Post Match. Pies lose to Port. All comments, please.

[the fuzz]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, did every team in the 8 win this week except us?


Say it isn't so...

Such is life...

Well yeah, but no one else had to play the top side ...

[PyreneesPie]

Agree. Port have been on TOP of the ladder ALL season and they were simply better than a team who has been about mid table all year.

There was nothing wrong with our effort. We are in the position we are in because of games we lost against weaker opposition earlier in the season, not because of our efforts against Port tonight.
Every now and again you get beaten by a team who is better than you but it’s those same morons week in, week in out who don’t seem to think that should ever be a determining reason as to why we get beaten.
Hard as it is to accept, sometimes the opposition is a class above and that’s what happened tonight.

Very astute post Pies 2016!!
For some reason today, I kept thinking if only we'd won that game against Freo in Perth, we wouldn't be in the position of having to go back there next game. And getting beaten by the Bombers
I feel as though as though our chances of finishing higher were also dealt a cruel blow with the loss of Jeremy Howe and JDG for so many weeks.
The facts are we were not disgraced against the top three and beat 4th placed Geelong.
This suggests we are reasonably good team, but despite trying hard, just haven't had the consistent class to finish further up the ladder.

[Magpietothemax]

Very Disappointing
It’s been a year where we really haven’t got going at all
As good as we have been defensively we just don’t score enough to trouble the rest of the teams in the top 8. Even the teams below us we didn’t do that well.

We lack pressure
We lack toughness
Opposition teams are not afraid of Collingwood

Teams just wait for us to make a mistake and turnover the ball. How many goals did we we gift to Port.

Why do the players lack confidence

Every week if we lose Buckley will say where we lost the game but yet he and the coaching staff have not been able to rectify or fix our problems.

We are such a frustrating team to watch

We are in the top 2 of defensive teams in the competition, so it is impossible that we lack toughness or pressure.
Teams don't just wait for us to turn it over. Other teams apply pressure to us which causes errors, etc. Otherwise, if you don't accept that, you don't actually acknowledge that there is an opponent on the field attempting to thwart you.
Opposition teams are not afraid of us mostly i believe because we have apparently abandoned any systematic attempt to move the ball through the corridor. Our constant inclination to avoid risks by travelling around the periphery is the key reason why other teams don't fear us. Yet we have seen many examples, unfortunately so infrequent, when we move the ball aggressively through the centre of the ground, we seize the initiative.
I hope against WCE that we just go for aggressive ball movement. Whenever there is a choice, choose the direct option forward, and through the middle. Have the instructions ready when WCE flood the corridor. They flood the corridor, we go sideways aggressively. Throw caution to the wind, and just move the ball fast.

[Jezza]

The team did the best it could given the abilities it had. This is an 8th best team playing the #1 team in the comp and we lost by 3 goals which is perfectly reflective of where the two teams are at.

Now, why we are the #8 best team in the competition when we had players out there like Pendles, DeGoey, Treloar, Grundy, Adams, Moore, Crisp and host of other players that should be either very good or excellent like Stevo, WHE, Elliot, Mihocek, Maynard is a serious question that continues to hold us back. Our general skill level is still an issue, especially under perceived pressure. Far too much fumbling going on. Not enough overlap running. Poor decision making even with time to think. Constant rushed no-look kicks and backwards handballing when a direct quick kick i50 is needed all adds up to a cocktail of under performance.

Not to mention our lack of "intimidation" factor. That intimidation factor can win you games before they even begin or at least give you a huge edge. I don't see anyone push the opposition around, mouth off to them etc outside of Maynard and Greenwood, not enough. Our big men are just not physical enough and don't set the standard.

We weren't too far away on the scoreboard but we never really looked to trouble them, they looked in 3rd gear to be honest and should have won by a few more goals. It's clear our depth is a problem, I can reel off a lot of names that are simply just either spectactors or liabilities with their turnovers. Hate to throw in Grundy, but currently he is more a liability than an asset. Too many poor decisions in the ruck contests giving away goals, too many taps direct to opposition or going backwards losing us momentum. Not sure what is up there but he is hurting us right now.

Thomas, Brown, Greenwood, WHE, Stevo & Varcoe are giving us next to nothing, genuine passengers over the course of 4 quarters. They may give some 1% stuff and chip in occassionally but they are awol 90% of screen time. We are carrying too many and the load is felt by too few. This is the true heart of our problem and it filters through the confidence of team when not all of the 22 pull their weight. Our bottom 6 are a true liability and it needs to be the strength of every premiership team.

No reason we can't still beat the Eagles though (but probably won't). They aren't goiong all that flash and have their injury concerns too. Only question is do we have the balls for the challenge?

This.

Thought our effort was admirable and we stayed in touch with Port. However, we were destroyed in the centre clearances so it led to easy goals for Port as soon as we were in touching distance of them.

