POST MATCH DISCUSSION - Round 7

[Go the Biff 3,126]

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

Is it true, though?

We're 9th in the league for points against. We're 10th on the ladder. Seems about right.

We've conceded fewer points than Adelaide and Geelong, too....................

.................IMO the issue isn't the number of goals we concede, it's how (off inopportune turnovers and leading to us being out of position) and when (consistently in blocks or 4-5 in a row) we concede them. But those problems aren't just down to the backline "leaking like a sieve". It's a whole team thing.

 

37 minutes ago, Akum said:

Hawks jumped us for the first 5 or 10 minutes, but were only a goal or two up, and we reeled them in. We ended the quarter with more possessions, clearances etc etc. but wasted it all. When the momentum shifted toward the end of the quarter, they made the most of it and got three of their 5 goals in the last 5 mins or so.

What killed us in that quarter was we just didn't execute basic skills. Our disposal efficiency was lower than 30% at one stage. Three times Jones had a teammate 15m in the clear, but missed them by 15m and speared it straight to their opponent, but he wasn't the only one. We missed easy targets and turned it over all over the ground. And the team that got its three-peat basically by punishing teams for turnovers will make you pay for turnovers like no other...............

As we all know, the damage was done in the first quarter and given the heat that's been applied to our defence here, it's interesting to see how the Hawks got their five first quarter goals

Ist quarter
 

Goal – O’Brien. approx 15 min remaining. Salem spoils an Oliver uncontested mark at half back. Unforced error – lack of talk / awareness. Turnover

Goal – Roughead. 10 min remaining. Rioli from stoppage to Gunston to Roughead who “outmuscled” Frost (in the back for mine). Good passage from Hawks

Goal – Gunston 9.30 remaining. Frost flies for a mark uncontested. Straight through his hands to Gunston who goals off a step. Skill error

Goal – Bruest. 6.30 remaining. Jones shocking turnover on the left foot after marking kick-in. No pressure. Ball to top of goal square. All our blokes up & ball spills to Puopolo who handballs to Bruest. Comedy of errors but started with Jones

Goal – McEvoy after siren. With 20 seconds remaining Hibberd kicks OOtF under no pressure. Resulting I50 kick sets up McEvoy’s mark (aided by a massive block from Roughead which took out OMac & Hunt – questionable legality as he wasn’t contesting)

 

Four of the five came from us shooting ourselves in the foot in uncontested situations. In each of those four cases the footy should have been on our side of the centre instead of sailing through their sticks

Furthermore, any chance we had to hit the scoreboard ourselves was derailed in the same fashion. Here's just a few of the momentum killers :

7.30 remaining. Jeffy misses set shot after patient build up

3.40 remaining. Jones marks at high half forward & misses pass to Vince just on 50. Hardwick marks uncontested

1.40 remaining. Jones marks in space & passes directly to Langford who marks uncontested in our F50

There were other midfield turnovers that had Hawthorn streaming forwards that thankfully didn't hurt us on the scoreboard. 

Unforced errors as opposed to turnovers from pressure are killing us. If we can improve this area then perhaps we'll a) win more games and b) be able to more fairly assess our defence
 

[Dante 2,562]

37 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

That's a mis-directional, you said "our defence leaks like a sieve" when it clearly doesn't at 10th for points against.

If the defenders give away goals every second or third time the opposition goes inside 50, I reckon that's leaking like a sieve, don't you?

Our midfield and forwards keep the ball out of the backline as much as possible, but it must be disheartening to see a goal kicked so often when it does go in there.

[old55 21,227]

9 minutes ago, Dante said:

If the defenders give away goals every second or third time the opposition goes inside 50, I reckon that's leaking like a sieve, don't you?

Our midfield and forwards keep the ball out of the backline as much as possible, but it must be disheartening to see a goal kicked so often when it does go in there.

Where are we ranked in inside 50s against?

[Dante 2,562]

5 minutes ago, Fifty-5 said:

Where are we ranked in inside 50s against?

I don't know that but here is a sample.

Hawthorn I50 = 48 scored 24 times

Richmond I50 = 57 scored 28 times

Geelong I50 = 46 scored 20 goals

it's the ease in which other teams seem to score goals against us.

[praha 10,270]

Just watched the highlights. Do you know what pisses me off the most about this game? Hawthorn has bullied us for a decade. They were down on form, last on the ladder, and were a man down for most of the match. And they absolutely smashed us. We made what I like to call the "loser comeback" (come back from a huge deficit but lose the match), but beyond that, they pushed us around AGAIN, and without even trying that hard.

