Preview Changes vs Swans

[Matman23]

Given that Sando said that JPod played a role and DMac was one of the eight players who performed I can't see either player being dumped

Yeah I agree. That is my opinion not what I think Sando will do.

 

[Slippery Pete]

I don't care if we had Blighty/Roos/Lyon/Sheedy/Malthouse all in the coaches box on Saturday - we still don't win that game of footy.

Perhaps not just purely if they rocked up in the box on game day, but if we had them in the weeks and months leading up......

By far the biggest difference between the two teams - BY FAR - was the way the ball was moved. We handed Port 85% of their goals. On a plate. And we did the same to Geelong. All because of the way we moved the footy (and our insistence on having "inside 30s"). Thirty goals from turnovers in two weeks is such a massive indicator of coaching incompetence that it's almost unforgivable. All teams make skill errors but teams only turn the ball over that much when they are under strict instructions with ball movement and are trying to be too precise.

Now, we can change the way we move the footy and make our gamestyle more conducive to pressure, or we can keep blaming the tall forwards and tall defenders....


Edit - we had more inside 50s than Port. That is not the sign of a list that doesn't know how to win the footy.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Sauce and our midfield are absolute key this week

Sydney with losing Mumford are ranked 16th for hitouts to advantage and 16th for clearances and this is largely because Pyke has had to spend more than 70% of his time in the ruck compared with less than 50% time in ruck during season 2013

This game purely sits with our Midfield starting with the big Sauce

 

[VSTone]

Tex, Hendo, Lynch, VB, Lairdy, Otto
5 of best 22... and arguably in the best dozen at the club...

and now Crouchy going down... will require special efforts from all and sundry to stay in touch.
things aren't going to be easy - but if we do hang in there - i see upside

we are certainly taking the hard road!

get along and support your team if you can for our first home game at the Adelaide Oval.
Go Crows!

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

get along and support your team if you can for our first home game at the Adelaide Oval.
Go Crows!

Can we get more people there than were at the Showdown?

 

[VSTone]

Can we get more people there than were at the Showdown?

i reckon that should be the aim.... build the pride again from the ground up

 

[King Elvis]

The amount of hate Sando is getting is incredible.

2012 - Winning games. All hail Sando! The saviour we always wanted!

2014 - Losing games. Sando sucks! Sack him now before he leads us to oblivion!

Sounds like Port bandwagonners. Yeah great coaches sure can turn teams around and make them good. Just look at Melbourne. Oh wait..........

2013 was that bad that you've decided to pretend it never happened?

 

[Mismatched]

Can we get more people there than were at the Showdown?

Unlikely after last weeks performance...

 

[mattymac]

I agree but our club doesn't have that killer instinct.

If we can't get up after last week and especially against the side that deliberately set out to **** us over then we have no business playing footy. Might as well go into selling insurance or something

 

[Tex200]

Absolutely no excuses, especially last week.... But....the start of this season has been a bit odd.

Round 1 we have to go to Geelong in a major milestone clash, then last week, the away showdown which was set up by the AFL to be for, about and by Port.

Just kind of feel we have been the Washington Generals for everyone else's party.

I'm sure the players will appreciate a home crowd this week.

 

[mrmatt]

So many things to be disappointed with in the first two rounds (and most of it is related to off-the-ball work rate):

We fail the slow the game down when the other team scores consecutive goals - then two becomes five real quick. Total work-rate issue. If we're slowing the game down, sometimes you just have to gut-run 100m from the other side of the ground to become an open option for an easy outlet mark... then someone else has to do it. The good teams do that.

This handball-happy gameplan has lead to new records in turnover goals. I think this was highlighted by Danger on a couple of occasions electing some horrible, low percentage handball options at half back rather than kicking it long (which would be his instinct). If we've going to play that way we need players to work their a** off to get back in support. Port were hunting us in this regard, Geelong too - knowing they could shut us down before we freed up the outlet kick. We can't just play like it's our new gameplan without putting the effort in to make it effective.

