Review Positives and Negatives - Gold Coast, Rd 18 2015

[Avalor]

Was it humid? Boys looked drained as. Long flight doesn't help.

In the training update on the club site, the person they interview (Sheppard IIRC?) was sweating profusely. Quite a lot of sweat for a light training session - humidity must have been a factor.

I think there is a bit in this. Living in constant high humidity as i do, it really rakes it out of you, and makes you lazy. That with the travel, and the extra chasing we had to do took its toll. Damn some of those suns are fleet of foot. They used this speed to break out of the press and to dismantle the web too, to a certain extent. I still think we stood up well against their forward monsters ... around 200cms each. What is Shep, 186?

 

[Prem87]

What we were all thinking at the end of the game..

https://www.facebook.com/hotfmwa/videos/vb.179117118790498/931345760234293/?type=2&theater

 

[midorigreenwood]

Nicholls deserves a lot of credit for nullifying Nicnat's influence for a lot of the game. Not letting him get clean hands to it played a huge part in shutting down our mid spread in general.

Was the second time this year too.

 

[lmach]

Was it humid? Boys looked drained as. Long flight doesn't help.

In the training update on the club site, the person they interview (Sheppard IIRC?) was sweating profusely. Quite a lot of sweat for a light training session - humidity must have been a factor.

Nope, it was sort of hot during the day but cold and breezy all night.

 

[midorigreenwood]

I think there is a bit in this. Living in constant high humidity as i do, it really rakes it out of you, and makes you lazy.

Yeah, I pity anyone who has to play sports in such conditions.

As someone who grew up in South East Asia and then moved to Perth... the temperate weather makes you soft.

Walking out of the airport in say Singapore is like getting punched in the gut now.

 

[Schrodinger]

+ Sheed - He has a touch of the mongrel about him which I like - I can imagine him dragging us across the line more than once in the next 10 years (contrasts nicely with a Masten type who has great endurance and disposal but lacks the ability to impose himself on the game)

+ Sinclair - Gets better with each game (albeit coming off a low base), which is all you can ask for. Knows how to take a contested grab and his endurance reminds me of Coxy just before he started to become a star (Side comment - who else remembers when Coxy was shite right at the start?)

+ Wellingham - Was one of the few I could say looked solid (but far from spectacular)

+ Schofield - Apart from that one brain fade, one of the few who looked to be trying his guts out

+ We got 2 consolation points despite deserving to lose

- Basically everything, however I will stick to the major ones -

- Hill was so far away from being AFL standard tonight it wasn't funny. When he plays like this (ie - the last month or so) he just kinda buzzes around the place without ever getting a kick or actually impacting - reminds me of when you were a kid and someone's younger brother would join in kick to kick and would never get a kick. Actually scratch that. Hill didn't demonstrate the same degree of willingness/desire as someone's younger brother. Drop. Now.

- Selwood (broken record time) - If you come on fresh as the sub, you should be able to burn everyone off with pace and energy. His deficiencies as a disposer of the ball aren't wall-papered over by freshness unfortunately. Delist/trade.

- JK - Was shut out of the game with far too much ease

- Darling - Last few weeks has looked super dangerous, like he is about to explode and turn a game, yet never quite fires.

- Priddis - I am an unashamed Priddis fan (particularly this year). However he reverted back to bombing it rather than getting a quick HB away

- Rosa - I think I worked out the problem - when his kicks return back to earth, they have accumulated ice from the upper atmosphere, turning into a kind of leather comet, making it difficult for team mates to mark the ball.

In addition, here are my thoughts in Schrodinger Dot Point (tm) -

• Was I the only one who noticed that something didn't quite look right within a few minutes of the game? Players seemed to be in second gear
• I can't put my finger on why exactly however that was the single most unpleasant Eagles game to watch for at least the last 12 months.
• I am still a bit in shock that we essentially lost to not only the team 2nd last on the ladder, but we also basically lost to their reserves team.
• The web was non-existent. Players seemed to just be running around without the usual strict game plan.
• We were second to the ball in just about every contest. You know that great feeling all year when the opposition throws it on the boot to clear the F50 and without fail there will be an Eagle sitting in the hole to mark and rebound? Last night it was a Suns player every time.
• To bring some balance/nuance to the Hutchings hate - whilst that shot on goal was utterly awful and he was far from being a super star, I thought his general vibe/look was strangely classy, like he has the ability to some day step up. However he is surplus to requirements so should be used as trade bait. I think he could be starting 22 in quite a few sides. Just not ours.
• Bennell - WANT
• Realised what a hole Gov leaves when not there
• Barrass is raw and not quite there yet however I am convinced he will be a star. He has all the bits there just needs to hit the gym over the summer and get a game in him here and there when someone goes down.

Finally, quick question - Was last night purely just an off night or did Rocket do something to negate the web? If so, what was it? I am really, really hoping it was just an off night. If he was able to completely nullify our game plan with the Suns reserve side, it wouldn't bode well.

 

[Suma Magic]

Kennedy's effort in chasing and tackling was terrible in the first half. Woeful. Was really frustrating.

 

[Schrodinger]

People saying "Don't cry don't cry put it in perspective, it's not a loss, it's not the end of the world" need to realize it was 2nd vs 17th.

We should have mopped the floor with them. They are the 17th best side in the competition missing arguably their best 4 midfielders.

I expect us to drop a game occasionally sure, it happens. But not THAT game.

Up until the Richmond game, we hadn't really played "bad" all season (apart from the derby). And now our last 3 games have been deadset average. Our form is terrible right now.

