Autopsy The aftermath

[mike91]

Didn't watch the whole game (sizeable chunk); an obligatory how-much-my-buddy-was-missed post is due.

DeBoer tries but simply not quite an apt replacement (on a sidenote he doesn't seem to have near the sheer magnitude of physical presence as Fyfe although he is definitely a chunk of muscle - possibly the narrow shoulders).

Great to see Hill taking the game on, and his inside work really noticeable today despite being tagged by Shiels. 25, 23, 24 disposals in the past 3 games is pretty decent consistency, especially today's satisfactory effort taking on Hawthorn with a depleted midfield possibly being no.2 tag target. Might never be as mercurial as touted to be early on in his career, but if the low SD performances continue (which was perhaps evident in the finals last year) A-grade status is not out of the question. Very happy with him.

Hill's been our most impressive player thus far this season. Hes been one of our best in all three games, worth arguing he was our best last night.

 

[estibador]

DeBoer tries but simply not quite an apt replacement (on a sidenote he doesn't seem to have near the sheer magnitude of physical presence as Fyfe although he is definitely a chunk of muscle - possibly the narrow shoulders).

None of our midfielders have the physical presence of Fyfe, that's what makes him such an amazing player.

I said as much to my brother tonight as we came to blows* when he dared suggest Mundy was a better player. Mundy is class no doubt, but Fyfe is the sort of player that grabs his team by the scruff of its neck, hauls it over his shoulder, and drags it kicking and screaming over the finish line. He might not always be pretty, but he's a complete beast.

He's our best player without a doubt and I pity the rest of the league once he grows up.


*may be a slight exaggeration

 

[yoong]

Not going to play armchair coach here, since I am not good at it anyway.

Just want to comment that we looked spooked by Hawthorne. They had some lucky bounce and shots and got ahead early. Instead of knuckling down and chip at it like we did last week, we just panicked and ran around lost. Caught a few occasions where 2-3 of our boys tried to tackle the same guy while the other nearby hawk players run loose.

I don't really believe in hoodoo or stuff, but it'll have a psychological effect on the players, which is how I explain stuff like the kennett curse. Glad we have a return game at subi later this year. We really need to break the psychologically hold they have on us.

 

[mike91]

Hawthorn wanted it more than us, which doesn't make sense considering we loss the grand final.

 

[Boppo]

Hmmm I am feeling more confused than anything. The contested possessions were in their favour but in uncontested ones they blew us away.
So when they got the ball initially they were able to keep it off us. They had 6 players over 30 possesionss and a further 8 over 20. There always
seemed to be plenty of Hawks in comfortable space as they moved the ball up the ground.

Was there fatigue from last weeks wet slog? Perhaps when a few too many youngsters need to come into the team the RTB tactics
breakdown on a large ground like the MCG? Dunno but I hated seeing the repeated bombs to a double and triple teamed Pav. I thought
we had moved on from that one dimensional play.

Yeah I'm coming around to the notion that the game plan is not going to work on the MCG. Maybe it's just mathematics but the amount of free space the hawks has was nuts.

Also I'd like to see our guys add some of the flourishes of imaginative football that make the game so fun to play. Hawks were pulling out jinky one/twos all over the place, spoiling to classy rovers, sheparding in packs, bouncing down the wing, drawing players and then looping handballs over their heads. We are robotic by comparison.

Someone mentioned earlier that we definitely send too many players to the tackle while outside receivers stand free yet we find it difficult to chop off the disposal or to prevent a quick kick for goal big squeezed out.

 

[Jimbos1]

We can learn from this. The way I look at it is that we missed out on 4 points, we lost by 58 points but we would still be 2-1 if we lost by 6 points.

Yes we were missing 3 very important players, but so were Hawthorn(Mcevoy, Hodge). This is not an excuse, its important for players to keep their structures and that the coaches have implemented and enforced the right structures. We have individual ability, keep it competitive drop those that under perform.

Furthermore, your point about Johnson not being a 1v1 player and Hannath lacking as a true power forward(I use power losely) is true. I think Barlow is great but we have several players that are capable of doing what he does. Then there is Fyfe, he is a luxury player, incrediable athleticism, big bodied and everywhere around the ground. When I say luxury I mean he is HUGE asset to the team but we should be able to win games without him.

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[mike91]

We can learn from this. The way I look at it is that we missed out on 4 points, we lost by 58 points but we would still be 2-1 if we lost by 6 points.

