Port game thoughts

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

As an outsider looking in, I just cannot for the life of me understand why Craig isnt picking Walker at the moment.

For the same reasons Choco wont pick Salter probably

At 4-2 Choco has at least got something to justify his selection decisions.

We're not seeing any improvement in one of our young key position players or winning matches... it's really starting to get on my and other supporters nerves.

If you're going badly but you can at least see some light at the end of the tunnel then you can almost stomach the losses. Almost. But at the moment we're playing badly and there is very little to be enthused about long term either. Heck, in our first half today where we played ok it was probably McLeod, Edwards and Goodwin who were our best three midfielders. Yipes!

 

[WALL-e]

Just for everyone's info on changes and how they should be made.

Instead of saying 0-6 time for change.

Maybe, ****ing hell another week of changes.

We've not had a balanced team for one week. And I don't expect we will soon. Not good.

 

[DavidSaywell]

So much negativity about. I was there and felt we really controlled the first half but didn't get the score we deserved. Could/should have been 18 points up. Despite all the talk about the last quarter, it was the 3rd that I felt we didn't take advantage of the superior position we still had. We stop pushing forward as directly as we had and let the ferals back into the game. The last quarter reflected the number of underdone players in our team and the 8/9 first choice players not available. Disappointing but not surprising. Not happy with a loss but content with more direct game plan and more kicks than handballs. Injuries have wrecked this season but lets try and find the positives out of the rest of the games. I hope our coaching panel looks to the future and plays Walker, Jaench et al. Lets see what they have

 

[WALL-e]

Thought we started to play some real good footy in the 2nd quarter.

We were competetive and let a 10 minute burst in the 4th, mainly with opportunist goals, beat us.

 

[jenny61_99]

Just for everyone's info on changes and how they should be made.

Instead of saying 0-6 time for change.

Maybe, ****ing hell another week of changes.

We've not had a balanced team for one week. And I don't expect we will soon. Not good.

I guess the main plus from today is that we didn't get any further injuries. So the changes won't be "forced".

 

[QPower]

Once Adelaide get some more players on the park and more conditioning into those who have returned they will be fine, but 2010 is gone. Will be a very dangerous opponent for likely finalists in the run to September.

 

[bus24]

I guess the main plus from today is that we didn't get any further injuries. So the changes won't be "forced".

Well, not on the field.

No doubt someone would've slipped in the shower, or fallen over on the way to the carpark (probably Douglas).

 

[brucetiki]

Despite the final scoreline this was our best perfomance so far this season. For three quarters, we played some good football, Tippet and Porplyzia starting to get back into some good form with 7 goals between them. On several occasions in the first half we were a couple of goals down, yet we dug deep and fought back into the lead.

Then there was the final quarter. It started well for the first 30 seconds. Then Burton decided to be a hero in our forward pocket and keep a ball in play instead of letting it go out of bounds then not continue to chase after the ball, resulting in a Port goal. For some reason, from there the side rolled over and let Port run riot. The complete lack of effort and desire to win in the last quarter was very disappointing.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Despite the final scoreline this was our best perfomance so far this season. .

This is a regular comment on the Richmond board.

 

[brucetiki]

This is a regular comment on the Richmond board.

and your point is?

 

[sworc36]

and your point is?

I think he is trying to be smart and compare us with Richmond. Anything positive about the Crows isnt really on his radar at the moment.

 

[Allefgib]

I think we are possibly in more trouble as a club at the moment than some think.

It won't be as simple as getting a few more fit players back. We need to get the players playing for each other again which just is NOT happening at the moment. To often we hang our teammates out to dry, don't honour guys in space or with a break on their opponent and rarely see guys working hard to block and shepherd for each other.

Yes we showed some good signs that we are nowhere near as bad as our record. Yet our record still stands and cannot be argued against.

The last quarter showed we are not willing to take the game on often enough when the pressure is on. We lacked the necessary courage to take the game on and the willpower to keep running. More concerning - I'm not sure who the players are that we can rely on to run through defensive zones (given thats the way to beat them).

