Autopsy Cats lose to GWS* AFL trust fund babies by 26 points.

[Romeoh1]

Crazy. One of your season defining assets with a clear injury, yet you sub a young guy who’s got little impact on the year.

Irrational decision by the coaching staff.

Scott can’t seem to think clearly when we play gws. He looked a bit rattled in the coaching box when the camera went to him- he doesn’t look that way against other teams anymore. He’s such a clear thinker so it’s hard to understand.

 

[Cataholic]

Scott can’t seem to think clearly when we play gws. He looked flustered in the coaching box when the camera went to him- he doesn’t look that way against other teams anymore. He’s such a clear thinker so it’s hard to understand.

They've got his measure, and he just can't find the right formula to counteract it.

Plus he had to watch his players butcher the ball, chase tail, and generally just flounder.

 

[fpm84]

They've got his measure, and he just can't find the right formula to counteract it.

I don't know if there is a formula with the personnel we have available.

We don't have a Whitfield or Ash off HB, we don't have a midfield bull like Green, and while you can say Jez and Neale are the equal of Hogan/Cadman, we don't have a Riccardi/Brown getting the third or fourth defender.

Not sure any coaching magic can make up for such a gap in talent.

 

[Cataholic]

I don't know if there is a formula with the personnel we have available.

We don't have a Whitfield or Ash off HB, we don't have a midfield bull like Green, and while you can say Jez and Neale are the equal of Hogan/Cadman, we don't have a Riccardi/Brown getting the third or fourth defender.

Not sure any coaching magic can make up for such a gap in talent.

Don't disagree, and hence why he might've looked frustrated.

There's nothing he can do. He can't find the players, the game plan, the speed or the skills (ie formula) to beat the Giants.

They're just too good for us for the time being.

 

[Pollywaffle]

It all depends on the draw. If we can avoid gws/Brisbane on the other side of the draw is absolutely think we can beat coll/Adelaide and then a prelim against whatever average opponent (hawthorn suns etc). But I can't see us beating Brisbane and gws would be a big ask.

If you are banking on avoiding certain teams in a finals campaign then you are primed for failure..

 

[Del216647]

If you are banking on avoiding certain teams in a finals campaign then you are primed for failure..

Spot on.

 

[fpm84]

Don't disagree, and hence why he might've looked frustrated.

There's nothing he can do. He can't find the players, the game plan, the speed or the skills (ie formula) to beat the Giants.

They're just too good for us for the time being.

All we can do is hope they have an off night, but they tend to lift against the good sides - smashed Collingwood, beat Brisbane at the Gabba and 2-0 against us this year.

 

[Romeoh1]

They've got his measure, and he just can't find the right formula to counteract it.

Plus he had to watch his players butcher the ball, chase tail, and generally just flounder.

Yep.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

If you are banking on avoiding certain teams in a finals campaign then you are primed for failure..

Not really.
That's exactly what Brisbane got last year. They got a gws that folded off a huge lead and then they got a Sydney that was mentally cooked. They don't win a flag without either.
This shows you that the margins are close and generally that the comp is poor enough that these things make all the difference in winning a flag or not.

Sure I would like if we were better against everyone but the reality is thesedays you can win a flag without it.

 

[Hinkley29]

All we can do is hope they have an off night, but they tend to lift against the good sides - smashed Collingwood, beat Brisbane at the Gabba and 2-0 against us this year.

Except in finals, when they specialise in throwing away massive leads.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

They've got his measure, and he just can't find the right formula to counteract it.

Plus he had to watch his players butcher the ball, chase tail, and generally just flounder.

Scott is a good coach-generally the best in the league-but gws have a combination of speed across the ground and ball use that he can't necessarily counter in the same way that he counters other teams by getting the extra behind the ball.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Worpel would have been handy today

We certainly need another A grade inside mid you can see why we wanted Rowell.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

And left an incredibly dangerous Idun to run freely from defence.

A poor coaching move.

I get that but part of why Scott is lauded for our culture (I'm talking off field not game day) is that he empowers staff and players to be adults and doesnt baby them or overrule them unless absolutely necessary. That culture is great and lauded but it's why on a day like today he's not going to overrule the club doctor and pull Cameron off. You take the good with the bad on that.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

They're too quick and we look old slow and banged up. Giants will be itching to get us on finals..

Giants have to actually make the 8 first though.

 

[Cataholic]

Giants have to actually make the 8 first though.

They're in the 8 aren't they?

 

[Pure_Ownage]

They're in the 8 aren't they?

