Autopsy Positives and Negatives vs Port

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

Positive: Ken Hinkley flying over here last week to watch us play and all the quotes about how they've studied us more than any other team, inside and out..

Then put up what they did today and get done by 40 points lol

I honestly commentated to my partner at half time that Port looked like they had no plan for scoring. The majority of their forward thrusts were just kicks that were put to an Eagles players advantage. It sort of felt like their kickers were thinking "well this wont work, but it's the game plan so I have to kick it to where Dixon isn't. Bombs away".

 

[Eagles9494]

+
Kane Cornes rekons Rioli is one of the best kicks going around.
Simmo said in his presser that he will get creative with his mids. Does that mean we see more of Rioli in the middle?

Think he will always be similar to Cyril too crafty to not have near the sticks but also very competitive and tough so good for stints in the middle

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[King_Tredrea]

I honestly commentated to my partner at half time that Port looked like they had no plan for scoring. The majority of their forward thrusts were just kicks that were put to an Eagles players advantage. It sort of felt like their kickers were thinking "well this wont work, but it's the game plan so I have to kick it to where Dixon isn't. Bombs away".

The fact that oppo supporters are starting to notice this is both sad and hilarious.

 

[WCE Wizard]

I did see this, it's a positive sign for sure but there's a long way to go. When he appears in the top 5 for distance covered and starts bobbing up for some speed categories you'll know he's at peak fitness.

A lot of jogging around but it's awesome to see he can cover the ground if a midfielder goes down and we're missing a rotation on the bench

I think this is a tick for recruitment and a tick for fitness and conditioning staff. We recruited a footballer and not an athlete, and that what Rioli is. He does stuff you cannot teach like pick the ball up cleanly, his vision, his goal sense, his foot skills.

 

[Biggie]

Positive

 

[JackDoff]

I disagree - I would have agreed with you last year but the only guys who were pushing for selection were Partington and Mutimer. We would have played Venables but he got injured, as did Rioli. The others who have played this year either hadn't developed yet or hadn't been drafted.

Priddis definitely was cooked but the only guys we had in the WAFL were Partington and Mutimer. Mutimer is delist material and Partington still has a long way to go before becoming AFL standard.

Fair point about lack of reserve depth but he did seem reluctant to try something different when various players were under performing week in week out.
Again not being overly critical of Simpson at all - he has done a fantastic job overall and this year in particular.
I agree with other posters who have mentioned the input of Sam Mitchell , Van Berlot etc. in the coaching group. I was very disappointed to see Coxy depart but wish him well with Sydney.
Exciting times for us ahead and hats off to all the coaches and players who are making this happen. The team spirit that was lacking last year is now well and truly back and beautiful to behold - I just love to see our players enjoying themselves and getting reward for effort.

 

[Eagles9494]

This x 100.

My first time at the new stadium today.
I couldn't believe how chilled out the crowd was. Very little vocal support. The best the players seem to get is a round of applause.
Even when Port were lifting and West Coast could really use the crowd on their side, it is like the crowd retreated into their shells.

it seemed like the Power chant was louder than any Eagles chant I heard.

Blowouts are generally pretty quite if they got close they will lift.. feeling game only really got rowdy when we went on that year in the 4th

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[Eagles9494]

Fair point about lack of reserve depth but he did seem reluctant to try something different when various players were under performing week in week out.
Again not being overly critical of Simpson at all - he has done a fantastic job overall and this year in particular.
I agree with other posters who have mentioned the input of Sam Mitchell , Van Berlot etc. in the coaching group. I was very disappointed to see Coxy depart but wish him well with Sydney.
Exciting times for us ahead and hats off to all the coaches and players who are making this happen. The team spirit that was lacking last year is now well and truly back and beautiful to behold - I just love to see our players enjoying themselves and getting reward for effort.

I heard coxy was too chummy with everyone couldn't blast them for errors coz they are all good mates so the cox departure was an effort to get more accountability from the players which makes a lot of sense. Then bring into the box Mitchell and van berlo outside guys who were hard players not afraid to tell people what they think

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[Obeanie1]

Negatives:

Shuey's hammie
On a couple of occasions our forwards were selfish and missed goals trying to kick under pressure with players clear who would have had easier shots

Positives:

We lost our #1 mid in the first 3 mins and pretty well dominated their midfield bar a 15 min spell at the end of the 3rd / start of the 4th
Redden and Hutchings stepped up
Rioli and Petro played well, Willie's best game and he is so good kicking inside 50.
Our backline was a rock.
Darling is getting better.
Nic and Lycett are freakin fantastic.
Gaff back in AA form.
Hurn and Yeo rock solid.

