Post match v Crows all comments here -

[Nath]

Ahhh, negativity after round one. Such bliss has returned.

Why don't we all just have a look at something which is fundamental to positive football and that's the presence of a lead up centre half forward. We can't manufacture one, and Adelaide have The Nando Spice in Perrie Perrie and all he does is present and present. We got to the centre and were hitting a wall of Adelaide jumpers, its not easy to pin point targets in that situation, and lets not delude ourselves, our midfield are long runners but far from quick and far from penetrative kicks, hence why Didak looked good at times - rather than kick to a spot he kicked over the line. We simply don't have that kind of front up player. Tarrant and Rocca deep is fantastic, but who is the marking option for the half back flanker trying to hit a target, especially when they are 80 metres in front of you for crying out loud. Move Tarrant up, push Pebbles back, start Trav in a pocket and as one moves, so does the other. Two big targets deep only succeeds when you are winning the midfield contest and running lines, we don't do that successfully. Haven't done it since Rhyce was felled and when Taz wasn't injecting the knee for an entire season. Need to rivert back to Taz pushing to a wing or half forward and being a marking option.

If you are going to play Pebbles deep in the forward line, delivery has to be long and quick, nothing of which was displayed tonight. Too hard for a 100kg plus forward to generate his own space......he is a big unit, clear some for him. The more pressing question is why didn't Mick run him on the ball for 5 minutes to get him involved.

Regardless of whether you are loose across half back or not, you have to be able to get the pill and use it and for the Swan knockers, just ease up. The one thing he does and has done for the past telve months is bust his gut to run to position and demand the footy. Link men are everywhere in the modern game and he is doing exactly what the game plan dictates his role to be.

We went in probbaly with one tall too many and that's an issue the selection panel needs to look at, yet at the same time, Burns aside - who was demanding a spot in the 22? And someone that runs the lines, Heater maybe, one would guess he's not far away.

Egan is a little soft, and he's not strong enough overhead. But, he too is trying to find a way as a stand alone pocket or flank, for years we've all criticised Daks and Magic for similar contributions.....its not easy living off scraps guys. That said, he needs to add a string to the bow or we are carrying too many like footballers (Didak, Magic, Ego and too a degree Sparky) into each and every contest.

The most dissapointing aspect of tonight was simply the inability to man up when they were possessing the football. Just go one on one for Christ sake Mick. Bugger the zoning off, force the issue, create the contest, win the 50 - 50 footy. It's all throughout elite junior level football (TAC Level), create the contest, kill it or win it, don't give them a string of 15 - 16 uncontested marks.

All in all, disappointed that we didn't start on a high, but lots of improval to be had. Confirmation of this can be seen in the following statistics (which generally mean bugger all nowadays, but some carry weight)

- 7 makrs between Tarrant, Rocca and T.Cloke.
- 1 goal scored from inside 30metres, simply not good enough.
- 2 goals scored out of KEY FORWARDS (1 to Pebbles, 1 to TC)

On the positives, though Sparky was flashy and quick but still needs to develop the kicking side of the game, he's not on his pat malone at Collingwood though.

Didak showed glimpses again, but once again, we need more than glimpses.

Maxy was solid, as was Presti - business like in defence, nothing short of that.

Josh, welcome back. Would be one of the better games I've seen him play in a ll seriousness. Ruck work was strong, presence around the ground excellent. He makes a significant difference.

All in all, could have been far worse, yet could have been far better. Look forward to the Hawks on the weekend....hopefully we'll contemplate playing on opponents and we come away with a win.

[Lone Ranger]

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

I would have thought it was fairly obvious ... our forward line was absolutely terrible so he had to try something.
Why was Wakes off for so long ... coz he was getting cut to pieces.
The difference tonight was the forward lines. Theirs worked, our went missing badly.

[Cam]

Look we fell apart in the last, but were pretty darn good for 3 quarters. There at least is plenty to work with this year, unlike the last two. Touch wood.

[Carringbush72]

Obviously there needs to be a few changes:

this is my opinion..\

IN: Davies, Walker/C Cloke, Burns

OUT: Egan, Richards, Wakelin,

possibly heath shaw should be under consideration too

[GoWoodsmen]

At half time I was mighty angry but by 3/4 time I was pretty satisfied with what they had achieved... the last quarter... ran out of legs... nothing more nothing less... and their skills went completely AWOL as a result.

Commentary on the radio was all centred around the delivery into the forward line, not so much the performance of the forwards. Dunstall said something that worried me a little though. Said that Taz was leading hard early but as the balls kept missing him or were ill-directed his enthusiasm dropped.

Now hold on a second, this guy is a professional footballer... it's one thing to be less than enthusiastic at training but a completely different thing just coz the ball isn't delivered to you nicely.

Thomas was great, Ob's was good. Lica seemed ok but a touch quiet perhaps.

Oh yeah the reason I was writing ..... can someone explain to me why, when Adelaide were slaughtering us in the middle would Josh choose to play a tap ruck role. Before everyone turns on me I thought Josh did a great job tonight and played one of his best games ever but we were killed in the midfield when it counted. Why not disrupt their "set play" by smashing the ball as far towards our goal as possible?

And as for Adelaides slow play, brilliant tactics to win a game but they should be fined for bring the game into disrepute.

Nuff said

[lethalburns]

The Crows are a well drilled team and super fit. Top 2 material. Much more balanced team than all prem contenders this year.

