The LOSS Response Thread

[BlueTouchPaper]

We lost this game at the Match Committee on Thursday night.

We went in undersized - and I'm baffled as to why we didn't have a Bower/Watson as a sub in this game - given that we knew they would be stretching us for height down back.

We went in vastly undersized against Sydney as well, but it paid off in spades...

The players had no intensity for the majority of the match.

If I had to pick one, defining contributor to the loss it would've been our hunger.

But with that said, we did go in younger, less experienced and generally smaller - I'm baffled that we paid so little respect to a team that probably has 6 to 8 premiership players in the 22

 

[Big Red is back]

Because your flaming the wrong people. Henderson gets flamed despite having a gun 2nd half while a player on mega bucks like Warnock waltz around without a care in the world it seems. Seems a tad unfair in the big picture

Warnocks game was a 1 out of 10 we all know that, and he may struggle to hold his place.

Henderson failed once again as a fwd, but did play well in defence. I would send him to Jack R this week or T Vickery.

 

[A320]

Seriously some of our supporters on here are pathetic, blaming injuries for our loss. It's as if we are the only team that gets injuries.

Let's face it, we were def down on man power but there's no substitute for effort, and the effort wasn't there in this game aside from a 10min burst in the 3rd qtr, whereas WCE were on the top of their game for the whole match and beat us in all facets.

Mentioning the players we were missing is a terrible cop-out for a really poor performance

We will rebound and will learn from this loss.

My sentiments exactly ....

 

[The Toad]

I don't recall such civility bouncing around these forums between us and the Eagles fans, before.

What next? Are we to be their 2nd. team?
Nauseating stuff.

Credit where it's due, my dear man.

 

[Obeanie1]

i think some people are really under-estimating the impact 5 or 6 changes in one week can make to a side especially when some of those players coming in have little to no game time in the seniors this year.

its around 1/3 of our on field team with 2 players not playing a single seniors game, on top of our already depleted back line jamo went down early.

there was a lack of intensity but i think alot of it had to do with players looking lost and even players that have been in the team all year wherent sure of what the new inclusions where doing. we looked more like a team that didnt know where each other was and that slowed us down alot.

if we can bring back even 3 players it will make a world of difference, nothing to worry about we had bad luck with injuries this week and the eagles took advantage of our predicament bring on richmond lets get destroy this mob.

You are right on the money here

In the end 6 changes is a lot and it does upset your team balance and team coheision. Losing Jamison in this game on top of those changes already cumulated in your side being too short and also having too many different faces playing along side regulars. Players like Gibbs ended up playing roles they don't suit, like minding Lynch, and this robbed players of their natural game style / position and roles.

On top of this Judd, its been mentioned, had a cold hense his output was way down, he had three guys rotate on him all day, tough gig when fit never mind when feeling crook and you can't take much to help.

And the Eagles had pretty much everything go right except for not kicking straight.

Its a loss that will make your side stronger going forward and if you have your best 20 > 22 out there you guys should win a final or two this season.

Good luck for the rest of the year (unless we meet in September of course)

 

[thylacine60]

Why do I feel like I've had my house burgled by gentlemen crims?

 

[bzparkes]

Why do I feel like I've had my house burgled by gentlemen crims?

We're not really that bad..

On a side not, it was good to see after the game a number of players catching up with each other, Judd with the WCE trainer, etc.. Nice.

 

[happydude]

We're not really that bad..

On a side not, it was good to see after the game a number of players catching up with each other, Judd with the WCE trainer, etc.. Nice.

I dont mind wce of all other teams. i liked juddy when he was there, cousins, cox and nicnat. never really remember them being dirty or feral supporters either maybe im just too young. Maybe its coz chad that used to play for them was my neighbours nephew too so i met the players after a game back in the 90's

for so few supporters everytime we play them they make alot of noise too.

 

[Krooooze]

I appreciate the Eagles fans coming on here and being humble in victory, but I just don't understand why they are underrating their own performance. They had their mojo right from the start. Aside from some inaccurate kicking in the first quarter I really do think they were on their top of their game in every statistic, whereas we were poor.

That's the best 4 qtr performance they've put together in some time. And I say that because they playing away from Perth and playing us who have been playing well. I'm certainly not taking the spotlight away from our performance, we weren't great and struggled with the balance of our side but I reckon the Eagles were pretty flawless in their display

 

[Coledinho]

I feel the complete opposite Krooze

We played really well yet I dont understand why your all being so negative about your performance. People lambasting Henderson are crazy IMO. Literally the only player I deem worthy of criticism from yesterdays game was Robbie Warnock and thats geniunely because I feel he didnt put in the required effort at certain times, otherwise it was just the better team on the day winning.

 

[T2B_]

Disappointing loss but under the circumstances I'm certainly not too concerned with where we're going.

Still, there will be some players who will wear it this week behind closed doors methinks as some just didn't go anywhere near hard enough.

Good thing about this loss however is it shows very clearly our weaknesses that may still be there and we can work on rectifying them.

