Post Match. Saints punish Pies . All comments.

[daics aka the ruckman]

It was only a 15 point loss. We stayed in the game despite the shocking turnovers we produce and our sloppy skills. Previous losses were 32 and 33.
Good game from another youngster in Reef. Many others showed some improvement from last week.
I don't understand why Finn only got a quarter. Maybe its all in the fitness and conditioning ?? But he must play a full game next week.

Sidebottom is producing more mistakes and has little influence each week. Time for him to be managed.

[Pete 70]

Think it was a good presser. He seemed angry. We seem a bit unconfident at the moment and I think that impacts things. Few random observations:

1 Funny how the officials picked up that Howe didn’t run in a straight line so it was a ball up in our back 50 rather than allowing the kick to proceed. And yet missed Higgins. Also can we do away with goal review if we don’t use the tech.
2 Don’t really care about the free kick count actually- whatever but heartbroken for the non-Jordy hold which becomes holding the ball. FFS. It’s the bloody momentum killers.
3 Think we are a way off, and in some respects not too far. Really think it’s confidence. People will say I’m misguided (probably am) but I liked some of the fight at the end of the second and then half way through the last.
4 St Kilda aren’t a dud team. Other than the eagles no one really is. And we are hunted.
5 Yep we’ve got holes all over our list, and are best was good enough last year. I’m not calling this season yet.
6 I l loved Fly’s response to the free kick count.
7 Stood in the Members and had a great chat to a Collingwood supporter who like me had been at Vicky Park in the 80’s. Love the solidarity of this club.
8 I checked this morning they still only have one flag down at Moorabin.

[Mr Miyagi]

Howe did not run off his line

[Jezza]

Easier said than done but we have to find a way to reduce the opposition from scoring on turnover.
It's killed us in the first three weeks. Maybe that's one of the "fundamentals" that Fly speaks of.

[think positive]

Easier said than done but we have to find a way to reduce the opposition from scoring on turnover.
It's killed us in the first three weeks. Maybe that's one of the "fundamentals" that Fly speaks of.

true, and thanks for the presser xx

[Harrysz]

Yes the effort against St Kilda was better than against GWS and Sydney but those two sides are better than St Kilda.

JDG clearly should have got that free and Higgins was over the boundary line, but, (and I've said this a few times) as Tommy Hafey once said after a loss, "we should never have been in a position where bad umpiring decisions could cost us the game."

The reality is that our skill level in the last three games is way below that of 2023 and 2024. Dropped marks, fumbling, missing tackles, unforced errors - it's all there. We can all theorise about what's causing this but at present our skill level is as a bottom 4 team. Blaming umpires is ridiculous.

[Jezza]

true, and thanks for the presser xx

No worries

[David]

I thought these players stood up last night: McCreery, Elliott, Cameron, McInnes, Frampton (despite a couple of bad mistakes), Josh Daicos, Lipinski, Maynard, Quaynor. Schultz and Markov were quiet but had a few impressive one percenters, and Hill at least got a couple of late goals. Cox was okay.

Missing in action: Pendlebury, Nick Daicos, Moore, De Goey, Howe. Sidebottom wasn't much of a factor. Macrae didn't have much opportunity to make any impact.

I think McRae needs to make a statement at the selection table next week, and it needs to start with giving some of the veterans a spell: Pendlebury, Howe if we can find someone to cover him, and maybe Sidey. Time to try something different.

[stui magpie]

Positives were the performance of Reef and Frampton. Both did well.

Not happy with the loss but players don't lose their ability overnight, it's clearly a mental thing, they're operating a couple of percent below where they were last year and that makes all the difference when you're the hunted and the hunters are good teams in their own right.

[Collingwouldn't]

We’re shell shocked because of the ride we had last year. But honestly, I picked us to be 0-2, we’re similar position list/age wise to Geelong last year. Thought we’d beat the Saints but they played it like it was their grand final. We can still make finals but it’s going to take a big attitude adjustment and a few rockets up their real ends behind closed doors

If they're sticking rockets up their real ends (?), this should be conducted behind closed doors. We're a family club.

[Gerry Cooper]

Schultz will be fine. He has done some good things to be far. Still working out our system. Seems to not be 100% running the right lines yet. Plus the rest of the side has been a rabble, hard for him to be effective…

Schultz did a few good things I thought. The entire team should watch over and over his long ball into the forward fifty in the last quarter which resulted in a mark and goal (Cameron?). It was long flat and direct and a perfect marking opportunity that cut the defenders' chance to spoil. Not like the witless kick and hope cloud bursting bombs that give the defenders all the time in the world to set up and spoil that most of our crew are delivering at the moment.

