In general...

[Gaspode]

First things first - Jeez it's great having footy back.

Positives first for me.

Tarrant, great job on defense
Peake - They call him the streak - he looked quick tonight.
Sandi - Totally got taken out in the first quearter by double teaming, but his fitness held up.
3rd Quarter - the Dogs looked tired, we looked good.

Negatives.
4th Quarter - Didn't even look interested after about 10 minutes. Hope Harvey tears them all a new one for the poor effort at the end.
Missed Pav. Very quiet game from the great one.
Head - well quite simply, got to go, your time has come and gone.

Outlook.
If you believed that we were a finals team this year - you're going to have a bad year, but I saw enough to keep me hopeful for the coming seasons. We've got some really good players, and get them to gel, and there is a future.

 

[rgauci]

Some interesting statistics:

Tarrant had 11x 1% tonight. Remember a spoil is considered a 1%. Just highlighting how effective his game was tonight.

Stephen Hill had 9 disposals at 100% efficiency, in otherwords he never turned the ball over.

Ryan Crowley on the other hand had a disposal efficiency of 36%.

Josh Head had 15 disposals at 53% efficiency. Andrew Browne 54%.

Our leading clearance winners were Hasleby and Sandiland with 6 each followed by Rhys Palmer with 4.

 

[westy1]

the grover up fwd experiment must end as of now,he looks lost up fwd to me,
what i find dissapointing is that the season is only one game old and for the first time ever i feel that we are gone already,
maybe harvs is trying to build something from the ground up and yes he has told us not to expect much but just to say that and throw in the towel that easily doesnt sit well with me,
even in the drum years i used to watch the footy with a blind faith that "this was the game when we would turn things around" foolish ? yes ,fun ? hell yeah
nothing has changed as far as i'm concerned and to be honest i think we have got worse
you cant win games or even be competitve if you repeatedly turn the ball over because of poor skills and inept decision making,
after a quarter and a half today i realised we are doing all the stupid things we have done for the last 14 years ,turn the ball over repeatedly through crap skills and poor decision making under pressure.
i hope next week we turn things around but i wont be holding my breath
I for one can't force myself to take any solace from a 10 goal thumping

 

[sabre_ac]

Considering it was Haselby's first game back I thought he looked really good.

I've long since accepted his lazier side, but his ability to clear the ball and read Sandi will go a long way this season.

 

[Sman-21]

First thing is Pav needs to play more time forward absolutely wasted in the middle as he doesnt have the speed to get out of trouble, yes he gets the ball well but generally gets it under massive pressure an is tackled straight away which means he cant get a clean disposal.

2nd Murphy an Bradley are not midfielders they should not be playing there.
Murphy is a forward keep him there if he does nothing drop him.

3rd Our inability to get the ball out of our defensive half was a HUGE worry.
Everytime the dogs kicked a point we struggled to get the ball out an when we went long we were easily outnumbered. This may have been due to the buldogs having a massive zone using all there players, or we had no plans, or players had no idea of plans.

 

[pinkus maximus]

Pav is not a midifielders A-hole. Our coaches seem obsessed with having big bodies in the centre square. It's not about the size of your body, it's how well you anticipate the fall of the ball and, most importantly, once you get it you use it cleanly and hopefully to the advantage of your team. Pav just tries to bulldoze his way through and it doesn't work

And what game plan where we trying to implement exactly? This zone stuff is shithouse

Now I didn't expect to come away with a win but I did expect to see a team out there which had some clue of what it was doing

very, very dissapointing start

 

[Clay Davis]

It was the highest score kicked against us since 2001. So, this reiterates the fact that our defence is woeful.

Harvey's fault? No, not really. In fact it validates what he's trying to do. Aside from our top three backs (Hayden, McPharlin, Grover) we have piss poor defensive depth. Something that needs fixing and the only way to do that is to rotate players through there.

 

[paul8241]

Unfortunately I couldn't see the game, but isn't it to soon to write off players, particularly if they've only had a few games to adjust to the faster tempo. This was their first real test for the year and a couple of them haven't seen much action at that level.

These guys are mature bodied and if there is physical toll for our team to take, I'd rather these guys be attacking the packs and getting smashed then our lighter framed recruits. If there is any doubt that these players can't improve after 4 - 5 weeks, then they will never be list insurance or depth, only clutter.

Looking at the poor performances of our seasoned and proven players, training may have seen these fringe players thinking they were closer to the bar then they really were. Our top players need to be setting a much high standard for themselves and the rest of our list, otherwise we are in for a depressing few years.

 

[Polly]

Mundy was very disappointing, really struggled to get to contests, I seriously think he should be playing on the half forward line, his skills are great but seriously lacks speed!
The back line seemed more intent on filling holes than actually manning up on anyone, Tarrant excluded, he played a good game, sadly he was playing on the AFL's love child Brad Johnson and was hence crucified by the umpires on a number of occasions.
Duffield makes me nervous in the back line, hes undersized and would prefer him to be rotating through the middle, I thought his game was quite poor, Im surprised by the reviews by some commentators and posters.
Midfield combination of Pav, Mundy and Hasleby is just to slow, can't have them all in their at once.
Pavlich could take a lesson or two from McPharlin on how to attack a contest in the forward line.
I thought Grover was doing a job in the forward line in the first quarter, he was killing contests with his size allowing the smaller players to get involved, needs to score a few himself however we really need his experience down back, it could have been just a match up scenario last night as the bullies don't have a big forward line.
Still handballing to players in trouble, the most frustrating and biggest factor in our loss last night! Ridiculous handballs and turnovers in the centre of the ground!
The bullies have been playing together for 3-4 years now and are well skilled, something to try and emulate. Still doesn't make it any easier to tak, Very disappointed.

