Post match. Suns sink Pies - all comments

[jackcass]

FWIW we had 9 players with 30 games or less experience today.

We have played 39 players this year.

The constant changing of the side makes it hard to build momentum and consistency.

Exactly, and before everyone screams that so did they, Williams, Witts, Keeffe, Mooney, Dwyer, and Macaffer were all rookie listed players, theirs were high draft picks and in the conditions tonight player don't lose their skills.

[Jezza]

We failed to win for a variety of reasons.

1). We continue to play this zone rather than man on man contested defence. I'm sick of it.
2). Reid should have been in the forward line at the start of the second and third quarter when the signs were ominous.
3). No one tagged Ablett. Macaffer should have been assigned that job.
4). Witts did nothing. It would have been better to play Grundy.
5). Cloke's kicking is still a major issue.
6). Lack of tackling pressure which has been our main strength for years
7). Our game plan stinks as I mention in point 1.
8. Some people were arrogant heading into this match. People were silly to completely write off the Suns.
9). Goldsack and Keefe were underdone and weren't ready to play in the senior side. It didn't help that Nathan Brown was a late withdrawal.

I'm not angry, I'm just gutted and massively disappointed

[Pies4shaw]

Over-analysing, Jezza. We failed to win because they scored more than we did.

[Sherwood Pie]

The only positive to come out of tonight was that I decided at the last minute not to drive down to the game from Brisbane! I really feel for everyone who blew their money travelling up from Melbourne to see a supposedly guaranteed win before partying all night at Surfers and Jupiters.

Bombing the ball to Cloke in three on one contests simply doesn't work! The loss of Dawes and the failure of Q cannot be underestimated. Without another key forward we're simply a one trick pony.

[Born to Pie]

Well done to all those that stayed or watched until the end.

GC are obviously an improved side in 2013, they are on the up, and how good can they be in 2014?

The question is how do we improve moving forward and in 2014?

We have injected youth into the side but I think today proves that realistically 2013 is gone, and we now need to look towards 2014 and accept we need to conduct a mini-rebuild to set ourselves for next year and beyond.

We have had injuries and some players today were first up or only a couple of games back, and we have Brown, Blair and O'Brien (and maybe Daisy) that can come in for 2013, but those players alone won't be the difference this year, we are now too far back.

With the injured Toovey, Young & Fasolo to add to the side, with the players listed above, we have some cause for optimism (not today!).

Play Witts, Grundy, Broomhead, Martin, Oxley, Gault, Ramsay, Frost & Paine (if available) and accept that game time into those players along with Williams, Seedsman, Elliott, Keeffe, J. Thomas, Kennedy, Sinclair & Dwyer many of these show promise but need game time. It will cause short term pain.

We had a core group of Pendles, Swan, Beams, Reid, Shaw, Cloke, Ball, Sidebottom & Goldsack today that should be available in 2014.

Say goodbye to Johno, Dids, the Mooney experiment, probably Clarke, Lynch, Hudson and Russell and perhaps Daisy & Jolly.

Replace the departures with the best available draft options or free agents, but we need to clear the way ahead. It's like Maxwell he has a place in the side, but not as captain, we need to turn a new page!

I don't doubt that some of the assistant coaches are also on the line, particularly Lappin. We know we have the coin and all the rest to attract the best available assistants.

As senior coach Buckley has coached for two injury interrupted seasons, is he on the right track? I think so, but a third season as poor as the first two, will create more questions than answers.

We won't accept what Brisbane has, with a list as supposedly highly rated as ours another mediocre season is unacceptable. Eddie, Gary Pert & Walsh will need to make decisions, and they will need to make them very soon.

We all expected more in 2013, it's not going to happen, today was the low-light.

Are we capable of fielding a premiership team with our current list? I think the answer is yes!

I think the club needs to act now to prepare the list to make it happen in 2014 and beyond!

Nuff said!

[King Malta]

Goal Kicking Cost us the Game tonight.

It's that Simple

Yep.

Letting Abblett do as he pleased was a big mistake too, why Caff wasn't moved onto him I'll never know.

If we had of kicked straight we wouldn't be having this conversation though

Caff was soundly flogged all night by kids that aren't anywhere near as good as Ablett. Imagine what Ablett would have done to him.

Caff has toweled up some good opposition before. He wasn't great in the forward line, but he's shown this year that he's an A-grade tagger.

If he's able to stop the likes of Selwood and Kennedy I'd suggest he could have at least slowed down Abblett a little.

[jackcass]

We aren't discrediting the opposition. Simply saying the team we put out on talent was better than theirs. But our players were the one's who disrespected them.

Port tackle fiercely & put enormous pressure on the ball carrier. Gold Coast run & carry & kick to position with great effect.
What is our game plan? After 2 years I'm still buggered if I know. But I do know we are pig ugly to watch now.

We'll have to disagree. Based purely on talent of the respective squads there's fluck all difference and in fact I'd say GCS's had us cold for talent.

No way. That might change in a couple of years but not know.
That's bull. I challenge you to look closely at our players when the opposition have the ball. Their first instinct is to guard space instead of either going to the ball carrier or picking up a loose man. It's the sole reason we leak goals from opposition kick in's. Their is nothing wrong with our list. We have one of the best midfields in the competition when they are switched on. We have one of the best forwards in the competition & used to have a very dour defence until 2012 begun. Our game plan has changed completely & it's failing to get the results this list should be capable of. I can wear when we make mistakes with the ball in our hands. They are skill errors & every player makes them. But it pisses me off no end to watch teams kick to their team mates from one end to the other or to switch play & then kick from one end to the other without one single marking contest or one tackle on the ball carrier. It's not good enough.

