AFL Autopsy RND 15: Loss to the Dockers

[ghostdog]

Few takeaways for me, Draper is so important to our structure and we either need Bryan to improve and regularly push for selection or look at drafting/trading in that area to prepare for the next few years. Phillips is over 30 and he is playing a role atm but it would have been pretty bad if he wasn't playing.

I don't know what to make of Parish's game, running head to head failed miserably. His offensive efforts weren't enough to counter his lack of accountability and not putting the blame solely on him but it stood out. Needed to lower the eyes but the forward entries in general were pretty shithouse, there was too much focus on 2MP and with Weideman having zero impact it was a disaster. Menzies should be a lock for best 22 too.

A lot of players were missing last night, how on earth did Liam Henry have the best game of his career on us? I feel like i could keep going but I don't want to rant. Freo without Darcy played like the bombers without Draper, massive in for them. Hopefully Draper will play for the port game.

Totally agree that Menzie should be a lock at the moment. His pressure in tge forward half is great and he's a solid body. Snelling now is still skilful but he doesn't seem as switched on as a couple of years ago. Not sure what his go is.

 

[ant555]

Our biggest issue IMO is how poor we are as a marking side in front of the footy. We have strong intercept marking in the back half but when we have to kick down the line we lose most contests. It is not just the tall players either. We really need a tall midfielder that can take a mark. A lead up CHF who has strong hands and the rucks need to be a lot more consistent in marking around the ground. When sides shut down our short kicking game we do not have an out. It is also not just the ability to hold marks but also the fact we often do not even get to the contest.

 

[MiguelM]

So Syd the only team to win off their bye but they played Saints who were also coming off their bye.

Pies to day but of course they play Crows also coming off the bye.

We have Port coming off their bye, lets hope there is something in the poor form following it!

Hate the bye rounds in the current format. AFL obviously do it to maximize TV ratings. Need to get back to 1 round for all teams or scrap it altogether.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

I'm yet to see the game. I'm looking forward to watching the replay.

 

[Foxx]

Same problem every game - turnovers. Only this time we didn't bring the pressure.

 

[nipst@r]

I think game showed where we are as a list.

We are at least a 2nd tall fwd, small fwd and a key back short of most finals teams.

Parish is super clean and a good player but does throw the mix out slightly. The hot potato 30cm handballs to a flat footed team mate hurt. He also calls for it to himself when he is under pressure and gets to close to teammates. Merret can fall into this at times but his elite hand to foot speed and foot skills cover it. When they are both there we can have a lot of wasted possessions.

Sometimes I wish parish spaced out as much from teammates as he does from his direct opposition but it was also his first game back and no draper so the structures around the ball hurt and were out most of the night. Think they will fix it this week.

24 possies though and hasn't lost any touch was pleasing. So sure hel make the positional changes and I'll sing his praises next week.

I'm a big fan of Byran but last night I understood why scott isn't. Has a lot of capability and likely to get twice the possies of Phillips but think he gets lost and doesn't seem to fill space like a ruckman should. Gets a kick on the wing rather than filling a leading lane in D50. Also he will learn and still think worth getting games in as need to teach him this. Still has big upside.

Lack of good small pressure fwd hurt, guelfi only had a tackle or two. Haven't been a fan of Menzies but noticed what we missed without him. He is good for structure, knows where to be and competes.

A 30 point loss to Freo in WA I would have probably taken that at the start of the year. Were due for a drop so looking fwd to next week.

 

[citizen-erased]

Agreed. They were shocking last week and were always going to hit back whoever they played. I’m expecting Essendon to respond hard next week.

Sometimes i wonder if our supporters truly know our side

If serong and brayshaw pantsed us last night, imagine the butters, jhf and rozee show.

End of the day, freo wanted it more.

 

[TheWeapon]

The centre square setup did not work with that mix as no one was playing a defensive role, honestly it looked much more accountable in previous weeks with Hobbs and Caldwell in there. Parish, Merrett and Stringer are all very aggressive in their positioning so if they don't win it the opposition clearances are usually high quality (streaming through the front of the stoppage)

Pressure was poor across the ground and the lack of leg speed was noticeable. We need more line breakers to be able to transition through uncontested marks, Hind or Massimo for Kelly would be an obvious swap as their offensive ability outweighs Kelly's defensive ability imo. Similarly in the forward line, Menzie and/or Davey Jnr for Snelling or Guelfi helps our forward pressure

Our key position depth is thin. Draper was a huge out as Bryan and Phillips could not compete around the ground with Darcy and Jackson. Weideman is not providing enough and it made Fremantle's defensive job so much easier as they could focus all their attention on Peter Wright. It's a shame we don't have a clear next best CHF in the reserves, would strongly consider Langford at CHF and picking another small

 

[citizen-erased]

Our biggest issue IMO is how poor we are as a marking side in front of the footy. We have strong intercept marking in the back half but when we have to kick down the line we lose most contests. It is not just the tall players either. We really need a tall midfielder that can take a mark. A lead up CHF who has strong hands and the rucks need to be a lot more consistent in marking around the ground. When sides shut down our short kicking game we do not have an out. It is also not just the ability to hold marks but also the fact we often do not even get to the contest.

Chf and ill add a marking small and medium
Our fwd line is pretty poor. Snelling and guelfi are role players who can/should be replaced with better.

Wright, menzie, stringer and langford are my locks. Im wondering if langford as the 2nd tall/chf is the option. Great kick, hands, positioning and awarenss.

