Post Game Passion; AFL Rd 18: Carlton vs Collingwood

[Baggers]

I bang on about passion, ruthlessness, spirit, soul and brand... well, we have seen all of that since the bye. On these things you can build a dynasty.

Since Luke P has moved into a coaching role (temporarily) and Barker has gone there is a palpable shift in intensity. When Luke P worked with Cuningham and Dow, each player improved in all aspects of their game. Luke has stated that he will return to development when he is no longer required in the coaches box... great, we should extend his contract by 5 years!!!

Scoreboard reward for effort is so, so very important... which The TT acknowledged in his media conference post game. Spot on. And did we all not witness a further lift in intensity and commitment once we got the scoreboard ticking over with goals, not points! At the risk of making an extreme comment, that last qtr so reminded me of the CFC sides I saw in the 70s/80s & 90s where would we smote an opponent in one 'premiership' qtr.

[LP]

As a matter of interest, how many goals were scored by his direct opponent(s) today and how many score assists did they have?  I can't think of any.

Interestingly, even the media have picked up on the Plowman bashing. I noticed the specialist commentator carrying on about Plowman's direct opponent, I think it was Henry, but it wasn't really Plowman's opponent at the time it was Williamson's opponent. Plowman was covering for Williamson who was pushed up the ground into our F50, I suppose we were trying to drag Henry out of the Filth forward zone but he wasn't leaving goal range. In the end Williamson got involved in a couple of scoring chains in our F50 so that tactic worked despite making our D50 look vulnerable.

It all comes down to how much pressure we apply up the ground on the opposition ball carrier, no defender be it Weiters, Jones or Plowman can defend against lots of open space and unhindered free ball use by opposition mids and flanks. But if that ball carrier is put under pressure and made to kick the ball long and high we back in guys like Weiters, Jones and Plowman to at least get a fist into the footy.

[DJC]

Interestingly, even the media have picked up on the Plowman bashing. I noticed the specialist commentator carrying on about Plowman's direct opponent, I think it was Henry, but it wasn't really Plowman's opponent at the time it was Williamson's opponent. Plowman was covering for Williamson who was pushed up the ground into our F50, I suppose we were trying to drag Henry out of the Filth forward zone but he wasn't leaving goal range. In the end Williamson got involved in a couple of scoring chains in our F50 so that tactic worked despite making our D50 look vulnerable.

It all comes down to how much pressure we apply up the ground on the opposition ball carrier, no defender be it Weiters, Jones or Plowman can defend against lots of open space and unhindered free ball use by opposition mids and flanks. But if that ball carrier is put under pressure and made to kick the ball long and high we back in guys like Weiters, Jones and Plowman to at least get a fist into the footy.

The ability of Williams and Saad, and Willo and Stocker to a lesser extent, to go up the ground, intercept and drive the ball forward was an important factor in our win.  The negative side to that tactic is the pressure applied to the stay at home defenders and Plowman is inevitably one of those.  A very underrated and much maligned player is our Mr Plow!

[DJC]

Were those two covering at the time?

No, Walsh and Plowman were trying to cover for Williams for Henry’s first mark/goal.  Plowman was on Elliot for a while but he was more often covering for Williams and Saad. Newman was covering for them too and he’s another who is unfairly criticised.

[LP]

No, Walsh and Plowman were trying to cover for Williams for Henry’s first mark/goal.  Plowman was on Elliot for a while but he was more often covering for Williams and Saad. Newman was covering for them too and he’s another who is unfairly criticised.

Yep, it's not static opponent allocations like fans tend to believe players are told, it's more role based and Newman and Plowman are playing very similar roles and doing it well. But it inevitably leaves them in the hot seat from the time to time.

We will see more of this if Teague get's his way, he basically told the fans that is what he wanted the team to do, and when we do it well you can see it's got merit.

In my opinion it's no accident Teague has this game plan, he is a career AFL defender of significant quality, and he knows what worked and what didn't. He knows how to make the opposition uncomfortable because it is what made him uncomfortable, and Plowman and Newman are players very much cast in the mould of Teague.

