POSTGAME: Opening Round vs Sydney

[DeeSpencer 26,065]

12 minutes ago, Dee*ceiving said:

• I could see the logic of Billings as sub, bring him on later when fatigue sets in and hopefully use his kicking as a weapon. In hindsight though he probably should have started and Laurie been sub
•  

It's harder to know these things not at the ground but to me Laurie's work rate was at least good, he got to the right spots just fluffed it big time with the ball as well as missing some crucial tackles which remains a fundamental flaw in his game. 

Billings comes on and does nothing with the ball and nothing without it.

The only reason to say Billings should've been picked is because he'd have been the 3rd winger and ANB could've stayed at half forward where he's the leader of our pressure as well as a guy who wins contests (for good or bad).

But given Billings does nothing with forward pressure there's every chance he's not in the right spots or covering the ground well enough as a wing either.

[Dee*ceiving 1,690]

Also for those marking JVR harshly it's worth considering that Amartey and Logan McD also had very little influence. McD kicked his first goal in the last qtr.

McLean was the only tall to clunk a couple of marks I50, also later in the game and one was thanks to a mix up between May and Max

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

14 minutes ago, D Rev said:

1. I couldn't disagree more.  He has regularly stood up in big games and often won them single handed.  Last Round of 2021 is just one example.

2. Goodwin does seem slow to adapt, losing Yze will hurt in this aspect.

3. As per 2.

4. You have to remember that we didnt have our first choice, or even second choice, forwards in. Kozzi and Petty will make a big difference.  I've been critical of Schache and continue to be.  Nothing personal, he doesn't seem AFL KPP level.

Fair enough on point 1 - but that was 2021; he is now 3 years older. Im not saying he does it all the time, but he doesn't fair well against bigger bodied, physical type rucks. 

[Garbo 1,542]

Maybe the fall off in the last qtr can be blamed on loading again, nothing to see here

[DeeSpencer 26,065]

I really think we were the better side in the first half but rather than a 3-4 goal lead we had a 7 point deficit.

Yes we bombed it in at times far too much. But you could see forwards from both sides gassed from half way in each quarter and lacking imagination.

Other times we hit Fritsch, Chandler, Schache etc etc lace out on leads and got nothing from it. Plus bad missed shots (Spargo, Fritsch) and outlandish goal reviews.

A wild discrepancy between holding the ball calls based on which jumper you wore too.

The personnel concerns we know about. Good luck to anyone who thinks the selectors were too blame. It's either different deck chairs in certain places or risking guys who were underdone.

Probably the biggest concern was the lack of leadership, confidence, structure falling away under stress rather than the plan. Some of that is fatigue playing in a swamp in early March.

But our senior players when the pressure was really on at the start of the last quarter all decided to take turns trying to be the freaking heroes rather than trusting their team mates taking simple options. And it starts with the captain, quickly followed by the vice captain and the supposed next captain in Lever isn't far off either. 

[DeeSpencer 26,065]

10 minutes ago, Garbo said:

Maybe the fall off in the last qtr can be blamed on loading again, nothing to see here

Yep you could tell in the 3/4 time huddle we did a loading sesh. Just a little loads. Should be right next week.

Edited March 8 by DeeSpencer

[DeeSpencer 26,065]

7 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Fair enough on point 1 - but that was 2021; he is now 3 years older. Im not saying he does it all the time, but he doesn't fair well against bigger bodied, physical type rucks. 

Gawn was dominant in the back end last year. Heck, he dominated a strong physical ruck in Pittonet a week ago.

The big fella was cooked by the humidity last night. It's a marathon not a sprint.

But geez we need Fullarton to come in and be a proper chop out for him. Grundy effectively allowed us to manage Max for half a year last year so he could be at his best at the end of the season.

[Demonland 73,096]

At the airport. Schache has compression bandage around quad/hamatring. ANB limping. Spargo noticeable limp. 

[JAG007 164]

One 50M penalty all night to Sydney for encroachment of the protected area after a mark.

I saw Sydney players do it about 4 times in one quarter alone, but no 50M penalty to Melbourne, pathetic bias umpiring. 

[DutchDemons 1,430]

Charlie Spargo has fallen off a cliff. Incredibly disappointing match. 

[Dee*ceiving 1,690]

14 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Fair enough on point 1 - but that was 2021; he is now 3 years older. Im not saying he does it all the time, but he doesn't fair well against bigger bodied, physical type rucks. 

Absolute BS re: Max. He was huge against the Lions at the G late in the season, massive against the Pies in the first final and bloody good in the second against Carlton. 

Also close to our best on King's birthday. 

[Dee*ceiving 1,690]

9 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Gawn was dominant in the back end last year. Heck, he dominated a strong physical ruck in Pittonet a week ago.

The big fella was cooked by the humidity last night. It's a marathon not a sprint.