As I said, we'll have to disagree. A new recruit has the raw talent, it's footy smarts and fitness that come with time.

The arguments on zoning, use of the footy and skill errors are totally different discussions.

[Magpietothemax]

I challenge you to look closely at our players when the opposition have the ball. Their first instinct is to guard space instead of either going to the ball carrier or picking up a loose man. It's the sole reason we leak goals from opposition kick in's. Their is nothing wrong with our list. We have one of the best midfields in the competition when they are switched on. We have one of the best forwards in the competition & used to have a very dour defence until 2012 begun. Our game plan has changed completely & it's failing to get the results this list should be capable of. I can wear when we make mistakes with the ball in our hands. They are skill errors & every player makes them. But it pisses me off no end to watch teams kick to their team mates from one end to the other or to switch play & then kick from one end to the other without one single marking contest or one tackle on the ball carrier. It's not good enough.

Insightful post. Yes I agree. Our midfield should be one of the very best.
I'm going to do as you suggest and watch what our guys do when the opposition gets the ball. What you're saying rings very true. We played our best this year (Geelong, Carlton after 1st quarter etc) when we were on our men and contesting the ball relentlessly. Against PA, and tonight, we just weren't doing anything like that. That means we can still play that way... we just aren't doing it often enough. Hope we can get our act together for the rest of the year.

[jackcass]

Yep.

Letting Abblett do as he pleased was a big mistake too, why Caff wasn't moved onto him I'll never know.

If we had of kicked straight we wouldn't be having this conversation though

Caff was soundly flogged all night by kids that aren't anywhere near as good as Ablett. Imagine what Ablett would have done to him.

Come off it. Do you think Caff would have been worse than nobody running with him? Because nobody was running with him. He had a free reign all night.

Had an opponent all night and flogged the lot. Don't think Macaffer would have done any better.

[35reasons]

Well done to all those that stayed or watched until the end.

GC are obviously an improved side in 2013, they are on the up, and how good can they be in 2014?

The question is how do we improve moving forward and in 2014?

...

With the injured Toovey, Young & Fasolo to add to the side, with the players listed above, we have some cause for optimism (not today!).

...

We had a core group of Pendles, Swan, Beams, Reid, Shaw, Cloke, Ball, Sidebottom & Goldsack today that should be available in 2014.

...

As senior coach Buckley has coached for two injury interrupted seasons, is he on the right track? I think so, but a third season as poor as the first two, will create more questions than answers.

...

I think the club needs to act now to prepare the list to make it happen in 2014 and beyond!

Nuff said!

Some great points BTP, thanks.

I think the gameplan points raised earlier can and should be addressed for next year too. Question is how will Buckley respond to the demands on his coaching personnel and what kind of adaptability will he demonstrate?

[Hiss]

Lads tried their best tonight and were beaten by a better team. Many positives from our effort. Bucks finally has a game plan and we got some excellent conversions. Umpires had it in for us and we struggle in the heat up there. Things are really improving with our new recruits. Much better on ball strength . Elliott was a superstar. Just a bit. Unlucky to lose. Nevermind we deserved to win and are a great side. Side by side

[jackcass]

Yep.

Letting Abblett do as he pleased was a big mistake too, why Caff wasn't moved onto him I'll never know.

If we had of kicked straight we wouldn't be having this conversation though

Caff was soundly flogged all night by kids that aren't anywhere near as good as Ablett. Imagine what Ablett would have done to him.

Caff has toweled up some good opposition before. He wasn't great in the forward line, but he's shown this year that he's an A-grade tagger.

If he's able to stop the likes of Selwood and Kennedy I'd suggest he could have at least slowed down Abblett a little.

Kennedy and Selwood completely different players than Ablett.

[mackasmatt]

We have not hit rock bottom.. we have an awesome list but just a few players cannot get in the side at the moment. I do not for one minute think we would be better under any coach..

Dreaming to be in: Toovey, Fasolo, Jolly, Dale Thomas, a second bit target option (personally Paine>Lynch)

I would rather roll the dice with 1 ruckman and have another effective player (Kyle Martin, Didak, Paine, anyone!) rather than waste time with Witts or Lynch. Gold Coast used 1 ruck tonight (judging by the stats).

[The_Staunton]

For masochists

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2 ... o-the-loss

[MattyD]

first of all the positives

Elliott's mark.
It didn't rain during the game.


the negatives
Where to bloody start. I could write 5000 words but I won't.

why oh why is Maxwell captain?
Why is Witt's playing? He looks hobbled. He cannot run.
What is wrong with Heater? We acts like he has ADD.
Cloke. I blame the umpires for getting in his head again this week. The inconsistency of umpiring has turned him into a head case. can't kick.
We won the free kick count but there are still too any inconsistencies across the board. I'm over it.
I do not see us getting any better any time soon. Beams will get better after his long break. Ball will also get better. And the young guys should improve. 2013 is gone. Sorry. very disappointed right now. I'd rather lose to the hawks at the MCG than bloody Gold Coast. how the hell did we lose them. Even Melbourne beat them.
We are so far off the pace.