Autopsy Rd 1 Wrap up and discussion thread.

[Chism]

Dissect everything here folks and feel free to discuss what you liked about last night and what you didn't.

Gibbs and Bootsma for me were the real good thing to come out of the game and both were sensational. Juddy was his usual best and just does it every week.

Even though we did not win, the courage we showed to get back into winnable possy from 42pts down and then nearly win it had Yazza kicked that late goal leaves me feeling better than what i usually do after a loss considering we were so bad/flat for large patches in the game.

Like to see Laidler in the team next week with Rowe and bring on the Pies.

 

[le dominateur]

Lost the game at the selection table. Laidler, Bell & White would have added much needed resolve & versatility.

Midfield was torn apart for clearances in the first 3 quarters, Richmond literally strolled out from the centre bounces as we were left flat footed. If MM persists with the no tags policy then Carazzo's future is looking bleak as he looked lost & slow and without purpose. Could not get to the contest. Doubt we can play Robinson, Carazzo & Mclean all in the same team. Would like to see Bell and Buckley given extended runs in the team. If we really bomb out in the first half of the season and MM looks to the future then Simpson's position in the team might also become shaky, 3 kicks at goal for no majors from easy positions is rubbish football, 2 of those kicks were when we still in the contest in the first quarter. Like to know the last time Simmo kicked 2 or 3 goals straight with no easy misses. Gibbs was brilliant and kept us in the game, Judd was rusty early but was starting to tear it up in the 2nd half. McLean & Murphy improved as the game wore on.

Our defence was under extreme pressure all night because of the speed of the football coming down. Henderson was smashed in the first half but became our best defender after Walker in the 2nd half. Touhy continually fumbles the football and makes terrible decisions, cannot see him lasting as a defender. Really hope Temay strings some good games together in the Northern Blues and pushes for a senior spot. Laidler was the obvious selection blunder, his bodywork on forwards is brilliant and kicking to advantage is supreme. He was born to be a defender and is as courageous as they come. Baffled as to why he was left out. White on the interchange as the swingman would have provided vesatility in both defence & attack as Casboult was providing nothing and Henderson was struggling in the 1st half.

Our forward line looked like the 2nd half of last year all over again. Betts was terrible, ran past or under the football 10 times and continually fumbled. Casboult also had shocker, Hampson was a mixed bag, brilliant marking and s**t kicking. Yarran worked into the game but was selfish on 2 or 3 occasions. Delivery to the forwards was diabolical and often there was no target to kick to when we broke over their press.

Hope MM makes some changes next week because if we serve this up the fagPies will smash us by 10 goals plus.

 

[Sin City]

Positives

Hampson marked everything. Had been bagged on here all week for his marking but took some great contested marks.

Gibbs was unstoppable.

Judd looks like he's back.

Walker played a brilliant game, we would've been a lot further behind in the first half if it weren't for him.

Kreuzer and Betts were both very good.

Bootsma was excellent, spoiling is good and does not get beaten by his man. Hands a bit uncertain but his long straight kicking will fit in well with Malthouse's game plan.

Jamison was good.

Negatives

Midfielders were second to the ball, unable to make strong tackles and made rushed hand balls that were chopped off for the first three quarters.

We missed the physical presence of Bell and Laidler. Laidler would've been a handy third man up when Vickery was clunking everything in the first half.

Tuohy and Duigan are not in good enough form to be getting a game.

 

[AB_Blue]

Ok not the end of the world. Although tigers fans last night thought it was a finals win, lol

Non selection of laids and to a lesser extent Rowe really hurt us at either end if the ground.
We were smashed in the centre square in the first half.
Boots although showed some good signs, needs to put on considerable size to make it work.
We really miss scotto, especially with laids out.