But geez we need Fullarton to come in and be a proper chop out for him. Grundy effectively allowed us to manage Max for half a year last year so he could be at his best at the end of the season.

Agree, can't see how we could possibly pick Schache next week which probably means JVR has to pinch hit in the ruck, assuming TF not ready? 

[Fritta and Turner 4,522]

Take this with all the conviction of a MFC traditional round 1 loss.

Life after Gawn is staring us in the face.

Our mids were terrible except for Viney.

We have one forward in Fritta.  How come he can find space when others can't - because the others dont have someone to block for them?

Tracc fumbles so much early on perhaps we start him on the bench.

Laurie Spargo and Chandler didnt give us much and are too short - stop recruiting Lilliputians

Howes played well and Windsor was ok .

[Roost it far 8,570]

17 minutes ago, Demonland said:

At the airport. Schache has compression bandage around quad/hamatring. ANB limping. Spargo noticeable limp. 

Spargo’s Achilles will trouble him all year

[DeeSpencer 26,065]

6 minutes ago, Dee*ceiving said:

Agree, can't see how we could possibly pick Schache next week which probably means JVR has to pinch hit in the ruck, assuming TF not ready? 

Fullarton will be ready. Not sure he’ll be good, but at least he’ll be different.

Stints for JVR in the ruck aren’t a bad idea anyway tho.

I like that we are trying more attacking ideas but one change I didn’t like last night was Gawn rucking the inside 50 forward stoppages. When he’s the solo ruck that’s his best time to get cheap rest.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,928]

1 hour ago, BDA said:

I have to put my hand as one that overestimated the Carlton praccy performance.

I think a lot of us did.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,266]

25 minutes ago, Demonland said:

At the airport. Schache has compression bandage around quad/hamatring. ANB limping. Spargo noticeable limp. 

Probably typical for the first proper hitout in 6 months. What about May, they mentioned on tv he was with the physios at 3/4 time?

[Mel Bourne 4,533]

Is it time Goodwin tried a new approach and went back into the coach’s box?

A common theme in the criticism of him tends be his inability to react in real-time, and overall favour the game plan above all else. 

I do realise he has comms running through his headset and staff on the bench with him, but there’s no denying that if he were watching the game from (literally) a different perspective with asst-coaches beside him and data in front of him, he would have a significantly different experience of the game. And those differences could be telling. 

[Dr. Gonzo 24,266]

23 minutes ago, DutchDemons said:

Charlie Spargo has fallen off a cliff. Incredibly disappointing match. 

Straight in after a preseason injury with no match practice was dumb.

[von 1,572]

58 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

My biggest worry about last night is The small sample we got looks a lot like the very big samples of the last 2 years. We will beat up a lot of sides but the top clubs have worked us out and can execute their tactics to negate our so predictable ball movement. There is no sign that we have evolved our game plan or style or found solutions to our delivery into our forward line. 

Can you evolve your game plan if your issue is one of skill. We lack skill. We do a lot right with what we have. Every side has fatal flaws. We know ours more intimately than we know other teams. Slippery football is our kryptonite. We are clearly trying to inject skill into our team. It’ll take time for it to settle and make sense. 
 

 We looked best last year when we got our forward line up and running. I’ll wait till we have a better forward line playing before I write us off. Our game plan is what it is. It’s been very effective over a long time, sure it’s boring and ugly but it has worked. 

[Red But Mostly Blue 4,547]

37 minutes ago, DutchDemons said:

Charlie Spargo has fallen off a cliff. Incredibly disappointing match. 

It's crazy how far he's fallen.

Even crazier that he was picked given a) we didn't/don't need that many small forwards and b) he hadn't played any game time previous to this and could have done with a run in the 2s. Given his performance, he definitely needs a good many runs in the 2s. 

[Demonland 73,096]

20 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Probably typical for the first proper hitout in 6 months. What about May, they mentioned on tv he was with the physios at 3/4 time?

Saw May but he was sitting down. 🤷‍♂️

[Demonland 73,096]

[Red But Mostly Blue 4,547]

We really need to resolve how many small forwards we need. 

There's no way we needed/need Spargo, Chandler and Laurie (especially with Kozzie to return) in the same team.

Particularly given how bad each of those above were. Chandler played a few good games early last year and has NOT BEEN SIGHTED SINCE - but still gets picked. Why? Spargo has fallen off in a BIG WAY. I'm sorry, I know Laurie is highly regarded and he "trains the house down" - but he hasn't shown anything other than 'potential'. Sorry, fam. I don't see it.

At least two of those guys out next week - probably Spargo (suspension) and Laurie - for a long time, please. Maybe Chandler to remain with Kozzie, but on a lifeline. He has to earn his place. 

[adonski 12,408]

Wrong thread

Edited March 8 by adonski