I'm a big believer in the saying, you're only as good as your last game and regardless of the last 4 weeks, we were absolutely crap today. I was happy that we fought the game out, which would distinguish us from the Freo of old. But for the majority of the game, I didn't see a team on the rise, I saw a team that simply didn't want it enough.
I thought that we were a good chance in the game, but from the first bounce, the saints were first to the ball and looked hungry (a good sign for the saints fans). The saints hit the ball and the man hard and were consequently great in the clearances all day. What really frustrated me in the first quarter was that when Schammer got hit late, not one freo player went over and remonstrated. Can you imagine if a teammate was decked late in front of Jonathan Brown or blokes like Chris and Brad Scott?
Connolly again playing a spare man in the back line also frustrated me. The saints were getting the better of the midfield dual, but I thought that they were also using the spare man in defence alot better than us in terms of rebounding out of the back line. Gehrig was getting good delivery all day and putting a spare man in the back line was doing bugger all to stop him. It was also dodgy with the amount of times Saints players would take uncontested marks in the back line.
While I thought we played like complete crap for the majority of the game, you've got to give credit to the saints. Everytime we made a mistake, they punished us. They were harder at the ball for the majority of the game and have key forwards who give them confidence and straighten them up going forward.
The most disappointing thing about today’s game was that the Dockers were too S-O-F-T. There's been so much talk of how much weight our players have put on over the preseason, but it means bugger all if you don't know what to do with it. A few players like McPharlin, Bell, Hase, Grover and Pav can hold their heads up, but overall our attack on the ball and the man was pretty poor. Maybe I'm being too critical, but this one cut deep!!
I thought that we were a good chance in the game, but from the first bounce, the saints were first to the ball and looked hungry (a good sign for the saints fans). The saints hit the ball and the man hard and were consequently great in the clearances all day. What really frustrated me in the first quarter was that when Schammer got hit late, not one freo player went over and remonstrated. Can you imagine if a teammate was decked late in front of Jonathan Brown or blokes like Chris and Brad Scott?
Connolly again playing a spare man in the back line also frustrated me. The saints were getting the better of the midfield dual, but I thought that they were also using the spare man in defence alot better than us in terms of rebounding out of the back line. Gehrig was getting good delivery all day and putting a spare man in the back line was doing bugger all to stop him. It was also dodgy with the amount of times Saints players would take uncontested marks in the back line.
While I thought we played like complete crap for the majority of the game, you've got to give credit to the saints. Everytime we made a mistake, they punished us. They were harder at the ball for the majority of the game and have key forwards who give them confidence and straighten them up going forward.
The most disappointing thing about today’s game was that the Dockers were too S-O-F-T. There's been so much talk of how much weight our players have put on over the preseason, but it means bugger all if you don't know what to do with it. A few players like McPharlin, Bell, Hase, Grover and Pav can hold their heads up, but overall our attack on the ball and the man was pretty poor. Maybe I'm being too critical, but this one cut deep!!