 

[Marlin01]

Mitchell and van berlo outside guys who were hard players not afraid to tell people what they

I wouldn’t mind betting that was the case with Masten.

 

[JackDoff]

This x 100.

My first time at the new stadium today.
I couldn't believe how chilled out the crowd was. Very little vocal support. The best the players seem to get is a round of applause.
Even when Port were lifting and West Coast could really use the crowd on their side, it is like the crowd retreated into their shells.

it seemed like the Power chant was louder than any Eagles chant I heard.

Totally agree that the crowd was very quiet. The Port cheer squad were making a lot more noise than our fans early in the game and that should have been the signal for us to start supporting the boys. Its definitely due to our age demographic and even though my mate and I have tried to get a bit of cheering going it just doesn't happen. Didn't even hear the chant in the last quarter. Piss poor support for the boys.

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

He’s been amazing hasn’t he?

So many seasons I had him and he never played with this consistency!

Fantastic

He's your burnman

This new high kicking game plan suites his SC game. Beautiful to watch.

 

[wce4premiership]

Watching the replay, 1st half thoughts:

The Ruckmen - Absolute demolition, Ryder may be underdone but you can't fault their start to the year. Naitanui's tap work is a class above Lycett and Ryder but Lycett and Naitanui both offer a lot around the ground. Lycett's only down point being some stupid free kicks.


The runners - Gaff and Masten. Gaff is close to BOG but there's probably about 4 players with that claim at this point. I can't fault Masten's first half. If he's at a contest he stays down, then if there's a mark or free kick he's the first to react to the whistle and gets on his bike and spreads hard to provide a release kick, which is so much better than someone running from behind for a release handball, we need to keep kicking more than we handball. He is using the ball well in space, he is picking it up cleanly under pressure, to get his hands free he looks up and if there is pressure he sidesteps as he slaps the tackle away and then fires out a handball. He's done it well which makes the attempted fend off to come such a baffling decision.

Gaff's disposal is elite, besides one fluffed kick to Masten he has been handballing to team mates' chests with players hanging off him and he has been kicking grass burners through the corridor to open the game up.


The Small Forwards - Cripps' and Lecras' pressure has been a major factor in our lockdown. I was surprised to see that Lecras only had 2 tackles, but then not surprised to see he lead both teams for pressure acts. There are a bunch of times that he has been tackling just after a kick or bumping someone about to take a kick. Cripps pressure acts were down but he's laid a lot more tackles, probably helps being a step or two quicker in a straight line. Rioli is more than handy with the pressure with a nice HTB tackle already under his belt.

Rioli's class in close is beautiful, he isn't the fastest but he's very agile and very strong. Lecras again going back with the flight of the ball in the corridor is team inspiring stuff, that's two weeks in a row he could have been cleaned up, but both times he's created a goal for the team.


The Young Half Back Flankers - Have outperformed the taller defenders. Duggan in the first quarter especially lead the way in setting up across the forward 50 and rebounding the ball back in, Cole and Nelson improving in the second. I think there's some real quality in Cole and Duggan, Nelson's confidence is growing as he has provided a lot more dash this second quarter. Duggan's kicking has been a major improvement, still I'd like to see him hit someone lace out through the corridor a la Hurn, there's a few times he has missed a target by foot by mere inches.


Decision Making - Redden, Cole, Duggan, Rioli, Yeo, Gaff and Masten have all at different times pulled out of a disposal at the last minute after seeing danger and have subsequently hit a far more dangerous target by doing so. Of some players like Hurn, Shuey and Rioli it's probably expected but from Redden, Duggan, Yeo etc it's great to see their footy brains and instincts kicking in.


Mistakes Not Defining a Game - Rioli, Waterman, Lycett, Duggan and Gaff have all made some blunders, either kicking a foot short of players causing pressured disposal (Rioli, Waterman x2), kicking over someone's head (Duggan, Gaff) or giving away stupid free kicks (Lycett). However all have been net positives, so I fully expect myself to forgive Masten's HTB later on if he continues playing as he has in the second half.


The Midfield / Coaching - Shuey going down has sucked, it's looked like Yeo has been our major contested player, Rioli has attended stoppages, Lecras attending stoppages (not centre bounces), Duggan coming in hard off the back of the square at centre bounces, Cripps pushing far up the ground and Redden is going beast mode. Every thing he does seems smarter now, his little grubber kick of 10m out of a contest was brilliantly thought out, he does little tap ons as well. Massive shout out to Hutching's tackling. He created that goal at the end of the second for Petruccelle.

