The Moment: Rd 2 vs St. Kilda

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

The moment, the best, most courageous moment that caught your eye in today's game against St. Kilda. Was it the moment that told you 'we've got this' or 'we lost this one right here'? Or was it the moment that you went 'wow....that is crazy courage.'

[GVGjr]

Bump

[mjp]

I'm not sure there is a moment for this one.

There is going to be a lot of finger pointing but in terms of outright numbers I think you will find the stats look OK. We will be around the mark for contested possessions and uncontested possessions, around the mark for inside 50's, stoppages etc. But once again - and we saw this early last year - we are LEAKING goals on turnover and our defensive systems/focus say whatever you like are really poor.

I can also see fingers being pointed at selection but on days like today I would be curious about who you would change. Jong was OK, Gardiner has been OK. Vandermeer OK. Bruce and Keath - the "BIG" recruits - obviously poor and off the pace but they are going to keep getting selected...I guess Gowers has been Gowers and Lloyd has been Lloyd and Dale has been Dale...but they are forwards and played as forwards so, I guess, the question would be who plays instead.

We are just SOOOOOO easy to score against. It really is disheartening in a game where our effort around the contest has been pretty positive that simple focus on getting in position and prepared to defend a turnover has let us down. I thought we had gotten past this in the back-end of last year, but clearly (CLEARLY) not.

Very disappointed today. Hard to be positive when we just leak goals like this...

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

The Moment occurred on Thursday, when we decided we'd select another forward who applies zero defensive pressure in Gowers.
We must have had half a dozen scores tonight from easy transition from defensive 60 to goal. That's an indictment on the blokes up forward.
We used to be a side that relished locking teams in our forward area for extended periods of time. We're witches hats now.

Dale should not have been selected. Either Cavarra or Mclean for him. Gowers should not have been selected, Dickson in his stead.

How Gardner survived Rnd 1 ahead of Trengove boggles the mind. I've not see anything from him that would suggest the lad is AFL ready.

[The bulldog tragician]

I'm not sure there is a moment for this one.

There is going to be a lot of finger pointing but in terms of outright numbers I think you will find the stats look OK. We will be around the mark for contested possessions and uncontested possessions, around the mark for inside 50's, stoppages etc. But once again - and we saw this early last year - we are LEAKING goals on turnover and our defensive systems/focus say whatever you like are really poor.

I can also see fingers being pointed at selection but on days like today I would be curious about who you would change. Jong was OK, Gardiner has been OK. Vandermeer OK. Bruce and Keath - the "BIG" recruits - obviously poor and off the pace but they are going to keep getting selected...I guess Gowers has been Gowers and Lloyd has been Lloyd and Dale has been Dale...but they are forwards and played as forwards so, I guess, the question would be who plays instead.

We are just SOOOOOO easy to score against. It really is disheartening in a game where our effort around the contest has been pretty positive that simple focus on getting in position and prepared to defend a turnover has let us down. I thought we had gotten past this in the back-end of last year, but clearly (CLEARLY) not.

Very disappointed today. Hard to be positive when we just leak goals like this...

A lot of interesting points in there. We were so cut up on the rebound. They sliced us open.

Without piling on the agony about Gardner - I have to disagree he was ok. He’s bereft of confidence, unsure of his role, was out positioned...I could go on. At present he’s not ready. The greater disappointment was some of the performances for those we have every right to expect to do better.

[SonofScray]

Selection committee.

The writing is on the wall far too often on a Thursday evening.

[josie]

Selection committee.

The writing is on the wall far too often on a Thursday evening.

Hear hear !!

[bornadog]

we are LEAKING goals on turnover and our defensive systems/focus say whatever you like are really poor.

You are right the stats show we matched the Saints, But the killer is the turnovers, which are hard to defend. We have all the players streaming forward, and then due to poor disposal we cough up the ball, and the players are caught out trying to run back and stop the opposition streaming forward. We did this many times tonight especially kicking the ball into the Fwd 50 where we wasted our chances.

[Danjul]

You are right the stats show we matched the Saints, But the killer is the turnovers, which are hard to defend. We have all the players streaming forward, and then due to poor disposal we cough up the ball, and the players are caught out trying to run back and stop the opposition streaming forward. We did this many times tonight especially kicking the ball into the Fwd 50 where we wasted our chances.

poor is quite flattering for what we saw tonight. The players are getting injured because the ball is rarely delivered properly. I suggest abysmal is more appropriate.

[Ozza]

I'm not sure there is a moment for this one.

There is going to be a lot of finger pointing but in terms of outright numbers I think you will find the stats look OK. We will be around the mark for contested possessions and uncontested possessions, around the mark for inside 50's, stoppages etc. But once again - and we saw this early last year - we are LEAKING goals on turnover and our defensive systems/focus say whatever you like are really poor.

I can also see fingers being pointed at selection but on days like today I would be curious about who you would change. Jong was OK, Gardiner has been OK. Vandermeer OK. Bruce and Keath - the "BIG" recruits - obviously poor and off the pace but they are going to keep getting selected...I guess Gowers has been Gowers and Lloyd has been Lloyd and Dale has been Dale...but they are forwards and played as forwards so, I guess, the question would be who plays instead.

We are just SOOOOOO easy to score against. It really is disheartening in a game where our effort around the contest has been pretty positive that simple focus on getting in position and prepared to defend a turnover has let us down. I thought we had gotten past this in the back-end of last year, but clearly (CLEARLY) not.

Very disappointed today. Hard to be positive when we just leak goals like this...

Whilst I'd agree we give up goals easily on turnover, scoring 34 and 49 in our first two games is a pretty big concern for me. Certainly didn't help when we did have some ascendancy that Vandermeer, Lloyd, Dale and Naughton missed successive shots. Who knows what happens if we are 4.2 or 5.1 at quarter time.

[bornadog]

Whilst I'd agree we give up goals easily on turnover, scoring 34 and 49 in our first two games is a pretty big concern for me. Certainly didn't help when we did have some ascendancy that Vandermeer, Lloyd, Dale and Naughton missed successive shots. Who knows what happens if we are 4.2 or 5.1 at quarter time.

We got the ball inside 50 (same number as Saints), but wasted it with poor kicking either at goal (first quarter), or not hitting a target.

Make no mistake, this game was different than the last two when we couldn't even get the ball inside 50. I think in the Collingwood game we had something like 12 inside 50's in the first half of the game and 22 for the match. Similarly for the GWS game when we couldn't get our hands on the ball after half time.

[Danjul]

We got the ball inside 50 (same number as .....), but wasted it with poor kicking either at goal (.....), or not hitting a target.

Seen these exact words many times in the last few years. Should put them on a banner and fly it at training.