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Eagles v Bulldogs GBU
The Good.
As I type this, my hands are shaking so much that I'm having trouble keeping them on the keyboard. What an incredible game, what an incredible win, and what a finish! Before going any further, I would like to advert your attention to the following- after last years clutch performance by the Sampinator against the Dogs, I posted the following-
After the events of the final quarter, I think we can update it a little.
So, Um, yes, the review. The truth is that this game gave us a.) four points and b.) a reality check.
Certainly, there were some outstanding performances. Cousins was captaincy personified- classy all day, and on every loose ball in the last five minutes. It might be a hackneyed cliche, but its still true- when the game is there to be won or lost, the truly great players lift. Speaking of which, spare a thought for Michael Gardiner, who was the catalyst which got us back into this game after the Dogs kicked on early. Within five minutes of being on the ground, he had kicked 2 goals and set another two up, and all day, whenever he got on the field we punched to a new level.
Judd was absolutely awesome in the first half, with 4 'The Package tm' goals.- his second half fade out was disappointing but he got back into it very late in the game and was one of the prime movers that got us over the line in the end. Fletcher, Jones, Morrison, Adkins and Braun covered well for the absence of Kerr, and the latter two also fit into the category of 'crunch time' performers. Cox probably didn't put in as great a performance as I would have liked, but he was okay.
Up forward, Matera was lethal, Embley and Chick were telling at times, and Jako, whilst he never got on the board, did in fact provide a target- late in the game he also grabbed a couple of absolutely vital mop-up possessions in defence. Meanwhile, a certain young lad by the name Ashley Sampi, as he has done on multiple occasions before, killed the game- the first goal had me out of my seat, cheering and dancing around the room, so I was forced to break out the old 'mechanical bull ride' for the final one. That last goal was clearly outside Sampi's normal range, but Samps just seems to be one of those guys who can play beyond his limitations in 'those' sort of moments. The Iceman cometh once more.
In defence, there were some ups and downs. Maybe its still the adrenaline talking, but I was actually pretty happy with how Carroll went on Rawlings. He never shut him down, but in the second half he did enough to limit a guy who was vastly more talented than him, although Rawlings' errant kicking helped. I was also very happy with Humm, who was more than solid in the small defensive role. Lynch kicked well out of defence in the latter half of the game, and Wirra did some decent mop up work.
Overall, that was one of the best football games I have ever seen, period. The Dogs played out of their skins at times, the lead and momentum seesawed, and the final result was the right one for us. I think I'm going to email the club asking for a nice comfortable win next week, because a few more like that will see me have a cardiac arrest by round 5.
The Bad
Not withstanding all of the above, the reality was that but for luck and some individual brilliance, the Dogs would have this game and we'd be doing a lot more soul searching.
Unsurprisingly, the biggest woes were in defence. Lynch got pantsed early on by Rawlings, and Carroll, although he toiled manfully, was never going to shut him down. It is perhaps a bit deflating to see Lynch fail after showing such promise, but we definitely need to stick with him. On hard leading forwards Lynch struggles because he lacks leg speed, but we knew that already- really, Lynchy started lining up against one of the best leading forwards in the competition at Full Back, so the end result shouldn't be too surprising. The next few weeks should be the proof of the pudding.
Meanwhile Staker used the ball well in places, but then did a few absolutely ****ing idiotic things just at the wrong time. That fifty metre penalty.... ... He's your player Ex, you can try and defend him! Another less obvious but equally serious deficiency was our lack of anyone who could handle Johnson- Green was pretty insipid on him which didn't surprise me at all given Kasey's poor form in the preseason- lift your game Irish.
Up forward, McDougall was okay for about three minutes in the first half, and then did sweet bugger all for the rest of the game. Again, we're going to have to be patient with Doogs, but he was certainly another who failed to live up to his expectation. I would have also liked to see more from Cox, who, whilst okay, didn't really dominate.
