Thoughts for tomorrow?

[Fred Phillis]

Interested in thoughts for tomorrow...
how confident of winning? nerves compared to leading into the port demolition? key players/battles? daring to think of a GF?

after spending last week literally unable to think of anything but the port game, i'm surprised how relaxed i am about tomorrow...not nervous at all, am bouyed by tyson edwards' matter of fact comment: "We know what we do works, so we're confident in the fact that we can go back to that and put it to them again."

i reckon scotty welsh is a real key for us tomorrow, when he kicks goals, we win...and have been pleasantly surprised at trent hentschel finally producing good footy consistently...

bring it on!!!

 

[-CG-]

Alot of people have tipped Adelaide for this game. I think they've finally realised how good the crows are.

I'll be disappointed if they lose, but I won't be shattered. Who seriously thought we would be in a prelim at the start of the year?

 

[AdelaideFan]

Interested in thoughts for tomorrow...
how confident of winning? nerves compared to leading into the port demolition? key players/battles? daring to think of a GF?

after spending last week literally unable to think of anything but the port game, i'm surprised how relaxed i am about tomorrow...not nervous at all, am bouyed by tyson edwards' matter of fact comment: "We know what we do works, so we're confident in the fact that we can go back to that and put it to them again."

i reckon scotty welsh is a real key for us tomorrow, when he kicks goals, we win...and have been pleasantly surprised at trent hentschel finally producing good footy consistently...

bring it on!!!

I was definently way more anxious and nervous last week than this week. I guess seeing a display like last week gives you a bit of confidence. Not that tommorow will be an easy task and I dont think we will have as much running play as we did last week.

In saying all this I have also found myself claiming this season a success already. It would be absolutely fantastic to win the flag. At the start of the year though I had thought we would be lucky to make the finals and finish eighth. We have now played in two finals won one of them in fantastic fashion against our arch rival and won bragging rights for along time.

In saying all this I hope like hell we win tommorow, for me it would be icing on the cake I am already enjoying!!!!

 

[Crows_Chick]

Gotta say been so busy this week it has kept my mind off of the game a lot, which has been a massive help !!

But i'd be lying if i said i wasn't a bit nervous about the game tomorrow, they are quality opposition in their own backyard which is a formidable combination !!

I have to say i'm all the more edgy because the crows don't seem to be going about their business so 'unrecognised' anymore... the whole footy show tipped adelaide to win, unusually so are a lot of other tipsters... Seems to me the crows always do better when they aren't expected to !! Bye bye "flying under the radar" it seems !! (not surprising i spose when there's only 4 teams left)...

Fingers crossed for a crows win, but we'll all just have to wait and see !!

 

[Gets!]

I am nervous, like I am for all Crows games.

Although i think you would be hard pressed to find any WCE supporters that aren't nervous themselves. This game really is a 50/50. Hopefully it is our year...

 

[Stiffy_18]

I am quietly confident of making the GF. I think we have a better structure and more finals type game plan than WC. We have a better defence, a better forward line and the midfields match up pretty well. We have marvel in the coaches box that goes by the name of Neil Craig who is determined to make this opportunity count.

We get a lot of confidence from beating them there last time. We are going over with a better side than we did back in round 22. We didn't have a hard game against Port. I was much more nervous last week.

This week it will be a tougher game but IMHO, we can do it and I am quietly confident that we can beat the Eagles in a close one and Hentschel to star in the forward line. I reckon this boy could kick a bag tommorrow.

 

[mr snip]

Is it just me or do the weeks between games seem to take so long this time of year.

I'm sure next week will be diferent if we get there but everything seems to be going in slow motion at the moment just cannot wait until 14.30 tomorrow .

Bring it on.

 

[MaccasNeighbour]

Everyone on TFS tipped us?

Arggggghh! FFS now we're really screwed.

 

[JohnK]

I have a sinking feeling that Adelaide played its grand final last week.

It's all in the mind, now.

If Neil Craig can get the team over this last obstacle to the GF, he is truly a great great coach.

 

[Crows4eva!]

yeah, don't like being the faves.....

this week has been the worst - it has dragged on sooooo long! every time i think about footy i get nervous, so i've been trying to put it out of my mind all week. its not working today!!!

i have to say that even if we don't get through, i'm so proud of the team...... BUT I SOOOOOOOO WANT THEM TO WIN!!!