Yes we were missing 3 very important players, but so were Hawthorn(Mcevoy, Hodge). This is not an excuse, its important for players to keep their structures and that the coaches have implemented and enforced the right structures. We have individual ability, keep it competitive drop those that under perform.

Furthermore, your point about Johnson not being a 1v1 player and Hannath lacking as a true power forward(I use power losely) is true. I think Barlow is great but we have several players that are capable of doing what he does. Then there is Fyfe, he is a luxury player, incrediable athleticism, big bodied and everywhere around the ground. When I say luxury I mean he is HUGE asset to the team but we should be able to win games without him.

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So we have several great players that did nothing last night? Watch Barlow closely when he comes back, I can tell you as a fact you don't actually realize how good and important he really is.

 

[Jimbos1]

So we have several great players that did nothing last night? Watch Barlow closely when he comes back, I can tell you as a fact you don't actually realize how good and important he really is.

When I said capable I didnt mea as good, but can do his role good enough that it doesnt count as an excuse for a loss.

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[mike91]

When I said capable I didnt mea as good, but can do his role good enough that it doesnt count as an excuse for a loss.

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Clearly we don't, it couldn't of been more obvious last night.

 

[Wizard]

Going to go with a few positives.

Hill - was very good all night, never stopped working.
Pearce - same as above. Though kicking leaves a bit to be desired.
Neale - thought he was very good, worked hard & was strong in the contest.

Going the other way.
Mundy - was so disappointing, I know he had no support but when we really needed him we was MIA.
Hannah - well there's a reason he's our 4th choice ruck, we will leave it there.

 

[theGav56]

By midway through the season our midfield could include Fyfe, Barlow, Sylvia and Morabitto. There is a lot more skill and aggression in that group than available last night, and they are big, intimidating players. It is early in the season and i hope we build towards that.

 

[Docker Alyssa]

I hate to say this but it is extremely scary that Fyfe and Mundy are free agents

You are a effing moron. Fyfe is not a free agent???!

I think you mean to say out of contract for 2015.

We'll give him 800k a year. Which for a player at his age in a non expansion side is amazing. He'll take the cash we offer his contract.

 

[Wizard]

You are a effing moron. Fyfe is not a free agent???!

I think you mean to say out of contract for 2015.

We'll give him 800k a year. Which for a player at his age in a non expansion side is amazing. He'll take the cash we offer his contract.

Calm down, completely uncalled for.

 

[aussieviking]

I thought we looked like we were running on the spot right from the first bounce. Perhaps the one day less break, the heavy conditions in the previous game and the early travel for a Friday night game contributed significantly to our poor performance.
Never the less there were some things that worried me.Deboer is a tackling machine but offers little else.Lee Spur has looked very very poor this year.Mayne has looked poor this season. Our forward line is still pretty poor with very few options to improve it.

 

[aussieviking]

Going to go with a few positives.

Hill - was very good all night, never stopped working.
Pearce - same as above. Though kicking leaves a bit to be desired.
Neale - thought he was very good, worked hard & was strong in the contest.

Going the other way.
Mundy - was so disappointing, I know he had no support but when we really needed him we was MIA.
Hannah - well there's a reason he's our 4th choice ruck, we will leave it there.

I thought Crozier looked quite good at some stages of the game.

 

[walken79]

Absolute shocker. Was the way we lost more so than the result that hurts obviously. Just completely unrecognizable from the disciplined machine we have been for most of Ross' tenure. We looked like the Washington Generals out there.

Wouldn't have got the win but jeez did we miss Fyfe & Barlow. Dawson too as the back line looked like they'd only just been introduced to each other before the game. Johnson did some trademark Johnno weaving and evading here and there but didn't look hungry and McPharlin had an evening to forget. The midfield clearly was the main problem though.

So what's up with Sonny? Is he really struggling with his knee and likely to miss next week? Johnno? Any concerns there?

The positive is it would be hard not to improve on that and Ross will have no problem putting his boot up a few arses next week.

 

[FD2646]

Everything I noted has already been mentioned with the exception of the FOX panel of experts. To try and insinuate there is something not right at the club because their tips were not correct is utter crap and very poor.

 

[MinerBoy]

I'm going to resist the urge to give Son Son his own roast thread, but he probably deserves it..

Who's Son Son?

