Review Rd 3 - Coll vs Carlton - Postmatch discussion *It's time to vent*

[jonesy86]

We got the double-whammy last night... coming of a short break is tough enough but then to do it for most the game while losing 2 key players is even tougher.

 

[hellfire]

Embarrassing performance. But nothing really went in our favour. Shorter break (2 days less), undermanned squad, injuries to very important players early in the match, and it felt like the ball never bounced our way. That doesn't excuse the disgraceful lack of effort that makes me wish they could all spend some time earning $45k p.a trying to get a foot in in the "real" world so they can get some perspective on what they've got.

For us to rescue this year:
-Chris Dawes needs a rocket. Trav and Ant rocca need to sit him down and show him what a contested mark looks like. He needs to throw his weight around, and clunk some high balls.

-our small forwards need to improve their forward pressure ten-fold. The press isn't working because our forward pressure is non-existent. It is seriously pitiful.

-Our midfield needs to get some structure and stop ball watching. How our opponents can get a clean first possession, handball to a player in space, and move forward in a wave unopposed... Time and time again ... Is absolutely disgusting given the calibre of our midfield.

-Hunger. If we can't get it back, write the season off now.

 

[lozza63]

The loss of Ball and Reid moving forwards was for me the biggest downer by a mile. The likely loss of Ball for possibly 6-10 weeks, being our most tenacious inside mid will not easily be covered - Blair and Wellers will have to put their hand up in that 1st extractor role.

Reid's loss is probably more painful - i hope Nate Brown will be ready soon.

As for the game Carlton simply out played us in every facet - they were really out to make a statement - the disappointing thing was that we looked a sorry unit by the time it was 3 goals to 1 behind and helpless to stop the the carnage.

I hate singling out individuals or the coach 'cause really it isnt helpful - as a Club we need to cop it on the chin then look hard into rectifying what we couldnt do last night.

Another thing too is that yeah we missed the likes of Taz, Dids and Johnno - and that is a worry really - most of these guys are very near the end of their careers. We could well only be a mid range team this year - it's up to the boys to rally and make the year work.

 

[Collingwould]

Sorry to intrude but for what it's worth no one would have beaten Carlton last night,both them and Hawthorn are out to make a statement early after what they perceiver as disappointing ends to last year,and are I reckon a good month ahead fitness wise of the two Grand Finalists from last year.
Unfortunately for them GF are not won in April,I expect to see the Pies work their way into the season and Carlton to come back to the field a little,but they will need to be respected while their playing footy like that.
All the best for the remainder of the year.

I've been thinking the same thing, and the Pies know too well about being April premiers. The problem for us is we keep getting injuries to important players. This restricts us from having a settled line up which hurt us late last year, which is why I'm a bit worried about us.

 

[benblinkau]

Was there anything wrong injurywise with Pendlebury? It just look like he couldnt/didnt want to chase when not in possession of the ball...?

 

[Scodog10]

Utter rubbish. Suggest you back over the 10 years closely and you will see far worse performances...2009 PF 2008 SF Rd 7 2007 R20 2009 just to name a few.

I think you may have mucked up a bit there. Because to me it reads that round 20 2009 (93 point win) and round 7 2007 (24 point win) were poor performances... Perhaps you've just muddled things a little and meant to put down round 7 2009 which was a shellacking at the hands of the Saints and round 17 2007 when we were pantsed by the Lions. I was there for both of those games and if anyone doesn't think that they were ten times worse than last night's then you've got a very short memory.....

The most damning stat anyone can throw out there from last night is that our leading clearance winner only played one quarter of footy. That's right Luke Ball led all comers with 4.

We simply won't beat the best teams without him because he's not only our best inside ball winner (its the reason why I've always thought he's the one you tag), but also clearly our best defensive mid! Pendles may get a helluva lot of clearances and tackles but few of the clearances are truly inside he very rarely dives into a scrum reefs the ball out and feeds it to a runner. Whereas the tackles are more a player in the vicinity so I'll grab him than hunting them down and putting your body on the line like Ball does.

Without that first person willing to dive in to take the first hit we'll be very vulnerable. It'll be interesting to see which way the match committee play it. Is it going to be Blair exclusively in the role or Wellingham or perhaps even Young who's just about the only one capable of filling it in the two's (with Thomas down and out)?...

 

[upnsmoke]

1. Blues players were very quick in ball disposals, also had plenty around the ball and there forward 50s players seems to be always several steps ahead.


2. Pies tackling pressure = Poor; ball handling = Poor; Effort = Poor; Ruck work = Complete disaster.



3. Reid is a liability, and has been since the Grand Final... it has carried over this season. Slow, beaten easily, plays with little athletism.