 

[Embers]

Try waiting 2 weeks then come back and talk. Im surprised to see that you arnt worried by the fact that alot of your players appear to be sore. If theres one ground where you would want to be 100% fit it would be Subi.

Im confident mainly cos of the weeks break, Dean Cox over the last month was only rucking for 2 qtrs of a game, this week he has looked alot better on the training track and may even ruck nearly all the game. Im surprised how little has been made of the week break, we look revitalised due to it..

 

[beartoo]

Usually I'd agree that the week's break is a crucial factor in finals. But the romp against a p-weak opponent last week was more a training run that a game and may stand us in good stead.
I was not confident we could win in the west after playing the Poower, because I thought we would be sore and sorry as both teams normally are after Showdowns. I think the Crows will win tomorrow because of the reasons outlined by Stiffy--a great analyser of the game, young Stiff.
It will be ironic that if we do win tomorrow, we can thank Pork for providing us with a nice, easy training drill. Sent our confidence sky-high as well.

 

[JohnK]

Try waiting 2 weeks then come back and talk. Im surprised to see that you arnt worried by the fact that alot of your players appear to be sore. If theres one ground where you would want to be 100% fit it would be Subi.

Im confident mainly cos of the weeks break, Dean Cox over the last month was only rucking for 2 qtrs of a game, this week he has looked alot better on the training track and may even ruck nearly all the game. Im surprised how little has been made of the week break, we look revitalised due to it..

After two weeks without football, I thought you guys looked a little rusty at training the other night. Lots of ballhandling errors. Your coach looked behind the ballgame as well. You'd want to iron out those little rough edges by Saturday afternoon to have any chance at all against this well-oiled machine.

 

[noddy]

Try waiting 2 weeks then come back and talk. Im surprised to see that you arnt worried by the fact that alot of your players appear to be sore. If theres one ground where you would want to be 100% fit it would be Subi.

Im confident mainly cos of the weeks break, Dean Cox over the last month was only rucking for 2 qtrs of a game, this week he has looked alot better on the training track and may even ruck nearly all the game. Im surprised how little has been made of the week break, we look revitalised due to it..

History has shown that the team with the weeks break usually end up winning, add on to that is that we have to travel over to Perth which makes it more so in you're favour.

But we are fit, confident & primed plus we are coached by the new revelation of AFL footy in Neil Craig.

Agree that with Cox you also have the no1 ranked ruckman but old man Clarke wasn't too bad either last week & he will have the back-up of Rhett Biglands to fall back on.

Crows to win by a couple of goals.

 

[Bestbird]

I think Woosha is quietly smiling that although the money is on the Eagles, the media is all over the Crows

Last week Port were in a similar situation in that they were the media darlings because of there impressive win over Norths which in the end meant SFA.

Robert Walls also bagged the Eagles forward line even though statistically speaking it was the 3rd best in the league throughout the year. Hopefully that ******** that is Robert Walls form continues this year and the Eagles forward line will be the difference in a close contest

 

[tribey]

Robert Walls also bagged the Eagles forward line even though statistically speaking it was the 3rd best in the league throughout the year.

Statistically speaking?

WCE might have had the third highest "For" tally, but that doesn't necessarily mean it had the third best forward line by any stretch:

West Coast goalkicking tally

1. MATERA, Phil - 38.28
2. LYNCH, Quentin - 31.21
3. COUSINS, Ben - 22.11 (midfielder)
4. EMBLEY, Andrew - 21.20 (midfielder)
5. COX, Dean - 21.3 (ruckman)
6. HANSEN, Ashley - 20.14
7. SAMPI, Ashley - 19.24
8. FLETCHER, Chad - 17.13 (midfielder)
9. JUDD, Chris - 15.23 (midfielder)
10. GARDINER, Michael - 15.5 (ruckman-cum-forward)

This shows that WCE are heavily reliant on their midfield and ruck brigade to supply winning scores - moreover, this reinforces Wallsy's point. Facing the meanest defence since the sixties and without Phil Matera the forward line doesn't look all that potent does it.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Try waiting 2 weeks then come back and talk. Im surprised to see that you arnt worried by the fact that alot of your players appear to be sore. If theres one ground where you would want to be 100% fit it would be Subi.