 

[CroCop]

Ok Drummond each player has to bring some special attributes to their play .......remember it's about having players that perform in finals NOT minor round games

Schmidt .....is he fast ...NO

Is he a good kick .......he's passable but his kicks are not penetrating and they have a loopyness about them

Is he footy smart .....NO

At least with Jaensch he brings good leg speed, good temperment, and a very penetrating kick

I just can't see any standout qualities that I can see with Henderson and Jaensch

Agree that Schmidt is only a vanilla player. Also Waynee I dont agree with you on Davis. Yes he has good skills and reads the game well but he is not what i want in our defence. Too slow reaction, plays from behind, always too far behind his man and absolutely provides no run. I want a player that can shimmy a player and get around him and still have the courage to take a bounce , Otten did this last year and so did Bassett, and Ben Hart before him , all guys that played third tall. I really see Davis as only being a forward once he puts on weight. I can see teams really playing through his man once they see how slow he is.

 

[CroCop]

I can't believe that either, Salter is a gun, should definitely be in your side.

If you were at the game you will have noticed also he only got cheap possessions when we switched play and kicked it freely amongst ourselves in the backline. He is too slow and plays from behind and not once did he win out of a congested situation and provide run. I dont want him in defence.

 

[frednerk33]

I think we are possibly in more trouble as a club at the moment than some think.

It won't be as simple as getting a few more fit players back. We need to get the players playing for each other again which just is NOT happening at the moment. To often we hang our teammates out to dry, don't honour guys in space or with a break on their opponent and rarely see guys working hard to block and shepherd for each other.

Yes we showed some good signs that we are nowhere near as bad as our record. Yet our record still stands and cannot be argued against.

The last quarter showed we are not willing to take the game on often enough when the pressure is on. We lacked the necessary courage to take the game on and the willpower to keep running. More concerning - I'm not sure who the players are that we can rely on to run through defensive zones (given thats the way to beat them).

Yes Yes Yes.

What also really stood out is they don't run back from a mark/free hard or far enough to give themselves space to lace out the pass like other better teams do - they're pushed up too close to the mark to do it properly. It was a consistent pattern. P*ssy lollypoppy passes are the result.

We aren't far from a win - we were competitive for 3 quarters. But Players aren't their shadows of last year, injuries also mean we bring in average youngsters (thats what our eyes and the stats tell us).

 

[frednerk33]

I forgive dogga for his out of bounds kick. We could have won the game even with that if we'd persisted.

 

[chigwidden]

My thoughts, FWIW

I'm more inclined to post the positives, so ... that's mostly what's here.

There was a moment in the third quarter when you could see, just for a few minutes, that our players truly believed they could win. It's the first time I've seen it this season, and it gave me hope...

...Up until we collapsed entirely in the fourth quarter. This game was the most disappointing loss this year, for that reason, for me.

Other things that give me hope:

That we came back from two goal deficits three times in that game is also something that I'm hanging onto as evidence that we are improving. A slide doesn't always mean a collapse for us -- we can bring back the fight and step back up. And that's even without Danger's amazing cheerleading and team-lifting skills.

Porps takes four weeks to get back into form. I've been waiting as patiently as I can, and this week, he played two great quarters, where he was fighting for the ball in the pack and sticking his marks, and aiming true.

Tippett is also playing into form, but oh, man, he needs more confidence. One shot at goal that went wildly astray and it was like he lost his mojo.

Stiffy is a rock for the team, right now. That's great, when it's working -- people pass back to him, the whole team breathes a sigh of relief, like "it'll all be okay now, Stiffy's got it", and we move forward with purpose. (well, kinda). But when Stiffy loses concentration, the whole team goes down with him. I'm a bit boggled at just how much the team ebbed and flowed with him, TBH.

