Pies v Swans Post Match.............in 'ere thanx!

[sherrife]

haha ok np because of your GENERALLY 1st class comments ill let this go have a good weekend mate.....

and by the way i was sitting there arguing with everyone to put the radio on instead of a cd at the party so I WAS TRYING

[JLC]

Why would you feel sick about that..Lokan came to the club as a player who played in the backline for Port and as a full forward for Ports reserves....the one opportunity that he did have he kicked the goal didn't he??? and MCG, well I recall that alot of the time a midfielder needs a rest that they get put into a forward pocket, so what is the big deal?? where else would you have put him when resting him?? besides in the last qtr it was MCG that gave us a lot of the clearances out of the centre, brouhgt us back into it with the way he read the game....not bad for a kid that finished High School last year.....

Cheers

Well when you have a guy with the ability of Chris Tarrant and Rocca in your forward line and the team you are playing has a shortage of tall defenders then yeah i would have thought we would have gone with that match up.

BTW there is a big difference between SANFL reverses and AFL seniors. \\

jlc

[Joel]

He was going on about how supporters have to much expectation ect ect.

Um, somehow I think you misread what he is trying to say with that statement. He was staying that maybe supporters are expecting alot after last years GF, and he is not saying it is the supporters fault we lost.

[Ant]

yeah thats true, whoever translated Micks comments as blaming the supporters for the loss is a fool. On another note, did a disgruntled fan write "Piss Weak" outside mchale stadium or something? I think i heard something along those lines on the news...

[Stormin]

Yes ant, saw it on the steps at vicky park. I can understand how that person feels but still, a pretty low act.

MM made the mistake of ripping into the players after this Brisbane game when he said we were pathetic and was one of thw worst games he's been involved in. He was left with nowhere to go after the last 2 week's efforts.

I really do not know what is wrong with the boys. Too much expectation? - perhaps.

Maybe MM is just as baffled as the rest of us & this is why he made the comments about the supporters.

I REALLY REALLY hope the only way is up from here!

[bokka]

I was glad to hear MM saying "back to the drawing board" - I suspect it's more of a tactical problem than player standards. Obvioulsy footy is very psychological and if your'e not getting scores on the board despite getting plenty of it through the middle the players can't help losing heart and fire. I didnt' see the game so not only an armchair coach but a blind armchair coach, but judging on what some were saying on nick's live chat (eg CJ?) they really lifted in teh last because tactically the forward line was opened up with just tazza and rocca there.
If you have an open forward line and they start flooding I don't think the answer is to get more players up forward to counteract, that just opens up the opposition's forward line on the rebound - in other words you are getting suckered. The best thing is just to let them do it and do the same thing to them on their forward line it seems to me, then both teams play at the same disadvantage. In that scenario we have the luxury of Rocca and TAz (and fraser) for contested marks, and could throw down Buckley or Burns for in-close winning of the ball so would win out against pretty much any club. In fact I would suggest our standard forward line as a 3 man set-up in the forward half (not just inside 50) of Taz, Rocca/Fraser (maybe changing in the ruck) and Buckley/Burns, whether they flood or not.
If they flood you get a lower scoring:inside50 ratio obviously, but so does the opposition with your counterflood.

[HAL]

Hmmm. . . . You really think so?

[sharp9]

[quote="Proud Pies"]The stats actually make us look pretty good.
We had 176 kicks to 171
83 Marks to 82
109 Handballs to 119
37 tackles each
27 hitouts to 28
11 Frees to 19
[quote]

Funny how stats can lie. On the sheet 176 crappy ineffective kicks from the wrong part of the park to another bit of the park still a long way from goal looks just the same as 171 effective kicks to players running into space a long way upfield.

[AnthonyC]

Well what can you say, pretty shattered after that loss. A game not only we should have won, but really couldn't afford to lose. I am sure we will bounce back, but we need to improve in a hurry. Like others have said the indirectness is so infuriating, at one point I stood up and yelled "The goals are that way Collingwood". It can only be a loss of confidence, I know the skills are there, it's as plain as day when everything goes right. It's almost as if they're too scared to try anything for fear of stuffing it up.

Great to see Taz play well again. Shows that he keeps trying all day(night), and when the forward line opens up for him to lead he is unstoppable. My only criticism is that he should play more selfishly at times. At least twice he could have had a shot at goal himself and didn't, end result turnover of the ball. I don't think it's fair that some say he was only building stats at the end of the game (I'm sure those same people would say that he went missing if he kicked 4 or 5 in the first and then nothing). He could quite easily have dropped his head and given up, but I saw him fighting just as hard as anyone at the end. I'd like to see anyone dispute that. If all our forwards fought as hard for the whole game we wont lose many. They were able to run it out of our forward line for a resulting goal far too easily, on too many occasions. We again did not convert from our opportunities.

