Port beat WC

[jnrmac 20,065]

We have the easiest draw we will ever have and people here keep making excuses. Its pathetic.

Most of us would have pencilled in a win against PA in Rd 1 on our home ground. To get smashed by them by 13 goals was truly bad. No justification whatsoever.

Ess?? Watched the prematch address. Must stop Jobe Watson. 12 possessions in the first 10 minutes. Heppell virtually the same. "Oh gee, they are really good sides. We were beaten by a better side on the day" What crap.

Get angry. Angry at the insipid efforts by our leaders on and off the field. Demand better performances. We deserve it.

[PJ_12345 1,098]

We have the easiest draw we will ever have and people here keep making excuses. Its pathetic.

Most of us would have pencilled in a win against PA in Rd 1 on our home ground. To get smashed by them by 13 goals was truly bad. No justification whatsoever.

Ess?? Watched the prematch address. Must stop Jobe Watson. 12 possessions in the first 10 minutes. Heppell virtually the same. "Oh gee, they are really good sides. We were beaten by a better side on the day" What crap.

Get angry. Angry at the insipid efforts by our leaders on and off the field. Demand better performances. We deserve it.

Agreed.

Ps, the talk, such as the one Neeld gave, are usually given around 45min before the first bounce. Those angry, pump up, montage music talks are only found in Hollywood. Just saying.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

It's funny how last season many of the anti-Neeld brigade said we should've landed Sanderson. No mention of Hinkley at all.

Port's 5-0 thus far this season. And now it's Hinkley. No mention of Sanderson. At all.

Talk about blowing in the breeze.

[Gippsland Dee 367]

Port may well've started well but when you look at the teams they've beaten, they're only beating bottom 4 sides! GC, GWS and melb aren't exactly good teams to base their form on atm, and beating Adelaide atm doesn't sem like that big a deal as they seem in pretty poor form and Port seem to find a way of stepping up against them.

They've defintely taken a step up this year, as seen last night, but i don't think they're as good as a lot say they are. We'll all just have to wait and see how they go against a side like Geelong or the Hawks.

[Bossdog 2,002]

Port may well've started well but when you look at the teams they've beaten, they're only beating bottom 4 sides! GC, GWS and melb aren't exactly good teams to base their form on atm, and beating Adelaide atm doesn't sem like that big a deal as they seem in pretty poor form and Port seem to find a way of stepping up against them.

They've defintely taken a step up this year, as seen last night, but i don't think they're as good as a lot say they are. We'll all just have to wait and see how they go against a side like Geelong or the Hawks.

Also...West Coast kicked 10.19

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Oh c'mon..

Is there no end to the excuses? We're talking about Port here, not one of the top four. I talked up their midfield especially in the pre-game thread for Round 1 and got all but shouted down. Suddenly their list is a bunch of world beaters.

Blind Freddy can see that Hinkley has worked wonders with that team and it isn't just about the talent he has at his disposal. This is exactly the same list that no-one wanted a bar of last year. They're playing with belief. You don't come back from 41 points down in the third quarter unless you have a truckload of it. And in half the time as Neeld, and with a younger more inexperienced list.

Port are 5 and 0. We've beaten a tired GWS in the last quarter. The chasm in talent is nowhere near that.

Neeld's done absolutely nothing yet to warrant such a brazen dismissal.

I'm not making excuses. I'm simply noting that it's completely unfair to compare Neeld and Hinkley, as if to say 'look at Hinkley and Port, since he can do it, why can't Neeld?'.

There is no getting away from the fact that Port have A-grade midfielders but we do not. There just isn't anything Neeld can do about that.

I don't disagree that Hinkley's been able to get a steeliness and resolve into his side that was lacking last year. But their two main performances (vs Adelaide and vs West Coast) have shown them to be able to play woeful, sub-standard football, but be dragged back into the contest by their stars. That's never going to happen to us. Yes, part of that is because Hinkley is a good coach, clearly a lot better than Primus. But would Hinkley be able to get our side to claw itself back from the jaws of defeat? I highly doubt it.

