Autopsy Positives and Negatives vs Collingwood

[Rowan18]

Oscar Allen was a big positive in this match, I forgot it was his first final, he was so composed.

 

[YippeeYiYeo]

Having read the last few pages ill add a couple of comments.

- Collingwood deserved to win. Good kicking is good football. They couldnt miss. They executed skills in a furnace of an atmosphere. Two in the last quarter looked arsey af but you have to take your hat off to them. They took their opportunities all night while we squandered them.

- Saying things such as "Redden and Sheed cant play in the same team" are over the top. Easily best 22 both of them. Maybe change the rotation so they both arent on the ground at the same time, but its the fringe 22 players that are the weakest link in the team, as seen by Ah Chee, Ainsworth and Petrucelle. THEY are the ones that cant be played in the same team. Take them out for Yeo, Jetta and Rioli and suddenly looking around for our weakest link is hard to determine.

- The Simpson criticism... saying he is soft therefore he should be sacked is a lame reason. Maybe Simpson and the staff recognize or identified that the players respond better to a positive coach and not 1 that gives them a bake? From what i saw Saturday night, intensity wasnt a problem. He is part of the match committee and I agree that we didnt choose our best team, but sacking him is way off the mark.

- The AFL and their fixturing screwed us over hard. Teams that received a bye in the back end of the season when we were playing 5 games in 19 days away got a massive bonus. We copped injuries thanks to the fixture and were having to debut players late in the season which is far from ideal. The round 17 game was a miracle we won given how gutted our midfield was.

- The last 2 years havent been wasted. Things either fall into place when youre contending or they dont. Sliding door moments are numerous. The players put in. Anyone who says they didnt are just having a sook.

 

[Footfalcon]

Still can't believe why Schofield and Jetta didn't play. Nice work MC.

On CPH1921 using BigFooty.com mobile app

It's happened against nearly every important game this year and last year against Collingwood and Richmond each of which was decided by a minor margin

 

[Rowan18]

It's happened against nearly every important game this year and last year against Collingwood and Richmond each of which was decided by a minor margin

Wow - I had forgotten that last year we lost to Collingwood by 1 point and Richmond by 6 points. Win those two and we were second on the ladder.

Just goes to show how hard it is to win a flag. So good that we got 2018.

 

[Divebomb]

Hope you don't mind me posting here. I've got a group of Wafia mates close by and we've had some pretty tense stouches. What is it about WCE/Pies in the finals?

For mine, the best moment of the night was seeing Ryan and Maynard in close conversation post-match. Maynard pretty much pantsed all night, he never gave up but he hardly stood a chance even after the push-and-shove in Q2. Says a lot about the mutual admiration between players.

Pity about our draw, I don't mind watching you play. I even flew over for QF in 2018 and watched us go down, even with my Pies gear I was shown a pretty good night in Perth that night.

The positives for you are definitely:-

- NicNat giving you a few more years of a head start. Aggressive and agile, made us completely change our game plan
- Liam Ryan is a once in a decade player. And only 24... how bloody high does he get? And gut running to defend as well as kick goals.
- Darling with a vice-like mark. Never seems to spill them, then kicks pretty straight
- Duggan is a ripper, you'd put him in your top 3 on the night
- Hurn, Gaff, Cripps just seem to give you consistency

Pity about the 14 day lock-in. Has been a weird season. But the sound of the crowds on Saturday night was immense and sorely needed.

Looking forward to the same-old punch-on in the finals next year.

I have a mate who is pies supporter as well. The way I see it is that we both have a mutual respect for both of our teams because of the rivalry we have had since 2018. Although we came up empty and the experts suddenly came out and strongly criticised us, but I accept the fact that we missed out on opportunities to kick goals in the 4th quarter and apply scoreboard pressure and Collingwood took their chances .

I always worry about the dreaded rebuild and falling off a cliff, but I do take comfort that we won a flag in 2018 while the premiership window was open. The whole season was very messy for many clubs, but hopefully all of us get some form of normality back next year.