Quicky
Brownlow Medallist
- May 27, 2008
- 26,084
- 32,184
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
- Other Teams
- Socceroos, Melbourne Victory
I think when we went into this game there was an expectation we would trounce the Dogs. This didn't happen. I think there will be a degree of overreaction at the result because of this despite the fact we ended up with a win and a decent margin.
What may get overlooked is just how well the Dogs performed tonight. They were hard and they spread really well which caused us some issues. It also fails to take into consideration the hit that our midfield has taken with the absence of Ball, Thomas and Blair two of which are in the top four best mids at the club. You know you have issues when you are playing Buckley at the centre bounces. When you consider this I think the performance showed a lot of grit and was a really gutsy.
There were some big positives out of this game. Cloke and Swan worked their way through poor starts to really influence the game. Sinclair finally showed some reward for his effort. His determination was exceptional and he really provided a lot of defensive pressure which stifled the Dogs. Some will highlight his holding the ball but remember that Djerkurra was coming off the bench and Sinclair was unsighted. A few mistakes aside Sinclair was great tonight.
Dawes was also a huge positive. Ball mentioned in the pregame that his work effort has been huge and that reward was around the corner if he kept at it. This proved true. He took som fantastic marks and worked his arse off tonight. If we could wring that out of him each week I would be a happy man.
I thought Buckley was also much improved but I was still disappointed. He let Higgins get away at the start which set the Dogs up for the game. He made some silly mistakes after doing all the hard work. But I think we need to recognise that he put in a performance that showed improvement and promise. It probably deserves another crack at senior level on the balance. I'm sceptical he will take advantage of it if it comes his way but I think he should get the opportunity.
Wood was shite against shite opponents. He broke out at less than even which against those opponents aint good enough IMO.
As a team effort I thought we tried really hard, applied pressure well and in patches showed how good we can be. I think we were shown up for midfield depth but this should ease with the return of some players.
On its measure a positive performance.
What may get overlooked is just how well the Dogs performed tonight. They were hard and they spread really well which caused us some issues. It also fails to take into consideration the hit that our midfield has taken with the absence of Ball, Thomas and Blair two of which are in the top four best mids at the club. You know you have issues when you are playing Buckley at the centre bounces. When you consider this I think the performance showed a lot of grit and was a really gutsy.
There were some big positives out of this game. Cloke and Swan worked their way through poor starts to really influence the game. Sinclair finally showed some reward for his effort. His determination was exceptional and he really provided a lot of defensive pressure which stifled the Dogs. Some will highlight his holding the ball but remember that Djerkurra was coming off the bench and Sinclair was unsighted. A few mistakes aside Sinclair was great tonight.
Dawes was also a huge positive. Ball mentioned in the pregame that his work effort has been huge and that reward was around the corner if he kept at it. This proved true. He took som fantastic marks and worked his arse off tonight. If we could wring that out of him each week I would be a happy man.
I thought Buckley was also much improved but I was still disappointed. He let Higgins get away at the start which set the Dogs up for the game. He made some silly mistakes after doing all the hard work. But I think we need to recognise that he put in a performance that showed improvement and promise. It probably deserves another crack at senior level on the balance. I'm sceptical he will take advantage of it if it comes his way but I think he should get the opportunity.
Wood was shite against shite opponents. He broke out at less than even which against those opponents aint good enough IMO.
As a team effort I thought we tried really hard, applied pressure well and in patches showed how good we can be. I think we were shown up for midfield depth but this should ease with the return of some players.
On its measure a positive performance.
