Post Match v Junkies....the Needle match review

[London Dave]

Only putting this up early as I'm not sure if a mod will be around post match, anways, if we won, you beaut, if not, we wuz robbed!

[Grug]

The Magpies and Umpires have put up a brave fight against the Lions.

[labrooy]

Same old story, when Brisbane went into overdrive we went into our shells. Still a much better performance. The one bright spot for me was the job Rhyce Shaw did on Akermanis. Top stuff!!

[foreigner]

Feel sorry for Wakes. Someone should just break that junkie Lynch's face.

[Johnson#26]

Collingwood vs Brisbane: Match Review

After putting up a brave fight for the first half, Collingwood faded meekly to the might of the Brisbane Lions to the tune of ___ points. The Magpies must now look to the future, as they see if the young players can withstand the pressures of AFL football. After an encouraging first half, Brisbane taught the Pies a football lesson, with the Lions pulling away in the third quarter.

The first quarter began well for Collingwood, who after conceding an early goal to Brisbane, scored two of its own, with Brodie Holland and Shane O'Bree cashing in on the teams good work. As the rain pelted down, the Magpies confidence rose, as they matched the Lions for courage and skill and led at quarter time by ___ points. McKee was excillent for the Pies with seven marks, while Fraser and Buckley also performed well.

Collingwood continued their good form in the second quarter, scoring the first goal through Lonie, who looked good up forward all night. But the Lions then hit back, with Lynch and McRae getting on top. McRae scored two goals and provided the Pies with a danger all evening with his pace and skill. The Lions eventually got on top, leading by two points at the long break. McKee continued his good form, while Wakelin held Lynch well, with a small rivalry breaking out between the two veterans.

After the game had promised so much, the last half fizzled out with the Lions trampling the Magpies, dominating the quarter with ___ goals to ___. Power, Voss, Black and Caracella all dominated as the Pies meekley surrended to go into three quarter time trailing by ____ points. Only James Clement and Shane Wakelin put up any resistance as the Pies crumbled under the pressure. Sadly for Wakelin, he broke his arm late in the quarter after a clash with Lynch.

The last quarter added salt into the wound, with the Lions toying with the Pies to run out 36 point victors. Buckley goaled early in the quarter to give the Pies some hope, the Lions hit back, destroying the Pies finals hopes. Davis and Rocca added some consolation goals towards the end, but it could not stop the Lions winning by six goals. Dispite good performances by Buckley, Clement and McKee, the Pie have much improvement to do if they are to be challengers in 2005.

Player Review:

Leon Davis: 3/10 - Quiet match. Tried hard but couldn't stand the pressure.

Shane Woewodin: 4/10 - Quiet. Was hardly sighted apart from his 3rd quarter goal.

Ryan Lonie:6.5/10 - Best game for the season. Was a spark at half forward and needs to be persisted with. Classy player with a great kick.

Nathan Buckley: 5.5/10 - Good early but faded late. Played forward without Tarrant or Didak and tried his heart out. Still finding fitness.

Brodie Holland: 4.5/10 - Bright start but faded. Has hit a slow patch.

James Clement: 7.5/10 - Skilled, cool, calm and collected. If he isn't All-Australian this season there is something very wrong.

Shane O'Bree: 2/10 - Sloppy disposal and didn't do enough. His carrer is sinking down the tube.

Steven McKee: 6.5/10 - Very good all night. Tried his heart out and possibly saved his carrer. Showed great hands in the wet.

Richard Cole: 3/10 - Quiet compared to recent weeks. Gave his all but made one or two errors.

Shane Wakelin: 6/10 - Gave his all against Lynch and deserved better then a broken arm. Hopefuly it wasn't the final chapter of their rivalry.

Scott Burns: 4.5/10 - Very quiet all night. Spent too long on the bench for a wet weather player.

Paul Licuria: 5/10 - Gave his all once again but had an off night.

Rhyce Shaw: 8/10 - Great match on Akermanis and destroyed him. Finally quelled his Grand Final demons.

Anthony Rocca: 5/10 - Presented well but couldn't get into the game. Scored a consolation goal at the finish.

Tarkyn Lockyer: 5/10 - Bobbed up at times but was generally quiet.

Josh Fraser: 6/10 - Tried hard in ruck but it wasn't his evening. Class stood out in wet weather.

Ben Johnson: 4/10 - Continued his quiet patch on McRae. Needs to do more.

