Review R1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly vs. Collingwood

[Soggy2112]

Cook's goal was a beauty. Nicks please persist with him this year. There is a player there somewhere.

I reckon he’s got a solid 10 weeks to make it happen on the wing before Curtin comes back.

I agree there could be a player there, but now is the time where he needs to stop being a glimpses guy, and start being a consistent contributor.

 

[Vader]

McAndrew wasnt a debutant.

Club debutant, having previously played 2 games for Sydney 3 years ago. Not technically a debutant, but to all intents & purposes he may as well have been.

 

[Vader]

We looked so much better replacing a senior (ROB) with a debutant.

True... but overlooks the things out of Adelaide's control (i.e. ruck rule changes) which have created this situation.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

So we need to find a backup for McAndrew in case he gets tired or injured. Hope Hamish has something up his sleeve.

 

[Gtowncrow]

Literally none of that is actually true.

Without the ruck rule changes, ROB is still our #1 ruckman - and McAndrew is a beanpole who gets pushed aside at ruck contests by stronger (but shorter) rucks. With the rule changes, ROB isn't allowed to use his strength, while McAndrew's height and leap suddenly become massive assets at centre throw-ups.

The ruck rule changes have been catastrophic for some players - with ROB one of the worst affected. Conversely, they've been an absolute blessing for some other players - with McAndrew one of the biggest beneficiaries. We're fortunate that the impact on ROB has been balanced (maybe even more than balanced) by the impact they've had on McAndrew.

Had they known the rule change was coming, then I have no doubt the AFC would have had second thoughts about offering ROB such a long contract. But they didn't know. Based on what was known at the time, and ROB's known form and fitness, there was no problem with offering him a 3-year contract when they did. Based on what we know now, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and knowledge of the AFL's ruck rule changes, ROB's contract is a millstone hanging around our necks.

Further to this, unless injured, how did Mason Cox lose selection to Darcy yesterday? The Fremantle game yesterday should hold good lessons for us going forward as to how we manage our ruck options.

 

[cmndstab]

Holy shit. Ben Keays centered the footy to Soligo instead of trying to kick a goal that was beyond his ability.

To be fair, he also did kick a goal that was beyond him, haha. That was Douglas checkside levels of "right outcome, wrong decision".

 

[Anzacpaul]

Teams don't give 2 shits that Laird gets it 30 times per game, the more, the better.

No different to what they used to do with Matt Crouch.

 

[Soggy2112]

Yeah, but literally anybody can do that. It doesn't have to be Murray.

For the 32% of game time he spent on the ground, he provided next to nothing in the ruck, and less than nothing around the ground. And for the rest of the time he wasted a bench spot, forcing us to use four rotations while our opponents got to use five.

I understand the structural argument to having a backup ruck that isn't Thilthorpe, but Murray himself still needs to actually provide something in the role.

The thing you’re ignoring is that playing a designated second ruck means that we don’t have to take a player out of our key position rotation for that 32% of game time. It gives Nicks freedom to do other things in that time.

Obviously, the trade off is that we have less rotations. However, that was not a problem last night as we were able to outrun and out last the opposition in the second half. That’s in a warm game, where the opposition has had an extra game to get prepared.

If we were overrrun and ran out of gas in the second half I’d see your point, but last night, two rucks worked. We also don’t know what potential other options the forward and defence coaches might have had up their sleeve involving Murray if required.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Tex still playing on in the F50. Really irritates the shit out of me.

 

[wimpy]

This really irritated me last night .....Gary Lyon bitched and moaned all night about how the Crows should be playing

When did this twit ever test himself in the coaching arena ....what credentials does he hold ....he's certainly no expert on the game

It seems his philosophy is a "follow the leader" approach .....do what every other team has done in R1 .....why though?

Firstly .....we had a lot of underdone midfielders last night .....so going helter skelter all night makes no sense ....as it was, we were running out of legs in the 4th Qtr anyway

Thought there might have been a few more complaints about the Fox commentary, it was blatantly biased towards the Pies, in fact they were barracking for the Pies. Gary Lyon was a disgrace, couldn't have shown his bias more openly.

 

[Bearded Clam]

When you gonna clear the air on Keays? Your whole profile was based on how bad he was.

You were 100% wrong.

Yeah… Ben had a massive first half..



His second half was better..

And lets not discuss his finals series last year either..

He’s a senior player.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I think Pendles is gone !

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Thought there might have been a few more complaints about the Fox commentary, it was blatantly biased towards the Pies, in fact they were barracking for the Pies. Gary Lyon was a disgrace, couldn't have shown his bias more openly.

He's been garbage for a while. When we were shithouse a few years back, he was fair. As soon as he perceived us as a threat, he's been a massive dickhead.

 

[fuic08]

I think Pendles is gone !

I remember the commentators trying to call it a head clash, then didn't bother with a replay at all.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

 

[Mr_Moogle]

I can see why Bond is copping it a bit but I feel sort of bad for saying it. He's trying.

 

[beartoo]

Cook is bigger and stronger and seems to be relishing the contest.
Should we call him the Cookie Monster?

 

[pjcrows]

I think Pendles is gone !

Will get off.

 

[Golumless]

Pies best forwards seem to be midfielders.

That tends to be the case for everyone relying on smalls. As we're seeing on repeat in this decade, the talent you need to be an exceptional small forward does translate well to becoming an exceptional inside midfielder.

 

[Carmo]

Did anyone say no injuries as a good? Hopefully Draper and Marsh pull up ok after the SANFL as well.

English is probably the toughest ruckman test in the comp with these new rules, that will be a good test for McAndrew.

