Rd 19 v Crows

[SwanSand]

We are not going to be in top 4 come September if we play the way we played last night. It was symptomatic of our deficits that get glossed over when we beat the bottom teams with our flair.
And the best example of it was Chad yesterday - took an exceptional mark and runs into spaces when the ball is won by one of our own but then goes missing when it is too tough and when we are unable to win the contested ball. I know he has other skills that are hard to get and we have to play him differently but it is good when we are on top but when we are not - he goes missing.
Bice and Rosas shouldn’t be in AFL top 23 - just not strong enough in contest.
Campbell, Roberts are both very good kicks but they run around the opposition players and get beaten so often that it is not a joke. Again elite at one thing but below average at another just doesn’t make sense to me.the gap between one skill and another is so much at present that we cannot win with this group. We need to get a few stronger contested players

[Roadrunner]

We are not going to be in top 4 come September if we play the way we played last night. It was symptomatic of our deficits that get glossed over when we beat the bottom teams with our flair.
And the best example of it was Chad yesterday - took an exceptional mark and runs into spaces when the ball is won by one of our own but then goes missing when it is too tough and when we are unable to win the contested ball. I know he has other skills that are hard to get and we have to play him differently but it is good when we are on top but when we are not - he goes missing.
Bice and Rosas shouldn’t be in AFL top 23 - just not strong enough in contest.
Campbell, Roberts are both very good kicks but they run around the opposition players and get beaten so often that it is not a joke. Again elite at one thing but below average at another just doesn’t make sense to me.the gap between one skill and another is so much at present that we cannot win with this group. We need to get a few stronger contested players

I agree with your main point- we have problems beating the top teams and Bice and Rosas are not strong enough in the contest. But you’re a bit harsh on Chad- the last few weeks he has been very good and hasn’t shirked any issues. Has he made mistakes? Sure, but that’s a given with the tempo the game is played today. The aim is to keep these to a minimum. I thought Campbell tried very hard and was among a handful who earned their pay, keeping in mind it was his first game for the year. I was very disappointed with Errol’s game- but he also is coming back from serious injury.

My main gripe is that I don’t think we are playing together like a team- just a collection of individuals and not backing up each other anywhere as well as they should. The aim is to bring pressure for the whole game, like we did in the 3rd quarter- we can’t expect to beat any of the top sides playing just 1 quarter!
This has been our problem for years now, and it’s unrealistic to expect Coxy and Co to fix it quickly. If we’re honest, we can see that we don’t have the squad depth to cover injuries and we get beaten in clearances and in the air most weeks.

To address this we need time and careful personnel selection so as supporters we have to be patient.

Go Bloods!!

[KSAS]

I've found most of these post game anaylsis posts constructive, with alot of thought put into them.

I was a bit surprised by Rosas' recall. as i had been calling for lDattolli and Cootee to be given priority for their body of VFL performances.

Bice had strong numbers but i wasn't sure if he had addressed his defensive weaknesses (tackling). He is a skilful player and it's between the ears stuff that needs improving.

This is now a challenging time for Cox & co to address weaknesses that have been exposed by quality teams, with 5 games to the finals. Still enough time to have us peak at the business end.

With Wicks and now CunnIngham out (conc), wonder who will play that small defender role?

If Heeney is carrying an injury, then please rest/manage him. Still have vision of his 2024 GF foot injury.

[dejavoodoo44]

I've found most of these post game anaylsis posts constructive, with alot of thought put into them.

I was a bit surprised by Rosas' recall. as i had been calling for lDattolli and Cootee to be given priority for their body of VFL performances.

Bice had strong numbers but i wasn't sure if he had addressed his defensive weaknesses (tackling). He is a skilful player and it's between the ears stuff that needs improving.

This is now a challenging time for Cox & co to address weaknesses that have been exposed by quality teams, with 5 games to the finals. Still enough time to have us peak at the business end.

With Wicks and now CunnIngham out (conc), wonder who will play that small defender role?

If Heeney is carrying an injury, then please rest/manage him. Still have vision of his 2024 GF foot injury.

I wouldn't mind Cootee being given a go as a small defender. He's pretty quick, can definitely stick a tackle, could probably make a contribution to rebounding and he gives me impression that he can stick to a task. Of course, if he hasn't played in that position, then it is a risk, but it might be one worth taking. Campbell would probably be an option, as he's played in defence before, but I prefer him in an attacking role. You could possibly try a similar conversion with Corey, but I think Cootee is a better tackler. Rampe will probably spend some time on one of the smaller GWS forwards, but he often goes to Greene.

[UUaswan]

Availability is an issue but we can't keep -

Playing Rampe as a key Defender
Thinking we dont need Mills in the middle
Play Sheldrick 1st year minutes
Run Grundy into the ground
Not play taller fwd when we have Availability

Well said by another poster
A team of individuals, not a team.

Grundy and Rampe do stupid @@@@ every week giving away free kicks, 1 in the middle of the ground to give away a clearance, the ither in front of goal. 2 oldest bloke in the team, how does that not get called out during a review

As far as recruitment, this Coaches box has the cattle, if you had to pick 10 players from Crows and Swans on the weekend to start a team, Dawson and Tilthorpe would be the only Crows to get picked. Heeney, Warner, Grundy, Errol and our Midfield is @@@@house, thats on the coaches box.

[stevoswan]

Guys, let’s get realistic: The Crows were much the better team last night and only a handful of our players kept us in the game- led by Chad and Paps. It seems obvious that as a team, we are not strong enough either physically or mentally. We may be scarred from our 2 embarrassing GF’s, but I think it’s deeper than that.

We are good enough to play finals but not good enough to win a flag. So if our aim is to do so, which iit should be, then we have to address the holes I.e. the weak spots in our team. When Nicks took over the Crows, they were easy beats and cellar dwellers. Now they have a team competing with Freo and the Lions who also were in similar positions a few years ago. What they all did was not rocket science: they made some astute trades bringing in established talent and due to their low position on the ladder, they were able to pick up the best potential players in the drafts over a few years. The result is where they are at present.

Now our coaches and management have to make some tough decisions regarding our team, as I think we can agree that our bottom 6 is simply not good enough to win a flag. They need to make a call on our long- serving and loyal players in Ramps, Lloyd and Harry. They are now average at best and we need to blood young players like Dattoli ,Kyle, Cootee, Snell, Green, Phillipou and maybe some others and thus look to the future. We get beaten in clearances by the top teams so obviously we need to address our midfield and ruck positions.
Charlie and Serong were excellent trades last year and we have to identify and then obtain at least another 2 next year. This is not easy but that’s the job of our management! In the draft, we have to look at specific positions that are needed, not necessarily best available. This way, we can replace our bottom 6 over the next 2 years and give ourselves a great chance for a premiership.

At best, we maybe close to Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood and Melbourne but we’re nowhere near Freo, the Lions and the Crows at the moment, with our current team.
Cox will be a very good coach but this is only his second year and has improved a lot already. I’m confident that he can lead us to a flag but he and his co- coaches have to make some tough calls!

Astute post and a good assessment as to where we're at.

Some of our older stalwarts have to go and we need to give some of the youngsters a go or lose them possibly only to shine elsewhere.

You're right, some tough decisions have to be made.

[stevoswan]

Fogarty has been given three weeks for his whack on Cunningham. Which I think is about right: swinging stiff arm directly to the front of the head.

One of the few times the MRO has got it right.