2 minutes ago, Return to Glory said:

doesn't have the ball. And less mongrel kicks. Touch of the Brent Maloney's about him today.

Needed a laugh. Trac is a little too slow.

1 minute ago, A F said:

Gawn was absolutely embarrassed today.

Harsh.  Grundy had more hitouts, while Gawn gave more around the ground (which has been the opposite for both of them all year).  Grundy was also gifted a handful of frees as well.  I hardly see it as him being embarrassed, but he certainly didn't have one of his better days.

1 minute ago, A F said:

Gawn was absolutely embarrassed today. Our mids were comprehensively beaten and our half forwards barely laid any tackles.

Tommy though is worth every cent. The other leader to show leadership.

I hope this puts the Pedersen debate to sleep too. His inability to bring the ball to ground or compete, as well turning the ball over resulted in 3-4 first half goals. 

Let's see how we reset after the bye with a bit of rest.

A thoroughly predictable Melbourne performance though. You knew as soon as Richmond lost and second spit was there for the taking that we'd capitulate.

Can't agree AF

  Changes 

outs Petracca Vince Spargo

ins. Hunt.  Garlett. Stretch. 

Pace !!!!!

They brought the intensity, we didn't.

We didn't handle Cox - though not sure what the solution was in any case - but it was losing around the clearances that's the biggest concern. Probably look at Tyson in, but we needed more from the likes of Harmes and Petracca for starters, as well as bigger games from the likes of Jones and Viney. Brayshaw seems to have been sacrificed to keep Tom Phillips quiet, which worked, but then we lost his outside run and disposal.

I also just don't see Pedersen's place here going forward, would rather put time into Weideman - and I wonder if Vince mightn't have played his last game in the Red and Blue? It's not just that he's slowing down, one of his trump cards was his smarts and disposal, but that seems to be going backwards by the week. Problem there though is who replaces him? Wagner? Petty?

Still, I for one would have taken 8 and 4 at the turnaround, let's see if we can use this to learn from and regroup.

1 minute ago, Hogan2014 said:

Would the Crows & Nth above average??

 

Crows - average yes particularly with Sloane and Walker out - subsequent form bears that out. North - hadn't really got its season going when we played them. 

Pharkin lost 10%!!!!

Just now, bing181 said:

They brought the intensity, we didn't.

We didn't handle Cox - though not sure what the solution was in any case - but it was losing around the clearances that's the biggest concern. Probably look at Tyson in, but we needed more from the likes of Harmes and Petracca for starters, as well as bigger games from the likes of Jones and Viney. Brayshaw seems to have been sacrificed to keep Tom Phillips quiet, which worked, but then we lost his outside run and disposal.

I also just don't see Pedersen's place here going forward, would rather put time into Weideman - and I wonder if Vince mightn't have played his last game in the Red and Blue? It's not just that he's slowing down, one of his trump cards was his smarts and disposal, but that seems to be going backwards by the week. Problem there though is who replaces him? Wagner? Petty?

Still, I for one would have taken 8 and 4 at the turnaround, let's see if we can use this to learn from and regroup.

Very true, and it's why Cox and Stephenson kicked so many goals.  Normally we are able to stop that flow and have a third man up as support, but the Pies didn't give us that time due to how well they played from the clearances and it allowed them to get one on one contests up forward.

Totally agree with your last sentence as well.  If before Round 1 we were told we would be 8-4 I'd have taken it and run.

We get scored against too easily....

We have the most points against in the top 8!

But have scored the most points!

Basically their midfield [censored] on ours, Oliver was ok and Jones ok but rest no good, Pedo less than average, Spargo needs to go practice kicking and we need to bribe the umps. Umpires were deplorable today, we got massacred by the toerags until half way through last quarter when they tried to make up the discrepancy in frees??

I would seriously consider dropping Petracca.

Biggest score we have conceded so far this year. [censored] Troy Chaplin does not fill me with confidence

The good news is that a few posters we haven’t heard from in six weeks are back with us again!

8 minutes ago, olisik said:

They are low hanging fruit for a reason.