Cooky was very good, started to really hit his straps late last year in SANFL. Best thing I liked was the little contested work things he did, body and momentum into the line of the ball when needed, held a tackle, did a block, broke even in groundball gets, won the odd 1 v 2. All the rest like the great kicking you know he can do and expect but those little things is what he needed to add so we can pick him with him not being carried whatsoever.

Dunno what people were expecting from Ibis, all he had to do was break even in the ruck contests so as to not be a liability, that's it, didn't need a single kick or mark or handpass or goal and I would've considered that an adequate first game from him.

Laird will stay in due to historical performance record but another game like that..... Good we have some replacement options, some in the team yesterday can go there, plus Jones and Nank can come in and we can play them there or elsewhere and fill it with someone in the team now. Hinge eventually an option in a month and a half's time too.

Good to see Keays break his Collingwood goal-less hoodoo as well.

Several of our players will be better for that run, most notably Soligo.

Far out we have a decent complement of players that can kick long range goals reliably, Cumming, Cook can be added to the list of Tex, Fog, Dawson and Hinge. Marsh waiting in the wings too. Love stuff like that that makes the opposition just shake their heads in disbelief.

 

[CrowBloke]

having a read of the match day thread and personally find it pretty embarrassing - but certainly amusing.

I'm guessing the posters who amused you (condescension, much?? ) were not embarrassed at all, so why would you be?
I'll explain, below ...

there are seemingly fully grown men whose out of control emotions flip and flop each time we either make a mistake OR have a quality play is just too much. then in the wash up and review they are all skittles and beer haha

I was one of them. The game was a roller-coaster and I was along for the ride, totally out of control and-loving-it, as the game veered and dipped and climbed again.
When we were 2.3 to 0.1 after about 10-11 (?) minutes (which turned out to be the final margin, coincidentally) I thought, "Wow, good start".
Happy.
I assumed Collingwood would fight back and they did. I'm not sure if the slow-down, chip-chip game was a Nicks' directive or whether Collingwood made us play like that, but I was not happy. If it was Nicks, I wanted him sacked, but tarred-and-feathered first.
Yeah, that's extreme, but it's how I felt at the time, and I slathered posts which called Nicks an idiot at the time with '" --- and I certainly felt differently on the Final siren. Such are the ups and downs in a game.

The 3rd quarter was magic. 6.5 to 2.2 reflected our dominance and excellent play. From there, I thought we'd win
BUT
the Mugpies have/had a habit of coming back from 5 goals down and I was apprehensive. At 12-13 points up I was very nervous, wanted to kick Nicks in the nuts again, but the boys steadied and won.
Euphoria!!
Since then, I've speculated that the Nicks/Murray team might have been coaching the boys in how to pace a game.
Start fast, then steady and hold. If so, GREAT, WONDERFUL, YAAAAY Nicks.
Come out firing in the 3rd, then expect the comeback which-be-coming (and did!), so steady and hold again, absorb, come back again to put the game outta reach and end with a 14-point win.
I don't know if that's what actually happened, ie if it was Coach-driven, but supporter emotions during a game are all over the place.
They're allowed to be. It's why we watch/listen and follow our team.
If you allowed the emotions to washover you, up and down, side to side, you might enjoy the game and the posting a little more ... yeah?

anyway no need to name names for any such bed wetcrow poster or others who are predominantly critical, woe is us and feel the need the need to allow their emotions to takeover (downside emotions)

Yeah, no need to name names, then name one anyway (wetcrow).

I enjoy your posting more often than not, but I'd enjoy it more without the I-told-you-so, why-be-emotional condescension.
Allowing our emotions to take over is a big part of the fun of watching/listening to the game, isn't it?

 

[Soggy2112]

Thought there might have been a few more complaints about the Fox commentary, it was blatantly biased towards the Pies, in fact they were barracking for the Pies. Gary Lyon was a disgrace, couldn't have shown his bias more openly.

It was actually a really well coached game.

In the first quarter we dominated the centre clearance and controlled the initial part of the game. We probably should have executed better and could have been 4-5 goals up instead of 2-3.

Collingwood then gained control of the footy, and defensively we were really good. The positioning to allow Worrell and Milera to get loose and control the back 50 was really good.

Collingwood were set up really well and we weren’t able to get the ball out of our back half. The commentators were critical of the way we went around the boundary, which was fair, however, crucially we were set up to defend on turnover and stopped the damage from being significant.

At half time we adjusted and were able to move the ball laterally a bit more and opened up our options. We capitalised on our momentum.

Then again, at the start of the last quarter Collingwood had momentum and we looked gassed. But we were then able to put the brakes on, and found the couple goals we needed to seal the game.

There are always going to be times where your opposition controls the game, particularly against a good side. Often, being able to minimise damage in those moments is equally important as scoring when you have the ascendency.

So while Lyon was critical of the ball movement in the 2nd quarter, we were clearly set up defensively to limit damage and wrestle back control. Kicking inside to outnumbers risks giving up that defensive advantage at a time where momentum might not be with you.

Good sides can go up and down the gears and that’s what we did last night which has to be a positive.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Toby Murray dropped marks, fluffed kicks, misjudged the flight of the ball, got beaten in the ruck. He's going to have to become the most improved player in AFL history to carve out a career.

 

[pjcrows]

Good analysis of the instructional shift after half time from the box.

 

[Doctor B]

Just on that how did Draper of the Lions variety go against the Swans?

And any news on Draper of the Crows variety as to what his injury was sustained against Central's in the SANFL hit out! Looked good early before that.

I saw a photo from a random fan on social media, a trainer was helping Sid walk with ice on his right ankle.