This was a very mature win. The contributions across the entire team demonstrated that’s there is more to this group than how we like to perceive ourselves. It’s a trait of good teams that when one player goes down then another in the group steps up.
What was pleasing about today’s game is how we replaced the guys who didn’t play (including Charlie).
Cripps missing required a major rework. We needed his influence around the ball. We needed his influence around the ground. With some luck his ability to kick some goals. Ed stepped up winning contested footy. Murph pitched in with plenty of possessions. Jack took on the responsibility of laying plenty of tackles. And then came the goals. Kennedy 2, Dow 1, Jack 1, Samo 1 and Murph 1. Now I rate Crippa but I think he would have fallen short of this collective effort.
If it wasn’t bad enough when Harry and Dave came up short for this game. The forward line suffers further when Charlie’s knee bends the wrong way. This was a huge challenge as you can’t plan for this. It threw us for the first quarter and it was not surprising to be five goals down. However the coaches put their collective heads together and come up with a left field solution. Kennedy and Dow as the deep forwards. Freo couldn’t cope with it. They managed 3 goals between them and some score assists. We kicked 11.10 to 5.7 after we sorted things out and our forward looked dangerous. It may not work next week but it was a stroke of genius today. Also Dow and Kennedy might break the shackles about their roles in the team which can amount to more than just ‘helping out Crippa’.
The back line was rock solid today and that’s been the case when they are given half a chance. The applied and implied pressure all over the ground allowed them to win plenty of important contests. Every defender snuck in for an intercept mark and that’s how you make your opponents second guess their choices.
Every player had an influence on today’s result. Even Charlie with his behind in the first quarter. Without it we would have only won by 3 points.
What was pleasing about today’s game is how we replaced the guys who didn’t play (including Charlie).
Cripps missing required a major rework. We needed his influence around the ball. We needed his influence around the ground. With some luck his ability to kick some goals. Ed stepped up winning contested footy. Murph pitched in with plenty of possessions. Jack took on the responsibility of laying plenty of tackles. And then came the goals. Kennedy 2, Dow 1, Jack 1, Samo 1 and Murph 1. Now I rate Crippa but I think he would have fallen short of this collective effort.
If it wasn’t bad enough when Harry and Dave came up short for this game. The forward line suffers further when Charlie’s knee bends the wrong way. This was a huge challenge as you can’t plan for this. It threw us for the first quarter and it was not surprising to be five goals down. However the coaches put their collective heads together and come up with a left field solution. Kennedy and Dow as the deep forwards. Freo couldn’t cope with it. They managed 3 goals between them and some score assists. We kicked 11.10 to 5.7 after we sorted things out and our forward looked dangerous. It may not work next week but it was a stroke of genius today. Also Dow and Kennedy might break the shackles about their roles in the team which can amount to more than just ‘helping out Crippa’.
The back line was rock solid today and that’s been the case when they are given half a chance. The applied and implied pressure all over the ground allowed them to win plenty of important contests. Every defender snuck in for an intercept mark and that’s how you make your opponents second guess their choices.
Every player had an influence on today’s result. Even Charlie with his behind in the first quarter. Without it we would have only won by 3 points.
