Round 4 v Carlton

[tiger07andbeyond]

I would send Walker back to Norwood, he riminds me of that Mark Williams from Essendon.... a complete show pony

[White Line Fever]

just got home from footy!
What happened??

[tiger07andbeyond]

blues kicked the first four goals and never looked like losing. we couldnt finish in attack. thrashed in the ruck again, out coached again. pathetic effort and heads MUST roll

[Sojourner]

The Crows didn't make a trade in trading week prior to the draft, its not the first time its been the case that the Crows havent participated in Trading week or claimed they were unable to make a suitable trade. Port traded three players for players and draft picks and turned over their list accordingly. One would think that at the end of this season the Crows administration would want to be a lot more pro active in trading week.

In round one I watched Porplezia play for West Adelaide and thought that although he did have some good touches he would need to find some form before he was put back into the side as I didn't rate him in the best four players at West on the night, yet he was rushed back into the side and has played a game that would be expected, the trouble is that this seems to be the case for a number of players at present, one would wonder if they would take an SANFL game apart and be included in that clubs best players if dropped and it does not seem like it at this stage. I think that is the main concern for the Crows at the present time.

Coaching wise no shortage of people have their opinion, to draw on what Neil Curley once said after a finals loss by the Crows was that he felt that Neil Craig was to reluctant to make changes under pressure during matches and placed to much faith in his players to win their positions without being moved. These comments by Curls were talked about a little at the time and yet never really addressed by the club at all. I feel this is an area that needs to be looked at by the administration of the club.

The other issue is the public feud that has gone on between Edwards and McLeoud which also remains undealt with to the knowledge of the public. That situation can hardly be helping the side to gel together and again its a third issue that needs to be addressed by the club, and therein lies the problem. There appears to be a lack of accountability for KPI targets or whatever being reached at the club. Problems are made known and left undealt with and eventually it builds up and comes back to bite which could be the case of the current situation at the AFC.

If Neil Craig does get the sack from the Crows then he should be not be the only staff member to be let go from the club, The board of the Crows need to do what South Adelaide did with Kevin Morris and put together a review team to go completely all over the club and every staff member at the club and identify exactly what really are the problems or undealt with issues at the club. When this was made public at South it wasn't pretty and the version that the members got was heavily edited, yet I feel it did lay the groundwork towards the decisions that were made to get Ron Fuller and others into the club and for decision to be made to let certain players and staff go. In the Crows case I feel such a review needs to happen to break through the old boy network that seems to be in charge of the club and the larger half of it made public to members so that they are included in the clubs plans moving forward. Until some hard decisions are permitted to be made at the AFC more results like todays debacle against Carlton will be the result. Lets hope they dont wait until the side gets a thrashing from Port to actually do anything as they are then likely to make the wrong decision like sacking the coach to appease members or whatever, work through the right process, get the right answers and come back stinging in 2011!

[gadj1976]

As a Carlton supporter, I couldn't be happier. Stoked in fact. But I'll tell you why I was feeling 'relatively' comfortable going in.

A week ago I heard a mug punter called Greg call in Cornsey and Rowey. He said he watched Reilly miss targets when not only he was free, but his teammate as well. I listen with interest as I heard Greg say something like "I was in disbelief when I heard the press conference and heard Neil Craig say his KPI's were on the upper side of good". Cornsey of course justified it by saying that the KPI's would be how far he's run and at what pace, what position he gets himself into at contests etc, etc and then called the caller Greg a goose because he'd back Craig's opinion of a player over some bloke in the crowd calling for Reilly's head.

Has Joe Public lost that much touch with the coaching staff? Surely seeing blokes not being able to pick blokes off at 40m by themselves has more cred than running 16km a game. It's no wonder that we the general public get frustrated if the player is receiving good feedback because of their running capability rather than how they actually deliver the ball in general play.

Or, do the general public need to change their perception about what they expect to see when they go to a game of footy? Should we applaud blokes who gut run but can't hit targets 40m away?

Anyway, because of this 'selection policy' I felt a little easier in my selection of the Blues this week. Although, who knows, we might do the same?

