Richmond game thoughts

[BACCS]

seems to be an awful lot of complaining about missed opportunites in front of goal whilst ignoring the fact that every Tiger mid had 25-30 possies or more, might be a little closer to the guts of why the game was wrestled from the crows... not too mention, twice as many I50;s in 4q to the tiges had a far greater bearing than a few lousy shots on goal that went astray

If we had kicked 8.3 and not 3.8 in the 2nd quarter (which was possible with the shots we missed), the game is over, no two ways about it. Richmond outplayed us in the last quarter, but I doubt that would have been the case if your mob was down by 8-10 goals at half time.

 

[Bojangles17]

If we had kicked 8.3 and not 3.8 in the 2nd quarter (which was possible with the shots we missed), the game is over, no two ways about it. Richmond outplayed us in the last quarter, but I doubt that would have been the case if your mob was down by 8-10 goals at half time.

not sure whether you were there or not partner but the conditions were never going to make for straight kicking at goal....was 10g to 4 in the second half...that should be the burning issue

 

[crowman86]

I cant believe people are blaming the selection panel for the poor peformance of the younger guys? So because Davis gets dropped they are scared that they might lose their spot if they dont perform? Therefore they play badly? Give me a ****ing break.

Oh and apparently its the recruiting staff who haven't recruited a small forward which means that our lead up forwards are FORCED to kick set shots because we dont get enough crumbing goals.... You have got to be joking, one of Dangers set shots sprayed out of bounds on the full from like 30m out today. There is no way that is anyones fault but his own.

Grow up and actually make the players accountable and stop looking for someone else to blame. Our forwards burnt the ball once again today when we had our chances in the 2nd qtr. There is no one else to blame.

Glad to see that Truck also showed all the non believers that he was the right matchup for Jack today. I thought Truck was 2nd best besides Tommo today.

 

[footy4ever]

I cant believe people are blaming the selection panel for the poor peformance of the younger guys? So because Davis gets dropped they are scared that they might lose their spot if they dont perform? Therefore they play badly? Give me a ****ing break.

Oh and apparently its the recruiting staff who haven't recruited a small forward which means that our lead up forwards are FORCED to kick set shots because we dont get enough crumbing goals.... You have got to be joking, one of Dangers set shots sprayed out of bounds on the full from like 30m out today. There is no way that is anyones fault but his own.

Grow up and actually make the players accountable and stop looking for someone else to blame. Our forwards burnt the ball once again today when we had our chances in the 2nd qtr. There is no one else to blame.

Glad to see that Truck also showed all the non believers that he was the right matchup for Jack today. I thought Truck was 2nd best besides Tommo today.

Yes. My sentiments exactly

 

[jenny61_99]

• Kids playing inconsistantly - who'd a thunk?
• No Captain - or anyone else that stood up to be counted as one.
• The loss of a massive amount of experience in a very short period of time - ALWAYS was going to be an issue.

 

[Greggy]

I agree you guys missed some easy shots, but we also missed a few easy ones. I was at the game and the wind was out of control.

I think Adelaide went into their shell, Richmond can be pretty brittle deep in defence if you get a quick long ball into a big guy like Tippett, so may times when they could've taken that quick long kick they hesitated or went backwards, this cost you the win in my eyes. I thought Dangerfield was your best forward, or should've been, he got into great positions and did some really impressive body work, his kicking cost you big time though.

It was your game to win or lose in that second quarter and you didn't take it, we came out after half time with a harder edge and took it when it was up for grabs, which i'm pretty happy about.

I also admit Johncock, Goodwin and Mcleod would've probably been the difference, but losing that experience levelled our teams out in the end.

You've got the talent and structures, just needed that grit to finish it.

 

[jackster83]

It was your game to win or lose in that second quarter and you didn't take it, we came out after half time with a harder edge and took it when it was up for grabs, which i'm pretty happy about.

Very good post and the bolded bit is the biggest concern I have with this football club.

Harder edge indeed.

How come every other side can come out with a harder edge but we can't? When the going gets tough, we lose confidence and our work rate drops off. You can't just blame the kids because there are several senior players who do this also.

 

[Rave Slave]

Rutten, Thompson, Doughty the best 3.

Nothing else to say. Game was done and won (lost) by our kicking, Season's end can't come quick enough.

