Just as well Pickett was busy being a show pony - flying for big marks and trying to kick goals whenever he was inside the 50 metre arc - we might have been behind at 3/4 time if he had managed to kick some of the goals
True, but we had already hit the post 3 times by then, and would do it again.
Bad start, terrible skills early, but what a finish. Walsh, Jagga, Weiters, Pitto take a bow.
Bad becasue of skills not because we were outplayed, we must always look at the game on it's merit and not focus on the outcome, I thought we had more footy than the Dees despite not finishing.
Pitto terrific again, by the end of the game he had Gawn covered and was doing his solo clearance trick. Just needs to clunk a few more marks and he'd be in the votes.
IMO (and this is a separate issue), the AFL's desire for supersonic footy is making the game unwatchable. The skills errors in this game were appalling.
I agree, on average it's ordinary, when it's done well it's electric.
We sort of judge the style based on outcome, convert a few of those late behinds it would have swayed fan opinion, because we failed to finish a lot of good work it loses some gloss, but I feel we were quite dominant all game, even when we were four goals down I said as much to @Thryleon in the coaches thread.
Some of the gloss comes off because of umpiring variability, but it must be very difficult to umpire the chaos. We've talked about in danger, was any paid tonight, and how many times did players run with the footy get caught and not penalised, it's inconsistent at best and that inconsistency can determine the outcome.
I thought we made it too easy early, kicked predictably and that gave the few Dees talls an easy run not forcing them to move. When we stretch them we look better and we found more space. Run Gawn into the ground, they'll either have to rest him or do without him at the contests, and without him they are half the side.
Not sure how Kosi keeps getting so much space.
Already dropped too many marks, hopefully no more, blokes get hit up and drop it cold, that isn't a game plan or midfield problem. Some weeks Harry looks like he reliant on the umpires awarding infringements, if they don't he is not involved, just clunk it Harry, don't get too technical.
Pitto’s “ruck nerd” discussion that’s in today’s Age and various other places gives a good insight into how he tackles Gawn. It basically boils down to limiting where Gawn can direct his taps so that our midfielders can shark the ball.
As I've said, winning the tap is over-rated by fans, when they talk about taps they expose a naivety of their understanding of ruck contests.
Good rucks can lose the tap and still control the space, leaving less options for opponents and a greater chance for team-mates to contest. They do this by controlling the angle of approach, the side of the opponent's body they contact, how they rotate through the contest affects what the opponent does, and where the ball falls relative to the opponent's body. Also, where they move and what they do immediately after landing. In effect you turn the centre circle into a semi-circle closing off half the available options.
It's called controlling the ruck, and it has very little to do with the tap, and it makes the outcome of the stoppage / contest more predictable for the midfield.
I've found if you take them out for a drink after work and get to see them in a more relaxed environment it helps to break down some of those barriers.
It will be interesting tomorrow night, it looks like the Dees are going hard at our smalls, and our selection looks to be quite the opposite. Success might hinge on someone like Evans and Byrne being able to keep their direct opponents occupied.
I suspect we'll be hitting up a variety of marking targets, and I back Evans in particular to better similar sized and agile opponents in any overhead contest. It's a pity Hayward wasn't able to get up. Gawn can't be everywhere, and by being unpredictable entering F50 we can have him chasing the footy all across our HF line. Our breadth of goal kickers could become a real strength.
I predict Cottrell and Wilson could be a bit more dynamic tomorrow night, and dry conditions could be perfect for Acres.
I suppose there is a bit of difference between a destructive hack and our soon to be robot overlords.
I work with robots all day everyday, it's a full-time job just keeping them moving, despite being fully engineered for hazardous environments we have to keep them positively pressured with air or nitrogen just to stop them seizing. A handful of fine grit is like cyanide to them!
