Review The Fourth Quarter

[taylor_walker_13]

Needs a serious breakdown and in depth reason discuss as to why we fell over after being seven points up at 3/4 time.

We didnt have any rotation issues so wasnt the reason, we are supposed the fittest team in the AFL but we didnt run out the game I would like to see this discussed, player match ups incorrect Doughty was torn a new one by Gray why when Gray started to look damaging wasnt a change made???

Im really interested to see this whole quarter broken down and discussed, because to me a side that is seven points up hasnt won a game and to not fire a shot and get run over is a massive massive issue without valid reason.

 

[jenny61_99]

We are supposed to be the fittest team? Are you serious? Have you not been following our pre-season and in-season injury tragedy?

IMO we lost the game because we ran out of legs. Particularly after the third term turned essentially into a rolling flooded 32 man scrum, that had to take it out of them physically.

 

[Kennyrocks]

Sitting near the bench yesterday, it was fairly obvious we were out on our feet in the last quarter, spent.

The more disappointing/alarming thing was how we were bulldozed early in Q4, when the game was there to be won port smashed us. Where was the intensity and attack on the ball when it was most needed? We came out flat after the break when we should've been fresh, if you can't fire up in the last quarter when you're winless and playing your biggest rival something is wrong.

 

[Vader]

As far as I'm concerned it's a fitness issue - but not necessarily one for which we can blame our fitness staff. The problem appears to be the number of players who lack match fitness as a result of returning from injury.

Bock played what was arguably his worst game in 4-5 years, because he doesn't have any fitness base at all. He missed the entire pre-season (not just the MMC) because of his foot problems.

Porplyzia had only 2 touches after half time (noting that he was BOG in the first half). Once again, he missed the entire pre-season and doesn't have the fitness base required to run the games out.

van Berlo was another one to have an absolute shocker - another player who missed almost the entire pre-season.

Maric ran out of legs as well - but you can hardly blame him as he'd played his heart out for 3 quarters and desperately needs a 2nd ruckman to give him some relief (how long until Sellar returns from injury?).

Vince, Thompson and Tippett are all known to be carrying injuries. Ideally they'd be given a week or two off to recover, but we just don't have the players available to replace them (as noted by Craig in his press conference).

On top of that you have the natural slowing down of the 3 elder statesmen - Goodwin, McLeod and Edwards. They're as fit as they can possibly be at their age, but old man time waits for nobody and they're beginning to slow down relative to the youngsters all around them.

The sad fact is that we don't have many players who are currently 100% injury free and match fit - and most of those who are are either slowing down due to old age, or young and inconsistent.

 

[Peter Doherty]

I'm a believer in 'turning points', plays where momentum is turned the other way.

Start of the 4th, Adelaide win it from the centre, kick comes deep into our forward 50, with the ball about to go out of bounds Burton dives and flicks the ball back into play, to who? He was diving over the line, so he was out of the play, ball is picked up by a Port player and a coast to coast goal is the end result. Some might say it was game over then.

 

[Klug]

I reckon it was fitness, they had nothing left in the tank, espcially after that draining period in the 3rd term.

In the last quarter, we would often try to clear from defence, and you would look up ahead, and no-one would be moving creating leads or options.

Some of the handballs to flatfooted players started to come back into our game in the last quarter too.

They didn't have the energy to create space like they were doing well in the previous 3 quarters, so after receiving a handball they would get crunched by Port tackles and create a turnover.

 

[Kennyrocks]

I'm a believer in 'turning points', plays where momentum is turned the other way.

Start of the 4th, Adelaide win it from the centre, kick comes deep into our forward 50, with the ball about to go out of bounds Burton dives and flicks the ball back into play, to who? He was diving over the line, so he was out of the play, ball is picked up by a Port player and a coast to coast goal is the end result. Some might say it was game over then.

Absolutely right, the essence of a sporting contest.

Burton's hospital handpass when under little pressure on the members wing just outside the centre square resulting in a horrible turnover was another shocker.

