Review Rd 3, GCS vs Hawthorn - Metricon Stadium Sunday April 9 4.40pm

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OUT: From Hall, Leslie/Rory, Lemmens, Sexton, Rosa, AhChee, Bowes (harsh but he is NOT A DEFENDER), Ablett (or at least purely as a forward), this BS attitude a number of the players have where defending is below them.
IN: From McKenzie, Lonergan, Harbrow, Brodie, Fiorini, Matera, an ounce of heart

At the moment, this team is all flash no substance, and the flash is not even working the way it should be. Our midfield is so unbalanced and its not due to lacking personnel. Leaving all the grunt work to Touk and Barlow with help from Lyons and Swallow is just asking to get destroyed, and we are. However a couple of 'tough' calls by Rocket and we should improve in that area. Pressure starts in the middle and at the moment it is not existent, and the rest of the team are following suit. 49 tackles for the game when we lost by 100 is just pathetic.

I dont know if Ablett is carrying something/sick but he is a liability in the middle at the moment. Play him up forward and let him work his magic!!! 15 touches forward of centre are infinitely more valuable than 30 of his cheap handballs and kicks from handoffs that go nowhere.

Our defence is all over the place as well. All 6 GWS forwards kicked at least 2 goals and outside of May and probably Saad none of them should feel safe. Its only been 2 games but the Bowes (and Fiorini) experiment down there has got to be ended. He is not a defender. I get that we are trying to do what Sydney did with Mills, but Sydney have been one of the best teams in the comp for a decade. They are a well run defensive machine and can afford to slide Mills in without being overly affected. We can't afford that and Bowes looks like he has no idea. Send him back to the NEAFL if we have to but let him play his natural game.

How I would line up pending injuries:
Saad May Harbrow
Joyce Thompson Mckenzie
Fiorini Swallow Sexton
Lyons Lynch Martin
Ablett 2MP Ainsworth
Witts Touk Lonergan
Barlow Brodie Kk Rosa

Gives us a rotation of Touk, Lonergan, Barlow, Swallow, Brodie, Lyons, Fiorini, Sexton, Martin, Ablett (if necessary). Probably a bit overkill with the inside mids, but we need mature, bigger bodies.
 

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All sport's played between the ears
We win last week , no way we get thumped like we did yesterday
Lynch is clunking marks
Hall is running through half-forward kicking goals instead of doing the opposite of good
Ablett is playing instead of whining
etc etc
That's why I said last week's loss was so so bad in so so many ways
You can see the confidence it gave the Lions
If you'd told me the first 2 weeks of the season would have played out like it has after the practice match against Brisbane at Broadbeach I would have said you were delusional.
There just seemed to be daylight between the 2 teams
So I don't know what the answer is and I don't think Eade has a magic wand
I think we have been given a group of mentally and physically fragile players
It's a bad combo
As an illustration, in the first 2 weeks I doubt any of our players would have been ranked in the top 8 on ground both games
So I suspect we'll do what we normally do.
We'll beat Hawthorn and everyone will be on a high, but then get beaten again and everyone will be on a low
How we can be THAT team that gives consistent effort across the board week in week out is beyond me and at this stage beyond Rocket and the off-field group from all available evidence
*sigh*
 
Worth noting that Tom Lynch is just three goals behind Brad Hardie's all-time Carrara goalkicking record and five goals away from kicking 100 total. Jeremy Cameron kicked his 100th at the Sydney Showgrounds this week so it'd be nice to see Lynch accomplishing the same feat in a week's time.
 
Geez I would love to be bringing in Sam Powell-Pepper in this week - 4 top 10 picks and we couldn't identify a kid with strength, toughness, leadership and voice. Another job well done Clayton...
 
Geez I would love to be bringing in Sam Powell-Pepper in this week - 4 top 10 picks and we couldn't identify a kid with strength, toughness, leadership and voice. Another job well done Clayton...

He played well but geez he has tickets on himself like Wingard. Not a fan. But it's almost what we need, some sort of character to give us an identity. I'm kinda hoping Ainsworth/Brodie are those terriers coupled with Lynch and May.
 

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