Synbad wrote:
Stanton allowed to run around alone 30 odd uncontested disposals ..wow!!!
Essendon* allowed to play with loose men in defence when we had to win the game... wow!
Bryce Gibbs not challenged in the centre ... when we lack midfield depth .. wow!
The press too shallow and getting caught on the fast break time and time again...with no real sweeper.. wow!!..
Brock McLean the chosen impact player off the bench... wow!!!(Must have been really confident for this one)
just some of the weirdarama that was up on display today
We didnt have the matchup for Stanton once Carrots went down. The selection of Brock was a bit odd and contributed to stanton getting the 30 odd.
The loose man bit was handled ok. We used the our spare around the packs to try and get back on top at the clearance. Fair enough tactic i would have thought. It helped us a bit but in the end we were just not playing well enough. A big wow is how you couldnt see that. What would you have done? Put a man on the spare? May have worked but rarely does and in fact when tried in the past just leaves bigger holes on the rebound.
Press was rubbish today. Effort was not there and it was noticable very early in the game that we rarely had numbers at the ball. Something we havent seen this year.
The Dons countered our gameplan with a style of game that has bothered us for years. We either need an adjustment to our plan or get a mix that can execute the plan and still defend the flood/counter tactic that kills us.
Its a long season. We were never going to win them all. This is all part of the fun.