Autopsy Positives and Negatives vs Geelong

[JEagle]

Sheeds crap form hurt us and we needed Willie.

We need to get TK in to help Shuey out. It will prolong his career. Throw in OA and give more time to Brander. JK looks like a stuttering clutz. Play him at home, Brander away.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

Does anyone know what happened to Venables? It’s like the earth has swallowed him up. He’s a player that by now should have been a regular in our side and our midfield.

 

[Godfather32]

Does anyone know what happened to Venables? It’s like the earth has swallowed him up.

Only just back on the training track after the concussion. Seems like he'll be fit to have a full pre-season with luck.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

Only just back on the training track after the concussion. Seems like he'll be fit to have a full pre-season with luck.

Thanks GF. We really need him to step up and be good enough to play decent midfield minutes and contribute.

 

[Godfather32]

Thanks GF. We really need him to step up and be good enough to play decent midfield minutes and contribute.

The club released some footage of him boxing and running last week I think, must have been having concussion symptoms for most of this time since he did it.
Agree, hope he comes on but I'm not sure he's capable of finding enough of the ball. We need something of these young guys to transition into the midfield, it's clear it's not good enough at the moment.

 

[W.C. Fry]

Until both of them can learn to play on a man they will always get shown up at times. Sometimes the biggest times

Yeah I for one wish Gov stayed on his man DeGoey that time. That biggest time

 

[kranky al]

Tommy barrass dreadful since the injury.

Really feel he should have made his way back through the macgoos and rotham given a spot.

 

[frenchconnection]

Given we are last for contested possessions I'm surprised we finished as high as we did, really. Our tackling in particular was woeful last night. What's so frustrating is when we do tackle we look so dominant.

All year we basically just won games by a few bursts of brilliance. It's like a street racing car relying on boosts. Why are defenders have dropped off so much is definitely a major issue.

Yes agree. Can remember reading recently our stats this year compared to last, and we were way down on most and I mean way down when comparing us to the other sides in the competition. That's where the problems were and needs to be fixed if we are to be a force next year.

You could see last night Gaff in particular and also Shep really having a dip and Nic was also valuable but unfortunately was lacking in match fitness so was only played in bursts but what he does he does so well. So was disappointed that the team couldn't do their bit for these players who would have loved a flag but our form in general just wasnt good enough this year overall. Too many of our other players over the 4 quarters last night were down on their normal output for whatever reason.

Was quite impressed with the younger brigade like Waterman and Petch, being their first finals series and we need to introduce a few more for next year. Too many of our older players seemed to be cooked. Shuey was way down from his normal finals output and I didn't even notice Cripps so he couldn't have done too much.

Well that was the year that was - disappointed to bow out as early as we did as would have loved to have made the big dance again but like so many others have said in a nutshell we blew it with those large losses earlier in the year and in particular the loss against Hawthorn in round 23. All of these losses put a real dent in our percentage which was why we finished only 5th on the ladder at the end of the day, and really impossible for an interstate side to win the flag from there as ideally really needed to finish top 2.

Something for the coaching staff to ponder over in the off season as to why we were unable to play 4 quarters of football on so many occasions this year as this needs to be rectified.

Will be interesting to see which players will get dropped off our list when the reviews are done.

 

[Shoei]

Finishing 5th and bombing out of the finals is pretty much where we are at this season.

No consistent football at all and plenty of games where the entire team has looked lost.

Tim Kelly isn't going to fix issues that seem to be with the system.

I hope Collingwood (their fans were great in defeat last season) Brisbane (their fans have endured some s**t times recently) or GWS (have no fans so who gives a *) get the chocolate if possible.

* Chris Scott and * the jizzfest that would follow another Richmond flag.

 

[Kempy the legend]

Positive: hopefully the last game masten plays for eagles. Negative: Kennedy is finished, he needs to retire.

Trade vardy and m Allen and masto. Get Kelly!

 

[Cuzz09]

Rugby tackling coaches needed.

All pre season.

Flag is 2 years ago by the time next season starts... credits in bank gone.

Get hungry.

On SM-G925I using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[RookiePick]

Not surprising we came out flat. Dug ourselves a fine hole.

Climbed out but spent all our tickets doing so.

We didn't get the rub of the green with the umpires and the commentary was next level horse s**t. I ******* hate Victoria and their VFL BS.

I feel like we were going through the motions last night. The boys needed to play with more passion and physicality but didn't have it in them.