We did ok considering Richards and Ego were passangers and that our midfield is not settled at all. Buckley also looks out of touch.

Not sure what was going on in the forward line. No one presenting at HF and no one moving when the ball was in the area.

As Nath pointed out Rocca should have spent some time on the ball. Letting him rot at FF all game seemed pointless. Josh could have gone down there even for 5 min intervals.

[Cam]

[Cam]

Another thing, they would have got 45,000 had this game been on saturday day/night or Sunday arvo.

[favourites 2008]

they are a classy, fitter stronger more disapline, better coached, in the end we did well to keep up with them for 3 qtrs.
Good players were Bucks, Johno, Fraser, Presti (2nd half), Dutchy (2nd half) o'bree (1st and 3rd)

Poor tarrent led all day n just kept gettin ignored, our main problems were skills, decision making, fitness and courage.

We atm imo are not a top 8 side.

[STOKA35]

-our kicking of the ball cost us the game
-have we listen to wayne careys foward plan
-to have a foward line with tarrant and rocca who are supposed to be in there best shape ever where were you
-I am worried about our prest and wakes seem to be to slow and with the holding rule presti is going to give 1 or 2 goals away each week
-bucks i feel sorry for you, you are a champ
-the game has changed to fast running football the crows have introduced a new tactic to the game, slow it down keep possesion slow the momentum then attack.
- it will be interesting to see how we comeback against the hawks, hawks will probably start favourites

[hawkus]

I just got back from the game and I'm not sure if all you guys watched it on tv but thomas was sensational live... he is so much better than any other nubey I've ever seen.

Side stepping Mcleod on the wing was real nice... I mean that guy would be some kids idol's and he had the composure and skill to run around one of the better players in the comp in his first real match? Unreal

His skills are silky smooth, as for his kicking, there is very little problem as far a I could see. Not one of his kicks was a dodgy.

The way I saw it the game was in the balance in the last quarter and it was a bit like whoever got the first goal was going to run away with it. Buckley tried to do too much, got pinged and a goal resulted... from that point on we never looked a chance. Had we got the first, it may well have been us that ran away with it.

As for bucks? Not that great if u ask me, pretty avg game for him, no really telling possessions and nothing special.

Thomas couldn't do a thing wrong and he is going to be special... will be an awesome mid and top small forward. Very quick thinker, great vision, specials skills, champion player (lifts with the crowd), very smart defensively... quite literally I could not flaw him once all night.

For me it was worth going just to see him, everyone around me, including adelaide supporters where talking about how good the new kid was... unreal.

But yeah we lost it in that:

- we didn't control it enough through the middle and hence blasted away into the 50 with crappy passes and it came straight out everytime
- didn't get to the ball first
- didn't put our head over the ball... particularly lonie constantly wooses out on a hard ball get which cost us a few times
- j.cloke is too slow, too crap, too dumb... got done several times
- presti well shite if he aint the most lucky player to be playing afl, i'll go he... my brother is more co-ordinated and I wouldn't let him on my footy team

But geez I walked out of that game going... sorry that you have to play in such a shite team Thomas cos you were one of our best.

I'll pay just to see that kid play... damn he's good.

[Pearcey]

[die4pies]

Scoreless in the last?

One of the most potent forward lines in the competition?

What is with Telstra dump, no wind, no apparent advantage but 22 goals kicked to the Lockett end and only 7 at the Coventry end?

Are these players under too much pressure? Daisy is the only one yet to be infected with the self-doubt disease afflicting the rest of the team, the team plays with absolutely no football instinct at all. It is almost as though they really don't beleive in themselves. WTF is going on at the club. To a man we have the best squad in the competition and we should have crushed a very average Crow performance tonight. They did not win it, WE lost it.

Collingwood sides should not lack self belief. There should be a strong sense of purpose amongst the entire 22.

I honestly thought I would see something different this year, but all I saw tonight was round 23 of the 2005 season.

Things need to change at Collingwood and change very quickly or else we will all have to suffer through another year of underacheivement.

Enough of this rebuilding BS, we play to win NOW. Nobody plays to win next year thats just a poor excuse for not trying hard enough.

[piedys]

Firstly, to Dimwitriou - shove your "American" monday night football right up your big dumb arse. YOU are THE most over-rated person in the AFL, let alone naming overpaid footballers. Was today a public holiday i'm unaware of? No?
Anyhow. At least we put up a show for 3/4s tonight. Hopefully a few senior players have got a crap game out of their system and will perform against the Dawks next week. And without Richards and Holland hitting the opposition on the chest, kick after kick. Give or take our usual inept disposal and a few jam-it-up-your-maggot-arse umpiring decisions against us in front of goal, I guess that was effectively a 20 goal improvement on our last disaster against the cows.
And that prick Rischitto was THE difference in the end. Too big, too strong. At least we didn't get done by tin-arse Macleod again.

Dyso

[die4pies]

At least we put up a show for 3/4s tonight

but were pretty darn good for 3 quarters

Not the same game I was watching on Level 3 at the scoring end.
We played less than 1/2 a game tonight and that just aint good enough.
We did not start until half way through the first. Kicked a quick 5 and then went to sleep for the second. Guns blazed for the third and then we completly lost the plot after MM did much animated arm waving and finger pointing at 3/4 time.

If I have got my maths right that makes 3/8ths of a game tonight. Are we happy with that?