Oh and I want James Sellar rucking ASAP please. That is all.

 

[footy4ever]

Rutten, Thompson, Doughty the best 3.

Nothing else to say. Game was done and won (lost) by our kicking, Season's end can't come quick enough.

Oh and I want James Sellar rucking ASAP please. That is all.

Please no. Spare me the pain.

 

[Allefgib]

Young guys not handling the pressure at the moment.
Many misses by the forwards just unforgiveable for guys paid to be playing at this level. Loved seeing Craigy filthy with it.

Glaring lack of leadership and glaring lack of anyone willing to step up and take a leadership mantle. Maybe we ended up with the older 'average' players filling our leadership group because none of the other guys are willing to take the responsibility?!?! Most telling comments out of Craigy's presser, to me, were his comments about opportunities for people to stand up 'on the field when/where (?) it counts!'. Right with you on that one Neil. Been pathetic last few weeks.

As per Jenny's comment - kids were always going to be a bit up and down. The drop off in effort and confidence when we miss so many goals I can forgive a little given the lack of expereince. What I'm finding hard to deal with is the lack of leadership in the 'not-young' group.

 

[Rave Slave]

Please no. Spare me the pain.

Because we'd be losing out on so much currently?

Our ruck division atm is almost non-existent, our season's over and we have nothing to play for. How much do we lose playing a rucking division of Sellar and Maric or Sellar and Griffin?

 

[Crow-mo]

was this so called drop off in experience all of sudden unexpected?

 

[Rave Slave]

was this so called drop off in experience all of sudden unexpected?

Not at all truth be told, a long season and the way some of our youngsters play is nigh on Kamikaze.

The three greatest concerns our club has atm are rucking division, goalkicking accuracy (form slump or not this is a fundamental) and midfield depth.

 

[Wood_Duck]

was this so called drop off in experience all of sudden unexpected?

Surely not unexpected. Mismanaged, definately.

 

[smoovy]

Not at all truth be told, a long season and the way some of our youngsters play is nigh on Kamikaze.

The three greatest concerns our club has atm are rucking division, goalkicking accuracy (form slump or not this is a fundamental) and midfield depth.

By far and away no. 1

 

[King Elvis]

Stevens is a liability.

ALMOST EVERY TIME HE GETS THE BALL HE TURNS IT OVER OR STUFFS IT UP!!

We give him credit for his defensive game; but he's playing the loose man role, I'd be anything Davis could come in and play that role equally as well defensively, and not **** up every time offensively.

We've got the goalkicking yips, otherwise, we win the last two weeks.

No matter though, this year it isn't in our interests to play finals.

 

[MelbourneCrow]

Stevens is a liability.

ALMOST EVERY TIME HE GETS THE BALL HE TURNS IT OVER OR STUFFS IT UP!!.

I thought he played quite well and saved us a few times. The kick out he coughed up was more Bocks fault for just standing there and letting the Richmond bloke jump in front.

 

[chigwidden]

Truck was sensational. Didn't just spoil and spoil and give the Coleman medal leader a hiding - he was prepared to peel off Riewoldt and take on other players when he needed to.

The second quarter, goalkicking aside, was terrific. It was the one smart quarter of footy we played.

Doughty was by far the smartest footballer out there for us today, excepting one very poor spoil.

Quoted for truth.

Doughty was playing smart footy. He keeps standing up when we're down, and I do not get the people pointing the finger at him as hanging his head when the going gets tough.

Truck did a fantastic job on Riewoldt.

Douglas looked like he's regaining the form he had lost. (I don't _think_ that he's back in form because we're losing )

And whoever posted that we've been as wasteful in our forward 50 and scoring shots all year: yes.

How is it that every other side in the competition manages to get clean disposals in their i50, but we look like we put desperation above skill 80% of the time? It takes us so many minutes of the ball inside 50 to get a goal, but the second the opposition have it in their hands, it goes straight out of the 50.

Rory and Danger are capable of clean work within the 50, and we need one of them in there at all times. There's a noticeable difference in how the forward line works when one of them is close in to the packs inside 50.

We have several players who can and do perform great chip passes inside 50 with accuracy: Porps, Jaensch, Mackay, Symes. We have one midfielder who can grab it and kick it inside 50 from the centre - Thomson. We're weak at working those two groups together, and manage strings of play far more successfully from a r50 than from the centre. Even without Johncock.

