Post Match. Pies down to Eagles. All comments please.

[doriswilgus]

Disappointing game to say the least.I never felt last year that they were clearly superior to us.In the finals games we had control of the game for long periods and were just over run in the end.Tonight they did look like the superior team,especially after quarter time.I don’t know if that means that we have gone backwards from last year,or they have got better.But whatever it is,we have a lot of work to do to beat them again.

I really think there’s too many slow players in this team.Phillips,Mayne,Aish,Thomas are all so slow,just to name a few.Having Varcoe and Hoskin-Elliott in the side would help,but that’s only two players who are quick.We need a lot more to come in.

[Magpietothemax]

Agree that stepho needs to play forward, not o n the wing.he is too slight for a midfield role.
Their smalls were too good for us tonite. they dominated time and again at ground level and their speed appeared to overwhelm us.
I think this was largely a product of the fact that their midfield tonight was better than ours. The key to defeating Wc is simply : win in the midfield.We have alot of time to get ready to achieve this.

[PyreneesPie]

[Raw Hammer]

Not enough cnuts in our team.

No one other than Adams and Maynard preparer to drop a knee or tunnel an opponent. Varcoe is the other, but because of selection hubris two games out of three, Brown was selected over Greenwood and Phillips over Varcoe.

[Raw Hammer]

Essendon have the same record as is too. Let that sink in.

[masoncox]

[Peponi]

We’re West Coast’s bitches.

[PyreneesPie]

[swoop42]

Out worked, out played and possibly out coached.

I think the last 2 weeks have only reinforced who the players are from last years grand final that will remain under pressure to retain their place in the side if their form dips.

It started with Varcoe and now you can add Greenwood, Thomas and perhaps Aish.

What should be obvious to the coach now is that we need to improve our outside spread and speed through the middle of the ground or we'll continue to be exposed by West Coast in this area.

We seemingly can't dominate them in contested ball and clearances so something has to change.

Not sure we have much in the way of medium production offensive weapons running around in the VFL so personally I wouldn't mind us unshackling Maynard and slipping Appleby into his role as a starting point.

While West Coast earned the win I'd like to think quite a few of our players will be disappointed with their performance tonight and can play much better the next time we meet.

Still we need to examine the method and mix of talent we use.

[PyreneesPie]

[masoncox]

They beat us again in inside 50's
50 to 42.
We beat them in most stats that didn't mattet.

[bally12]

We had no spark. We played like we were bored. Cox shows zero passion or aggression. Is he depressed? C'mon mate, get excited and attack that footy. Also when you are 1m from the goal post, you don't kick a banana from there. You step out on your left and you snap it. I don't blame Cox for this...why aren't our leaders telling him this? It's basic stuff.
I felt we lost it in a few areas:

- Got dominated at centre clearances. We need big bodies in there, not Adz, Phillips, Thomas, Sidey. I don't think Grundy knows what he's doing when he's tapping it, ior if he does, our mids don't know where its going that's for sure.

- Mihocek does't cut it as a marking forward target. He's more a ground ball scrambler We should have played a short forward line and gone with low entries.
In saying that, the bigger problem was our midfield got pushed aside again by the Eagles and got worn down,

- We played safe, scared to cut through the middle. If you listened to Bucks GF comments, he wants them to take chances and not go down the line. This means it's the players' psyche. We need risk-takers, and players that take the game by the scruff of the neck. A Darren Millane would be nice. Or another JDG.

- The umps were just appalling again. Nothing new here.

Our side is missing something. Maybe aggression, bigger bodies to stand up in contests, raw speed and power. We need some youngsters to come through from the 2nds...2 or 3 to surprise. Who knows, still early. At least we have a bit of time to assess get our team right.

[swoop42]

For those at the ground where was Phillips primarily lining up?

If it wasn't on the wing Bucks can be shot at dawn.

He's our best two way runner and the wing is the only spot he should be playing.

His lowest possession count since round 8 last season when he only had 45% game time.

Is Stephenson being positioned differently to last season?

Lightly framed, only year 2 let's not get to cute and take him away from what worked so well last season.

[slangman]

Our midfield not hard enough.
Our tall forwards very little impact.

I’m sure someone roasted me after the loss to Geelong after I stated that they were our main deficiencies.

Tonight just reinforces my pre season observation.

Adams played well and showed the grit needed when the going gets tough.

[RudeBoy]

Before the season started I pointed out that we ranked 13th for centre clearances last year, and unfortunately this remains our achilles heal. Our midfield are over hyped imo. I'm not sure how this can be rectified as we really don't seem to have much else in the VFL, especially since Sier is reportedly lacking the necessary fitness for senior footy.

I also think our criss cross chippy kicking worked well against the Tigers, as they fell back and allowed us to move the ball around at will. The Eagles however, were expecting this and they maintained a press, which unsettled our team.

I am still not convinced about Cox, as his bad games are very, very bad, and they still happen far too often. We have nothing in the VFL to bring in who would be any better.

Unless we improve considerably and quickly, we could very easily lose our next couple of games and be facing the prospect of lying way outside the top 8.