Thoughts on game v Hawthorn

[Major Colvin]

Obviously disappointing to lose to side we should have beaten. However, I think Hawthorn played very well but only because we let them. Inuuries are hurting us - Neitz, Robertson and McLean - that is rotten luck and we can't be a great side without them.

A few points on the game

• beaten convincingly out of the midfield until the last. McLean's absence kills us, really does
• Umpiring didn't go our way but we weren't first to the ball
• Hawthorn flooded back, whilst tey seemed to have vast space in their forwardline. I'm not sure whether to put that down to Daniher's fault or midfielders not running hard enough
• The loss of Neitz was pivotal, completely upset our forward structure

I'd like to single out two players, Travis Johnstone and Aaron Davey who were ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC! No wonder we were getting a pants job when two of our best players are just taking up oxygen. I hope Daniher gives them an absolute spray for their performances. Brad Green was rubbish also.

We tried hard in the last but didn't deserve to win. Our season is on a knife edge already. We've had some bad luck but we haven't played well. Geelong will murder us if we play like we did today. Very frustrating.

 

[stickman11]

Obviously disappointing to lose to side we should have beaten. However, I think Hawthorn played very well but only because we let them. Inuuries are hurting us - Neitz, Robertson and McLean - that is rotten luck and we can't be a great side without them.

A few points on the game

• beaten convincingly out of the midfield until the last. McLean's absence kills us, really does
• Umpiring didn't go our way but we weren't first to the ball
• Hawthorn flooded back, whilst tey seemed to have vast space in their forwardline. I'm not sure whether to put that down to Daniher's fault or midfielders not running hard enough
• The loss of Neitz was pivotal, completely upset our forward structure

I'd like to single out two players, Travis Johnstone and Aaron Davey who were ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC! No wonder we were getting a pants job when two of our best players are just taking up oxygen. I hope Daniher gives them an absolute spray for their performances. Brad Green was rubbish also.

We tried hard in the last but didn't deserve to win. Our season is on a knife edge already. We've had some bad luck but we haven't played well. Geelong will murder us if we play like we did today. Very frustrating.

Daniher is gone.

 

[goal sneak]

Johnstone is a joke. Does not run hard enough for an AFL footballer. Things didn't go Daveys way but he continued to pressure and if he continues that things will turn around. The same can't be said for johnstone though.

I think it is time to admit that the group of guys like Bruce, Green, Johnstone, Robertson, White, McDonald, Neitz aren't going to win us a premiership. I would think we are at least 3 years from challenging for a premiership.

 

[stickman11]

Johnstone is a joke. Does not run hard enough for an AFL footballer. Things didn't go Daveys way but he continued to pressure and if he continues that things will turn around. The same can't be said for johnstone though.

I think it is time to admit that the group of guys like Bruce, Green, Johnstone, Robertson, White, McDonald, Neitz aren't going to win us a premiership. I would think we are at least 3 years from challenging for a premiership.

A new coach away.

 

[Major Colvin]

I think it is time to admit that the group of guys like Bruce, Green, Johnstone, Robertson, White, McDonald, Neitz aren't going to win us a premiership. I would think we are at least 3 years from challenging for a premiership.

Dont agree with that. Those guys play great football when they want to, good enough to match it with the best I think. Depth is the problem. Its never more evident than when you see Godfrey in the team

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

No thoughts. Didn't deserve any thought.

We need to teach EVERYONE to man up - every occaison it was a switch play to the corridor, where there was MULTIPLE players waiting.

I pay to watch football, it seems our midfield gets paid to watch.

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

Its about time we started blooding forwards - seriously, with Davey playing badly, Neitz and Robbo injury prone as well as Miller (better today) - we are vulnerable in the forward line.

I didn't know who was going to kick the goals today.

 

[goal sneak]

Dont agree with that. Those guys play great football when they want to, good enough to match it with the best I think. Depth is the problem. Its never more evident than when you see Godfrey in the team

I agree with that. But when you look at West Coast and SYdney they are consistent week in week out and simply dont have bad games. We have been saying since the 2000 GF that this group of players will deliver us a flag but in reality they just aren't good enough. I think we need to start to build a team based around the likes of McLean, Sylvia, Rivers and co. Not Bruce, Green, Neitz, Robbo and TJ.