Im confident mainly cos of the weeks break, Dean Cox over the last month was only rucking for 2 qtrs of a game, this week he has looked alot better on the training track and may even ruck nearly all the game. Im surprised how little has been made of the week break, we look revitalised due to it..

I do believe 2 weeks break can be a great advantage. Notice I said can. If you have niggling injuries and battled bodies a week off is god sent. However, I think it could work against you on this occasion. I am not saying it will but there is a reasonable chance it could work against you and this is why. In round 22 you got back 4 players who are coming off a reasonably long injury lay-off. IMHO, It takes a bit of time to build up match practice and I strongly believe that you can't really get that in training sessions. As intense as training sessions can be they are still not actual games of footy. This could be your downfall. Players like Cox, Embley and Gardiner are your guns who are probably the keys to the outcome tommorrow. Just when they were starting to get that match fitness, that reflex back, you have a week off. That can work against those players.

What could work in your favour is the fact that you have struggled a bit late in the season. You haven't played your best footy and you sort of lost your way a bit. Now whether thats fatigue factor, whether thats a form factor, i don't think any of us know. A week off could help with the fatigue especially if you have light training sessions, and you can work on some things that could see you improve your form.

You mention how we have a lot of sore bodies. I agree but I also think every club has them at this time of the year. Fact is no player is 100% late in the season or finals time. Every player is carrying some sort of niggle or is playing through injury that requires treatment and possibly and end of season surgery. A lot of players are carrying corkies at this time of the year.

As much as having a week off is good to recharge the batteries, there is also an argument that winning form is good form and its good to carry that momentum week in week out. We have played some damn good footy in the last 12-15 weeks. We had a hick up agaist St. Kilda but anyone who watched that game would say that our intensity dropped off in one quarter of footy and we lost it there. We clearly won the first and 4th quarter, played about even in the 3rd and got spanked in the 2nd. The fact that we outplayed St. Kilda in the last quarter, in the wet, a week after a tough hard game in perth suggests that we have the fitness to run out games no matter what ground we play on.

I genuinely beleive that we are a good chance this week. I am quietly confident as I was in round 22 that we could win. Whether we win or not remains to be see. I will be picking Adelaide for obvious reasons but its fair to say that West Coast should be favourites.

History suggests that teams coming off a weeks rest generally get up, but I think (not sure about this so someone help out) since this system has been introduced, the team that won the preliminary final without having a week off, goes on to win the flag

 

[tribey]

I do believe 2 weeks break can be a great advantage. Notice I said can. If you have niggling injuries and battled bodies a week off is god sent. However, I think it could work against you on this occasion. I am not saying it will but there is a reasonable chance it could work against you and this is why. In round 22 you got back 4 players who are coming off a reasonably long injury lay-off. IMHO, It takes a bit of time to build up match practice and I strongly believe that you can't really get that in training sessions. As intense as training sessions can be they are still not actual games of footy. This could be your downfall. Players like Cox, Embley and Gardiner are your guns who are probably the keys to the outcome tommorrow. Just when they were starting to get that match fitness, that reflex back, you have a week off. That can work against those players.

See Western Bulldogs in 97/98.

In 1997 they were run over - where did the week's break and supposed extra juice in the tank help them? - and in 1998 they weren't at the races, mainly because Matty Robran had the luxury of reviewing the top of his opponent's head without even having to get out of his seat...

 

[Stiffy_18]

Statistically speaking?

WCE might have had the third highest "For" tally, but that doesn't necessarily mean it had the third best forward line by any stretch:

West Coast goalkicking tally

1. MATERA, Phil - 38.28
2. LYNCH, Quentin - 31.21
3. COUSINS, Ben - 22.11 (midfielder)
4. EMBLEY, Andrew - 21.20 (midfielder)
5. COX, Dean - 21.3 (ruckman)
6. HANSEN, Ashley - 20.14
7. SAMPI, Ashley - 19.24
8. FLETCHER, Chad - 17.13 (midfielder)
9. JUDD, Chris - 15.23 (midfielder)
10. GARDINER, Michael - 15.5 (ruckman-cum-forward)

This shows that WCE are heavily reliant on their midfield and ruck brigade to supply winning scores - moreover, this reinforces Wallsy's point. Facing the meanest defence since the sixties and without Phil Matera the forward line doesn't look all that potent does it.

