by TigerBoss » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:27 am
What a sensational win by the Bays. Contributors right across the board and a gallant full-team performance. Allen, Backwell, Grima, Panozzo and co. were brilliant.
Again the Dogs put a minor scare in our camp with another last quarter comeback, but it's hard to guage whether it was the Bays dropping off by 10% or whether the Dogs simply had all the momentum in the final term. Umpiring was a bit over zealous all day, but any argument to suggest it had an impact on the Bays winning is a bit naive and silly. I thought the Dogs run in the final term was perhaps aided by some "square-ups" from the men in white, but the team with players first to the footy and willing to put themselves in, deserves to be awarded the frees, if they're there to be paid.
Write off McConnell at your peril Grahaml...he is the type of player that pops in and out of games, but the times he has the ball in his hands, something positive always happens for us. He is brilliant with his body work and his finishing is excellent too. I think if we checked the goalkickers tally, you'd find him perhaps being the most efficient scorer with the least number of points kicked for the number of goals he has kicked. He is smart with the umpires and his positioning and smarts around the forward 50 are very good. For the pace he lacks, his skills make up for this 10 times over. Defensively when the ball comes to ground, and the defenders run off him, he struggles. I'll be the first to admit that.
Ease up on the talk of Bays being grand finalists and premiers. Long way to go yet, and you'd have to argue that it is still a 3-horse race with us, Dogs and the Double Blues. I have some concerns with how our backline (depending on whether Forrest and Mules get up for us) will match up against Perrie, Chambers, Coad, among others. Rudolph can't do it all, and Panozzo and others are running defenders, not shut-down talls.
Makes for an interesting contest next week...boo me for opting to fly to Melbourne to get amongst Richmond's 100th year celebrations all next weekend (against Carlton). Thankfully I can set the DVD Recorder and watch the game upon my return...
Is 2009 the year of the Tiger?