sjabc wrote:
verbs wrote:
You'll have to draw the line somewhere though. If we lose again next week, and the week after, eventually you'll either accept we are what we are, or move on to something else.
I don't mind losing. It's the manner in which the loss occurs that I mind. If we lost today by 40 odd points and actually looked like we cared then I'd get over it.
The fact we looked gone 5 minutes into the first quarter, is the thing that irks me.Losing is part of the game. Losing like you don't give a shit is not.
That's the thing that got to me also. I said to Blue Beatle after five minutes we were going to get flogged. The players didn't seem to want the footy as much. They tried to run the ball with the breeze and I lost count of the number of times I shouted "Kick it!" at the TV as they handballed it yet again to a player in a worse position orr to an Adelaide player. For 150 years, kicking with the wind has involved kicking the footy to a forward setup that is supposed to get the footy and kick goals. Today we decided to run it with the wind as well as against it until after half time when the coaching panel remembered what they learned in the U12s and kicked with the wind. Of course, by then it was well and truly too late to do anything.
We won early games kicking to position through the zone and running the footy through the midfield as well. Unfortunately, those who wanted Houla out of the side got their wish and so we have to put up with the poor disposal of those who would emulate his ability but cant and so we can't control the footy as well. The whole concept of marking the footy is to control the pace of the game when you have possession. Skill = gold.
Today was McLeod's 313th game and he was pretty well held By Joseph, who has had a good season. McLeod is an outstanding player but has never been inside a pack in his life, because that is not his role. He is a running, recieving space maker with great skills on both sides of his body. We have a player like that, maybe not in his class as an all rounder but good in his own right. He was averaging about 25-8 possies this year, a goal or two an assist or two or three and a few tackles. He was replaced by whom, a kid who has averaged about 8 possessions a game and apart from a few good things, has looked competely out of his depth? Today he went twice into packs and came out with two frees against. Yarran isn't ready yet, although he looks well balanced when he has a bit of space..
I saw O'Hailpin watching from the sidelines. There is a knot of TCers who think he should be playing and today when Waite got injured, our lack of talls came back to haunt us. We have been playing one tall too few. Kreuzer is a gun but should be played at HF with the odd stint in the ruck and Hammer is doing OK so far. Setanta can hold his own up front, down back or in the mids and we know he comes to play every week, even if he makes a few mistakes.
We will miss Waite. He is a genuine superstar and I hope he isn't too badly injured.
If changes are made, let's select players who will come to play and who have the skills we obvioulsy lacked today.
Gibbs will play well next week. He couldn't possibly have another howler like he did today but he wasn't Robinson Crusoe.
West Coast next week.
Go Blues. The season is on the line every week from now on until we are clear of the pack again.
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