Really happy with MK, Gibbs and Hammer. Judd was back to old judddy in the second half. Jamo was rock solid.
The only way is up boys, no need to panic

 

[gardiner stand]

Gibbs- after 5 years we finally have a coach that understands he's a wasted talent in defence
Now we just need to toughen him up
Duigan-very poor decision maker s**t kicking skills
Not I'm by best 22
Lucas- very soft and I doubt he'll last long under malthouse
McLean- snail pace and can't win a one on one when the ball hits the ground
I lost count of the amount times they played off him
when the ball goes the other way his a massive liability
kreuzer-fantastic to see him fit again we've missed more than we think
If he stays fit come the business end watch out
Walker-played well and should never ever kick in again under any circumstances
Has poor disposal and not the best decision maker
murphy-as skipper needs to lift
Simpson-needed more from him tonight
Carrazzo- see Simpson
Hampson- promising with the marking and I've seen him kick better so hell get better and warnock
Won't be playing any time soon
Henderson-played well at times but needs to get the s**t moments out of his game
Casboult- had a bad one but the ball coming in wasn't exactly quality
Joseph-offers zilch at this level
Bootsma-still raw and not ready yet he has no physical presence
Malthouse- wtf was he thinking playing bootsma for laidler
Round 2 bootsma out- laidler in
McLean out-bell
Joseph out-ellard in
Duigan out- white in
Lucas out-curnow in

 

[T2B_]

I know I talk about him a lot... but I said just before the ball was bounced, as they lined up in the centre square, that I could tell Kreuz was gonna have a very good game, because he had that look of pure focus and intensity on his face we've come to know. Great game, 18 possies, 2 goals and a bag of tackles. Oh and of course, 20 odd hitouts Being a ruckman and all.
Easily my favourite player.

 

[Blue Dangerfield]

Laidler omission was obvious. Would have helped stem the flow when we couldn't get near a centre bounce clearance. Not sure who goes out for him as I liked Bootsma. He wasn't a stand out, but he wasn't beaten, and a few more games under his belt and the decision making and quick hands will develop. Duigan might be in trouble, but I though he was just as good as Bootsma. Chopped off a lot of richmond forward thrust, so he might get a few games to work out his disposal.

Those 50M penalties cost us. 1 was absolute soft and the other wasn't much better but would have been a goal any way.

Yarran's run is stifled from half back when we try to use the boundary. Needs to be moved further up the field from now on.

Robbos knock looked horrible, might see Bell in for Robbo next week I think.

Happy with hammer up forward.

Casboult into the ruck was a good move and I felt he made a real impact around the ground in the last qtr and a half

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Gibbs- after 5 years we finally have a coach that understands he's a wasted talent in defence
Now we just need to toughen him up
Duigan-very poor decision maker s**t kicking skills
Not I'm by best 22
Lucas- very soft and I doubt he'll last long under malthouse
McLean- snail pace and can't win a one on one when the ball hits the ground
I lost count of the amount times they played off him
when the ball goes the other way his a massive liability
kreuzer-fantastic to see him fit again we've missed more than we think
If he stays fit come the business end watch out
Walker-played well and should never ever kick in again under any circumstances
Has poor disposal and not the best decision maker
murphy-as skipper needs to lift
Simpson-needed more from him tonight
Carrazzo- see Simpson
Hampson- promising with the marking and I've seen him kick better so hell get better and warnock
Won't be playing any time soon
Henderson-played well at times but needs to get the s**t moments out of his game
Casboult- had a bad one but the ball coming in wasn't exactly quality
Joseph-offers zilch at this level
Bootsma-still raw and not ready yet he has no physical presence
Malthouse- wtf was he thinking playing bootsma for laidler
Round 2 bootsma out- laidler in
McLean out-bell
Joseph out-ellard in
Duigan out- white in
Lucas out-curnow in

I am worried about Murphy, Carrazzo and Simpson.

In hindsight I feel the timing of the captaincy announcement may be having a bit of an effect being close to the start of the season. Cant help but think Carrazzo and Simpson are a tiny bit filthy on missing out on the gig and it may be unsettling Murphy slightly, hope I am wrong and it should not be the case in team sports anyway.

 

[T2B_]

I'm genuinely worried one day Robbo won't get up, but his head seems to contain adamantium or something.

