Autopsy Pies win ugly by 20 points

[TheFreshBanana]

I thought we never really hit top gear at all throughout that match, and we'll be happy to take that win against a Carlton side who were very eager to make up for last week. Albeit, their game plan meant they were never really going to win.

However, I think there were issues all over the ground. The way we played seemed more like the Collingwood of the past rather than 2018 Collingwood.

Our tackling and defensive pressure was really off the mark of what it should be week in week out.

I thought we were very poor with the ball in terms of decision and ball use. Although Carlton were flooding the defence, there were times when we just kicked long inside 50 and hoped Cox would do something, which has never been the way we've played this year. I also thought there was a bit of a disconnect between the forwards and mids this week. Whether the forwards weren't running the usual leading patterns or the mids weren't kicking it to where they should have been.

Also, I think the position that Mihocek plays in the side is a concern. I just cannot see him as a long term option. Right now, Cox is not going to be that guy who takes pack marks. For whatever reason, it's too easy to be grabbing at his hands in packs and disrupt him with so many bodies around him. The good thing is that he needs 2 or 3 players on him. The issue is, Mihocek just does not seem to instil confidence that he can take a big pack mark. In that regard, Ben Reid definitely has that over him. Granted, there is a query regarding Reid's mobility and injury proneness. It's a a difficult one for the club. I don't think we can bank on the solution being Lynch. The improvement has to come from Mihocek, Reid, Moore or some other forward in the VFL. McClarty? To me, this is the biggest area of concern in regards to becoming a premiership threat.

I am also really curious as to what the instructions are for Mayne in regards to his ball use. I can't work out whether his games are overall positive or negative, due to his weak ball use. I've never seen a player where their ball use consistently just zaps momentum from the play. Are they deliberate instructions due to poor skill? Or has he just been brainwashed by Ross Lyon too much? If he can fix this from his game, he would be a valuable asset to the side.

Daicos is also another worry. He just adds nothing to the side at this point. He's 2 or 3 years off AFL level imo. His biggest asset should be his ball use, which just isn't up to scratch at this point. I think he'll come good, just not ready for AFL yet.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

**** it is hard to please some people. Last game was beautiful, this was ugly.

We won our fifth game in a row, taking us to 9-4 and are 4th on the ladder.

Get some perspective.

Nup. **** ya.

The sky’s falling. We suck. Locks for the spoon.

 

[Scodog10]

....and can we now end the debate about who wins the Rising Star?

Settle down I wouldn’t be so quick to declare Witherden

It seemed that we went at a smidge above half rat power in that one, but that’s denying Carlton the plaudits they deserve for how well they structured up. They were brilliant at closing down the space 5-10 metres directly in front of the releasing kicker off half back. The number of times we had to second guess because of it was frustrating. Cripps was the standout player on the field and they were probably Kruezer going down from pushing us right to the line.

Two observations from being there live were the difference in positioning of Dunn and Jones as the spare. What Dunn has done has been nothing short of remarkable, however he struggles as the extra number to identify where the dangerous space is going to be. He’s much better served as a caravan as he would have been had Casboult played. Jones on the other hand was exceptional both one on one and as the spare. We could do worse than chasing him come years end.

The other one that was difficult to swallow live was the commitment to the contest. We overcommitted too much this week whereas Carlton basically said “you get in there Patty we’ll do the rest” and whilst I’m not sure it’s the best way to utilise him against us it worked.

Daicos and Mayne should be thankful for the lack of pressure on spots ATM because they were poor. Langdon and JT need those credits in the bank for that one (Langdon’s especially frustrating after his standout game v Melbourne). It was good to see Scharenberg bounce back a bit, but leaving him isolated v Curnow as much as we did didn’t help his cause. I don’t think there was much else to highlight individually because none of our guys really distinguished themselves, IMO. Bank the 4 points and move on is the best I can offer.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

So posters are complaining about a win, bet its the 'Bucks Can't Coach' reactionary's

 

[barrackers]

I don't mind that the win was below par especially in the week were we reached top 4. It should keep the hype down externally and also ensure we don't get complacent. Although really the win was against a side for who came to play and executed their desired style well. We need to learn to adapt to such tactics to ensure we maintain our structure/system, because I'm sure other sides will be studying this game and that against the cats.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

The ability to win ugly is a sign of a good team. We did it against Brisbane and we did it again today. Teams will occasionally play above themselves, just like we did when we knocked off West Coast in 2005.

