Abdul_The_Bull
All Australian
We were made to look far, far better than we actually are last week. West Coast were putrid. The Hawks came with a simple game plan. Block up the middle of the ground and pressure our ball carrier. They held their shape in defence and we fell back in to old habits by kicking it straight down their throats, time and time again. They smashed us on the rebound as we didn't come with any defensive intent.
Plenty of positives though. We've nailed the 5 picks we had in the top 30 of the draft last year. Ginnivan is going to be really fun to watch. However, I do think umpires and opposition alike will start to cotton on to his tactic of getting tackled high.
Knowing our form line, we'll come out and beat Brisbane this week. I'd dearly love to knock Essendon out of the 8 in the final round.
Excellent points, BB. Hawthorn clearly did their research and developed a strategy to deal with us. Not only that but they implemented the strategy very well indeed. It's not unreasonable to expect that we were not able to replicate last week's effort. We are a young team transitioning from one game style to a completely different one, and under a new head coach, no less; so I think it at least realistic that this will happen. This does not disappoint me as finals are out of the question so experience and diverse offerings are the order from here on out. I am pleased with how we are tracking and am confident that we will be much better next season, irrespective of whomever is at the helm.