I don't expect much against West Coast, though I'd love to be pleasantly surprised. We haven't been good enough this year and I think our ladder position is a fair reflection of where we sit.

We always seem to encounter West Coast in the finals. We played them in 1990, 1994, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2018 and now 2020.

[K]

Grundy must be the smallest ruck I've ever seen. He needs another string in his bow. Can't do anything around the ground to help out like a midfielder should. Hey is an absolute 7 million dollar embarrassment.
Moore should demand 10million.

The way Grundy continues to tap the ball at his feet!!! To nobody!!! Smash the bloody thing!! He has been a shadow of himself this year. Nowhere near as effective. Doesn't judge the centre bounces very well either and most time doesn't compete or jump at all. We need him back to the way he played before we gave him that multi year deal.

He tried that at the end against Essendon. (Just re-watch the last 15 minutes of the game.) The ball still ended up with the oppo.

[Magpietothemax]

Jezza: Thought our effort was admirable and we stayed in touch with Port. However, we were destroyed in the centre clearances so it led to easy goals for Port as soon as we were in touching distance of them.

In a nutshell, this is why we lost tonight. All over the field we were equal. The factor that tilted the balance was centre clearances.
Just so disappointed that this was so clearly identified last year, yet we have seemed to make so little progress on this issue in 2020.

[PyreneesPie]

We did see at least one magnificent bit of Pies play tonight.
Eleven years after this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIIV71Kt58U - Pendles does it again with the lightning intercept of an unusual Port fumble, a quick thinking handpass to JDG and goal!!!!! What a marvel he is.

[PyreneesPie]

Just so disappointed that this was so clearly identified last year, yet we have seemed to make so little progress on this issue in 2020.

Yes and the year before that MTMM!! There's been so much discussion about it on the footy forums and it blows the mind to think that we have two legendary centre players on our coaching panel and it can't seem to be fixed!.

What made Brodie an AA ruckman last year was that he would drop to his knees and fight for the ball that had dropped to his feet like an additional mid-fielder. I could well have a selective memory, but I can't recall him doing so much of that this year (carrying an injury perhaps?).

[K]

Well today I had a wisdom tooth removed. Just one this time.

Already making excuses for unwise posts?

My posts rule and you love them.

The posts I love the most are the naughty ones I catch just before they get snipped by the Mods.

[Magpietothemax]

Already making excuses for unwise posts?

My posts rule and you love them.

The posts I love the most are the naughty ones I catch just before they get snipped by the Mods.

Can you please tell me how you catch them? I continually get shafted by those razor scissors.

[Magpietothemax]

Just so disappointed that this was so clearly identified last year, yet we have seemed to make so little progress on this issue in 2020.

Yes and the year before that MTMM!! There's been so much discussion about it on the footy forums and it blows the mind to think that we have two legendary centre players on our coaching panel and it can't seem to be fixed!.

What made Brodie an AA ruckman last year was that he would drop to his knees and fight for the ball that had dropped to his feet like an additional mid-fielder. I could well have a selective memory, but I can't recall him doing so much of that this year (carrying an injury perhaps?).

I thought actually that I saw plenty tonight of Brodie dropping to his knees and fightning for the ball at ground level.

He did look exhausted tonight though. When he went up in the ruck, you could see it in his eyes. I think that is our coaching/selectors fault. He has not been given grace the entire year. Should have been.
Brodie was not the issue tonight. As always, gave his all, and did plenty around the ground. The fundamental issue is: Why do we get continually smashed in centre clearances??

[Cam]

Sidebottom should be on the damn plane to Perth.

[K]

That may now be impossible (even if club and player did a massive backflip). From the QLD hub, they need to isolate in Perth for 7 days, but straight from Melbourne it'd be 14 days.

The AFL is expected to announce a Thu night game, so the main group has to leave QLD by Wed.

[Magpietothemax]

Sidebottom should be on the damn plane to Perth.

Nah...desperation measures like this are useless.
Get Sier back in the team.
Get Ruscoe in the team.
Not sure who he replaces: WHE, Varcs,...but get him backi in.

And go for it.
Nothing to lose Pies.

[Piesnchess]

I guess from point of view of the top side v the 8th side, it wasnt all bad, we kicked 2 goals less than them. They had all the luck, we had none. I thought our back were great, crisp, IQ is a gem, going to be another Harry O, Roughie never gave up, Moore battled hard. Our forward line let us down, Cox battled, but De Goey, Elliott, Checkers, were luke warm only, i cant recall hardly any inside 50 marks to any of them, maybe two, and that wont win a game against the ladder leaders. Stevo made slight progress, but not near his best at all. I think Varks and Thomas are cooked, least 2 changes, maybe Mayne andyoung Ruscoe. On Grundy, i reckon hes just tired, i dont think he was managed once this season ? The bye will help us re jig the ship, i dont reckon the Eagles are the power team they once were, and we will be rank underdogs, and we have beaten them before over there. It is what it is, Port just a bit too good on the night.