To see them off and bank the points is all you can ask. We would have lost this is any other year - in fact even with our quality teams of the late 2000’s we routinely lost to cellar dwellers (Carlton, Richmond and Melbourne in particular spring to mind in some if not most years between 2007-2010). These losses crucified us in some of those years in terms of ultimate finishing position We’re not losing them this year.

It’s a positive.

 

[ColinMochrie]

What are you on?

When we beat Adelaide, on their ground, they were in the eight.
We just beat Melbourne.
Very good against Richmond until last 20 minutes.
Should've knocked off GWS but for some bad luck in the last quarter.

Things could be a lot worse.

Oh don't get me wrong I think we are doing well. But just don't think we will be consistent enough over 4 weeks against good opposition in a row. We can beat any team when performing to our best. But our best isn't on display for 4 quarters every week and the best sides will hurt us in those moments.

Out of the 4 sides that will be playing in September this year (Tigers, GWS, Cats, Melbourne) we have lost 3 of them.
I am keeping the lid on until the tough run of eagles, North, tigers, swans. That is a finals series there and if we can do well there and end up top 4 I will reevalute.

 

[Countrypie]

What's the bets Cripps gets 3 votes and Curnow gets 2?

Even money. Curnow deservedly so

 

[ColinMochrie]

**** it is hard to please some people. Last game was beautiful, this was ugly.

We won our fifth game in a row, taking us to 9-4 and are 4th on the ladder.

Get some perspective.

Yeah like I mentioned before, noone remembers the "horrible win" against Brisbane do they? It just goes down as a win and we move on.

If we lose then be annoyed. At this time of year wins on the board are all that matter.

 

[ColinMochrie]

Don’t quite agree on us making up the numbers.
Comfortable in us being worthy finalists.

If you strictly mean a grand finalist, then that’s a different discussion. We are yet to earn that.

I am just keeping the lid on and do understand why other supporters may consider us not a real threat. We could beat a team or two in finals for sure but just can't see us being consistent enough over a month against top competition to make it all the way.

And I am sure that's what the Richmond fans are talking about when they say "making up the numbers". They are talking premiership credentials.

 

[Mkcaptain]

Jones on the other hand was exceptional both one on one and as the spare. We could do worse than chasing him come years end.

Not sure I agree with you there. From where I was sitting Jones was woeful. Got caught out horribly on a few occasions (Paul Roos was also particularly harsh on Triple M).

And then his ball use would have given Carlton supporters nightmares last night.

 

[Apex36]

Not sure I agree with you there. From where I was sitting Jones was woeful. Got caught out horribly on a few occasions (Paul Roos was also particularly harsh on Triple M).

And then his ball use would have given Carlton supporters nightmares last night.

Gotta agree with this. One incident stuck out in my mind when he was in Stephenson, got caught ball watching, and Stephenson ended up getting 30m on him for the mark inside 50. It was god awful defence.

 

[Scodog10]

Not sure I agree with you there. From where I was sitting Jones was woeful. Got caught out horribly on a few occasions (Paul Roos was also particularly harsh on Triple M).

And then his ball use would have given Carlton supporters nightmares last night.

His kick to Stephenson aside which just wasn’t on (I mean even if he’d marked it then what?) his game was exceptional in the context of their performance as a group.

The I50 count was 53 v 37, we won time in possession, we won the clearance battle, time in forward half, he had 11 intercept possessions and we had 4 of the top 5 top possession winners through the midfield. Everything pointed to a domination forward of the centre. I’m sure there were periods where you could pick holes in his positioning, but that feels so harsh when he was a one man band back there as a defender (I don’t consider Simpson a defender).

