Post Match. Pies sink Suns. All comments.

[Haff]

Just finished catching up after a family gig. Solid enough win. GCS are their own worst enemy but we did enough.
Clear Begg isn’t there yet but his follow up work was great. Though he’s not performing at 1m a season it’s clear how important Grundy is to our midfield.
Until his goal in the second half I can’t recall an effective possession from C. Brown. Hoping his contract is up at seasons end?

[Pies2016]

Lipinski still struggling ? Needs a spell ?

[Monco Matt]

I thought the performance was very good overall, not great but certainly nowhere near our worst.

After conceding the first two goals of the game we then kicked 7 goals unanswered playing controlled aggressive footy in the process. This was our best period of the game and it setup the victory. After that it was pretty much an arm wrestle. GCS would hit back, get within a couple of goals but we would always respond with a few of our own keeping them at arms length. It is this ability to respond and push back when needed that was the most impressive aspect of the game.

We do have plenty of concerns obviously. Whenever the opposition goes inside our D50 my heart is always in my mouth. I never know if our back 6 are in position, manning up or zoning off, who is going up in the contest, who is at ground level etc. What is going to happen I never know and this lack of defensive control is a concern. We are not solid down back and we do leak a lot of goals and opportunities. This may be the side effect of a more aggressive game style that enables us to score more ourselves but if we are going to progress our performances to total team footy and start winning games more convincingly we certainly need to tighten up down back. How? IDK, we have coaches in place to figure this out I believe. It may be a personnel issue, meaning you can't weave shit into gold.

I didn't notice the absence of Grundy at all to be honest. How important are ruckman then? Just need a couple of blokes contesting and holding their own, let the runners, backs and forwards win the game for you. I didn't notice Max King missing either until someone mentioned it but having been told I did feel like something was missing inside their F50? Casboult was tearing us apart and giving me a headache so I just didn't twig. If he was playing we probably would have had some trouble today.

I can't say I was ever a C. Brown fan, but today I realised once and for all that even though he tries hard, chasing, tackling etc and this may be why he is in the side that this is just not really enough, you must be a good ball user, good decision maker and be able to at least kick over 40m for goal if you are going to hold down a midfield position. I think his performance today was pretty ordinary making a lot of errors and he is one that probably needs to go if we are to improve. T. Brown is a better prospect, doesn't make an many errors but he is now 22 or 23 so he needs to make his mark this season, very soon.

Mihocek and Ginnivan again kicked a bag between them which was again great to see but I hope we are not beginning to rely on just them to kick 7 or 8 every week. This would make us easier to shut down over time. Need to get a few more guys to work through there and pick up a 3 or 4 goal game just to keep the opposition guessing week to week. Obviously, JDG and WHE are the obvious candidates, maybe Steele as well if we can give these guys the opportunity. But, overall I do like our F50 work rate this season as opposed to 2021, we are more dangerous which makes watching game more enjoyable.

I feel like overall the game plan is sound, we execute it 90% of the time but still horrible errors cost us in defense and around the ground regularly which leads to scores against but I just don't know if this playing group can get any better and prevent these things from happening. Will Madgen ever stop trailing his opponent, throwing the ball, kicking it away? Will Darcy ever become good one-on-one, will Noble ever not turn the ball over by foot once or twice? Will Howe ever not fall over at the wrong time? I just don't think these guys will become better than they are and we may have to live with these things. I think we can all agree that defensive line errors are the ones that we remember that really frustrate as they result in direct scores against. Defenders have it tough don't they? But they do their best!

Defenders can defend better if pressure up the field improves and it is fair to say our midfield group is not the best at creating rushed i50's to the opposition, although it is improving. We do chase and tackle but it is very on and off. When the opposition get's rolling we do look like witches hats a fair bit and this results in fast ball movement putting our defenders under pressure catching us out of position a lot. So, we do need a stronger midfield group, this is clear. I think a KPF and a couple of strong mids are the order for the next off season. Lipinski is a good pickup but he isn't an A-grader.

Good win for the confidence and like I mentioned earlier just showing the ability to hit back a few times when they came back was the lesson of the day. We are definitely an improving team on the up. Lastly, I am loving what Jack Ginnivan is bringing. He is an agitator, a goal scorer, a moment identifier, an inspiration and what is looking like a bono fide match winner.

[pietillidie]

Not one to chase the replay down for by the sounds, but chalking up another win can't hurt.

[Culprit]

My perception of the game is we can outscore them and that's how it turned out. The transition when we turned it over was quick and damaging. Happy to get the four points and another game into the younger players.

[Usurper]

Our midfield allows too many easy and unpressured kicks into our defensive 50, making our defenders seem missing.. Casbult had way too many easy marks in the 50.

