Autopsy Port overrun Dogs 66-64

Claudonious

Team Captain
Sep 7, 2007
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I agree. Lets not make any changes at the selection table and play our exact same setup vs Essendon, again! We will surely thrash them!

On the numbers from that game - we win 99 out of 100

Smashed them everywhere but the scoreboard.Even my Essendon flog mates said so.


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Claudonious

Team Captain
Sep 7, 2007
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I get the feeling that those who think Sweet is the answer are the people who have watched him play the least. I saw him get absolutely pantsed by some very ordinary opposition in the few VFL games I watched.

Agree - I think he has huge potential and I love his aggression, but he’s not ready , and not match hardened. Unfortunately, it is Martin or Young


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Sep 25, 2008
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I get the feeling that those who think Sweet is the answer are the people who have watched him play the least. I saw him get absolutely pantsed by some very ordinary opposition in the few VFL games I watched.

Watching English at throw-ins is horrendous, he just gets shoved out of the way. Young isn’t as bad, but still not that competitive.

That’s the difference with Sweet (or Martin obviously) - even if they get beaten to the tap, they don’t get monstered every single time - which means the opposition’s tap is impacted…
 
Oct 9, 2014
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Do you think hit out to advantage rate doesn't measure that? Genuine question.
There's hitouts to advantage where they may get a tap in the direction of a teammate, then there's the ones where our ruck is completely uncompetitive resulting in a wide open clearance because the ball was put exactly where they wanted it
 

Cousin Ben

Team Captain
Mar 27, 2009
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On the numbers from that game - we win 99 out of 100

Smashed them everywhere but the scoreboard.Even my Essendon flog mates said so.


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Everywhere but the scoreboard ... and the clearances ... including the centre ... oh, and disposal efficiency ... both of which were extremely telling factors in the result.
 

Contador

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Aug 24, 2009
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I get the ruck situation is terrible but at least we went some way in addressing the forward structure by playing English there.
For everyone lamenting not playing Sweet, can you honestly say he would have done significantly better than Young? I thought Young actually played a decent game, he didn't allow many easy hitouts/clearances and followed up at ground level pretty well. 14 disposals, 4 marks around the ground. It's OK considering the choices we have. The clearance stats showed we didn't get demolished there. I very much doubt Sweet would do anything better tbh.

I was pissed about not bringing him in on Thursday night too, but that was because I was expecting Bev to double down on English ruck. When he lined up forward it was a relief. I think the adjustment worked, as it was at least better than the previous week. Young did as well as English had been doing, but at least we had English up forward. While he didn't have a great game, he still kicked 2 and provided an aerial contest all night.

On the plus side, I feel our endeavor was at least there for this game for most players. A large turn around from the week before. I think our best players are just cooked mentally and/or physically so while they tried hard it just wasn't good enough against a decent side in Port.

I still trust we can turn it around further next week. If we beat the Dons it might give the team some confidence going forward.

The ruck definitely seems like a bit of a red herring in terms of an explanation for the dropoff in form. It's a factor, but we've had a dodgy ruck situation for years and still generally managed to dominate in midfield (especially this year). It doesn't explain why we suddenly in the last 2 weeks have been completely destroyed there (the Essendon game we lost clearances but were mostly on top in general play). The players being mentally and physically cooked (for whatever reason) seems more likely. I don't remember many games like the last 2 where we just look completely overrun for the majority of the game.

Missing the top 4 from the position we were in is unbelievable to the point of being funny, but there are some positives:
  • Takes some expectation off and adds some good motivation for our players to prove themselves.
  • We get to play an average team first up to build some confidence.
  • No straight sets humiliation.
  • We might get to play 4 weeks of finals in a row (good lockdown entertainment).
  • We still only need to beat 3 good teams in a row to win the flag (same scenario as top 4).
 

VogonProsthetnic

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Apr 26, 2010
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One important thing in regards to the ruck, is not just the hitouts where we are getting smashed, lycett had 4 centre clearance himself, double that of any midfielder on the ground.

Losing the ruck comprehensively every week must be severely detrimental to the cohesion of the centre bounce team.

How are they training every week? You can’t develop any strategies when the opposition have 100% control over where the ball goes all the time. Hoping the opposition make a mistake makes our midfielders totally reactive rather than proactive.
 

VogonProsthetnic

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 26, 2010
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The ruck definitely seems like a bit of a red herring in terms of an explanation for the dropoff in form. It's a factor, but we've had a dodgy ruck situation for years and still generally managed to dominate in midfield (especially this year). It doesn't explain why we suddenly in the last 2 weeks have been completely destroyed there (the Essendon game we lost clearances but were mostly on top in general play). The players being mentally and physically cooked (for whatever reason) seems more likely. I don't remember many games like the last 2 where we just look completely overrun for the majority of the game.

Missing the top 4 from the position we were in is unbelievable to the point of being funny, but there are some positives:
  • Takes some expectation off and adds some good motivation for our players to prove themselves.
  • We get to play an average team first up to build some confidence.
  • No straight sets humiliation.
  • We might get to play 4 weeks of finals in a row (good lockdown entertainment).
  • We still only need to beat 3 good teams in a row to win the flag (same scenario as top 4).
We won’t beat anyone getting smashed out of the middle all the time. How did things work out for us in the 2019 and 2020 finals?
 
Mar 27, 2009
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Saturday night I, like all of us, was supporting the Eagles like they were the dogs to get us into the top 4. My god it felt good at every ruck contest knowing your ruckman was going to put it down the throat of your mids or even get it himself and clear it on his own. I was completely lost and confused😄
 

CarnTheScray

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Jun 4, 2019
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Saturday night I, like all of us, was supporting the Eagles like they were the dogs to get us into the top 4. My god it felt good at every ruck contest knowing your ruckman was going to put it down the throat of your mids or even get it himself and clear it on his own. I was completely lost and confused😄
We'd win 10 flags if we had him at his peak lol
 

Contador

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Aug 24, 2009
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We won’t beat anyone getting smashed out of the middle all the time. How did things work out for us in the 2019 and 2020 finals?

That's fairly obvious. The question is whether that's entirely/majorly a ruck issue - when in the past we've been able to consistently dominate midfield despite losing the ruck.
 
Feb 11, 2008
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One important thing in regards to the ruck, is not just the hitouts where we are getting smashed, lycett had 4 centre clearance himself, double that of any midfielder on the ground.
Correction. Lycett grabbed the ball was tackled dropped the ball. Picked it up. Was tackled, dropped the ball again then picked it up and threw it to a teammate or on his boot.
 
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