No one is making excuses for Melbourne or Neeld. We're crap. No one's disputing that. But it's totally unfair on Neeld, and is just another example of anti-Neeld bias from some, to compare him to Hinkley and use that as an argument against Neeld.

We have the easiest draw we will ever have and people here keep making excuses. Its pathetic.

Most of us would have pencilled in a win against PA in Rd 1 on our home ground. To get smashed by them by 13 goals was truly bad. No justification whatsoever.

Ess?? Watched the prematch address. Must stop Jobe Watson. 12 possessions in the first 10 minutes. Heppell virtually the same. "Oh gee, they are really good sides. We were beaten by a better side on the day" What crap.

Get angry. Angry at the insipid efforts by our leaders on and off the field. Demand better performances. We deserve it.

Do you think people don't know we're bad?

You clearly haven't been on Demonland much the last month.

[T-34 409]

Also the word coming out of Port is this is the result of a lot of hard work off field by the President and CEO complimenting the work being done by the football department.

Amazing what can happen when everyone rows the boat in the same direction.

[dees64 104]

Hinkley has built a reltionship with his players who play for him & one another!

Neeld has no relationship & burnt all of the senoir players!

The ability to provide a contest & intensity does not require skills, its called character & culture driven by the playing group & the coah galvanizing the playesr....Neeld has failed.

I guarantee you if Hinkley or.Sanderson were coahing us we would be achieving the above...win/loss ratio aside

[jnrmac 20,065]

I'm not making excuses. I'm simply noting that it's completely unfair to compare Neeld and Hinkley, as if to say 'look at Hinkley and Port, since he can do it, why can't Neeld?'.

There is no getting away from the fact that Port have A-grade midfielders but we do not. There just isn't anything Neeld can do about that.

I don't disagree that Hinkley's been able to get a steeliness and resolve into his side that was lacking last year. But their two main performances (vs Adelaide and vs West Coast) have shown them to be able to play woeful, sub-standard football, but be dragged back into the contest by their stars. That's never going to happen to us. Yes, part of that is because Hinkley is a good coach, clearly a lot better than Primus. But would Hinkley be able to get our side to claw itself back from the jaws of defeat? I highly doubt it.

No one is making excuses for Melbourne or Neeld. We're crap. No one's disputing that. But it's totally unfair on Neeld, and is just another example of anti-Neeld bias from some, to compare him to Hinkley and use that as an argument against Neeld.

Do you think people don't know we're bad?

You clearly haven't been on Demonland much the last month.

You miss my point. PA were bad last year. Yet they play with passion, energy and desire. Bar the last quarter last week we have't seen either of these things, Inexcusable

I keep saying this - you do not need elite talent to tackle, chase and show desire. Our players and coaching staff need a massive rocket up their clackers or their AFL careers will be very short.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

You miss my point. PA were bad last year. Yet they play with passion, energy and desire. Bar the last quarter last week we have't seen either of these things, Inexcusable

I keep saying this - you do not need elite talent to tackle, chase and show desire. Our players and coaching staff need a massive rocket up their clackers or their AFL careers will be very short.

There have been plenty of moments this year where PA has lacked passion/energy/desire. The first three quarters against WC, for example.

One of the main differences between PA and Melbourne, though, is that PA has a core group of stars who, if they lift, lift the team. During the first three quarters against WC, the entire 22 was flat. When PA got going, it was on the back of their stars picking them up and willing them into the contest.

It's the same way Geelong fights back from 30 points down against Hawthorn and North.

Since round 3, our effort rate has increased significantly. It's still not good enough for long enough, but it's improving from the dreadful position it was in a fortnight ago. My point, which you seem to be missing, is that it is easier for a side to turn itself around during a match (or a pre-season) when there are stars leading the way. We don't have that. PA does.