[Mad Mat]

Not alot of positives to take away from the game. I can't ever remember this club putting in 4 pathetic performances like that.

Unfortunately those players who should be getting dropped won't be due to the injury list.

Our tackling and defensive efforts were again insipid. Carlton aren't much chop, so that doesn't say much about us.

Phil Davis made a solid debut, that's about the only positive I can think of.

[Hondo]

If Neil Craig does get the sack from the Crows then he should be not be the only staff member to be let go from the club, The board of the Crows need to do what South Adelaide did with Kevin Morris and put together a review team to go completely all over the club and every staff member at the club and identify exactly what really are the problems or undealt with issues at the club.

I don't think the Crows record from 2005-2009 can be compared to South Adelaide from 2005-2009. Do you?

[whufc]

Don't worry Crows fans im sure NFC will once again have another million and one positives from this game and clearly see how the crows are on the right track and MacKay, Cook, Walker, Davis and co are all gems.

[Gingernuts]

I don't know what to think about todays game. How bad was the goal kicking?? I think this, more than anything else, cost us the game. We controlled the game for significant periods and yet we ended up with nothing to show for it.

The same happened against Sydney & Melbourne, you really squander any momentum when you continually miss easy shots. It just deflates the whole side when you see 2 or 3 easy shots in a row get missed, especially if it's followed up by an easy goal to the opposition. I reckon we could've been at least 2-2 rather than 0-4 if only someone could kick a ******* footy through the big sticks. How hard can it be FFS??

Some good individual performances by Schmidt, Mackay, Vince, Maric, and Davis with a good debut. Again, there's no doubting the talent of the squad, I think that's just what's making it even more frustrating.

Puzzled by the centre square set up at the start of the 2nd term too - we closed out the 1st strongly and Craigy chose to start Douglas, Thompson & Reilly in the middle with our 2 clear best ball winners Mackay & Vince on the bench. WTF?? 2 goals in 2 mins to the Blues and it was basically all over.

Starting to feel quite happy about the fact that I'll be overseas for 9 weeks of this season.

[Psyber]

It's beginning to look like the Gary Ayres era - you no longer expect a win - possibly even against Richmond.
I only saw it on TV, but what I saw was ineffectual tackling, and poor kicking, and handballs that either missed the target or went to a player in an impossible situation to receive it without being tackled [effectively] immediately.

I thought one of the commentators may have got it right when he said something like:
"They were trying to play perfect football and getting caught hanging on to the ball waiting for the perfect disposal opportunity."

[Sojourner]

If Neil Craig does get the sack from the Crows then he should be not be the only staff member to be let go from the club, The board of the Crows need to do what South Adelaide did with Kevin Morris and put together a review team to go completely all over the club and every staff member at the club and identify exactly what really are the problems or undealt with issues at the club.

I don't think the Crows record from 2005-2009 can be compared to South Adelaide from 2005-2009. Do you?

I am not sure that a comparison is needed to make a case for the Crows needing to undertake a complete review of the club conducted externally. The point made was that the SAFC had a go at that option and I feel that going through the process led to changes being made. Whichever way we slice it, the AFC have not performed this season to the standard that is expected of the club and have put in performances over recent weeks that are clearly quite embarrassing for the members. Action has to be, or should be taken to address these issues and without wanting to knock the club I would rather put forward solutions rather than criticism and I see an external review as being a part of the solution for the club at this particular time.

[Gingernuts]

It's beginning to look like the Gary Ayres era - you no longer expect a win - possibly even against Richmond.
I only saw it on TV, but what I saw was ineffectual tackling, and poor kicking, and handballs that either missed the target or went to a player in an impossible situation to receive it without being tackled [effectively] immediately.

I thought one of the commentators may have got it right when he said something like:
"They were trying to play perfect football and getting caught hanging on to the ball waiting for the perfect disposal opportunity."

Spot on Psyber. Too often players were doubling back or holding the footy waiting for a perfect option when they should've just gone with their instinct and taken the first option. They're overthinking things at the moment and paying the ultimate price for it.

It's not about game plans or coaching, it's about what's happening in heads - either too much or not enough.

