Post Match...GF Debacle..all comments here please

[Cam]

From where i was sitting there some disappointments; how that umpire missed didak getting killed just in front of me was unbelievable.

positives:
rhyce shaw - good disposal, hard running. might have a good year
matty lokan - again showed he can be a valuable contributor, i wouldnt be surprised if both he and rhyce are now in front of benny j, because it least they can hit a target better than 50% and they have similiar speed and guts.
molly - back in town with a vengeace. like it.
williams - looks like a better pickup than woewodin
rupert - continues to play at the standard he lifted to last year, not many possession but presented and battle well
clement - ditto
wakelin - ditto
stunner - more or less
fraser - thought he started ok until he rolled the ankle

negatives:
orange maggots - mclaren should be renamed minardi, allen is a joke too
indirectness, finally they listened to the coach in the last q, all to late
9 point goals - it seemed all our forwards led to 50 to mark, we avoided going into the arc for 3 quarters
ant rocca - fitness, he has none
taz - i hope he gets it together before too much longer, he's too small to wrestle, and often leads out too far
scotland - didnt tag mcleod tried to play with him
o'bree - our softest midfielder, needs lots of possessions to keep place in the team

other comments:
adelaide looked fitter, as fast and more confident after beating some contenders along the way
carey - pity prestie was off the ground injured, he would have been harder to deal with than clemo
burnsy- why did he sit until half time? or did i miss something.
licca - not fit yet

[Miss_Lisey_Molloy]

Last nites game shocked me! This isnt the Collingwood I know! But the lampshade trophy isnt important to me! I want the one i held up today at Family Day, except i want it to say 2003 on it instead for 1990!

There was something that has been the highlight of my year so far that happened last nite! That was when Jarrod had the ball and ducked a bit and the guy flipped over him! Fantastic stuff! I love ya Jarrod!!!!!

Love always, Alyssa xoxo

[grims]

MM was experimenting. He didn't seem that dissapointed cause he knows that it's only pre season. If this was a real grand final buckley wouldnt' have spent a quater on the bench same with burns and licuria would have been tagging mcleod.

[MargOZ]

I think what disappointed me the most was not that we lost but the way we lost. After Sep's GF loss we still held our heads high because we played such fantastic quality football - last night we made a lot of unforced errors - something we haven't seen in our side for a while now. Maybe it was a mixture of things, a little over-confidence, tired legs from playing 4 matches in a row on concrete (it's no excuse, but don't underestimate how hard the TD surface is), a night where nothing seemed to go right for us, and a Crows team with plenty of incentive to win.

I don't think we should be knocking individual players because what was lacking was 'team' - we didn't run hard enough and back each other up - and that falls on every player. Our skill level in general was down - how many kicks went wayward and didn't hit team-mates on the chest (or sometimes anywhere near them!), and one of our guys would get the ball and suddenly be surrounded by 3 crows - why weren't team-mates there to help him out? Our running game was almost non-existent - and where were our 9ers?

I'm sure the guys are even more disappointed with the result than we are - but Eddie made a good point yesterday - we may have lost one we really wanted but it has still been our best pre-season effort in 23 years. So don't rate our performance on one bad match - we are a fast, skilful side and a bit more consistency this season will see us back in the finals and hopefully pushing for that elusive flag. Losing GF's can feel worse than finishing further down the ladder at times - so we need to remember to put it into perspective (as painful as it feels at times!) - we have finished 2nd out of 16 teams in the last two comps we have played in - I'll take that any day over our pre-MM season results!

I was painfully disappointed on Saturday night because our guys are better than what we saw - but they'll be back and with the start of a new week and our first match not far away - I CAN'T WAIT!

GO PIES!
Marg

[chalky]

Well said Margoz, it was the team effort (or lack of it) that should be the essential issue in debate rather than individuals. Obviously many players would have been disappointed in their work rate, but it is still a practice match! As other posters have indicated, MM was still in experimental mode, how else could one fathom some of his moves or non-moves during the game. From the initial bounce it was obvious the boys were flat and the pressure applied by the opposition merely amplified our mistakes
as each one we made would hurt us badly on the scoreboard.
Lots of positives came from this series of games
*genuine match practice under game pressure conditions
* Rhyce and Mat revelations
* Williams - a real find, Woewodin- let's ease up on the hype
* reality check for the boys pre game 1
* knowledge that everything is in place, just need a breather to freshen up
*reinforced the importance of Presti to our success

2weeks out of the limelight, hidden away will give the boys a chance to re group and re focus on their true agenda for the real season yet to begin

[BigMac]

Saturday night told me one clear thing - we are no longer the hunter, instead we have become the hunted.

