Autopsy Round 1 = Collingwood 69-102 Sydney

[Mollythedolly]

Suddenly next week against St Kilda is a must win game or the season could be over already with Brisbane at the Gabba the following week.

Zero and four is suddenly a real possibility.

Top 4 sides last year lost 5-6-6-7 games respectively. I'm not sure why it matters when those losses occur, or if early losses are any more/less significant than late losses like we had last year. GWS lost 3 of their 1st 4 last year, still made the 8 and could very easily have made the GF.

 

[Sea fog]

They better do this soon Saints and Lions next won't be pushovers.

Yep, we never beat Lions up there and Saints actually have forwards and better young players than us.

 

[Carringbush2010]

We can steady the ship. This obviously isn’t our brand.

That said geeze supporters can be fickle. Since 2018 our results have been
18- lost gf by a kick
19- lost prelim by a kick
20- lost semi (well beaten)
21- 2nd last
22- lost prelim by a kick
23- won the big dance

That’s an amazing record any way you put it. We’ve all known there’s a small cliff coming with our ageing list like Geel. Like Geel we snagged that flag before it came.

The issues we’ve all discussed on here and been aware of for some time is the lack of first round draft talent to replace those ageing stars. Through high finished or terrible trading we haven’t had access to top talent other than nick in some time.

At some point that’s going to catch up with us. Teams have highs and lows, no team stays up forever.

We won our flag. There’s plenty of time left in this season to right the ship, but this team is not a dynasty team, and we’ve all known this.

In the risk of derailing the thread.

The club had a chance to go dynasty with our 2010 team, which began way back in 07, the club allowed a totally green coach to take the reigns of an unbelievably stacked team.

May as well hand your nephew who's never driven before the keys of your VF 557 KW GTS. A recipe for disaster, as it played out.

Fast forward to 2018, the only reason we were in it was because of Buckley's tactical vision and the coaching panel able to turn no names into back page news. Almost snagged the unsnaggable.

Fast forward to now, with Fly doing the same as Buckley we win a flag, admittedly a better list than 2018. None the less we are far from the best list in it regardless of the flag.

In saying that I'm confident our system, when we get it right will have us back in contention, because we're not personnel reliant as the other contenders are.

 

[Mollythedolly]

Did Noble play well R0?

I didn't think so. Can't question his effort but didn't have a lot of positive impact with his possessions.

 

[Carringbush2010]

Does this mean we're winning it again in 2028

So long as the blose or bombouts don't win it in that time.

 

[magpies42]

Our disposal was shocking last night. Country league turnovers. More often than not they resulted in opposition goals. That’s not game plan or personnel. That’s a lack of care.

This is a symptom of confidence and constantly being under pressure because we don’t have any marking power and our game plan is being unpicked.

Our best marking player is not taking as many intercepts and is not giving us run. We need to bring Frampton in to take their best forward and play Moore as more an intercept type. Our fortunes turned when Murphy joined the backline, hopefully that happens again some time soon!

I don’t understand why we rest cox and Cameron forward more often. They can at least compete in the air. Johnson is not a key forward, playing him out of position or at all is not a good idea. Will destroy his confidence. Bring Reef or Frampton in.

I think another indicator of our decline is pressure, when do we ever lose the tackle count?! I think the players need a rocket as a bit of a wake up. Players need to be dropped starting with AJ.

 

[sr36]

That's not right. Neither defend like we do by pushing up so high & leaving dangerous opposition forwards unopposed.
Checkers & AJ had opponents right on their hammer all night. McDonald had a field day because we gave him all the space he could ever want. May gave him no space last week & McDonald was a non issue for Melbourne even though they lost the game. If we don't start making a contest a priority in our back half we won't turn this around. The really frustrating thing with our tall backs is that they aren't intercepting & aren't involved in score chains anymore. So how about playing accountable defence? We can't concede over 100 points per game & expect a different result. Sydney & GWS are both playing accountable defence & then their mids who flood back to help transition the ball out & into attack.

Our defenders regularly leave their man to sprint forward to pressure the ball carrier, impact a contest or give an option - leaving those who've stayed at home in defence outnumbered, so they sag off their man hedging their bets to also cover the other man or the more dangerous space. If we can't maintain the pressure on the ball carrier or turn it over in the back half, the defender who has sagged off his man looks really slack. If our pressure isn't enough, or we're turning it over, our defence looks awful. It's our system. It's worked for two years. We're not going to throw it out yet.

 

[danielnajdek]

After just watching Take The Steps and listening to Darcy talking in his car after the game against GWS. I can fully understand that players lose a little bit after a premiership. Like Darce said it's so much hard work to get there especially after losing the previous year to the Swans by a point. So I understand that players feel like it's a lot of work to get there again. Will always appreciate what those guys did last year.

 

[The Magnificent Seven]

Yeah. Watched Take the Steps now. Last night has been washed away. Address the bad then move onward. It’s a long season and I went too angry too early. Need to keep a lid on it

 

[Hardas]

Yeah. Watched Take the Steps now. Last night has been washed away. Address the bad then move onward. It’s a long season and I went too angry too early. Need to keep a lid on it

Yeah, mostly ditto. Though I haven't been angry, really.

More like disconnected, I'd say.

Listening to the players chanting "COLL LING WOO OOD" broke through.

I still have faith in them - players & coaches - to make somethng good out of the season.

After what they achieved last year, I think I owe them some faith.

 

[loki04]

Is it me or does Fly look far more stressed this year?
He certainly had a range of emotions we haven’t seen before.

