Rd 20 vs Essendon @ Marvel - Match Thread

[stevoswan]

Anyone who thinks we’re a well coached team is kidding themselves

We seemed pretty well coached for the first three quarters. Of course, at three quarter time the players were told 'don't play to win, play not to lose'.....and being one down on the bench in the last and all those tired legs.....that's obviously all on the coaches.

You have no idea what's going on in the coaches box. None of us have. Some of you just have targets.

[Mel_C]

First read I thought you said you really wanted to smash the dickheads in front of you. [emoji15]

I thought you were off to the Tribunal!

It was getting close Meg ????. Especially the tool with the @@@@ hair cut!

[Blood Fever]

Anyone who thinks we’re a well coached team is kidding themselves

Knew you'd come good late

[dejavoodoo44]

Nice to win, but could have done without the late comeback. Parts of the performance was very good, parts weren't. A lot of the rebound and ball movement, for the first three quarters, was beautifully done. Conversely, we were being beaten in the clearances and contested possessions for much of the match. We also seemed to lack some drive when Rampe went off. I really hope it's only a minor strain.

I thought Gulden was BOG. Huge amount of drive and skill. McCartin and Cunningham had strong games in defence. Campbell, Florent and McInerney had some very effective ball movement; with McInerney producing some clutch efforts. Warner and Rowbottom battled hard in the middle, without getting consistently on top. While in attack, Amartey, Papley and Wicks took the majority of their chances.

Still alive, but obviously room for improvement.

[Roadrunner]

I don't want us in the finals...we are just fodder...I want a full pre season, a good draft season and a full on attack on the flag next year...

If we play like in this last quarter, we don’t deserve to play finals. We just ran out of legs and can’t afford to miss a shot for goal when momentum needs to be regained. Don’t want to be too hard on Wicks as he played a good game but please! But a few positives: Amartey, Errol and JMac were terrific.
Harry and Ollie good as was McLean and Campbell. Tom Mac and Paps were ok as well as Isaac, but Robbie was poor tonight. As for Clarke: can someone please tell Horse that he shouldn’t be anywhere near this team and defo no value as a sub- we were effectively a man down when Buddy went off.

We have 4 tough games ahead and will need to play a lot better and certainly finish games off.

[liz]

I think that game just illustrates what we’ve commented on for much of the year — we’re not quite fit enough this year. Far less running in the second half. Resorted to long bombs forward. Mental fatigue leading to sloppy disposal and panicked decision making that gifted the ball back to Essendon. Fewer tackles nailed.

[dejavoodoo44]

Only one came back straight after half time when we kicked those 3 goals. Then the rest came back and unfortunately Essendon started playing better. They all left quickly after the final siren ????.

All's well that ends well.

[stevoswan]

Oh, so you think the players made the decision to play slow football and ultra defensive from the beginning of the 4th... Righto...

So you really think Horse said to them 'don't play to win, play not to lose'? FFS.

[troyjones2525]

I'd imagine that Francis will be pulled out of the reserves tomorrow as cover for Rampe next week. I wouldn't mind seeing us give Harry Arnold a go though.

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[Thunder Shaker]

It seems to be a never ending story. Lead by 4-5 goals and the opposition runs over us. That goal from Papley and the lucky bounce was our life saver. It very concerning how many one on one contests we seem to lose. A win was nice but something is not clicking correctly.

* Slight lack of fitness means we're not running out games.
* We are ranked last for intercept marks this year.
* Rampe appeared to be injured.

[troyjones2525]

So you really think Horse said to them 'don't play to win, play not to lose'? FFS.

No I don't think he would say those exact words, however blind freddy could see our game style slow way down from the very beginning of the last quarter! Or so I thought... I guess others were oblivious to seeing Mills push right back after the Centre bounce and us rarely play on (like we did the first 3 quarters)... But hey, the players run their own race in our side! Fair enough...

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[Roadrunner]

I think that game just illustrates what we’ve commented on for much of the year — we’re not quite fit enough this year. Far less running in the second half. Resorted to long bombs forward. Mental fatigue leading to sloppy disposal and panicked decision making that gifted the ball back to Essendon. Fewer tackles nailed.

Yes, but you would think that by this time of the year fitness wouldn’t be an issue, irrespective of pre-season. Agreed that there was less running but this may be due to mental fatigue more than fitness. The next 4 games will be tough!

[Captain]

Yep was pretty easy to see we changed tactics in the last quarter. We were trying to save the game, not win it. Was so frustrating.

[troyjones2525]

Yep was pretty easy to see we changed tactics in the last quarter. We were trying to save the game, not win it. Was so frustrating.

Apparently not for all of us Captain....

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[Mel_C]

What is it with these close games against Essendon? I want to see a smashing for a change.

The Rampe injury is interesting because he was running sprints on the boundary right in front of me. Is it a calf injury?

We were exhausted after the game. Most players were limping.