This is the one crucial lesson this side needs to learn if we are to go one step further this year. There will be no easy game, there'll be no sneak attacks. We are under more scrutiny now than in the last ten years combined.

Dealing with that pressure week in week out will either make us or break us.

[champagne leon]

plain and simple....we were murdered around all the stop plays and centre clearances.
you are never going to win a game of footy when all your attack is set up from defense every time. I don't know how many clearances or stop plays we actually won, but i can't remember too many of them !!!

onwards to round 1 to give the fickle tiges a belting !

[AnthonyC]

Damn, Damn, Damn!

Agree with what others have said, just didn't seem to do much right on the night. crows were better at it than us, deserved to win, end of story. Again as others have said, good reality check, may be a blessing as a win might have made the young guys think it will just happen. Have to again say that Rhyce Shaw was excellent, if he can keep improving like that it will be a great bonus for us. If the banner for Round 1 goes with the We Will Never Quit it will be a good message to the players, supporters and the opposition. Don't worry about it people it will make the real flag all that much sweeter.

[STOKA35]

-WE LOOKED HESITANT
-BEATEN IN THE MIDFIELD
-WE NEEDED THAT GOAL BEFORE 3/4 TIME FOR A BIT OF MOMENTUM
-MOLLOY AND ROCCA NEED TO PLAY CLOSER TO GOAL FOR A TARGET TO KICK TO WHEN LEADS ARE CUT OF OR BLOCKED
-POSITIVE GOT TO 11 POINTS AT ONE STAGE BUT WAS OVERUN

[DaicosMagic]

We got to within 13 points just 9 minutes into the last quarter, and only a Tarrant right foot shocker that went 30cm and an umpiring decision on half back that resulted in Carey finding a giftwrapped football bob up into his hand to dribble through a 'lucky' goal prevented us from perhaps a remarkable come-back.

We didn't deserve to win. We played BADLY! Yet we nearly found ourselves in a winning position with plenty of time left. That's a decent sign, isn't it?

The problem this pre-season has been that we've barely played more than 2 solid quarters of football in any one game. On Saturday, maybe 1 (we dominated the 3rd quarter, people, yet failed to capitalise on set shots - poor kicking is poor football).

And don't forget, the likes of Lonie, Licuria, Burns, Fraser etc. starting a game on the bench (and spending entire quarters off it) will not happen during the regular season. We are conserving players. Telstra Dome is a hard surface. Don't underestimate the impact on players. With little rain in recent times, grounds around the State are hard as rock. I have to train 2 times a week on such surfaces and it gives your feet and shins a real tough time to the point of unbearable pain with each running step! Grass on concrete is not the most desirable option 4 weeks in a row.

[THE POSSUM PIES]

They played exceptionally good, we played exceptionally bad at times, the real Grand Final is not played in March, surely we have all seen how good we are, and are Not going to let this game end our season, stay positive and have faith, let the games BEGIN!!!

[AB35]

Just a reality check, no need to bag anyone too severely. We got some good match practice over the last four weeks. Unearthed some potential, ie Shaw and Lokan. And didn't we win some money? Anyone know how much? Not that we're desperate, but it's nice to know.

[bokka]

Wish I could have seen the game - someone might send a tape over...CAm I couldn't resist modifying your Tom Baker photo, see attachment

[woe_is_me]

The Crows played bloody good footy for almost the whole four quarters - we have to give them credit for that (unfortunately).

We just could not get any momentum at any stage, and when there seemed a chance to somehow snatch the game - along came the King.

I don't know what we can do to remedy getting smashed in the ruck - we need the big boys to lift....

[woe_is_me]

The Crows played bloody good footy for almost the whole four quarters - we have to give them credit for that (unfortunately).

We just could not get any momentum at any stage, and when there seemed a chance to somehow snatch the game - along came the King.

I don't know what we can do to remedy getting smashed in the ruck - we need the big boys to lift....