 

[Coledinho]

Id also argue against lack of depth. In KPP its certainly true but IMO the likes of Tuhoy, Ellard, Armfield did a good job. Especially Ellard who was at the bottom of every pack I noticed.

 

[Krooooze]

I feel the complete opposite Krooze

We played really well yet I dont understand why your all being so negative about your performance. People lambasting Henderson are crazy IMO. Literally the only player I deem worthy of criticism from yesterdays game was Robbie Warnock and thats geniunely because I feel he didnt put in the required effort at certain times, otherwise it was just the better team on the day winning.

Some of our fans have no perspective on the game, just like 80% of BF posters. Some of us are just really impatient. I hate it how some Blues supporters continue to say "if we had such and such playing we would have won" or "if you had these players missing you would have not won". It's such a cop-out to a poor performance and not giving enough credit to how well you played. It really does piss me off. I think it just shows how far we have to go and that if we are to compete with the top sides in the short term we need pretty much a full compliment of players playing. In saying that you just have to compete with the side you put out on the park and I really don't think we did that well, we went away from a lot of the things we have been doing well and relied on too few to get us back into the game, but again most of it was due to your play.

Henderson was far from our worst. He was good on Kennedy in the second half. Pretty much shut him out of the game. As you said, Warnock was pathetic really. He didn't even compete and I think that contest where Lynch just pushed him aside and took a mark showed how soft he is. As good as Cox and Nat are at their craft you can still get results if you compete and Warnock didn't do that. We can't rely on Kreuzer to shoulder the load coming off a knee reco. I was disappointed with a lot our defense and the way they just continually slowed the ball down and played into your hands. Only Yarran looked to take the press on. Some our rebounding out of D50 was terrible, showed no composure under pressure at all and just kicked in hope of clearing it out. On nearly every occasion it went straight to an Eagles player for an easy entry back in. I just don't think we worked anywhere near hard enough yest, and the Eagles were good all day

 

[happydude]

ellard was one of our best i felt.

 

[Bluebear]

We missed our inside ball-winners today (and blocking for Judd), and it showed in the clearances. Robinson and Curnow really help Judd out, and they'll come in over the next few weeks.

I won't go into my usual defence of Henderson, but for those who want to guess.......who else inside our F50 could take a mark? Clue is about delivery.

Anyways, I want to talk about this "blocking for Judd" rubbish.

I watched at every stoppage yesterday, two WCE players stand with their backs to the ball and block Judd from running at it whichever way he goes.

You can't "block" for that. Want to know why? Watch the tape of Yarran's goal. Carrazzo ran in to block for Juddy. Carrots man went with him and hey presto, instead of two guys to try and run around Juddy now has 4 including one of his own.

The FACT is, and I don't usually point to the umps (I think we would have lost anyway with Robbo, Curnow and Duigan out and Jammo down in the first).......but they did nothing to help the situation. When Judd finally did get a run at some ball he almost invariably had to try and gather with one hand as the other was usually being held.

Judd could have had 20 free kicks yesterday. Disgraceful.

Having said that, as I said, I don't think we were ever likely to win the stoppages, and even with Jammo fit we were going to find it hard to beat their marking forwards. We missed Bower yesterday who would have done a good job on Darling, a fit Jammo would have taken care of Kennedy, and Thornton or Laidler could have taken Lynch, switching with Duigan when Naitanui/Cox went forward.

With Curnow, Duigan, Robbo and Waite back next week we will look a lot better, and hopefully Bower is fit to take Jammo's spot.

Fingers crossed Jammo isn't seriously hurt.

 

[T2B_]

Ellard would have really missed Robbo and Curnow etc in there with him, especially against those big Eagle bodies, but no doubt he tried his heart out as always.

 

[Krooooze]

I won't go into my usual defence of Henderson, but for those who want to guess.......who else inside our F50 could take a mark? Clue is about delivery.

Anyways, I want to talk about this "blocking for Judd" rubbish.

I watched at every stoppage yesterday, two WCE players stand with their backs to the ball and block Judd from running at it whichever way he goes.

You can't "block" for that. Want to know why? Watch the tape of Yarran's goal. Carrazzo ran in to block for Juddy. Carrots man went with him and hey presto, instead of two guys to try and run around Juddy now has 4 including one of his own.

The FACT is, and I don't usually point to the umps (I think we would have lost anyway with Robbo, Curnow and Duigan out and Jammo down in the first).......but they did nothing to help the situation. When Judd finally did get a run at some ball he almost invariably had to try and gather with one hand as the other was usually being held.

Judd could have had 20 free kicks yesterday. Disgraceful.

Having said that, as I said, I don't think we were ever likely to win the stoppages, and even with Jammo fit we were going to find it hard to beat their marking forwards. We missed Bower yesterday who would have done a good job on Darling, a fit Jammo would have taken care of Kennedy, and Thornton or Laidler could have taken Lynch, switching with Duigan when Naitanui/Cox went forward.