4. Pendles Missing Person Case; tag wasn't even heavy and close IMO.



5. Middle battle, Blues won like 99% of the ball.

 

[half_back_flank]

3. Reid is a liability, and has been since the Grand Final... it has carried over this season. Slow, beaten easily, plays with little athletism.

Not sure if serious.

 

[upnsmoke]

Not sure if serious.

Im very serious, all Ive been focusing on all season watching the Pies is Ben Reid at the back..... He left a bad taste on my mouth from GF so I brushed it off as a once off thing and he'll bounce back better than ever... so I've decided to watch him carefully this season..


we are 3 rounds in and I am yet to see an impressive game from him....


Last night he couldn't spoil the ball when he was on..... 1st quarter obviously.


He also seems to always be chasing his man with no hope of catching most of the time...

 

[Yidaki]

I posted this in the wrong thread!:

People that believe this was a bad "one of night" need to wake up! Our performances have clearly been dropping off since last year. That renowned pressure and tackling intensity, and those high scoring quarters have all but gone.

Personally, I believe we were found out last night. Pendlebury was heavily and successfully tagged. He is such an important part of our team, and negating his influence successfully seems to have consequences to our overall ability to perform. This is disappointing really, because he is such a good player and I hate not seeing him in action! However, it's a good thing if you are an opposition side!

I am sick of injuries being our excuses. They are all but a small part of the puzzle. Even if we had Ball and Reid fit last night, we still would have lost by 40 points plus. If injuries are our excuse then we have a shit depth of players/recruits.

I don't like picking on players but I just have to today.

Jolly - What is wrong with you? You were outmuscled and out rucked by Carlton’s younger ruckman.

Dawes - Please stop putting your hands out in the air expecting the ball to drop in your hands! I believe he needs to change his style because it is rubbish.

To finalise this post, I want to say that I believe currently, we are a team that sits in the top of the bottom 9 based on last years end and this years start. Something has changed since our domination 2 years ago. Yes it is early on in the season, but my reason for this post is that this form change has been an ongoing affair since last year. If we are seriously going to be a top 4 side, then there needs to be drastic changes to the way we play.

 

[half_back_flank]

I

we are 3 rounds in and I am yet to see an impressive game from him....

Jack Riewoldt has had 3 games since the start of 2010 where he has been held goalless and one of those times was when he was knocked out in the first quarter.

High standards.

 

[hellfire]

Im very serious, all Ive been focusing on all season watching the Pies is Ben Reid at the back..... He left a bad taste on my mouth from GF so I brushed it off as a once off thing and he'll bounce back better than ever... so I've decided to watch him carefully this season..


we are 3 rounds in and I am yet to see an impressive game from him....


Last night he couldn't spoil the ball when he was on..... 1st quarter obviously.


He also seems to always be chasing his man with no hope of catching most of the time...

Mate... Reid was comfortably our best against the Tigers. And he started well before the injury last night. What are you watching?

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to you MMD

I had you all wrong..........sorry

Not quite sure what you mean, but we are all in a similar vein of thought regarding the team at the moment. This game was a reality check.

 

[Quicky]

Most people in here sound like a bunch of Richmond supporters after round..er..3. I can almost hear the microwaves going off.

Give me a ****ing break will ya?

I think its important to take what is posted directly after a game with a grain of salt. Emotions are running high especially after a performance like that. A bit of venting is inevitable.

 

[Mickaman]

Ok, not unusual for me to name this player but Dawes, for F sake he could not mark the footy if it had handles and he had super glue on his hands.
Spuds: Dawes, Sinclair, Goldsack and Wood (Buckley)

I have put Bucks in because it is obvious over the past 3 weeks that the game plan Stinks!!!! How often have teams run the ball through the middle too easy. The turn overs in the corridor are killing us.

Agree bucks deserves some criticism. Whilst Sinclair is in the team we are not top 4 standard. Injuries hurt but blues were hungry and aggressive from the get go we were not. Got smashed in the clearances. I am nearly at the point of writing this year off and it's only round 3.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Quote from Greg Baum of 'The Age this morning, referring to our game plan: 'It is clear that the curriculum to which all have been working will have to be torn up; it is so last year'. We have been wondering what game plan the team are working to is about, but whatever it is, the players seemed to allow Carlton to carry the ball too easily from the backline to forward line. We are going to struggle for a while with injuries to key players. Our young guys are simply not good enough to fill the shoes of the lost players. McNamara could almost get a game at this stage for we have exhausted our stock of KPDs.

 

[HFF]

It's an interesting time.

I still expect us to be 9-3 or 8-4 at worst by the round 12 bye.

We have some in-house issues at the moment- our structures just seem all over shop at the moment and I have queries about how "fit" some players actually are at the moment.

