CONS
- (Irrational rant) Alright guys, I was sitting with a Carlton supporting mate, surrounded by Carlton supporters, half way through the fourth quarter, getting ready to let rip into them about Visy, Judd for Masten + JK, plus the fact that a 189cm lightly built half-back flanker was killing Warnock at contests (Yeo), then they serve that shit up. I had to deal with the supporters making noises, stamping their feet, all that usual shit we supporters do at Subiaco, and they could've iced the game. Instead, I had 6 year olds ready to murder me with glee after the siren. F**k all of you who missed goals in that final quarter, Rosa, Shuey, Priddis, JK, ALL OF YOU.
- Midfield - Sick of the fumbly, slow-ass ball movement. Priddis should not be getting uncontested possessions, clearly a consideration by Carlton. Was disgusting watching Priddis, Selwood and Wellingham take taps in the final minutes while our best performing midfielders (Masten, Shuey) were sitting on flanks. Took far too long to adjust back to that set up, and only then did we get some movement going the other way.
- Forwardline - Feels like the forwardline was a Walshy + Suma special, given the way that Longmuir has seemed utterly incapable of adapting their excellent pressure systems to the new game-plan.
- Zach Tuohy is a flog and a w**nker, glad Shuey took him to town in the first quarter.
- Wellingham - 13 touches, Simpson. Just get him back up the ground into the guts and play Tunners or Colledge FFS.
- JK - Unsure if badly out of form, or just struggling with piss poor delivery. Probably both.
- Hutchings - Poor Half-Forward rotation, see Wellingham for solution, except Hutch is back to the WAFL until Priddis gets injured.
- Too many talls - Knew this would cost us late, especially when our mids overlapping run (Really, we had them cooked) was mitigated by our lumbersome key posts - Malthouse set up so many mismatches between size and pace we couldn't keep up. Was brutal to watch but was bound to happen.
- Resolve - Simpson's right, we didn't crack in when the game was on the line. This is what killed us rather than any single method of scoring.
PROS
- Yeo, Sheppard, Ellis (MIA), Hurn (MIA obviously), Bennell - Hell of a back line we are building and have utilised. Hickmott's doing an excellent job and was a well considered promotion at the end of last year. Bennell got pantsed a bit early but that second half was superb.
- Mackenzie, Schofield, McGovern, Brown - Got out the back on us early did Waite, but Simpson/Hickmott changed the match-ups and I thought we dominated their talls as much as their defenders did ours.
- Cripps was inaccurate, but was zippy, active, and put on some decent pressure. Clearly worth persevering with.
- Gaff was most outside again, but really went when was his turn.
- SHEPPARD (sponsorship emphasis)
- Shuey and Masten are becoming really reliable players for our midfield line-up, Simpson is making subtle adjustments each week with our midfield and I'm glad he's realising these guys are the glue to build around (at least for the time being).
- Subtle adjustments across the ground - We couldn't kick a winning score last week but this week we created far more scoring opportunities through changes in our positions (Rosa playing more offensively, Gaff more defensively, Bennell and McGovern being released up the ground). It wasn't awe-inspiring but is proof we are more flexible. It's good to see and this pro-activity gets us out of 4 goal deficits.