Our mids were all fantastic. Crippa, Walsh, Acres, George, MK. Both Hollands had a great game.
Our defence picked up where they left off, despite no continuity. I think it allowed for a bit of coaching creativity. Kemp building nicely
Loved ZW down forward. Task: do what H and Charlie say. Top performance. Harry's movement up the ground creates opportunities that will trouble opponents
Overall, our kicking cost us early despite being dominant. Once we straightened that up, we were convincing.
The most pleasing parts - successful return from injury/omission - tough hunter attitude across all lines - team flexibility
Umpiring - I don't want to go there, but the numbers don't lie: we had 3 frees in three quarters of the game. That is just ridiculous.
I don’t want to say much either. But. Watched the game without reference to stats. It seemed we totally dominated possession and won the contest convincingly. Yet, had 2 - 12 frees just short of 3q time. With about 10 mins remaining, we seemed to get a few frees. As if... by instruction. Bizarre to watch in that sense 🙄
As it stands right now. We're 10th. Nowhere to hide I'm afraid 😨
Perhaps our biggest challenge, should our injured players be match fit as propsed, will be cohesion. Thus connection. When that’s lacking we lose confidence in our plays, hesitate, and increase pressure on ourselves.
One of the biggest pieces of nonsense sprouted by players and coaches is this rubbish about “One soldier out, next soldier in.”
It might work for the Russian Army… but it sure doesn’t work for us. Not with our current list of injuries.
A ‘good soldier out’ puts an additional burden on your better players who have to carry an extra load.
It puts an additional burden on your fringe players who lose support from, not only the missing player, but also the star players.
Roles change Structures change, Your prime movers are covered more easily. Players carry injuries into games through necessity.
What we saw last night was the cumulative effect of a series of hard games, and missing players. It takes a toll, and unfortunately it may not be a short fix. We’ll get players back…but I suspect we’ll also lose some.