 

[Lach72]

Basi stuff still frustrates me.

Duffields last quarter barin fart where he tried to run through two oppenents being the case in point.

Sometimes a kick 50m down the field out of trouble, even if it's turned over, is the go.

Whatever happened to kicking to the boundary when you're in the shit?

 

[Clay Davis]

Whatever happened to kicking to the boundary when you're in the shit?

Indeed. Couldn't believe we didn't try it. Was it just me, or did it seem there were very few ruck contests?

 

[Lach72]

Indeed. Couldn't believe we didn't try it. Was it just me, or did it seem there were very few ruck contests?

Yes.
Using the defensive flank seems to have gone out of the game and we really need to use it sometimes to overcome our problems at the back.

At least if they stuff it up, it's outside 50

 

[Clay Davis]

Yes.
Using the defensive flank seems to have gone out of the game and we really need to use it sometimes to overcome our problems at the back.

At least if they stuff it up, it's outside 50

There were also way too many shanked centring kicks in the back 50. If you're going to shank a kick, make sure it's heading towards the boundary.

Too often the play in the backline reminded me of Freo in the 90s.

 

[Lach72]

There were also way too many shanked centring kicks in the back 50. If you're going to shank a kick, make sure it's heading towards the boundary.

Too often the play in the backline reminded me of Freo in the 90s.

God yes...Cringeworthy.

Michael Johnson had been playing well up forward.

Goes back for the first time, gets the ball and kicks to an area where 3 bulldogs are and hits one on the chest.

**** me...*Lach pull hair out*

 

[DrJon]

Dan Parker >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Josh Head.

Dan Parker <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Witches Hat

 

[shiny_on_top]

Sure the defenders disposal was abysmal but its not all their fault. I lay a whole lot of the loss on our midfielders. Other then the odd stoppage win they were useless. Not once did they present a decent option for a defender to kick to when they were under pressure. The whole group of them had no defensive pressure what so ever. The amount of time their was a contest that the bulldogs had one and Pavlich's man ran forward and got a goal when Pavlich was walking fifty metres behind him, I could not believe. I can name two off the top of my head. The contest on the wing where Peake won the hard ball and had no options to hand ball to and in turn turned it over to Gia who ran past Pav and he just watched him run into the fifty and nail a goal. Another one was where Pavlich was on Cooneys hammer, Cooney got the handball off, got it back and nailed a goal from fifty while Pav was standing shaking his head at least 15 metres behind him.

Of course Pavlich isnt the only one but if you have a look at the golascorers most are mids who got f***in easy goals. Some from turnovers from poor disposal but also from lack of workrate from the midfield.

 

[Freodoc]

Sorry posted this in the wrong thread:

In general about what you expect when an experienced talent filled top four side takes on a rebuilding one. We were very good in patches and awful in others.

I hope Harvey is experimenting with players in different roles and will settle things a bit when it's clear who can do what.

Johnson is a good target at half forward, much better at this than defending.
Peake is a good forward. He's back in town.
Tarrant is a decent defender and played with some real heart.

We did a fair job of the zone but just don't have quite enough polish or experience to pull it off over 4 quarters. Should have dropped back to man on man when we were getting drilled.
__________________

With respect eshed, isn't that what the pre-season comp is all about? I realise that injuries etc may force the coaches hand to play people in different positions, but the season proper is not about trying new things... at least not against a top 3 team, or maybe just one or two things per game. Not the whole frigging team out of place!!!

Sorry but I'm really pissed at whoever made those decisions yesterday and feel that the coaching staff should bear a large responsibility for yesterdays debacle.

 

[E Shed]

Well Freodoc I don't think preseason games can really give the intensity of the real thing. My thinking is Harvey had some ideas he wanted to try and once it's clear what is and isn't working he'll start settling players and the gameplan. I can't see any way to short cut this process when you have 13 new players and most of your veterans gone.
Provided we start gelling a bit a few games in I'm prepared to take some pain now.

 

[aussieviking]

I agree that Pavlich's defensive pressure is often poor.It is the major area of his game that lets him down and sets a bad tone as captain.

 

[Freodoc]

Point taken Eshed, but I don't think you can teach an old dog ( No pun intended!), new tricks.
Taz had a very good game yesterday and that move may be a success if he plays consistently at that level.
Grover didn't look very comfortable playing forward and McPharlin was sorely needed down back.
Don't think that Pav belongs in the midfield and certainly not down back even tho' he did play there for us in his early career. FFS where are the goals going to come from given that he has been our leading goalkicker for ever??

Still seething...

 

[Sman-21]

The whole season will be about trial an error not just pre season.

Harvey will be trying out all his new players and guys close to being delisted/traded in a variety of roles to see where they are best for the team.

Which is why i never expected much this season in terms of ladder position and wins but i expected us to be putting up more of a fight.

But some things will never work like Kepler and murphy in the centre or on wings.
Start them off down forward it gives our mids the chance to get a quick clearance and kick t long under pressure to some tall marking targets.
Then give Kep the license to run whereverer he wants richo style but Murphy stays forward. By kep running more it creates more space down forward.

Nothing pisses me of more when our mids get a quick clearance under massive pressure, ball wobbles straight down middle of ground to CHF an we have nobody there to take a grab or get it.

And I Have never liked the idea of Pav being midfield or Mcpharlin playing mostly forward.
You dont take away your strengths to fix your weaknesses.
That just weakens you all over the ground instead of just being weak in 1 area.