titan_uranus

Yep, the worst. The bolded bit is on coaching. Beveridge's tactical decision to switch repeatedly was a good coaching move, with no counter offered by Goodwin. We didn't slow it down in the third when we needed to. Also on the coaching. We keep kicking to the pockets and boundary. Another coaching issue. This isn't to excuse the players. Again, it's not either/or, it's both.

Let's get the glass half full bit out of the way. We were never any good but never really out of the contest, even in the fourth quarter we were challenging at various times. The Dogs were also wildly accurate in the third quarter. I reckon we got really unlucky with the wind: they were slotting them dead straight on the angle, but look at what the wind did to Fritsch's kick in the fourth. IMO that's not technique, that's the wind picking up. They only had 3 more scoring shots but their accuracy hurt us. OK. Now for the glass half empty bit. How predictable was that. The Dogs are a level above our previous three teams and brought the pressure, and we crumbled. They out ran us and they carved us up on transition. Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Brayshaw all had poor games under that pressure, with their old habits coming back again (dinky handballs, lack of two-way running, missed kicks). We had the same number of inside 50s. But our small/mid forwards, Fritsch aside, put in shockers. I said in the Game Day thread that every week Pickett feels like he's close to dominating, but never actually does. We can't keep carrying small forwards who neither impact the game nor pressure. Goodwin blatantly outcoached. We've had a strong defensive zone that was broken to pieces today, largely through the Dogs switching repeatedly. They've played a lot of footy at Metricon (we've only played once there before today), so maybe they knew it well, but it was clear from the start that they had a plan and it worked. Preuss was beaten by Bruce. Can we end the whole "we're good without Max" thing? We're not. We only get one let off in this run home. It was today. If we want to be a finals side, we need to bounce back next week. Given the opportunity we had today to solidify our top 8 spot, today was horrendously disappointing.

6 - May 5 - Langdon 4 - Tomlinson 3 - Lever 2 - Weideman 1 - Hibberd This was pretty much impossible to do. Far too many disappointing players rather than impressive ones.

We don't need radical changes, we need a lift from our A-graders and we need our forwards to tighten up.

We had more inside 50s that quarter. 10-12. They scored 6.1 from 10 inside 50s. I think 5 of those 6 goals were from their defensive half. Their stars continue to get too much of it: Macrae, Smith, Hunter, Bontempelli, Dunkley and Libba are their six leading possession getters. Oliver has only had 10 touches, Viney turns it over too much, Brayshaw's regressed back to closer to his prior 2020 form, Petracca's off. Our A-graders can't get into it and theirs are finding it too easy. If you had to imagine how we were going to lose this game, that quarter was precisely it. Beveridge's coaching has been on point. The switches have hurt us. Swapping English for Bruce worked for them too. The Dogs are a genuine top 8 side with their best 22 playing. This was our test. That quarter was a massive fail.

ANOTHER one. Another chain of possession from full back to full forward. It doesn't help that they've kicked 6 straight and we've kicked 3 points.

Inside 50 count is 6-10. In OUR favour. They've kicked 5 goals. Two reasons: midfield being thrashed by theirs, and Beveridge coaching smartly with the switches.

This game is almost over now. We need a goal, quickly, or it probably is over.

Horrendous start. They're back on top in the middle, we're slow in transition. Fritsch's miss was a shocker and could really hurt.

Is it as simple as the wind favours the left of screen? The grandstand at the right end should be reducing the wind disturbance? A bit like Collingwood last week. But we looked better in the second quarter as we got more of the ball inside our forward half.

If he's struggling to make it work at Freo (which seems to be rumours at worst), there's probably a bit too much going on in his life for him to be able to make it work back in Melbourne.

He was very close to two crumbing goals in the first quarter. I feel like so much of Pickett is "very close". Every game he looks like he might erupt but never seems to happen. Not sure Bennell can play that role. Speed and defensive pressure regrettably not Bennell's strong suits so far this year.

Clear improvement that quarter. The ball spent far more time in our forward half and we were developing more scoring chains. But we're still not playing all that well. Missing kicks, tackles not sticking, and their best players are getting too much of the ball. Beveridge in his HT interview was scathing of English. They've clearly put a lot of effort into the ruck and stoppages, whether it's the tactic of using Dunkley or how they shark Preuss.

We're playing poorly but winning. Wow. To be fair, we're getting it in our forward half a bit more.

Unforgivable mistake from Melksham.

Shocking from Preuss.

The two positives I see are that we scored 4 times from our 5 inside 50s and we're only 7 points down.

73/27% time in forward half. Losing CPs, closing clearances. This is not how we want to play (Goodwin said before the game we want it to be in our forward half, Mahony just now in an interview said it's not how we want to play).

We should have 3 goals but it still feels like we should be 3 goals down. Their premier players are on top: Hunter 10 touches, Macrae 9, Smith 8, Dunkley 7, Bont 6. Us? Viney 7, Brayshaw 6, Petracca 4, Oliver 3. We're losing clearances despite them rucking midfielders against Preuss for part of the quarter. Their switching means we're struggling to defend the middle of the ground, and their pressure means we're struggling to move the ball forward. Real worry signs right here.

They're switching it a lot, and opening up our zone. We should have 3.1 though, Pickett should have kicked both.

They've moving it too easily, we're struggling to move it. It's got all the hallmarks of a poor performance, unfortunately.

My worry is that the Dogs' pressure is much higher than Adelaide, North or Collingwood and it's ruining our ball movement. We just cannot get it out of our back half.

Right call from Hibberd, poorly executed. We need territory. Just can't get it inside our forward half.

Game's being played in the Dogs' forward half. Not what we want.

Looks like Lever on Bruce.