POSTGAME: QF vs Sydney

[JV7 2,354]

Not sure why the coaching panel continually persisted with Gawn forward & Jackson in the ruck... Jackson was getting absolutely torched by Hickey & it was evident that when Gawn went in there that we go back on top.

You've got the 6 x All Australian ruckmen & one of the greatest of all time not to mention your captain starting a game at Full Forward in a final, Gawn needed to start in the middle & set the tone (yes first quarter was good but still). 3 QRT time & we were on the ropes & Gawn starts at FF again.... Makes no sense.

It's as if the coaches are waiting for Jackson to replicate one of those 3rd QR GF bursts but he just isn't playing well at the moment or the season for that matter. 

Next week has me nervous, banged up Trac, Brisbane knowing they are our bunnies, their MCG hoodoo, Zorko factor... They will bring the heat, we would need to improve significantly to win next week. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by JV7

[spirit of norm smith 16,573]

54 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

Really disappointed with Nibbler. I thought he had resurrected his career but this year he is back fumbling, creating turnovers, getting caught and missing gettable goals. He is symptomatic of our year. 

ANB had a very poor year and yes gone backwards. He seemed to click in 2022 but somehow reverted to fumbling, turnovers, missed shots at goal and missed tackles. If he kicks the two shots last night, we were back in business. Goal accuracy is poor …  7 goals (16 behinds) in 22 games as a permanent half forward. He’s endurance is his strength but that’s not enough when you’re footy basics are below average. 

[Brownie 5,986]

9 hours ago, John Crow Batty said:

Pickett wandered into protected area(marginal).

There really wasn't much in it at all and the fifty just gifted them another goal.

[Winter Dan 470]

9 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They can get stuffed with all the academy free hits they get. Heeney, Mills, Blakey, Gulden who else? Stuff em.

Absolutley! 

Puts the competition in disrepute.

[Clintosaurus 7,858]

1 minute ago, Winter Dan said:

Absolutley! 

Puts the competition in disrepute.

Sydney constantly being in contention is commercially important for the competition.

[1964_2 2,357]

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

How did you wake up? Do you realise that we are not as good a ‘team’ right now as Sydney? 

I honestly don’t know what you are flagellating with me about. The fact I wouldn’t fire Goodwin? The fact that I don’t agree our galaxy of stars means we should automatically win? Teams win flags, not individuals.

I have woken up with 2 main thoughts in mind.

a) We had the game on our terms, but then lost momentum when buddy sucked May in with a 50 goal. The players lack of ability to reset here and get momentum back was disappointing

b) We were comprehensively out-coached. Lost the game in much the same manner to how we lost to Syd last time, Collingwood, and a couple of other top 8 teams. We reverted back to kick down the line, get repeat entries and expect to win the contest. This game plan doesn’t work against smart coaches, with skilful players who can move the ball well, and exploit our plan. It hasn’t worked during the H&A and it didn’t work last night. Was expecting us to play with the style that was successful against the lions last week - fast ball movement, switching out of defence, through the middle. Didn’t happen, and we paid the price. 
 

Edited September 2, 2022 by 1964_2

[dees189227 12,395]

About the crowd I thought we made noise. I mean sitting in the MCC it's majority Melbourne but when Fritsch kicked that goal from around the corner to put us back in front the fans were noisy.

We don't have to act like Collingwood fans just yelling out Collingwood over and over. 

Geelong fans are in for a feral day today

[Brownie 5,986]

18 minutes ago, adonski said:

Our core midfielders aren't consistently skilful enough to carry guys like Hunt, ANB & Sparrow on the flanks who are all reasonably poor decision makers & kicks

Addressing this will be just as significant as going after a messiah key forward to address our efficiency issues

 

I'm really reflecting on the performance of our forward line two weeks ago vs last night.

When the pressure is on, our skills and decision making falls apart.

The same forward line that had us eleven goals up at half time were rabble last night.

It's all about the delivery upfield and the space to lead into. 