It's one thing to lose. That first half was just....urghhhhh. It's more than just "not having the cattle" these days. We're still stuck in the 2010s were we *expect* that good will happen. You need to make a stand and turn a corner, otherwise you're just making up the numbers.

Ox is an idiot and showpony who by releasing that letter, has trivialised the entire issue. 

The Hawks had Brereton go into the lockers in 2004 and rev up the team to make a stand. The club changed that day and went on to play a spectacular decade. Because we've been a loser club for so long, it's so hard for someone to go in and actually convince people the jumper means something.

Last Sunday really epitomised the Melbourne Football Club. I know that sounds hyperbolic but look into your heart. You know it to be true.

It's really not even worth spending the energy to predict how they'll perform.

Edited May 10, 2017 by praha

[Sir Why You Little 34,430]

6 minutes ago, praha said:

Just watched the highlights. Do you know what pisses me off the most about this game? Hawthorn has bullied us for a decade. They were down on form, last on the ladder, and were a man down for most of the match. And they absolutely smashed us. We made what I like to call the "loser comeback" (come back from a huge deficit but lose the match), but beyond that, they pushed us around AGAIN, and without even trying that hard.

It's one thing to lose. That first half was just....urghhhhh. It's more than just "not having the cattle" these days. We're still stuck in the 2010s were we *expect* that good will happen. You need to make a stand and turn a corner, otherwise you're just making up the numbers.

Ox is an idiot and showpony who by releasing that letter, has trivialised the entire issue. 

The Hawks had Brereton go into the lockers in 2004 and rev up the team to make a stand. The club changed that day and went on to play a spectacular decade. Because we've been a loser club for so long, it's so hard for someone to go in and actually convince people the jumper means something.

Last Sunday really epitomised the Melbourne Football Club. I know that sounds hyperbolic but look into your heart. You know it to be true.

It's really not even worth spending the energy to predict how they'll perform.

We have to do what Nought did back in '73-'74. Buy outside experience

4-6 players from outside over a couple of years. We have some good kids, but they won't do it alone. 

As you say. It's just been too long since '64, our jumper is not revered like a Whorethorn or Geelong. It's just been too long since it stood up. 

We have to make Free Agency our best friend like North did for the 10 year rule. 

I reckon Goodwin can be a brilliant coach, but he needs some mental brute force in the side, guys who have done it before. Lewis is a great get. But we need more. 

Some of our young stars are not going to be at the club forever, we have to deal some great Poker hands to get what we need. 

The backline is a shambles this year compared to what Roosy was doing. 

A good tight backline can still attack...

[old dee 22,819]

4 hours ago, america de cali said:

Ranked 10th in premiership points the only stat that matters.

Amen to that adc.

[titan_uranus 22,241]

3 hours ago, Dante said:

I don't know that but here is a sample.

Hawthorn I50 = 48 scored 24 times

Richmond I50 = 57 scored 28 times

Geelong I50 = 46 scored 20 goals

it's the ease in which other teams seem to score goals against us.

You say "seem". I think it's very subjective.

In the article on The Roar which has its own thread, the author notes the following:

"At a more macro level, the Dees defence is right around average, ranked ninth with 92 points against for a defensive efficiency rating of +2.8. They’re conceding slightly more points per minute of opposition possession than the AFL average, and their opposition is probing their defensive 50 bang on the AFL average when adjusted for possession. Given Melbourne’s bias for attack, this portion of the ground looks rock solid – even a strength."

So we're average for points against, we're just below average for points per minute of opposition possession, and we're average for inside 50s conceded adjusted for time in possession.

You may perceive us to be conceding goals too easily but it appears we are around the league average in those metrics which means, IMO, it's not as big an issue as you suggest.

[Dante 2,562]

30 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

You say "seem". I think it's very subjective.

In the article on The Roar which has its own thread, the author notes the following:

"At a more macro level, the Dees defence is right around average, ranked ninth with 92 points against for a defensive efficiency rating of +2.8. They’re conceding slightly more points per minute of opposition possession than the AFL average, and their opposition is probing their defensive 50 bang on the AFL average when adjusted for possession. Given Melbourne’s bias for attack, this portion of the ground looks rock solid – even a strength."

So we're average for points against, we're just below average for points per minute of opposition possession, and we're average for inside 50s conceded adjusted for time in possession.

