Review R20: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly vs. Port: Like taking candy from a baby

[Bay62]

Nicksy might be able to get him over the line

He’s been pretty convincing with some of our trade targets

He’s friends with Burgoyne who’s told him to come to Port because they’ll have a lot of fun

Oh what fun there’ll be at Port in the next few years as they rebuild…

 

[moses]

Did anyone else see Sam Berry on the Sunday Footy Show just now, like this kid.

Very humble young man

 

[spenze]

Exactly

They don't have mongrel or talent

They don't even have half mongrel, that's how flaccid their performance was last night

 

[Bay62]

It was equally the best player response on radio I've ever heard. In fact I can't recall any better, ever. So measured, mature knowledgable and focused. What a get he was!!

Are you able to provide a few examples of what he said? Thanks

 

[Crow_68]

He’s friends with Burgoyne who’s told him to come to Port because they’ll have a lot of fun

Oh what fun there’ll be at Port in the next few years as they rebuild…

Won’t be fun and games when he takes Burgoyne’s place in their starting 22.

 

[Bay62]

Just read a report on Kenny’s presser

He’s getting criticized for saying the rain opened up the margin, which is contrary to what usually happens

To be fair, he wasn’t talking about the score - he was talking about the difference in skills between the teams, and said it opened up the margin in personnel. In other words, our players are more highly skilled and handled the rain a lot better than their players did.

Which is true, and it’s good to finally see on the Port board they admit our list is way better than theirs

 

[CrowBloke]

All credit to Nicks and coaches and the players buy in

This!

And after last night I've got even more humble pie to eat.
Dunno where to start, but (in no particular order):
--- I had written off Cook. To be fair, I don't think he's a static forward but off a wing he's influential and very skillful.
I don't think I've seen him play where he could move around or maybe he's lifted with better personnel around him.
--- huuuge apology to Milera whom I wanted dropped months ago. Definitely come good and has strengthened our elite backline group.
--- for structure, ball movement, cohesion and gameplay the Crows have improved out of sight and I am very
very
VERY happy to see that so, yes, kudos to Nicks, Davis, all Coaches and the players.

What I LOVED most about last night's game was the 4-quarter, NO-slowdown ruthlessness of the win.
We buried PA last night in shit conditions and they can rot there for years in the bottom-4 for all I care.
Fkem.

 

[CrowBloke]

I love this.

When we were shit and getting smashed by the umps, how often would we hear that the better teams earn it. That the poorer teams give frees away because they are scraggling, feeling the pressure, 2nd to the ball etc.

We're the good team now.


View attachment 2378243

We're not just "the good team" now ...

We are the ones who knock (with due respect and deference to best TV show ever, Breaking Bad).

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Just read a report on Kenny’s presser

He’s getting criticized for saying the rain opened up the margin, which is contrary to what usually happens

To be fair, he wasn’t talking about the score - he was talking about the difference in skills between the teams, and said it opened up the margin in personnel. In other words, our players are more highly skilled and handled the rain a lot better than their players did.

Which is true, and it’s good to finally see on the Port board they admit our list is way better than theirs

Yeah my bad. I hadn't watched the presser and was going on what someone else had said. That makes way more sense.

It's funny too because Ken is acknowledging what everyone other than their rusted on supporters having been saying for ages. Their list isn't great. It's not a side being held back by shit coaching. It's an unbalanced side where most of the talent is in the middle and drops off steeply after their best 10 players. Throw in some injuries to expose their lack of depth and they're bottom 4 on form.

 

[chrisso crow]

Did you watch the SANFL game.

Crouch did nothing with most of those disposals.

And that is his issue. He's largely a stat-padder with ineffective disposal that doesn't hurt the opposition. His possessions are often slow.

It had been noted in the media last year that teams weren't manning up on him and double-teaming Dawson.

I'm not saying he hasn't been AFL standard in the past, but midfielders now need to be able to burst from packs, which Crouch never has and Berry does.

 

[NSolis]

I'm confused how Butters got 34 disposals. Must have had a ton of cheapies because he had no influence on the game

Lots of inside work and clearances, and had the second most metres gained. Think he was basically their only good player.

 

[spenze]

There was an Ugly from last nights game

Ugly: The ten second HIA on Butters last night. Of all clubs, all clubs to start taking concussion seriously, it should be Port after the disgraceful "We are subbing Jones because he has a migraine" incident.

The game was already close to over yet you don't sit your player down for the quarter when he looked unaware of what is going on after copping a knee to the head. Sure, he wanted to go back on but the medical team have to be better than that

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

There was an Ugly from last nights game

Ugly: The ten second HIA on Butters last night. Of all clubs, all clubs to start taking concussion seriously, it should be Port after the disgraceful "We are subbing Jones because he has a migraine" incident.

The game was already close to over yet you don't sit your player down for the quarter when he looked unaware of what is going on after copping a knee to the head. Sure, he wanted to go back on but the medical team have to be better than that

Port's baseline concussion test:

 

[chazwazza]

Port's baseline concussion test:

View attachment 2378439

Butters would try and eat them

 

[NSolis]

We’ve tinkered more than once, after the Geelong loss we took less risks, just go watch the Pies game. Didn’t switch or take the game on as much, our scoring dropped. You blamed the weather, see the rain last night?

We also went defensive too early against Port and Brisbane.

But over the last month or so we’ve ramped up our attacking play whilst still defending well, Curtin has helped. We are also attacking more late. Surely you’ve observed the change?

