Showdown review

[Macca19]

Well....dissapointing but you know what? This is the first time in about 3 years ive actually been proud of them after a loss. 4 goals behind at half time usually spells a depressing 8-10 goal loss but tonight we fought back and played probably the hardest football weve played since the Grand Final.

What makes it dissapointing tho is that we so easily could have won that match. The amount of goals we gifted the Crows thru just terrible mistakes was just ridiculous. Mind you, the Crows did their best to try and lose the game in the last quarter....the amount of errors they had as well in the last ten minutes...we just should have capitalised. We just could not get any closer than 8 points in that last half. Everytime we got close we would stuff something up and they'd get another steadier.

I thought we were terrible in the first half. Panic football at its very worst. The Crows put on a super flood in the first half and we just had no idea how to handle it. They dropped almost every player back behind the ball, and we just chipped it sideways and backwards and ended up giving it up, but 3-4 times the Crows would run it out and then have nothing to kick to and then cough it up and it seemed to go like that all half.

We played stupid football in the first half. Too sideways and backwards and continuously putting teammates under pressure with either terrible kicks or hospital handpasses. Dew probably played his worst ever game, Walsh and Kane made some bad mistakes in the first half and the Crows capitalised in the second quarter.

They kicked away, I dunno who was on Thompson but he killed us in that second quarter. At halftime I thought the Crows would run away with it and we'd lose by the standard 8-10 goals.

We came out firing in the third quarter tho. We played more direct and we played one of the toughest and hardest halves of footy ive seen us play. We didnt give the Crows an inch in the second half.

We kicked three quickfire goals thru Pearce, White and Cassisi and the game was on. The Crows kicked one just before the siren thru Hentschel...who I thought was pretty well spanked by Chaplin all night.

The last quarter was just dissapointing. Gav got us off to a good start...then we stuffed up and Perrie goaled. Then Shaun kicked one to get us back, then we stuffed up and Hentschel kicked one. Then Tredders kicked one, then we stuffed up and Riccuito (who I thought made more mistakes tonight than ive ever seen from him in a single game before) kicked one. Then Cassisi got us back to within 8 points with a few minutes left...then Ebert missed, then we just blindly kicked it forward for the rest of the match.

Dissapointing because the match was there to be won and we just couldnt do it. The Crows turned into a bit of a mess in the last quarter. Riccuito had kicks picked off...players fell over, two players spoil each other for a mark...I thought they did their best to try and hand us the game but then we tried our best to make sure they stayed in front. I dont think either side would be pleased at the skill level presented tonight...but it was one of the most enjoyable tough games ive watched all year.

Its hard for me to be too critical when we tried so bloody hard in that last half to get back in it and try and win it. With 5-6 regulars out, facing an in form full strength Crows side...im proud of the boys tonight.

I thought the amount of young blood we had in the side tonight was a good thing. I think we missed Chad down back...mainly his confidence and direct running from defence. Numerous times we did our sideways thing where Chad would have taken a mark and ran off down the ground. Pickett would have been handy as well. I wouldnt want this side to change too much tho.

Thought the umpiring was an abo********e joke. Theyve got no idea at all. First of all they wear white.....what ********ing moron made that decision? We wear a guernsey thats white and a shade of blue thats pretty much white so the umpires wear white. Why they werent in red is beyond me. Second of all...yet again, just the inconsistency. We got screwed, then the Crows got royally screwed....some of the free kicks and non-decisions were ridiculous. Mclaren the whole AFL knows is hopeless but Jeffrey...everytime we have him he seems to make a dozen of the worst decisions you see every week. yet noone can say anything about the standard of umpiring? I dunno but I'd love to be an AFL umpire. Get paid a mint to run around and no matter how you perform it doesnt matter because noone can say anything bad about you anyway. Wish my job was like that.