I can't see how we're going to get that right against the top three teams but probably will next week against the lions.

Really disappointed with Melksham's misses amongst others.

I wonder if strategically, we would have been better blooding JVR six weeks ago and giving him a decent run. He's going to be the answer to our second key forward problems I think.

He's got a great set of hands and kicks well too.

 

[Winter Dan 470]

7 hours ago, The heart beats true said:

I thought tonight, and I’ve thought this all year - and for every year Goodwin has coached us, that our game plan is so reliant on winning contest, overwhelming possession and contested marking forward of the ball. All our losses I felt like teams were kicking them from everywhere, but when I watched the replays I realised that aside from Fritsch and an occasional glimpse from Koz, we simply don’t value forward line skill and craft enough across our list. The balance of our play is so reliant on Gawn, Oliver, Petracca, Lever and May that if two of those blokes are down we struggle.

I think our game plan in 2022 feels draining like it did circa 2017-18. It’s too reliant on incredible fitness and 110% contest work. We need to get some more polish and an extra dimension into our game style if we want to keep competing. Even in the last we kept kicking it long down the line to 2 ruckmen. It’s too easy to coach against once everyone got a good look at it.

I agree. Scaryly it sounds just like Neale's game plan. 

[JV7 2,354]

20 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

I have woken up with 2 main thoughts in mind.

a) We had the game on our terms, but then lost momentum when buddy sucked May in with a 50 goal. The players lack of ability to reset here and get momentum back was disappointing

b) We were comprehensively out-coached. Lost the game in much the same manner to how we lost to Syd last time, Collingwood, and a couple of other top 8 teams. We reverted back to kick down the line, get repeat entries and expect to win the contest. This game plan doesn’t work against smart coaches, with skilful players who can move the ball well, and exploit our plan. It hasn’t worked during the H&A and it didn’t work last night. Was expecting us to play with the style that was successful against the lions last week - fast ball movement, switching out of defence, through the middle. Didn’t happen, and we paid the price. 
 

Agreed, we don't have a plan B. 

I heard a Sydney player interviewed on the radio post game & he said when a side gets on top Longmire instructs to go old school man on man to arrest the momentum, once they get the game back on their terms they revert back to their brand. 

Goodwin & the coaching panel appear to go down the same plan & path each week, if it works it works if not then they'll accept getting beaten by the opposition playing our brand. Our issues are obvious as we all know, we have been beaten in almost identical fashion all year.  Not potting Goodwin or the coaches because this plan & style has won us a lot of footy over the past 2 years but not sure if others feel the same but at HT I could just feel it, everything looked such a slog & so hard for us, especially scoring. When we are challenged we struggle to arrest momentum back the other way. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by JV7

[Jaded No More 68,972]

Our biggest issue all season has been the 2021 season. The way we won last year was a once in a generation type performance that will never ever be repeated. 
As a supporter base and team, I feel like we keep expecting a replication of that form, and it just won’t happen again. 
We have lost all ability to halt momentum or even maintain our own momentum. We lost that killer instinct that we had in finals and we are nowhere near the defensive giant we were. 
If we keep expecting 2021 to magically repeat itself we will go out in straight sets. 
 

[dees189227 12,395]

The thing is the swans great players have a down night there middle range players step up.

Our top players don't play well we don't have our middle range players stepping up.

[buck_nekkid 6,043]

September owes us nothing.  We had a terrible lead in by smashing Brisbane and were perhaps ‘ahead of ourselves’.  Sydney came to play, and put us under pressure - and we folded like a camp chair under Clive Palmer.  We did not take our chances, and they did.  They smashed us post contest - at one contest they had almost 10 players up in the scrap, who then spread fast and we failed to cover these outlets.

Bombing to the forward line is not effective strategy.

We were difficult to watch last night.  Our inability to hold the ball in our territory or to take good defensive positions on their players inside their forward 50 were lethal for us.

