AMW is a big loss , we have no small lock  down back man.

Toby Green killed us today 

15 minutes ago, Macca said:

Jefferson jogged after an opponent late in the game on the centre/wing

That alone could bring an exclusion for our next game. Given the circumstances, it was an ordinary effort

Saw that but he was likely completely gassed

34 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

No, the bump was a dumb act and he needs to own it. There was zero need for it at the time and the start of our season was impacted by it

could't agree more

he's a recidivist sniper

it's why oppo supporters loathe him

Fritsch should be the sub going fwd. For the past year he has only ever played the second half of games.

1 minute ago, jnrmac said:

That set play is so standard for them. I was shocked we weren't ready for it

Asking a serious question, did it go as they planned.

I think once the scrubbed the first kick, which ended up with Kelly we pressed up a little once it didn’t hit him on the chest. We committed numbers into the corridor and can’t recall exactly who it was got a handball to the outside 

29 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Giants looked great in their first game too so i don’t think we can say we weren’t fit enough due to them playing last week

How are they fitter than us when we’ve had an extra month preseason??

Not a fair comparison. Last week they were playing against a side who also were playing their first game. Collingwood lost legs, GWS didn’t. That has no bearing at all on this week, where they had the benefit of building match fitness last week and we didn’t. 

This isn’t a question about fitness overall. This is about them having built match fitness last week, blowing the fitness-related cobwebs out, whilst we didn’t. 

Just now, jnrmac said:

Saw that but he was likely completely gassed

If that's the case then why were our other players chasing hard?

Watch it again, Jefferson couldn't be bothered and gave up

As it was, either Jefferson or AJ shouldn't have both been in the team, given the conditions.  We badly lacked at least 1 more runner and GWS exploited that weakness

An argument could be made that we lost the game at the selection table (A 1 kick game)

In the final few minutes it looked like we were running around in lead boots while GWS had all the run. 
 

Cheated by opening round. They’re not fitter than us. They didn’t work harder than us. Lachy Keefe doesn’t just find space from Max Gawn and kick the winning goal. Absolutely shafted by the AFL, because that extra game makes a world of difference. I’m bloody proud of what we dished out today and I’ve seen enough, we’re playing finals this year.

57 minutes ago, greenwaves said:

 

I don't read replies or reactions 

 

 

You don't need to tell us. Just don't read them.

Just now, titan_uranus said:

Not a fair comparison. Last week they were playing against a side who also were playing their first game. Collingwood lost legs, GWS didn’t. That has no bearing at all on this week, where they had the benefit of building match fitness last week and we didn’t. 

This isn’t a question about fitness overall. This is about them having built match fitness last week, blowing the fitness-related cobwebs out, whilst we didn’t. 

We got close to breaking the game open a couple of times and they did what good sides do, just hung in with opportunistic goals, to remain within striking distance. 
 

Do agree playing last week helped them a little 

Tried some passes into the forward line for most of the game-

Except when it should have been done in the last minutes. It gave them the ball x2. 
 

Good signs though. 

25 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Honestly do you only come on here to bring the tone down?

That was an intense game with a lot to consider against the early apparent most likely grand final opponent.

One-sided festivals of sourness aren't called for.

I can bring some positivity 

 

- back six was fantastic, couldn't play much better when GWS had the fast transition.

- Tom McDonald showed he is best 22 every week this season.

- XL and KW were fantastic for young fella, some senior players could learn from their heart and dash.

- 3 Honorable losses in a row to GWS by 7 points combined 

54 minutes ago, John Crow Batty said:

[censored] forward line still here.

The fwds sadly have the talent but no inclination to lead out of Mt Vesuvius into emerging space; consequently, far too high a percentage of entries are inaccurate long bombs from which opportunities are curtailed and positive scoring is limited. All of our opposing teams over the last few years know this, responding accordingly. Thankfully, today some of our recruits attempted to overcome this blaring anomaly.  We are left in hope ... with few exceptions. 

Well that was better than expected showed some good signs and some things that still need to be ironed out too slow with the movement of the ball out of the backline, forward line needs some more work but they will work on that as I have said before give it another 4-5 games to see where we are.

1 minute ago, Coobs said:

I can bring some positivity 

- 3 Honorable losses in a row to GWS by 7 points combined 

This is the most depressing comment in the thread so far

We needed another goal in the last 5-10 and shd have had at least one forward presenting on fwd thrusts. 

Shd have iced that game if we are to hit the top four. 😉 

52 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

Frustrating loss

We clearly match up very well with GW$ - or they match up well with us - as it’s always a thriller

I understand why they’ve made the move, but I really don’t like Fritsch as a high half forward; he’s our best goal kicker and having him outside the f50 is a waste

Agree re Fritta. He looks a bit lost playing up the ground. And now that we have 2-3 talls who contest strongly, and will take the key defenders, he would be in his element close to goal.

50 minutes ago, bobby1554 said:

AJ? Brown gave him a bath, he is not the answer

AJ is a real trier and I love that.

