I've always felt that playing a rabble brings you down to their level somewhat, and a few dropped marks and missed kicks left me feeling that this was the case.
But....how bloody nice was it to finally go to a game and support a big strong side that simply brushes kids aside and kicks 20 goals in a business-like manner! It's been a loooooooong time since I went away from a game feeling like I did after this one.
With who stood up most of them did. They all contributed at some stage, some more than others. Some stood up big time. Hence why we got to week 3. We were dead man walking yesterday after such a brutally hard first 2 weeks.
Totally agree with this - I swear I saw wheelchairs on the bench at some stage, our boys had been beaten up over the past month or so and it showed on Saturday.
Disappointed, but not gutted. We had a great season and expectation for next year has increased 10 fold.
Didn't see anything last night that had me quaking in my boots!!! A win tonight opens up the opportunity of the century!!!
Absolutely agree. I was asked last night before the game who I'd prefer to win, all bias against the filth aside, and I picked the Pies. Much prefer to face them next week.
I've done it. Said I'd accept any ticket including standing room nut had a thought they'll shove me there first. My preference is a good ticket and I'll pay for it. I'll accept standing room but id rather not.
What are you guys doing?
I've done the same as you, and also had the same thought as you after I had pressed the "GO" button - was I dumb enough to allow them to exhaust their standing room allocation?
Main thing is I have a chance of being there I guess.
Fans seem to be oblivious to the fact that alongside Acres in the square was McGovern and Kemp, that's about as big of a roll of the dice as you will get!
And the past day or so I've been pondering a sliding doors moment - had the ball travelled from Doc's boot on a slightly different trajectory, the Supporter's favourite whipping boy - Mitch McGovern - might well have ended up Carlton's greatest hero of the 21st century.
Either way, his act of protecting Blacres back to allow the mark is something that should be applauded by all.
Charlie did a good imitation of Kouta, setting up a goal then going back and saving the day in the last line of defence with a great mark. What a player.
I was about to post the same thing. The most Kouta-like performance since '99 Prelim. Charlie was incredible - aside from his defensive mark and individual goals, many are forgetting the goals he set up with the kicks to H and Owies probably some of the best field kicks I've seen.
And to top it off the fact we are playing finals and Essenscum copped a belting! Couldn't be happier!
It only looks that way because Darcy isn't the smartest ruckman going around (just one of the strongest). He is fairly predictable in how he plays and how he delivers the ball. If he changed things up occasionally, make himself more predictable to him teammates instead of his opponents, it would be different. To be honest, not a lot of modern ruckmen are matchwinners; they do a lot of push and shove and forget some of the most important lessons in ruck play. NicNat has been one of the most complete rucks of recent times; he guides taps do moving mids, he doesn't just do the same things any time, he is willing to give the ball a huge bash sometimes and he often is in the play after the initial contest. he is the sort of ruck that makes premierships. Not many of that type around these days. There are a lot of crash and bash rucks, who can be effective, but most don't deliver the ball that well. Pittonet is a crash and bash type, but he can aim his taps pretty well. Not as good this year as he was last, but other teams. have done a lot more work on him, and he has been injured or recovering from injury a lot. But he has the problem in that he is predictable; he almost never smashes the ball forward, for example. That can be a lethal trick, if his mids are ready for it.
Breeann Moody does the big smash more than most rucks. The problem was that few of our mids were prepared for it. That has changed a bit, while Moody is developing her directional tapping better than she used to.
To be a great ruck, you need to be a thinker, not just strong, which limits many modern rucks.
^^^^^^^
I couldn't agree with more. As a fat, old "back in my day" ruckman, It's been sad to see the limited effect the current crop of big lads has on the centre bounce, but the fact is, as much as I love SOS's competitiveness at the bounce, our mid-field would be far less effective around a team with a good ruckman.
Either way, I will take this win any day of the week. Well done team.
Thought I'd share a text message from a Freo supporting mate in Perth - "Left game half way through 3rd quarter, which is a record for me. Freo are pathetic , blues playing like a top 4 team. Go figure ."
