Just back from the game. Had a great view from high up in Bay 16 amongst a pretty decent sized crowd.
Had to keep reminding myself it was a practice game as some of the people around me were getting very angry and upset with our play and to be honest we wer lucky we were so close!

Without writing an essay I'll make some points:

Pros:

Judd as usual. Will miss him badly for 3 rounds
Gibbs is all class
Waite started to show some signs of his best form.
Warnock did some good things and Kruezer was impressive.
Murphy needed the run
Robinson was okay

Cons:

Mclean - he doesnt look even close to being an AFL player. So slow.
Walker - runs around like a chook with his head cut off. Gives away frees and disposal is woeful.
Scotland injured? Didnt see him after half time. Maybe concussed after clashing with Tippett.
We still struggle to break down well structured sides.
PACE & DISPOSAL!!!!!!!!

Comments:

We were so better when having two not three defensive talls in third and fourth qtrs. We created run and carry and ran the lines in numbers which created scoring chances.

Cant play Setanta as marking key fwd. Does well when ball hits ground or out in front but cannot mark over head under pressure.

Same game plan and style as last year. We dont seem to have plan B's for players or structure?

Just not sure were we are at the moment. Questions?

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

I generally prefer not to criticise the umps but I think it was one of those games where you could really say they had an influence on the game. There were a couple of 50m penalties paid in the 3rd and 4th 1/4rs that put the crows player right in front (possibly tippet in both cases?). Also a patch where every time an adelaide player was touched we had a free paid against us (5+ frees within a couple minutes) - it just ruined the game

Yes our disposal wasnt fantastic but we did enough to win I think - we had about 5 more scoring shots. Game plan was static at times but I think thats more the mindset of trying to retain possession rather than just bombing it. Plenty of improvement to come though as our group of players learn to create space. It seemed we'd have players lead into each other at times which cut off the option for ball movement and contributed to the static play.

Match report from the HS............ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/a ... 5840187796

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

Apart from the regulars, there weren't too many blokes who really stood up and forced the match committee to pick them for Round 1, except for Robbo and perhaps Setanta. Having said that, I got the feeling of guys playing not to get injured - a few of the lesser name Crows were really diving in and wanting the ball first.

Get used to passing the ball around outside 50 - when teams have every player in their defensive 60, they're not going to bomb it in there. I try not to take too much notice when we play the Swans or Crows, they flood and zone and strangle and generally make it a rubbish game to watch and try and counter.

Talking to a mate who is the ball boy behind the goals - reckons Scotland has a broken arm.....

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Long live the Mighty Blues.

bugger

what a wank of a match report from the HUN

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Even though it bucketed with rain in Melbourne last week, the flood arrived this afternoon. Adelaide flooded their defensive third, they pretty much had 18 players behind the edge of the centre square.

If that is the standard of umpiring we are going to get this year, a lot of people are going to be disappointed.

Once the crows had there full ground zone set. The blues were obviously instucted to hold the ball at all costs and if we had it at halfway we would take it all the way back to chb and beyond to get there zone to move further up the ground to great more space for us to work with. I saw that as a tactic that was good and working. The carlton crowd were hating it. A lot of times it didnt work because someone stuffed up a pass. Sometimes the players appeared to succumb to the crowds moans and kick to a contest only to have it be a 3 on one or worse. The ball rebounds and they score.

In the last we had the balance of attack and defense right and we really controlled the game. Getting that balance right on a regular basis will go along way to helping us win.

Plenty of experimenting by both coaches today and a very entertaining afternoon.

I liked a lot of what i saw and think we have a slight chance of making the eight if we can get our heads right each week and come out fighting.

Go Blues !

Yeah.......definitely an Adelaide report.

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

You'd think we got done by 100 points after reading that. Must've been written by a 5AA commentator

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/a ... 5840187796

"Shaun Hampson, Brad Fisher, Chris Johnson and Richard Hadley were the main omissions for the Blues." Why bother, we were full strength.

I'd play Hammer and swap Hadley for McLean. Garlett would also be an option to consider.

Also, Armfields run would be very handy!

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

I think you'll find his name is GIBBINS

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"I had to eat"

The only thing holding me back from negative discussion is the fact these are pre-season games, TBH though I'm not feeling any positive vibes out the results or feedback on our game plan.

If I was to think positive I could say Ratts is just putting into practice our defensive press for when we need to slow the momentum of the opposition, something we have been very poor at in the past. Somehow I don't think this is being realistic.

Have a cup of tea and only slap yourself if it comes to it then.