You may perceive us to be conceding goals too easily but it appears we are around the league average in those metrics which means, IMO, it's not as big an issue as you suggest.

Except we are losing games that we should win, we are keeping our opposition to low disposal counts but they are still kicking enough goals to beat us. We generally win the inside 50 count, but lose games to opposition who take better advantage of their I50, maybe that's because our forwards are poor, or maybe it's because our defence is poor. 

There are countless variables but the only irrefutable fact is we are losing when we should win and that's because the opposition score more than we do. 

[dieter 3,325]

Just got back from SA and watched the replay. The bottom line is that apart from Quarter 1 the Demons were the better side.

So why did they lose?

As usual, multi turnovers. Especially in the first half. How do you cure this? Winning games, in the end....

Positives:

Hibberd played his guts out.

The general positiveness of our game after the first quarter.

Mr Frost.

 

Negatives:

Demonland armchair critics.

I mention this because JKH was not the disaster case as portrayed by the sad sacks who fester on Demonland.

Hannan just needs a confidence boost.

Wagner was first game back. He will get much better.

The Demons are playing good football despite horrendous injuries.

Tom Mac D is obviously feeling the pinch of substituting as a ruckman.

What needs to happen:

Out Mr Buggah, in Clark Kent.

There's not much in reserve at the moment.

The best lineup:

Jetta  T.Macdonald Hibberd

Hunt Frost Lewis

Oliver Viney Stretch

Kent Watts Vandenberg

Garlett Hogan Petracca

Gawn Tyson Jones

Brayshaw, Pedersen,Vince, Salem

Emergencies: Oscar, both Smiths, Weidemann, Harmes, Wagner.

I put it to you that it's in that Emergency list that we'll find the real future.

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by dieter

[Akum 2,660]

5 hours ago, Go the Biff said:

 

As we all know, the damage was done in the first quarter and given the heat that's been applied to our defence here, it's interesting to see how the Hawks got their five first quarter goals

Ist quarter
 

Goal – O’Brien. approx 15 min remaining. Salem spoils an Oliver uncontested mark at half back. Unforced error – lack of talk / awareness. Turnover

Goal – Roughead. 10 min remaining. Rioli from stoppage to Gunston to Roughead who “outmuscled” Frost (in the back for mine). Good passage from Hawks

Goal – Gunston 9.30 remaining. Frost flies for a mark uncontested. Straight through his hands to Gunston who goals off a step. Skill error

Goal – Bruest. 6.30 remaining. Jones shocking turnover on the left foot after marking kick-in. No pressure. Ball to top of goal square. All our blokes up & ball spills to Puopolo who handballs to Bruest. Comedy of errors but started with Jones

Goal – McEvoy after siren. With 20 seconds remaining Hibberd kicks OOtF under no pressure. Resulting I50 kick sets up McEvoy’s mark (aided by a massive block from Roughead which took out OMac & Hunt – questionable legality as he wasn’t contesting)

 

Four of the five came from us shooting ourselves in the foot in uncontested situations. In each of those four cases the footy should have been on our side of the centre instead of sailing through their sticks

Furthermore, any chance we had to hit the scoreboard ourselves was derailed in the same fashion. Here's just a few of the momentum killers :

7.30 remaining. Jeffy misses set shot after patient build up

3.40 remaining. Jones marks at high half forward & misses pass to Vince just on 50. Hardwick marks uncontested

1.40 remaining. Jones marks in space & passes directly to Langford who marks uncontested in our F50

There were other midfield turnovers that had Hawthorn streaming forwards that thankfully didn't hurt us on the scoreboard. 

Unforced errors as opposed to turnovers from pressure are killing us. If we can improve this area then perhaps we'll a) win more games and b) be able to more fairly assess our defence
 

Great post and great points. They didn't really jump us at the start because we "lacked intensity" or "didn't come to play". We just didn't execute simple skills and made basic mistakes, and this allowed them to set up goalscoring chances, and ruined chances that we had created. We didn't take the necessary care.

(Was it in the first that Hannan snapped over his right shoulder from about 15m out and missed everything? Might have been 2nd).

[Binmans PA 25,923]

12 hours ago, Dante said:

Our backline leaks like a sieve and we need to recruit a top line defender/backline general to stop the flow of goals against us that the current crop seem incapable of doing.

It is too common to see out of form players kick big scores against us like Hawkins. JackR, Roughy, McCarthy and even O'Brien, who had kicked 3 goals in 6 games kicks 2 against us. Daniher had 9 shots at goal in the first half and the game would have been over at half time if he'd kicked straight.