Sure we’ve lost before, but he looked perplexed and worried all night.
Which speaks little that maybe the players are no where near what he wants and the fix isn’t simple.

Next few weeks will be a curious watch.

Yea, I also noticed it just before half time vs GWS as well, looked a mixture of worried and angry during the game.

 

[Kappa]

Yea, I also noticed it just before half time vs GWS as well, looked a mixture of worried and angry during the game.

Has a newborn baby, might be effecting his sleep

 

[loki04]

After just watching Take The Steps and listening to Darcy talking in his car after the game against GWS. I can fully understand that players lose a little bit after a premiership. Like Darce said it's so much hard work to get there especially after losing the previous year to the Swans by a point. So I understand that players feel like it's a lot of work to get there again. Will always appreciate what those guys did last year.

It's why it's important to add enough fresh faces into the team or new roles to help drive the hunger back up.

 

[loki04]

Has a newborn baby, might be effecting his sleep

Haha maybe, maybe.

 

[swoop42]

Make no mistake.

Beneath the nice guy persona is a coach who is a fierce competitor and a winner.

Multiple flags as an AFL player and assistant coach, VFL premiership coach, AFL premiership coach.

He wouldn't be enjoying what he has been witnessing I'm certain of that.

 

[LuckyLee]

Yea, I also noticed it just before half time vs GWS as well, looked a mixture of worried and angry during the game.

With good reason! He’d hate what he’s seeing out on the field and we have no game-changing players on the sidelines to bring in.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[sr36]

Is it me or does Fly look far more stressed this year?
He certainly had a range of emotions we haven’t seen before.

Sure we’ve lost before, but he looked perplexed and worried all night.
Which speaks little that maybe the players are no where near what he wants and the fix isn’t simple.

Next few weeks will be a curious watch.

We've lost other games, but that was the first time I can remember us being thrashed under Fly. The scoreboard flattered us. That was a 12 goal flogging.

 

[TW Sherrin]

Our defenders regularly leave their man to sprint forward to pressure the ball carrier, impact a contest or give an option - leaving those who've stayed at home in defence outnumbered, so they sag off their man hedging their bets to also cover the other man or the more dangerous space. If we can't maintain the pressure on the ball carrier or turn it over in the back half, the defender who has sagged off his man looks really slack. If our pressure isn't enough, or we're turning it over, our defence looks awful. It's our system. It's worked for two years. We're not going to throw it out yet.

Dean replacing Murphy can't be underestimated. The backs are regularly playing 4 on 5 and have to be able to cover space and a man.

 

[sr36]

Dean replacing Murphy can't be underestimated. The backs are regularly playing 4 on 5 and have to be able to cover space and a man.

Agree. It was a horrible shit storm of:

a) terrible turnovers in the back half
b) not being able to pressure their entries, because either the pressure was off or they were too good.
c) Dean copping a bath in contests.

B is the biggest concern. I'd put a and c down to a shithouse night that won't be as bad again, but all those quick, sidestepping skillful mids may be too much for our system and personnel to cope with. They were ****ing good. Too much pressure for us to get going and too good with the ball for us to stop them. Much like we've been for other teams. Even if you take out the **** ups, they beat us at our own game.

 

[Ingy]

I think we've played two top 4 sides so far.

We haven't played well at all, but we still could have pinched a win against poorer opposition - like Carlton did lol.

We will get better, and the quality of our opposition will get worse. We'll win plenty of games. And then the next time we play one of the NSW sides, it'll be a different story.

But Ash's papers need to be stamped I'm afraid. It's never going to happen. He's a liability.

And Fin needs to be in the middle at the first bounce. He was awesome once he entered the fray. If he had started the game, it would have panned out very differently I reckon. He's ready to make a serious impact at AFL level.

The sky is not, in fact, falling in, I don't reckon

 

[Kes1984]

Anyone know if the pregame footage from channel 7 is available now?
My mum just told me she saw me on the footage. I think when Daisy Thomas was being interviewed during March to the G. Can’t see the game on 7+ and couldn’t find anything on YouTube.

I was fortunate to accompany the flag to the G. Was up front by accident so not surprised if my mug ended up on TV.

On a side note, it was pretty emotional being near the flag!!

 

[The Royal Sampler]

The game reminded me of our round 4 game @ Brisbane last year.

We were fumbly, hesitant, turned the ball over ad nauseum and got destroyed from those turnovers. Lost by a very similar margin and that margin flattered us in both instances.

The differences obviously are that we were playing at the MCG, and we weren’t coming off three victories to start the season including a big win against Geelong and an annihilation of GWS.

At any rate, we turned it around. We need to stop the rot against the Saints, though. Now or never.

 

[Fruit]

Can Fin and Titch co-exist in the same centre square? Are they similar or different enough to make it work.

 

[windchimes]

The game reminded me of our round 4 game @ Brisbane last year.

We were fumbly, hesitant, turned the ball over ad nauseum and got destroyed from those turnovers. Lost by a very similar margin and that margin flattered us in both instances.

The differences obviously are that we were playing at the MCG, and we weren’t coming off three victories to start the season including a big win against Geelong and an annihilation of GWS.

At any rate, we turned it around. We need to stop the rot against the Saints, though. Now or never.

We bounced back with a win against Saints last year the week after too.

Hopefully history repeats itself.

 

[gouki88]

Can Fin and Titch co-exist in the same centre square? Are they similar or different enough to make it work.

Maybe? It would rely on De Goey, Crisp and others spending less time there.