Pros
Murph did his best to spark us
Bower excellent when we were getting smashed early
Thornton good
Simmo good
Kreuzer sensational player particularly at ground level.
Joseph - beaten by opponent at times but took the game on beautifully
Yarran did little after qtr time, but showed willingness in the first to hit in hard, now we, and he know he can play with physicality. The rest will come with hard work
Hammer has De Luca's hands but even at this early stage is involved in all phases of the game - dominant at bounces, competitive at ground level, chases well, makes plenty of marking contests. Can't see how he won't become a major AFL player at his current rate of improvement.
Actually thought the team tried hard to run the ball as much as possible - disagree with those that thought we were slow to move it. Which brings me to the
Cons
Worst. Forward. Line. Ever. No movement, no leads, no CHF, no Fev, no Fisher. Garbage
"Kicking".
Put those two together and you get 4 goals. Goalkicking was poor but look at where the shots were taken and the pressure under which the attempts were taken.
Bentley - poor game by his standards
Hartlett - looks like he knows he's not good enough.
Grigg - I've overrated him - his kicking is disgusting. Can get the ball, can't use it
Johnson - kicking was poor, but he also kept being beaten body on body and for defensive nous in 1st half
Fev - got hurt (bizarrely of course) but stopped leading and we were flowered
Ratten - at this stage, he's clearly a below average AFL coach. There was a time when below average coaches were sacked swiftly at Carlton. Around the time we were winning a flag every 3 years.
Collingwood are a disciplined team and well coached. Set the tone early with great pressure, direct related to our poor kicking - footsteps all night long