Re: R2 : Blues V Tigers (Venting & Vitriol)
Reply #106 –
I walked away grinning last night.
We gave up 6 goals in the first quarter, and 4 in the second. At half time, it felt like we were getting obliterated and then I checked the score, and all our performance indicators. We were playing poorly, and the Tiges were all over us, yet were not putting us away the way a good team should. I didnt feel confident at all, and felt like 2005 all over again. For those who cant or dont remember, it was the Fev show, or no show. At least back then we had Fev. Now we have....
A team that stated for the second week running, that they will not just give up and fall way no matter how hard it was, or how badly they were getting beaten, or how difficult the road to goal was. If we had gotten our noses in front the game would have ended up a win. Unfortunately, we could only draw level.
We restricted them to 4 goals in a half after that. That is a fantastic effort. Make no mistakes, it wasnt that they were not good enough to kick goals, they were starved of real goal scoring opportunties, and they were struggling to get forward. It was really encouraging I thought. Convert our chances better, and it would have been a win. Of the two sides, the only thing Richmond have to be happy about is beating a side that they struggle with, and getting 4 points. Aside from that, its all doom and gloom. Imagine going to sleep for a half against a side that is unfit, lacks a real spine of tall players, turned the ball over at will, and the only reason they managed to win was some favourable frees that got them off the hook (and a very dubious 50 metre pentalty) and our woeful conversion rate.
Make no mistakes, we are a pretty ordinary outfit, with some patchwork players balancing out our ability to play a mix of talls and smalls, but we showed much more effort, ticker, workrate, and application than I have been able to be proud of over the last 14 years. It wasnt about us being front runners last night either, it was simply grinding out contest after contest, and challenging and scrapping for each and every opportunity we could, and by the end of it, we had blokes getting off the leash and getting into dangerous positions, with some good ball use to get it to them.
Sure there was as much to be unhappy about last night, but it was about the decisions we make, and the ball use that really hurt us, and if we tidy that up, Id say we will be a much better side moving forward, and all without some of our better performers, and without a real spine to speak of too.