Sadly I have to agree about Callum Brown; he's had a few seasons now and not really at the level. Tyler still needs more time, hopefully he'll become a solid B mid for us.

On the other hand... Begg put in a good debut, was handy around the grounds, and Cameron was solid in the first half.

Checkers.. we'd be lost without him, and loving Ginni. Not many touches but dangerous near it.

Take the win, not sure we'll be in the 8 for finals, but feels like we're on a good path.

[DT]

Given several players were ill and almost didn’t play this win was very meritorious.

There is some serious talent in our younger players and the team plays with a lot of competitiveness.

[Big T]

Good wins for both sides, a lot to like with our vfl form.

Henry Poulter and Macrae in for C Brown Sidebottom and Hoskin Elliot.

I think it's time to bring more youth in and the three mentioned are well loved by many including me but it's been a great start to the season, we've shown what we can do, it's time to get games into these kids.

[RudeBoy]

I thought it was a great win. Remember we were tipped by most to finish near the bottom this year.

To win relatively easily without Grundy was a great result. Cameron was very good, but obviously tired late in the game. Begg showed enough for me to get excited about his potential in a couple of years. The kid has a go, is mobile and is a great size.

Another excellent game from Lipinski, which should silence those who were doubting his value. He has improved our midfield considerably this year. The critics of Noble should acknowledge his great game also. He is a courageous and skilful player.

Josh Daicos is having his best season so far, and exudes class. Mihocek is one of the best clubmen we've ever had. He gives everything, every week and absorbs most of the heat up forward.

I'm still not a fan of the Brown boys, but I've never doubted their endeavour. I'd just prefer to have a couple of players with more polish in our side.

[3rd degree]

Happy with the Win . Both Daicos boys good again . Crisp tough, Ginnivan Cheeky and smart. Begg Showed some promise and seems to has smarts . Cameron lead well and Checkers cracked in. IQ and Moore were good and Magden was honest . Howe needs to tighten up . Scotty lead very well . Maynard laid some important hits and will get better. We miss talls at both ends.

[Magpietothemax]

Given several players were ill and almost didn’t play this win was very meritorious.

There is some serious talent in our younger players and the team plays with a lot of competitiveness.

JDG was quiet and did not have a major influence on the game, so this is very true.
Our aggressive, fast ball movement is exhilarating, but as others have noted, we need to improve the coherence of our defensive structures. With the new game style, we are still finding our way in terms of how to maximise our defensive system when we lose possession and the ball comes back into our D50. I am not sure whether it is our defenders' fault entirely that Casboult got off the leash, or whether it is a result of an imperfectly executed team defence that is a work in progress.
Once again, our ability to fight back against a surge from the opposition was very pleasing.

[Jezza]

Satisfying win. Consolidated our spot in the 8 and now we're 4-3.

I think back a lot to our clash with the Suns last year in round 7 (on May 1) and how much has changed over the last 12 months.

The changes to the teams are as follows:

IN: Adams, Begg, T Brown, N Daicos, Ginnivan, Howe, Lipinski, Madgen, McInnes

OUT: Grundy, Keane, Macrae, Mayne, Murphy, Poulter, Rantall, Roughead, Thomas

A year on and the only thing that's similar to the two games is Mihocek kicked 4 goals on both occasions, which underlines his consistency and reliability for us over the years.

I know there's been some criticism of conceding too many goals, but our attacking firepower was very poor last year so I'm glad it's one of the first things McRae wanted to radically change for the better. We kicked 7 goals last year against the Suns. We kicked that in the first quarter alone today.

On individual players, Lipinski was very good, and got plenty of the ball. Cameron was excellent and will be retained despite Cox putting in a good shift in the reserves. Loved seeing Ginnivan back up his strong Anzac Day performance with a 3-goal haul today.

Overall, we're in good shape under McRae. Still plenty to improve on but very happy with our progress thus far. Most supporters would have accepted 4-3 in a heartbeat at the start of the season.

[Jezza]

Well, as Jezza said in the game thread - we kicked 7 in the first term today, and 7 for the entire game in 2021. So we made amends there. It has literally taken me a year to get over that loss.

I'm with you, Dyso. That was a bad loss which we can put to rest now.

A little surreal how much has changed for the better in the past 12 months since that match.

[Jezza]

Not one to chase the replay down for by the sounds, but chalking up another win can't hurt.

If you can watch a replay, it's worth doing.

It was a free flowing match with some good highlights.

[Damien]

Agree with most on here that Begg showed a bit for the future but he was monstered by Wittsy in the hit outs and as a result we suffered in the centre clearances. It’ll be even worse if he plays next week against Nank and Soldo. Gotta bring Cox back to play as first ruck, with a little bit of forward time changing with Cameron. Unfortunately that’s the change required if we wanna compete against Richmond.