I'm not overly fussed by the result, Ratten is a good coach very poorly treated by our club, he has introduced a very new game style to the Aints that opposition coaches have yet to be exposed to, and so it is yet to be deconstructed.
By the same token, it was disappointing that we couldn't play our game our way, we were reactive all night.
I have to question the validity of the three talls, we looked better with McKay out, the KPFs looked better organised perhaps because they were less hesitant and not getting in each others way! But our KPFs didn't really make much difference, we were smashed in the middle and in our own D50. It doesn't matter how good your defenders are, when the ball enters and re-enters with such freedom and frequency any defender will struggle.
By the same token, it was disappointing that we couldn't play our game our way, we were reactive all night.
I have to question the validity of the three talls, we looked better with McKay out, the KPFs looked better organised perhaps because they were less hesitant and not getting in each others way! But our KPFs didn't really make much difference, we were smashed in the middle and in our own D50. It doesn't matter how good your defenders are, when the ball enters and re-enters with such freedom and frequency any defender will struggle.
"Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck ....... Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck"