Preliminary Finals

[1eyedog]

Re: Preliminary Finals

I didn't see any of the game. My father said Felicity was getting 'excited' with the fist pumps while Jeff looked worried. Maybe he still got a 'win' last night?

I doubt it, Felicity had spent all her cookies by the 20 min mark of the third. It was Buddy, not Jeff who sent her (as well as Bruce for that matter) over the edge with 5 mins left to go in the last.

[comrade]

Re: Preliminary Finals

Felicity had spent all her cookies

This made me giggle.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Preliminary Finals

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsartic...9/default.aspx

I love ther sheer ruthlessness of Clarkson, especially after such a brave performance from his team. He is not giving the players an out clause because of potentially dodgy umpiring decisions, the loss of criticasl structural players like Roughead and Gilham, or lauding a brave effort that just fell short against a superior opponent. He is prepared to state for the public record that they should have finished the job they started so brilliantly in the first 3 quarters. Check out these ruthless post-match quotes:

"We play a tough, volatile sport. I don't want anything to do with pride or bad luck and all that sort of rubbish that is going to come our way because it was a noble effort."

"We should have won a game of footy and we miss out on a Grand Final because we weren't hard enough and tough enough for long enough."

"Collingwood's rebound rate in the last quarter was the highest it was for the game and that was all because we couldn't retain possession of the ball once we got centre-forward."

"We couldn't mark the ball, we were averaging 25 or 30 marks a quarter for the first three quarters and then only have 11 marks for the whole last quarter that ultimately cost us the game."

"I don't want our players to have a warm, fuzzy feeling about being noble and all that sort of stuff. We set ourselves to win this game and go to a Grand Final and we failed."

It's all rhetoric. Doesn't make the slightest difference.

[chef]

Re: Preliminary Finals

Shoemakers & Bateman, costly!

How he got back into the side in front of Bruest is puzzling

[comrade]

Re: Preliminary Finals

How he got back into the side in front of Bruest is puzzling

And Savage? Unless Savage is injured.

[jazzadogs]

Re: Preliminary Finals

Very disappointing to see Stevey J go down like that. Commentators have just said they don't think its ACL, but I can't see him playing next week.

There's got to be some damage in the knee when it bends like that. Plenty of other things can happen to a knee that might not rule him out for a year, but will rule someone out for a few weeks.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Preliminary Finals

This made me giggle.

Wasn't she the number one ticket holder at Geekong?
Kennett looks like he'd eaten some of those schools he closed down.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Preliminary Finals

West Coast looked gassed from early on,Cats played like millionaires in the second.
Four GF's in 5 years is one great effort, I still reckon the Pies just.
Great effort from the Eagles coming from last,but no doubt Woosha being as ruthless as he is won 't be satisfied.

[Bornadog]

Re: Preliminary Finals

How he got back into the side in front of Bruest is puzzling

I said to my mate I couldn't believe Breust wasn't playing. I thought he was one of the best first year players I have see this year.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Preliminary Finals

Hawthorn 2011.....shades of 1997. Hard loss to swallow

[The Coon Dog]

Re: Preliminary Finals

What a contrast between the Preliminary Finals. The Coll/Haw game was tight, unrelenting & the pressure was there from woe to go, whereas today's Geel/WCE clash seemed devoid of atmosphere & was a forgone conclusion from early on.

[dog town]

Re: Preliminary Finals

I like it as well - but what we will find out next year is whether or not the players like it. It is all very well saying this stuff to appease the membership base, but I don't like the way he is absolving himself and the coaches of all the blame here. It was very obvious in the last q that Collingwood had cut off Hawthorn across half-forward - the behind the footy vision was showing how few targets there were available - yet they persisted with Gibson loose behind the ball. I am watching it again now - what Clarkson was complaining about (lack of marks in last q) he contributed too...who is there to mark the thing?

The Hawthorn coaches needed to have someone presenting up to the kicker from the half forward line - they were purely dependent on mids running back towards goal and they were either too tired or just didn't want to do it anymore. The Toovey to Puopolo thing was good for Collingwood - were was the Hawthorn reaction?

Still watching the replay - Rioli run down by Thomas in the last minute? Well, who was he going to kick it too? I call bad coaching - the Hawthorn effort was enormous, but the team structure in the last q was poor and didn't allow them to succeed.

Absolutely right. I was at the game. They lost all sense of structure in the last quarter and a bit. Basically it was either find a short pass immediately or kick and hope that you win a 2 on 5 or 3 on 6.