It's been a work in progress, dating back to the aftermath of 2023 when it was clear we had enough offensive weapons as a team but needed to improve defensively. No doubt it takes time to bed down the right approaches to different situations and they are still working on things, but there has clearly been a couple of sharp adjustments that have been made at different times, most notably this season after the Geelong loss where we'd been too loose defensively. We conceded an average of 92 points per game up until then and got involved in open shootouts with Essendon, Gold Coast and Geelong, two of which we lost. Even North put 12 goals past us. Since then we've conceded an average of 61 points.

To put it in context: the Gold Coast game, which was overall a fairly good performance against a quality side, is a worse defensive performance than any we have had since the Geelong game except for conceding 98 points against the Bulldogs under the roof at Marvel - the best attacking team in the league. And that was our third best defensive effort of the first 5 weeks. We've only conceded more points than we did against North 3 times since round 5.

With the variable offensive output I think what's happened is similar to the start of 2024 - the renewed focus on defence has reduced our scoring output, and it's taken some time for the team to find the right balance while focussing on the defensive structures they are trying to implement. Plus we've had some poor weather at times and a couple of games where we were pretty inaccurate. But there's still been a noticeable increased focus on defence, even in recent weeks.

 

[Jarman3]

I watched on TV; not a great broadcast eg people raved about the O'Brien checkside goal but 7MATE here missed it because they crossed to an ad after Keays "goaled" on the giveaway .

Anyway ...
Thilthorpe was very good for sure, but my take was Soligo for the Medal.

He was super-impressive, seemed to be everywhere, really influential and his goal in the last was elite.

Maybe Thilthorpe got it because of his rucking, follow-up at ground level and forward craft/work ...?

I was at the game and I was pencilling Thilthorpe in for the medal before half time,he was absolutely immense in that first half when the win was set up. Spent a lot of the final quarter on the bench with the cue in the rack.

Soligo was great too, but did most of his best work in the second half when the game was already out of Port's reach.

You could absolutely argue that Soligo may have had a better game overall than Thilthorpe, but in terms of their influence on the result when the game was won, it was Thilthorpe for me.

 

[Rotayjay]

Most internal improvement in the comp?

RT, Keane, Worrell, Berry, Curtin, Rachele and Butts when fit, ROB. Plus Milera coming back and looking good, and Laird looking so much better off of half back

And our three recruits of course

This is what happened in 2017 - a large portion of our list (including the role players) had career-best seasons at once.

 

[Bovo]

I don't remember Crouch ever bursting from a stoppage or kicking two goals from outside 50m in the wet.

Yeah, that was pretty amazing. You don’t want to get injured in this squad, because the competition for spots is so tight, you may not get back in.

 

[SugarShane]

Just read a report on Kenny’s presser

He’s getting criticized for saying the rain opened up the margin, which is contrary to what usually happens

To be fair, he wasn’t talking about the score - he was talking about the difference in skills between the teams, and said it opened up the margin in personnel. In other words, our players are more highly skilled and handled the rain a lot better than their players did.

Which is true, and it’s good to finally see on the Port board they admit our list is way better than theirs

I was thinking that driving home. I thought the rain would be an equlizer but it exposed them massively. I reckon a lot of their low-mid tier play much better games if it's dry and it probably doesn't blow out like that. We still kicked to Aliir quite a bit last night but it just wasn't the right conditions for him to mark most of them (still took 5 though and had a game high intercept possessions).

 

[SugarShane]

This is what happened in 2017 - a large portion of our list (including the role players) had career-best seasons at once.

Which is why you have to take these seasons when they come. You can't always just assume that players are going to be as good or better (or fit) next year.

Teams are tripping over all around us, strike while the iron's hot.

 

[NSolis]

I was at the game and I was pencilling Thilthorpe in for the medal before half time,he was absolutely immense in that first half when the win was set up. Spent a lot of the final quarter on the bench with the cue in the rack.

Soligo was great too, but did most of his best work in the second half when the game was already out of Port's reach.

You could absolutely argue that Soligo may have had a better game overall than Thilthorpe, but in terms of their influence on the result when the game was won, it was Thilthorpe for me.

Yeah I think this is right. Soligo had 24 disposals, 3 clearances and 2 goals in the second half which is massive, but wasn't as influential in the first half. Thilthorpe had 14, 6 clearances and a goal in the first half when the game was on the line. Clear #1 and #2 but I think the medal went at half time.

 

[FullyBigKPro]

Our 'unheralded' midfield just absolutely bullied and schooled them....

Soligo, Berry, Peatling were all fantastic...

Also - Surely Curtin has the RS sewn up now.... Another quality seamless 20+ touches from the gun.

TT is just a beast, absolutely looked like he wanted to hurt someone last night, love his passion.

Can't wait for the delicious tears of Kornes saying our tall forward line doesn't work again.

 

[Vader]

I think Keane might be low key one of our most improved players. He showed himself capable of quality footy from the start but he's not having those space cadet moments anymore....or at least way less than he used to.

We've got a few candidates for the "most improved" award this year - Curtin & Berry would both also be in the running. Keane also a worthy nomination (as you rightly pointed out).

 

[MRB37]

I don't disagree with that, but showing mongrel isn't going to make up for the lack of talent on their list.

That's the problem though. A lot still think it's 1970's SANFL footy and they just need to be harder at it and that's enough to win. They're in for a bigger surprise then they realise.

 

[Scorpus]

We've got a few candidates for the "most improved" award this year - Curtin & Berry would both also be in the running. Keane also a worthy nomination (as you rightly pointed out).

I reckon Keane has played basically the same since he debuted for us (aside from the Amartey game) except for some reason people thought he was crap to begin with when he wasn't