 

[rampar]

3 Small Forwards Is 1 Too Many. More Grunt Needed.

Laidler Was Missed.

We Can't Keep Relying On Juddy.

If No Waite Then Hendo Must Go Forward And Back As Necessary. Last Qtr For Example He Could Have Taken That Grab We Needed.

 

[setantypants]

Round 2 bootsma out- laidler in
McLean out-bell
Joseph out-ellard in
Duigan out- white in
Lucas out-curnow in

I agree. Also want Casboult or Hammer out, and Rowe in. See how he goes.

Hammer can clunk a few, but misses more than he clunks, and makes stupid decisions! How much longer can we wait for him to learn AFL? I really get impressed with some of the things he does, and he's really improved, but don't know if he has a footy brain.

We looked so much better with Kreuz down there. But Kreuz is an amazing midfielder. Rowe, Waite and Kreuz. Who needs 3 ruckmen?

There must be a reason why Tom Bell was unsighted in the preseason? He offers so much more than Lucas and Joseph.

Boots will be great. But I don't think he has the body or the confidence for senior footy yet.

Didn't really notice Duigs' mistakes, thought he spoiled well.

Touhy was shite.

 

[Stamos]

Richmond kicked 5 goals in the third quarter (and none in the last).

Their last 3 goals of the match were as a direct result of Duigan's s**t discipline, 2 needless frees and a 50. In a game we lost by 5 bloody points. He should not be in the team, let alone the leadership group.

 

[FRUMPY]

Gibbs- Very good game, our best. Just needs to stop the quick short kicks/handballs from packs to no-one. can be costly.
Duigan-Was courageous but clumsy, with frees and tackles. Laidler better than he is.
Lucas- looked lost a bit. surprised to see he got 19 touches, mainly handballs. Id give him another few weeks to see what he has. Did look good in the NAB cup. Just needs to go a bit harder.
McLean- geez he looked slow. only came into the game when richmond were out on their feet. Probably not suited to early rounds when teams are fresh with his pace.
kreuzer- very good game. Belwo the knees was fantastic and some good grabs. Hope he keeps it up.
Walker- not sure i like him back in the backline. but did play the role well and gave good disposal at times was shoddy but didnt cost us.
murphy- one of his poorer games. fumbly and too many errors. that missed tackle was putrid. really disappointed.still love the guy but poor game.
Simpson- got a bit of it but did nothing with it.
Carrazzo- didnt notice him much. his job on cotchin didnt work either.
Hampson- great leading and marking. kicking was off but not as bad as peope said. much improved.
Henderson- first half was too loose, 2nd half was very good. his kick outs were spot on as well to guys 60 metres out.
Casboult- had a poor game but delivery wasnt great. looked ok in the ruck. give him another crack nextweek.
Joseph- didnt do anything wrong. was pretty quiet.
Bootsma- was decent defensivly. was absolutly spent by the end. wasnt fussed by the mistake at the end (which turned out to be a high tackle). better than i thought he'd be.
Armfield - one of our best early, bit quieter in the 2nd half.
Jamo - Very solid. stupid mistake when he misread a goal that he could have touched.
Yaz - Quiet early, pretty sure he was deensive fwd on deledio and did an ok job in 1st half. came alive after 1/2 time but we know he missed some sitters. Not sure what his role will be this year.
Garlett - Quiet but came alive late. looks as quick as ever.
Betts - Similar to garlett but last qtr was massive. looked so damaging on ball.
Judd - Massive game. fumbly early but 2nd half was huge. really impressed with his chasing (which ive been critical in past). Hitting the scoreboard as well.
Robbo - quiet and didnt do much before he went off. He'll be alright for next week.
Touhy - quiet game. not sure how his man went. another who didnt really notice.

Overall the 2nd half made up for a shocking 1st half. Thought we looked really good wehn we ran the ball and moved it quickly. looked really bad when we were slow moving it. Defensivly our kick in zone was really bad. too many times they went straight up the middle to men on their own.

For all the hype over richmonds win they beat us by 5 points when we played some terrible football. expect better from us but better hurry as next 4 games are tough.

