That was pretty ugly. But playing Hawthorn down there it was always going to be. And it really took a few career best performances from Stringer, Draper and Jones (Hind was also great) to get us over the line. And we won’t get that every week.
We had a lot of players down on their best - Lav, Wright, Smith and Hooker all had pretty average games. Ham and Cahill struggled for the most, and even so did Perkins and Cox.
But bank the win and move on. I expect they will all have to front up next week as the cupboard is exceptionally bare at the moment. Melbourne will be a huge test but looking forward to it.
Its kinda cool that we now sit back and think a 24 possession, 6 clearance game with a goal is “well down”… I agree it was well down on his past 2 months but if that is your baseline… can’t complain I think.
We won with at least 6-8 passengers so there’s definitely room for improvement. Really need Shiel back now that McGrath is missing & I hope Francis can overcome his demons & get back on track because our backline looks vulnerable. Draper back was a massive bonus, hopefully he can play out the rest of the year. Hind continues to get better which is truly amazing. He should genuinely be in AA contention & Ridley got back to his best in the second half but Laverde had a bad day Stewart looked outclassed & Redman was only OK. We didn’t really look dangerous in the forward line but just got enough to win. If we gift Petracca & Oliver the same complete absence of defensive pressure we gave Mitchel & O’Meara we will get spanked! Melb are still the same fragile side they have always been & Collingwood pressured them out of it. We can do the same but not the way we played today.
Yeah there should definitely be no complaints. It is great to see and that is what consistency is, have a “down” sort of game but still have an impact and work hard.
huge win for truck rutten against a masterclass coach too. Clarkson threw his all at us and outcoached truck in the first half i reckon but then truck restructured and got the job done.