Our forward line is disfunctional. Again work-rate. We can't afford to play LJ again. It was so obvious from the ground. He just doesn't want to know about the ball unless it delivered lace-out on his first and only lead. Doesn't chase, leaves it up to other players. For me the forward line is my biggest disappointment this year, I thought with Betts and Pods coming in our pressure on the opposition defense would really lock the ball down in there - hasn't happened yet. Our i50 player movement looked so stagnant (minus Betts), conversely, the Power's forward line were buzzing every-which-way, creating space and opportunity. When the inevitable rebound from our forward line happened - it was just a Power gut-running showpiece to the other end of the ground.

I really think people are being harsh on Jaensch - at least he wanted to take the game on - yes there were a couple of mistakes - but where would the run have come from otherwise? Douglas and Sloane (again) showing the rest of the team the level of running required to be a good team. It's a pity Port had 12 players matching that output.

I like the idea of the smaller forward line this week LJ out Pets in for me. Would also like to see Lyons come in for Crouch. But most importantly, I want to see run and spread when we have it and run and hunting when we don't.

After everything that's gone wrong in the last two weeks it's hard to believe we lead Geelong in the last quarter and Port halfway through the third. It can be turned around.

 

[beartoo]

Can we get more people there than were at the Showdown?

I'll be there! Anyone not going hand your excuse in...and it better be good. Short of death in the family or at least two broken limbs, nothing is acceptable. Get along to the ground. Let's pack it to the rafters and show the team that we support them whatever happens. Forget the admin, support the blokes on field.

 

[Jack is Back]

I wasn't at the Geelong game, but have watched it and a replay. I was at the showdown and have seen a replay. I dispute your call. He was good against Geelong and not good at all against Port. He is a young player who needs a good run. He is younger than McKernan, who you want to have an extended run. Johnston deserves this as much as Smack. As I said before - has played the last 7 games in a row for our club and kicked 15.8. Average that out to a full season and he is hitting 45 goals which is a fantastic result.

No he wasn't. He kicked straight on three occasions against Geelong. He took one contested mark (well he took it out of Smack's hands).

If you were at Geelong you would have seen his lack of accountability, he failed to do the hard stuff and he doesn't have AFL level fitness. I have no axe to grind either way. I was hopeful at the start of this season that he would develop into a good AFL footballer. I have no doubt that he can kick a bag against Melbourne but in tight contested games (like finals) he will be useless.

Since you felt it was necessary to throw in an insult, please point out when I have been hasty or wrong in making a judgement on a Crows player (I am not a secret account for Vader ). I said at the start of 2012 that Stiffy was gone (correct weight). I said early last season that Porps was gone (correct weight). This week I have said that LJ, Truck and JPod will not play in our next premiership. We can't afford to waste games on guys that will never produce the goods when we need it the most.

 

[skoobydoo]

I'm surprised that people thought our forward line would be decent this year. Pods was never geelong's main man, he was going to struggle in that role here with an inferior midfield delivering to him. No Tippett, no Gunston, no Walker, no Lynch. A flanker with no contested marking ability playing as a key forward (Johnston), and Jenkins in reserve who isn't dissimilar to Hampson. Eddie Betts carrying a pack of spuds was the scenario coming a mile off. We need Tex back desperately, and we need to find another key forward who can take a mark. A 25 year old Ian Perrie would walk into this side and be the first forward picked.

Yep. Even some bodywork, pack crashing and presence from Pods would at least be something. We have no discernible forward system/movement, and I'm not talking about the method of delivery.

 

[AFC979810]

No he wasn't. He kicked straight on three occasions against Geelong. He took one contested mark (well he took it out of Smack's hands).

What are you on about? You are having a crack at him for only taking 1 contested mark in a game where our entire team had 8 contested marks? Geelong only took 13 contested marks in the game. Maybe you should instead look at the fact that he had the most Marks inside 50 on the ground (tied with Hawkins) and kicked the 2nd most goals in a high scoring match.

If you were at Geelong you would have seen his lack of accountability, he failed to do the hard stuff and he doesn't have AFL level fitness. I have no axe to grind either way. I was hopeful at the start of this season that he would develop into a good AFL footballer. I have no doubt that he can kick a bag against Melbourne but in tight contested games (like finals) he will be useless.

