Thanks, didnt see it.
Reckon it was with about 4 minutes to go in game.
I was surprised it was that high and I reckon the crowd would have been 3-4K lower in the last quarter
2 Likes
Yeah, quite a few people had left at 3/4 time. It was thinning out quickly.
Peter Wright - Has continued to have a crack all year whether it be in the ruck or up forward. Good game from him.
Setters - No star but gets done what he can with his skill set.
Sharpie - What’s not to love. Will be more prominent with some size and help around him.
Duzz - Got about and found a bit of it but limited impact.
Zerrett - Liked his game. Had a crack even though his head is in next year.
Artemis - Found one imo.
Skipper - So annoying. Has a crack but cannot hit a target by hand or foot. Now known as Andy McGrass as thats where every disposal hits.
Archie - Poor game. 1 tackle as a back flanker. Which is better than usual. It’s not hard playing loose man in the backline getting handball receives. You still need to be accountable for you man!!
Redders - Beaten on the night but maybe something to work with in a different role on ball/tagger.
Langers - Some good some not so.
Farrow - Gets a pass. Would be a gun in a better team.
ADW - Lacked impact but still like what he brings. Potential!
Zach J - No impact.
Zach R - Outsized and outpointed.
Huss - Keep pumping the games in. Doesn’t need to see much of it to have an impact.
Harry - Brought enthusiasm, not much else.
Nick Bryan - 
Kako - Hasn’t seemed right all year.
Jax P - Not sure with this bloke. Feels like there’s something to work with at times and other times feels like delist
Cadds - Just not his night. Worry is there are too many of these not just his nights over the season. Still young and will put on size so hopefully that turns around as we need him to come good.
Max - Slow burn this kid. 
there’s a solid footballer there.
- Moves like a footballer but can’t find the 
Angus - I like the kid. He’s a keeper i reckon.
5 Likes
What a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in.
Wright was great, Huss provided a bit of spark, Sharpe tried hard but im struggling to find much else we can take out of that game.
We have such weak uncompetitive players. Show some fukn spirit, some mongrel. Dont celebrate when your 12 goals down and you do a regulation spoil. Be angry, get ■■■■■■ off…strive to get better and beat your man next contest. This list just has no ticker and no drive to win.
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That was the most spirited 12 goal loss I think I have ever seen.
Live, at the ground, the body language of the players was excellent. Also, like the GWS game, we started positively with great tackling pressure.
Also, it was apparent how young and physically small, we were compared to Adelaide.
After many years, Peter Wright finally started getting paid the jumper-hold and arm grab free kicks he is rarely paid - and the umps still missed a couple.
Bryan competed well in the ruck contests but would have like to see him do more around the ground. Note, he is still very young for a ruckman.
Q1 was notable for Redman starting in the midfield tagging Dawson. It didn’t work. Redman didn’t watched the ball, he watched Dawson which meant he was always a step behind and Dawson was probably BoG in Q1. After quarter time, we ditched that and sent him to defence as we were undersized. We went head to head, against Dawson, with a combination of Setterfield and Durham and they both had good games. Dawson gradually drifted out of the game I thought but we couldn’t control Rankine who played mainly midfield. Like they would do in each of the remaining quarters, Adelaide would typically kick2-3-4 goals late in the quarter and our good work for the quarter would be undone. At the start of his post-match presser, Solomon pointed out they kicked 66 points in red time which was almost the entire difference at the end. He stressed how we had to stop late 4-5 goals runs, by the opposition , to 2-3 goals.
After half time, we tried to put more speed on the game with more and handball, taking the ball forward. It looked really good at times until the wrong, or poorly executed, handball occurred across midfield and the ball went back Adelaide’s way, with interest.
My biggest frustrations from the game were:
- Solomon’s game plan where he refused to manufacture a spare back when we had the ball deep in our forward line. I saw it really only once, early, but Langford stayed near the players pairs instead of 20m behind which is what Adelaide did regularly and the best teams do regularly. That player helps cover an opposition player coming in from the fat side of the ground, behind our defence, for an easy goal. This happened twice in Q1 to us and a few times thereafter. It was not unusual to see Adelaide outnumber us deep in our forward line, sweep the ball forward, and then have an extra player in their forward line, swooping in from the fat side of the ground. Solomon bemoaned our lack of in-form defenders to choose from but he could help matters greatly by employing the spare, as i described, as the best sides do.
