Autopsy Rd 11 Blues create a contest but fade in the last

[plentyblckie]

Season done really have to start playing for next year. Cripps is far off, even his best weapon of hitting a handpass in any situation has left him this season. Time to rest him for a game or two straight to get him close to right, or off to operate if needed.

Injuries mounting, players labouring and with no chance of finals why will they bother.

Prepare some farewells for Betts, Simpson and maybe Murphy (even though apparently he has a contract).

Play kids, figure out which ones we'll keep/trade and I hope our recruiting team is working hard (sack Barker and use that cash for recruitment top up).

As long as Richmond, Hawks, Pies and * don't win it this year I don't care.

And as long as we beat Adelaide for the remainder of the year and a win against Pies would be nice. I'll be able to write this year off as a pass.

Season is not done. We are capable of beating all remaining 7 teams. Harry Gov cunners will be back
March and Dow got through..well Dow was best on.
Still alot 2 play for.

 

[Gethelred]

And our forward line falls even further apart. Pitto is a brave throwback ruck. Can't do much other than ruck. For the rest of the season, or close to it, play TDK as ruck and let him learn Tim English style. At least we will know where the boy sits in the plans at best, he wins ruck contests, clunks marks and grows his tank.

A bit off the tangent you commented on, I know. Maybe shows a bit about Teague's slow response time too.

I don't agree.

Pitto plays relatively well as part of transition, and he plays very well as a kick behind. Think of him as a poor man's McEvoy; he's going to help you structurally, and if given enough time he's going to plonk himself directly in the hole behind the ball. He's also - when not actively against a bloke who makes an awful lot of rather competent people look very, very silly - quite a decent ruck, not by hitout amount but by hitouts to advantage, which is a huge difference for us.

Can we do better? Probably. I'd be having TDK in, and rotating him, Cas and Pitto around to **** with our opponents structurally, but make no mistake Pitto is perfectly fine as an AFL player. He's only exploitable because our midfield is still undermanned and somewhat undersized.

 

[plentyblckie]

The game was lost in a couple of crucial coaching errors

Ed starting on Shuey rather than Kelly, at least he made that change and played a part to swing the game our way. Why that was relaxed after half time is perplexing

Stated before the game, give TDK back half of each qtr as a minimum. When Pitto went down, TDK held his own and was another reason for us kicking away in the 2nd. 3rd qtr, not one single ruck involvement for TDK

Tempo footy in the first half, made us more balanced, allowed us to set defensively and win the territory battle, as well as the scoreboard. Non existent in the 2nd half

Martin going down hurt

No imagination in adding speed, run and carry through the backline, no imagination in releasing Doc from being nuffified. You just can't sit on the fence as a coach

TdK.could b anything. Athletic...good below his kness..has a great verticke leap. Just needs continuity and another preseaon or two.
Could be anything

 

[plentyblckie]

Team selection next week will be interesting.
Looking like Martin out for a few. Maybe Honey as a direct replacement for the HFF role?
You’d hope H and maybe Gov to come back, but who goes out?
Cottrell would be unlucky to be dropped immediately, he did some nice things and showed some real toe.
Fish will definitely stay in.
Maybe Betts gets a rest?

Pitto..didnt he break his hand

 

[Arr0w]

I don't agree.

Pitto plays relatively well as part of transition, and he plays very well as a kick behind. Think of him as a poor man's McEvoy; he's going to help you structurally, and if given enough time he's going to plonk himself directly in the hole behind the ball. He's also - when not actively against a bloke who makes an awful lot of rather competent people look very, very silly - quite a decent ruck, not by hitout amount but by hitouts to advantage, which is a huge difference for us.

Can we do better? Probably. I'd be having TDK in, and rotating him, Cas and Pitto around to fu** with our opponents structurally, but make no mistake Pitto is perfectly fine as an AFL player. He's only exploitable because our midfield is still undermanned and somewhat undersized.

Biggest concern with Pitto, it's clear that he struggles against leaping ruckmen

It's an easy fix, but the MC needs to embrace reality. Play to your strengths, minimize your weaknesses

 

[HBF]

I used to worry about his kicking, but he's one of few who seems to be able to open the game through the corridor with a tight kick.

Jones on the other hand... Does an amazing defensive job, but as soon as he looks inside for a kick I have to admit my hoop loosens.