 

[Supermercado]

Its about time we started blooding forwards - seriously, with Davey playing badly, Neitz and Robbo injury prone as well as Miller (better today) - we are vulnerable in the forward line.

I didn't know who was going to kick the goals today.

Can't wait for the Ben Holland FF experience next week

 

[Major Colvin]

I agree with that. But when you look at West Coast and SYdney they are consistent week in week out and simply dont have bad games. We have been saying since the 2000 GF that this group of players will deliver us a flag but in reality they just aren't good enough. I think we need to start to build a team based around the likes of McLean, Sylvia, Rivers and co. Not Bruce, Green, Neitz, Robbo and TJ.

I agree that we can't rely on the likes of Bruce, Neitz, robbo, Johnstone, Green to win a flag like West Coast can rely on Judd, Kerr, Cox etc. What we need is a contribution from everyone and some luck with injuries. But its no good doing what Richmond are doing and aim for a flag in three years. By then we lose Neitz, Robbo, Bruce etc - very good players and certainly capable of winning a flag. A new coach might do the trick but I certainly believe that the talent we have now is capable of a lot more than they are producing.

 

[Pipefitter]

Yeah we are in a bit of trouble and the injury toll continues to rise which is gonna make it even harder to bounce back.

TJ is in some shocking form, if it werent for the last quarter kick ins he prob would have been stuck on 3 possessions.

Would have liked to see Biz get a run instead of wheatley. We could have almsot pinched the game when he decided to give away that 50. But definetely not blaming the game on him. Melbourne went missing when the game was there to be won.

This was an almost carbon copy of last weeks game, starting and finishing strongly. Im not sure what the problem is. Neale is obviously being completely out coached.

I know we started this way last year but **** things are looking really really bad this year.

 

[Marns]

Dont agree with that. Those guys play great football when they want to, good enough to match it with the best I think. Depth is the problem. Its never more evident than when you see Godfrey in the team

Sorry, but those guys showed today and last week why they're not going to win us a flag. Soft, uninspiring, lacking heart. If they're real leaders they would've stood up after last weeks joke and taken control of this game.

 

[Marns]

Daniher is gone.

In a perfect world.

 

[dutchy12]

Top 4 is definitly out of the picture now which is what we were all hoping for at the start of the year. Realisitically we still can make the top 8 but it is looking to be a long road with injuries.

I'm really dissapointed with the over all effort. Even though we did come back it still isn't good enough.

Maybe we've overated our list

 

[The Great Gabsby]

We really lacked desperation in the midfield. Mclean makes a massive difference to our midfield. It was very disapponinting to see that our midfield only gets desperate when we are 6 goals down (well, everyone except maybe johnstone, who decided on having a bye today). If we play like we did in the last quarter for 4 quarters it would be pleasing.

The neitz injury is a devastating one. Probably the most important player to us in terms of structure. Lets hope hes only out for a week or two.

Will be interesting to see the team lineup for next week. I have a feeling Yze's holiday may be short lived.

 

[Supermercado]

The only reason we got on top in the last was because Hawthorn ran out of gas. We will lose by a million next week - the only thing to even bother holding out hope for is the fact that Geelong are the only team more likely to disappoint and confuse their fans than we are.

It's just a non-stop depression ride following this team. We should change our theme song to something by The Cure, play in black and be the first emo side.

 

[stickman11]

We really lacked desperation in the midfield. Mclean makes a massive difference to our midfield. It was very disapponinting to see that our midfield only gets desperate when we are 6 goals down (well, everyone except maybe johnstone, who decided on having a bye today). If we play like we did in the last quarter for 4 quarters it would be pleasing.

The neitz injury is a devastating one. Probably the most important player to us in terms of structure. Lets hope hes only out for a week or two.

Will be interesting to see the team lineup for next week. I have a feeling Yze's holiday may be short lived.

Daniher fault. The guy coaches like a wet fish.

 

[demonfan9]

Pathetic!

And I am going to warn anyone, don't come in and tell me it's only Round 2, coz I will murder you.

The team as a whole should be disgusted in their lack of effort and terrible performance. The coaching staff must take responsibility as well. This week and last week have been shocking. We have not looked like winning, nor have we deserved to thus far. One and a half quarter efforts are simply not enough. That last quarter comeback meant f**k all to me, because the game was won and lost in the second and third term, just like Round 1.