Matthew Lokan: 2/10 - Did nothing to enhance his reputation apart from a nice goal in the second quarter.

Simon Prestigiacomo: 4/10 - Did well early before fading. Gabe his all as always.

Dane Swan: 1/10 - Made shocking skill errors and showed no confidence. Needs a spell at Willi.

Julian Rowe: 4/10 - I liked his game, as he showed skill and class. One for the future.

Nick Maxwell: 4/10 - Showed good hands and composure. Must be persisted with as he is Wakelin's replacement.

[spoljar]

I remember throughout the night telling myself that it was only a matter of time when Brisbane would break open the game. In the end, I think we did well to keep it to 6 goals as I think dry conditions would have meant a 10 goal loss. Funny enough, we only added some respectability to the score late in the game not to mention the fact that I dont think any Pies supporter will be complaining about the umpiring!

Question: How can we continue to allow Simon Black to gather 30 touched each time he plays against us now?

Unfortunately we could not sustain the pressure for 4 quarters which is where we are at, right at this moment! Not to mention the fact they had 6 players with 20+ touches where we had two. Once again, this is where we are at, at the moment in that too few are having to do too much.

[Morrigu]

Agree Spoljar - 36 points flatters us!

Very pleased with Ryce's game and effort on motor mouth tonight and for heaven's sake if Rocca is injured STOP playing him - not withstanding that the delivery into the forawrd line was crap

Need to make some hard decisions at season end!

[Cannibal]

Can't help but think that this was another game in which we have shown bits 'n pieces of skill but not enough to sustain us for the whole game. But, it's not the end of the world. I still think we don't have a lot to fear from our opponents in the next six games, so expect a better showing. We are no better, no worse, than those between us and 6th place. We won't get there, but at least it's something to hang our hats on for the rest of the year. We've seen some kids come up and hopefully a few more will follow over the remainder of the season. In the meantime, anyone who thinks Rhyce Shaw should be dumped from the club should just get on here now and crawl. BOG, eh? Scalps of Judd and now Aker (yep, big mouth Aker), eh? Better than so many of the guys everyone seems to love so much who go missing in combat.

Thanks, Canberra, good yarn in chat towards the end, mate. See you next time.

And thanks to Pies_Chat. Better reading his commentary than waiting for Ch10 to get around to showing the game (or Fox). Good stuff, buddy!

Mind you, I can't get over London Dave pissing off to play cricket half way. Mate, you've been away too long! Still, I'm thinking of making a trip back next year. First time in 23 years. Must meet for a pint, eh?

[Proud Pies]

I never thought we'd win this one, but I still went there, braved the antarctic conditions (In my lovely undercover seats). The first quarter I just thought it was hilarious with the rain, hail (i'm really sorry for all those caught in it) and that's pretty much how i saw the game. I didn't get upset because they came out in front in the 3rd quarter, well, I did, just not as upset as usual.

Now, I certainly hope that Acnemanis gets video reported for kicking Shaw in the balls, it certainly looked intention and could have damaged the father/son rule for generations to come.

I hope that Lynch the dirty drug cheat/addict gets done for the punches he threw at Wakes in the last 10 minutes of the 3rd quarter. He got about 3 in, so don't tell me that when he broke his cheekbone last time he was going for the ball.

I'll be happy if those 2 get done and are gone!

[foreigner]

Well done Rhyce Shaw. At least made Aka eat his own words although we lost the game. Please give him more game time now.

[magpies are 2 good]

at least we can start our preseason on time at the end of the season unlike last year

[makkawakka]

One thing I have to say about this season (or any other really) is that I admire the work Pies_Chat does week-in and week-out in commentating on the games. It can't be easy listening again and again to commentators bag us, our performances being ordinary and people (including myself on a number of occasions) in the room just being pessimistic asses again and again.

So take a bow Pies_Chat (I'm sorry if you actually post under an actual alias here and I don't know about it ).

Many thanks for all the calls.

Oh, and relating to the game? Um...Well...At least Shawry came out with his head held high, and well done to him for it.

[Johnson#26]

Very pleased with Rhyce Shaw. He was excillent on Aka. Very good job facing up to his Demons.

[Mick's My Favourite]

Johno - as I mentioned 8 weeks ago. Rhyce Shaw is captian material. When many had written him off here, I went into bat for him. His uncle was a late developer and Rhyce has what it takes

Mick keep giving him a go

[sq3]

Poor Conditioning + Poor Skills = Bottom 4 finish.