(05-21-2017, 11:23 PM)Lods link Wrote:It's really hard to make too many judgements on individuals in that game.
The TV filters out the actual extreme nature of the weather and what looks like a  lot of rain can be torrential. Add to that the wind which seemed to be all over the place. (Someone who was at the  game could give us a better idea)
Sure both sides had to cope with it... but mature bodies probably can cope a bit better, especially when we were down two men in the rotations and others coming off at regular intervals with niggles.

We dominated them early and were still a chance well into the last quarter...although it was kind of obvious we were just hanging on.
The effort seemed to still be there. It just became too much to resist

(05-22-2017, 05:49 AM)shadesy link Wrote:It was an Odd day indeed. It started sunny then at various times it Bucketed down, seriously heavy, before stopping again and the wind drying the conditions out quickly. This cycle happened 3-4 times throughout the day and by the end, early in the last term, there was actual thunder and lightning.

I was undercover, but the flags at the ground, were flying opposite to the End we were kicking to in the first term. We were essentially into the wind. Bascially Daisy's goal, it was blowing directly into his face.
You could see at ground level, the ball would hold up in the air, and the shots at goal we took on 50 never looked like making the distance. You could also tell, McCarthy and Walters kicked long goals from the other side of the ground, outside 50 easily.

It was very odd the end into the wind was the scoring end for the majority of the day, except in the third where Dockers took control. They certainly read the ball better off the boot, and Johnson had a filed day, reading the drop of the ball. Levi doesnt work hard enough and our forward setup is awful. Charlie, Levi, Jack all standing in the square waiting for a long bomb... dumb.

(05-22-2017, 05:47 AM)cimm1979 link Wrote:It may be what he's used to Paul but I don't think we need worry.

I reckon that long term we will be a kicking and carrying side and we're just waiting for some better ball users .

Right now it's a brand that helps us get used to our long term plan and reduces the possibility of smashings.

Honestly, I reckon we'd have gone close to winning without the rain coming so heavily.

(05-22-2017, 07:21 AM)PaulP link Wrote:There's still enormous amounts of work to do, and lots of decisions that need we need to get right. And some luck, and the umps, and.............

(05-22-2017, 07:03 AM)ElwoodBlues1 link Wrote:Dont think it was the weather...Freo's best 4 players had the ball around 30 times each, thats why we lost IMO and being caught on the rebound for some easy goals.....Neale had it 37 times...you wont win many games when the opposing teams best players have so much ball....

(05-22-2017, 07:21 AM)PaulP link Wrote:I suppose so. Freo may not be world beaters, but they have developed into a gutsy, scrapping team. We are not exactly formidable opposition, but their ability to fight back and graft out some close victories would have to instill some kind of confidence.

I understand where Bolts is coming from to a degree - limiting the blow outs limits the "damage" to the players, but gives less opportunities to win, versus win at all costs by playing the in vogue game style, which may give more chances of victory, but also more spankings. He does at least have a plan that he's sticking to. But i still worry. Losing culture is hard to break. The longer we lose more than we win, the longer it takes to get up off the canvas. I'm not sure that the movement up the ladder is linear and simplistic. There's still enormous amounts of work to do, and lots of decisions that need we need to get right. And some luck, and the umps, and.............

One could also use the argument that playing like this betrays the coach's lack of confidence in his players, which may hurt them than it helps. Lots of ifs, buts and maybes.

(05-22-2017, 08:40 AM)shadesy link Wrote:Definitely not.

Our Centre Set ups were awful and it started with our Leaders. Gibbs, Murph and Cripps in the middle of the ground were pounded. I would love to us have mixed it up with SPS, Charlie or Cunningham in the middle. They couldn't do much worse.

I walked away thinking exactly the same. There better players Neale, Walters, Fyfe, Johnson were better than our players. Ross has been using Walters around the ball a lot and it's a great move, Fyfe was way better than his stats suggested, and Neale just knocks up getting it.

We were smashed around the ball from quarter time and were always on the back foot.

Other notes:

- Small Defender - Small forwards are killing us all year. Matera, Billings, Walters/Crozier etc
- Locking the Ball in our forward line - I think our stats had 14 inside 50 tackles to 2. In the last quarter we pressed and had some good looks inside 50, only for it to just hit the floor and bounce back out. So we need to find some pressure forwards as well.
- Young - The scoreboard kept flashing stats of some of our players... 19,19,20, 21, 19. We are so young. Plow made some bad errors, but you can live with that as you know these guys will learn.
- Jack's Goal Kicking - needs to work on it if he wants to become a forward of note.
- Doc was immense.

(05-22-2017, 08:43 AM)cimm1979 link Wrote:Yeah, I get that but I am amazed that we manage to play this style of footy and pull it off.

Remember Richmond tried it and had to abandon it because they were so crap by foot and so undisciplined.

Three more quality mids and this style starts paying dividends.