Brendan M wrote:Westies way too good, the margin flattered us. Great result for the loyal Westies people. The Eagles will need to re-think and renovate their house.
I wouldn't go as far as that.....clearly if Borholm, Rowntree and Poole were all playing then it is likely we wouldn't have put in such an insipid performance. Problem was that we lost all our inside grunt and weren't able to replace like for like. This also meant that many of our second tier players were being asked to step up and do more and they showed they weren't capable.
Until the last quarter we were only a couple of goals down so I don't think Godden had any real reason to completely rejig his gameplan. The only error I thought he made was in the first quarter by not putting Boyd in the centre square. He had a reasonable game for the last 3 quarters when he went in there but I feel we needed his ball-getting ability earlier rather than later.
Obviously the guys we brought into our side didn't have great games but can't really blame them - it is difficult playing most of the year in the reserves then being asked to step up to the intensity of the GF. I was more disappointed with guys like Hall ( 7 disposals), Petrenko (12 disposals), Goldsworthy (9 disposals) who either played in the midfield and/or have quite a bit of experience. I really don't know how its possible to spend the minutes they had on the ground in the thick of the action and end up getting so little of the ball.
In the end though, Westies far, far too good. Too big, too strong and showed the flair and intensity you need to win a Grand Final. Quite simply, we didn't turn up and the bloods did.
Over summer I don't think any major changes need to take place. We have the cattle and a gameplan that mostly works so its just a matter of the players (hopefully) hurting and maintaining the rage after a wasted season. I feel we are rich in outside midfielders but clearly now that Rowntree is out for 12 months we badly need a big strong inside midfielder who can accumulate possessions - quite frankly there is no one in the reserves who can fill this role. It will also be interesting if we pursue Redden who has been delisted by the Power. Today we got smashed in the ruck which was a big reason why we lost almost every single centre clearance. Thurlow was one of our big recruits and you would assume in on big coin. Yet he spent most of the season in the reserves and showed today that despite being the biggest and tallest player on the ground he appears unwilling to crash packs and get physical. We aren't going to be able to carry all of Borholm, Thurlow and Redden so will be interesting times ahead to see what they will do.
Anyway, I'm completely devastated so am going to sink some beers and try and forget today happened
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 7:22 pm