They came out in the third quarter and crushed North in the mid field and around the ball. The 2nd rotation midfied got a run. Myers and Guelfi were hammering in and Merrett, Hepp, Shiel went hard all day. Hooker and Ambrose and Hurls were physical all night down back. Redman and McKenna bowled a few over. TBC was physical all night. Even Hams was belting in.
We were not just winning 50/50’s we were winning contests with much lower percentages.
It was another complete performance across all facets and all lines.
Some of the commentary reflects just how fickle some people can be. I think it’s bs to write off everyone after a game of footy and then pour over what could’ve been last season and assert that it’s writing on the wall again before celebrating how great we are… get stuffed…It’s also reflected by the trash in the media like Cal (I still live with mum and dad ) Twomey continuing to labor questions over round 1&2 as if they deserve an answer and an apology…As I said at the time, footy ain’t linear & some times a loss or two give some reflection for action (but only for the great teams). Richmond supporters had Dimma Hardwick sacked a few years ago! Hawk supporters didn’t want Clarko (and Jeff had major misgivings)…We will lose games.
What I’m comfortable with is that in every game since round 1 we’ve improved. The belief and care has improved as has the process and adaptability of game style (anyone notice our kicking game yesterday). But my views are not governed by the result alone, and evidence of this is that I still have concerns following yesterday’s game. The reality is that If we play like we did yesterday and Collingwood come out firing then we will get pumped… We need to find another gear. Contested footy is a concern, is everyone 100% comfortable at the way Merrett is attacking the contest? He went in with hesitation at times yesterday. Hurley still concerns me when isolated one on one (despite beating his opponent), Redman’s great on the rebound but gets pushed off the footy to easily at times and looks less than assured in the air, ditto Ridley, and McGrath is still finding his midfield identity. Baguley is labouring - really struggled at times yesterday, Jake needs to get on the move consistently, and avoid being a stationary target, how does Joe fit in? I like him deep personally, Bellchambers secondary efforts and intensity need to improve across four quarters. Just some thoughts.
Agreed Robbo, and it should work both ways. Game day thread and after match related to a loss see calls to boycott games, vote people off the board and never ever play Zaka or Myers again.
Since the Saints game, fantastic!! At least it took just 2 games to rectify it, not 8 like last season. By and large, these 3 wins we have had the game played on our terms, which is great. But opposition will be studying our games and looking at ways to stop us, especially off half-back where we are so deadly in transition, the #1 team in the AFL at scores coast-to-coast, #2 for goals from half-back and the #1 corridor ball use side in the AFL. There will be a game where a team will shut that down. How we respond will tell me a lot about Woosha’s ability on making game day moves, and also the general intelligence of the coaching panel to identify that and have a Plan B that we can go to. We can put the “he’s lost the players” talk to bed, because such a stunning upturn in form would not have taken place if they wanted rid of him.
Actually, invariably when we lose it’s more the case the list is still good enough, but the errors made by the players such as the Parish clanger yesterday are the fault of Woosha and his crew.
That’s not going to change unfortunately. People are wed to their view. If the view is we are a top 4 side and we fall short then it will be the fault of others (ie coach) rather than ‘I rated our list incorrectly’.
Yep bang on - the depth of reasoning and analysis both in the media and among supporters is dumb at best.
We have a top 4 list we shouldn’t lose any games to those who are inferior to us in quality… Worsfolds fault, the board, ya da ya da
The style of play to me doesn’t seem organised - it’s the game plan, it’s woosha, make a move Xavier, cultural problems
Why’s Myers playing - Wooosha isn’t developing the list - kids should be playing - sack woosha
I heard that there are leadership problems - Hurls and Hooker are angry - Why aren’t they in the leadership team, Woosha doesn’t know what he’s doing, Xavier’s messed this place up we haven’t had good leadership since x time
Joe had a beer - Wooshas fault - culture, standards, leadership, Xavier
Infantile knee jerk responses need not be posted anymore thanks…
Who makes that call what is infantile and what isn’t?
This is an open forum for fans of all persuasions to share, vent, rant, whatever. The high and mighty approach doesn’t make it better or worse, it is what it is.
Read what you want, ignore what you want, respond to what you want, leave when you want.
The first part of your post is a fair analysis.
Basically what I’ve been posting for yoinks, (except for when being stupid)
The second part I disagree with on two levels
The first is because football is a human game - there will always be errors or “ concerns”, and it says something about your perspective that you spend time analysing these, rather than analysing our improvements,
So you could discuss how the forward line is improved with it’s variations- for the first time in ages there are key block being applied - Stringer for Joey’s first lead & mark, & Belly for Stringers mark in the square, for example. Add what seemed a deliberate tactic to isolate Walla deep forward at times. All good signs that make us harder to play against.
The second level I take issue with is your concerns over individual players, which in my opinion is simplistic. For example Merrett and his attack or lack of it on the ball.
I was going to post anyway that another pleasing aspect was the midfields positioning. There was always someone hanging slightly back to either defend or provide a release & there was always someone for the forward release or to chase from behind. Remember the Clubs video analysis vs Melbourne?
I believe this is the defensive fine tuning we’ve been waiting for - you seem to believe it’s Merrett shirking the issue.
I could say similar things about your views on Hurley, Ridley & Redman
In short can we improve- yes.
Does anyone think the players won’t try to improve against Collingwood? I ■■■■■■ hope not.
So your comment “ if we play like this against Collingwood” is ridiculous- however we play - good, bad or indifferent, it won’t be like yesterday. It’s just ingrained pessimism.
Is this all a normal part of football- well I actually blame 2000 for this - it seems a lot of Essendon supporters think that 2000 is the normal and anything less is a failure- enjoy it for what it is.