Spargo wrote:Saturday night was a strange one. Usually when North lose I'm deadset filthy and can pinpoint the areas we were clearly beaten in. Not so this game.
I said to the missus during the last qtr that if we got up it would be one our gutsiest wins. Yes we lost Dal during the week, Wells was a late withdrawal, but then Ziebell went off for good in the opening minutes and Wright had to sit out the mandatory 20 mins for the concussion test. Our three arguably best onballers out plus a man short on the bench making rotations a nightmare in what was a frantically high paced game. The bounce of the ball seemed to elude us time after time & we certainly weren't helped in any way by the poor umpiring - the inconsistencies, the refusal to recall a centre bounce when it clearly favoured Ryder (3 different occasions) yet both times when it favoured Goldstein sure enough they remembered the rule again and called it back (all turned into centre clearances for Port) - and then there was the one where White ran somewhere between 23-28 metres to an open goal with out bouncing the ball - this was the most blatant. Having said all this we still found a way to be in front late in the game - which is why none of what I've written above is why we lost. We simply weren't good enough in the end - weren't desperate enough for long enough. Port were slightly better and more composed.
Got an easy game this week Sparg. Geelong are rubbish and we've got as many injuries as you blokes. Bartel out is massive because he was going to help our battling midfield. If Lonergan doesn't come up your big guys will have a picnic. Stokes out is a blessing as he is finished but unfortunately that means Billy Smedts comes back and he's finished as well. Goldstein will spank any of the half ruckmen we send out there and Lindsay Thomas could kick ten goals. No matter how many mids you have out you'll still win the clearances.
Well at least the Redlegs are....DOH!!
regards,
REB