Decision making has always been awful from the bird but now he has less going for him physically it becomes more of an issue, he also does very little to make up for such blunders.

Doughty kicking to bring rain from the goal square and putting it out on the full was another one.

Realistically we should have killed port off before three quarter time, the only reason they were in touch was the number of goals we gave away with execution errors right across the board. Also our failure to capitalise in front of goals. Again. Basic stuff guys.

 

[Janus]

I noted that you had 81 tackles this game, compared to our 80. Is this the first time this year that you have had such a high tackle count? Don't discount the fact that the physical exertion needed to bring a player to ground is very high - and if it isn't something that you have built up to during pre-season, it will take a long time for you to get up to the fitness required to carry it off successfully. Endurance fitness is one thing (running etc.), but explosive fitness is another (tackling etc.)

Having underdone players will only emphasise this shortcoming.

 

[Sando Pets]

I'm a believer in 'turning points', plays where momentum is turned the other way.

Start of the 4th, Adelaide win it from the centre, kick comes deep into our forward 50, with the ball about to go out of bounds Burton dives and flicks the ball back into play, to who? He was diving over the line, so he was out of the play, ball is picked up by a Port player and a coast to coast goal is the end result. Some might say it was game over then.

Yep, agree.

I accept that match fitness is an issue, but momentum can push players past that. The two Burton clangers sucked the life out of the game. Maybe if we were 100% it wouldn't be such an issue, but in our current state, we need to make the right decisions to avoid becoming deflated. When an experienced player makes choices like that, is it not them putting up their hand to say they are no longer 'up for it'?

And making a change in Grey may have been pivotal.

 

[Janus]

I'm a believer in 'turning points', plays where momentum is turned the other way.

Start of the 4th, Adelaide win it from the centre, kick comes deep into our forward 50, with the ball about to go out of bounds Burton dives and flicks the ball back into play, to who? He was diving over the line, so he was out of the play, ball is picked up by a Port player and a coast to coast goal is the end result. Some might say it was game over then.

If you want to talk about 'turning points', what about Josh Carr's handball to the umpire, when everyone was streaming into our forward fifty and he had Danyle Pearce all on his lonesome 10m away? You guys kicked two goals after that.

Turning points, like umpiring decisions, are only seen as game changing if the players let them be. Every play of the game is a turning point.

 

[WALL-e]

The combination of aging seniors and blooding a lot of youth sees a team where the majority of players aren't at the peak of AFL fitness. Usually you can hide a few verterans and kids, as their game time will be limited. But when you have a lot of your best 22 injured, you need a lot of game time from your best. As such they're done in the last.

Everyone on this board always wondered why guys like Dangerfield, MacKay etc got low GT in their first years.

Their fitness base is poor when starting out. We have too many players who aren't 100% AFL fit.

 

[taylor_walker_13]

Okay so Im getting a strong sense we ran out of legs, so now why did we play such a demanding game zapping gameplan then?? Why arent we adapting a 'simpler' gameplan to ensure we can run out a game???

 

[NTRabbit]

Okay so Im getting a strong sense we ran out of legs, so now why did we play such a demanding game zapping gameplan then?? Why arent we adapting a 'simpler' gameplan to ensure we can run out a game???

Because both teams had ordinary skills, and congested the stoppages.

 

[taylor_walker_13]

Because both teams had ordinary skills, and congested the stoppages.

All game???

 

[SydCrow]

Okay so Im getting a strong sense we ran out of legs, so now why did we play such a demanding game zapping gameplan then?? Why arent we adapting a 'simpler' gameplan to ensure we can run out a game???

not sure this is right - our kicking to handball ratio was positive this week

looking at the replay there were four turnovers by senior players - Burton's keeping it in and hospital handball, Bock clanger handball and VB holding the ball - that all resulted in goals at the start of the last quarter

in Burton's defence the second one was as a result of trying to take the game on - which we did not do enough of - we did not work hard enough in the last 1/4 which could be a fitness issue

 

[Elite Crow]

not sure this is right - our kicking to handball ratio was positive this week

looking at the replay there were four turnovers by senior players - Burton's keeping it in and hospital handball, Bock clanger handball and VB holding the ball - that all resulted in goals at the start of the last quarter

in Burton's defence the second one was as a result of trying to take the game on - which we did not do enough of - we did not work hard enough in the last 1/4 which could be a fitness issue

No it was the result of a bad decision, he had a player on his right he could have kicked to, he chose to handball to a stationary outnumbered Goodwin.

