Macca19
Moderator
- Moderator
- #1
Well it was a great 2 1/2 quarters we had going there. Great contested footy, lots of pressure in the midfield, some good team work and we were winning despite the fact our defence was a total shambles all day. And then it stopped. Really disappointing 2nd half.
Credit to Freo, they showed us how far we have to go in that second half. They just killed us on the transition time and time again. We looked sluggish after half time. Couldnt go with their cutting plays through the middle and the outer wing. Had no answer for their open forward line where their smalls destroyed us.
Was shades of 2013 where 15-20 minutes of footy just killed the game and gave us no chance. Fair play for Port playing it out to the end and giving ourselves a big chance, but you cant give up 9 goals in a row, 9 goals in about 25 minutes and expect to win.
We did a lot of things well throughout the game. I thought our clearance work around the ground was very good. i thought our skills in tight through the middle were very good. I thought our forward line worked reasonably well for most of the game.
As its been all year though, our skills in the forward 50 were poor. Why we persist on handballing 3-4-5 times in the forward 50 looking for the perfect kick when we could easy snap the first time does my head in. Our defensive structures were miles away from what we've seen all year and you've got to question whether dropping O'Shea was the right move in hindsight. Our midfield still cant win clearances 1 on 1 in the centre square. It kills us often.
A lot to work on for next week. Our opponent still up in the air. We've got a home final. There is a lot to look forward to for this season yet. Statistically we cant win the flag from 5th.
Time to make history.
Player Reviews:
Boak - Such a good contest with Crowley all day. Thought Boaky started really well in the first quarter, was beaten well in the middle two before being the catalyst of our late last quarter charge. It was all inside work with Trav today though. There was no outside run and thats where Crowley got the better of him. His inside work was still excellent.
Broadbent - Thought his positioning was well off today. Liked what he did when he had the ball but as the loose man, he just had to impact the play in their defensive 50 more. Its been my criticism for much of the year that he just gets lost in no mans land too often. Im not sure if its a coaching directive or he just cant just the correct distances too well but he needs to work on it.
Carlile - Thought he was alright on Pav. Pav got a lot of the ball up and outside the 50 and didnt have much of a play inside 50 outside of the first quarter. Can play better than that though.
Cornes - A much better effort on Hill compared to the earlier game this year. Really took him out of the play for most of the day except for a 15 minute period in the second half. Thought he was very good with the ball. Came to play today. Great effort.
Ebert - Was a good battle between Brad & Barlow, then Brad & Neale. Thought defensively he did a reasonable job and thought his skills for the most part were better than we've seen recently. He still has too many kicks smothered though.
Gray - Is that Robbie's third best on ground in a row? Could that have won him the Brownlow? We'll find out in a few weeks time but damn he was sensational again today. Not without fault though. Wasted 3 shots on goal in the first half and he turned it over 1 or 2 other times. But despite that, he was still our best player and again by some margin. Was so so good at the stoppages and just continuously wins the contested ball. So hard to knock off the ball when hes over it and he gave us a big chance of getting up in that last quarter with a couple of goals, including a pressure set shot!
Hartlett - Was very good again and played a great role through the midfield and finding some space on the wings. Again he is trending more inside than out which is great as he is such a good reader of the play at the stoppages. Kicked 2 fine goals. Is without doubt in career best form at the moment and its come at just the right time for Hammer to go bang in the finals.
Hombsch - Had an absolute horror start to the game. Worst 20 minutes of footy he's played all year. Worked his way back into it well and not only shut Taberner out of the play, he also provided some really handy attack coming out of that defensive 50. Read the play really well in the second half. Was the best of our defenders.
Impey - Excellent first half where he kept Ballantyne completely out of the play. Then got spanked after half time. His positioning will come with more experience and unfortunately Ballantyne was switched on in that second half.
Jonas - Good on Walters to begin with but Walters slowly took over control of that match up and was one of Freo's best players on the day. Thought TJ wasn't overly bad with the ball though. Must improve next week.
Lobbe - It was a very interesting battle between him and Sandi and I thought Lobbe did a fine job. Had his fair share of hitouts and was able to find our players aroudn the ground. It was his ruckwork at the centre bounce which let him down.
Monfries - Had a couple of chances in the last to impact the play but couldnt take them. Really had to have that shot from 25 out instead of handballing it.
Moore - He salvaged his game with a very good last 20 minutes but before that he was poor. Really poor. After such a great year last year in terms of winning his own footy and becoming a good option at the stoppages, he's just regressed a long way this year. I'm not sure if he is concerned about his shoulder or whether its still an issue but he is so timid now. I'm not saying he is soft, but he doesnt attack from front on as he was last year. Just always seems to be going in 2nd gear when we need him going at the ball as Boak does. It lets him down a lot and could cost him a spot next week.