There is a fundamental flaw in our game plan that allows the opposition to score so easily and it is easy, yet we bomb the ball in to our forward line and they seem to have a player drop back and mark, so often, unopposed

We also have to look at those players that are permanently scarred and just turn it up when we play against certain sides that have had the wood on us for years. 

Who would you be referring to here?

It couldn't be (as they're too young or have come from other clubs):

Hunt, Frost, OMac, Hibberd, Melksham, Stretch, Tyson, Hogan, Salem, Petracca, Lewis, Brayshaw, Oliver, AVB, Vince, JKH, Weideman, Garlett, Kent, Hannan, ANB, Bugg, Kennedy, Wagner, Harmes, T Smith and J Smith.

So that leaves (those under Neeld and even Bailey):

Gawn, Jones, Watts, Pedersen, Viney, TMac, Spencer, Kent, Jetta.

Gawn has improved out of sight under Roos/Goodwin. Watts finally clicked under Roos/Goodwin. Pedersen is serviceable. Kent is struggling, but had a decent 2016, so isn't scarred. Jetta is probably the best small defender in the comp. Spencer is a trier and doesn't resemble a scarred footballer.

Are you saying Jones, Viney and TMac are scarred? Jones is potentially. I don't see it with Viney or TMac though. I think those players with mental scars were moved on during 2013-2016.

[Binmans PA 25,923]

8 hours ago, Go the Biff said:

 

As we all know, the damage was done in the first quarter and given the heat that's been applied to our defence here, it's interesting to see how the Hawks got their five first quarter goals

Ist quarter
 

Goal – O’Brien. approx 15 min remaining. Salem spoils an Oliver uncontested mark at half back. Unforced error – lack of talk / awareness. Turnover

Goal – Roughead. 10 min remaining. Rioli from stoppage to Gunston to Roughead who “outmuscled” Frost (in the back for mine). Good passage from Hawks

Goal – Gunston 9.30 remaining. Frost flies for a mark uncontested. Straight through his hands to Gunston who goals off a step. Skill error

Goal – Bruest. 6.30 remaining. Jones shocking turnover on the left foot after marking kick-in. No pressure. Ball to top of goal square. All our blokes up & ball spills to Puopolo who handballs to Bruest. Comedy of errors but started with Jones

Goal – McEvoy after siren. With 20 seconds remaining Hibberd kicks OOtF under no pressure. Resulting I50 kick sets up McEvoy’s mark (aided by a massive block from Roughead which took out OMac & Hunt – questionable legality as he wasn’t contesting)

 

Four of the five came from us shooting ourselves in the foot in uncontested situations. In each of those four cases the footy should have been on our side of the centre instead of sailing through their sticks

Furthermore, any chance we had to hit the scoreboard ourselves was derailed in the same fashion. Here's just a few of the momentum killers :

7.30 remaining. Jeffy misses set shot after patient build up

3.40 remaining. Jones marks at high half forward & misses pass to Vince just on 50. Hardwick marks uncontested

1.40 remaining. Jones marks in space & passes directly to Langford who marks uncontested in our F50

There were other midfield turnovers that had Hawthorn streaming forwards that thankfully didn't hurt us on the scoreboard. 

Unforced errors as opposed to turnovers from pressure are killing us. If we can improve this area then perhaps we'll a) win more games and b) be able to more fairly assess our defence
 

This is an excellent post, because I haven't seen such an illuminating breakdown of turnovers and goals kicked by the opposition. 

It's also why I was so disappointed in Jones' game. This is the guy that's meant to be the captain of our football club and the younger players see him causing error after error and handing the opposition crucial early momentum. Just a shocking first half.

It was as obvious as day that we needed to put our foot on their collective throat in the first period of the game.

When people talk about our lack of leadership, it's these sort of unforced errors that should not be coming from our senior players and leaders. We should expect our younger players to make a few of these. We don't excuse them, but they have more leeway when it comes to skill errors. But we shouldn't excuse 200+ game veterans. I'm sure some won't agree (for his years of loyal service), but I reckon Jones owes us one.

[old55 21,227]

12 hours ago, Dante said:

I don't know that but here is a sample.

Hawthorn I50 = 48 scored 24 times

Richmond I50 = 57 scored 28 times

Geelong I50 = 46 scored 20 goals

it's the ease in which other teams seem to score goals against us.