Reilly has been doing a stand-up job. He's (unlike some others) rarely had an attack of the stupids. I just wish his thinking was a bit less glacial.

Was really interested to see Jaensch attempting to model himself on Stiffy a couple of times in the run out of defence. Give the kid props, he's gonna be someone.


The downsides ... well, we lost.

No, there's more than that. I really am utterly fed up with the safe game the Crows play. It didn't work last season when we were in good form, and it absolutely doesn't work now. When we play safe, it's always a matter of time before we make an error, and it always seems like that will happen in the oppositions forward 50, leading to a goal. When we're out of form, it happens in seconds. FFS stop it! We are so much better when we run on, play forward, keep attacking -- why we ever try to slow the game down is a mystery to me.

 

[footy4ever]

Disagree, when we were flying last year each of those players were more than serviceable.

Knights, Dangerfield and Mackay - don't need to elaborate
Symes - contested footy and runs the lines
Sellar - plays the second ruckman role leaving Tippett to stay up forward
Otten - run from defence

Its that simple.

Yes. It really is that simple. I would have liked just one of those players around the ball in the last quarter yesterday. Danger eg. would have made a huge difference.

 

[King Elvis]

If you were at the game you will have noticed also he only got cheap possessions when we switched play and kicked it freely amongst ourselves in the backline. He is too slow and plays from behind and not once did he win out of a congested situation and provide run. I dont want him in defence.

What... Salter?

 

[WALL-e]

We ran out of juice BAD in the last. So flat footed. That's the toll playing young players has, they don't have the tank.

Though we were 15 minutes of footy away from a very good game.

 

[-CG-]

I was happy to see early on, particularly in the first quarter, we changed things up a bit and tried something different. If I'm not mistaken I even saw our players manning up on their opposition when they were in possession of the ball on their half back flank It certainly made life more difficult for Port.

But then slowly we reverted back to playing how we have been the whole season and they would just catch us out with fast ball movement. And of course there was the last term where we just stopped

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

We ran out of juice BAD in the last. So flat footed. That's the toll playing young players has, they don't have the tank.

Though we were 15 minutes of footy away from a very good game.

Yep

The kids haven't developed the tank yet, the veterans don't have enough gas for 120 minutes of football anymore plus a few of the guys who have been injured like Porplyzia and Bock can't run out a full game.

Even though we were in front at 3/4 time, did anyone actually feel confident of winning? The last quarter had a real sense of inevitability about it.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Yep

The kids haven't developed the tank yet, the veterans don't have enough gas for 120 minutes of football anymore plus a few of the guys who have been injured like Porplyzia and Bock can't run out a full game.

Even though we were in front at 3/4 time, did anyone actually feel confident of winning? The last quarter had a real sense of inevitability about it.

So true. If anyone does go at the end of the year, our head fitness guy needs to be at the front of the pack. His training program has decimated our list and the players that do take the field look underdone.

 

[WALL-e]

Well Carl this is where all our 25-30 guys can really step up.....wait a minute.

ARYESSSSSS YOU BASTARD!

haha, I was actually a little dissapointed. I thought we let a real opportunity to win the game. I wasn't massive confident in the last, but thought we were a real chance and we let it slip because we had no juice left.

I think with the oldies sliding down simultaniously, and a lot of youth injection, we've gone from a very fit team, to not very fit at all.

I'm sure they're looking at this to help us run games out, but a lot of it won't be a training problem, more so a timing problem.

 

[Coopers]

We really did smash port for the first half. Very dissapointing to not put it on the scoreboard. We missed a few easy ones, and gave up 3 easy ones in that period (Bock handballing to westhoff, Dogga on the full). Should have been a different half time scoreline.

The first half we had macca playing well across half forward, porps getting his hands on it, burton a few touches, vince looking good. No idea what happened in the second half to these guys... I guess they just don't have the legs.

Hard to put a finger on any one reason - just about every aspect of the game - we're not good enough. Just about every bloke out there is a shadow of the player they were last year.