Yes but they have a tough run home and I can see them missing. One of them or freo is probably going to end up 9th.

 

[My Third Nipple]

I’ve got us only losing 1 more game for the year. (Swans away game)
Still think it’ll come down to percentage if we make top 4.
We really need to put teams like Ess & Rich away by a heap.
Not sure the list is good enough to go all the way this year but if we can get SDK and Stengle back playing some footy it’ll help balance us a bit.
Teams like Lions and Giants have our measure currently but I’m confident we’ll still give them a shake if we meet either of them in a final.

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

I’ve got us only losing 1 more game for the year. (Swans away game)
Still think it’ll come down to percentage if we make top 4.
We really need to put teams like Ess & Rich away by a heap.
Not sure the list is good enough to go all the way this year but if we can get SDK and Stengle back playing some footy it’ll help balance us a bit.
Teams like Lions and Giants have our measure currently but I’m confident we’ll still give them a shake if we meet either of them in a final.

I like your optimism, but if we run into either in a final, i think we're toast.

I'd be confident against Pies, Crows, Hawks, not Lions or Giants though.

 

[Vdubs]

Don't disagree, and hence why he might've looked frustrated.

There's nothing he can do. He can't find the players, the game plan, the speed or the skills (ie formula) to beat the Giants.

They're just too good for us for the time being.

Have you listened to his pre game presser?

 

[Vdubs]

With Stevens possibly dropped and O'Connor possibly suspended, Knevitt probably looks a bit more promising for a senior callup than Clohesy or Clark. That said, I think I'd prefer Ted to Jack Bowes at this point.

Our bottom 6 extends to a bottom 10, and that's why we are struggling. Great top 4 teams have very deep bottom 6.

 

[STPer18]

Hawks losing leaves us top 4 to end the round.

 

[The Unforgiven]

The only highlight was watching our replacement for Jezz Cameron play a phenomenal game. Cadman will look damn good in the Hoops in a couple of years.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

They're in the 8 aren't they?

To back up my point remember that gws still have both the dogs and the Suns away (the Suns will be smarting not to lose to them again) plus the derby.

Whereas freo have a really easy next 2 weeks and then might get on a roll. Because the Suns have essendon and port at the back end unless they mentally fail (like previous years) it's probably gws or freo that end up in 9th.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Our bottom 6 extends to a bottom 10, and that's why we are struggling. Great top 4 teams have very deep bottom 6.

Not really. Some top teams like Collingwood have an awful bottom 6 of potatoes (Brisbane by contrast have a really good bottom 6) but what Collingwood have is their 5 or so really elite players keep shooting the lights out plus some of their vets chip on really well.
Bar Smith our top end players are not playing to their optimal level this year. Swapping guys like mullin/moc/stevens/martin/bowes/OH (we can't swap Stanley as we have no other ruck) for clohesy/knevitt/clark/bews/Duncan (if he was fit) will help maybe a little but not a lot.

We simply can't win the flag unless Smith Holmes Cameron Stewart (who has been down but was better today) Miers Danger and Blicavs (because he covers the ruck issue to some extent) shoot the lights out and your mid tier atkins zuthrie stengle/mannagh etc really hit a quality level. Those elite guys help us cover the structural holes we have elsewhere.

It's not the bottom 6 that is the issue.

 

[Mr Meow]

Not really. Some top teams like Collingwood have an awful bottom 6 of potatoes (Brisbane by contrast have a really good bottom 6) but what Collingwood have is their 5 or so really elite players keep shooting the lights out plus some of their vets chip on really well.
Bar Smith our top end players are not playing to their optimal level this year. Swapping guys like mullin/moc/stevens/martin/bowes/OH (we can't swap Stanley as we have no other ruck) for clohesy/knevitt/clark/bews/Duncan (if he was fit) will help maybe a little but not a lot.

We simply can't win the flag unless Smith Holmes Cameron Stewart (who has been down but was better today) Miers Danger and Blicavs (because he covers the ruck issue to some extent) shoot the lights out and your mid tier atkins zuthrie stengle/mannagh etc really hit a quality level. Those elite guys help us cover the structural holes we have elsewhere.

It's not the bottom 6 that is the issue.

Smith and Holmes have been brilliant this season. Just not against GWS and Brisbane. You could even say the same about Cameron and Dangerfield. These are the players that give us our mojo. It's not a major surprise that when they have fired blanks against two teams, it has resulted in four losses. The first game against GWS was a slight exception for Holmes and Smith, but GWS' mids were still supreme that day (i.e we were terrible defensively).