Post match v Crows all comments here -

[Snoop Dog]

Well there we go.........

I said to myself coming into tonight this is one of the 5 hardest games we would play this year. I said to myself if we lost I just wanted to see something for the rest of the year.

I did see reasons for hope. Thomas was very good, Fraser was back to his best, Didak showed a lot, Cheesy showed us something in the first qtr and third, Trav was good in the first half and Capt Bucks was brilliant.

But.........two things did not change.

The first was our skill. It was atrocious and it makes you wonder what we learnt thru the offseason. To many senior blokes made shocking foot skills. The worst being Cheesy in the 2nd qtr where he kicked a lazy one up the guts only for it to come back straight over his head. They kicked 5 after that. But Lonie, JOhno, Holland all had a number of them. Tarrant must want to play somewhere else where he would get a decent kick.

The second was our coach. His unimaginative positional changes in the last qtr begged belief. Why not put Davis on the ball, why not get JC onto Riccuitto, why not get Rocca to CHF or Ruck. why not move BUckley on his own to the goal square. Why not get Johsnon into the middle. I thought he was bereft of imagination.

All in all. A loss with some worrying trends from last year. To early to judge the season I agree.

[Zeke]

My thoughts on the game, both positive and negative.

Positives:

Daisy looked good, had poise and strong attack on the footy. looks a very promising prospect, but so he should for a number two pick.

Nathan Buckley again proving he is the total professional.

Negatives:

Skill errors galore. Missing targets by hand and foot constantly. Do we practice this stuff?

Guy Richards is no where near in our best 22. Spent most of the match on his arse.

Chris Egan is not hard enough at the footy. Looks timid in any contest situation.

Injuries to Clement and Tarrant.

Many more but I can't be stuffed.

[eddiesmith]

I want to know why with so many forward options we saw Wakelin, Richards, Hackwell all up forward at diff times? Also on Wakes, was he on all night? Barely saw him

Shocking coaching tonight, he managed to make our strengths look like shit

[Zeke]

If Burns doesn't get a game next week...

[snow24]

Mate if you think Maxwell is a hack you're delusional. He's a good solid player who gives his all.

Snoop Dogg summed it up pretty well.

[Snoop Dog]

Swan was very good also.

Gee Crows are good though arent they! Fit, quick, good in the contest, and skillful.

I was pretty confident at 3/4 time we'd win bc our tackles were up to 40 odd which was great but then when I heard we had 9 players who had less than 4 touches in the second half I thought.............we either were not fit enough or went in to tall.

[Zeke]

Swan was very good also.

He was the loose man across half back flank all night.

I would rack up 30 posessions in that position.

[The Prototype]

I would hope he would as would Carracella..

Our 2nd half was shocking, and the final quarter was just a disaster, Thomas played well in his first game, Lnie was ok at times, Buckley was good, Fraser was very good.

Clement was good before he was injured, wasn't many other positives tonight, the passsing by foot was woeful, missed targets everywhere, and a few too many errors.

Tarrant and Rocca didn't do much, I hope maybe next week they can come back and play well. Wakelin was unusually quiet tonight as well.

[The Prototype]

Swan was very good also.

Gee Crows are good though arent they! Fit, quick, good in the contest, and skillful.

I was pretty confident at 3/4 time we'd win bc our tackles were up to 40 odd which was great but then when I heard we had 9 players who had less than 4 touches in the second half I thought.............we either were not fit enough or went in to tall.

Really needed to play like the first quarter for the rest of the game, yes the crows were very good and outclassed us and had more run in their legs then we did.

[Jamie loves Collingwood]

Clement- hamstring and Tarrant's not injured!

[Carringbush72]

Clement was good before he was injured, wasn't many other positives tonight, the passsing by foot was woeful, missed targets everywhere, and a few too many errors..

can't agree with you there mate.. i thought he must have been carrying an injury going in... in my opinion he struggled from the start

[Adz]

Awful forward line tonight. Our skill looks quite bad at times. Midfield got killer in the clearances.

[Joel]

Skill errors cost us, as did our inability to go in hard at the ball. Tackling was good early. Thomas had a very good game, especially early.

Worried about Clemo, sounds like he has done his groin.

[The Prototype]

Clement was good before he was injured, wasn't many other positives tonight, the passsing by foot was woeful, missed targets everywhere, and a few too many errors..

can't agree with you there mate.. i thought he must have been carrying an injury going in... in my opinion he struggled from the start

He was good, but not at his best, I thought maybe Wakelin was he was on and off a lot tonight and he didn't really do much.

[DaVe86]

As i said in an earlier thread...we just looked like an engine not yet run in, or a car that hadnt been started in a year. We just needed some time to warm up.

The difference in the game was the end of the 3rd quarter when Didak led our rejuvination, and Adelaide maintained possession and kicked a goal. The fact is we were too puffed to man up, and Adelaide worked the ball forward to get back infront at the end of the quarter. We were very slack, and had no answer to Adelaides game plan. We shouldve gone man on man.

Im slightly critical of the decision to play Guy Richards. I wouldve prefeffed Cam Cloke in. I would not have played Trav CLoke either. At one stage we had 4 talls on the bench. We needed fresh legs...Ben Davies couldve been important for example. Even Wakelin spent the majority of the match on the bench, and only really came on when Clement got injured. Perhaps a small couldve been played, we needed more legs.

Josh Fraser is the real positive. Enough has been said about Thomas, and buckley looks ready to go....but Fraser was brilliant. When he was in the ruck, we actually looked dangerous in the clearences.

I have been saying forever, but Buckley and Obree are a devastating combination in the centre. I cant count the times they worked off each other tonight. Obree was fantastic apart from one or 2 bad kicks. He had plenty more effective kicks but. Dane Swan was also important and rarely beaten.

Lonie has some versatility. He looked really dangerous early up forward, but them absolutely shut down Burton in the 2nd half. It seems as if Micks insistence on developing a defensive side to his game has paid off. Lonie looked in really good nick...but has to work on his field kicking, he is better than that. A great goal but and he really provided run off half back.

Lonie, combined with Johnson gave us some really good run...although Johnson looked underdone. Got a lot of it but and showed off some typical weaving and dodging and backing himself to get us out of trouble. Kicking is the obvious worry, but his decision making was slow tonight. He is anothe player just trying to work himself back into form after a long spell from the game.

Clement should be fine. I doubt it is a hamstring as he was running. Looks like a calf...1 week at most i would think. Jason CLoke was really a useless selction. He had no role. He was never a good match for Burton. hats off to him for really only keeping him to 2 goals and not doing much else.

I wouldve preferred J.CLoke out, Davies or Morrison in, just for a bit more run. It is also essential we find another small who can play a back pocket role on a small forward. Ricciouto dominated tonight. It seems we always keep the talls in check but let the little guys loose. Maxwell and Presti were impressive.

Didak showed that he can really come from nowhere. He is the sort of player who can have 3 bad quarters, but turn a game in 5 minutes. He and Thomas will add a lot of pace this year. Thomas looks ready to play doesnt he.

In terms of clearences...when Fraser was in the ruck we looked better...when richards was in we didnt. I cannot say enough bad things about Guy Richards tonight. He is underdone...cannot kick, is a slow decision maker and did not win a hitout. Off to the reserves to regain some touch mate because you cost us a lot tonight. Id prefer Cam CLoke who could have atleast matched Bigland physically.

But perspective tells me that perhaps the engine is just starting to get run in. The next 4 round are crucial. We cant loose games to Hawthorn, Carlton or Essendon. Hawthorn next week is a must win. Its almost season defining stuff.