The worst thing about this game was that it really didn't seem different to last year- in fact, parts of it bore an uncanny resemblence to our stunning win against the Pies at Telstra last year. We won, played outstandingly in places and poorly in others. The midfield was great, the backline had some holes, and we struggled for a tall target up forward- hopefully things can change over the next few weeks.
The Ugly
Banfield's injury was gut wrenching- the mail is that he might be okay, but initially it looked like the worst- we can probably cover him, (especially with the Hummer coming up so well!) but a serious knee injury could have been career ending for Banners.
Speaking of ugly, Cooney was bloody entertaining to watch from his first clanger, to his chunder at quarter time and onwards.- he had some hilariously bad and some absolutely outstanding aspects about him. There's no doubt he has the potential to be another Chris Judd (three years into his career and I think the Juddster has enough prestige to merit placing his 'next' tag on a up and comer)- loved his tackling and he has a great ability to keep his feet just like Saint Chris.
The umpiring was patchy, but not too bad- having said that, the centre bounces were absolutely horrific, to the point of having a serious impact on the game- having a dominant ruckmen is somewhat less use when the **** doing the bounce is unable to reliably have it land in the centre square let alone the circle. Channel 10's coverage was iffy- I hated the way the cut away so quickly after the game- a contest as tight as that deserved a reasonable wrap up.
NB- I totally forgot to mention this with all the excitement, but something really needs to be done about Darcy's tactics at centre bounces- its not just unsporting, its bloody dangerous and could seriously injure people. Tunnelling is a great way to snap someone's spine, and the AFL needs to step on it immediately.
All up, we got the points, and now we've got some work to do. With Port looking scary next week, the reality is unless we can sort some things out quickly, its going to be a tough couple of weeks till Gassy and Glassy get back. Having said that, I think in a few weeks we'll know just what this game meant, because personally I think we were up against a bloody a good side. Commiserations to the Dogs on the loss, and congratulations to them for helping put together what will no doubt be considered one of the games of the season- they deserved to win that as much as us, and must be justifiably gutted after playing so well. One thing I'm certain of is that the team which played us today is not a wooden spoon side by any stretch of the imagination.
The Good.
As I type this, my hands are shaking so much that I'm having trouble keeping them on the keyboard. What an incredible game, what an incredible win, and what a finish! Before going any further, I would like to advert your attention to the following- after last years clutch performance by the Sampinator against the Dogs, I posted the following-
After the events of the final quarter, I think we can update it a little.
So, Um, yes, the review. The truth is that this game gave us a.) four points and b.) a reality check.
Certainly, there were some outstanding performances. Cousins was captaincy personified- classy all day, and on every loose ball in the last five minutes. It might be a hackneyed cliche, but its still true- when the game is there to be won or lost, the truly great players lift. Speaking of which, spare a thought for Michael Gardiner, who was the catalyst which got us back into this game after the Dogs kicked on early. Within five minutes of being on the ground, he had kicked 2 goals and set another two up, and all day, whenever he got on the field we punched to a new level.
Judd was absolutely awesome in the first half, with 4 'The Package tm' goals.- his second half fade out was disappointing but he got back into it very late in the game and was one of the prime movers that got us over the line in the end. Fletcher, Jones, Morrison, Adkins and Braun covered well for the absence of Kerr, and the latter two also fit into the category of 'crunch time' performers. Cox probably didn't put in as great a performance as I would have liked, but he was okay.
Up forward, Matera was lethal, Embley and Chick were telling at times, and Jako, whilst he never got on the board, did in fact provide a target- late in the game he also grabbed a couple of absolutely vital mop-up possessions in defence. Meanwhile, a certain young lad by the name Ashley Sampi, as he has done on multiple occasions before, killed the game- the first goal had me out of my seat, cheering and dancing around the room, so I was forced to break out the old 'mechanical bull ride' for the final one. That last goal was clearly outside Sampi's normal range, but Samps just seems to be one of those guys who can play beyond his limitations in 'those' sort of moments. The Iceman cometh once more.