Player Reviews:
Brogan - Crap for the first three quarters, I thought some of his efforts at times were simply pathetic. However, I thought him moving into the ruck in the last quarter was very nearly the match winning move. Lade might have had 1000 hitouts but most of them were being sharked. As soon as Brogan went into the ruck a few minutes into the last quarter I dont think we lost another centre clearance, and we saw Peter and Shaun run it out from bounces a few times. Again tho, a moment pretty late in the last quarter where he had to run and take a mark on the wing, uncontested he just jogged over and put one hand up and it just wasnt bloody good enough.

P Burgoyne - Our only midfielder to consistently win the ball in the first half...he made some typical poor errors in the second half. The Burgoyne dance which led to a turnover and I think Riccuitos goal late in the match...one day he'll learn he cant take on the world.

S Burgoyne - ******** he was good. Really good. Excellent in the first half, excellent on the ball in the second half. Again tho...if only that bounce didnt slip thru his fingers. One of, if not his best game tho.

Cassisi - Thought he was really good tonight.

Chaplin - I reckon we have an absolute star in the making with him. How he hasnt been in the side all year is simply ridiculous. Probably second best on ground for mine. Altho Mr Potential kicked two, I thought Chaplin gave him a hiding tonight. Dunno about anyone else but I see leadership material in him. If he gets dropped if Chad and Bish are fit this week ill ********ing throw up.

Cochrane - Wasnt too bad, but he just does stupid things. Makes the wrong decision seemingly everytime he gets the ball.

K Cornes - Thought he busted a rib early on, came back and was pretty good for most of the night. Made some bad foot errors tho.

Dew - Gotta be his worst ever game for the club. Two or three times he tried to switch play but the kick got cut off....those two ultra embarrasing "bumps", then that attempted clearance in the Crows forward 50 in the last quarter which led to a goal. I dunno who told him he could bump...but he should never ever try and hip and shoulder again. Pickett would have killed Reilly, most players would have tackled, Stuey bounces off like he's made of flubber. Then he trys the same thing on Mattner. Both cost us goals. I hope he got told never to try that again.

Ebert - Kicked a goal, popped a shoulder, thats about it. Really should have kicked that goal in the last quarter.

Francou - Predictably, was nowhere to be seen tonight. His great game/crap game yo-yo continues.

Lade - Was ok. Won heaps of hitouts but most of them went down the throat of a Crows player, especially at centre bounces.

Mahoney - Pretty quiet but he put his body on the line like always a few times.

Monty - Nice goal, took a great mark too, but was pretty quiet in the second half.

Pearce - Ran his heart out tonight. Chased and harrassed hard all night, kicked a nice goal. Did ok.

Pettigrew - Was pretty quiet but did a couple of good things that stood out in my mind.

Salopek - Very quiet. Got some kicks but didnt really get involved much.

Tredrea - Barely touched it in the first half, went on ball and I thought he well beat Burton. He got a fair bit of the ball, took a great hanger over "birdman", kicked a goal. Only trouble was with him up the ground a lot of times we had absolutely no marking target up forward at all. Robbed Peter to pay Paul a bit but the move had to be made.

Wakelin - Beat Perrie for most of the night. Played well.

Walsh - Made some bad mistakes in the first half but kept finding the ball. Did ok.

Wanganeen - One of our only players to give a yelp in the first half, one of his best games all year.

White - Just gotta mark the ball Damon. The players honour your lead you cant let it slip out like it did 3-4 times tonight.

Wilson - Horrid first half, great second half. Beat Welsh pretty convincingly.

POTY Votes:
10 - S Burgoyne
9 - Chaplin
8 - Wakelin
7 - P Burgoyne, Cassisi, Walsh, Wanganeen
6 - K Cornes, Wilson
5 - Lade
4 - Cochrane, Monty, Tredrea
3 - Brogan, Pettigrew
2 - Ebert, Francou, Pearce, White
1 - Dew, Mahoney, Salopek

 

[Russian]

I dunno who was on Thompson but he killed us in that second quarter.

I'll give you a hint - SC

Thought the umpiring was an abo********e joke. Theyve got no idea at all. First of all they wear white.....what ********ing moron made that decision? We wear a guernsey thats white and a shade of blue thats pretty much white so the umpires wear white. Why they werent in red is beyond me.

