6 hours ago, Macca said:

How do you miss someone that isn't that good? (Turner)

We've got a soft draw/fixture so we are not out of it

But by jingo's, we'll want to improve up forward if we want to somehow contend

Left field but with Tommy Mac forcing the selectors hand, I'd be tempted to play Steven May forward

At least we'd know he'd provide a decent contest

Because we are short of fwds and like you I posted the idea of robbing our backline again with moving May.

It's not ideal but something needs to be done and I don't want it to be Petty again.

What a bummer not wanting to watch the replay .

 

 

10 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

And you arent reading. I didn't say he couldn't take a hit. We all saw him back into packs. 

I'm not questioning his courage or application - but the one area of his game I have a question mark is whether he can win physical 1v1 battles. Langdon wins more than his fair share for his size and it's a critical, underrated part of wingplay and also a key determinant of whether he has midfield scope at AFL level. 

Now he's a kid and he's played one game - and for 3 years will likely lose more 1v1s than he wins until he's physically developed. So as I said, time will tell. 

Take that, misread the post. Still it’s an odd observation if a guy playing his first game. 

Edited March 17Mar 17 by Roost it far

13 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

I reckon if they had their time again they’d go with the big 4 at the bounce. 

Yeah. It was perfectly set up, Gawn dropped the ball at Langdon feet who was running at pace. Bit of bad luck I guess. 

6 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Take that, misread the post. Still it’s an odd observation if a guy playing his first game. 

Yeah I'm just projecting. Interested in what he could become. Plenty of time and was a super game 1 

2 hours ago, demon3165 said:

But that is a law of the game it's stiff but that's the way it goes.

Then the law needs changing.  How can it be insufficient intent to keep the ball in if his intent was clearly to concede a point, which if he had succeeded, would not be a free against?  

Now if it was also illegal to try to concede the point (which I understand it is if in a ball up a ruckman knocks it through) then sure, award a free.  But it is not, so don't.

The free kick to Tobi Green for holding resulting in a goal & was BS he was holding the defender jumper first! Not sure why AJ wasn’t today by our senior players to not have a shot as low % kick 

I saw Fritsch gut running hard attempting to lay tackles, I don't think it's an effort issue. 

He just is in real bad form.

He needs new tricks - he is not an aerial threat. Defenders know he wants to get space out the back. They know he favour's the left foot. He doesn't crumb off packs much either.

At least if he plays up the ground we can use his field kicking, but his days as a deep forward are long gone atm.

10 hours ago, Mouseymoo said:

Feel like we're playing one short with Fritsch if he's not kicking goals. Drop him for Turner. 

Dropped Sparrow for one game last year....It's a good idea to shake them up a bit..

Goals from the opposition in time on has killed us for 3 years, yesterday again probably 4-5 goals again from GWS.

Howes really struggled on Toby Greene & Coniglio, doesn’t seem to have the intensity for mine

12 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

Yeah I'm just projecting. Interested in what he could become. Plenty of time and was a super game 1 

He reminds me so much of Josh Kelly who’s a heck of an inside midfield but I still think can struggle when the going gets really hot (ie q4 on the weekend when Toby went on ball and Kelly outside) 

10 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

Because we are short of fwds and like you I posted the idea of robbing our backline again with moving May.

It's not ideal but something needs to be done and I don't want it to be Petty again.

What a bummer not wanting to watch the replay .

I'm convinced that given that it was damp day, if we'd played Billings or Langford instead of AJ or Jeffo, we win the game

One more runner can make such a difference especially against a free running team like the Giants

The good news is that we have a soft draw/fixture (which I've reminded myself about) so I can now see why others may not be too perturbed about the loss yesterday

We actually played quite well but couldn't quite clinch the win

In our next 7 games there's only one real toughie (Cats at Cats Park) whilst the other 6 games are all quite winnable

After that it gets a lot tougher but we can set our season up if we can perform to expectations in the next 2 months

Getting Kozzie back will make a big difference as then we can rotate him and Petracca forward

I'd really like to see Melksham added to our forward mix too

These days, a medium/tall forward line is a smarter option and Melk would add add some much needed class up forward.  2 bigs only is my preferred option

3 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Teams cover deep forwards so well these days, it’s getting harder for the deep guys to score and the half forwards are proving the danger

A good observation so how does a team counter that?  Vacate that area or play more mobile players deep forward?  

The deep forwards could push up but then they'd be crowding the half forwards

Another counter is to move the ball really quickly through the corridor towards the hot spot.  Run the risk of turning it over but the rewards are there

12 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

He reminds me so much of Josh Kelly who’s a heck of an inside midfield but I still think can struggle when the going gets really hot (ie q4 on the weekend when Toby went on ball and Kelly outside) 

It's a good comparison. We'd be ecstatic if he could be as good as Kelly, even with his slight contest flaws 

5 hours ago, waynewussell said:

Colourful language, Macca: "dysfunctional", "lumbering giants". I suppose GWS had "perfect pitch", and "nimble principals" before "crushing" us by three points on the back of "superior intelligence" and "immaculate conceptions"!