Neade - Thrashed by Sutcliffe, then Duffield. Nice start in the first quarter, but outside of that barely got a kick.
Pittard - Defensively ok, one of our better one on one defenders on the day. With the ball he was a mixed bag. Definitely his worst game since the Sydney game, but wasnt a total disaster.
Polec - Foot skills were good, handball skills need a lot of work. Its been a theme all year where he just cant hit the target with his handballs and it leads to turnovers. Thought his run was important a lot of the time today and it was good to see him come and play in a big game.
Schulz - Schulzy! What a gun. Great performance today in a forward line that wasnt delivering the ball to him overly well for much of the game. 6 goals was an excellent return and it was good to see him have a huge game against a big opponent as well. Attacked the ball hard, marked well on the lead and his radar was on. 2nd best on ground behind Gray for mine.
Trengove - Defensively good against Clarke but he was another whos positioning was a little over the place. not by design, I thought Clarke did a good job in keeping him in the pockets and flanks and away from the centre of the ground.
Westhoff - Is so infuriatingly at times that you just want to break something but overall he had a good 4 quarter effort and provided the right option as 2nd tall that we needed. Pushed well up the ground and thought he patrolled the half forward line well. One of our best. Whilst his influence may vary from week to week, he's found a lot of consistency in that he is getting 17-23 touches and around 10 marks a week now.
White - A few really good runs and one incredible piece of play where he won the hard ball which led to our first goal of the 3rd quarter, but again just needs to find more of the ball.
Wines - Strong as an ox, tough as old boots. Any cliche you like, Ollie is it. Puts his body on the line each week and never takes a backward step. Thought he was very good and rediscovered some of his best form after a reasonably indifferent last 5-6 weeks. To cop that hit in the third quarter and play out the game well shows his guts and his class. Looking forward to seeing what he can do next week.
Wingard - He switched into Wingod mode at times throughout the game including a ripping 2nd quarter, but just couldnt find that consistency across 4 quarters. Had a poor first quarter and wasn't really sighted for much of the second half. 15 & 2, I'll take that.
POTY Votes:
10
9
8 - Gray, Schulz
7 - Cornes, Hartlett, Westhoff
6 - Boak, Hombsch, Polec, Wines
5 - Ebert, Lobbe
4 - Carlile, Trengove, Wingard
3 - Pittard
2 - Broadbent, Impey, Jonas, Moore, White
1 - Monfries, Neade
0
Credit to Freo, they showed us how far we have to go in that second half. They just killed us on the transition time and time again. We looked sluggish after half time. Couldnt go with their cutting plays through the middle and the outer wing. Had no answer for their open forward line where their smalls destroyed us.
Was shades of 2013 where 15-20 minutes of footy just killed the game and gave us no chance. Fair play for Port playing it out to the end and giving ourselves a big chance, but you cant give up 9 goals in a row, 9 goals in about 25 minutes and expect to win.
We did a lot of things well throughout the game. I thought our clearance work around the ground was very good. i thought our skills in tight through the middle were very good. I thought our forward line worked reasonably well for most of the game.
As its been all year though, our skills in the forward 50 were poor. Why we persist on handballing 3-4-5 times in the forward 50 looking for the perfect kick when we could easy snap the first time does my head in. Our defensive structures were miles away from what we've seen all year and you've got to question whether dropping O'Shea was the right move in hindsight. Our midfield still cant win clearances 1 on 1 in the centre square. It kills us often.
A lot to work on for next week. Our opponent still up in the air. We've got a home final. There is a lot to look forward to for this season yet. Statistically we cant win the flag from 5th.
Time to make history.
Player Reviews:
Boak - Such a good contest with Crowley all day. Thought Boaky started really well in the first quarter, was beaten well in the middle two before being the catalyst of our late last quarter charge. It was all inside work with Trav today though. There was no outside run and thats where Crowley got the better of him. His inside work was still excellent.
Broadbent - Thought his positioning was well off today. Liked what he did when he had the ball but as the loose man, he just had to impact the play in their defensive 50 more. Its been my criticism for much of the year that he just gets lost in no mans land too often. Im not sure if its a coaching directive or he just cant just the correct distances too well but he needs to work on it.
Carlile - Thought he was alright on Pav. Pav got a lot of the ball up and outside the 50 and didnt have much of a play inside 50 outside of the first quarter. Can play better than that though.
Cornes - A much better effort on Hill compared to the earlier game this year. Really took him out of the play for most of the day except for a 15 minute period in the second half. Thought he was very good with the ball. Came to play today. Great effort.
