Changes vs Carlton

[PA88]

Does anyone really believe that Kern will make 4 - 6 changes?

It would be an anomaly if he did.

 

[PA88]

I agree with many of these player changes suggested. Quite disappointing that there are a handful of them but these players are not making Broadbent miss targets, Ebert not want to kick for goal from 4om on the run, bomb the ball into a forest of oppositions hoping Schulz can mark with one hand held, multiple slips because the players prefer moulds as opposed to what their coach prefers, kicks out of bounds, Jonas playing like a chook, defenders dropping uncontested marks, White waiting for the ball, and the coach not changing up our game to counter the same old opposition structures.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Does anyone really believe that Kern will make 4 - 6 changes?

No. He will make 3 if Trengove and Ryder are fit. But this is a thread about how we think and not him.

 

[tribey]

Out: ...
In: Andrew Moore

 

[DazzaTys]

Interesting conversation from a neutral supporter who was at the game on Friday. He last attended a Port game when we destroyed Richmond. One facet that stood out for him was how badly we had digressed with our run and carry. He reckons we were stagnant throughout and our use of the pockets and kicks along the boundary was terrible. He can't believe we don't have a plan b when teams block the corridor space.

 

[noffle]

Does anyone really believe that Kern will make 4 - 6 changes?

I'm half hoping that Ryder and Trengove aren't ready to come back yet so that we can extend the changes over two weeks and get the right 22 in there without having to go wholesale.

 

[tribey]

Interesting conversation from a neutral supporter who was at the game on Friday. He last attended a Port game when we destroyed Richmond. One facet that stood out for him was how badly we had digressed with our run and carry. He reckons we were stagnant throughout and our use of the pockets and kicks along the boundary was terrible. He can't believe we don't have a plan b when teams block the corridor space.

For all the talk of building muscle, we've leaned down in a bid to improve our run and have simultaneously cooked both our movement and our strength in contested situations.

I'm not a PhD in super soldiers like old mate Burgess, but I've gotta admit, the talk of Ollie shedding some weight in the preseason worried me.

 

[PepeSilvia]

I think you are being a tad harsh on hoon....i thought he earnt his spot and played well first game back....we have alot worse players running around providing zero return on their stats...

But i do agree with you on your thoughts on moore and archee .....s gray should not be playing in the middle if these 2 are on the sidelines

Absolutely did not.

 

[Wargreymon90]

Absolutely did not.

well. he certainly did enough to keep it

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

ExpectToWin I think we need a selection night transcript for this game.

 

[Janus]

well. he certainly did enough to keep it

He didn't do enough to do that either. But he will keep his spot because bringing him in for one game and dropping him is absolutely pointless.

 

[pastmyprimus]

Port set-up a lot of goals from defence last year, playing fast moving corridor footy. A kick to the corridor and off we'd go. Kicks would sometimes be high risk but they often paid off. Teams have wised-up, and are playing more man-on-man forcing us to slow our play down. The result is a long kick along the boundary line to a contest. It plays into the opposition's hands as we're struggling to win clean ball from congested play.

 

[BIG MATTY WHITE]

Absolutely did not.

Why not?

Because of 2 clangers 1 which cost a goal?...dont you love pittard?

 

[tribey]

well. he certainly did enough to keep it

If that's the case we're setting an insanely low bar harking back to the days of Matt Thomas and David Rodan getting their usual 15-18 touches and everyone wondering why we suck.

As Janus said, he'll hold his spot because WIWO selection is pointless, but Colquhoun's performance on the weekend is far below the standard we set last year.

 

[Port 2004]

Yeah, I don't know where this idea that Colquhoun is fast came from. Probably from people trying to justify his inclusion into the side when he really didn't bring anything to the table other than racking up possessions like Kane did in his worst years. If you need someone like that in the side, upgrade Krak and play whoever is performing the best out of Ah Chee/Moore/Young up forward and then rotate them into the midfield with Wines so you can burn rotations on Krakouer.

There are two ways you can win a fight. Either you use speed and dodge and weave and don't get hit - the run and spread option - or you can bulk up, absorb the hits and use blunt force trauma. Of course, great fighters have a combination of both. Our problem seems to be that when we lose, we think the solution is to add more speed - even if we don't have it. Now White and Polec are gone, speed is gone. There IS no speed. There is still spread, but if your midfield is getting beaten to a pulp inside they're not exactly going to have the desire to push hard and create options. Sure, they weren't getting knocked over, but they were definitely getting rocked.

Now, perhaps Ken has privately conceded the season is shot regardless now that he's missing Ryder, Trengove, Polec, White and Cornes out of his best 22, and he's using this as an opportunity to see what each player can offer in terms of plugging various holes. If so, I can get behind that. It's only in the heat of battle and adversity that you can fully appreciate the mettle of the players you have. But if he hasn't conceded it and believes that we can still give it a real shake, then bring in some bigger bodies until you can re-inject the speed side of things.

Great post. I also was thinking that maybe Ken has privately conceded the year. I feel that it may explain some of the selections of certain players in recent weeks, which I have seen as bizarre. Gray and hoon in particular. But regardless, Moore needs to be picked now as it is obvious we are getting smashed around the ball.

 

[FishingRick04]

Seems Sammy C is being massively underrated

 

[FishingRick04]

You obviously missed the last 3 or 4 minutes of the first quarter. 2 really poor errors. One cost us a goal the other should have but a bad kick from Geelong saved us. Wasnt as bad for rest of game.

Do we reflect on 1 or two errors or the performance overall?

 

[El_Scorcho]

Interesting conversation from a neutral supporter who was at the game on Friday. He last attended a Port game when we destroyed Richmond. One facet that stood out for him was how badly we had digressed with our run and carry. He reckons we were stagnant throughout and our use of the pockets and kicks along the boundary was terrible. He can't believe we don't have a plan b when teams block the corridor space.

The issue for me is, run and carry is how you get through clogged space.

Look at the great Geelong teams. Everyone clogged up the middle because they know Geelong were going straight up the corridor. They absolutely steamrolled teams who tried to do that time and time again.

It's a bravery issue.

I think most people here would have noted, that it's almost better sometimes when we drop a mark while switching the play, because it forces the guy who takes possession to be creative and run the ball.

Get the ball in the hands of the likes of Pittard, Impey, Carlile and Hartlett off half back and tell them to run in packs up the field, sharing it around as the tackler comes.

If we concede goals turning it over this way, we concede goals. Whoop de doo. It's better than being ground into dust playing our current style.

 

[tribey]

Seems Sammy C is being massively underrated

Compared to who/what?

 

[El_Scorcho]

Colquhoun may get back to AFL quality, but he's not there yet, and because of his size, he offers absolutely nothing when he's off form.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Do we reflect on 1 or two errors or the performance overall?

Everything but as Janus pointed out in the review thread, its the stuff ups from fringe players that mean the best players have to work harder.

 

[BIG MATTY WHITE]

Everything but as Janus pointed out in the review thread, its the stuff ups from fringe players that mean the best players have to work harder.

This is rubbish....absolute rubbish excuse being put on our better players...

Our better players are just as bad sometimes worse than the newbies at stuffing up

 

[PepeSilvia]

Why not?

Because of 2 clangers 1 which cost a goal?...dont you love pittard?

Did you even read my post?

 

[ozph1870]

Everything but as Janus pointed out in the review thread, its the stuff ups from fringe players that mean the best players have to work harder.

its also the horribly out of form 'stars' not performing means the young blokes playing thier first few games or coming off long term injuries need to carry the side over the line when the so called stars fail.

 

[Hong-Kong Phooey]

To prepare for playing against us, teams will start playing against under 14 teams