How does that compare with other clubs? Your theory is possible but you do not seem to have data to back it, it's jjust the vibe.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Fifty-5

[praha 10,270]

8 hours ago, Akum said:

Great post and great points. They didn't really jump us at the start because we "lacked intensity" or "didn't come to play". We just didn't execute simple skills and made basic mistakes, and this allowed them to set up goalscoring chances, and ruined chances that we had created. We didn't take the necessary care.

(Was it in the first that Hannan snapped over his right shoulder from about 15m out and missed everything? Might have been 2nd).

intensity, "coming to play", and skill errors are one in the same.

If you bring intensity and come to play, you limit skill errors. Goodwin mentioned this in his press conference. They're all mutually exclusive.

[ProperDee 1,698]

Only two reasons why we sit 10th.

1. Skill errors

2. Poor decision making

Nothing to do with stats, leadership, coaching, not coming to play etc etc.

The first is an indicator of self imposed, psychological pressure and a lack of self-belief. We can work on that. Our guys (mainly) do have the required skill set. It is just a matter of execution. The club also needs a quality key defender, an experienced, elite mid and a ruckman (coming soon). However there is not much we can do about that right at the moment. 

The second is an indicator of a lack of maturity. How old were you when the penny dropped? I was about 23 from memory. Some of our young guys still have a little ways to go. 

It's been and still is, very hard being a Demons fan and also extremely difficult not to be disappointed in losses when we see the talent that we have.  Maybe we as fans have jumped the gun 12 months early but we can be forgiven for that given our obvious improvement over the past couple of years and our desperation to see our team finally come good.

it's slam-your-head-into-the-wall hard to cop being defeated by teams that we know we should beat but I think we will look back on 2017 as our final year of development. The year we ironed out the kinks, learned from our mistakes, grew as a team and a club, sorted the wheat from the chaff and emerged as a real contender for the next decade. 

So be prepared for that sore forehead to become even more aggravated every couple of weeks for a little while longer but with the knowledge that the head butts to the wall will become fewer real soon.

Edited May 10, 2017 by ProperDee

[Jimcor2 125]

Just want to say that having re-watched the 3rd quarter and feel good to be alive.  It's not often I have said that after a loss.  I cannot wait for the day when we can play like that for 4 quarters.

[jackaub 1,402]

54 minutes ago, Jimcor2 said:

Just want to say that having re-watched the 3rd quarter and feel good to be alive.  It's not often I have said that after a loss.  I cannot wait for the day when we can play like that for 4 quarters.

We still missed 3 easy goals in this quarter at least that would have iced the game. Very poor kicking loses you games!

[Akum 2,660]

6 hours ago, praha said:

intensity, "coming to play", and skill errors are one in the same.

If you bring intensity and come to play, you limit skill errors. Goodwin mentioned this in his press conference. They're all mutually exclusive.

No way. They're going in hyper-intense, especially at the start. Too hyped up, and too much adrenalin.

This is why we have such things as four and five defenders flying for the mark or spoil, three or four mids going after the same ball at a stoppage and no one shepherding or blocking or spreading, too many "hero" handballs and slam-it-on-the-boot clearances, experienced players missing targets that they'd normally hit, kicking the ball far too high when we're going into the game with a height deficiency.

Even when we're on top early, like against Geelong or Carlton, we don't get full value for our dominance because we don't take just that little bit of care.

Intensity is great, but not if it's all you've got. It needs to be tempered with just a light sprinkling of taking-care with disposals and team play (it used to be called "steadying" before you get rid of the ball), or what you get is skill errors and turnovers. And more intensity at that point makes it worse, not better. Beyond a certain threshold, more intensity stuffs up your output.

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,089]

9 hours ago, ProperDee said:

Only two reasons why we sit 10th.

1. Skill errors

2. Poor decision making

Nothing to do with stats, leadership, coaching, not coming to play etc etc.

The first is an indicator of self imposed, psychological pressure and a lack of self-belief. We can work on that. Our guys (mainly) do have the required skill set. It is just a matter of execution. The club also needs a quality key defender, an experienced, elite mid and a ruckman (coming soon). However there is not much we can do about that right at the moment. 

The second is an indicator of a lack of maturity. How old were you when the penny dropped? I was about 23 from memory. Some of our young guys still have a little ways to go. 