 

Hogan Oliver and Brayshaw  haven’t been coasting this season

We'll agree to disagree 

5 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Harsh.  Grundy had more hitouts, while Gawn gave more around the ground (which has been the opposite for both of them all year).  Grundy was also gifted a handful of frees as well.  I hardly see it as him being embarrassed, but he certainly didn't have one of his better days.

Gawn beat Grundy I thought, he got murdered by umps but Grundy did nothing

We were a touch off and played against a team that are loaded with our kryptonite, fast spreading mids and flankers. Our second tier players had lower impact than they have. Yet we still kick 14 goals and Spargo kicks that early goal in the last it was probably game on. We need to decide against fast sides whether we rest Vince as he is a liability on days like today. The bye and 50 games in and its probably time for Trac to decide what he wants to get out of his career. Does not work hard enough. Will take 8-4 and strong %  and hope the boys are as disappointed as I and reset for a big second half post break. 

4 minutes ago, Yze_13 said:

Great post. Certainly happy with 8-4 at the bye. My only issue is that apart from the Geelong game we haven't been close to beating an above average side. We need to establish some credibility - no better place to start than on the road against a top 8 team on Friday week.

Iss true...8 and 4 is bloody good. I think we all got ahead of ourselves and thought we were a super team. The one thing this club is good at is talking itself up. Great salesmanship and we are happy to buy. Again 8 and 4 is very good but today showed were not going to win a flag. Will make the 8 though. Reality break

1 minute ago, olisik said:

Biggest score we have conceded so far this year. [censored] Troy Chaplin does not fill me with confidence

So you're willing to ignore the other 12 rounds, most of which had us playing fantastic team defence, to focus on one game to say he doesn't fill you with confidence?

Sorry, what am I thinking.  It's olisik.  I shouldn't be surprised.

16 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

This was the team that ended our finals hopes in Round 23 last season, and we let them walk all over us.

Our players are all talk, once again.    

This.

Yet again, when the heat is truly on, our players haven't got the guts to tough it out.

 

"We hurt from round 23"

"The pain of rd 23 drives us"

Fkkn yack yack yack

 

Colonwood wanted the ball MUCH more than our blokes did. They hit harder, hunted in numbers, and didnt give an inch the ENTIRE game. We were rushed, panicked, and timid.

Pretenders once more. We've beaten nobody so far. Nobody at all.

And anyone who says we don't need Wines is a fwit. The flashy outsiders can do zip, when the inside mids are annihilated for 4 qtrs.

Without being over the top. Our players can't just get faster. Collingwood have so many pacey runners with great engines. I also think if we had Lever and some of the team showed up and supported Oliver and T. Mac the game is much closer.

1 minute ago, Wiseblood said:

So you're willing to ignore the other 12 rounds, most of which had us playing fantastic team defence, to focus on one game to say he doesn't fill you with confidence?

Sorry, what am I thinking.  It's olisik.  I shouldn't be surprised.

Well he showed he was unable to do anything to fill the void left from Lever. Good coaches would find a way.

I hate to say it, but the media were right about today being a season defining game. It was the big stage audition, to prove if either team have what it takes. The answer couldn't have been more emphatic. Once more we have been exposed as frauds. And the most depressing thing is that it's one of the surest truths in football. Collingwood, at least half a dozen players short of their best 22, beat us in every facet of the game, and we apparently have a talent-rich list, and great depth. In the space of one game, our aspirations have been exposed as substance-less.  

12 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

I reckon the loss of Lever hurt more than we realise, and goes back to what Goodwin was saying earlier in the year.

It took a month or so for Lever to settle, find his groove and play great footy.  Now that our most important defender has gone down for the year you would expect it to take a month or so for us to find the best way of covering for him going forward.  I thought Joel Smith had a real dip and earned another crack in a fortnight, but our structures were back to what we saw in the first 4-5 weeks.  

Tightening this up and finding a way around Lever will take a little time, hopefully as little as possible.

Lever was the best thing that happened to O. McDonald.

Brayshaw rarely seemed to be in for the centre bounces. After starring the last couple of weeks in this role,  I found that strange. 

Coaches and players were out-smarted. Completely beaten on the spread. Looked tired late. Need to utilise the bye to learn how this happened, and come up with ways to combat the strategies the Pies used, because no doubt, our opposition over the next few weeks will be looking to this game to show how we can be beaten easily.