Pretty scrappy game.

Ball movement was sloppy across all areas of the ground. Krezuer spent more time in the ruck and both he and Warnock were impressive.

One passage of play where Warnock ran diagonally from the centre circle and took an uncontested mark from the centre bounce...this is the sort of thing he is capable of. Can easily lose his opponent and push forward. Only thing was he didn't see Mclean on his own further up the ground but Warnock is showing his mobility and footy smarts.

Forward line looked terrible at times, other times Henderson was leading hard up the ground, then played on when he marked it and this put the Crow defenders under pressure. Yarran was quiet, Setanta presented as well and did some good knock ons/taps...Robinson applied a lot of pressure wherever he was on the ground. One terrible mistake but otherwise his effort was terrific.

Walker and Carrazzo continued to run past for the handball when both shouldn't be doing so given their disposal issues. Walker took the ball in the back pocket and shanked it terribly on his left foot; easy goal to the Crows. IMO he should be played up forward where his poor disposal/decision making is less likely to cost us goals. Grigg was similar with his disposal but was good in close at times.

Crows forwards were able to separate our defenders with blocks and took a fair few marks inside 50. Our tall forwards lead to the same spot so with a new addition in Henderson it will take some time - was sitting next to Crows CEO Steven Trigg and he was saying how Adelaide's forward line was very poor in the first half of last year...they needed that time to gel.

Kickouts both defensively and offensively were once again quite poor - Adelaide went coast to coast plenty of times; they can always find a loose man somewhere. If they huddle up we actually follow them - surely you should still leave a couple of players either side of the huddle so that there isn't the space for them to lead into. When we kick a point we seem to switch off and make little effort to get in a zone position, yet when the Crows kicked a point every player would know their position and immediately reduce the space available.

So we would resort to the old bomb it long to the ruckman and hope to win the 50/50 contest. In the last quarter awe looked a bit better out of defence with JR and Robbo taking risks and then kicking into a relatively open forward line.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

The game wasn't flash but it was a practice match. Was worried by the turnovers and the space the Crows found in the first half. Second half we improved and an effort by Kreuzer where he chased and harassed 2 Crows shows why he went no.1. Thought Setanta looked ok but will need support if we're going to win games. Warnock showed glimpses that suggest he'll be a big asset (no pun intended)

Hey, if the Crows fail again in September and Neil Craig gets sacked, can we sign him up to be our director of coaching, or to at least handle our kickouts?

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

A few observations/comments after seeing today's game:

* KICK INS It's frustrating/depressing enough that we continue to struggle to get the ball out of our defensive 50 with any smooth system of play, but then the opposition continues to waltz out of their defensive 50 after virtually every kick-in!!
* POOR DISPOSAL We look like we're carrying too many players with sub-par kicking skills. I love the dash and effort of Tex, Carrots, Grigg and Joey....but it's alarming that professional footballers that have been in 'the system' for as long as they have are so consistently inconsistent with their disposal. And it just kills us with the way the modern game is played...
* Good to see Gibbs and Kreuzer running into some form. We had some 'Matrix-moments' from Gibbs today, and Kreuzer looks much more comfortable on-ball than up forward (and the minor form/injury problems he appeared to be having a few weeks ago seem behind him).
* We will seriously miss Judd in the first 3 Rounds. Seriously.
* Murph & Waite seemed to get through OK. Both were a bit scratchy (particularly Waite) but also did some good things. It'll be interesting to see if the club seeks AFL permission to play them both next week in the VFL.
* The Hendo/Carlos combination up forward appears to be working OK. They're hardly Fevola/Brown, but both guys work very hard and present honestly. Hendo could be something special for us in a few years
* Is Brock the new Michael Mansfield?
* I like Warnock/Kreuzer in the ruck. I'm not sure where that leaves Jacobs & Hammer. We finally have some ruck depth!! I'd love Hammer to become our Tippett, but it's hard to see that happening anytime soon.
* Was it just me, or did Jamo & Bower (who have looked good in the pre-season games/training I've seen so far this year) look out of sorts today?
* Robbo has assured himself a game in Round 1, IMO.
* Yarran looks 12 months away (at least) from becoming a bona fide regular senior player, but he'll get games this year because he has the 'X-Factor' we need up forward.
* Scotland came off in the 2nd term with what appeared to be a shoulder/arm injury. He took no further part in the game - but it didn't look too bad, so fingers crossed he's OK. The way he was moving it on the sidelines, I'd be surprised if anything's broken (although I'm no doctor!!).

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.