Earl Hood

Where is the fricking midfield? MIA again.

WTF is going on? Can anyone take a clean possession and if they do could someone give off cleanly to one of our guys in a position to do something positive? What a fricking mess that quarter was, no system, just a slog. Where are our A graders, Oliver and Tracc to get some system going?

Umpires turned feral now.

Great defensive, backs to the wall stuff by us in that last 20 minutes, I thought there, except we are on top, we aren’t playing the Bulldogs, we are playing the likely wooden spooners FFS! WTF was that about?

Is this two top teams putting so much pressure on each other that they can’t get their systems functioning and keep missing targets or is just 2 teams playing some very sloppy football?

Should have told the AFL where to go. They booted us out of Darwin, we lost the $ and handed over the development zone to the Suns and now demand we play there as well! We don’t need an energy sapping game up there at this stage with some big games to come.

Short memory, Robbie Grey?

6 Petracca 5 Salem 4 Gawn 3 McDonald 2 May 1 Kozzie

Holding the ball every day of the week! Pick up put out the don’t argue then spin into another tackle and handball over the line, yeah throw it in. Unbelievable.

If I was Goody I would be checking with the umpires at half time if you are allowed to tackle an opposition player who has the ball.

So now you can’t tackle. May tackles Dixon, ball knocked free and he gets a free for holding? So we are talking nano seconds in terms of whether the player incorrectly disposes or the tackler is holding the man. Gee it’s a hard game to umpire, they say but maybe that’s because the umpires make it that way!

What was that free where the port guy fell over as Tommy tackled front on? Didn’t actually connect I thought.

A number of dropping ball, holding ball decisions against us but no replays of the incidents unfortunately.

Any Dee’s supporters in the crowd? We will be battling the umpires all night I suspect.

My memory is that Corey McKiernan took an extraordinary mark that year, running with the flight of the ball into an oncoming pack. For me in terms of courage and degree of difficulty it outscored Moorecroft’s effort which is spectacular but if you get a step ladder in front of you with a high ball coming in, you can see how mere mortals might be able to do it. Where as those few spectacular marks you see where players run with the flight are something else, e.g. Jack Reiwolt’s effort this year. Jeremy Howe also took a screamer at the G some years back, running with the flight and somehow launched himself to take the ball on the shoulders of a stunned WC’s Embley.

Yes Gleeson asks what’s changed in the midfield from the first 12 rounds to the last 3? The personnel are the same but I think both Tracc and Oliver have dropped off about 20% and Gawn slightly. Is it just workrate? Perhaps we don’t bat deep enough in the midfield to match it with the better teams. We lack a centre clearance specialist it seems. I thought Yze would really give us a boost in that area this year but we have gone backwards.

Interesting stat caught my eye having a coffee this morning and looking at match review in The Hun. We had 23 shots at goal for an actual accuracy of 30% (7 goals, 13 behinds and 3 out of bounds) while the expected accuracy was 70%! The expected accuracy it seems, is based on the AFL average accuracy for where each shot at goal is taken. So average accuracy would have us kick more like 13 goals 7. That is a long way off the mark for a top team. GWS were a bit better at 40%, expected 65% I think. It’s those set shots from inside 40m and very little angle that we miss seemingly every week that do my head in. Fix that accuracy just to AFL average and we win most games.

Last week on TV I thought Weid looked good but he is playing a role similar to TMacc who is excelling in that fed roaming role up to the wing. We need a deep target for him to kick too.

From what I saw last Sunday, Weid looked good playing the high half forward/wing role. Problem is that is where TMac is killing them, especially today he was brilliant but he is commanding the ball between wing and half forward and then kicking into a forward void of Spargo, ANB and Fritsch.

Holding over for Thursday game?

I thought having Yze in this year as midfield coach would finally allow us to take full advantage of our obvious strengths, that is best ruck, Gawn delivering to AA players like Oliver and Petracca, with Viney, Harmes, and add cameos from Kozzie, Sparrow and Melksham. That in centre bounces we would learn to read Gawns taps and flick the ball around to find a mid free and running toward goal like we used to see with the Cats and Hawks great midfield groups so often. And like we managed in 2018. Instead we have got to the point where we are getting smashed most weeks at centre clearances and battling to compensate elsewhere against good sides. interested in thoughts about how to reset the midfield, especially at centre bounces. Viney is struggling, he goes out or maybe goes forward as a defensive forward, in place of Kozzie, who needs a rest or Spargo, ditto. Do we bring Brayshaw back into the midfield and LJ goes to the wing and Max does more time as ruck, less forward, assuming BB comes in as a forward target? So many ways to reshuffle but if we continued to get smashed in the centre we won’t win against good sides.

6 Salem 5 TMac 4 Gawn 3 May 2 Fritsch 1 Langdon

Had our chances in the last 5 minutes but stuffed up the forward entries. Hunt had three brain fades in a row!

Difficult to see on TV but The expert comments are saying we are playing a 7 man defence giving GWS an extra around the ball when it’s being contested. We are getting belted around stoppages and thru the middle. Time to get numbers back in the middle I think. Is it Jordan playing back to make up the 7?

6 Lever 5 May 4 Oliver 3 Salem 2 Brayshaw 1 Langdon