long sleeves set the dopey campaigner off didn't they?

 

[Kegs15]

Luke Edwards has always shown good signs when given games so hopefully, he can stay injury free as he looks like a good player in the making.

On the game itself, quite pleased to see we are finally developing a consistent ground ball game. We won't win the ground battle every week but if the intent is there then that's all we can ask for. Good signs.

He kinda makes me think - at say ammos level, you put Petracca in there he'd get 60 disposals and 8 goals and absolutely take the piss. LEdwards would probably get 23 quality disposals and be just one of the generally better players.

But take the step up to AFL level and I reckon LEdwards at his best will still be getting those 23 quality disposals and being one of the generally better players - whilst in a perfect world I often prefer players to dominate the WAFL to push for spots, I sort of see Luke as a player that will take the same step up whatever level he's playing at somehow, so if he's doing even just pretty well in the WAFL am very happy to back him in. Certainly deserves a good extended run at it while he's fit

 

[Keys]

Melbourne v Bulldogs 17.13 (115) to 9.11 (65)

Melbourne v Sydney 21.8 (134) to 12.12 (84)

Melbourne v West Coast 19.12 (126) to 9.9 (63)

Yes, they got beat up by Brisbane in Brisbane but it appears the Gabba is going to be a tough place to win in 2023. They also put 5 goals on them in a blink after the power outage

Melbourne are a very good team looking to make amends for fluffing their premiership defence. They have a powerful midfield, an incredibly well structured defence and a forwardline capable of feeding off midfield dominance

Right now, they’re at the peak of their powers, have a well embedded game plan that the players understand and play to intuitively. They also have had the benefit of a few preseasons under fitness guru Burgess who whilst no longer at the club has set them up very well

Melbourne’s ability to set up and maintain their structures both forward of and behind the ball found us out on numerous occasions

So we got beaten by them but in all honesty weren’t embarrassed. Twelve months ago this would have been a 100+ point loss

We pushed them hard for two and a bit quarters before class took over and we simply couldn’t keep up with a side who is more than capable of putting a side to the sword once they smell blood

Unfortunately for us our early endeavours weren’t matched by our skill execution and decision making. Many promising attacking forays came unstuck as brains lost pace with movement

With some better composure going forward we could easily have been level at half time. Poor kicking at goal also hurt for the duration of the match - should have been 12.6 or better with the opportunities we had

There were a couple of unavoidable issues that brought us unstuck as well -

• We were undersized down back with Hurn and Yeo forced to play as tall defenders. It took Hurns offensive game away as he had to be focused on an opponent nor could he zone off to intercept
• The loss of Cripps and Ryan took away our two most dangerous small forwards and our makeshift forward line lacked their presence
• The lingering impact of a brutal derby robbed us of some much needed energy

I’m not doing negatives. They’re getting a fair run anyway and this season is going to be an exercise in finding positives in a sea of negatives

So I’ll leave the low hanging whinge fruit to others

Positives
• the adherence to playing to the game plan despite the scoreboard. We kept attacking even when our mistakes were getting punished. Every now and then we’d push though and you’d see what the aim is. Look forward to it coming off more regularly
• the players didn’t give up at any stage. Effort was clearly there even if the rewards didn’t come
• I think we ended up losing contested possession but weren’t embarrassed by one of the better clearance teams in the league. It’s a clear improvement on last year

Individually
• Gaff had a genuine crack. He’s on the downside of his career, his lack of pace is a concern and through necessity he’s being played out of position. Laid a team high 9 tackles and won 24 possessions including 10 contested. Cops a lot of criticism, often justified, but he showed leadership today when we were short of it in the midfield
• Hunt continues to prove a very astute off season acquisition. Genuine line breaker, can find the footy and hit the scoreboard
• Yeo got through 3 quarters unscathed and will be better with a bit less rust next week
• Ginbey will have learned a lot despite having less influence this week. Got found out with his positioning at times but importantly wasn’t overawed physically. Simpson admitted post match he looked a bit fatigued towards the end which would partly be a hangover from last week (including his numerous media obligations stemming from his RS nomination)
• Hewett, like Ginbey, will have learned a lot especially what it takes to be a power midfielder
• Kelly never stopped trying and was our most influential midfielder. Would have been up there for BOG honours had he finished off his work a little better. Anyone complaining about his season so far can FRO
• This was Allen’s best game of the year. Battling against two of the better KPDs in the league and haphazard delivery he found 3 goals giving him 10 for the year and 6th place in the Coleman
• First game in a long while for Luke Edwards and he showed some nice glimpses. Not least his composure under pressure. Like our other youngsters will be better for the run
• Fair bit of criticism for Cole but he seemed to have primary responsibility for Pickett who had minimal impact until late in the game
• Like others, Jones was a bit scattergun with his disposal but for now he’s an important driver of our remodelled game plan. Always willing to take the game on and provide the sort of run and carry that has been absent from our game
• Grundy took the honours on the day but Bailey Williams wasn’t disgraced by any means. Has steadily improved after a bit of a mare in round 1 and keeps scrapping in the contest. If he can stick the marks he’s getting his hands to his game impact will improve. There’s something there to work with going forward
• Barrass got better the longer the game went and held up well in the second half. Could have blown out badly if not for his efforts. And Van Rooyen didn’t take that mark by the behind post
• Long is fast becoming my favourite eagle. Such a smart player. You can see what he’s trying to do and gets in good spots. Once he gets more core strength he’ll be unstoppable, his tackles already stick more often than not
• Culley struggled through the first half but worked his way into the game after half time. A good learning experience for him

It’s a pretty fierce blowtorch being applied to our team at the moment and some players ultimately won’t survive it but the ones that do will end up being a contending side a few years from now

Find the positives, be hopeful the players learn from the negatives rather than dwell on them and the year will be more enjoyable despite the losses

We’ll play worse than we did today and lose by less. Melbourne are a good side but as Goodwin said in his press conference we pushed them hard

 

[THE A5]

The long sleeves set the dopey campaigner off didn't they?

Longy and that hairstyle would have set the campaigner off

 

[Godfather32]

Longy and that hairstyle would have set the campaigner off

Didn't think SPS was that bad today tbh

 

[bzparkes]

You may well be right. If he has the ball, the opposition doesn’t have it. That’s a good thing. Now put me straight about his disposal, please.


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Had a pretty off first half, for sure. Usually a lot better than that though.

 

[CoastersFlag No.5]

We’ll play worse than we did today and lose by less. Melbourne are a good side but as Goodwin said in his press conference we pushed them hard

Agreed. 80 tackles for them attested to it being a good contested game. Goodwin himself said we should be congratulated for sticking with it.

 

[THE A5]

Didn't think SPS was that bad today tbh

Had a an odd moment or two and a bit quiter but did a few nice things. His last two games have been great and far from being under the pump