I want more versatility in our clearances.

 

[Tex200]

AfC has played a lot of good football in the last 2 weeks. We have created a ton of chances for the forwards. Most particularly our system going into the forward line has been excellent. We have created a lot of uncontested marks in our forward 50, and the forwards have taken some excfellent contested marks.

Clearly though the continued waste of these chances allows even the most average teams to "hang around" in game terms. It is very rare for a team to hold momentum all of a game. When you have it you must make it count and build a buffer for when the other team does get it.

The last 2 weeks we have had good momentum, created excellent chances but have been inexplicably wasteful...of course eventtually the other side will hit back.

Its a shame that so many players have received such stinging criticism and are being lumped in with a few players who, over the last 2 weeks have shown an inability to execute the most fundamental skill of the game. Most of these misses are not close things. They are sprayed showing complete lack of ability.

 

[Sekaj]

I agree you guys missed some easy shots, but we also missed a few easy ones.

Uhh, no. Given the conditions, Richmond's finishing in front of goal was superb. The Tigers dominated the second half while the Crows were woeful. I agree it wasn't just kicking for goal that cost us but I struggle to find any easy shots you missed.

 

[spexau]

If we kicked straight in the 2nd quarter the lead would've been around the 40 mark and Richmond's heads would've dropped all over the ground while our boys would've grown in condfidence. Don't underestimate how much missing consecutive shots at goal hurts the confidence of group of players. It adds more pressure on the forwards, it makes the midfielders and defenders feel like their efforts were wasted. Both the Port game and Tigers game were lost from our own poor goal kicking. We kick straight against these two teams who are both notorious over the recent years for giving up when it's too hard.

Hopefully we get played up to the Dogs level next week and kick some goals because if we don't we'll get smashed. Really need a confidence lifter for the boys.

 

[King Elvis]

I thought he played quite well and saved us a few times. The kick out he coughed up was more Bocks fault for just standing there and letting the Richmond bloke jump in front.

I said that as well mate.

Defensively, he does a great job; but keep in mind, he's playing as the loose man in our backline - the easiest job a defender can play.

He did a great job of it again Geelong, decent job of it yesterday, last week we were shit.

But, offensively, when he has the ball and needs to make a decision, I'd say he makes the wrong decision at least 50% of the time; and even when he does make the right decision, skill errors probably stuff it up 50% of those times.

 

[amer]

That's the thing yeah. Stevens drifts in with timely marks in front of the contest, but his execution under pressure is very, very poor - and consistently it stings us at pivotal stages in games. What people need to realise is that to progress a side, you must be proactive in terms of making way for superior talent. I'm not saying every solid senior player gets dumped for a hot shot youngster. But when you're confronted with somewhat line ball calls, back the talent. Stevens vs Davis is one such call. Davis has him for smarts, contested work and despite having only played a handful of AFL games, coolness under pressure. If Stevens is playing the easiest role on the ground, he should be contributing few to no turnovers to our cause. This isn't the case. I'd be moving him on.

 

[marvin]

Douglas looked like he's regaining the form he had lost. (I don't _think_ that he's back in form because we're losing )

Meant to mention that one last night - but agree completely, Douglas was very good yesterday.

We have several players who can and do perform great chip passes inside 50 with accuracy: Porps, Jaensch, Mackay, Symes. We have one midfielder who can grab it and kick it inside 50 from the centre - Thomson. We're weak at working those two groups together, and manage strings of play far more successfully from a r50 than from the centre. Even without Johncock.

I want more versatility in our clearances.

Pretty decent summary that.

One of our issues is that our best ruckman is also one of our 2 best forwards. The tap from Tippett to Thommo for our 1st goal was beautifully worked. We don't seem to have the confidence at around the ground rucks or Tippett-less boundary throw ins to hit the contest at pace like Thommo did at that one, because there isn't the trust in the rucks to win the contest decisively.

 

[Allefgib]

Starting to wonder if Dougy playing well means the side as a whole is performing badly....

i.e. when everyone is at the their best (aka Geelong game) Dougy is a good role player but not a star. When Dougy is a star its because everyone else around him is under-performing.

Either way like what he brings to the table, just that if he is in our best.. we will always struggle.