On 04/04/2021 at 11:48, binman said:

Was thinking the same thing.

They flooded our forward line and got their early goals on transition, in part because of some poor defensive running and half efforts. But also because our zone looked a little out of shape.

Addressed that at quarter time and as you say they struggled to move it forward after that.

Similar game to the our game v dockers after quarter time. Scoreboard flattered them.

A very accurate summation 

I thought in the first 10-15 mins of the first quarter you could tell our pressure and work rate was a bit off and the Giants were playing some good stuff that we couldn't break up. I put this down to the fact that they brought the run and we didn't bring enough pressure.

When the Giants had Davis go down, I thought as the game wore on we'd be a big shot, but then when Coniglio went down, I thought only a Melbourne side could lose it from there. Then De Boer went down as well and I thought Clarry would get off the chain. We really should have wiped them off the park after Coniglio went down and in terms of dominance we probably did, but didn't take our chances.

The fundamentals like handballs and defensive marks let us down. Too much Hollywood from Petracca (cost us a goal and momentum at one stage). Oliver needs to convert basic set shots, because when he's being tagged, if he can't break the tag, he needs to be able to go forward and impact the game in another way.

Thought McDonald was back to his 2019-2020 form for the majority of the game. Really struggled. Needs to pick it up next week or we're no chance. Unless Brown is ready to replace him.

Kudos to Fritsch who nailed his early goals. Needs to do it consistently. Seemed to have a bit of swagger by the middle of the game. If he gets his kicking boots on, that's two goals a game for him easily.

Max finished the game out strongly, probably to take the three votes after repeatedly dropping uncontested marks loose in defence in the first half. Like Lever and May, needs to be cleaner.

Langdon and Brayshaw offered good outside run. Yze is doing some good work there with Gus. Seems like a good fit out there.

If Hunt could kick he'd be an important cog, but he never hits targets - a worry for me out of defence.

Kozzie superb for us. He's really found his level now. Brilliant stuff.

Really liking out defensive shape, but we have to take those simple marks. Lever and May constantly guilty of dropping easy marks, and Max often spoiling one of them and then falling over himself. Tomlinson the best of our three defenders in terms of solidness. Sad to say Jetts is on his last legs too. Hope he proves me wrong, but he's lost that yard or two and he just can't cover the ground like he used to. I wonder if Hibberd gets the nod over him next week?

Despite the hollowness of the win against a severely undermanned GWS (3 down on the bench makes it just about impossible to win in the modern game), to go 3-0 is excellent from our end. We can only beat who is out there, I'd just hoped we'd dispose of them more powerfully, but maybe that performance is coming?

Geelong will give us a greater read on where we're at. My feeling at this stage is that we've improved on last year, but we still haven't quite clicked yet. We need that intensity up again like the St Kilda game or we're no chance next week.

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by A F

Max said he is keen to get back to the hotel and watch the Tour of Flanders...good man.

We weren’t great, but again, I was just happy with our ability to change tactics and gears after the 1st quarter and control the game from there on in.

No doubt we need to improve, but that’s fine, just happy to be 3 zip at this stage.

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:50, dazzledavey36 said:

Surprise surprise @olisik and @Elegt are no where to be seen the last 3 weeks after every win.. #trolls

 

You won’t be seeing elegt again.

Delisted. 

Edited April 4, 20214 yr by Grapeviney

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:53, goodoil said:

Lever led the league in intercepts this round

Was still a shaky game

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:24, binman said:

That was the worst umpiring I can recall. And that's saying something 

Agree. It was putrid umpiring. Anyone see the final tally.

That tackle of Gawn after he'd taken a mark but no fifty.

They're just spoil the game.

Great position 3 - 0 real cause for optimism. If you keep winning you give yourself a chance. 2018 proves what possible when you get on a role. Cats are definitely beatable they are older and slower without our depth. I don’t think there a top four outfit. This is a massive statement game. Go Dees

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:36, Demon17 said:

I didn't see any of the game.

Exactly what is up with TMac?

Needs to relax those hands....he is no Jackson so needs to clunk a few rather than rely on second efforts...crumbers etc

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:20, Deemania since 56 said:

Agree, we cannot carry him awaiting another good game. Petty time, for mine. 

I agree with this but the problem is the FD appear to be grooming him as a potential back up defender so far in the VFL warm ups.

I believe he has potential to fill the 3rd tall forward role as a medium mobile tall (IF he can stay on the park) but unlikely to be trialled there this season given the above!??

What I loved:
Kozzie being Kozzie but this time he kicked a bag. He is so early in his career but he could be something special. Could have goal of the week with his steal, dance, finish!

Hunt playing his best game for the club is years. Yes he's kicked goals in other games that have been vital but this was him play an important role on HB and using his pace. He missed targets in the first half or blazed with poor kicking, but he adjusted and for me was BOG.

Seeing Jones looking like a player who works in the side, there's been talk about gifting him games. They aren't gifts, he deserves to be in the best 22 right now.