Like a man putting his fingers in the dyke to hold back the tide there’s only so much you can do and if you dropped him into our D50 with support from Shaz, Langdon, Howe, Maynard and Crisp. I would be shocked if Curnow had the same level of impact. I’ll phrase it another way, without Jones how much do we win by?

 

[The Dawes]

6 o'clock finish and a drive home to Bendigo, didn't get home till just on 8pm. I'd hate to have a young family that had school the next day to prepare for. And Bendigo isn't far relative to the distance some drive. I can understand it when they need a 3:20pm game to accommodate the f2a broadcasters but no f2a coverage today so why not a traditional 2:10pm start.

totally agree. Hate these timeslots when you've got primary school aged kids... actually hate them full stop. No justification when Channel 7 wasn't even broadcasting.

we seem to be getting a lot of them.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

totally agree. Hate these timeslots when you've got primary school aged kids... actually hate them full stop. No justification when Channel 7 wasn't even broadcasting.

we seem to be getting a lot of them.

You make a really good point
That time-slot is so that Channel 7 have a high rating program leading into their News
But 7 didn't have the rights and Fox have 24 hour News services, so why the late start?

I hate Sunday football full stop, but its even worse at 3:20pm.
Why not a 1:45pm start?

 

[BEEG]

Treloar 2nd half was really good started to get things moving, he is really quick.

DeGoey started to get more involved in the 2nd half that mark he took unbalanced before kicking the goal up close was impressive.

Not sure about Greenwood would continue with Daicos and Mayne

Overall crap footy but got the job done against a team who just wanted to defend all day, Pies blew out the cobwebs after the bye and got the W against the old enemy, take that every day of the week

 

[The Dawes]

yesterday was just one of those days where you just bank the four points and move on... best not to dwell on it.

Don't think I'm even motivated enough to watch the replay.

 

[BEEG]

Hard to argue Cripps doesn't deserve the 3 votes.

Played well protected by the umpires anytime he got near the footy.

 

[The Dawes]

You make a really good point
That time-slot is so that Channel 7 have a high rating program leading into their News
But 7 didn't have the rights and Fox have 24 hour News services, so why the late start?

I hate Sunday football full stop, but its even worse at 3:20pm.
Why not a 1:45pm start?

I think a 1.45pm or 1.10pm start time is a much better option.

 

[BPikkers]

Definitely in need of a big bodied or taller athletic defender.

That’s where Moore will be important or McLarty needs to get games.

 

[BEEG]

Thomas is a ****ing waste of space seagull.

**** him like i have said on this board before Thomas should never become life member.

 

[Chrispiesssss]

Not a match worth rewatching, but we played “okay” football, especially when you consider how bad Carlton’s flooding was.

You replace:
Mayne —> Aish
Greenwood —> Varcoe/ Elliot
Daicos —> Wells/ Brown
Appleby —> in-form Murray

We probably won’t get all of those 6 blokes back, but if we could get 3-4 in full flight, we could seriously be a finals threat

 

[Dynamics]

Yeah like I mentioned before, noone remembers the "horrible win" against Brisbane do they? It just goes down as a win and we move on.

If we lose then be annoyed. At this time of year wins on the board are all that matter.

I do! It was my only live game for the year and we played great attacking footy. We were just garbage going the other way.

 

[magpies42]

Tough winning after a bye, what is pleasing is that we managed to grind it out when we weren’t playing well.

Daisy is a true flog, loved the stat from a few weeks ago that Daisy and Beams had 10 or so wins between them since leaving the club. Beams left for legitimate reasons, Daisy is a whinging brat.

Bring on Gold Coast, and hopefully some percentage

 

[jackcass]

Not a match worth rewatching, but we played “okay” football, especially when you consider how bad Carlton’s flooding was.

You replace:
Mayne —> Aish
Greenwood —> Varcoe/ Elliot
Daicos —> Wells/ Brown
Appleby —> in-form Murray

We probably won’t get all of those 6 blokes back, but if we could get 3-4 in full flight, we could seriously be a finals threat

Thought Appleby was good yesterday. We lost nothing in defence swapping him and Greenwood. Murray needs to work on his disposal before he's a consideration again at senior level, just turns it over way too much, even yesterday against the Northern Blues.