Time to put down the ‘back to back’ memorial cheese boards and start fighting for what we want, rather than expecting it based upon last year…

[Redleg 41,405]

The G. Our home. Won 2 and lost 7 in last 9 games there. One of the wins was in the last 11 seconds.

Fitness? Last quarters this year have killed us.

High pressure exposes our poorly skilled players.

Forward line problems continue, both scoring and retaining possession.

 

 

[Vineytime 854]

I think we have lacked the hunger all year, shows out in our last 12 weeks coming up against better opponents. 
 

The talent is there, bring the effort for 4 qtrs and we can do it. 
 

winning the next 3 🤷🏻‍♂️Consistency has been a problem. 

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

3 hours ago, Clintosaurus said:

Which hasn't been paid for 6 weeks. But gotta influence the result somehow. 

Yeah that and the Franklin 50 was complete BS. 2 goals from there. Couple that with 2-3 gettable goals and there is your margin. 
 

still we didn’t look it in the 2nd half. 

[The heart beats true 18,144]

2 minutes ago, JV7 said:

Agreed, we don't have a plan B. 

I heard a Sydney player interviewed on the radio post game & he said when a side gets on top Longmire instructs to go old school man on man to arrest the momentum, once they get the game back on their terms they revert back to their brand. 

Goodwin & the coaching panel appear to go down the same plan & path each week, if it works it works if not then they'll accept getting beaten by the opposition out playing our brand. Our issues are obvious as we all know, we have been beaten in almost identical fashion all year.  Not potting Goodwin or the coaches because this plan & style has won us a lot of footy over the past 2 years but not sure if others feel the same but at HT I could just feel it, everything looked such a slog & so hard for us, especially scoring. When we are challenged we struggle to arrest momentum back the other way. 

I agree with this, and I think a lot of Melbourne supporters who follow the team closely and go to games have seen that game play out 5 times already this year. 

I think it’s in part why our supporter base was quieter last night. It all felt very familiar. We are a systems based team, but if the system is matched (and it has been this year by top 6 teams) we appear incapable of diverse thinking. Last night we were 4 goals down in the last and kept going long down the line. It’s too easy to coach against. We were getting killed at the fall of the ball because they knew where we were going - so got there quicker.

[Docs Demons 1,792]

Oh well we do have another chance but my issue is when a team does a Melbourne on us and puts the pressure on we seem to fall apart. We are a boring side and never change up or adjust our same old game plan. Kick long up in the air balls to wing/forward flank then kick another floater into the pocket. Why would you want to play in our forward line ?

[Demon17 5,191]

42 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

Ugh you wake up and think of key moments that hurt us.

May getting sucked in by buddy. Yes it was soft but we had momentum at the time and again Mays aggression cost us a goal.

Melksham missing crucial shots that he was not missing 2 weeks ago

Max's disposal and that last shot for goal I can't even fathom what that kick was

Harmes just having a brain fade & costing us a goal

Luke Jackson was just really disappointing. I'm not sure what he even contributed.

Lever dropped marks, fumbled and was not clean.

Anyway we'll be written off now. But that's ok. Next week will tell us whereas the players heads are at

I went to the Gabba game.  Last night was chalk and cheese, and last night i wathced a different team apart from the usual suspects in Clarry, May, ....but the team can lift with some changes .  Oh, and giving away 3 goals from stupid 50's is not smart.

Iv'e always seen the swans as the big threat and rightfully so, so now their on the other side of the draw.

I cannot believe we can't deal with Lions next week.

Maybe it's his age and immaturity but after last night, Jackson is all potential , and yet to be close to realisation. 8 minutes of GF glory doesn't make a career.

I'm over him staying or leaving. The Dees future hinges on far bigger issues that can be addressed. But in general we still have a premiership defensive unit which is huge .

Longmire can coach us any time he likes IMO.

[Dee Zephyr 19,268]

Best part about the loss is we get an extra date with Ticketek. 