In defence, there were some ups and downs. Maybe its still the adrenaline talking, but I was actually pretty happy with how Carroll went on Rawlings. He never shut him down, but in the second half he did enough to limit a guy who was vastly more talented than him, although Rawlings' errant kicking helped. I was also very happy with Humm, who was more than solid in the small defensive role. Lynch kicked well out of defence in the latter half of the game, and Wirra did some decent mop up work.
Overall, that was one of the best football games I have ever seen, period. The Dogs played out of their skins at times, the lead and momentum seesawed, and the final result was the right one for us. I think I'm going to email the club asking for a nice comfortable win next week, because a few more like that will see me have a cardiac arrest by round 5.
The Bad
Not withstanding all of the above, the reality was that but for luck and some individual brilliance, the Dogs would have this game and we'd be doing a lot more soul searching.
Unsurprisingly, the biggest woes were in defence. Lynch got pantsed early on by Rawlings, and Carroll, although he toiled manfully, was never going to shut him down. It is perhaps a bit deflating to see Lynch fail after showing such promise, but we definitely need to stick with him. On hard leading forwards Lynch struggles because he lacks leg speed, but we knew that already- really, Lynchy started lining up against one of the best leading forwards in the competition at Full Back, so the end result shouldn't be too surprising. The next few weeks should be the proof of the pudding.
Meanwhile Staker used the ball well in places, but then did a few absolutely ****ing idiotic things just at the wrong time. That fifty metre penalty.... ... He's your player Ex, you can try and defend him! Another less obvious but equally serious deficiency was our lack of anyone who could handle Johnson- Green was pretty insipid on him which didn't surprise me at all given Kasey's poor form in the preseason- lift your game Irish.
Up forward, McDougall was okay for about three minutes in the first half, and then did sweet bugger all for the rest of the game. Again, we're going to have to be patient with Doogs, but he was certainly another who failed to live up to his expectation. I would have also liked to see more from Cox, who, whilst okay, didn't really dominate.
The worst thing about this game was that it really didn't seem different to last year- in fact, parts of it bore an uncanny resemblence to our stunning win against the Pies at Telstra last year. We won, played outstandingly in places and poorly in others. The midfield was great, the backline had some holes, and we struggled for a tall target up forward- hopefully things can change over the next few weeks.
The Ugly
Banfield's injury was gut wrenching- the mail is that he might be okay, but initially it looked like the worst- we can probably cover him, (especially with the Hummer coming up so well!) but a serious knee injury could have been career ending for Banners.
Speaking of ugly, Cooney was bloody entertaining to watch from his first clanger, to his chunder at quarter time and onwards.- he had some hilariously bad and some absolutely outstanding aspects about him. There's no doubt he has the potential to be another Chris Judd (three years into his career and I think the Juddster has enough prestige to merit placing his 'next' tag on a up and comer)- loved his tackling and he has a great ability to keep his feet just like Saint Chris.
The umpiring was patchy, but not too bad- having said that, the centre bounces were absolutely horrific, to the point of having a serious impact on the game- having a dominant ruckmen is somewhat less use when the **** doing the bounce is unable to reliably have it land in the centre square let alone the circle. Channel 10's coverage was iffy- I hated the way the cut away so quickly after the game- a contest as tight as that deserved a reasonable wrap up.
NB- I totally forgot to mention this with all the excitement, but something really needs to be done about Darcy's tactics at centre bounces- its not just unsporting, its bloody dangerous and could seriously injure people. Tunnelling is a great way to snap someone's spine, and the AFL needs to step on it immediately.
All up, we got the points, and now we've got some work to do. With Port looking scary next week, the reality is unless we can sort some things out quickly, its going to be a tough couple of weeks till Gassy and Glassy get back. Having said that, I think in a few weeks we'll know just what this game meant, because personally I think we were up against a bloody a good side. Commiserations to the Dogs on the loss, and congratulations to them for helping put together what will no doubt be considered one of the games of the season- they deserved to win that as much as us, and must be justifiably gutted after playing so well. One thing I'm certain of is that the team which played us today is not a wooden spoon side by any stretch of the imagination.