Biggest cncern was the midfield. got smashed around the clearances and they were on their own all night. We were very reactive rather than proactive.

 

[Sin City]

Laidler's gotta come in for one of Tuohy or Duigan.

 

[blues4flag]

I am worried about Murphy, Carrazzo and Simpson.

In hindsight I feel the timing of the captaincy announcement may be having a bit of an effect being close to the start of the season. Cant help but think Carrazzo and Simpson are a tiny bit filthy on missing out on the gig and it may be unsettling Murphy slightly, hope I am wrong and it should not be the case in team sports anyway.

Drawing a very long bow there, JK. Murph did seem to spend a lot of time ahead of the footy however.

Without wanting to be too negative, Duigan should not be in the team. 4 FAs, no composure and average at best foot skills. I'm baffled that he was selected ahead of Laidler who's very solid with the footy and never seems to lose a one on one. Am I missing something?

 

[BallerO]

Where was Watson? Was expecting him to play over Bootsma.

 

[gardiner stand]

Defending kick ins was atrocious and kicking in was just as bad in
a game where so many behinds were kicked.
How we can be so poor in the defending of kick ins after 6 months
of preseason is alarming.
The around the boundary message must be confusing because they
don't seem to know when to go there or when to attack through the middle.
It's not surprising we played better when we took the game on in the 2nd half and abandoned the
boundary.i think his game plan is horses for courses because it was totally
unnecessary early.
The come back shouldn't mask the glaring problem we have in our
game plan and if its not fixed soon the season will be gone.
The throw the game plan out the window to get back in games won't
work against the quality sides,Richmond are s**t and the 2nd half effort
shouldn't fool us.
I'm very worried, Mick is set in his ways and I think he needs to
make major adjustments

 

[Hus83]

Few random observations in no particular order;

I'm not quite sure why this never really gets discussed but our ruck-work is never to advantage.
Kreuzer and Hammer win the contest alot of the time but they are all soft tap downs that any good midfield just eat up and thank them for their time. I'd rather they just superman punch the s**t out of it in one direction, than these little tap-downs to nobody in particular.
The few times that Casboult go into the ruck, it changes the dynamics completely and look better for it. This shouldn't be the case.

Lucas is a spud. He can find the ball alot because opposition teams are happy for him to get it. Playing an opponent on him would be a waste of legs.
Joseph needs to learn what to do when he isn't denying an opponent. When he actually wins the ball himself and heaven forbid he links up with Lucas, you're going to have a bad time.

REALLY missing Scotland. It's sad to know that he is towards the end of his career. A bit like a Mike Hussey. He isn't flashy, he isn't the superstar but he is just a rock that holds everything together in pressure situations.

I think our defensive work is the best its been for a while. Despite the copious amounts of scoring shots from Richmond, it was all due to clearance domination's. Not much the back 6 can do about that.

Walker looked like he could play two games straight. Really liked his role tonight.

 

[OldBlueFan]

Without wanting to be too negative, Duigan should not be in the team. 4 FAs, no composure and average at best foot skills. I'm baffled that he was selected ahead of Laidler who's very solid with the footy and never seems to lose a one on one. Am I missing something?

I wonder to what extent it has something to do with MM's comment about "coaches/leaders on the field" in the presser? They might have painted themselves into a corner putting Duig's in the leadership group if they're demanding that the group becomes the "coaches voice" on the battlefield when the actual coaches can't be there.

I hope not, but it's hard to explain Laidler's absence and Duigan's presence when they didn't seem to have vastly different pre-seasons form-wise.

As for the rest of the game, it seemed quite stark for me that when we started to lose/halve the ruck contests (when Casboult went into the ruck) was when we started to win the clearances. Why are our mids not able to rove to our own rucks? Are the rucks not putting it in the right place? Are the mids not where the rucks are expecting them to be?