[Boot]

That was another very frustrating game to watch with dumb inept turnovers being the fundamental reason why we lost but I felt the teams desperation was about to lift then that horrid umpiring decision against DeGoey and the Higgin's goal from the 2nd row of the members seats!
The players who are really down on form are;
1. Jack Crisp - constantly trying to burst through tackles and poor disposal that puts his teamates under pressure. Has to be dropped for WHE next week.
2. Steele Sidebottom - he's getting to the ball and his positioning on the field is good but fumbling and disposal is weak at the moment.
3. Darcy Moore - is personally killing momentum and team mojo with drop dead turnovers that the under 15 reserves team would be horrified with.
4. Tom Mitchell - is failing to impact the game and needs to have some time in the VFL or retired. Unfortunately Tom has the rest of this year and next still contracted to the club. Fin Macrae is faster and more skillful at this stage of their careers.
5. Jeremy Howe - has lost his zip and judgement for intercepting the high ball coming into the defensive 50 meter area.

I doubt that Fly McRae will drop any of the above this week but once it is clear that the season is truely shot then its time to give serious AFL time to the likes of Macrae, Harrison, Allan, Carmichael, Ryan, Sullivan and Begg.

I hope for next week the following team is picked;
B:Maynard, Frampton, Howe
HB: Quaynor, Moore, Noble
C:JDaicos, Pendlebury, Lipinski
HF: McCreery, Mihocek, Hill
F:Elliot, McInnes, Shultz
R:Cameron, DeGoey, NDaicos
IC: Hoskin-Elliot, Macrae, Cox, Harrison
Emerg: Allan, Ryan, Carmichael
Out: Crisp, Sidebottom, Mitchell, Markov
In:Macrae, Hoskin-Elliot, Harrison, Noble

[shawthing]

The umpiring was sheer theft by the AFL who wanted to reward the Danny Frawley game. Totally scripted as the NFL is now. WWE here we come.

The less said about this sorry team now the better. Two of our best players were ins (Reef and Frampton). And why was Finn brought on far too late to impact the game?

The whole competition has left us behind. Someone summed it up perfectly. We are like the horse Chautauqua left in the starting gate three weeks in a row. These players appear to have admitted - we are done.

Fly is all Mr Positive and players were still high fiving with minutes to go when we'd lost. But now the question he faces is simple: Can he rebuild a team? Remember that Tasmania enters the AFL draft in 2026 with concessions that make the Suns and Giants concessions look like the teddy bears picnic. Any team that doesn't have the nucleus of their next premiershhip team together by that point will be in the wilderness for a very long time.

This is a rerun of 1991 and it took us 30 years to climb to the mountain top again.

Just what exactly has this club been doing in the off season?

"This is a rerun of 1991 and it took us 30 years to climb to the mountain top again."

That'd be 20, so you just bought us 10 years ...

You're right. I was thinking of the 32 years between 1958 and 1990. Our success rate is improving though. 32 years, 20 years and then 13 years. At that rate our next premiership will be in 2031 or 32.

[David]

The players who are really down on form are;
1. Jack Crisp - constantly trying to burst through tackles and poor disposal that puts his teamates under pressure. Has to be dropped for WHE next week.

I forgot about Crisp in my post above, but yeah, I think he's another one whose position in the team has to come under scrutiny. It's a shame about his consecutive games record, but all good things come to an end some day. Nobody should be getting picked on past deeds.

Good point about Mitchell, too.

[inxs88]

Haff’s Glass half empty Player review:

Failed badly, atrocious:
Moore (can’t give up 3 goals as captain too silly mistakes, he is not a gifted footballer IMO, good mark, can take the game on, that’s about it)
JDG (shadow of his best)
Markov (zero impact, I don’t understand his role after he was so good at breaking lines last season, now a kick behind nothing defender)
Crisp (fumble fumble fumble)
Mitchell (time has come for mine).

Didn’t win, their position, need to lift:
Sidey (looks a kick behind)
Howe (see Mitchell)
IQ (Complete lack of confidence)
Naicos (Had the fumbles and didn’t have a crack tonight, allowed one bad game but the haters will be coming for him after his missed tackles)
Schultz (not there yet, he’ll be ok, showed glimpses but doesn’t seem to know our system)
Cox (good second half, shit first)
Checkers (not impacting enough)
McReery (not impacting enough)
Hill (see above 2)


Pass mark:
Cameron (leading our B&F)
Jaicos
Lippa
Pendles
Elliott (shaky though)
McInnes (can’t ask for much more from his first game but he is not the answer, I don’t think we have one though so he did well enough)
Maynard
Frampton (did some good things)

N/A
McRae (get this kid in the side!!)

Perfect summation