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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 8 2024 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Collingwood
Last post by Lods -What a difference a goal makes.
If we'd won that game narrowly, or even drawn it, the reponse would be completely different.
We didn't, and it seems to have stung....
-because it was Collingwood.
-because it was only a goal.
-because it was kicked by the opposition player who needed watching more than any other.
One of the things that stood out was that when Collingwood went forward it looked very similar to the way Geelong attacked last week so obviously there's been a bit of homework done.
But that poor defensive display is probably due in a large part to missing personnel. We're desperately missing Saad and McGovern. It also doesn't help when the pressure in the middle and foward is lacking.
There's lots of criticism of the lesser lights in our side, probably fair, but it was also our better, more experienced players who didn't really fire.
Curnow is kicking his share of goals but his second efforts are disappointing.
Pittonet started like a house on fire but once he went off with that knock his influence waned.
(It was actually around that time the Pies gained control)
Williams is not a defender. He spent most of the time watching and manhandling his opponent rather than the ball. He doesn't have the tank for mid-field, and I'm not sure what he could offer a forward line where defensive nous is also a priority for us. I did notice him looking and favouring his ankle at one stage. I'm not sure that achilles is 100%, but with a hamstring injury he's likely to miss a few anyway.
One funny (not so funny) aspect of last night's game was the number of our absolute poor kicks that were sprayed or went straight into another player. That was probably due to pressure at the ball and the inclination to just get ball to foot and hack it out.
We're in a block of games where we are playing top sides. It was always going to be a difficult period and it's been made even more so by missing key players.
We've got within a goal of the premiers, who are just hitting their straps, and we played with many of our players well below their best in terms of skills and intensity.
They were missing a few key players. We were missing more.
Lots to work on, but plenty to work with, especially as players return.