 

[ioppolo]

Just looked at the stats, didn't Hutchings got so much of the ball! Best game for him since the 2015 qualifying final for sure.

 

[twce13]

Rioli is a deadset gun. Can't wait to see him with a few preseason under his belt.

 

[WCEbrody]

Anyone still think Yeo can't play in the midfield?

He had a quiet game and picked up 17 contested possessions and 8 clearances.....

 

[ioppolo]

I like how you spelt mistakes wrong

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*spelled

 

[Shmiddy15]

Those little tap ons can’t be underestimated. The number of times we’ve done those to great effect has been staggering honestly, and it seems the whole team is on board with them. Rioli is great at them and I can think of some really great ones just off the top of my head from guys like Masto, redden and darling in the past few weeks. Keeping in mind these are guys who had often been accused of being slow thinkers/ decision makers.

I’d have to imagine that this is Mitchell’s influence. Hawthorn have been excellent at this for years, and I’m glad we’ve finally caught on.

 

[EaglesVille]

Loving the brutal aggressive ruck combo.

The ferocious tackling be scaring opposition players

 

[kranky al]

+taps out instead of taking posession and being tackled
+shepherding and blocking
+ tackling not corralling

- boo to shues hammy
-lolport pretenders

 

[squashface]

Would the Rioli family be up there with the best footballing family of all time?

 

[larrikin]

Totally agree that the crowd was very quiet. The Port cheer squad were making a lot more noise than our fans early in the game and that should have been the signal for us to start supporting the boys. Its definitely due to our age demographic and even though my mate and I have tried to get a bit of cheering going it just doesn't happen. Didn't even hear the chant in the last quarter. Piss poor support for the boys.

There was a couple of moments when the crowd was nice and loud - especially after Petrol's goal in the last. That being said I did think it was quieter than the other games at the stadium - something to do with Saturday arvo maybe?

We do have an aging crowd, and I expect some of that to drop off over the coming seasons. It's not all about age though and let me give you 2 examples. The woman in the row in front of me, she must be 70ish. Complains every time someone wants to go past to get some food or a drink or go to the toilet. Doesn't enjoy the game, bags the players the whole time and when we do something good it's not a sense of well done or anything it's more a "finally" (she actually said that after Darling's big mark). I just don't understand why she continues to go to the footy - she clearly doesn't enjoy it. Then there's an even older bloke who sits a few seats down from me who was high fiving everyone around him at every opportunity and has a chat on the way past with his beer.

Just all about attitude if you ask me...

 

[Eaglemaniac]

Just looked at the stats, didn't Hutchings got so much of the ball! Best game for him since the 2015 qualifying final for sure.

It's amazing what he can do when he's allowed to just go get the ball.

 

[wce4premiership]

Hutchings dropped the tag in the second half, didn't go to Gray at all and I'd be willing to bet most his clearances came in the second half. His second half was very good.

Cole, Nelson and Duggan body lining the ball. Cole in the 4th with 18:445 on the clock was reminiscent of RoJo.
Nelson does it in the d50 before getting a falcon for his efforts, then follows up to clear the ball to a strong Darling lead.
Duggan numerous occasions, so good at keeping his feet and controlling the ball with his hands.

I really love our defence charging out to gather possession, Hurn, Cole and Duggan are very clean, one time pick up sort of players which makes the rebound extra effective off the deck.

With Shuey out we seem to have gotten more run from both HFF and HBF sort of blurring the lines between midfield and forward/back. Lecras and Cripps have pushed very far up the ground and in the same sense, Duggan, Nelson and Cole have done the same from the back half. Good team work.

As for Masten, his first HTB is Waterman's fault, but he recovered well to be instrumental in Redden's goal, including a lovely tap into space that our players are getting good at.



Negatives:

Shuey's hamstrings, I hope it's a one off and at least the medical staff will know to be more cautious with him if he reports tightness during the week.

Gov and Barrass seemed very quiet, possibly due to our dominance of territory and our small defenders performing so well with run and carry. Schofield may actually be in better form than Barrass at the moment.

A few kicks falling short or missing the target under little pressure, could have proven more costly.

 

[Eaglespur]

Loving the brutal aggressive ruck combo.

The ferocious tackling be scaring opposition players

Hutchings also intimidating