Ebert - Was a good battle between Brad & Barlow, then Brad & Neale. Thought defensively he did a reasonable job and thought his skills for the most part were better than we've seen recently. He still has too many kicks smothered though.
Gray - Is that Robbie's third best on ground in a row? Could that have won him the Brownlow? We'll find out in a few weeks time but damn he was sensational again today. Not without fault though. Wasted 3 shots on goal in the first half and he turned it over 1 or 2 other times. But despite that, he was still our best player and again by some margin. Was so so good at the stoppages and just continuously wins the contested ball. So hard to knock off the ball when hes over it and he gave us a big chance of getting up in that last quarter with a couple of goals, including a pressure set shot!
Hartlett - Was very good again and played a great role through the midfield and finding some space on the wings. Again he is trending more inside than out which is great as he is such a good reader of the play at the stoppages. Kicked 2 fine goals. Is without doubt in career best form at the moment and its come at just the right time for Hammer to go bang in the finals.
Hombsch - Had an absolute horror start to the game. Worst 20 minutes of footy he's played all year. Worked his way back into it well and not only shut Taberner out of the play, he also provided some really handy attack coming out of that defensive 50. Read the play really well in the second half. Was the best of our defenders.
Impey - Excellent first half where he kept Ballantyne completely out of the play. Then got spanked after half time. His positioning will come with more experience and unfortunately Ballantyne was switched on in that second half.
Jonas - Good on Walters to begin with but Walters slowly took over control of that match up and was one of Freo's best players on the day. Thought TJ wasn't overly bad with the ball though. Must improve next week.
Lobbe - It was a very interesting battle between him and Sandi and I thought Lobbe did a fine job. Had his fair share of hitouts and was able to find our players aroudn the ground. It was his ruckwork at the centre bounce which let him down.
Monfries - Had a couple of chances in the last to impact the play but couldnt take them. Really had to have that shot from 25 out instead of handballing it.
Moore - He salvaged his game with a very good last 20 minutes but before that he was poor. Really poor. After such a great year last year in terms of winning his own footy and becoming a good option at the stoppages, he's just regressed a long way this year. I'm not sure if he is concerned about his shoulder or whether its still an issue but he is so timid now. I'm not saying he is soft, but he doesnt attack from front on as he was last year. Just always seems to be going in 2nd gear when we need him going at the ball as Boak does. It lets him down a lot and could cost him a spot next week.
Neade - Thrashed by Sutcliffe, then Duffield. Nice start in the first quarter, but outside of that barely got a kick.
Pittard - Defensively ok, one of our better one on one defenders on the day. With the ball he was a mixed bag. Definitely his worst game since the Sydney game, but wasnt a total disaster.
Polec - Foot skills were good, handball skills need a lot of work. Its been a theme all year where he just cant hit the target with his handballs and it leads to turnovers. Thought his run was important a lot of the time today and it was good to see him come and play in a big game.
Schulz - Schulzy! What a gun. Great performance today in a forward line that wasnt delivering the ball to him overly well for much of the game. 6 goals was an excellent return and it was good to see him have a huge game against a big opponent as well. Attacked the ball hard, marked well on the lead and his radar was on. 2nd best on ground behind Gray for mine.
Trengove - Defensively good against Clarke but he was another whos positioning was a little over the place. not by design, I thought Clarke did a good job in keeping him in the pockets and flanks and away from the centre of the ground.
Westhoff - Is so infuriatingly at times that you just want to break something but overall he had a good 4 quarter effort and provided the right option as 2nd tall that we needed. Pushed well up the ground and thought he patrolled the half forward line well. One of our best. Whilst his influence may vary from week to week, he's found a lot of consistency in that he is getting 17-23 touches and around 10 marks a week now.
White - A few really good runs and one incredible piece of play where he won the hard ball which led to our first goal of the 3rd quarter, but again just needs to find more of the ball.
Wines - Strong as an ox, tough as old boots. Any cliche you like, Ollie is it. Puts his body on the line each week and never takes a backward step. Thought he was very good and rediscovered some of his best form after a reasonably indifferent last 5-6 weeks. To cop that hit in the third quarter and play out the game well shows his guts and his class. Looking forward to seeing what he can do next week.
Wingard - He switched into Wingod mode at times throughout the game including a ripping 2nd quarter, but just couldnt find that consistency across 4 quarters. Had a poor first quarter and wasn't really sighted for much of the second half. 15 & 2, I'll take that.
POTY Votes:
10
9
8 - Gray, Schulz
7 - Cornes, Hartlett, Westhoff
6 - Boak, Hombsch, Polec, Wines
5 - Ebert, Lobbe
4 - Carlile, Trengove, Wingard
3 - Pittard
2 - Broadbent, Impey, Jonas, Moore, White
1 - Monfries, Neade
0