I fair dinkum don't give a stuff what anyone thinks by this (as I told my workmates today). The bloody umpires crucified us in the last 1/4, plus how we can go for more than half a game without a free is unbelievable.
Did it cost us the game, well we'll never know, but to think we couldn't even get a free kick in our BACK line is dumbfounding.

Bucks as per usual. Burns is a star, doesn't shirk at anything. Lica getting better. Those three come up a lot don't they.

Lastly it was good to see the swans supporters clap as Williams was taken from the ground, they all can't be that bad.

[Natalie]

Despite being disappointed by the loss I left the game feeling a little pleased. Ok we had 3 not so good quarters but the fourth quarter I thought was great, and I really had the belief that we could win. Bux and Taz were great. Burns and Lica were also good.

We're 3-3 and it's not the end of the world as Mick said. I don't believe he was having a go at the supporters either. I think it was more of a general statement in that the supporters are expecting a bit too much and automatically believing we'll be in the finals, therefore there's abit more pressure on the players to perform. I expect us to win every week, but know that it won't always happen. And let's just take things "one week at a time". No point getting ahead of ourselves.

Now is the time to be getting behind the players and Mick and showing our support, not getting stuck into them. I actually clapped the boys off Sat night and said "good fourth quarter pies". We didn't win but gee how good was the comeback? How rocking was the place? A little too late but we showed that we've got it in us and showed the sort of form that we are capable of. I now go into the Adelaide game thinking we can win.

We need to play four quarters and not one game so far have we played four quarters of footy. We were also too slow in moving the ball forward and this cost us. Too much stop start and looking for the easy pass instead of getting some run with the ball. Someone else queried not manning up and letting quality opposition players run free. Must address this.

We can and will improve and will start winning. Just watch and see.

[Madpies_Fan]

As MissMagpie said, if only they could string 4 good qrts 2gether. The last qrt was a good one. Still I keep the faith and live in the hope that next week we will see a much better 4 qrt performance and get back on the winning list again.

[BlacknWhite_SA]

It's almost as if they're too scared to try anything for fear of stuffing it up.

I totally agree. Has the game plan got too Complex ?? Are they thinking too much ?? Until the last quarter we we lucky to see any flair at all. Even Johnson stopped at one stage and usually when he gets the ball he's off. Not to often hes found standing still.

Having said that and read a lot of the posts here, and watching the past 3 games, It seems to me Tarks has left a huge hole to fill. Im hoping Woey can fill his gap we need him to. Tarks, Bucks, Licca & Burns are the major part of our engine and until someone else steps up to the plate to take Tarks spot, we will flounder. Woey is the man and will eventually find his feet in this side, its takes time for the guys to fit in.

I love buckley dearly aswell BUT, when he was taken from the centre this week we started to function well. Is he directing to much ? Is that possible ? Stick him on the half forward flank, put MCG in the centre and i think it will go a long way to getting that run happening again.
Oh yeah and leave the backline how it was. Theres been far too many moves down there this year and its only round 6, it was rock solid last year and no reason why it cant be this year. Cloke is to defensive to be a forward. His ability to help out his fellow backman is brilliant in the backline and its needed back there at the moment. Clement, Wakelin, Johnson, Lonie & Presti as well is a good steady line, leave it alone please ! Wakelin & Presti are rock solid and not often beaten, johnson & loine add the run and flair and cloke & clement are like clamps... Leave the back line alone, it did well last year. Give them sometime to gel again as they havent had the chance to this year.

Personally I like the list, and when we start taking more chances and get the ball in long and quick to the forward line, you lot will be eating your words. There's 16 games left this year people not 2. Get behind the boys and cheer your guts out. I think there was a few ego's that needed deflating a little and the realisation that its just not going to happen they are going to have to work hard and earn it.

[roccasok]

I think I know what went wrong on the weekend. The guys in the team thought we were playing at Telstra STADIUM instead of Telstra DOME. By the time they got on a plane and got back, three quarters had gone by.

Of course they then actually played a quarter and nearly won the game. That has to get you excited doesn't it? It shows they have the talent, skill, etc to take a game by the scruff of the neck. Now if they just turn up to the Adelaide game on time next week, and play like they did in the last quarter, we will beat them by at least 10 goals!!

[MissMagpie_20]

Agree Roccasok, if we can get within 20 points playing 1 quarter of footy, were doing ok. Now we just have to fix the problem of falling asleep of 3 quarters and well be ON FIRE! There are many positives to take out of our current form so dont stress too much ppl. We have ample talent.