Autopsy R18, 2018 v Gold Coast: One of the biggest upsets in history.

[Jewelsbon]

I remember after Quarter Time thinking “OK, here we go, Swans will totally take control now” and the Demons just kicked more goals.

Then after the half time break I thought “alright, here come the Swans” and the Demons just kicked more goals.

Then after three quarter time I thought “OK, Swans are going to murder these guys” and the Demons just kicked slightly less more goals than they had in the first three quarters.

So just like Saturday then.....

.....and the teams response was the same, also got smashed the following week IIRC.

Its quite odd if you look at every single one of our 6 losses we have had a chance to win them all deep in the 4th quarter.

I think that's what burns most of all, they have had the chances but instead of doing what they did in Geelong and knuckling down to the task, they crapped themselves and blew it

 

[scaryness]

The suns win next week this loss looks better


Oh they play carlton, ok if they win the week after

Inb4 Cripps wins

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

After waking today with a third successive hangover, I look around the joint and could only find cooking sherry. I contemplated a mug of the brew.

Instead I trundled into another freezing Melbourne day and purchased the essentials for the house and trip up to Castlemaine. Wine, rum and whisky stocks replenished - check; carton of durries acquired - check; memory of Saturday almost completely obliterated - check.

With my dwindling stock of brain cells, I am reaching that point of Zen tranquility that only Coach Mule lives within.

It may be a loss we had to have, a wake up call against complacency etc etc ad nauseum.

I do not believe this to be the case. I recall some dreadful floggings and 'surprise' defeats we have copped over many decades. This one was up there with the Round 6 loss to Carlton last year. It is important the Club learn from this and for the loyal army of Bloods fans to stick.

On the positives - Allir and COR showed plenty. Papley and a couple of the other kids showed a bit.

On the negatives - Smith and Jones had poor games. After a good start to the season, Smith has dropped off. His disposal, always iffy, has become a liability. Jones has run but little game sense. He made repeated disastrous errors in Q2. I wonder if his Crazy Horse Cowton runs are operating to the Mule's instructions? If he is not following instruction a spell in the 2s might remind him.

On where our season takes us, while hoping for the best I will now be surprised if we make the Finals and shocked if we do any damage there. To date we have scraped together 11 wins. Many if not most of these wins have relied heavily on Buddy and or a combo of the younger players.

I do not mind 1-3 year in players being a little inconsistent. Our crop have done well. I do expect more from our older players both in leadership and consistent performance. In my view few have delivered.
*JPK has been good but not up to his high standards and I am not sure leadership suits him.
*Macca has been by far the best of the senior players.
*Parker has been mixed. He is a better forward than a ball winning mid.
*Buddy has played too many games injured. Thought he was very selfish on Saturday.
*Rampe has had a poor season and has struggled with the often absurd roles given him by the Mule.
*Grundy has had a fair season, beating a number of players and offering some leadership. While I don't think the game has passed him by, I am not the Mule.
*Lloyd will be top 5 in the B&F but prolly out the door. We need a better distributor than Lloyd's floaty kicks can provide.
*Hanners, Jack and of course Rohan have been complete busts this year. Hanners because of injury, Jack because he is cooked and Rohan because he has never been up to it.

Oh well, some nice country air and curries bubbling away in the background have cheered me up. Might even trundle back to watch the game v the Dopers.