The general argument that we can play better is correct.

But saying things like we "took a step backwards" is just sensationalist stupidity. We're a young, inexperienced side playing in front of 90,000 people for the second time ever, against a much older and more experienced opponent. To find a way not just to win, but to win by 6 goals, when not playing our best, is an absolute step forward.

Does anyone really care what King thinks?

i understand what king is saying, but the article is hopelessly unbalanced, telling only half the story

“Step backwards” is ridiculous.

It was a down night in which we still won, but that is a shocking use of terminology.

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

 

I re-watched the Eagles v Dees game, yesterday...  and thought there was very little between both sides.  I think they underestimated us, in that last game in Perth.

 

We are more tired now than 4 weeks ago.   I think we'll need everything going for us over in Perth, this time around.

And I expect that umpires will this time favour the Eagles,,, as they normally do the home crowd teams.

 

We are up against it, IMO.

1 minute ago, Clint Bizkit said:

“Step backwards” is ridiculous.

It was a down night in which we still won, but that is a shocking use of terminology.

Can’t argue with what King said, don’t find him too bad actually, but what he didn’t say, was that good sides  overcome and just find a way to win.  

KING THE CLOWN

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

Meh. We’ve already overachieved this season. To beat our two biggest “bogie” teams in finals was a massive achievement. Yes we didn’t play great, but to win without playing great, is a sign of greatness. 

Richmond beat Hawks by 31 points and are flag favorites. We beat them by 33 points and are going backwards. Cool logic. 

Well, we've had the Roast Veggies, with gravy. 

But not the Roast Dinner... YET.

 

Lets see really, how hungry we are.

14 minutes ago, bingers said:

Does anyone really care what King thinks?

No

Rw

Stat wise hawthorn played a great first half, they played a save slow game, kicking backwards side ways all cheap 15 meter kicks mostly in the back half. Did King even watch the game or just look at the stats, because if he watched the game, he should have said gee the hawks took lots of marks, but all cheap backwards side ways going slow nowhere, because that's how they played, open your eyes kingy watch the game not the stats, that's where the real story is.

7 minutes ago, don't make me angry said:

Rw

Stat wise hawthorn played a great first half, they played a save slow game, kicking backwards side ways all cheap 15 meter kicks mostly in the back half. Did King even watch the game or just look at the stats, because if he watched the game, he should have said gee the hawks took lots of marks, but all cheap backwards side ways going slow nowhere, because that's how they played, open your eyes kingy watch the game not the stats, that's where the real story is.

this.

Stats are like investing in the markets, when you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results!
 

The umpires kept Hawthorn in it during the first and last quarters.

We won't be thrashed by a team we just beat in Perth.

David King has given up on trying to sound intelligent so he's going for controversy. 

Edited September 15, 20186 yr by Biffen

King is right . . . although some of the logic is slightly skewiff. we'd need to improve significantly on last night to knock over Meth Coke. Not impossible, mind you.

16 minutes ago, Biffen said:

The umpires kept Hawthorn in it during the first and last quarters.

We won't be thrashed by a team we just beat in Perth.

David King has given up on trying to sound intelligent so he's going for controversy. 

Sounds familiar. Sounds like Demonland...

He’s right. If we bomb the ball in and turn over as many as we did last night they will punish us. Something the hawks didn’t do. 

We have the wood over the eagles and I’m confident we will at least seriously challenge them. If not win. 

Misleading heading and King is exactly right.  We were average last night, which in some ways makes the win sweeter.

King isn't saying we'll lose, although he may tip West Coast later in the week, just that we can't afford a first half like last night. 

King famously loves the Dees in 2018.

3 hours ago, Jaded said:

Meh. We’ve already overachieved this season. To beat our two biggest “bogie” teams in finals was a massive achievement. Yes we didn’t play great, but to win without playing great, is a sign of greatness. 

Richmond beat Hawks by 31 points and are flag favorites. We beat them by 33 points and are going backwards. Cool logic. 

The logic is based on performance. I think we played better 4qtrs vs the cats and i think Hawks played better against the tigers than what we both dished up on Friday. Again King isn't saying we are trash or didn't deserve to win. He makes note of the first half, not the second. Coming off the ground Lewis said we played [censored] at half time. Full time PJ himself said we didn't play great. Let's just be happy we beat a team that belted us by 60 this year and has beaten us 15 of the last 16 times by 33 points in a big final while not at our best.

Edited September 15, 20186 yr by MurDoc516

Oh, woe is me, the poor dorks were hurt by bad kicking for goal? So big deal? 1.10 in two quarters nearly cost us against catters but we were good enough to overcome that phase.

We monstered the dorks but still nearly succumbed to our worst failing - gifting the ball to the opposition by easy turnovers. Too many to recount. Too often our kicks were intercepted due to overly ambitious passes to poor options or poorly executed passes to good options. If only half of these lost opportunities had not been lost, the win would have been closer to 10 goals not six and kingy would have to find another whinge. We are our own worst enemies.

BT talks a lot about "chaos balls" (only because he tries to impress by his infantile insight and perception of the game). They are not "chaos balls" but are intended to force a contest that we expect to win by weight of numbers and by sheer skill and brilliance. Think of Tracca, Viney, Spargo, Clarrie, Angus, Salem and others who can turn a heavily contested ball into a clear path to goal. Retaining possession through short dinky passes and slow movement is no match for real class, skill and power.

Go dees.

 

5 minutes ago, tiers said:

Oh, woe is me, the poor dorks were hurt by bad kicking for goal? So big deal? 1.10 in two quarters nearly cost us against catters but we were good enough to overcome that phase.

We monstered the dorks but still nearly succumbed to our worst failing - gifting the ball to the opposition by easy turnovers. Too many to recount. Too often our kicks were intercepted due to overly ambitious passes to poor options or poorly executed passes to good options. If only half of these lost opportunities had not been lost, the win would have been closer to 10 goals not six and kingy would have to find another whinge. We are our own worst enemies.

BT talks a lot about "chaos balls" (only because he tries to impress by his infantile insight and perception of the game). They are not "chaos balls" but are intended to force a contest that we expect to win by weight of numbers and by sheer skill and brilliance. Think of Tracca, Viney, Spargo, Clarrie, Angus, Salem and others who can turn a heavily contested ball into a clear path to goal. Retaining possession through short dinky passes and slow movement is no match for real class, skill and power.

Go dees.

 

We were down contested ball at half-time.  We're the second best contested ball team in 20 years, but were being beaten.  We weren't playing our game.  It was being played on Hawthorn's terms.

We can't afford a first half like that next week.

It has nothing to do with your "woe is me" commentary.  Just facts.

I’ll  have to agree to an extent...

King likes Melbourne and this is a rev up for us to re-focus!

On ya Kingy! ? 

Sometimes it is a disadvantage to have a week off in finals. Their forward line of Kennedy, Darling, Rioli and Ryan is the worry. Our midfield should win easily without Gaff and Natanui. We will have to not waste our forward entries. 

I'm not ready to let this season go just yet

Grasshopper says “it’s better to play bad and win rather than play bad and lose”. 

And we have his week to work on it. 

To Prodee

Whilst we may have been down on contested ball at half time and we were playing the dorks game, we were still in front even though we had wasted as many opportunities as the dorks had missed shots from wide angles.

It's not the number of possessions that count, it's how they are used. Winning contested possession counts does not win matches. I prefer to count the score.

We were wasteful and even with fewer possessions were should have been further in front.

 

Eagles are 11-0 with Kennedy and Darling in the side this year. That’s the only stat I’m worried about. Beat those two and we win the game.