Watching Gawn kick goals. It's just fun to see, still needs to work on his set shot kicking though.

What I liked:
Goodwin changed things up. Clarry was getting beaten (up) in the centre, moved him outside away from the contest. TMac was unsighted, played him further up bring him in the game (though still poor). I wouldn't say it was an outstanding game from him but it showed flexibility.

Fritta kicking goals, not behinds. A relatively quiet night in terms of him seeing the ball but he did what he was paid to do: kick goals. He couldn't been on the end of another couple were it not for some average forward entries and a couple of non-free kicks.

Salem continuing to have a great year. Nuff said.

Langdon continuing to have a great year. Nuff said.

Our bottom 6 players having an impact; Nibbler, Jordon, and Spargo (feeling like I'm missing someone) doing good things through out the match.

LJ Doing some really good things, and kicking a goal finally!

What I didn't like (will keep it short):
Oliver's attitude stank. You're getting tagged, that sucks. Take the chance to kick goals on them when they come because that will hurt them more than anything. He's misses and laughs/smiles smugly. Get ****ed, I want a coach to tell him the next time he smiles after missing on goal he runs a lap of Casey. Not a good look.

How would we have gone without their injuries? Not sure we would've got the win, they looked up for it. We will never know, but take the win with a pinch of salt.

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:54, Mickey said:

Just got back from the game. Took my 3 young ones who wanted to leave half way through the first, and after that first quarter who could blame them.

But we took control from there. Clarry copped a heavy tag but great to see the others trying to work out how to get de Boer off him. Max was enormous, Kozzie just about brought the stand down on multiple occasions. What a win.

My biggest take out of the game, my 5 yr old watched the entire first half next to me, asked qs, said “wow that’s Max Gawn, he’s really big, we’re going to win for sure”, “it’s ok dad no need to tell yell, we’ll get one back... told You so” and “ok dad because o have to go to bed, but when we win you own me a chocolate Easter egg”... and was really engaged with it, hopefully he and his little bro get to see some fun times.

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:23, binman said:

Strange though because he was excellent in the first two rounds.

I'm not a fan of his body language at times.

Give him a break. Good in  R 1,ok in R2. Many entries came in flat and hard .Still, I agree, he wasn’t good and he will know it 

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:59, Forest Demon said:

We weren’t great, but again, I was just happy with our ability to change tactics and gears after the 1st quarter and control the game from there on in.

No doubt we need to improve, but that’s fine, just happy to be 3 zip at this stage.

It's notable that we make moves much quicker on game day this year. When it was clear Oliver was struggling, they sent him forward and it could have paid off handsomely had he converted two very simple set shots.

Likewise, when McDonald couldn't get near it they moved him mid quarter further up the ground and he started to get his hands on it more.

Interesting to see how often Gus was getting back in the hole to support his defenders one out too. It's a similar sort of thing to the way Langdon often plays the sweeper role in behind our defenders as the last man. We're finally using both wingers to impact the game defensively and then on the counter. Hallelujah! 

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:57, A F said:

I thought in the first 10-15 mins of the first quarter you could tell our pressure and work rate was a bit off and the Giants were playing some good stuff that we couldn't break up. I put this down to the fact that they brought the run and we didn't bring enough pressure.

When the Giants had Davis go down, I thought as the game wore on we'd be a big shot, but then when Coniglio went down, I thought only a Melbourne side could lose it from there. Then De Boer went down as well and I thought Clarry would get off the chain. We really should have wiped them off the park after Coniglio went down and in terms of dominance we probably did, but didn't take our chances.

The fundamentals like handballs and defensive marks let us down. Too much Hollywood from Petracca (cost us a goal and momentum at one stage). Oliver needs to convert basic set shots, because when he's being tagged, if he can't break the tag, he needs to be able to go forward and impact the game in another way.

Thought McDonald was back to his 2019-2020 form for the majority of the game. Really struggled. Needs to pick it up next week or we're no chance. Unless Brown is ready to replace him.

Kudos to Fritsch who nailed his early goals. Needs to do it consistently. Seemed to have a bit of swagger by the middle of the game. If he gets his kicking boots on, that's two goals a game for him easily.

Max finished the game out strongly, probably to take the three votes after repeatedly dropping uncontested marks loose in defence in the first half. Like Lever and May, needs to be cleaner.

Langdon and Brayshaw offered good outside run. Yze is doing some good work there with Gus. Seems like a good fit out there.

If Hunt could kick he'd be an important cog, but he never hits targets - a worry for me out of defence.

Kozzie superb for us. He's really found his level now. Brilliant stuff.

Really liking out defensive shape, but we have to take those simple marks. Lever and May constantly guilty of dropping easy marks, and Max often spoiling one of them and then falling over himself. Tomlinson the best of our three defenders in terms of solidness. Sad to say Jetts is on his last legs too. Hope he proves me wrong, but he's lost that yard or two and he just can't cover the ground like he used to. I wonder if Hibberd gets the nod over him next week?

