3 hours ago, Better days ahead said:

A win is a win is a win. Better than a loss.

Positives:

Spargo - clean, composed, we have to get the ball into his hands as much as possible

Jordon – excellent debut, used the ball well, some nice I50 deliveries and kicked his goal

TMac – couldn’t give him away during the trade period but we lose that game yesterday without him. He’ll make me eat my words if he keeps this up.

Real defensive solidity. Teams will find I50 marks hard come by against us this year.

Smashed in the clearances but still won. Not sure if that’s a positive or negative but Yze needs to work overtime this week to sort out that hot mess. Gawn will dominate again against the saints. We have to figure out how to translate his dominance into winning clearances.

Negative:

Our goal kicking. It’s putrid. I can’t understand how professionals can be so poor in the absolute fundamental requirement of the game, kicking the ball between the big sticks. Fritsch again was very wayward (but not alone). How is this being coached? Is the problem between the ears? Probably worthy of a separate thread.

Onward to marvel we go. The saints are there for the taking.

Couldn't agree more. Any win is good. Doesn't matter how you get it done as long as you get it done. We bank the 4 points and agree Saints are there for the taking.

We also need to realise you can't play perfect footy all the time so this win is vital. Ask Lions and Cats if they would have preferred to play like us and win.

4 hours ago, rjay said:

I think he's being told to take more time and break into space...so many on here have criticised him for being too quick to handball in the past.

I just don't think he has the balance right yet but will do and be a better player for it.

Agree with 'A F' that he's key to our midfield. Tracc gets the glory but Oliver is every bit as important if not more so.

yeah i think you're right. it looked to me like he was trying to take on the tackler more before giving off (which he hasn't always done, but needs to do if we wants to improve) and he just didn't quite get it right. 

i think early on in games when its hot he would maybe be best suited by taking first option by hand or just gaining metres by foot, then as the game slows up a bit and players begin to tire, look to take them on more often. it's a balancing act and i have no doubt he'll get better at it. the good news is that he is trying it.

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

They never cared about winning the tap might be more correct.

They were often well down in clearances compared to the oppo I remember it being a talking point many times 

1 hour ago, Hogan2014 said:

Whilst it’s a win the reality is our kicking going into fwd 50 is poor and hasn’t changed for the last 5 seasons, yep first game understand that but we would have lost against a top team. Question is it game plan? Drafting players who can’t hit targets, development, all of the above?

Were you watching the much-maligned Charlie Spargo at all yesterday?  Directly responsible for 3 goals hitting targets inside 50 and kicked one himself - that's more than 1/3rd of our goals scored.  And we specifically picked up Bowey and Laurie because they have this trait.

1 hour ago, sisso said:

Yze coming from Hawthorn they never cared about clearances much even when winning flags: could this be a different style of footy we saw for the first time yesterday? 

According to Jordan Lewis the first possession at the clearance is important but what happens after that is crucial. There is now a lot more space around stoppages and thats where we were killed yesterday.

Freo more often than not took the ball away because Melbourne were still bees around the honeypot. A break to the outside and they were away. This got better for us as thegame wore on but its a work in progress.

 

Aside from our KP backs who were outstanding , Hats off to Spargo who was very infuential, JJ was great, Nev was back to his best one on one, Hunt did some nice things, Langdon is a gun, Jacksons last quarter showed what he can do and Kozzie will frighten a few teams this year.

It was a warm day and I was worried about Freo running out the game better  but alas our fitness was very good.

Our kicking for goal is pathetic. and the umpires have gone backwards if that is even possible,

 

Edited March 21, 20214 yr by jnrmac

Harmes' performance was very worrying. He has gone completely backwards since 2018 and on yesterdays performance he is way off the mark.

17 hours ago, Roost it far said:

The umpiring was fine

No it wasn't. The Hunt free on Henry was ridiculous as was the Salem 'sling tackle'.

Lever received a 50m penalty that was totally wrong and Langdon gave away a 50m penalty but was next to his opponent as he ran past.

There were a least a dozen more howlers that I recall..

 

Learnings as yet unlearned:

1. Up and under kicks to targets gives the opposition time to apply pressure to the receiver.

2. Ditto re handballs.

3. We get beaten on the outside.

Seems to me these are basic problems that persist, despite many lessons.

8 hours ago, Ugottobekidding said:

Rosman will be a suitable outside mid.

Many of us consider that to be the case, so why is he not being blooded? A soft game (in relative terms) like yesterday against Freo might have been a good choice to let him loose for a few stages of several quarters. Harmes needed to be shifted and perhaps Rosman was the bloke to be given that opportunity, even though it was not really a 'spoiler' role that Harmes was playing. Anyway, the future of our youth looks bright, to say the least.

 

Anyone still think we overpaid to get Jake Lever to the club?  

I must admit that I am mystified that are rucks are so dominant and our do not take advantage at nearly every stoppage. I agree give it to Spargo and Jordan both can deliver the ball to a player on the lead. ANB is a good toiler however his delivery into the 50 is suspect and so has Jones. I think strategy and game plan will adapt with the new rule. I think every coach is still trying to identify how to safely get the ball out into the open. Richmond does it best at present. In a congested situation, it is clear that the players have been drilled to always hand ball forward no matter what. You can see this in how they nearly always have a minimum linkage of two to three players that run forward almost immediately. Lets watch and see how next week unfolds. 