In previous years they've worn white for every game in heritage round, then they wore orange last night and in the two Ten games today they've worn white when one of the teams is mainly white.

Second of all...yet again, just the inconsistency. We got screwed, then the Crows got royally screwed....some of the free kicks and non-decisions were ridiculous. Mclaren the whole AFL knows is hopeless but Jeffrey...everytime we have him he seems to make a dozen of the worst decisions you see every week.

Jeffrey's in the bottom 5 on the panel imo, I guess inconsistent pretty much says everything about the umpiring so I won't say any more.

Dew - Gotta be his worst ever game for the club.

You forgotten just about every game of last year?

Francou - Predictably, was nowhere to be seen tonight. His great game/crap game yo-yo continues.

The one positive was he made a lot of tackles and didn't give away any frees in them.

Best thing tonight was we played four quarters (ok 3.5).
Effort was good but still a bit of laziness - letting the ball bounce instead of running a bit harder to get it on the full. A bit of dew out there, can't do it.
Too slow. Choco said in the PC you can't beat the Crows in a shootout, well hanging onto it just gives the Crows time to set up their zone which is just about inpenetrable. Were much better at that in the 2nd half. Chappy and Kane probably the biggest offenders but that's mainly because they got so much of it.

 

[Portia]

First of all they wear white.....what ********ing moron made that decision? We wear a guernsey thats white and a shade of blue thats pretty much white so the umpires wear white. Why they werent in red is beyond me.

You could also query the wisdom of a yellow ball when one side is wearing a mostly yellow guernsey.

Oh yeah, and Danyle Pearce can't tackle.

 

[silky-smooth]

Francou - Predictably, was nowhere to be seen tonight. His great game/crap game yo-yo continues.

Wait, you mean he played? Would never have guessed.


I think the second quarter proved to be the quarter that killed us. For the first 20 minutes, we played a Sydney-brand of football. And, it did actually work. We were keeping Adelaide off the ball and frustrating them. But with their potent defence, we needed to make many more inroads rather than holding onto the ball.

When Perrie kicked that goal with five or so minutes remaining before half time, we completely lost the plot. Adelaide exposed us and went BANG, BANG, BANG. Turned what was going to be a goal or so lead into a lead in excess of four goals at half time.

We comfortably had more of the ball in the first and second quarters, with nothing to show for it. Adelaide were far more damaging with much less of the ball. Just stupid football to begin with.

And Dew quite simply p1ssed me off.

 

[PJ Power]

Dew should be really embarrassed by that performance. For all the forward steps he took this year, he undid it all with a clanger-ridden, take-the-soft-option game. His failure to tackle on several occasions was an absolute disgrace.
If Chaplin gets highlighted for a few decision-making errors after five games of senior footy, you would have thought Choco would like to tell the public how smart Dew and Peter Burgoyne were tonight with some of their CRAP.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Fairly good points Macca & i agree with a lot that you said except the umpiring as i don't like to blame poor umpiring for a loss. Now i know that you can't change the result but surely Roger James on one leg would've given us a much better chance of winning the game tonight, than at least 2 out of the four selected changes.

We were far from disgraced & we didn't allow the opposition to play well tonight.
If we can play with that sort of effort & intensity for the next few weeks, i believe that we can make the final 8 & then it'll be game on.

Also it looks like that Gavin Wanganeen will hang up the boots at the end of the year, which is a shame, but a few current players have mentioned it to me that he won't be playing on next year. Also a friend of mine that knows Wanganeen has mentioned that Gav told them that his body couldn't take another year of football.

 

[JohnK]

POTY Votes:
10 - S Burgoyne
9 - Chaplin
8 - Wakelin
7 - P Burgoyne, Cassisi, Walsh
6 - K Cornes, Wilson
5 - Lade
4 - Cochrane, Monty, Tredrea
3 - Brogan, Pettigrew
2 - Ebert, Francou, Pearce, White
1 - Dew, Mahoney, Salopek

Very interesting review, macca. Don't agree with all of it.
I'd rate Francou and K Cornes higher than you have.

