AFL Finals Week 1

[am Bays]

Anyone know what Butters injury was?

ribs apparently

[Wedgie]

Anyone know what Butters injury was?

Ribs, rumour is he picked it up late in the previous game.

[Brodlach]

Anyone know what Butters injury was?

Ribs, rumour is he picked it up late in the previous game.

Didn’t they learn from earlier in the year then?

(Thanks am too)

[amber_fluid]

Anyone know what Butters injury was?

Ribs, rumour is he picked it up late in the previous game.

So the eye injury for not training was BS?

[amber_fluid]

Anyone know what Butters injury was?

Ribs, rumour is he picked it up late in the previous game.

Didn’t they learn from earlier in the year then?

(Thanks am too)

Ken’s a slow learner but he’ll get there………….

[Wedgie]

Have to be pretty bad you'd think as he's tough as nails and would have been prepared to play through quite a bit of pain.
His own coaches have said he's sometimes to tough/courageous for his own good.

But yeah, Geelong went the opposite route ensuring every player was 100% and being ruthless no matter if it was All Australian players or not.

[The Dark Knight]

I think Ken put it best - "Geelong has just done a number on us."

Plenty of teams have lost a QF then gone on to win the flag. But gee whiz Port put in a stinker last night.

Fair goal from Jezza in the first quarter. Thought the ball was going to get lodged between the two goalposts.

Were the Cats that good though?
Port were terrible.

Yes they were, they were outstanding, you're simply not giving enough credit to Geelong. Port rallied a bit in the second quarter with goals to Rioli and then McEntee. Geelong then went on to kick 5 in a row during the back end of the second quarter and it was all Geelong after that.

[Brodlach]

Anyone know what Butters injury was?

Ribs, rumour is he picked it up late in the previous game.

So the eye injury for not training was BS?

They wouldn’t lie, just ask them.

[Trader]

When does the booing start?

I was saying Boo-oony

This post deserves more credit.

[amber_fluid]

When does the booing start?

I was saying Boo-oony

This post deserves more credit.

C’mon Trader give us an analysis of last nights game.
You know the game well.

[Trader]

C’mon Trader give us an analysis of last nights game.
You know the game well.

Fine, I'll take the bait.
I wasn't going to write anything, so these thoughts aren't really considered or presented in any organised manner, so please excuse if they jump around a little, but anyway, here goes...


Firstly, lets start by pointing out the obvious.
There is no justification for last night's performance.

Was it possible? Of course.
Was it unexpected, unfortunately not.

Those of us that watch Port play week in week out know, this is all too likely with the modern Port Adelaide.

Sure, some had bought into the recent form, 6 in a row, how impressive, however those of us that look beyond the W's and L's, knew, the problems that saw the faithful calling for change remained.
Over our last 12 games, what had we actually achieved?
Split the points with Carlton who only just made the 8.
Lost to the Giants, Pumped by Brisbane, and got a win over the swans who were doing their own thing at that time of the season.
Winning games against teams not playing finals like Freo, Crows, Melbourne and Richmond, big whoop.
Oh, and we also lost to the Suns of all teams.

Anyway, enough about the form line, lucky or not, we're hosting a qualifying final and it's time to show up.

I'm no hinkley fan, I've made that clear enough on here for the last 8 years. But in his defence, I think there are some contributing factors to last night.
Houston and Farrell impact our structure and ability to move the ball out of the back half.
Finlayson another that gives our forward half a different look, while also being able to play that second ruck role.
Todd Marshall has played 1 game in the last 8 weeks, if he came in and stunk it up people would have been complaining about playing underdone players, and Todd doesn't really do that second ruck role either.

Sure, Charlie Dixon didn't contribute last night, but I'm not sure what the alternative option was. Soldo hasn't played for 4 months? And if you play Visentini, you get crucified for playing a 5 gamer in a final.

Powell-Pepper brings a finals style to our game, his injury another that I think is important to consider.

Anyway, back to the actual game, not what was missing, but what actually happened.

We'll it was fairly clear. Drew fumbled at that first centre clearance.
Zurk-Thatcher dropped his head on the wing.
And Burton showed why he frustrates many fans, elite skills, but fallen behind Houston and Farrell given he still avoids body contact.

Early on it was clear we weren't absorbing the pressure well. We were fumbly collecting the ball and rushed with disposal once we had it.

Our clearances from the back half were terrible, constantly finding Geelong players through the middle of the ground.
And if ever we did get it over half way, it was bombed on the head of Esava (and his hard hands), or kicked wide of Dixon (who couldn't move to where the ball went).

Georgie looked ok in patches, seemed to be our only option up forward, but we just didn't get the ball to him often enough.

These poor clearances from back half, and poor forward 50 entries get back to that first point. Houston and Farrell missing impacted our ability to move the ball well.
But equally, the guys that were on the park, panicked and bombed too often.
The 80 odd extra uncontested possessions the cats had to us, shows their composure with the ball vs our manic just bomb it mentality.

While I hated the way we played last night, (ie: poor skills and no structure/plan to move forward), based on the cattle available, I'm not sure we have an alternative option. It's very easy to point at what didn't work and say 'that's not good enough Ken', but without alternative suggestions, that's just criticism for the sake of criticism.

With all that said, what is inexcusable is the work rate. The fact that the cats midfield worked harder, faster and longer than us, is not acceptable. Execution from back up players is one thing, however effort from the supposed A-graders is another thing altogether.
You often looked up at cats players with 10m on their port counterparts who were all to happy to trail their man either leading up in the case of defenders, or trailing them into the forward 50 in the case of our midfielders.

That's the bit that I can't accept or excuse. That's the bit that I'm not impressed with, and that's what I would expect Ken should be attacking our guys over (but assume he wont).

The other thing I couldn't help but notice last night was the number of times our defenders let the ball out over the back. It just kept happening time and time again.

[Wedgie]

Port supporters have been up and about this morning.

458610032_927240032782875_3886934940333729714_n.jpg (45.8 KiB) Viewed 2795 times

[locky801]

Port supporters have been up and about this morning.

458610032_927240032782875_3886934940333729714_n.jpg

makes me laugh, sack Hinkley and put Carr in the seat, hasn't he been the senior assistant coach for the last couple of finals campaigns

[Brodlach]

He is just an easy target

[dedja]

Now it makes sense, Dave from Alberton has been otherwise busy today.

[am Bays]

Like their banners (Adeliade), Port supporters cant even spell their coach's first name right!

[amber_fluid]

Port supporters have been up and about this morning.

458610032_927240032782875_3886934940333729714_n.jpg

Can anyone read the phone number for Sky relax massage?

[DOC]

Speed dial 7 on my phone.

I’m tipping it starts with 041….

[dedja]

[Jimmy_041]

We should move onto a real game - Bullies v Hawks is another 50/50 proposition