- Caddy - he is the opposite of Hird as a player. Hird was great player because he did the ordinary things extraordinarily well (take the overhead marks he should, kick the goals that need kicking, laid key tackles at the right time, etc.). Caddy does the ordinary things poorly (e.g. dropped countless marks he should have held, miss relatively easy goals he should kick, etc.). Right now, Caddy is no more than a taller, more spectacular version of Jye Menzies; a player notable for continually snatching defeat from the jaws of victory whenever a goal scoring opportunity presented itself. Our new coach needs to be really hard on him over this.
- Kako’s first half was, frankly, a disgrace. He contributed nothing offensively, or defensively. His second half was much better when he decided to channel the Alwyn Davey CHF role and start to lead to the ball kicker. We kicked the ball too him and he took marks and got involved with the game.
- Q3 was a massive frustration because I felt we played some of best offensive football of the game only to be outscored with crucial, unforced turnovers that resulted in Adelaide goals. It was good that our heads didn’t drop and the players didn’t turn on each other. their sprit remained intact and they fought the game right out.
There is a lot to like about our players (it would nice for Clarke not get injured and play a run of games). Artemis gets better with every game. Huss played his best game. Zac Johnson played well but wasted a chance to kick his first goal, trying to kick the ball too hard from 40m with space around him. Farrow won some crucial battles but needs to be more aggressive with his kicking options.
I thought Jones was quite ok down back. I saw him lay more tackles today than I think he has in his whole career. he finished with 5 tackles including one in Q3, when he was moved forward for another marking option. He then swapped between forward and back for all of Q4 to cover for Zac Reid when he went off for a spell. We really lacked another tall player and kept shuffling Jones around to cover. It doesn’t help when Solomon, channels Brad Scott and plays Prior on the wing at the start of the game. He barely touched the ball and was much better when he went back to defence.
It’s always disappointing to lose, especially by 12 goals, but i loved the spirit of the whole team for the whole game and the ability that many young players showed. We just need to keep playing them together and a tall, strong KP defender and burst midfielder (a la Butters) to the team. another experienced ruckman would help because Wright, our best player, is too valuable as a key forward. Wright has proved the old saying that the big guys take longer to develop. He is in great form.
Now, i just need Solly to understand why he needs to have a spare back and sitting 20m behind pairs of players… .
33 Likes
Wow, it felt like a lot, but that’s huge.
The difference between a struggling side and a good side. Concentration for the whole quarter vs most of it.
I don’t think that’s a huge issue given where we are at. We can fix that as we develop (with the right coach).
5 Likes
i mean the bozos running the club had ridley and mckay as 1 and 2.
It’s easy to stick the boots into the club at the moment. I know I’m at my lowest ebb with them and it’s so painful. However, Peter Wright deserves nothing but praise for his efforts this year. I’m so pleased for him that he got a reward today..he has battled manfully up forward and in the ruck this year. I will always be grateful for his efforts in the darkest time for our club.
15 Likes
That makes it worst
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ther has been an element of being unlucky too, we have no idea how hays is
This has been an issue for years, what has solly done to address it? What did he try today to stop it?
This may not be rock bottom, but Merrett leaving won’t have anywhere near this impact on its own. The unhappiness in the squad this season has more than made up for his potential lost on-field ability.
2 Likes
Sir, there were positives???
I think there were a few. The form of some of the kids is what I was thinking of – not all of them will make it, but some will.
There were many more negatives.
1 Like
Yep, quite a few positives.
Centred on our young players.
To put today’s game in context, our team today is about as young as GWs and Gold Coast were in their earliest years - we only had 6 players with 100 games of experience.
This is the single biggest factor in the results and why current premiership coaches, like McCrae and Chris Scott say things like “we will never re-build” and/or “give me players, not picks”.
Our joint #1 focus has be on player development and a rock solid game plan.
Which is what we have been lacking and what Welsh and Roberts have to address in the coaching, and football department, employee decisions.
9 Likes
It’s been a weird period under Solly.
At the start of the year all we wanted was for the team to have a crack most weeks, play the kids and see moments and periods in game where these kids showed promise and gave us a ray of hope.
I reckon the last 4-5 weeks we’ve basically delivered that.
We’ve certainly seen plenty of good signs in many of the kids. The kids are getting plenty of exposure,
This year is in some ways delivering as expected and hoped.
Rebuilds are never meant to be fun. They’re painful and long. At least we’re seeing the moments we need to have hope for future.
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Possibly being the first coach in about 25 years to actually recognise the issue and call it out publicly is a good start.
1 Like
Ouch!