But you haven't rated your coach's performance. He did one or two things differently tonight.

Would you like to assess his performance?

 

[snap-shot]

Someone has to tell Dew that, just because Pickett is out, doesn't mean he has try and bring him back by bumping every guy he sees. I mean Reilly bounced off him and got it down to a goal... Reilly for god sakes.

Chaplin - We are seeing the signs of a replacement for Bishop.

Tredrea - everytime he needed to be in the forward line he was up the ground, pitty he couldn't have more of an impact on last night.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Well....dissapointing but you know what? This is the first time in about 3 years ive actually been proud of them after a loss. 4 goals behind at half time usually spells a depressing 8-10 goal loss but tonight we fought back and played probably the hardest football weve played since the Grand Final.

Agree 100%. I walked away fom that game feeling like I finally had a glimpse of the future and I liked what I saw. The kids have really added great enthusiasm. I read in the paper that this game was going to demonstrate how we have no pace and mark the beginning of some great crows epoch over us. Looked more to me like the WWT Eagles fabled one year dynasty of 1993. I thought we ran them off their legs. I wonder how a side that contains 2xBurgoyne, Wanganeen, Pearce, Pettigrew, Cassisi, etc could be considered slow.

If we can get Salopek match fit, he will be a terrific player. His footy brain and knowledge of where to be as an on baller is so obvious. I really like him as a player.

A special mention for Wilbur ... might've been picked on reputation but played up to it tonight. Ran his ar$e off and exposed Welsh as a completely unaccountable forward. Fab game Wilbur.

Pearce didn't get much of it, but his pace was unsettling and he dragged guys out of the flood. Chaplin was really good, even mastered Bishop's trick of hanging around in the BP picking off kick ins.

I'd love to see Symes or Gilham come in this week for Monty.

Thought the coaching was good too. Especially moving Tredrea on ball then a wing to get him out of the flood - JohnK would have been pleased.

To be honest I think James would have struggled with the pace of that game. We were winning clearances regularly anyway, which would have been his main contribution.

And I thought Francou was ok. Laid some good tackles, got a bit of it w/out a lot of gametime. And as well as he played, someone should tell Walsh it's ok to meet a ball on the full ... it doesn't have to bounce every time.

 

[5107power]

You could also query the wisdom of a yellow ball when one side is wearing a mostly yellow guernsey.

Oh yeah, and Danyle Pearce can't tackle.[/QUOTE]


Must of been taught to tackle by Dew!

 

[Macca19]

Fairly good points Macca & i agree with a lot that you said except the umpiring as i don't like to blame poor umpiring for a loss.

I never blamed the umpiring for the loss. The umpiring favoured us.

 

[5107power]

Well....dissapointingThe last quarter was just dissapointing. Gav got us off to a good start...then we stuffed up and Perrie goaled. Then Shaun kicked one to get us back, then we stuffed up and Hentschel kicked one. Then Tredders kicked one, then we stuffed up and Riccuito (who I thought made more mistakes tonight than ive ever seen from him in a single game before) kicked one. Then Cassisi got us back to within 8 points with a few minutes left...then Ebert missed, then we just blindly kicked it forward for the rest of the match.

When Ebert took that mark with prob only a couple of minutes to go, Danyle Pearce was loose in the goalsquare 15 metres in the clear! Goal hungry Ebert had his back to the goals, If only he walked back for his shot facing the goals so he could of seen Pearce in the goal square. Ebert missed the shot, who knows what the result might of been if Ebert wasn't so goal hungry!

 

[Macca19]

Would you like to assess his performance?

First half very poor. The Crows put on a superflood and we let them do it and played into their hands. When we had the chance to run the ball down the ground quickly to get the ball in before the flood we chose to hang onto it and chip it sideways.

Second half was excellent. Made some pretty good moves and the change in gameplan nearly got us up.

 

[wallumi]

Macca

Was Wanganeen to good or too poor to rate in your voting?

Or am I blind and not able to see him there somwhere?

I agree it's the most enjoyable loss I've seen for awhile. Even so there were some awful gut twisting clangers to endure - I didn't enjoy them. Guess though they were the reason it was a loss.