We are still an excellent footy team and will be right in the mix in 2020. Hopefully we rediscover our spark and go all the way.

 

[DickDunn]

Lots to digest from last night but the Hutchings forward tag on Stewart was just plain idiocy and completely ineffective. The amount of times where it left Hutch as our deepest forward - maybe the least-threatening deep forward ever - was absurd.

A role like that makes sense against a slingshot team like Essendon but surely Hutchings would have been better deployed on a Selwood or Kelly? Plenty of guys had bad days but this one’s on Simmo

 

[PerthBoy86]

Yes agree. Can remember reading recently our stats this year compared to last, and we were way down on most and I mean way down when comparing us to the other sides in the competition. That's where the problems were and needs to be fixed if we are to be a force next year.

You could see last night Gaff in particular and also Shep really having a dip and Nic was also valuable but unfortunately was lacking in match fitness so was only played in bursts but what he does he does so well. So was disappointed that the team couldn't do their bit for these players who would have loved a flag but our form in general just wasnt good enough this year overall. Too many of our other players over the 4 quarters last night were down on their normal output for whatever reason.

Was quite impressed with the younger brigade like Waterman and Petch, being their first finals series and we need to introduce a few more for next year. Too many of our older players seemed to be cooked. Shuey was way down from his normal finals output and I didn't even notice Cripps so he couldn't have done too much.

Well that was the year that was - disappointed to bow out as early as we did as would have loved to have made the big dance again but like so many others have said in a nutshell we blew it with those large losses earlier in the year and in particular the loss against Hawthorn in round 23. All of these losses put a real dent in our percentage which was why we finished only 5th on the ladder at the end of the day, and really impossible for an interstate side to win the flag from there as ideally really needed to finish top 2.

Something for the coaching staff to ponder over in the off season as to why we were unable to play 4 quarters of football on so many occasions this year as this needs to be rectified.

Will be interesting to see which players will get dropped off our list when the reviews are done.

What do you think explains the drop off? Do you think it's mostly intent/desire/motivation? Premiership hangover? It appears in flashes then disappears just as quickly. Our best is better than anyone's, it's just consistency. I don't think fitness should've been a big problem. Gaff and NN seemed really turned on, whereas many of our stalwarts like Shuey as you mention, Cripps, Gov were off. Hurn played his best game for a long time, but he couldn't do it all. Thought Darling tried, kept running, creating opportunities, but we had few quality entries. Hickey looked a bit slow to me but gutsed it out. Barrass needs a lot of work. Unfortunately our midfield core just isn't up to scratch, Sheed, Redden did nothing, Yeo was quiet. a Tim Kelly would go a great away to making us more solid. The way teams rebound so easily out of halfback is startling. I watched the 2006 GF again a few weeks ago and our midfield then was like a brick wall. It's amazing we won a flag with such an unsung forward line.

Yeah even when we were being talked up as flag faves just before the Richmond clash I knew we had a deep deficiency/weakness that made me worried. Teams just entered their forward 50 so easily, our defense just didn't feel TIGHT the way Geelong's did, worse than last year. Teams like that don't win grand finals, see Melbourne last year.

Yeah plenty of young promising talent. I feel most of it is to do with coaching, gameplan, player management. I feel we're just lacking something to be a dynastic team, but we'll see what 2020 brings. Feel we'll either challenge for another flag or drop off a fair bit.

 

[WCE Wizard]

Postives Petch was good hard gut running
Gaff tried his guts out
Hurn was excellent
Lost the game in that terrible first quarter

Negatives: We looked rattled early
Cannot play Hutch, Masten and Nelson
Missed Rioli big time
JK is done sadly the end has come quick

Need some more spark in that midfield in particular some more class around the ball Tim Kelly come to mind

 

[ziad]

Postives Petch was good hard gut running
Gaff tried his guts out
Hurn was excellent
Lost the game in that terrible first quarter

Negatives: We looked rattled early
Cannot play Hutch, Masten and Nelson
Missed Rioli big time
JK is done sadly the end has come quick

Need some more spark in that midfield in particular some more class around the ball Tim Kelly come to mind

All good points but Shep was outstanding - Perhaps our best
Our rucks both worked hard
Its the mids that have always been our weakness

 

[Dark Sharks]

I'd argue the last quarter was worse than the first.

Took them less than a minute to reclaim the lead and hit the front courtesy of some more shocking defending from Fatboy on Hawkins.

