Post Game Analysis: AFL 2021 Rd 1: Carlton vs Richmond

[ElwoodBlues1]

If you have Ed, you've gotta have Murphy too.

Ed still does Ed things.....and thats team first, body on the line, gut running....every contest. He stays until his replacement can do that too.
I think Cottrell is his replacement personally, and i'd be picking him before LOB in the future.

I prefer Cottrell to LOB but you cant rock up vs Richmond with Cottrell as one of your main mids IMHO, Ed has his uses for tagging but I think we need to field a more damaging midfield than relying on taggers to stop the opposition.
Most of the goods teams have too many good mids to tag now anyway and we need to bat deeper with quality in the middle.
I think Dow has to be persevered with for this reason and a player like Stocker introduced into our midfield setup.
Fogarty was handy also and I think the need for Ed and Murphy has passed...a player like Gibbons is now more useful than Murphy IMO. You can argue on Murphys toughness etc like some do but IMO we now have players like Gibbons, Fogarty who can do his role and its purely down to what players contribute on a consistent basis and what potential to move to the next level they have.
Ed, Murphy and Eddie Betts are all in that category of potentially holding other younger players back now as is Casboult.
I dont think you can play them all when we have a full fit list...

[WASurfer]

Late to the party as usual but similar observations.....too much left to too few....poor skills and decision making at critical times....and too many looked absolutely buggered too early in the game. Richmond have won 3 of the last 4 flags for a reason and for a lot of the night, we weren't that far off them. But we just don't seem to know how to finish off the hard work.

Cripps/Walsh were superb. Cripps tired towards the end but some of his battering ram stuff was fantastic to watch.
Saad showed he'll be a fantastic pick up and will only get better.
Said it just after the teams were announced that I was staggered McDonald wasn't picked in the starting lineup...and he proved it.
Casboult looked unfit and slow and will be under pressure to hold his spot during the year if TDK gets back and McDonald is in.
Dow looked a lot better and deserves a few more games. Can't say the same for O'Brien unfortunately.
Docherty is a shadow of the AA defender he was before those knee injuries and turns it over too much.
I like Williamson and he has a crack but absolutely zero right foot.
Commented during the week about SPS and the pressure being on him....you can be laconic and still make a huge contribution...some players can do it. He looks laconic and contributes SFA at the moment.
Setterfield doesn't get enough of it and backed out of a contest which is never a good look.
McKay....2.3 and one nothing score from the attempted play on. If he's going to kick 40+ goals as some are suggesting, he's going to have to have a few breakout games. Always trying to kick around corners.

Williams and Martin in next week will bolster us considerably. Assuming Silvagni is injured and misses, then LOB probably goes out as well along with maybe SPS and McDonald into the 22. That would balance things up a lot better IMO.

[cookie2]

Of course it would help...

What i'm saying is blokes playing together every week, under the same coach every year will bring some familiarity that would have a similar benefit.

We agree, I think. Both are needed.

[ElwoodBlues1]

I understand what your saying EB with Cripps being manned up but this is a guy we all high in very high regard, he is our captain and he plays in the middle which is critical when the match is in the balance.

I’m not excusing him. I expect him to have some impact or at least show the effort you expect from your captain at that critical moment. 
He looked flat and tired imo and like I said only Walsh seemed willing to bust his nut when the game was winnable with 10 mins to go.
I’ve seen this more then a few times from Cripps last year as well. Starts like a machine then when the opposition come at us or when we really need a lift he is rarely the one to provide it.
And doc is sadly not half the player he was. I still have a big soft spot for doc and hope he can retain the touch he had but looks a bit unsure of himself at times which is hard to watch

Shawny, Cripps probably suffers in comparison to Martin.....its easy to look at Martin and dismiss Cripps contribution, apart from Walsh there wasnt much support yet Lambert, Prestia, Bolton, Caddy and Graham were all doing something at various stages of the game to help ease the workload with Cotchin out.  Cripps just gets worn down having to be the man every minute and apart from his trusty sidekick in Walsh he was alone vs the Tigers. Williams and Martin will both help bridge that gap and I think its evident we probably need Martin a bit more in the middle at times than we would like but vs the best teams thats whats going to have to happen else Cripps will end up the usual struggling banged up warrior that he is at seasons end.

[laj]

Does that mean the tigers were also underdone too as they know there making the finals and will peak then?
For us we need to be at full throttle from the start and pinch games from finals contenders now not sit back and hope the leaders in the marathon don’t get over the hill and out of sight

Wish it worked that way. Not everything works in such simple terms. There's alot to physiology. Thing is some sides go ok first up, others need a hitout first, just like some horses. Tigers are a very established side and may have been ripe and ready making us look not as fit. Like I said, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

[laj]

There was good things, things we need to work on but even so we were a straight kick from taking the lead against a side that has won 3 of the last 4 flags with 5 min to go. We don't need to overanalyse it, which we all tend to do, just know where we were deficient compared to the best. Nice to know we weren't far off with still quite a bit to work on. As long as we work on it.

[shawny]

Thats 1 more string than LOB.

He has a huge tank, a hard body and a defensive mindset.......that screams tagger to me. As i said, an Ed replacement.
If not him, who takes over the tagging role from Ed? Kennedy is too slow. Stocker is an option, but we haven't seen enough of him i don't think.

Ok fair points.

I just like to see young players that even if it’s once a blue moon give me a glimpse of ability. With Cottrell I see a poor mans Robbo but maybe an Ed replacement is an option for him.

[shawny]

Throughout the game he was pointing out our dumb moves,  lack of awareness, poor tactics, inability to control the pace of the game etc. All, to me anyway, signs of a leadership vacuum. I'm sure if we had his onfield leadership we would be a much better team.

Cheers Cookie.

[laj]

Saw this somewhere else so hope it's right. After the 20 minute mark in each qtr. Richmond scored 10.5. 65 to Carlton 1.6.12.

Can happen in round 1. Some sides are more match ready than others. On the positive side we gave the the reigning back to back premiers a hiding for the first 20 min of each qtr overall. Composure and fitness.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Saw this somewhere else so hope it's right. After the 20 minute mark in each qtr. Richmond scored 10.5. 65 to Carlton 1.6.12.

Can happen in round 1. Some sides are more match ready than others. On the positive side we gave the the reigning back to back premiers a hiding for the first 20 min of each qtr overall. Composure and fitness.

Tigers are usually slow starters to the season apart from their usual 1st up wins vs us, it was like watching a replay of previous seasons. They started pre season later didnt they? thought we should be fitter?