Post Match v Wee Girls... all comments here thanks

[jack_spain]

Come on Hiss where are you?

Have you been held up by a massive breakout at Barwon Prison just up the road? (sarcasm!)

[pietillidie]

I'm already hanging out for the Saints game. Let's hope our team does not take Port too easily and stuff up. We should have another huge win, setting us up for a classic encounter the following week against the most rotten, mongrel, team in the AFL.

We need to show Geelong-like hunger against Port to have a show against the Saints. I rate this kind of game as a huge test of the club's maturity.

[AN_Inkling]

^^Glad you didn't say "StKilda like" - they lost to Port .

[Dr Pie]

Missed the game because I am overseas at the moment and wireless decided to fall over at my hotel during the time the game was on. My mate who was at the game texted me the result. Thanks for this thread which gives me some sense of how the boys performed. Really sorry that I didn't get to see Blair's first game as I have been wanting the club to add him to the list since last year.

[melliot]

The 83 point margin flattered the Eagles

[Raw Hammer]

[the fuzz]

Great win, just watched the replay cause i couldnt make the game.
Very solid team effort with a few standouts - Jolly, Swan, Didak(woah!!), Scotty, Thomas, Tooves, Dawes, Cloke Beams all fantastic. A few people have been questioning Leon - I thought he was pretty good - assited about 3 goals directly, tackled and ran hard.
Welcome Blair! Reminded me a bit of Tony Shaw or Tony Francis - small but all guts!! Bring on the cats and saints, Im glad we get another crack at them both, will really test us but we are ready for them. Our team is really finding itself and we have heaps of backup options.... go pies

[HAL]

double

Where do you want me to take it?

[Monco Matt]

Scoreboard looked good at full time but I was very disappointed with our inability to take it out of the centre.

For a team who are a big show of finishing with the spoon we were absolutely embarrased by them out of the centre I reckon.

I generally make an effort not to point out our flaws in games when we have a good win because I go pretty hard when we lose, however this is something I noticed all night as well and was a source of some frustration.

Not sure what the center clearance stats were but we looked like we were beaten out of there more often than not. To beat quality sides we must learn to get first use of the ball, this comes from having big bodies in close which guys like beams, pendles & wellingham just don't have. I hope it does not expose us in big finals. But, it probably will.

Good observation Damien, sometimes big wins can cover up big problems.

[Pied Piper]

^ We lost the centre clearances 27-31, MM. A loss, but not really a thrashing. The second half was much better than the first in this regard.

Worth remembering that Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui are two of the better ruckmen in the comp in terms of getting first hands to the ball. All the more credit to Darren Jolly for spanking them around the ground and especially up forward.

[Monco Matt]

^ I think those stats are total clearances PP, whereas there would have only been 31 centre clearances in total, 1 at the start of each quarter, and one after every goal. Anyone have those stats?? But I get your point, our ruck tap work is still not what it needs to be.

[Pied Piper]

Incorrect MM - they are indeed centre clearances, from the official AFL site stats from the game. Check them for yourself.

Also my point was definitely not that Darren Jolly's ruck work was "not all it could be" - only that he was going it almost alone against two first-class opponents. The other factor is Matt Priddis who is a magnet at stoppages, but he was quietened significantly by Jarryd Blair in the third quarter.

** EDIT: Sorry, I see where you're coming from. On the AFL's statistics pages clearances are listed as "centre clearances" but they clearly can't all be bounce-downs to restart play, since only 27 goals were scored in the match. I'm not sure if they are counting all ball-ups contested in the centre square area or all around the ground - either way, a bit confusing.

[favourites 2008]

You have to factor in that Ball/Swan/Pendlebury all spent limited time in the midfield in the second half.

Those that are worried about this week against port, don't be. We will smash them by 50+

No Hartlett, Grey, Surgeon and Cornes against us at our second home game coming off our biggest win in about 2 years, port haven't won in 7 weeks... it's all set up to be one mother of a thrashing imo.

Stop being so negative.

*We smashed em last year, we also beat them the year before over there and the only reason it wasn't by more was because of Shaun Burgoyne, and we all know he isn't there anymore.

[Monco Matt]

No worries guys, all valid points. I'm not at all worried about beating Port, they are a rabble, but what I look for in our games are signs that our midfield will be able to handle and overcome the Saints & Cats midfields and I didn't really see anything that convinced me of that against the Eagles. The test is coming and we won't have to wait long to find out.

[favourites 2008]

MM the thing I look for is the ball usage going inside 50. The one thing the saints thrive on is slow ball usage and a bomb in long, if we can use the ball like we did against WCE against the saints/cats we will be in it up to our necks.

The other key thing is keeping the footy off them, both Saints and Cats love to have the footy. If you can stop them getting the footy it makes them change their game styles accordingly.

So two points, quick ball movement to leading targets (trying to get the one on ones) and also play a keepings off brand of footy, don't give the ball back easily.

Out of our first 100 possessions, 99 were not clangers. These are the stats that we want to see against the saints.