 

[relapse]

No it was the result of a bad decision, he had a player on his right he could have kicked to, he chose to handball to a stationary outnumbered Goodwin.

Burton does not have a footy brain, hence the reason people refer to him as "bird brain".

The boundry line brain fade was the epitome of what annoys me with Burton, he is so selfish that he will dumbly take massive risks to try and lairise, whether it is trying to crash packs or trying and kick the goal of the year.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Turning points, like umpiring decisions, are only seen as game changing if the players let them be. Every play of the game is a turning point.

Bullseye.

If your grip on a game is so fragile that one incident can de-rail you, then you never really had the game to begin with.

 

[moogerfooger]

McDermott and Wildy on 5AA predicted the 4th quarter fadeout before the game started. they argued the warm weather was an advantage to Port because we had so many underdone/inexperienced players who would struggle to run the game out.

 

[Southerntakeover]

I'm a believer in 'turning points', plays where momentum is turned the other way.

Start of the 4th, Adelaide win it from the centre, kick comes deep into our forward 50, with the ball about to go out of bounds Burton dives and flicks the ball back into play, to who? He was diving over the line, so he was out of the play, ball is picked up by a Port player and a coast to coast goal is the end result. Some might say it was game over then.

Yeah, i pretty much called it then.

Instead of a contest to try and go two goals up and have all the momentum, we were one point and no confidence.

Key moment in the game.

 

[-CG-]

I found it interesting to read in the paper this morning that Nathan van Berlo didn't think a lack of conditioning was a factor in the fourth quarter fadeout.

He says, "As a group we've got no lack of conditioning so that's not going to be an excuse for us."

"We would consider ourselves the other way around, that we're a well-conditioned side."

"We just needed to dig in in the last quarter and we didn't."

 

[WALL-e]

Judging by everyone just standing around, we're either poorly conditioned or just CBF'd.

 

[taylor_walker_13]

Judging by everyone just standing around, we're either poorly conditioned or just CBF'd.

Didnt the 'scientist' push the boundries with fitness during pre-season??

If its the latter then the players have no pride or heart and need to question the reason why they are even playing AFL level

 

[Allefgib]

Judging by everyone just standing around, we're either poorly conditioned or just CBF'd.

Fair bit of CBF going on I think.

Players don't seem willing to play for each other but sit within the 'structure' and 'process' and don't try and show some leadership and change the flow of the game when things are against us.

I've seen a number of times this year players not just atatcking the footy or the guy with the footy either waiting for a teammate to do so or 'zoning'. Now smart players will do this a bit - but ffs when we are playing so poorly why can't we just commit to the contest adn worry about getting clever once we've got some mojo back!!!

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Fair bit of CBF going on I think.

Players don't seem willing to play for each other but sit within the 'structure' and 'process' and don't try and show some leadership and change the flow of the game when things are against us.

I've seen a number of times this year players not just atatcking the footy or the guy with the footy either waiting for a teammate to do so or 'zoning'. Now smart players will do this a bit - but ffs when we are playing so poorly why can't we just commit to the contest adn worry about getting clever once we've got some mojo back!!!

I know the question has been posed before, whether zone defence leads to laziness.

Guarding space means you don't have to be step-for-step with an opponent, don't run hard or stick with them like glue. Accountability goes out the window too. It's quite difficult to work out who was responsible for a player getting free or scoring a goal.

This isn't an issue specifically for us though I guess, lots of teams use similar tactics.