^ this

I am finding it difficult not to be pessimistic after that game. Unless I find out that the performance is linked directly to the entire team hitting a Gold Coast underage rave the night before, with the boys doing big fat lines of Special K off of Harley's kitchen table until just pre-game, I won't consider myself placated. In fact, watching that game, it felt at times like I was in a K-hole (or Robitussin 7th plateau, for all you disassociative afficionados out there), wondering what alternative reality I had inadvertently stepped into.

The North game I was mainly angry at the Tasmanian weather. I thought we played pretty good for 3 quarters and were actually the better team on the day then. Last night I felt that a draw flattered us.

 

[Biggie]

Had the ball come back down yet?

 

[WCEswift]

Had the ball come back down yet?

Is that it there? ... Nope meteor

 

[Dark Sharks]

Had the ball come back down yet?

Rosa kicked it to me inside 50 4 hours ago... still in orbit

 

[Schrodinger]

Rosa kicked it to me inside 50 4 hours ago... still in orbit

Oh wow...suddenly two bits of (what I thought was) unconnected information has just dawned on me as being related -

1. Some of you may remember Qantas making that announcement that they would be altering their flight path during Eagles home games. I could never work out why exactly they would do this. I thought it was due to aircraft noise or something.

2. Remember in July last year when Rosa was invited to that AFL international extension/promotion clinic near Donetsk? I always thought that was a strange place to hold a kids' footy clinic and stranger for the AFL to entertain sudden requests from Putin.

Oh wow...this is dynamite stuff. I have now locked all the doors and closed all the blinds. Genuinely freaking out here that NSA/ASIO will read this and link it back to me. If you are the guy from Dominos, flash your lights three times (four times if you don't have change for a $50) and put the stuffed crust Hawaiian (and free 1.25l Pepsi) inside the meter box.

<edit> - Have just realised that this was tin foil hat stuff, that there was no connection between these events and that the NSA/ASIO don't routinely check Big Footy. TRUMP 2016!

 

[Marlin01]

lol

 

[Obeanie1]

Don't cry, don't cry. Put it in perspective, it's not a loss, it's not the end of the world. But hey, I have been accused of being a fanboi.

Also been accused of the fanboi thing. Focusing on the positives instead of the negatives. Its a terrible, terrible trait to have according to some.

We all know who the grumps are on here. Those who seem to froth up and thrive when the team doesn't do well or doesn'tdevelop fast enough. Now all they have is when our 13 game winning streak comes to an end..........with a draw.

That and the bagging out of Scott Selwood now that they have lost the Priddis debate.

 

[southcoast]

Lots of signs we weren't 'on' all night but a couple of real clangers in the last coupla minutes.

1. Cripps keeping ball in play when boundary line was his friend.
2. Gaff's last kick to Naitanui in pack well inside the field of play with 60secs left. Natanui and Gaff's kick should have been close to boundary line so the ball could have been killed.

 

[Apex Predators]

Also been accused of the fanboi thing. Focusing on the positives instead of the negatives. Its a terrible, terrible trait to have according to some.

We all know who the grumps are on here. Those who seem to froth up and thrive when the team doesn't do well or doesn'tdevelop fast enough. Now all they have is when our 13 game winning streak comes to an end..........with a draw.

That and the bagging out of Scott Selwood now that they have lost the Priddis debate.

Declaring a victor in the priddis debate. Surely you have gone a bit early, I always feel we are one poor Priddis game away from another hundred pages of, "but yeah, he doesn't damage you and he can't kick".

 

[WCEswift]

This was my reaction when lynch marked and goaled

 

[boondy]

pos- Sheed

neg- Mark LeCras overdoing the grubber shots. (again)

Mark Lecras not letting ball run on even a point woulda won

Schoeys shocker to gift a free goal , or was it a stupid half arse lead of selwood

 

[EagleEgo]

Yeah, I pity anyone who has to play sports in such conditions.

As someone who grew up in South East Asia and then moved to Perth... the temperate weather makes you soft.

Walking out of the airport in say Singapore is like getting punched in the gut now.

It was about 15 degree C 70% humidity; not as hot and humid as the what we think?

 

[Obeanie1]

Declaring a victor in the priddis debate. Surely you have gone a bit early, I always feel we are one poor Priddis game away from another hundred pages of, "but yeah, he doesn't damage you and he can't kick".

With Priddis I think of that Mick Malthouse quote:

"The ox is slow but the ground is willing!"

Does a lot of grunt work in close if wasn't done we would suffer as a team.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Eagles players fumbled WAY more than Suns players throughout the entire game. I think conditions to assist the Suns greatly. Their kicking skills were very good though. Hoping the players had a heavy training load last week to get them ready for the next 5 games.

 

[boondy]

Earth is patient.

With Priddis I think of that Mick Malthouse quote:

"The ox is slow but the ground is willing!"

Does a lot of grunt work in close if wasn't done we would suffer as a team.

 

[wraglesweb]

Eagles players fumbled WAY more than Suns players throughout the entire game. I think conditions to assist the Suns greatly. Their kicking skills were very good though. Hoping the players had a heavy training load last week to get them ready for the next 5 games.

Yeah heavy training load before a six day break and the longest travel in AFL wishfull thinking but highly doubt it !

 

[ep2018]

We blew the North game due to unGodly weather also. Maybe we just too used to Perth conditions?

 

[kaiserchief13]

Yeah heavy training load before a six day break and the longest travel in AFL wishfull thinking but highly doubt it !

When would you train the players harder? Before Hawthorn, Fremantle, Bulldogs, Adelaide or Gold Coast games? Fact is the next month's games are the toughest in the AFL