[Blue Moon]

Great win by the Blues. At the start of the second half Collingwood had Grundy, Adams, DeGoey and Pendlebury in the centre square against DeKonning, Walsh, Kennedy and Fisher. On average they were six years older than the Carlton players and we gave them a spanking. They are not going to get better and we are. First quarter and a half, Grundy was BOG, got crunched in a marking contest, and wasn't sited for the rest of the game. As talented a player Grundy is, he often fail to impose himself on games and can be quite passive. Collingwood is playing a lot of money for a player who is not going to carry them to a flag.
Dow, SPS, Kennedy, Fogarty, Stocker, Walsh, Fisher and Cuningham have all shown they are capable of being part of Carlton's next mosquito fleet. Setterfield and O'Brien are still on the runway. Kemp, Philps, Ramsay, Carroll and Durdin are still in development while Cottrell, Owies and Honey look like good late picks.
Collingwood's game style is high octane with players buzzing everywhere which is why they can only put one quarter together and why they are always looking to slow the game down. Because they have refused to draft key forwards under Buckley, and they want to use ruckmen as key forwards, they can't consistently drive long to the goal square. They always have to run the ball in and hit up leading players. Looks good when it works, but doesn't work often enough. Once Grundy got knocked down and stopped influencing the game, they were always going to struggle to keep kicking goals.
I was happy with our running game even when our handling errors cost us goals early. I was rapt in the effort of DeKonning and Jack in the ruck. They really got on top in the last quarter. Our backline is starting to play as a team rather than as individuals against their immediate opponent. Williams, DeKonning and Plowman al cost us goals with errors as did Newnes in the middle of the ground. In the end Collingwood only really earned five goals
Our forward line is starting to function as a group. Martin looks better as a marking target than a small forward. we still miss too many easy goals. Owies seems to have misplaced his goal kicking ability. He might just need a rest for a couple of weeks to freshen up his mind. I thought Silvagni's mark in the second amongst three tall Collingwood defenders was better than the mark he took in the last. I thought this would be Eddie's last year. I think Eddie should go on. With our mid-field function the way it has over the past few weeks, I think Cripps should play as a forward but play it like a mid-fielder/ leading forward and really run his opponent into the ground. This way he could always go into the centre if we really need him.
With potentially Cripps and Charlie to come in to the side in the next few weeks, and Honey, O'Brien, (I still have hope), Setterfield, Carrol and Kemp doing ok in the seconds, and maybe Murphy, McGovern, McDonald, Casboult and Pittonett being able to return, we might have a squad to take us into the finals if we happen to make it.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Yep, it's not static opponent allocations like fans tend to believe players are told, it's more role based and Newman and Plowman are playing very similar roles and doing it well. But it inevitably leaves them in the hot seat from the time to time.

We will see more of this if Teague get's his way, he basically told the fans that is what he wanted the team to do, and when we do it well you can see it's got merit.

In my opinion it's no accident Teague has this game plan, he is a career AFL defender of significant quality, and he knows what worked and what didn't. He knows how to make the opposition uncomfortable because it is what made him uncomfortable, and Plowman and Newman are players very much cast in the mould of Teague.

Good point about Plowman and Teague and knowing what being a true defender is all about.....Newman was missed when he was injured, but is undersold in terms of value. Makes the odd mistake but is generally ok with ball in hand and stays reasonably close to his man. Unfortunately its hard to see how Docherty fits in that backline now IMO and even taking it further I thought we were better defensively around the ball with Cripps out of the Full Time midfield.

[LP]

Good point about Plowman and Teague and knowing what being a true defender is all about.....Newman was missed when he was injured, but is undersold in terms of value. Makes the odd mistake but is generally ok with ball in hand and stays reasonably close to his man. Unfortunately its hard to see how Docherty fits in that backline now IMO and even taking it further I thought we were better defensively around the ball with Cripps out of the Full Time midfield.

In fairness to both playing injured isn't a fair measure, as it is not a fair measure to Williams in his midfield rotations. I suspect long term Doch will be back on the HBF, and guys like Williams and Stocker will get more mid and forward rotations.

We certainly need to strike a better balance for Cripps in the midfield, but he has to work on his F50 craft for that to be fair on others.

I think guys like Setterfield, Cottrell and Gibbons might be the big losers in all this, at least in the short term. Cottrell I like, he has that edge we lack and compliments players like Stocker and Newman.

I think if the AFL extend the bench as rumoured it might play into our hands.

[Baggers]

Re H's 2nd goal... anyone else notice that after the H mark the teev cutaway to one of the boxes and there was SOS applauding... wonder if he was also applauding the little noticed terrific tap out from the centre by SOJ to Walsh, to H?

[Baggers]

PS, ah to dream... when I saw SOS applauding in the box I thought for a moment it might have been the coach's box... how good would it be to have SOS involved in coaching... he would sure command respect and demand a level of commitment that would be bloody terrific. Might not thrill Liddle, but most highly successful organisations still have senior individuals who might not get on so well... no gem stone was ever created without time in the tumbler.

Director of football on the Board... now that'll get some of us here polarized and leaping about! Be a helluva lot better than Judd whose head was mostly elsewhere planning how to make more loot. SOS would at least be focussed with his heart in the job, not hesitating to call others to account and setting a high bar re club success - on field!!!