watching the first half, i text my brother had asked who was that team playing and then the second half started and went ahhh their back. How do this team just stop and think well we played well fro 2 qrts tools down.
One theory i have, which stems from a quote originally raised by Adam Simpson, is that we are "Too easy to play against".
We've said how we want to play. Contest contest contest. Beat us at the contest and we've got no plan B.
Now i'm sure there are some subtle tweaks around that. Some tweaks allow us to have a dominant quarter, or even a half.
Then.....the opposition work out where they are losing and why, implement some changes and 'hey presto' we do our disappearing act as a result.
Yep, it was lets put a player on Georgie boy and see what happens and it did. We lost our drive when Jager sat on George
watching the first half, i text my brother had asked who was that team playing and then the second half started and went ahhh their back. How do this team just stop and think well we played well fro 2 qrts tools down.
We got a lot of frees, but we should have got a lot more. I didn't even see the whole game and I saw so many marks that weren't paid to us and frees that weren't either. As for 50 m penalties, any number of Hawks could stand as close as they liked without being penalized. Amazing!
Just on the umpires and the free's how does a player with a bloody nose and blood on his arm is allowed to stay on the ground. How? yes the player is a Hawthorn player
Maybe the wrong place fro this but after tge game, the next day scrolling through Insta trying to block the world out while the pain was slowly disappearing, i came across some Bristol City Soccer fans chants.. I started thinking my be we supports should be a little up beat and sing stuff like: We lose every week, we lose ever week, you nothing speacial we lose every week. Anyway have a look it might bring a smile to your face.
To finish Moir was good, Carroll was good, Cowan was good, poor Harry was feed to the lions. BUT keep playing these kids for the rest of the year. Lets find out what we have.
Trying to read all the posts. Some great insight by this forum and we can go on and on but do we really understand what is happening behind those 4 walls? probably not. All i can add is, i was at the game and Oh Dear Oh my. I want our club to be a great club again but i just cant see this happening. Is it because the power brokers at Carlton still believed that after our salary cap punishment the club could out out and do what the did in the 80s for success? It took the club during the Malthouse days to relies that we needed to play by the AFL drafting rules to become relevant again and we did but still have not got this right. This year has been a complete disaster, maybe we dont relies what those one or two or three injured players (no not the young kid. we know nothing about him yet) that we are missing, are leaving a gapping hole in the planning. Maybe when the club sent Kennedy away some players spat the dummy and still maybe spitting. Like i said earlier we have no idea what is going on behind those 4 walls. Anyway on to Port. Still my club and always will be GO Blues
Nothing wrong with what you are saying @Baggers, I'm just seeing it different for a few different factors.
1. we dont play in a vacuum. When the opposition adjusts their game to counter ours, we have suffered a few issues preventing us from making too many changes. i.e. losing players before half time. By my count, in our last two games we have lost personnell by half time, forcing an activation of the sub. I think this is the 5th time this season its happened (zac williams accounting for this twice). Ironically we have been closer in games where we have had to activate the sub early than in games where we have chosen to use it, which is a bigger concern IMHO, but thats another story. In round 1, nerves to Nick Haynes probably was the difference between winning and losing. He had as bad a game as I have seen, and Mcgovern was similar for whatever reason. Maybe it was unfamiliarity and playing young Ollie down back too.
2. Players sub 40 games don't have their role nutted down perfectly and are not seasoned performers. To quote the afl, an average of 120 games playing together is a team vying for a flag. I don't think we have this in more than 60% of the team with the lineup we are currently trotting out, and this includes players like Durdin, Motlop, Cerra, Haynes for starters. Some of these names have the requisite number of games, but Haynes has played 9 games with us thus far. It doesnt help some of our more reliable players are having down years, perhaps on the back of this.
3. The season is no where near complete yet. We have come into this season on the back of a coughing and spluttering last season, and I think we are simply not having a good year fitness wise. This isnt the first time for us, it happened in 2012 as well, we just couldn't get rolling. We aren't the first team to suffer this. Hawthorn who we all agree were a benchmark won the flag in 2008, then spent the next few years suffering with injuries to key players and missed finals completely in 2009, limped in 2010, 2011 won 18 games for the year only to stumble in the finals losing in the first week, and then making it to the prelim to lose to Collingwood by 3 points, and then went on to finish 2012 as minor premiers just to lose the grand final to Sydney before they then went on a 3 peat. Inuries played their part in preventing them doing better a few years earlier. That and blooding a few youngsters that eventually saw them go bang. Sure, we arent in Hawks territory now, but if 2023 where we played in a prelim was our 2008 (Hawthorn won that one ahead of schedule and were arguably better than we were in that year but the point is, they struggled for the next few years in similar circumstances coming from a similar place to where we are coming from. We may not ever be like that hawks outfit, but the formline shouldnt be ignored. Not many jump up there and stay up there, but plenty of flash in the pans have happened.
When it all boils down, we are a victim of our historic impatience here. We want to be better, but for whatever reason we are not in that conversation right now, and personally I look at the sheer number of times that we have activated the sub early, and which players keep breaking down, and go, yep, hows that for just dumb luck. You cannot beat lady luck, and we have been as luckless a footy club as I have seen over the journey and part of that is poor planning because once you start relying on luck, you will find it goes against you.
We have talked ad nauseum about player depth and what not, but Collingwood last season are an example of what happens when the wrong players break down consistently. They went from flag winners to not playing finals. Sydney are the example this season. Went from last years most consistent team of performers, barely giving players a week off and using the least amount through the year, playing in a grand final, and this season can barely string 4 quarters together.
To me, this is what I see. A team that can, but often cant for a variety of reasons. A lot of the pundits talk a lot about player selection tactics, and what not. Thing is, sports is simple. You start having compounding issues, and you come back to the field very quickly. Pep Guardiolas Manchester City is a team with all the resources, best coaching and what not in the world, but when you lose your marquee striker for a 3rd of the season, they went from winning a treble of trophies (no easy feat) to winning not even the league cup which is very much the bridesmaid trophy crap clubs aspire to win.
Great write up. Makes me start to think a little different
Rinse and repeat. The difference between last weeks game and this weeks game was the colour of the oppositions jumper. Play 1 qtr of OK football and then it is like rinse and repeat. Goodbye season and to make matters worse The Dorks are laughing their heads off.
There were some flashes of good stuff but not enough and for long enough, we just don't have the list to go anywhere significant
We will never be taken seriously when we can only manage two goals in the second half of any match. Don't forget, we did the same thing last week.
Season over now ........... we are just another mid-table team who will pinch the occassional scalp along the way but that's about it.
Could not agree anymore with the above. As harsh as it may sound it is how our team is travelling. Disturbing that we have only won 2 of our last 11 games and how did we beat??
There is losing and there is losing. This just made me sick to the stomach. Voss kept speaking of defence all summer, so were is this defence. Great move subbing Lord when (yes he was on the ground) Evans stays on, how??? How is this possible
I have not read every post but i am guessing what i am thinking or want to say has been said. I have heard this comment many times from the media (not necessary about this game) but EFFORT does not require talent and in the first half thats what alot of our players lacked effort.
I am not sure we can afford to bring a big broom to sweep out players. I just hope that the people who have our club in their hands know what they plan to do.
Do we dare say maybe 2025 for a team that plays a consistent brand of football.