5 minutes ago, Macca said:

If that's the case then why were our other players chasing hard?

Watch it again, Jefferson couldn't be bothered and gave up

As it was, either Jefferson or AJ shouldn't have both been in the team, given the conditions.  We badly lacked at least 1 more runner and GWS exploited that weakness

An argument could be made that we lost the game at the selection table (A 1 kick game)

Nah

I was impressed with both of their tackling and pressure. 

1 hour ago, frankie_d said:

surely we should be able to defend in the last 30 seconds?

 

fitness, skills or coaching? 

Coaching.

Left Maxy and Claz on the bench for 3 to 5 mins too long in the last quarter.

Couldn't organise numbers behind the ball with only a few minutes to go..... AGAIN!

It's been the same redline play book under Simon since 2022.  Ie,  a losing more often than not.  Unable to protect a small lead or not winning enough close ones coming from behind.

Subbed Langford for Howes when it was clear that Chin was our worst player all day.  Yes Howes was beaten also but at least had a defensive run with mindset on Toby.

After taking him off, Toby got off the leash and pretty much won the match for them single handedly in the final term, with a few cameos from others such as Tom Greene.

Max was solid but boy he played some dumb footy in between and to think he is going to kick every one of those big roosts from 50+!?  Especially late in a match.

Windsor asking for the give on at least two occasions but Max wouldn't when that probably gives us at least a fair option coming inside given he's a decent ball user and / or goal kicker inside the paint.

Viney Involved but disposals mostly up & under or scrubby hacks / handballs to no one.

Great effort from T-Mac to cover off for May.

Hendo looked at home.

Jeffo played his role.

AJ looked out of sorts at times in the ruck chop out role but gave us something up forward.

Roohey looks to be a mile off it at times.  Other times involved in getting ball to ground and giving some assists plus his opportune goal off the ground was nice.  But STILL running under the ball far too often for mine and pretty ordinary at ground level.

The weak links for mine are Chandler, Fritsch (since 2024), Roohey (today not a great day for talls but just looks too far off it even so) & Howes.  The sooner we get Melky, Kozzy (2 weeks to go) & knuckles back the better.

Can't see us higher than about 9th/10th with those last three coming in and staying in.

With the likes of Melk & Kozzy out that forward line continues to serve us up a dog's breakfast.

I'd consider bringing in big Campbell for Roohey at this point (not on days like today obviously) and having him cover off the chop out role for Max.

Then swapping TC and AJ up forward at other times to really test the oppo's tall defensive capabilities.  This would allow a few more breaks for Max also, hopefully keeping him more fresh for a big second half finish.

Edited March 16Mar 16 by Demon Dynasty

Disappointing.

I cannot understand how every time we would get a bit of a cushion, we just took the foot off the pedal and let them back into the game; every single time!! If we had maintained our pressure, we could have taken the game right away from them.

I liked Langdon, Gawn and Lindsay’s games, I was happy to see Jeffo snag a couple, and was really pleased that our debutantes all contributed, other than Langford who was done a real disservice by being named as the sub and had little time to adjust to the pace of the game. Windsor did a couple of amazing things, but he was quiet for much of the game. I was disappointed by JVR, Fritsch, Viney (gets the ball, but delivery leaves a lot to be desired) and a few of the other older heads.

The tall defenders did well, the forward line was its usual dysfunctional self. The midfield was generally very good, but I think they could probably have made more of Gawn’s absolute domination in the ruck contests. Overall, this week’s Dees seemed a little bi-polar.

i get the feeling that Jeffo has probably earned himself return bout, but Johnson might be playing for Casey (do they even have a game next week?).  JVR and Fritsch will only keep their spots because there seems to be this expectation that next week will see them break out.

56 minutes ago, Ugottobekidding said:

Not playing Langford till the last quarter is typical Goodwin logic

He was the sub and playing a premiership favourite who cleaned up the pies last week. 

1 hour ago, DubDee said:

Not sure, i reckon he comes out for turner next week

Nice snap early and a couple of tackles in the second Q but not much aside from that

Fritta needs to get his mojo back, so Turner in next week to replace Fritta (for more conditioning) would probably be a wise move.

20 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

That set play is so standard for them. I was shocked we weren't ready for it

Can we be serious - it may have been a set play but they botched the kick out. It was a scramble on the deck and Darcy Jones handballed blind into the corridor. It was a throw of the dice. If it was anyone other than the jet Finn Callaghan, they likely wouldn't have gotten there before Henderson. 

From there they had the ball free in the corridor and lots of free players had cheated forward. If Henderson got there first we would have had free players in our f50. 

A bit of luck their way, but really Callaghan won the game 

Sorry im reading through this, do people know the odds of winning with 5 first gamers ? we didnt win but it was in the last minute of the game that GWS won. 
Winning for us was almost IMPOSSIBLE. If that last kick from Johnstone went through it would have been one of the greatest home and away wins of the last 20 years. I cant understand or even read the negativity on here.