Rd 4 vs Port Adelaide @ SCG - Match Thread

[RogueSwan]

Did Mills ruin that last shot on goal (not the game, he was great throughout)? It looks like he was celebrating instead of helping block out Alliir. His lost look afterwards kind of gives that away

[mcs]

It fell a reasonable distance short rogue when you see the replay, but I thought our efforts on the line to try and get Aliir out of there left plenty to be desired.

[PerthSwannie]

Turn overs and missed set shots. We deserved to lose....... Sorry Buddy. You've been great for us but it's time for the back paddock.

[Bill Posters]

Aliir was really good. But we were really bad. Even considering the fall of the Iron McCartin. What happened in the second quarter? The whole team just seemed to take a break and assume they were going to win. It felt the same last week, i reckon success has gone to their heads a bit. Hopefully this is a wakeup call.

[H2F]

Loss doesnt really matter in the scheme of things we looked awful against a team who is not top 8 standard.

Forward line wtf is the coach? is a garbled mess zero communication, zero creating space for each other just Franklin/Amartey/Logan all crashing the pack ball hits the ground and the opposition walks it out.

No wonder Melbourne flogged us

[waswan]

2.8
Heeney, Paps, Buddy, Hayward

[longmile]

At the game those two controversial (i.e. non existent) fwd 50 free seemed like the reason they won. Really changed the momentum and opened the game up. I understand we didn’t play great but those two frees put them right back in the drivers seat

[MattW]

He certainly added plenty of run. But their midfield pantsed out midfield late in terms of work-rate. Partially understandable, but disappointing too.

A very frustrating evening indeed and one I fear we will rue later on in the season (but that is making a big assumption -> I haven't seen anywhere near enough quality play from our team yet to suggest we will be anywhere near it come September).

Yes, we're not playing well. Forward line totally dysfunctional tonight. All talls well beaten. Buddy can't beat a good defender anymore. Yes, he's probably gone one year too many. Agree that Reid could take his spot, but Reid's a while off.

Still need more from Heeney, despite being better tonight. Also Hayward. Cunningham is done.

McInerney had just 1 contested possession and 3 tackles; Stephens 3 contested possessions and 0 tackles. And I don't trust either to win a contest or stick a tackle.

Warner, Florent excellent. Gulden and Blakey both had a great last quarter. Campbell showed a fair bit.

[The Big Cat]

At the game those two controversial fwd 50s seemed like the reason they won. Really changed the momentum and opened the game up. I understand we didn’t play great but those two frees put them right back in the drivers seat of the game

I still don’t know why Rampe was penalised

[Maltopia]

One of those umpires tonight, the blond one who spends too much time in the gym was appalling and full of so full of himself too.

[mcs]

One of those umpires tonight, the blond one who spends too much time in the gym was appalling and full of so full of himself too.

He is a truly dreadful umpire. Crucified us a couple of times last season too.

No doubt those 2 frees in the last quarter helped Port a lot - but there was a huge general momentum shift in the middle of that quarter as well. Maybe they wouldn't of got to us without them - but we were moving in quicksand towards the end, while they still had a bit in the tank. Yes losing 2 big talls didn't help our rotations etc - but we seem to have run out of juice 3 weeks in a row to some degree now. A worrying sign - but of course it is a long season ahead.

Big game next week now - we need a win to get back into positive win-loss territory.

[MattW]

Did Mills ruin that last shot on goal (not the game, he was great throughout)? It looks like he was celebrating instead of helping block out Alliir. His lost look afterwards kind of gives that away

Just watched it back. Mills has had a shocker. McDonald should have been over there too. Aliir had a free run at it.

[O'Reilly Boy]

We won't play finals this year. No composure. No leadership. It's devastating seeing players's natural games stifled and, at the same time, rushing decisions (McInenerney, Stephens). Franklin is an absolute liability. Bad decision making, slow, lost confidence in his kicking. 95% of our forward entries were bombing long onto the heads of packs. Really abject display. And if we ever needed to see an argument for having an effective ruck, it was there tonight. Ladhams tapping down to Port players all night did my head in. Amartey was far more competitive, but I worry that we'll do to him what we did to Aliir, forcing hm to play out of position. Florent was going really well, but kicked poorly in the clinch moments, turning the ball over. Campbell needs to go into the midfield, possibly in place of Rowbottom. I rarely hit the panic button, but that was awful tonight, and I think that our lack of depth is going to be a big problem; there's no-one really banging down the doors to get a game.

[BRS328]

Totally agree. You loose two key defenders and it makes life difficult. A genuine effort under difficult circumstances

[Nico]

All those complaining about goal accuracy - there is a very strong and blustery wind making it hard to know where to aim, especially to the more exposed Paddington end of the ground.

They are professionals. They should know how to allow for the wind. Most of those missed set shots were never on line.