Game Day Round EF 2015 - Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide Crows

[Ozza]

Adelaide were extremely efficient. It felt like that barely made a mistake once we turned it over.

They also implemented some clever defensive things which made it harder for us to move the ball.

One example is how they stopped us from switching. Plenty of times if Murphy or Biggs had the ball in the back pocket, Betts would stand 7-8 metres from them so that they had to kick over him to switch (obviously you don't want to kick a switch kick at a higher/slower trajectory because it may get picked off, or otherwise gives the opposition more time to fold across to the other side of the ground). They also rarely gave up the middle of the ground to us, and forced us wide.

They also got solid performances out of their bottom few. Cheney played very well for a plodder. Hartigan is a young player, who probably played one of his best career games.

And obviously - going 10.0 for a stretch of the game for set shots, was huge. Walker, Lynch, Knight and Betts all kicked set shots that were 50/50 at best opportunities.

[bornadog]

It's 2 days later and I still have no idea how we lost that game.

Clearances by 20, a 4 goal jump, clear possessional advantage, more scoring shots, extended periods of dominance. How did we lose?

Like I know how, but HOW? I thought not thinking about it for a day or so and letting it sink in would bring some clarity, but nope. Walker was great and we didn't have it in our arsenal to stop him, but we had them covered pretty much everywhere else.

Hunter and Bont's handballs (or non-handball for Marcus) will make me feel sick for ages.

I look at all our players on the field and they pretty much all contributed, except probably Honeychurch and I to am still wondering how we lost.

In the end it was not taking our chances with missed goals. I also think we bombed the ball long and deep into our forward line too often instead of hitting a target around the 50 metre mark.

[Murphy'sLore]

I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the replay yet. I'm not sure if I should… Will it help ease the pain to be reminded all the things we did right, or will it make it worse to relive where we went wrong?

[bornadog]

I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the replay yet. I'm not sure if I should… Will it help ease the pain to be reminded all the things we did right, or will it make it worse to relive where we went wrong?

I have watched bits and pieces and found myself getting angry.

[Rocket Science]

It's 2 days later and I still have no idea how we lost that game.

Clearances by 20, a 4 goal jump, clear possessional advantage, more scoring shots, extended periods of dominance. How did we lose?

Like I know how, but HOW? I thought not thinking about it for a day or so and letting it sink in would bring some clarity, but nope. Walker was great and we didn't have it in our arsenal to stop him, but we had them covered pretty much everywhere else.

Hunter and Bont's handballs (or non-handball for Marcus) will make me feel sick for ages.

They were hyper-efficient with their forward entries.

If we'd been less wasteful with ours, and our possession during a few key phases, we'd be debating our ins versus the Hawks.

[LostDoggy]

Let's talk 2015. They were 7th and not even close to top 4. They were 7-5 (and about where they finished the season) when Phil Walsh passed away. They weren't elite opposition - any team with Kyle Cheney and Hartigan in it is not an elite side. They had a few kids playing as well.

We were a better team than the Crows in 2015, irrespective of age.

The Hawks will make mince meat out of them.

I disagree. The Hawks had better turn up. Sure they'll start favourites, but if ever a game looks like a danger game, it's the Crows to a Hawks fan this week. Maybe I'm just moved by the heart and grit they showed but I believe a West Coast vs. Adelaide GF is a real possibility, and will hang my hat on it.

[Grantysghost]

Just made myself watch the highlights so I could move on, interestingly nobody has raised the Walker push on Roberts out on the wing which led to the ultimate goal as a contentious decision. The law states (15.4.5 e) you must be within 5 metres for it not to be deemed a free. I would certainly have let it go, and I'm a strong believer these things even out, however i think it should illicit some discussion it was a huge moment. It's a game of inches, I would strongly suspect it was not within 5 metres and possibily in the back.
Kudos to those who shall not be named, they nailed their chances. When Riley Knight is slotting goals from the boundary it's going to be a tough night and Tex was immense. (Who's on Eddie?)
Our guys were brilliant, just a few skill errors at crucial times and not being able to become a bit more defensive towards the end may have cost us but certainly they did enough to win and it should provide a great springboard for next season. Being in the middle band of the fixture will not hurt either. Bring on 2016.

[Mantis]

Like I know how, but HOW? I thought not thinking about it for a day or so and letting it sink in would bring some clarity, but nope. Walker was great and we didn't have it in our arsenal to stop him, but we had them covered pretty much everywhere else.

I'm not so sure about that.. Walker made 2 big plays:

1/ Bombed a goal from 60m in the 2rd qtr.. You almost conceed that kick to a key forward .ie. allow them to take a mark at 55m.. The fact we had fluffed a number of chances prior to this goal made it sting a little more.

2/ Won a crucial 1 on 1 on the members wing late in the last qtr and delivered the ball to Cameron who iced the game.. Roberts was focused on the ball and the heavy contact knocked him on his arse.

Over the course of the game I though we did a pretty good job on Walker, but he just made his moments count.

[LostDoggy]

I look at all our players on the field and they pretty much all contributed, except probably Honeychurch and I to am still wondering how we lost.

In the end it was not taking our chances with missed goals. I also think we bombed the ball long and deep into our forward line too often instead of hitting a target around the 50 metre mark.

That's so true. It struck me on the night at the end of the match as the players ratings/scores scrolled, that (other than HC/Daniel) the bottom 7 or 8 rated players were all Crows. Other than goalkicking we were significantly the better team. It's a hard loss to cop - just hope lessons have been learnt.

[bornadog]

MRP

Bob fined $1000 for rough conduct on Charlie Cameron.

Murphy's off-the-ball hit was slightly high, being assessed as careless conduct with low impact to the head.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

MRP

Bob fined $1000 for rough conduct on Charlie Cameron.

Murphy's off-the-ball hit was slightly high, being assessed as careless conduct with low impact to the head.

When in the bloody hell did this happen?

[Murphy'sLore]

I must have blinked for that bit.

[Ghost Dog]

So how long is appropriate to start running down the clock.

[Greystache]

I echo the thoughts of TBB and Sedat, Saturday night was shattering. Not because we lost, we're a young team who'd come a long way in one season, but more so because we saw another generation of players coming through who failed to take the moment when it arose on the big stage. We were easily the better team on the day but found a way to lose. I'd convinced myself that unlike the 99 draft group, or the 300 group before that that, the likes of Bonti and Stringer would lift for the big moment and drag us over the line. Sadly Bonti missed 3 very gettable chances when we had a chance to ice the game, Stringer was largely unsighted, and several others missed their moment.

That's not to say they won't deliver next time, but I had no faith Boyd or Murphy would deliver at the big moment based on previous form and I wasn't disappointed this time, and it's hard to have faith we won't keep seeing the same thing time and time again.

[bornadog]

I had no faith Boyd or Murphy would deliver at the big moment based on previous form and I wasn't disappointed this time

So your saying they played a bad game.