From there, our season will be defined with games against WCE, Freo, Carlton, Geelong and Hawthorn in successive weeks. Talk about a brutal 4-5 weeks.

We need to ensure we have the cattle fully fit and flying by round 12-13.

If we don't, our season will be lost.

 

[Scodog10]

I think its important to take what is posted directly after a game with a grain of salt. Emotions are running high especially after a performance like that. A bit of venting is inevitable.

Does venting go hand in hand with ignorance though? I think you can allow your emotions to carry you away but that doesn't exactly excuse a claim like Ben Reid not having an impressive game this year.

 

[damuzzdu]

Just remember guys it is long season..

this just posted on twitter ...

@LukeMason38 Round 3, 2002. Carlton spanked Collingwood. Grand Final day 2002. Collingwood 9 points off a flag, Carlton 16th on ladder

 

[Quicky]

Does venting go hand in hand with ignorance though? I think you can allow your emotions to carry you away but that doesn't exactly excuse a claim like Ben Reid not having an impressive game this year.

No. There will always be ordinary posts. But you need to take it into consideration. The real feeling after a game comes the day after when everyone has cooled down.

 

[daics_35]

Ahh jeez that was a smacking. We have lost the hunger and its terrible to watch after watching the hunger we had in 2010 and some games in 2011. We were no chance to win after Reid got injured and then to have our hardest midfielder in Ball gone for the game we were always going to get smacked to any side thats better than good. My worry is the gameplan we have, I am starting to lose faith in it already, I love Bucks and always will love him but this is the start to his coaching career that I dreaded of in the last two years. We are going to struggle this year now, we just have injuries to key players. Tarrant and Reid are out for a while and Nathan Brown wont be playing in the ones for another 3-4 weeks. Maxwell and Keefe cant do it and also no Ball for a 2-3 months will kill us.

 

[Cory]

This is a great wake up call

 

[mattys123]

It's an interesting time.

I still expect us to be 9-3 or 8-4 at worst by the round 12 bye.

We'll be at 7-4 at best now. (only 11 games before the bye)

The Geelong game is only 5 weeks away, and in current form we wouldn't have a chance in hell of beating them, that gives us 3 losses already.

And we will lose another game, in may be ANZAC day, it may be against the Dogs or Crows, but the way we are going there's no way we only lose one game between now and the break.

I'd take 7-4 at the moment though, send a few guys to Arizona after the round 9 game in Adelaide (Suns, Dees and bye after that) and we'll be raring to go come round 13.

What happens in the last 11 games of the home and away rounds will define our season and final position more then what happens in the first 11.

 

[tiezto]

Lets be serious here for a minute.


Carlton didnt let you blokes play well. You were smashed BEFORE Ball and Reid went off.

1) Pendles isnt injured, he got a number done on him by Carrots.
2) Swan is Fat and Lazy. He needs to sort his head out.
3) Maxwell was underdone
4) You got ROFLSTOMPED in the ruck by Kreuzer who is a #1 pick and a GUN.
5) Judd and Murph are in Career best form as is Betts.
6) Henderson is very under rated and did very well on cloke who for a man who can take a mark with his eyes closed and both hand tied behind his back looked like he needed 7 gloves last night.
7) Dawes needs to learn to mark
8) Daisy is too reliant on others inside to be playing well for him to fire.
9) Jolly GAWN not good enough now at this level against quality rucks
10) You cant blame Mick/Buck changeover = Geelong? Adelaide?
11) Carlton are also not full strength yet. (Obv the Pies have more out)

I could continue........


You guys got beaten by a much better team last night.

I wouldnt be worried too much and calling for heads quite yet. You are used to winning so much being flogged hurts and especially by Carlton but last night was more of Carlton making you look bad than you being actually bad.

There are obv a few concerns with some of your players but I would be more looking at their performances against port or Essendon to evaluate how they are.

 

[HFF]

We'll be at 7-4 at best now. (only 11 games before the bye)

The Geelong game is only 5 weeks away, and in current form we wouldn't have a chance in hell of beating them, that gives us 3 losses already.

And we will lose another game, in may be ANZAC day, it may be against the Dogs or Crows, but the way we are going there's no way we only lose one game between now and the break.

I'd take 7-4 at the moment though, send a few guys to Arizona after the round 9 game in Adelaide (Suns, Dees and bye after that) and we'll be raring to go come round 13.

What happens in the last 11 games of the home and away rounds will define our season and final position more then what happens in the first 11.

lol yeh you get my drift.

The two danger games for mine are Geelong and Adelaide. If we cannot account for Essendon then we are in more trouble than I thought.

Geelong will destroy us quite comfortably.

If we can get through and only drop one more game until the bye, we are on track.

Getting the personnel back by then is the key though.