Same.
Even the passage of play where he elected to mark rather than spoil, ball falls to the back and they get a shot on goal. I love the way he plays, but sometimes he has to play the percentages

 

[skadoosh]

Our intensity and effort was there today...just gassed with Martin and Pitto out for extended periods. WCE had the superior experience, more well-drilled outfit.
Effort and intensity:
Tackles - Us 77, Them 56
Tackles inside 50 Us 18, Then 10

We lacked class (apart from Fisher) once the ball hit the deck in the forward 50. We lacked talls with no Harry, no Charlie, No McGovern and no JSOS.
Stats:
Inside 50s - Us 44, Them 35
Efficiency inside 50 - Us 34%, Them 51%

Their midfield destroyed us on the counter, poor defensive running + being gassed. This led their inside 50 entries being true 1 on 1s, with their forwards able to lead into space vs our clogged up 50.

They moved the ball with better efficiency over the ground and through the middle. Top 5 metres gained on the ground were all Eagles:
Kelly 544m
Sheed 524m
Duggan 468m
Nelson 344m
Hurn 322m
Our top? Kennedy - a supposed inside mid, not not known for his tank or running ability at 307m

Summary - loved the intensity and effort we played with. It was always going to be tough going in without our first choice forwards (how would WCE go without Kennedy and Darling?). Losing Martin and Pitto made it even tougher. Impressed with the tackling - definitely went up a notch this week.
WCE just more experienced and well-drilled with their ball movement and rebound. Their goals came easy - multiple from their big guys marking on the lead with a paddock in front. Our goals - 4 opportunistic from Fisher (not down-playing his ability to finish), then Gibbons, Setters and Walsh. Just a tough day at the office without the right personnel.

 

[norway blue]

Absolutely agree. He’s got growth. But that will only happen with exposure. He worries Nic Nat today with his leap.

Good post . Keep him in .


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[skadoosh]

I wonder if Cottrell could play HB. Gives us some much needed speed out of defence. And free's up SPS to move up the ground

I'd give this a shot. Great pace to burn, ferocious tackler, not scared to throw his body around. Definitely didn't shy away from contact or look nervous in his first game. Also important - doesn't have the body-type where he can easily be bodied off the ball.

 

[norway blue]

Think it's time to get Walsh into the midfield. Look too stagnant with our current setup. Fisher onto the wing.



I'd drop him unfortunately. Not a marking presence and looks very unsure with ball in hand.

If Gov and McKay are back, we'd be better dropping Pitto and rotating Casboult and TDK through the ruck.


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Wouldn’t you keep fish a forward goal sneak pressure player.?


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[Benaly28]

So Fish is now a small forward as per Teague.


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[KnaveyBlue]

How about trading Cripps while he has some value to the Dockers

They'll come calling for Fish, not Cripps.

 

[The Grover]

I wonder if Cottrell could play HB. Gives us some much needed speed out of defence. And free's up SPS to move up the ground

Didn’t Cottrell play HB today?

 

[Gw2_James]

haha alright mate...fair enough, it wasn’t a typo, you just have little understanding of the game...been accepted both HTB (at least one) were likely umpire error...most of those “15-20 m kicks” turned a contest situation into a clear possession for us, And took excellent vision, rather than others who bombed down the line to an outnumber contest...you can pick on a few today, but most played good games...we played 10 minutes of poor footy where our engine room couldn’t get their hands on the ball and the defence had little chance on those entries...but if you want to scapegoat players, go right ahead...

Hey, ive been complaining and blaming umpires all season (look at the umpires thread if you dont believe me) but you cant blame the umpires for sps performance. Yes the one in the first where he had little chance to dispose of the ball was a shocking call, but the other times he got caught weren't.

And really you are happy with those 15-20m kicks? Most of the time he takes too long to kick forward, he stalls, opposition man up, so he does a little 15-20m kick. Rarely does it result in a clear contest for us. Yes hes clean and silky, he is just not impactful on the game, and quite frankly, what he has bought to the table this season has been pretty poor for his standards. I'd honestly rather dow in for sps.

 

[myblueroan]

They'll come calling for Fish, not Cripps.

If they went to GWS, you could have Fish and Cripps with Sauce.

 

[KnaveyBlue]

I think the AFL has a huge problem with the rules and their interpretations. If the umpires can’t be clear on their decisions, what hope do supporters have?

I do kinda feel for them. Imagine their reaction when they got the memo from the AFL about HTB purely because Clarko had a whinge.