Let wright be the tower.
Stringer 3rd tall.
Menzie + a 2nd quality small (mass?)
Find a 2nd ruck who can impact.....im seeing why we went after marshall.

 

[nipst@r]

Sometimes i wonder if our supporters truly know our side

If serong and brayshaw pantsed us last night, imagine the butters, jhf and rozee show.

End of the day, freo wanted it more.

We are a young side that needs to learn to adjust and compete so at the least coming up against a talented midfield next week, gives us a chance at redemption and to make the defensive adjustments we need.

Rozee, butters may waltz fwd like Freo but it will be a good test for Scott and the midfield to adjust.

 

[citizen-erased]

We are a young side that needs to learn to adjust and compete so at the least coming up against a talented midfield next week, gives us a chance at redemption and to make the defensive adjustments we need.

Rozee, butters may waltz fwd like Freo but it will be a good test for Scott and the midfield to adjust.

Agree.
This month and a but is hard lesson time. I reckon Scott will find out a bit about the group

All genuinely 50/50, 60/40 games.
0/5 would be a fail
2/5 pass
Anything more is a strong positive.

 

[JT_the_Man]

We were too slow. Part of that was on selection, dropping Menzie to sub was strange and replacing Hind with Kelly makes us far slower, both in terms of his actual leg speed and his decision making. The rest was Essington? Some changes needed.

 

[JT_the_Man]

I'm yet to see the game. I'm looking forward to watching the replay.

Switch off halfway through the first for your own sanity.

 

[mcgrath_truther]

We were too slow. Part of that was on selection, dropping Menzie to sub was strange and replacing Hind with Kelly makes us far slower, both in terms of his actual leg speed and his decision making. The rest was Essington? Some changes needed.

yeah big agree, menzie is a key part of our forward line, but i think that nick bryan did pretty well considering his very limited ground time. not sure why he ended up being selected in the first place if he wasn't going to be played much on the ground.

 

[rumply]

 

[HirdsTheWord]

could have shot for a top 4 but lose to a 13th placed team.

pretty poor loss

but probably shows where we are - likely to drop down the ladder from here.

 

[ghostdog]

Yep. In hindsight I reckon Caldwell and Hobbs would have worn Serong and Brayshaw more closely.

 

[Vander18]

Thought we were just off.

First time this season (off top of my head) that we haven’t brought strong, consistent frontal pressure.

First time I have noted multiple occasions of soft attack on the footy.

First time I remember us looking slow (constantly beaten to the ball) and systematically disorganised (no cohesion in forward group, mids not organised at stoppages).

We also made some blues at selection - too tall up forward and too slow.

Yet….we didn’t get blown out and were somewhat in the game with 6-7 minutes left. There is something to that.

 

[sameolds33]

Switch off halfway through the first for your own sanity.

Watching it live was like watching a car crash in slow motion. You knew what was going to happen but were powerless to stop watching. I stopped shouting at the TV midway through the first quarter and stopped groaning at the mistakes 10 minutes into the second when the writing was already on the wall. A feeling of deja vu.

 

[WABomber]

Lloydy is onto it, you could see Parish hunting and getting caught out a few times not sure if he was trying to highlight him specifically. Needed some defensive pressure at the CB especially conceding we would probably lose the tap. Setterfield will be a welcome return.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Our biggest issue IMO is how poor we are as a marking side in front of the footy. We have strong intercept marking in the back half but when we have to kick down the line we lose most contests. It is not just the tall players either. We really need a tall midfielder that can take a mark. A lead up CHF who has strong hands and the rucks need to be a lot more consistent in marking around the ground. When sides shut down our short kicking game we do not have an out. It is also not just the ability to hold marks but also the fact we often do not even get to the contest.

We miss Jones in this regard.

 

[Yoda_]

Our biggest issue IMO is how poor we are as a marking side in front of the footy. We have strong intercept marking in the back half but when we have to kick down the line we lose most contests. It is not just the tall players either. We really need a tall midfielder that can take a mark. A lead up CHF who has strong hands and the rucks need to be a lot more consistent in marking around the ground. When sides shut down our short kicking game we do not have an out. It is also not just the ability to hold marks but also the fact we often do not even get to the contest.

I have been banging on about more marking forwards for a while. a fwd mix including Snelling, Guelfi, Menzies isn't going to lock the ball inside F50 nor is it going to take 4 contested marks that off sets the lack of tackling.

 

[Mootsy]

out-played & out-coached.

 

[ant555]

I have been banging on about more marking forwards for a while. a fwd mix including Snelling, Guelfi, Menzies isn't going to lock the ball inside F50 nor is it going to take 4 contested marks that off sets the lack of tackling.

It is not just the forwards. Midfield and ruck need work in that area. The issue with the forwards has not been that we have not selected them but more Injury to Jones . Baldwin not really being that guy. Weideman being more depth and now Hinter injured.

As far as Snelling , Guelfi and Menzie locking the ball inside 50. The have in general. Last night was plain but it was more the whole combination lacking pressure and Menzie was not in there until late. Our forward half pressure in general has been much better this year. Would be nice to find an upgrade in a lot of spots.

 

[resurrector]

You'd think after the 2nd centre clearance leading to a goal the mids might play man on and backs might get in the opposition shirts ... Def need at least one slightly defensively orientated mid in the centre bounces.

BZT looked hurt and Weid went back to cover him. Hope Scott leaves him there and brings in Jaiden Hunter as our 2nd KPF next week

Snelling competes hard can't kick over a jam tin so the move is Menzies in for him and Mass/Hind/Kelly to sub.