Our good players are far too inconsistant, and our average players are just that - average.

Johnstone was terrible. White and Green were bad. Bruce's kicking lets him down far too often. We shouldn't have to rely on Neitz and McLean to lead the way. Davey is really struggling, he has had 8 kicks in two matches and something must be done to ensure that he gets himself into the game more.

Wheatley cannot kick a football. When we were just 7 points down in the last, a simple 40m kick to Jamar in space would have led to a forward entry, but Wheatley f***ed it up, Hawthorn rebounded, and then he gave away a needless 50m penalty to kill the game. Two major errors, yet Daniher didn't even get the runner out to him. Bizzell would be a much better option than him. He doesn't have a football brain, nor the skills required.

Godfrey, as much as he tries hard, and he was one of the few that did today, cannot kick either. I know that he kicked 2 goals, but what about the many errors that resulted in turnovers? Not good enough unfortunately, but to be fair to him, he does give his best unlike those other weak maggots.

Brown is another who has poor skills, poor decision making and no awareness at all. We cannot win games of football with that many ordinary players in the team. I don't care if he runs all day, if he can't use the pill then what is the use.

Why did we spend so much of the game without either White or Jamar in the goalsquare after Neitz went down? We needed a big body in the goalsquare. In the third quarter we had Bate one out, but he could not take a clean possession if his life depended on it. Yet when White and Jamar awe put there, they took two marks and kicked two goals in the last quarter.

We got smashed out of the middle when it counted. Our use of the football was ordinary. The defence had no chance, battled hard, particularly Bell, Rivers (who beat Franklin) and Whelan.

McDonald was the same as he is every week, battled his guts out with 30 possessions and 6 tackles. Jones also tried hard and often some resistance in the clearances, but his disposal was down. Moloney was another who had a crack. He ran straight at the ball, hit his opponents hard and should be applauded for his effort.

Miller was best on ground for me today. With limited opportunities, he had to work very hard for his 8 marks and 3 goals. See what happens when we kick it to our designated CHF instead of going sideways? Robertson also battled hard, but if he kicked straight early we might have created a handy lead.

 

[cs61]

You guys look great when you are going well, but when it gets a bit tough and things are going against certain players go missing.

Bruce was excellent, thought he was going to destroy us but didn't have much help.

Johnson seemed to give up once he realised Sewell had the better of him.

Umpiring did go our way, but we were getting first hands on the ball. Few soft frees, but that's modern footy.

Moloney is a good player, tried hard without the support of McLean.

Thought Boyle created a target for us we haven't had before, not sure who was on him from Melbourne but thought it was a break out game for Boyle.

Injuries hurt you in the end but thought we rapped it up in the second and third quarters. Neitz enabled us to be more attacking after he went off. Shocking luck.

You lost the first three last year so wouldn't worry too much yet, but you'll need to turn it around very quickly.

 

[HiHoEverybody]

Dont agree with that. Those guys play great football when they want to, good enough to match it with the best I think. Depth is the problem. Its never more evident than when you see Godfrey in the team

They play great football when they want to? They also play pathetic crap football when they want to aswell! The bottom line is they go missing to often and dont lead from the front like they should. Im sorry to say this but we will NOT win a flag when you have these types of players as so called leaders of the club. Give the captaincy to Brock next year and like somone else said build our team around the likes of Brock, Col, Moloney, Jones etc and basicly anyone whos willing to put there head over the ball and have a crack.

 

[demonfan9]

I agree that we can't rely on the likes of Bruce, Neitz, robbo, Johnstone, Green to win a flag like West Coast can rely on Judd, Kerr, Cox etc.

It is unfair to include Neitz (and to an extent Robertson) in that group. He leads from the front, every single week, busts his gut but has little support. When we bomb the ball to a 2 on 1, there isn't much Robertson can do either. He is a medium forward, not much he can do if the ball doesn't get delivered well.

Bruce, Green, Johnstone, White and Yze should be the players that are helping us win a premiership. Instead, we are last on the ladder because we had poor leaders.

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

Not that it was a significent factor, but the umpiring was aborton ready meaty filth. I don't understand how they could penalise Rivers for committing to a contest, nor can I understand the repeated 'legging' ignorance yet they were more then happy to award a free kick to someone who ducks into a contest. Not that it was all against us, but the 50 m against Dixon was incredible.