That missed soccer by Dew right on the goal line in the last quarter was just too much. He has plugged some utterly freak soccer goals during the year, and then barely misses contact with the ball on that one, just 100mm from the line. The gods have a weird humor that I struggle to enjoy sometimes.

 

[Macca19]

Ah, how could I forget the Gav

 

[*PAF]

A couple of observations.

Shaun Burgoyne __ A Superstar is born.

Dew __ Probably cost us the game. Had he not played such a shocker we probably would have won. The game was that close. He has a good season overall though.

White __ Slow down son. You lead so fast that you either end up under the ball or are easily pushed under by the tiniest of little fair bumps. You are a fair lump of a lad, so start fast, get balanced, then shove your big arms in front of you and your big arse backward. That way you either get the ball or a free.
Apart from that, great game.

Pierce __ Can't tackle I hear a few say? The only reason that appears to be the case is because he chases everything like a Jack Russell. A lot of the ones he chases he has no chances of catching, but at least he is putting pressure on them unlike a lot of others this year.
We now have BigBurger, JuniorBurger and BabyBurger.

Ebert and Salopek __ We must play them in the midfield and get them into the game more than they are doing. That is a job for the coaching staff.

Our forward structure __ What a joke. All the talls go for the same ball and all the short stand in the same spot below them. Ball pops out sideways or backwards and we have no-one there.
It's been crap all year now.

Lastly __ Isn't it amazing how playing alongside some enthusiastic youngsters seemed to rejuvenate some of our regular players hey Choco?

What a ******** year.
Next year we will be forced to find out if some of our youngsters can play. One year too late.
What a ********ing waste of a year.

 

[Count Zero]

Congratulations to all the Port fans who donned the black and white for Heritage round. You looked beautiful. Let's make this a tradition that will grow each year.

 

[RogerRabbit69]

Thought the umpiring was an abo********e joke. Theyve got no idea at all.

Macca, everyone - both Power and Crows supporters - would have to agree with that one. It's impossible to understand what they're thinking. No wonder the players get so frustrated. I thought there were a few bad frees that went against us and cost us goals - then a few super-soft ones went our way. It's totally bafflling.

 

[snap-shot]

I've been calling Pierce - MiniBurger - Glad I'm not the only one that is making him a burger!

Much like you PAF - I feel like Choco has wasted his chances to blood/train/play these younger players. Playing them midway thru the year, allowing them to get their enthusiastic mind to slow down, for them to come ripe when we need them. But he is so busy dropping them in and out because the older players are back from injury (granted a few should slot back in but some..... shouldn't), that they can't keep showing what they are worth because heck the coach will drop them after their good games. We've seen it time and time again.

Seriously if Chaplin gets dropped.... another waste.

 

[*PAF]

I've been calling Pierce - MiniBurger - Glad I'm not the only one that is making him a burger!
...

MiniBurger is a good name.

Wes you bin snap-shot? Long time no hear.

 

[snap-shot]

Always here, just hardly post. I think I over stepped my welcome a few times, but I'm posting when I can.

Long as we don't get another Peter/Shaun like player - otherwise we'll have to give him the "HappyMeal" nickname...

 

[*PAF]

Always here, just hardly post. I think I over stepped my welcome a few times, but I'm posting when I can.

Long as we don't get another Peter/Shaun like player - otherwise we'll have to give him the "HappyMeal" nickname...

Hehe.
Probably a good way to boost our junior membership. Even though the toys that come with the happy meals aren't worth it, kids love them.
Albeit for 5 minutes only. We probably could do with some bandwagon supporters to get a bit more financial. Hasn't hurt the Crows has it?

 

[Macca19]

Im of the same opinion. Its something me and my Dad differ on as well.

If we dont make the finals its a definate wasted year. Not only because weve fallen away so much after winning a premiership, but we havent properly developed a youngster yet. Youngsters have played well then been dropped, played out of position, minimal game time. The old faithful have been kept in and have learned that they can keep their spot in the side no matter what, whilst youngsters have been in the best players and been dropped.