With Curnow, Duigan, Robbo and Waite back next week we will look a lot better, and hopefully Bower is fit to take Jammo's spot.

Fingers crossed Jammo isn't seriously hurt.

I must admit, I really do like WCE as a team, I have a soft spot for them, but I absolutely despise Adam and Scott Selwood, neither have any football ability at all and are just asked to screech and scrag the best opposition mids. They couldn't give a stuff if they touch the ball. Every contest they just have their eyes firmly planted on their opponents and not the ball. Juddy gets tagged every week but even he wouldn't be able to break a tag like that

 

[BlueTouchPaper]

I'd argue against lack of depth as well... We were a younger, less experienced side - if we'd picked players with a bit more mongrel - Joseph in instead of ROK, O'hAilpin in instead of Austin, we might have got the right balance of aggression in the team.

Just one that slipped away too easily - too many factors contributing to a very, very average performance.

 

[bojangler]

Losses arent always bad.

We fielded a "B" - team. Methinks to give some guys a run and test our depth.

We just need to learn from it, as good sides must. Move on.

Did anyone here really think that we'd win every game leading up to the finals?

Robbo is our talisman. We need him in.

It's madness not to give Watson another crack.

My two cents.

 

[Blue and Silver]

Worse than that, they've made the beds and put the toilet seat down on the way out.

It's odd isn't it. It's like they knocked you out and ransacked your room but then tidied up afterwards and gave you insurance advice

 

[ESKIE]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...th-scotland-said/story-e6frf9jf-1226082784602

CARLTON midfielder Heath Scotland says West Coast's forward press is the best he has come up against this season.
The Eagles handed the Blues their biggest defeat of the year yesterday, winning by 36 points at Etihad Stadium.

Despite having also lost to the AFL's top two teams, Geelong and Collingwood this season, Scotland said the Eagles' ability to lock the ball in attack was a level above what they have previously faced.

"On yesterday's game, I'm not taking anything away from Collingwood at all, but I just think (West Coast) were really good yesterday,'' Scotland said today

On yesterday's game they played really well and that's the best we've played against so far this year

Interesting, puts a bit of pressure on West Coast these comments, he's saying to Geelong and Collingwood, they are better than you guys.

I like it

 

[ESKIE]

One question I have been considering since the loss: will we be happy with 5th place?

At the start of the year, I had us pegged about 5th/6th, so I think it would be a decent outcome. But I imagine those inside the club would have been thinking 3rd/4th given our run home and our two wins against Sydney and a win against the Saints already in the bank.

Seems very likely the Eagles will slip past us. We need to pull back a win somewhere now, perhaps against the Pies or Hawks. Not out of the question, but less than ideal. A win yesterday was hugely important to our chances at 4th.

Injuries have to catch the hawks eventually, prior to yesterday I would have said we could be them, personally I reckon Eagles will take their spot

 

[Beloved]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...th-scotland-said/story-e6frf9jf-1226082784602







Interesting, puts a bit of pressure on West Coast these comments, he's saying to Geelong and Collingwood, they are better than you guys.

I like it

They made us play the game how they wanted us to. They caught plenty of guys out of position trying to cover other loose players and gaps.

We were out-skilled and outsmarted.

 

[ClassyCarlton]

Re: Warnock's performance Yesterday

I think we need to take a risk and replace Warnock with O'hAlilpin based on his performance against West Coast and general trends in his playing style and stats.

Let me explain myself. Yes Warnock's ruck work may be better than
O'hAlilpin but other than that Warnock doesn't make any other contributions.
I didn't think I saw him break out of a jog all day yesterday - he just looked puffed! In marking contests he is unlikely to take the grab unless it literally lands in his lap. He doesn't seem to put in any effort!!!!! The amount of times he fell over and was out-muscled in the ruck yesterday was ridiculous!

O'hAlilpin always creates a contest in the forward line. At bare minimum he will bring the ball to ground which benefits Betts and Garlett. His ruck work is passable if Kreuzer takes on the majority of the work. (Eg: Kreuzer 70% ruck and O'hAlilpin 30%)

I agree that O'hAlilpin doesn't have a great 'football brain' or game sense. But what he does give is 100% effort, a contest and a big body to worry the opposition defenders down forward. He provides a bit of x-factor for us down forward.

He deserves the spot more than Warnock in my opinion.

 

[gbatman]

I really would not look into this loss at all. For one Judd aledgidly had the Flu. Fair chance other's did too. Robinson (been our most influential player over the last month), Duigan (very good strong player and leader), Laidler (similar to Duigan), Curnow (very important onballer), Waite (number 1 tall forward), Jamison (best defender), Bower (missed all year but when fit is the CHB) and Hampson (in good form).

If you take the equivilant players out of any team they become vulnerable to any one. It's really not a big deal. We'll come back strong next week and hopefully have a big win. We did stay with the WCE with 5 - 8 reserve players and a struggling Judd until the last quarter which was a decent effort.