I'm sick of the new rules being introduced each year, it makes previous rule changes null and makes it incredibly hard for anyone without footballing knowlege (like dockers) to learn the game.

 

[chipper]

Pathetic!

And I am going to warn anyone, don't come in and tell me it's only Round 2, coz I will murder you.

The team as a whole should be disgusted in their lack of effort and terrible performance. The coaching staff must take responsibility as well. This week and last week have been shocking. We have not looked like winning, nor have we deserved to thus far. One and a half quarter efforts are simply not enough. That last quarter comeback meant f**k all to me, because the game was won and lost in the second and third term, just like Round 1.

Our good players are far too inconsistant, and our average players are just that - average.

Johnstone was terrible. White and Green were bad. Bruce's kicking lets him down far too often. We shouldn't have to rely on Neitz and McLean to lead the way. Davey is really struggling, he has had 8 kicks in two matches and something must be done to ensure that he gets himself into the game more.

Wheatley cannot kick a football. When we were just 7 points down in the last, a simple 40m kick to Jamar in space would have led to a forward entry, but Wheatley f***ed it up, Hawthorn rebounded, and then he gave away a needless 50m penalty to kill the game. Two major errors, yet Daniher didn't even get the runner out to him. Bizzell would be a much better option than him. He doesn't have a football brain, nor the skills required.

Godfrey, as much as he tries hard, and he was one of the few that did today, cannot kick either. I know that he kicked 2 goals, but what about the many errors that resulted in turnovers? Not good enough unfortunately, but to be fair to him, he does give his best unlike those other weak maggots.

Brown is another who has poor skills, poor decision making and no awareness at all. We cannot win games of football with that many ordinary players in the team. I don't care if he runs all day, if he can't use the pill then what is the use.

Why did we spend so much of the game without either White or Jamar in the goalsquare after Neitz went down? We needed a big body in the goalsquare. In the third quarter we had Bate one out, but he could not take a clean possession if his life depended on it. Yet when White and Jamar awe put there, they took two marks and kicked two goals in the last quarter.

We got smashed out of the middle when it counted. Our use of the football was ordinary. The defence had no chance, battled hard, particularly Bell, Rivers (who beat Franklin) and Whelan.

McDonald was the same as he is every week, battled his guts out with 30 possessions and 6 tackles. Jones also tried hard and often some resistance in the clearances, but his disposal was down. Moloney was another who had a crack. He ran straight at the ball, hit his opponents hard and should be applauded for his effort.

Miller was best on ground for me today. With limited opportunities, he had to work very hard for his 8 marks and 3 goals. See what happens when we kick it to our designated CHF instead of going sideways? Robertson also battled hard, but if he kicked straight early we might have created a handy lead.

Mate you are a fool. Stop looking to blame this bloke for what was dished up today. How many targets did he miss today? One, perhaps two? If thats the only two clangers he had then that is a disgrace by any standards. You must be looking at a different Brown, he would have hit 95% of his targets today. Too many people on this site use Doggy as a scapegoat. Take a look at some opposition BF sites and see how much they rate him. The bloke gives 100% and isn't afraid to run and create. Take the blinkers off demonfan9.

 

[demonfan9]

Mate you are a fool. Stop looking to blame this bloke for what was dished up today. How many targets did he miss today? One, perhaps two? If thats the only two clangers he had then that is a disgrace by any standards. You must be looking at a different Brown, he would have hit 95% of his targets today. Too many people on this site use Doggy as a scapegoat. Take a look at some opposition BF sites and see how much they rate him. The bloke gives 100% and isn't afraid to run and create. Take the blinkers off demonfan9.

Maybe I have used his previous efforts against him today. He only made a couple of clangers by foot, not many, but I think there was one particular kick he did in the last quarter which stood out in my mind (when he tried to kick to Bruce against 4 Hawks, when we had loose players in the centre). Maybe today he wasn't bad, but I still think that his disposal has let us down many times in the past.

 

[raikkonen64]

Can't wait for the Ben Holland FF experience next week

oh bugger! y did u mention gumby at full forward, now i might take a gun to the game... problem is i wouldnt shoot him id rather shoot myself, rather that than the toucher of watching him play full forward...