I believe that early on to mid season when the rot was setting in, all we had to do was drop one or two senior players to let them and the rest know that the spots arent set in stone. Idle threats and token comments of spots being up for grabs does jack sht. Drop a Monty or a Bishop or a Francou for a week or two and maybe the players might take him seriously and start putting in again. Instead we get stuck with idle comments, no changes after complete demoralising losses against Geelong, West Coast, Richmond, young first or second year players being made scapegoats and being publicly talked down by the coach whilst senior players whove been ********ing crap all year gets comments in interviews like "You dont drop Bishop after one poor game, hes been very good all year", comments about our reserves players like "noone in the SANFL has put their hand up" a couple days after 5 players get in the best players in the SANFL.

Weve seen that quite a number of our youngsters may end up pretty good players but theyve just had no confidence from the caoching staff to grow and mature in the AFL side. At the start of the year Im sure most of us were thinking that a couple of our younguns would be brought in thru the year and be allowed to develop in the AFL whilst a couple of our older guys get phased out. But it hasnt happened. And thats dissapointing.

Now Im all pi**ed off again.

And yes, welcome back Snapper!!

 

[Capital Power]

Only just seen the replay - thanks everyone for the comments and reviews they are so much more insightful than the TV commentary. Tell me again what on earth Christy Malthouse adds?

Anyway it's all been said. Gutted this morning but bl**dy proud to be a Port supporter. We've waited all year for that performance and just a bit of the "never say die". A bit late in the year but if that's a taste of 2006 then February can't come soon enough.

Good games by all the young'uns I thought - Chaplin and the Grew particularly. Doesn't Pearce get some great goals? The fire in Francou's belly was good to see too.

Can't agree that Stuey lost us the game. There were a number of key mistakes from many of our better players and any of them could have been a game breaker. We were definitely the better side after half time as we were last week, so that is a welcome turnaround from the kangaroos game too!

If I can go close to heresy here I'll stick my neck out and say what we don't have is a gamebreaker - guys like Gav, Byron and Rog have done this so often for us in the past and it just didn't look like it was going to happen last night. In that situation it's time for the captain to step up. I'm certainly not taking anything from Tredders' game and he's a true legend, but I think there was an opportunity for him to really stamp his mark and he didn't take it.

I'll stick what's left of my neck out too and say if we play that well next week (with only the necessary changes and don't you dare drop Chaplin) we can't lose.

GO POWER

 

[Toots Hibbert]

Player Reviews:
Brogan - Crap for the first three quarters, I thought some of his efforts at times were simply pathetic. However, I thought him moving into the ruck in the last quarter was very nearly the match winning move. Lade might have had 1000 hitouts but most of them were being sharked. As soon as Brogan went into the ruck a few minutes into the last quarter I dont think we lost another centre clearance, and we saw Peter and Shaun run it out from bounces a few times. Again tho, a moment pretty late in the last quarter where he had to run and take a mark on the wing, uncontested he just jogged over and put one hand up and it just wasnt bloody good enough.

P Burgoyne - Our only midfielder to consistently win the ball in the first half...he made some typical poor errors in the second half. The Burgoyne dance which led to a turnover and I think Riccuitos goal late in the match...one day he'll learn he cant take on the world.

S Burgoyne - ******** he was good. Really good. Excellent in the first half, excellent on the ball in the second half. Again tho...if only that bounce didnt slip thru his fingers. One of, if not his best game tho.

Cassisi - Thought he was really good tonight.

Chaplin - I reckon we have an absolute star in the making with him. How he hasnt been in the side all year is simply ridiculous. Probably second best on ground for mine. Altho Mr Potential kicked two, I thought Chaplin gave him a hiding tonight. Dunno about anyone else but I see leadership material in him. If he gets dropped if Chad and Bish are fit this week ill ********ing throw up.

Cochrane - Wasnt too bad, but he just does stupid things. Makes the wrong decision seemingly everytime he gets the ball.

K Cornes - Thought he busted a rib early on, came back and was pretty good for most of the night. Made some bad foot errors tho.

