It is not the 1980s or 1990s and if you play that sort of football you will get killed from stoppages and turn-overs.
Kangas may have had a young team playing but they were full of endeavour, marked the ball very well and kicked effectively also. A free kick count of 5-14 in the first half didnāt help. Daw played well in the ruck and gave first use many times, Ben Brown is a very under-rated player and had a day out and Waite always seems to save something special for playing against us.
The set- ups that Woosha and Co used have worked well in many games this year, and putting that extra small fast player behind the ball have given us many breaks up the middle countless times, unlike others I feel that the Coaching group are creative and the work in the mid-field has improved every game.
Bombers did not execute a perfect game, lacked the number of inside 50ās of other games, but still kicked over 20 goals with a high conversion rate. With a bit of luck and some better kicking were would have kicked 26 goals.
Unlike the Brisbane, Melbourne and even Carlton games, our poor play did not make the Kangas look good, they did it themselves with a good possession game outlined by the high disposals they had, but we structured up well and kept them from scoring. Without Brown and to a lesser extent Waite they had no forward line, and Hurley had a shocker which will not happen again this year.
Bombers are a work in progress, have a powerful forward line, improving mid-field and an attacking backline. They need more consistent pressures over the whole game, and improved disposal, which is coming. If they make finals, they could on their day beat any team and I am very optimistic about the future.
This season is about the most even, I can remember and given where we came from, with a bit of luck and wins against Sydney and Brisbane, which were possible we would be top four and a real contender. I was happy with our win, and while I am never confident of the next game, we are the real deal for the first time in 16 years. And even in those great teams around the 2000 season, we never had the talent in the reserves as we do now. Prepare to be frustrated, but this is a team moving forward.