His lack of accountability may be an issue (it was vs Port), but this is a secondary issue. The #1 thing that Johnston needs to be graded on considering he is still a young KPF is his ability to kick goals and get the ball inside 50. He has played 7 games in a row for us and kicked 15.8. That is a very solid return for a young KPF with under 20 games experience. I know you keep harping on about him kicking 6 against Melbourne (not sure how that can be a bad thing), but he has played 3 games against top 8 quality teams (2xPort, Geelong). In those three games he has kicked 8.1.

He is going to have ups and downs as will all of our younger players who have played less than 50 games. Its all part of the learning experience.

In a side that has only kicked 23 goals for the season I am not sure how anyone can suggest dropping a guy who has almost kicked 1/5th of them.

Since you felt it was necessary to throw in an insult, please point out when I have been hasty or wrong in making a judgement on a Crows player (I am not a secret account for Vader ). I said at the start of 2012 that Stiffy was gone (correct weight). I said early last season that Porps was gone (correct weight). This week I have said that LJ, Truck and JPod will not play in our next premiership. We can't afford to waste games on guys that will never produce the goods when we need it the most.

I quoted the 'schmuck' part because you keep going on and on and on and on about how you made a correct prediction 2 years. Can you give it a spell? We get it.

And congrats on your prediction that a 30 year old (Truck) and 32 year old (Pods) will not win a premiership with a team that has only made the finals once in the last 4 years and is currently sitting 3rd last on the ladder. Quality stuff.

 

[King Elvis]

LJ is a bludger - so was Tex. I'd keep him in the side for the majority of the year - especially ahead of Pods.

If our Coaching staff are any good, they'll be able to turn him around.

So they probably won't be able to.

 

[AFC979810]

LJ is a bludger - so was Tex. I'd keep him in the side for the majority of the year - especially ahead of Pods.

If our Coaching staff are any good, they'll be able to turn him around.

So they probably won't be able to.

Absolutely... You can teach a player fitness and accountability. You cannot teach them how to have talent and a footy brain.

LJ is a much smarter footballer than many on here give him credit for. He knows when and where to lead and he knows how to kick a goal when he gets the ball. Those are two things that JJ does not have and probably will never have.

 

[Jack is Back]

By far the biggest difference between the two teams - BY FAR - was the way the ball was moved. We handed Port 85% of their goals. On a plate. And we did the same to Geelong. All because of the way we moved the footy (and our insistence on having "inside 30s"). Thirty goals from turnovers in two weeks is such a massive indicator of coaching incompetence that it's almost unforgivable. All teams make skill errors but teams only turn the ball over that much when they are under strict instructions with ball movement and are trying to be too precise.

Now, we can change the way we move the footy and make our gamestyle more conducive to pressure, or we can keep blaming the tall forwards and tall defenders....


Edit - we had more inside 50s than Port. That is not the sign of a list that doesn't know how to win the footy.

I agree with your observations and my only hope is that we need time to adjust to our new game plan.

When Sando arrived our new game plan was to "win the contested ball and then just kick the bloody thing". This worked well for half a season but other teams then countered this tactic by putting an extra man one kick from the contest and killed us on the rebound. The classic example was the qualifying final against Sydney, we were lucky to score anything.

Our game plan last year was either a work in progress or utter confusion. Would someone like to explain to me what our game plan was last year .

Now we have a shiny new game plan. Move the ball quickly by hand to break through the first line of resistance and then kick it to 30 metres from goal. Currently our players are unable to execute the plan. I suspect that Sando watched a bit too much of the Reds over the summer. Are we the new Barcelona? Are we trying to introduce tiki-taka to the AFL? There were plenty of critics of Gombau early in the season, now not so much. It was painful watching Adelaide United in the first 10 weeks but they are now a genuine flag contender. The optimist in me is hoping for the same thing from the Crows.

 

[Slippery Pete]

LJ is a bludger - so was Tex. I'd keep him in the side for the majority of the year - especially ahead of Pods.

If our Coaching staff are any good, they'll be able to turn him around.

So they probably won't be able to.

LJ needs some real quality coaching advice on how to work his opponent under the ball in a marking contest. If you want to watch how it's done, watch Gunston. Dangerfield is also a natural at it. LJ had an opportunity to do this several times on the weekend and just didn't pull it off.