Dew - Gotta be his worst ever game for the club. Two or three times he tried to switch play but the kick got cut off....those two ultra embarrasing "bumps", then that attempted clearance in the Crows forward 50 in the last quarter which led to a goal. I dunno who told him he could bump...but he should never ever try and hip and shoulder again. Pickett would have killed Reilly, most players would have tackled, Stuey bounces off like he's made of flubber. Then he trys the same thing on Mattner. Both cost us goals. I hope he got told never to try that again.

Ebert - Kicked a goal, popped a shoulder, thats about it. Really should have kicked that goal in the last quarter.

Francou - Predictably, was nowhere to be seen tonight. His great game/crap game yo-yo continues.

Lade - Was ok. Won heaps of hitouts but most of them went down the throat of a Crows player, especially at centre bounces.

Mahoney - Pretty quiet but he put his body on the line like always a few times.

Monty - Nice goal, took a great mark too, but was pretty quiet in the second half.

Pearce - Ran his heart out tonight. Chased and harrassed hard all night, kicked a nice goal. Did ok.

Pettigrew - Was pretty quiet but did a couple of good things that stood out in my mind.

Salopek - Very quiet. Got some kicks but didnt really get involved much.

Tredrea - Barely touched it in the first half, went on ball and I thought he well beat Burton. He got a fair bit of the ball, took a great hanger over "birdman", kicked a goal. Only trouble was with him up the ground a lot of times we had absolutely no marking target up forward at all. Robbed Peter to pay Paul a bit but the move had to be made.

Wakelin - Beat Perrie for most of the night. Played well.

Walsh - Made some bad mistakes in the first half but kept finding the ball. Did ok.

Wanganeen - One of our only players to give a yelp in the first half, one of his best games all year.

White - Just gotta mark the ball Damon. The players honour your lead you cant let it slip out like it did 3-4 times tonight.

Wilson - Horrid first half, great second half. Beat Welsh pretty convincingly.

POTY Votes:
10 - S Burgoyne
9 - Chaplin
8 - Wakelin
7 - P Burgoyne, Cassisi, Walsh, Wanganeen
6 - K Cornes, Wilson
5 - Lade
4 - Cochrane, Monty, Tredrea
3 - Brogan, Pettigrew
2 - Ebert, Francou, Pearce, White
1 - Dew, Mahoney, Salopek

Agree with your match summary Macca. Very disappointing way to lose when we were given enough opportunities to win by the Crows but a good wholehearted performance which would have seen us in the top four if we had reproduced throughout the season. That's the frustrating part of this year. Thought Choco coached well tonight, the move to put Tredrea on the wing in the second half broke the game open for us and we dominated general play even after he went back forward. Pity we didn't take advantage as we did for three or four years in showdowns.

I heard Neil Craig say after the match that the Crows had overdone the flood but Port's slow movement of the ball in the first half had allowed them time to run back. Very true comment IMO. When we played fast through the centre corridor life was much easier for us.

I was excited by the form of Chaplin. One poor disposal that I can recall (and got caught holding the ball when a handball to Junior was on) otherwise I thought his kicking was immaculate with great penetration and more than any other backline player for us was prepared to kick forward and could see the targets. He is a smooth mover and faster than I had given him credit for. He should hold down CHB from now on freeing Chad for another role.

On White, his dropping of marks has been a constant theme and is getting worrying. I think it was PAF who said he's got to slow down a little and stick his backside out when he's about to mark. Think he's onto something there.

Ebert is another who drops too many marks. He was lucky to get pushed in the back when the ball had already bounced off his back. Was relieved when he kicked the goal. Brett clearly has the physical attributes to play well but seems to lack composure.

On Salopek, I was just happy to see him contribute something and get through a game without injury! I found our strip made it hard to distinguish who was who at times and don't know if he had much time in the middle. Can anyone wise me up. Saw him at half forward for a while which I doubt is his natural go.

On Wakes I thought he played very well except that he too made a number of poor disposals which were important to the Crows hanging on for the win.