Despite the hollowness of the win against a severely undermanned GWS (3 down on the bench makes it just about impossible to win in the modern game), to go 3-0 is excellent from our end. We can only beat who is out there, I'd just hoped we'd dispose of them more powerfully, but maybe that performance is coming?

Geelong will give us a greater read on where we're at. My feeling at this stage is that we've improved on last year, but we still haven't quite clicked yet. We need that intensity up again like the St Kilda game or we're no chance next week.

Spot on assessment. Not sure Cats are real deal though. Particularly with no Danger. Reckon we have their measure except for TMac as a big forward.

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:27, Bitter but optimistic said:

The maid is now a believer!

That’s why torture doesn’t work. They just give in and tell you what you want to hear for it to stop. 

Let's start with the main one: why were we wearing our clash jumper? We've never worn it against GWS if my memory serves me right. There's no clash with our home jumper.

Anyway, moving on.

Obviously GWS had fitness/injury issues which limited them in the fourth. But we started turning the tide midway through the first and into the second, before Coniglio went down (prior to which they had a full bench, given the medical sub). Like last week, we were turning the game back in our favour through workrate, fitness and our structures.

We still make far too many fundamental skill errors and against better sides that is going to cost us. We drop too many marks, and we miss too many kicks, including easy set shots. We gave up so many goals today through simple errors.

But whilst it might be hard to know how much to draw out of that game at a team level, there's plenty to draw at an individual level.

Pickett backed up last week with another great game. I thought Hunt was excellent despite some turnovers. Langdon's run is integral to our success: it is insane how frequently he will be in a back pocket and a forward pocket in the same scoring chain for us. Gawn dominated, but obviously didn't have a decent opponent. I thought Salem was great too, and I thought Brayshaw really played his role well.

Possibly one of the biggest wins we got today was the time Jackson spent in the ruck and on the ball. His touch is improving. He's fumbling less, he's nailing handpasses more, and he's getting more involved generally. His pace and mobility is insane for someone his size. The more he can ruck, the more we can throw Gawn back or forward. It's a major boon for us.

And of course, we did this with Petracca putting in a stinker by his standards, Oliver being shut out of a half, and May and Lever making mistakes.

Regrettably TMac returned to 2019/2020 form, losing that brief foray back to 2018 TMac. If Brown was ready next week that would be the first change we'd make. Jetta struggled too. But without Brown/Weideman or Lockhart fit, there's not much competition for their spots. Possibly Hibberd for Jetta.

All in all, we're 3-0 with a percentage of 137% to start the season, including a win at Marvel and a road win. There are plenty of negative posters on here who I guarantee would have taken this start had it been offered to them pre-season. That's not to say all is well: we have much sterner tests to come than the three we've had, starting next week. But we've given ourselves a platform to have a real crack at the top 8 this year. Let's go.

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:59, Grapeviney said:

You won’t be seeing elegt again.

Delisted. 

Thank goodness, always good to have a convivial discord but Jesus that person was a [censored].

  On 04/04/2021 at 12:01, Sir Why You Little said:

Was still a shaky game

Agree. He still blunders  when least expected 

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:12, binman said:

Agree. A star. So athletic  - and as good below his knees as any big I've ever seen.

Really glad he slotted his goal too.

And loved his move to grab the ball at centre square bounces. 

Important that he rucknin the last as it allowed Max to go forward.

Good move by goody

What happens when Weid and Brown return?

  On 04/04/2021 at 12:08, Farmer said:

Give him a break. Good in  R 1,ok in R2. Many entries came in flat and hard .Still, I agree, he wasn’t good and he will know it 

Yep, Tmac looked really angry at the end which was a positive. Hope he bounces back next week.

Well what a great start to the season, in my opinion we haven’t played great footy in any of the matches but we have won and in previous seasons these are the matches we lose and they cost us, where still very much in the season and that is a big tick. 

Still lots to work on and we better improve quickly if where to compete against the best teams. Oliver had one of his worst games ever, for such a good player he still has so much room for improvement and I can not believe he or any player doesn’t wear a mouth guard. 
 

  On 04/04/2021 at 12:10, titan_uranus said:

with Petracca putting in a stinker by his standards,

Yes, for me Trac was one of our most disappointing players... some terrible turnovers.

  On 04/04/2021 at 11:57, A F said:

If Hunt could kick he'd be an important cog, but he never hits targets - a worry for me out of defence

It was his best game at the contest and he went 1 from 2 on his long runs. 1 disaster. The other one hit Fritsch right on his eyes and he had his head whacked and no free.

A lot of his other disposals were neither terrible nor great. He has to nail the big runs because they put our defenders all out of shape but he did adjust on the second one. 

  On 04/04/2021 at 12:12, Grr-owl said:

What happens when Weid and Brown return?

Not sure what you mean.

Jackson will not be dropped.