I know the L word, people don't like to hear,

[derkd]

Sometimes a loss can help as much as hinder, call me crazy, but after the Carlton game I turned the TV off, with almost a shrug of the shoulders. In the back of.my mind I have been feeling a loss has been coming....as I said in the pre-game thread many champion data stats had us losing by five goals against Port last week....we beat the odds.

I actually feel the loss to Carlton could be a good thing, the team looked out on their collective feet last night.... they need a refresh, and a bit of time out of the media spotlight. Too many plaudits helps no one.


I stick to my guns that something needs to change in the middlenof the ground ...key times in games like that second quater last night we were just belted out of there...whatever we were doing has been worked out by other teams.

On the positive note, we came out of the game with a clean bill of health...we have plenty to look a in the VFL.

I will be very very surprised if Mason Cox is in the seniors next week and Fly alluded to as much in his press conference.

This is not to say that Cox doesn't have a role to play on the finals, but as it stands he is far too far out of form.

Hill should be back next week, hopefully Johnson can push his case.

I do wonder if a few players need a rest, this sounds silly and I know Nick Diacos is a key player...could he use a weeks rest in the coming week(s). Should we win next week and maybe the week following..do we give him a rest when and if we have a top two spot locked?

[burnsy17]

That loss has done zero damage to our season. We’ve lost 3 games for the year!

We played horribly last night. Most of their goals were from stupid turnovers or free kicks. We missed sitters in front of goal.

This week we have been labelled a ‘dynasty’ (without winning a thing!), Daics has been spoken about as the highest even paid 20 year old and Beau was called Dusty Martin FFS!

A good little clip from the old rival which does zero damage to the ladder is probably what we needed.

No injuries which at this time of the year is gold dust.

Nick Daicos looks like he needs a rest. Last night was the worst I’ve seen him play. He got physically smashed and his disposals were rushed and panicked. A little freshen up next week is probably what he needs.

Not worried about last night one little bit.

[Pies2016]

^^^
That’s pretty much my thinking.
In a way, the game has never been simpler. The vast majority of games are won by whoever applies the most pressure longer. It’s a tough gig bringing 100% un compromised pressure to every single contest you’re involved in over the season ( that’s why we all love Maynard ) At some point you’re looking to take the odd short cut and that’s generally when you’ve earned the right to be sitting on top of the ladder and a couple games clear. Stack that up against a team who has to win in order to play finals and there will be times when you’re going to finish on the wrong side of the scoreline.
If you’re looking for a positive from the game, think of it as we have the ability to apply more pressure than last nights output, while Carlton played to their ceiling. We didn’t pressure them into enough mistakes, while their pressure would have got them a win against anyone last night.

[duggieboy]

This thread & poster's comments makes complete sense to me & we are in the well earned position of more easily taking the long view of things.

I'm sure Fly & co will be astute with this situation.

[Piesnchess]

The umpires gifted Curnow four soda goals, that helps a LOT for them. Yep, the loss we had too have, will shake us right up, and NO more hubris too. Going way back, I recall game at moorabbin, decades ago. last round, Saints v Cats, saints poleaxed em, by ten goals or so. Next week, Saints played Cats in first final, Cats won easily. ! Same in 1980, Tigers lost last match v the Swans at home, albert park, by eight goals or so. Tigers went on to win the flag. Losses can do the world of good, and this one will shake us right back to reality.

[AlienTracker]

[duggieboy]

^^^

Hey AlienTracker welcome aboard the good ship Nicks.

[DT]

You can learn a lot from a loss and I think we will.

Cox is a definite out and Hill a definite in. I think Frampton should also be included and maybe WHE or Lipinski rested

[Johnno75]

The loss exposed a couple of issues. In some respect the game against Carlton was very similar to Rnd 23 last year they smacked us bad at the contest but unlike last year we didn’t nail our chances in front of goal.

Last year we were a poor contested team and generated a lot of our possession chains from D50. We won enough close games to make finals but those close wins became close losses as the extra heat upset our running handball game.

We drafted Mitchell to fix the contest part and with the move of Nick to the middle it was happy days.

Well for the first 10 games it was happy days as we ranked 1st for ground ball gets and top 4 for contested ball differential.

However in the last 9 games our contest has fallen away dramatically we now rank bottom 4 for ground ball gets and contested ball differential and was beaten at this by Melb, Dogs, Adel and Port but was masked by a series of wins. We have essentially gone back to being the 2022 version of Collingwood but with the added pressure that a few teams have applied on us has exposed our transition and handball game so we can’t rely on this come finals. On Friday night we didn’t kick a goal from stoppage until midway through the last qtr.

We are in a strong position at 16-3 but need to spend the next 4 weeks fixing up our contest like it was in the 1st half of the season. We won’t win the flag otherwise.

I will be very interested in our ground ball gets and contested ball stats over the next month and hopefully it starts going in the right direction.