Lumbering Giants??? I would'nt call Jeffo and JVR "lumbering giants A.J ah probably the only lumberer waynewuss, agree!

Edited March 17Mar 17 by picket fence

5 hours ago, Redleg said:

We lost that game because GWS handled it better.

That is it.

Skill errors by us gave them many of their goals.

Sorry to have to say it but Blake Howes howler where the ball went straight through his hands was as bad as any and cost a goal!

33 minutes ago, fr_ap said:

Yeah I'm just projecting. Interested in what he could become. Plenty of time and was a super game 1 

I actually think he’s going to be an absolute ripper. I think in time he’ll make his way into the middle but there’s no rush. These wiry framed guys can end up holding their own in contested stuff. Put him beside Langford, Petracca and Oliver in a few years and he’ll go alright.

As a lot have already said: "a disappointing loss."

However I liked a lot of what I saw. 

Here are a few of my observations:

- May would have been handy to stop a couple of their goals as he always seems to guard the goal line. 

- we got caught out in the last quarter when we had a few of our best players in the bench and the play was never in the interchange area to allow for players to come on. No one to blame just circumstances.

- Liked Windsor's goal and pass to Jefferson but he needs to tighten up in defence as a HBF and be a bit more aware.

- Lindsay had a very good game first up

- I liked what AJ brought to the forward line and want him to get a couple more games to build.

- Tmac, Lever and Petty a solid performance in defence

- Midfield did ok but need to build on that performance. Good to see Petracca and Oliver looking more like their old selves.

- liked Max's game and had him the best of our lot. However, I think he would be kicking himself for ending up 25m away from his opponent who takes a mark and kicks the winning goal.

Before the game I gave us an outside chance of winning. At 3/4 time I thought we would run on and win it. I think the difference was that GWS had a solid game under their belt a a bit more match fitness. Add to that that we were playing 6 new team players and I think our relative inexperience cost us. We have a very good base to build on for this season.

We will kick on from this game. Go Dees!

 

13 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

I actually think he’s going to be an absolute ripper. I think in time he’ll make his way into the middle but there’s no rush. These wiry framed guys can end up holding their own in contested stuff. Put him beside Langford, Petracca and Oliver in a few years and he’ll go alright.

Think Simon Black during Lions reign.

 

23 minutes ago, TassieDevil said:

Think Simon Black during Lions reign.

 

I can see the threepeat now 25-26-27

 

6 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Yep, this is an issue. 

Interestingly enough, prior to that Carlton game we had gone 4-2 in games decided by 6 points or less in 2023, two of which involved us holding on at the death (vs Collingwood on KB and then vs Adelaide at the G).

And coming from behind against Brisbane that year at the G.

5 hours ago, Macca said:

lol

In all seriousness, losing these games we should win is getting annoying

We had their measure yesterday but found a way to lose (again)

And my point about forward line pressure stands.  We were too tall and slow for their runners

On transition, they did it too easily

We had 9 to 8 tackles inside 50 yesterday. I really don't think we lost because we had "three lumbering forwards".

We lost because we couldn't convert basic chances in front of goal.

23 minutes ago, Macca said:

A good observation so how does a team counter that?  Vacate that area or play more mobile players deep forward?  

The deep forwards could push up but then they'd be crowding the half forwards

Another counter is to move the ball really quickly through the corridor towards the hot spot.  Run the risk of turning it over but the rewards are there

Moving the ball quickly and via the corridor is always the answer when you can!

GWS drop multiple forwards deep. Pretty much use them as decoys or for contests at the top of the square (especially when it’s Hogan). Cadman, Brown (when not rucking) Gruzewski and Leake barely touched the footy. Then their half forwards have room to operate.

Brisbane, Geelong, Hawks all do similar.

Salem, Bowey and Windsor all showed good signs, we have to find a way to get the mids more involved in transition to then get it to the half forwards. 

Longer kicks and less risk made sense in the wet but we should dial up the risk against North 

This is poor on Oliver.

 

1 minute ago, Adam The God said:

We had 9 to 8 tackles inside 50 yesterday. I really don't think we lost because we had "three lumbering forwards".

We lost because we couldn't convert basic chances in front of goal.

Our 3 bigs up forward not only took just 3 marks between them (is that a record low?) but none of them were able to consistently lock the ball in our forward line

Lumbering Giants was a play on words (humour) but on reflection more like Statuesque

I wasn't impressed as I have reasonable expectations for the key forwards

One mark each for the entire game and if the conditions weren't going to suit, why play all 3?

It was a great first game out apart from the result. 
Useful lesson in trying some new players that stepped up. 
Looking forward to getting a couple of medium sized forwards back in the near future.  
Should be a successful year for us.

Also, the much vaunted marking of the GWS backline was not able to take many marks either

Edited March 17Mar 17 by DiscoStu17