It's been and still is, very hard being a Demons fan and also extremely difficult not to be disappointed in losses when we see the talent that we have.  Maybe we as fans have jumped the gun 12 months early but we can be forgiven for that given our obvious improvement over the past couple of years and our desperation to see our team finally come good.

it's slam-your-head-into-the-wall hard to cop being defeated by teams that we know we should beat but I think we will look back on 2017 as our final year of development. The year we ironed out the kinks, learned from our mistakes, grew as a team and a club, sorted the wheat from the chaff and emerged as a real contender for the next decade. 

So be prepared for that sore forehead to become even more aggravated every couple of weeks for a little while longer but with the knowledge that the head butts to the wall will become fewer real soon.

4

You had me until this comment....

[ProperDee 1,698]

No worries HB.

The first principle of leadership is to lead by example. The 2 highest rated Melbourne players on the AFL Player Ratings - and the two guys who put their bodies on the line for the club every weeek - are Jack Viney and Nathan Jones the co-captains. Hence my view that leadership is not an issue.

Edited May 11, 2017 by ProperDee

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,089]

21 minutes ago, ProperDee said:

No worries HB.

The first principle of leadership is to lead by example. The 2 highest rated Melbourne players on the AFL Player Ratings - and the two guys who put their bodies on the line for the club every weeek - are Jack Viney and Nathan Jones the co-captains. Hence my view that leadership is not an issue.

 

Leadership would have won us at least 2 more games this year ProperDee.

Against Freo, good leadership would never have left 3 defenders against 5 forwards when we were in front with less than 2 mins to go (or allow the team to go to sleep in the 3rd qtr). Secondly, good leadership would never allow seemingly the whole team have such a poor attitude (coach agrees) and allow the first quarter debacle we witnessed against a Hawthorn team that had 3 losses in excess of 12 goals leading up to our game with them.

Totally agree with you regarding skill and decision making though!

[titan_uranus 22,241]

6 hours ago, Akum said:

No way. They're going in hyper-intense, especially at the start. Too hyped up, and too much adrenalin.

This is why we have such things as four and five defenders flying for the mark or spoil, three or four mids going after the same ball at a stoppage and no one shepherding or blocking or spreading, too many "hero" handballs and slam-it-on-the-boot clearances, experienced players missing targets that they'd normally hit, kicking the ball far too high when we're going into the game with a height deficiency.

Even when we're on top early, like against Geelong or Carlton, we don't get full value for our dominance because we don't take just that little bit of care.

Intensity is great, but not if it's all you've got. It needs to be tempered with just a light sprinkling of taking-care with disposals and team play (it used to be called "steadying" before you get rid of the ball), or what you get is skill errors and turnovers. And more intensity at that point makes it worse, not better. Beyond a certain threshold, more intensity stuffs up your output.

I'm coming around to this line of thinking.

Makes a lot of sense.

[Cheap Seats 3,300]

The Champion data boys were on Sen today and said the hawks pressure factor in that first qtr was the highest recorded for any club.

Not many will take notice but it partly explains the first qtr fade out and the hawks didn't let us play our game. Its a big credit to.them and sadly the formula to best us atm (high pressure)

Sadly we were out coached and out played in the first and it set the hawks up for a gutsy w.

That qtr clearly demonstrated there is a lot of work left before we are a top tier club. 

Also.some need to take a deep breath and acknowledge how hard the boys worked to get back in to and almost steal that game

 

Edited May 11, 2017 by Unleash Hell

[Dr. Gonzo 22,404]

54 minutes ago, Unleash Hell said:

The Champion data boys were on Sen today and said the hawks pressure factor in that first qtr was the highest recorded for any club.

Not many will take notice but it partly explains the first qtr fade out and the hawks didn't let us play our game. Its a big credit to.them and sadly the formula to best us atm (high pressure)

Sadly we were out coached and out played in the first and it set the hawks up for a gutsy w.

That qtr clearly demonstrated there is a lot of work left before we are a top tier club. 

Also.some need to take a deep breath and acknowledge how hard the boys worked to get back in to and almost steal that game

 

The Hawks were on their game early. Besides trying to control the tempo and take the sting out of our game early, their pressure and structures were fantastic, probably the best they've played this year. Our handball stats were out of the park because as soon as we got the ball we were swamped by Hawks players so we just flicked the ball around trying to get to someone who could get a clean possession. Then inevitably when we did get to someone who could get a kick away we turned it over as the Hawks had set up across our half forward line to chop off any low passes. Any high kicks were easily nullified too as Hogan was the only tall target down there.

I agree, although bitterly disappointed with the loss the team really did do well to get back in the game, draw level and almost pinch it in the last.