After that they kicked 3 more goals and we didn't score from memory.

 

[Natho]

A few points of frustration for me is that Matt Allen and Brayshaw never got a debut. I know brayshaw was injured a fair bit but why not try these guys? Allen will probably get chopped and picked up somewhere else and forge a career.

Ainsworth didnt play a game either and arch didnt get enough games.

2018 we were happy to play the list and debut guys but this year wasn't the case I don't feel.

On a positive note we didn't drop our bundle and made something of the year. Wasn't overly pretty but we could have rolled over after a pretty crap start.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Just wanted to pop my head in and say commiserations on the loss last night. It’s been a funny year where nothing (okay, except maybe the AFL’s manufactured return games) has split the top five or six clubs who are all very capable and unfortunately I think you were a victim of that. I think there’s a lot for you to be proud of and the gap between all of the remaining sides is negligible - everyone is very capable of beating everyone else on the right day and you just got unlucky that yesterday wasn’t yours.

If I could, I’d gladly take the net result of a premiership and a semi final exit over the last two years if it were offered to me, so the Eagles have achieved plenty and both the players and fans have won plenty of admirers along the way.

All the best for next season. I look forward to our next meeting (but I’m also shitting myself at the prospect because you’re ******* quality).

 

[liam123]

I’m just sad for the players to be honest. Feel like s**t for willie. The whole thing has thrown this team right out. Need a decent break from even thinking about the game I think

 

[Godfather32]

A few points of frustration for me is that Matt Allen and Brayshaw never got a debut. I know brayshaw was injured a fair bit but why not try these guys? Allen will probably get chopped and picked up somewhere else and forge a career.

Ainsworth didnt play a game either and arch didnt get enough games.

2018 we were happy to play the list and debut guys but this year wasn't the case I don't feel.

On a positive note we didn't drop our bundle and made something of the year. Wasn't overly pretty but we could have rolled over after a pretty crap start.

Neither of them are really that good (Brayshaw may still improve) but I think both would have been shown up at AFL level this year.

 

[Avalor]

This is what I want an answer for:

It's 3/4 time. We are ahead. The game is still very much up for grabs. Nic Nat has just had a rest. When he is on, he influences our clearances massively. Despite this, he starts the 3rd quarter on the bench. For 10 full fricken minutes. Cats go bang, bang, bang and it's game over.

Then, belatedly, Nic comes back on.


For me, there are only 2 possibilities:

1) our sports scientists are ******ed

2) Nic is that unfit, that he needs a rest, on top of, the rest at 3 quarter time.

And I have a very hard time believing that Nic is that unfit

When he isn't on the damn ground, when the game is up for grabs, and Geelong have the game won in the time he he isn't on the field, serious questions must be asked.

This 100% - what were they bloody doing? Nik Nat should have run himself into the ground from the start of the 4thQ to give us the momentum - instead he is cooling his heals on the bench.
Next year, we need him to give us 70% time on ground, and if we don't get TK, we need to bring in new midfield blood, someone who will die for the club - maybe Brayshaw is that man.

 

[mick06]

This game literally summed up our season. Slow start. Absolute class and unstoppable at times. Go into shell. Roll over.

Dropped marks and fumbling my big negative.

The fight to get back in front and the fact we won't be embarrassed next week is the positive.

 

[JackDoff]

Just wanted to pop my head in and say commiserations on the loss last night. It’s been a funny year where nothing (okay, except maybe the AFL’s manufactured return games) has split the top five or six clubs who are all very capable and unfortunately I think you were a victim of that. I think there’s a lot for you to be proud of and the gap between all of the remaining sides is negligible - everyone is very capable of beating everyone else on the right day and you just got unlucky that yesterday wasn’t yours.

If I could, I’d gladly take the net result of a premiership and a semi final exit over the last two years if it were offered to me, so the Eagles have achieved plenty and both the players and fans have won plenty of admirers along the way.

All the best for next season. I look forward to our next meeting (but I’m also s**tting myself at the prospect because you’re ******* quality).

Cheers mate. After last year I have a lot of time for Collingwood and their fans who mostly were gracious in defeat. Best of luck for the finals

 

[Dark Sharks]

Naitanui's inability to punch the ball forward and out of congestion despite getting hands to it first left me scratching my head.

Rarely did we win a clean take away from a clearance off a hitout, instead hit to a stationary player and either coughed it up or got wrapped up.

Just basic match day coaching IMO. Didn't mix it up, it was disappointing.