[NFC]

I don't know what to think about todays game. How bad was the goal kicking?? I think this, more than anything else, cost us the game. We controlled the game for significant periods and yet we ended up with nothing to show for it.

The same happened against Sydney & Melbourne, you really squander any momentum when you continually miss easy shots. It just deflates the whole side when you see 2 or 3 easy shots in a row get missed, especially if it's followed up by an easy goal to the opposition. I reckon we could've been at least 2-2 rather than 0-4 if only someone could kick a ******* footy through the big sticks. How hard can it be FFS??

Some good individual performances by Schmidt, Mackay, Vince, Maric, and Davis with a good debut. Again, there's no doubting the talent of the squad, I think that's just what's making it even more frustrating.

Puzzled by the centre square set up at the start of the 2nd term too - we closed out the 1st strongly and Craigy chose to start Douglas, Thompson & Reilly in the middle with our 2 clear best ball winners Mackay & Vince on the bench. WTF?? 2 goals in 2 mins to the Blues and it was basically all over.

Starting to feel quite happy about the fact that I'll be overseas for 9 weeks of this season.

Excellent post and 100% agree with the bold, said the same thing to my brother sitting next to me. Absolutely ridiculous coaching.

Goodwin throw on the ball in the last term, he's an idea, PETRENKO. Was very quiet today but gutsy player, loves the contested stuff, can tackle, give him a go before going back to a 33 year old on his last legs. Wow Craig is struggling.

[Felch]

Plenty of flack is being copped by Burton, Tippett, and Walker up forward, but IMO one of the biggest let-downs has been Porplyzia. He looks slow and dis-interested. Knights been terrible too, but is obviously under-done.

Maric and Mackay our best 2 players the last fortnight, and Goodwin has showed that he will still put his body in harms way - unlike a certain other bloke of a similar vintage.

[southee]

Plenty of flack is being copped by Burton, Tippett, and Walker up forward, but IMO one of the biggest let-downs has been Porplyzia. He looks slow and dis-interested. Knights been terrible too, but is obviously under-done.

Maric and Mackay our best 2 players the last fortnight, and Goodwin has showed that he will still put his body in harms way - unlike a certain other bloke of a similar vintage.

I thought the whole team today looked liked they rather be surfing in Hawaii......probably did too!!

Did not even look like they wanted to be playing.

[Felch]

Plenty of flack is being copped by Burton, Tippett, and Walker up forward, but IMO one of the biggest let-downs has been Porplyzia. He looks slow and dis-interested. Knights been terrible too, but is obviously under-done.

Maric and Mackay our best 2 players the last fortnight, and Goodwin has showed that he will still put his body in harms way - unlike a certain other bloke of a similar vintage.

I thought the whole team today looked liked they rather be surfing in Hawaii......probably did too!!

Did not even look like they wanted to be playing.

Maybe not the whole team, but at least 90% of 'em !!!

[JK]

They've hit rock bottom and are trying to manufacture everything, including confidence .. Still reckon they'll have a decent patch throughout the season, but finals are gone .. Scary thing is that Edwards, Hentschel and Macca all need to go at seasons end, maybe Burton and Doughty too, not sure there are ready made replacements available.

From what I saw of todays game, to be fair, I thought the Blues looked alright

[Dirko]

From what I saw of todays game, to be fair, I thought the Blues looked alright

So did I....

[Sojourner]

They've hit rock bottom and are trying to manufacture everything, including confidence .. Still reckon they'll have a decent patch throughout the season, but finals are gone .. Scary thing is that Edwards, Hentschel and Macca all need to go at seasons end, maybe Burton and Doughty too, not sure there are ready made replacements available.

From what I saw of todays game, to be fair, I thought the Blues looked alright

More than happy to have Doughty back at South, no worries there!

[JK]

They've hit rock bottom and are trying to manufacture everything, including confidence .. Still reckon they'll have a decent patch throughout the season, but finals are gone .. Scary thing is that Edwards, Hentschel and Macca all need to go at seasons end, maybe Burton and Doughty too, not sure there are ready made replacements available.

From what I saw of todays game, to be fair, I thought the Blues looked alright

More than happy to have Doughty back at South, no worries there!

No Dought