[wisedog 352]

May’s ill-discipline completely altered the momentum of the game. That being said, I also feel Franklin engineered the goal through sheer bastardry. Teams obviously know how easy it is to unsettle him. I hope May realises this and can learn to not take it so personally.

Still don’t know what to make of the Gawn/Jackson forward setup. I wonder if Gawn and Jackson were one player in the forward line, whether they’d keep their spot in the team?

Edited September 2, 2022 by wisedog

[picket fence 17,478]

11 hours ago, Dee-monic said:

Outfought, outmarked, outrun and outcoached by a vastly superior team on the night. In a  nutshell, totally outplayed. Only plus was Steven May's superb job on Buddy. TMac surely has to be considered for next week. 

Plus Clarry was superb!

[spirit of norm smith 16,573]

Watched the game and then had a painful look at the highlights of the game and also watched Jake Levers comments post match. We cost ourselves and gave up goals which hurt us. Yes looking back there’s a lot of work to do and composure is critical under pressure. We slipped last night but we get up and go again.
 

1.  Lever stumbles and slips and doesn’t take the option to Brayshaw.  Drops it when trying to kick. 😭  Goal to Hayward 

2. Forward stoppage. swans clearance. Goal to Rowbottom (he was very good all night) 

3. Umpires 🤮hang your heads in shame.🤮 Soft free to swans for a May elbow to Franklin then 50 penalty for Franklin running at May and getting bumped 

4. Gawn trying 9-iron chip in back 50 to Hunt. 😭 Turnover and papley goals. 

5. Jackson 😭taps it down to Mills to goal 

6. Rivers panics 😭and kick OOB on the full. Stephens is a gun and slots it from 50 on a45angle 

7. Mills tries to break free, tackles by Oliver …🤮umps no free? 🤮… picked up by Papley good goal 

8. Harmes - love ya but you can cost us.  Split section too slow in disposal. 😭Grubber ball to 50.  Lloyd omg kicks a great angle goal. 

9. May error trying to access corridor from defence. 😭Turnover. Reid marks. Kozzy 😭gives away a soft 50 (🤮umps !! )

11. Reid - good mark and kick from 50. A good goal. Fair enough. 

12. Warner to runner Mills to put perfect kick to Hickey who marks 15 metres out (simply outsmarted Maxy ) 

13. Harmesy 😭😭😭😭flattens Lloyd unnecessarily and 50 and goodnight 

14 . Overlap run by swans chaos ball - row bottom to Heeney - its over!!! 

 

Some very costly mistakes. Simply last night hurt but we can fix it. I’m sure we can respond. 

[Kent 2,913]

51 minutes ago, Dwight Schrute said:

the umpires got sucked into buddy diving because it's buddy - that killed momentum. 

Petraccas injury and the move of tagging brayshaw that followed 

3 goals from 50's 

not sending Harmes to luke parker i think was a missed trick. 

missed shot opportunities, we had our chances in the 3rd and 4th but some bad skill errors cost us

yes Parker got 9 great clearances

At the game Goody made very few attacking moves Absolutely out coached again

[Dr. Gonzo 24,270]

30 minutes ago, JV7 said:

Agreed, we don't have a plan B. 

I heard a Sydney player interviewed on the radio post game & he said when a side gets on top Longmire instructs to go old school man on man to arrest the momentum, once they get the game back on their terms they revert back to their brand. 

Goodwin & the coaching panel appear to go down the same plan & path each week, if it works it works if not then they'll accept getting beaten by the opposition playing our brand. Our issues are obvious as we all know, we have been beaten in almost identical fashion all year.  Not potting Goodwin or the coaches because this plan & style has won us a lot of footy over the past 2 years but not sure if others feel the same but at HT I could just feel it, everything looked such a slog & so hard for us, especially scoring. When we are challenged we struggle to arrest momentum back the other way. 

And when we got on somewhat of a roll and put the foot down in the 3rd the Swans replied in kind and outscored us 6 goals to 5. They are a very very good side, I think their losses to Essendon and GC during the year saw many underrate them as flakey (myself included).