I don't think wholesale changes are necessary given the performance of the team in the second half. Once they got going, Richmond were clearly panicking and unable to contain them. Like someone else said, it's been a while since I left a game after a loss feeling as good as I did last night. But for Yarran's lack of vision/awareness, Brock would have been a hero again and we would have pinched a game we had no right to.

It might be too early to judge this, but the blokes are showing the signs of a Malthouse coached team ... never say die. At the end of the day, if we can lock that attitude into the team, then the talent at MM's disposal should see us in a reasonable position come round 22.

 

[dumb]

would rather hampson took the shot and missed than potentially turn it over. someone tell him to go back and take it. you won't get better kicking for goal if you palm it off - or if your teammates keep asking for it when you're within kicking distance.

 

[Jeremias]

Lucas is a spud. He can find the ball alot because opposition teams are happy for him to get it. Playing an opponent on him would be a waste of legs.
Joseph needs to learn what to do when he isn't denying an opponent. When he actually wins the ball himself and heaven forbid he links up with Lucas, you're going to have a bad time.

I would have hoped that the use of 'spud' to describe a player left us a long time ago. Let's not stoop to that level, please.

Lucas is a kid still trying to find his feet. Mistakes along the way are to be expected.

 

[AndyLucimitis]

I'm starting to call Bootsma 'The Eye Brow Raiser'.

Rasied Eye Brows when we drafted him and again last night when selected over Laidler.

We lost the match and Bootsma made some errors but I saw enough last night to think this kid could make a difference for us. Cliche I know, but he is that Fletcher type defender we are missing - rangy, can play big, play small and a booming kick.

As suggested earlier, he lacks that pyhsical presence but another year on the weights and 5 Kgs (plus some Peptides ) and he will come in to his own.

Has one vital ingredient and that's guts !! Mick will like this and git ives him a lot to work with and I reckon will back him in.

We lost the game but think its great to see some development there in Bootsma. !!!

 

[OldBlueFan]

Few random observations in no particular order;

I'm not quite sure why this never really gets discussed but our ruck-work is never to advantage.
Kreuzer and Hammer win the contest alot of the time but they are all soft tap downs that any good midfield just eat up and thank them for their time. I'd rather they just superman punch the s**t out of it in one direction, than these little tap-downs to nobody in particular.
The few times that Casboult go into the ruck, it changes the dynamics completely and look better for it. This shouldn't be the case.

As for the rest of the game, it seemed quite stark for me that when we started to lose/halve the ruck contests (when Casboult went into the ruck) was when we started to win the clearances. Why are our mids not able to rove to our own rucks? Are the rucks not putting it in the right place? Are the mids not where the rucks are expecting them to be?

Hahaha ... jinx!

I can't believe we were typing that at almost exactly the same time

 

[Tanks_Alot]

Selection baffled me.

Bootsma needs to bulk up more before getting selected ahead of guys like Laidler. But then again, Duigan shouldn't have been selected ahead of him either.

Joseph selected ahead of Bell? Another mistake right there. Joseph is slow with decision making and it costs us almost every time.

LOL at Lucas trying to man up at 3 qtr time. You are as soft as they come pal and you won't be lasting much longer like that. Furthermore, his disposal skills are crap anyway.

Touhy is no good. Got a good kick on him and tries hard but that's about it. Really lacks footy smarts.

Murphy really let himself and his team down with that piss weak tackle attempt, at such an important time and as captain he HAD to make that tackle.

Henderson also very disappointing game from him.

Gibbs, Kruze, Hammer, Walker, Judd (second half), Garlett (in the later stages) and Jamo were the positives for me.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

The game was lost when we saw Joseph being included as a substitute.

Regardless of what anybody says, the sub needs to be an IMPACT player that provides game breaking speed, X Factor or versatility.

Joseph provides NONE of the above and I am seriously baffled as to why he was included and what role he was supposed to play? Perhaps Mick and the staff were anticipating a wetter game? but he should have been pulled and replaced with somebody like Bell who at least adds a physical presence around the contest.

Also, I'm loathe to point the finger at umpires - but that third quarter was disgraceful and we were robbed of any momentum we had with ridiculous calls.