4 minutes ago, grazman said:

Anyone still think we overpaid to get Jake Lever to the club?  

If thats the way hes going to play in the Red and Blue for the rest of his career, I would compensate Adelaide with a future 2nd rounder if allowed.

Apologies if this has been mentioned already, found it interesting on how the main forwards were used yesterday. 

Three forwards from our game were in the top 5 for total distance covered. Taberner led the way, Fritta 3rd, T Mac 5th and they all combined for 7 goals. I think that’s more than a reasonable return when you take all the running into consideration which ranged from 13.8km to 15km. 

11 minutes ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

If thats the way hes going to play in the Red and Blue for the rest of his career, I would compensate Adelaide with a future 2nd rounder if allowed.

I wouldn't do that - They'd probably just use it to get Eddie Betts back to the club.

36 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Many of us consider that to be the case, so why is he not being blooded? A soft game (in relative terms) like yesterday against Freo might have been a good choice to let him loose for a few stages of several quarters. Harmes needed to be shifted and perhaps Rosman was the bloke to be given that opportunity, even though it was not really a 'spoiler' role that Harmes was playing. Anyway, the future of our youth looks bright, to say the least.

 

Because he played a Casey game on the wing and was bloody ordinary. You can’t convert a school footy athlete to an AFL player overnight just because you want to.

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

According to Jordan Lewis the first possession at the clearance is important but what happens after that is crucial. There is now a lot more space around stoppages and thats where we were killed yesterday.

Freo more often than not took the ball away because Melbourne were still bees around the honeypot. A break to the outside and they were away. This got better for us as thegame wore on but its a work in progress.

We’re we killed?

A midfield of Fyfe, Mundy, Brayshaw, Cerra and Serong is going to have their moments in the sun. Apart from the first 5 minutes and then a flat patch in the 3rd we were very close to even. Freo fans right now would be saying ‘how did we let Oliver and Petracca get so much space running forward’

8 hours ago, 58er said:

And that for the naysayers is why "Spargypants" keeps getting selected each week Doing team acts silently and unselfishly.

He played well, happy to admit it...

But, his good games have been few and far between, and can't remember a good one in a losing side

Hoping he builds consistency!

22 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Because he played a Casey game on the wing and was bloody ordinary. You can’t convert a school footy athlete to an AFL player overnight just because you want to.

And he is not ready yet. Needs a season at Casey for sure.

57 minutes ago, Grr-owl said:

Learnings as yet unlearned:

1. Up and under kicks to targets gives the opposition time to apply pressure to the receiver.

2. Ditto re handballs.

3. We get beaten on the outside.

Seems to me these are basic problems that persist, despite many lessons.

Some poor skills at times but I didn’t see hospital disposals as a huge issue. It’s AFL footy, it won’t always be clean. 

We had moments of not ideal midfield transition. Which will happen with the new rules particularly, it’s certainly room for improvement.

We didn’t strictly get beaten on the outside.   We had 104 marks to 69. Some of that is our talls having an advantage but our mids and half forwards all had marks out in space. 10 Freo players had 2 marks or less,  compared with 2 demons. 

35 minutes ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

If thats the way hes going to play in the Red and Blue for the rest of his career, I would compensate Adelaide with a future 2nd rounder if allowed.

Wait till the season is over and see how he continues his freakish form.

At the moment he is worth  along with May every bit of the draft choices we paid and Together we would have lost by 5 goals yesterday.

Have to pay overs for the best and Jake has his confidence plus his ability like May to organise our defense.

We desperately need onfield leaders with the same skills  in the midfield and up forward.

1 hour ago, Grr-owl said:

Learnings as yet unlearned:

1. Up and under kicks to targets gives the opposition time to apply pressure to the receiver.

2. Ditto re handballs.

3. We get beaten on the outside.

Seems to me these are basic problems that persist, despite many lessons.

4. Goal kicking

4 minutes ago, 58er said:

Wait till the season is over and see how he continues his freakish form.

At the moment he is worth  along with May every bit of the draft choices we paid and Together we would have lost by 5 goals yesterday.

Have to pay overs for the best and Jake has his confidence plus his ability like May to organise our defense.

We desperately need onfield leaders with the same skills  in the midfield and up forward.

i thought it was great to see Lever educating Rivers after he gave away a free kick in front of goal yesterday when Lever was coming over the top and had it covered anyway. Jake's a real on field leader.

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

It was a warm day and I was worried about Freo running out the game better  but alas our fitness was very good.

 

Freudian slip?

59 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Because he played a Casey game on the wing and was bloody ordinary. You can’t convert a school footy athlete to an AFL player overnight just because you want to.

Fairy Nuff. Hence, I guess, a need for more direct information about Casey games required on this forum. 

On 3/20/2021 at 4:23 PM, america de cali said:

Losing the battle for the wooden spoon.

What a wannnk! Seriously I have no words