Agreed.

People think that points for means tells us how forward line is functioning. Eagles are a talented outfit that rely HEAVILY on their midfield for everything. IF their midfield gets beaten (which doesn't happen offen), their defence gets really exposed and they rely heavily on their midfield to kick goals. I LOVE their midfield but I would take our defence and our forward line over their any day off the week.

I think as far as structure is concerned all over the ground, we are better because we are even everywhere. Their midfield, man for man is overall better and deeper than ours. Our midfield is very good as well.

I just think we are stronger than WC everywhere but their midfield. I also believe that we can match it with them in the midfield. IMHO, if we break even in the midfield we can win this where as if WC don't win the midfield, they will struggle to win.

 

[stinger05]

Relax guy's you will win just keep playing the way you have been all year.
FLOOD=WIN

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Relax guy's you will win just keep playing the way you have been all year.
FLOOD=WIN

I think you will find it will be the opposite this week. We will play with 9 forwards as 3 backman should be enough to beat your......................can you call it a forward line????

 

[Bestbird]

Statistically speaking?

WCE might have had the third highest "For" tally, but that doesn't necessarily mean it had the third best forward line by any stretch:

West Coast goalkicking tally

1. MATERA, Phil - 38.28
2. LYNCH, Quentin - 31.21
3. COUSINS, Ben - 22.11 (midfielder)
4. EMBLEY, Andrew - 21.20 (midfielder)
5. COX, Dean - 21.3 (ruckman)
6. HANSEN, Ashley - 20.14
7. SAMPI, Ashley - 19.24
8. FLETCHER, Chad - 17.13 (midfielder)
9. JUDD, Chris - 15.23 (midfielder)
10. GARDINER, Michael - 15.5 (ruckman-cum-forward)

This shows that WCE are heavily reliant on their midfield and ruck brigade to supply winning scores - moreover, this reinforces Wallsy's point. Facing the meanest defence since the sixties and without Phil Matera the forward line doesn't look all that potent does it.

Note that WCE statistcally speaking are the the only club with 10 goal kickers that have kicked more than 15 goals.

Is this really a weakness


Saints only have 5 goal kickers with more than 15 Goals and at times were easily shut down during the year but have rectified that recently as was potently shown versus Adelaide two weeks ago.


One of the problems with the WCE recently has had more to do with Yips in front of goals which started back when they played against Hawthorn (12.26 i think)

Thats why in the last 2 games they have had more inside fifties and shots at goals than the opposition and yet have struggled to post a match winning score. Some will undoubtably say that it is because many shots have been from wide or outside 50m but this has not been the case much to my fustration

 

[birdmanptr]

It's all in the mind, now.

.

Thats sums it up

If we play like we can no probs at all

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Thats sums it up

If we play like we can no probs at all

Don't know about no-problems BUT with reasonable luck our defence should be too good for their attack, with our midfield equalling theirs.

Should be a good game and really looking forward to sitting down and enjoying

 

[kirky]

Feeling reasonably relaxed (I thought I would be toey - perhaps that will happen just before tomorrows game) at the moment. But a couple of thoughts:-

- this is only our second road trip in 7 weeks. In the last 3 weeks - Roo had a rest two weeks ago whilst both Mattner and Burton were rested on the last Perth trip. Therefore, West Coast having the week off may well work against them given a few players have had a lack of match practice.

- forward structure for West Coast - simple we shut down their midfield, who is going to kick their goals? Have to some extent limped into the finals with only 3 wins out of last 7 whereas Crows only hiccup was against the Saints (and I attribute that loss to the withdrawal of Bock before the game which unbalanced our forward structure with Hentschell having to go back - it was more telling than the loss of Roo).

Should both West Coast and Saints win then finally the Saints fans pain of the past 40 years will have ended but I believe we will prevail and meet the Saints in the GF.