I don't buy the lack of chase. All I saw all day was LJ and Pods pushing up the ground and chasing the backsides of loose Port defenders. If you want to know the fastest way to make a forward line impotent - this is it. Even Tex struggled early last year in this environment. I can bump threads from early last year where we are having the exact same discussions about Tex supposedly losing his potency.

If you want tall forwards that are going to give contests in the air you can't have them chasing all day long. The notion of tall forwards needing to provide defensive pressure all day is so ****ing idiotic. Why are we surprised that when the ball comes their way they can't jump or kick? It's ****ing obvious to anyone with a quarter of a brain.

 

[StonesThrow]

I know they're not in form either, but I can't forget how they absolutely dismantled us last year at home. That was the most dominant display I've seen for a long time.

 

[Elder van Berlo]

I know they're not in form either, but I can't forget how they absolutely dismantled us last year at home. That was the most dominant display I've seen for a long time.

In hindsight, I'm not sure how much I rated that swans performance. They were excellent, but it was the high point of their season and they steadily trailed off after that. Tippett came back and kicked a lot of goals, but the team played worse.

We were coming off an absolute slugfest against the Dockers in the wet so it was no surprise we were flat as well - which flattered the swans a bit I reckon.

 

[Elder van Berlo]

Couldn't agree more Slippery Pete. When the ball hits the ground, I want my key forwards to hunt it. If someone else gets it, I want them tackle, tackle hard and make it hurt. If a player 5m from them gets the footy, I want them to chase and tackle or affect the kick.

On Saturday I saw a lot of LJ busting a gut chasing guys like Hartlett from 20m behind because the mids/small forwards weren't within cooee.

That's dumb chasing. It doesn't help actually put pressure and the only reason players do it is because it looks bad if they don't and there's this dumb stigma dreamt up by commentators like Dermott Brereton who never would've made the same chase himself.

LJ tried bloody hard on the weekend. You could see it at ground level. Not his fault he's a laconic mover.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Johnston is a lot like Walker in his early days in regards to being soft around the contest. Then somehow, we managed to turn Tex into an absolute monster at the contest. If we can't do this with Johnston, he's gone. Simple as that. Having a nice kick is a great attribute in a forward but it can't be his ONLY attribute.

 

[Mckaye17]

This should be the team for this weeks game against the Swans...

B: Hartigan - Rutten - Brown (Give Hartigan the job on Sam Reid then Rutten on the resting ruckmen and obviously Talia on Buddy)
HB: Reilly - Talia - Smith (Brown can play on a small same with Reilly, while Smith constantly creates that run)
C: Wright - Sloane - Mackay (Pretty obvious choices at this stage really)
HF: Douglas - Johnston - Grigg (Grigg needs to show that explosiveness like late last season, Lewie has it in him to be a 50 goal a year forward so keep him)
F: Betts - Jenkins - Kerridge (Betts stays forward and plays as the crumber while Jenkins, Mckernan and Jacobs do a three way swap from the bench)
RUCK: Jacobs - Dangerfield - Thompson (Jacobs obviously, Danger needs to step up, Thompson played quite well I felt on Saturday until late)
Bench: M.Crouch - Jaensch - Mckernan then the sub Martin or Lyons

 

[Elder van Berlo]

Johnston is a lot like Walker in his early days in regards to being soft around the contest. Then somehow, we managed to turn Tex into an absolute monster at the contest. If we can't do this with Johnston, he's gone. Simple as that. Having a nice kick is a great attribute in a forward but it can't be his ONLY attribute.

Tricky thing for guys like LJ and Tex is that at their size, they will generally be overmatched physically by opponents at AFL level. They're used to playing against guys who are a) their own size and b) nowhere near as talented.

Suddenly at AFL level you're being ruthlessly exploited and your usual tricks which are really effective at SANFL level aren't working. You almost have to re-learn how to play.

I'm not sure if LJ has it in him frankly, unlike Tex who always had something a bit special about him. But I think it's unfair to call him soft or say he isn't trying. I reckon he clearly is trying his guts out, but he's not quite good enough right now.