yesterday hurt big time!
but:
1) i told a mate back in feb, a filth supporter unfortunately, that in wizz-cup we played teams with midfields who back themselves and like to run forward. we were able to win the ball in defence and hurt them on the way back. i told him that we would struggle to reproduce that scintillating form against team like kangas and filth who like to play 1-on-1 accountable footy in their midfield and get their guys back in defence. filth and laidley have been setting up with 7 man defences for last 3 or 4 years.
by this i don't to mean to say that we're soft or anything, but i remained unconvinced in the decision making abilities of some of the guys when having to "think" their way through a contest or through traffic. maybe it's just a confidence thing.
consequently, we're bombing the ball forward instead of kicking long to a lead. fev and whits are never gonna be strong pack marks like rocca and tarrant. we're leaving a lot of space between the kicker and the forward forced to sit under the ball and try to mark. he's usually outnumbered and so the opposition has all this space and time to set up and hit us on the counter. no coincidence then that teams have had amazing accuracy against us, even taking into consideration the flukes.
despite wizz-success, some guys are still lacking in confidence and therefore bombing long, which is different to kicking long! by bombing long, you refer responsibility and play personal survival footy, "i've done my bit, now it's up to you ... ".
we've been the hunted in 1st 3 rounds and haven't really coped well. we've spent 3 years being the hunters, and you don't just switch overnight. the lack of intensity in some guys hasn't helped btw!
2) make no mistake, it was crisis week at lexus palace. they set themselves for a huge one!
in the past couple of years, coll have gone into this game with guys like tarrant saying "the rivalry thing is more for some of the old supporters, but for the players it's just another game ... " or even "our rivalry is with brisbane .... ". not this time! both burns and lockyer during the week said "it's carlton and we don't wanna lose to them ... ".
all those press articles didn't help (great timing wallsy ...
). but we have to learn to cope with teams that come out snarling!
3) coll really went back to playing in their preferred way. they like being the hunters, setting up around the opposition, playing 1-on-1 stuff and doing heaps of (illegal ... but umps are too busy watching other stuff) blocking at stoppages etc. we couldn't match the intensity of their midfield and allowed licca to kick 3 .... licca kicked 3 ... that says it all really!
4) we'll got a lot out of this game and be better for it in the long run.
we have to stop teague getting exploited.
we have to stop bombing the ball to an outnumbered forward.
we have to put more defensive pressure on opposition backlines, like we did in the last qtr against bummers. eddie is our only shining light here.
we have to stop allowing teams pulling us out of shape. we've become far too "long" as a team. we were linking up better between the various depts during the whizz cup.
denis wont necessarily make wholesale changes, but i reckon he will have lost patience with some players (campo and davies perhaps). if chambers is ready then he'll play. if walker is ready to get 20+ possies then he'll play. if longmuir is ready, then he may be brought in so we can move waite down back.
don't know where karl's at, or rather i think i know but i wanna give him the chance to prove me wrong .... AGAIN!. what's that i hear you say "he's had heaps of chances ... " yep, can't disagree! he's lucky he's 194 cm!!
. Out of:
)
) would have made the difference in the last quarters against both the Roos and the Filth... and that would have had us 3-zip