 

[blue shark]

Crozier's first game this year so he will be better for the run. But these new guys need to hit the gym more, Fyfe is the perfect role model, look how
much he has developed.
Looking at Sheridan, Sutcliffe, yes they can run all day and have skills, after Sutcliffe got ragged dolled in the GF, I thought that would be
motivation.
This is why Sylvia will be important to the team, add C Pearce, Griffen, mature bodies ready to stand up, and put their bodies on the line. We have
protected Shero, Croz, Sutcliffe, Neale, by sub, rotations, its time for these guys to earn their spot.

 

[MinerBoy]

S. Hill showed genuine ticker tonight to stand up while the rest of his teammates folded.

B. Hill skirted around the edges and came into the game when his teammates started feeding him easy ball once they were 10 goals in front.

Put them both in a team like Melbourne and there would be no question who is the superior player (admittedly ours has a few years development on theirs though).

Your Hill played well but that is an awful and completely inaccurate assessment of ours. Was most likely top 3 on ground and potentially BOG.

Not to mention he was also terrific through the entire finals series last year, including the GF.

 

[estibador]

Who's Son Son?

Might be an interesting test actually - if you had to nominate one diver from our team who would it be?

(And don't be one of those fools who automatically says Ballas even though I haven't seen him dive for two years now)

 

[The GOAT]

Who's Son Son?

walters

 

[Chocco topping 7g]

I think we may be guilty of underestimating how taxing last weeks game was for us and the effect that it had.
- Taxing game in the rain.
- 1 day less break.
- Had to travel. Hawthorn didn't.

Yeah, we were disappointing, but the sky isn't falling. Hawthorn are the benchmark. We're not the first team they will dominate. They looked all class with their ball movement last night.

To me, I thought Hill was outstanding. Never gave up. Used the ball well. I thought Pav played well as well. Gotta remember the ball didn't get down their much.

The disappointing part was the second tier players not stepping up, and Mundy not stepping up. We all have bad days at work though, so maybe we can chalk David's game up to one of those. Of the other mids, Mzungu, Suban, De Boer, Sherridan all didn't step up as well would have liked, but at least they got some experience as playing higher up the pecking order. To me, Suban was the most disappointing player. He seemed to lack playing the fire that makes him a weapon for our side. Way too timid IMO.

I think the game plan is fine, and will hold up at the G. We beat Geelong at the G with it in a final a couple years ago. We could have won the GF if we kicked straight, especially early. It's just one game. Early in the season. Against the reigning premiers. With arguably 5 of our best 22 out. (I would definitely have Clarke best 22. Sylvia I could see being there by mid-season)

Just my thoughts...

 

[electricfeel]

We can learn from this. The way I look at it is that we missed out on 4 points, we lost by 58 points but we would still be 2-1 if we lost by 6 points.

Yes we were missing 3 very important players, but so were Hawthorn(Mcevoy, Hodge). This is not an excuse, its important for players to keep their structures and that the coaches have implemented and enforced the right structures. We have individual ability, keep it competitive drop those that under perform.

Furthermore, your point about Johnson not being a 1v1 player and Hannath lacking as a true power forward(I use power losely) is true. I think Barlow is great but we have several players that are capable of doing what he does. Then there is Fyfe, he is a luxury player, incrediable athleticism, big bodied and everywhere around the ground. When I say luxury I mean he is HUGE asset to the team but we should be able to win games without him.

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Ok so who are those players that are capable of doing what Barlow does? I didn't see any out there last night. He may run like a duck and he may not be flashy but damn he's good and I think you've severely underrated him. Going on his current form we missed out on 30 possessions and a goal or two last night.

People keep saying that Barlow is an easy loss to cover. So those who think that, please enlighten me who in our team can do what Barlow does (other than Fyfe who is our best mid).

 

[rgauci]

I thought Wil Langford getting the better of Mundy was embarrassing. For a senior player he did nothing until the fourth quarter when the heat was off. You need your top 10 to stand up when a few go out. Pavlich, Hill, D.Pearce and Sandi really came to play. The rest were a let down. Spurr got beaten a lot in 1 on 1 contests which is unusual. Their top players took our youngsters to the cleaners. But with Walters on 1 leg, Ibbo with a popped shoulder and Mayne hobbling too little was left to too few.

Unfortunately the guys we are waiting to step up haven't; DeBoer, Sheridan, Neale, Crozier can't hold up the teams midfield when the gems go out.

Hill and Pearce were great. With a full compliment they wouldn't have walked it out of the middle so easily.

They make our defense look fragile which is so unusual. They are simply our Achilles heal, we may need another team to boot them out of the finals for us.