Went to both games this weekend and other observations I made

West Coasts ultra tall forward structure back fired badly. It wasn't the main area they were beaten in but it made it hard for them to capitalise when they did get some control. Dean Cox spent an enormous amount of time in the goal square with big Q close by. Not going to happen against the cats. Kennedy barely in a one out with his opponent all day and when he did he was dangerous. They couldn't abandon what had worked all year I just thought it made it tough for them.

Beau Waters runs his own race a little bit in terms of accountability at times but geez he had a crack. Tough as they come.

I really couldn't stand Jordan Lewis until recently. I always thought he was all bark and no bite. Backing up his image in the last month with some of the toughest footy I have seen. Using the ball fairly cleverly as well. Much better player than I thought.

Hawthorn have a couple of media darlings that seem to be the first highlighted when Hawthorn do well but never criticised when they dont. I actually thought Rioli was very influential on Friday night but some of his party tricks in the last quarter at crucial stages really cost Hawthorn. Had some very ordinary efforts in big games recently and is rarely called on them. Ditto Luke Hodge. Bit of the Nick Reiwoldt syndrome with Hodge. If people say they are big game players often enough perception becomes reality. Both damn good players but I feel they escape criticism where others wouldn't.

I find the harsh reality of watching some players getting horribly exposed and others thriving in preliminary finals is a good model for our recruiting department to go off. Friday night was similar to our 2009 final and was basically combat for 4 quarters. We need a mix of runners, talls etc that much is obvious but if they cant or wont be capable of standing up in that sort of slug fest then we shouldn't pick them. Tough call (almost impossible) to make on a 17/18 year old but thats the calls they need to make.

Geelong completely owned West Coast at the kick ins. Geelong waltzed through West Coasts zone and in comparison West Coast didnt look like penetrating Geelongs 15 man zone. Will be interesting to see the comparison when they play Collingwood.

Stevey J will battle to get up. I have dislocated my knee a good 10-15 times. If it comes right out and doesnt just slide in and out quickly then you are in trouble. They will jab him up but his lateral movement will be shot. With Menzel out already that is a big problem for Geelong.

Travis Cloke confirmed his transition from really good player to star. Most important player on the ground by a mile even with Swan playing so well. Just drew the ball to him at crucial moments and kept presenting.

Hawthorn need a key defender and a ruckmen. Didnt get exposed in the ruck this week but its only a matter of time.

Hawks played Davis really well. Made sure if he got the ball it was deep and with no real option to damage. Rarely broke a line or switched the play. Puopolo drew the footy at important moments as well. Davis to his credit had an impact forward in the last.

Hawks refused to release the ball long against the press. Happy to take the risk of turning over a short kick. Is this the new tactic for next year? The hawks chipped and played a kicking game all year and everyone questioned whether it would be exposed under finals pressure and a heavy press. They persisted with it on Friday night and while they lost the game you could argue the game plan was pretty effective. By kicking short you run the risk of a turnover but that turnover will be in heavy congestion and you have the chance of winning it back. I ask you which is worse the short pass turnover (with your fellow team members anticipating the short kick) or the long hurried kick that clears your area but is invariably to a 2 on 1 or 3 on 2? I actually dont have an opinion I just found it a really interesting game to watch from that point of view. If the short kicking becomes the new craze then do teams go back to one on one to beat it?

Will Malthouse stick with his ruthless selection policies of the past and pick Cam Wood over Jolley? Jolley is clearly injured and struggled against poor quality opponents on Friday. As good as Jolley has been I would argue that Wood is a safer bet.

[Bornadog]

Re: Preliminary Finals

Good post Dogtown, enjoyed your assessment and fully agree with all you said. Listening to McCartney discussing Friday's game he said that this is the future of footy and expect more of this type of play, ie hard contested football.

It will be interesting to see what style of play and game plan we will have next year.

[Maddog37]

Re: Preliminary Finals

I have not seen Cats game but my main theme from the Hawks match is the you don't make grand finals with two North Melbourne trade offs holding key posts. Hale and Gibson tried hard but let the team down at the crunch.

[mjp]

Re: Preliminary Finals

I have not seen Cats game but my main theme from the Hawks match is the you don't make grand finals with two North Melbourne trade offs holding key posts. Hale and Gibson tried hard but let the team down at the crunch.

Simplistic. They lost by three points and it wasn't Gibson or Hale who cost them. Gibson was outstanding in fact.