Wiseblood

10 seconds of a half time break is a fair observation? Spare me.

I still think calling him 'predictable' is grossly unfair. He needs to kick more, sure, but for a guy in his second season, he is doing everything asked of him and more.

Agree with the others, but not Oliver. The kid, in just his second season, is almost carrying our midfield. Look at his stats again today: 32 touches, 9 tackles, 19 contested possessions and 7 clearances. Oliver is turning into an absolute superstar right before our eyes. What more can he do?

I think it's annoying you because you know he's right.

I can't argue the above, it was more in relation to the fact that we can get the ball inside 50 enough times each week to win games of footy. Our problem is how we use the footy once we get it towards half forward. It's a problem and we need to fix it up, otherwise this season will slip through our fingers.

Maybe I've lost my sense of humour as I get older, but I wouldn't say our play of late has been funny. Or am I in the minority here? We can look at this one of two ways, adc. One is that we are still winning plenty of the footy and giving ourselves chances to score. We aren't the side from 4-5 years ago that would have 8 inside 50s for a half. We know how to play and we know how to get the ball forward. On the flip side, our use of the ball going forward, our leading patterns and pressure when the ball hits the deck have all been very poor and it has cost us games of footy. We can fix it, but we need to do it now.

I agree with this today, red. We made the mistake of bringing in three contested ball winners and it hurt us on the outside. It was no coincidence that someone like Kelly cut us up today, although he's done it to most sides this year. I think our selection is a little lopsided at present. I think we need one less tall up forward so we can play Petracca as that third tall, and we need to find a way to bring some run back into our midfield. Possibly Hunt to a wing? Or do we bring Stretch to play that wing role as he's good on the spread? Big decisions to be made this week.

There is one thing from this game that stands out to me the most, and that is the total disconnect we have at the moment across our half forward line. Our least influential players on the ground today were our tall forwards and Garlett. That says either our forwards are not working hard enough, or our disposal and decision making forward of centre needs to change. I think it's a case of both. We like to 'bomb it in' so to speak, except the problem we have is that all three of our tall forwards actually prefer being hit up on the lead. So we fluff around with it and then kick it long and high. We don't mark it, ball hits the deck and GWS run off with it without too much pressure. It was predictable today, but you also feel a little for the forwards as they didn't exactly get silver service. A forward relies plenty on the delivery of the ball, and ours at the moment is not good. For us to challenge for finals we need to change it, and change it fast. I also think we went in a little too top heavy - did we need Pedersen, or could we have plonked Petracca in the square as we had Jones, Vince and Maynard coming in to the side? Do we need to get players like Salem and Hunt further up the ground so we can use their foot skills and pace more often? Are we going in with too many contested ball winners? Lots of questions need answering, but they CAN be answered. That's what gives me hope. We are still right in the finals race and we have 3 weeks to make it happen. I remember us playing for a finals spot in 1994 in the final round, and this year seems very similar to me. That year we weren't playing great footy coming in, and this year we are doing the same. Time is on our side at the minute though, and I can do nothing but back the players, coaches and the club in from here.

Dees to win from here.

Don't be so touchy, LH. I wasn't having a go in the slightest, just an observation I made. Wasn't trying to be personal at all, hence why I put the winking face at the end. I thought you would see it that way but I'm sorry that you didn't.

King was obviously drunk when he talked about it. When you could get it done for a first round pick, you get it done for a first round pick. Plus with everything Jesse has been through, there is no chance we trade him. The kid has 10 years of footy ahead of him and he is only going to be better. Edit - @Lucifer's Hero, I wonder how you would go if you were banned from either posting a link or have a post with italics in it. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself!

Brown's no gorilla - he has no jump on him and he rarely wins a contested mark in a stationary, one on one situation. He is just an absolute gun at reading the ball and his leading patters are brilliant.

Did they all play Round 1?

Happy with all the changes this week. Trengove and JKH were always going to struggle to keep their spots, Hogan is the forced change and Hannan certainly needed the rest. I like the choice of Pedersen this week as well, and you get the feeling had this been 2015 they may have just given Weideman some games. But with finals on the line we need a bigger body and more experience out there, so Pedersen is the right choice. Plus he gives us a little more flexibility.

A Freudian slip there, BPP?

I interpret it that way as I'm comparing it to other sports that use the free agency model. Often players will meet with other clubs, or their manager drops a few things in the media, to spook their current team into offering a better deal. Obviously that is not the case with all players, but at the same time he keeps saying how happy he is over there - to me, meeting with other clubs is a tool to get the Crows to up their offer. I'll be stoked if he signs with us as well, although I'd be very, very surprised if he's personally met with us during the season. I'm not even sure if that's allowed.

I have no idea what to think about this game. One one hand, you could argue our last month has been pretty average. We were poor last week and, outside of the first half against Port, we haven't been playing the brand of footy that had us on fire in the first half of the year. On the flip side we've enjoyed a challenge, and playing GWS in Canberra is that sort of challenge. Losing Jesse hurts but we rolled both Adelaide and West Coast on their home turf without him, so I have faith that we can still find plenty of avenues to goal. Cameron being injured also helps. I reckon we're a sneaky chance, but if we lose this we still face an uphill battle to play finals.

Could be the making of the kid. Hopefully he can put this year behind him and it makes him a stronger, tougher and more resilient player for the future.

Sounds like he is using us as leverage (heh) to get a better deal out of the Crows.

You are all over this topic, binman, and you have been spot on in most of your assessment. To simply blame our tall backs for the issues we have it short sighted, naive and show a distinct lack of understanding about our defensive game and the zone we are using.

I agree poita, and as you say it's the next step for us as a side. Guys like Viney, Tyson and Oliver probably don't hit the scoreboard enough during a season. We're certainly heading in the right direction, though.

Pies pretty much had them covered in most statistical categories as well and still couldn't get the job done. Surely, now that they can't make finals, Buckley has to go?

Glorious!

Absolutely we do. We're getting better at it, but losses to Freo, Hawthorn and now North in games we should be winning suggest that we don't like being hunted. The North game surprised me though as I thought we had turned the corner with these sorts of losses, but clearly we're still learning how to handle it. It's just a shame that it could cost us dearly.

Some just love negativity. Whatever floats your boat, sniper.