AFL Grand Final Week Discussion Thread

[Bloods05]

I don't believe in kicking someone when they're down. The GWS fans have suffered enough.

Yes.

[liz]

This is a football thread, on a football forum. It's for discussing football.

If you wish to make character slurs about people, unrelated to football, please go somewhere else and do it.

[liz]

The 2017 Adelaide side is another example.

I'm not as confident as you that they'll bounce back. The excellent Coniglio returning will help. Hopefully for them Ward returns fully fit. Haynes enhanced his reputation.

But Greene and Cameron reverted to ugly play under pressure. The team was made to look like flat track bullies, who couldn't hack the pressure when it was turned on them. Greene is going to be under a lot more pressure next year.

It was the poorest performance in a GF since 2007. Maybe it was worse than Port's in that year.

I wonder if the fact it was a GF distracted the Giants' coaching staff from the fact it was also a game of football. They didn't seem to have any plan capable of competing with Richmond, irrespective of the greater pressure of it being a grand final. Richmond play in a particular way, and they are very good at it. They are not unbeatable, but you have to have a clear way to approach a game against them. I don't think their win yesterday was due to individual brilliance. Sure, there were some moments of brilliance (especially from Martin), but that doesn't account for how one-sided the game was. Those moments of brilliance were the icing, not the cake. Richmond played in the way everyone knew they would play and GWS seemed to have no idea how to cope. It may well have been that Richmond's recent GF experience, and the fact they are so confident in their game plan, would have got them over the line even if GWS had come with a plan on how to beat them.

Picking Davis and Whitfield didn't help GWS' cause, as neither was able to play close to their normal level. But just as Longmire "gambled" with McVeigh, Parker and Mills in 2016, maybe Cameron figured whoever he replaced these two with wouldn't have done any better. Who knows.

But the lack of a tactical game plan that MIGHT work was, IMO, GWS greatest problem.

[SeanM]

Abysmal GF losses like that can make or break a team. Freo lost badly a few years back and have not looked like it ever since. In contrast, Essendon were thrashed in the 83 GF by the Dawks and came back the next year to reverse the result. GWS have so much talent at the peak of their careers so I expect them to hit back hard next year.

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I think it is hard to predict. Because I think a lot has to go right to make a grand final.

Even looking at gws. They were in poor form in the final rounds of the season. But they got some key players back for the finals. They beat the bulldogs who were the form team and won two close finals.

[sprite]

It was the poorest performance in a GF since 2007. Maybe it was worse than Port's in that year.

I wonder if the fact it was a GF distracted the Giants' coaching staff from the fact it was also a game of football. They didn't seem to have any plan capable of competing with Richmond, irrespective of the greater pressure of it being a grand final. Richmond play in a particular way, and they are very good at it. They are not unbeatable, but you have to have a clear way to approach a game against them. I don't think their win yesterday was due to individual brilliance. Sure, there were some moments of brilliance (especially from Martin), but that doesn't account for how one-sided the game was. Those moments of brilliance were the icing, not the cake. Richmond played in the way everyone knew they would play and GWS seemed to have no idea how to cope. It may well have been that Richmond's recent GF experience, and the fact they are so confident in their game plan, would have got them over the line even if GWS had come with a plan on how to beat them.

Picking Davis and Whitfield didn't help GWS' cause, as neither was able to play close to their normal level. But just as Longmire "gambled" with McVeigh, Parker and Mills in 2016, maybe Cameron figured whoever he replaced these two with wouldn't have done any better. Who knows.

But the lack of a tactical game plan that MIGHT work was, IMO, GWS greatest problem.

Agree with you Liz about the lack of a plan to counter Richmond. Everyone thought they would start with the ugly game style but Richmond beat them to it and they couldn't counteract it

They now need a coach to take them to the next step. Cameron has been a good development coach but to me isn't a top line coach to get them a flag.

They should be targeting someone Buckley or Clarkson.

[Aprilbr]

GWS have a lot of talent including some young early draft picks who did not make the GF team. Unless there is a player exodus I expect them to contend for several years yet. Their main weakness seems to be in the ruck. They have been heavily linked to Sauce Jacobs from Adelaide.

I think our list has a lot more holes in it than theirs at present (sorry to have to say that but it's my honest appraisal). We are 2-3 years away from contending now unless there is a sudden injection of established talent.

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[Ralph Dawg]

This is a football thread, on a football forum. It's for discussing football.

If you wish to make character slurs about people, unrelated to football, please go somewhere else and do it.

I understand why my posts were deleted. No hard feelings.
I'll keep my dislike of anything GWS to myself in future.

[Blood Fever]

Agree with you Liz about the lack of a plan to counter Richmond. Everyone thought they would start with the ugly game style but Richmond beat them to it and they couldn't counteract it

They now need a coach to take them to the next step. Cameron has been a good development coach but to me isn't a top line coach to get them a flag.

They should be targeting someone Buckley or Clarkson.

Buckley?

[Auntie.Gerald]

Rowbottom to run in GF sprint - sydneyswans.com.au

How did he go?

Super surprised rowbottom is our fastest player?

Florent?

[707]

Rowbottom to run in GF sprint - sydneyswans.com.au

How did he go?

Super surprised rowbottom is our fastest player?

Florent?

Players decide among themselves who is going, there's been some funny ones from various clubs over the years, it's not the fastest player. A stack of players are not available, on overseas holidays, like Ollie. They get two free GF tickets to go in it so some players stick their hand up for that reason. Rowbottom never made the final.

[Boddo]

- 2.9 million watched the GF, the first time it’s been lower than 3 million since 2011.

- Figures were 33% lower than last year’s 4.3 million

- only 991k watched in Melbourne, the lowest in eight years

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/roosters-storm-clash-breaks-tv-ratings-records-for-nrl-as-afl-grand-final-flounders-20190929-p52vyd.html

[dimelb]

Rowbottom to run in GF sprint - sydneyswans.com.au

How did he go?

Super surprised rowbottom is our fastest player?

Florent?

Won by Ben King (GC)

For further details see AFL news. It won't let me show it here.

[Ludwig]

Rowbottom to run in GF sprint - sydneyswans.com.au

How did he go?

Super surprised rowbottom is our fastest player?

Florent?

Usually run by a player who doesn't make enough money to go on an overseas vacation. He was also given the job of explaining to Papley's girlfriend why he was in Barcelona with Ollie Florent and bunch of other young Swannies.

[Hotpotato]

Rushed through my work day, switched off all devices to get home to watch the replay.
The first quarter had promise, maybe if Toby and Harry had nailed both shots....
Then the Tigers flicked to turbo-charge and their dodge and weave and tsunami footy was just a Masterclass .
Giants didn’t give a yelp, unlike against the Pies and Lions.
Melbourne piles on the hype, you can believe you are a hero well before 2.30pm Saturday .
Happened to many .
Don’t watch it, move forward .

[KTigers]

I am watching the NSW version of this tonight.....not that the Storm deserve to be playing at home but they've played a few GF's away to lower NSW based opposition and are tonight being crucified in the penalty count in front of a crowd which resembles today's very one sided and very vocal attendance.

There are two major football leagues in this country with massive integrity issues.....

It's simple really. Australia is a small country without the population, financial resources and level of interest to
support a balanced and fair national comp. That's why we don't have one in any football code. I suppose you could
argue the Sheffield Shield is a balanced comp in the sense that technically each team has it's own stadium.
As far as Australian Rules goes we're going to need a much bigger population, a lot more money and a lot more people
interested. But because it's only played in Australia the revenue is always going to be limited to what they can
squeeze out of the population here.