Then they have to take the heat all year for inconsistent interpretation. (which is what we saw tonight)

 

[norway blue]

I wonder if Cottrell could play HB. Gives us some much needed speed out of defence. And free's up SPS to move up the ground

Agree .


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[Blues90]

Really thought this year would bring results. Wouldn't begrudge Cripps to head to WA, bloke should be playing finals.

The rest of the team is performing mostly atm... he hasn't been

 

[jj1978]

I’d love to extend a consulting role with Ross Lyon for a year as mentor to Teague and to work on our defensive strategies.

Pleased Teague mentioned some if the umpiring decisions concerned the players.

 

[fnm_just a man]

I rate Eagles #1 in the comp, so didn't go into the game expecting a miracle. Fairly happy for the most part. Some frustrating moments/decisions - by players, umpires and coach. What is most frustrating is that if we had taken the same approach last week, we would have had a good chance of walking away with the chocolates, and finals could still be on the cards. After last week, I made the commitment that I would run with the 'no expectations' approach for the rest of the season, rather than have hopes dashed. I was filthy last week and knew I needed to temper expectations. The performances of TDK and Fish this week make some of the previous weeks' selections all the more astounding/infuriating. The run of goals that we concede on a regular basis does seem to be an issue that needs rectifying.

Overall, we're still tracking well, in my view. There is a lot of talent out there in navy blue (and a helluva lot on the sidelines).

All I want to see is that approach every week - high pressure, hard attack on the ball, being creative and daring. Wins will take care of themselves. We look so much better when we try and take the ball through the corridor. I hope we bring Cuningham back into the midfield/wing/half-forward and leave Fish up forward for a couple of weeks. Cunners needs his chance. Like many, I would love to give SPS a chance through the middle or up forward as well. Finals are pretty well out of the question, so it makes sense to get a few games into the younger guys and also experiment with positions.

Edit: scratch that - let's aim for finals 2020 and field the best team we can (probably still involves younger guys and altering positions!)! .. Will still definitely be adhering to the 'no expectations' approach, but it would be bad for culture to concede a finals berth when it is still on the cards. We're capable of winning all of our last 7 (only need 6), despite how unlikely it may be.

 

[plentyblckie]

What time does Hayden Kennedy phone Teaguey

 

[KohPhi]

Only 1 of our 5 key forwards playing..
A 4 game ruckman up against a beast..
The least talented midfield in the AFL up against one of the best..
Playing on their home turf..

I think we did ok to be honest.

Not the time or thread to discuss, but sell the farm if we have to, to get a quality, class mid into the team. It all starts from in there folks.

Not a big lover of the Saints, but kudos to them in getting all of their trade targets across the line last season, even if they did overpay. We need to do the same.

 

[Sharks On A Plane]

Loved De Koning.

Liked Cottrell.

Thought that was Willo's best game of the season.

Cannot bring myself to say anything else about the umpiring, it's just beyond a joke now.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Free kicks were 14 to 12, doesn't look one sided to me

Umpires didn't change our setup at half time, nor did they effect disposal efficiency, nor efficiency inside forward 50, where we had way more opportunities but didn't capitalize

Arrow toure being disingenuous if youre suggesting its merely the number of free kicks that matter.

It matters where they are given. When they were given. And whether they were given correctly.

 

[GoBlues!]

I sort of disagree, thought the umpiring gave them momentum at critical times and/or non decisions which should have resulted in easy goals to us were not given, we could conceivably be 5 goals up at halftime, but the better, overall more chiseled and experienced team won, as expected on their dungheap



Umm yes, there are always a few free kicks missed both ways in every game of football. It is the quantum and location and timing of the decisions which influences the flow of the game, and thereby the outcome


Amongst MANY others



This last part is so important. I'm confused, you are confused, the umps are confused, the commentators are confused. what ever happened to the basic notion of aussie rules, that the bloke making the play at the ball gets the protection? It has totally reversed, now it is an advantage not to be first to the ball, and be the tackler. It results in either a free to the tackler or a stoppage. Rarely a free to the player trying to win the pill.

Don't get me wrong BB, I was fuming at the time when those decisions went against us but accept that missed free kicks go both ways.

But that HTB decision paid against SPS, was not applied consistently during the game where players were similarly wrapped up with the ball - no prior opportunity and no attempt to dispose - and no free kick. Penalises and reduces the incentive for the player going for the ball.