Negatives:
I noticed some of the boys with pre season form went missing.
Ellis had a shocker. Lets hope he bounces back because I like the kid.
Houli was way down on his preseason output.
Martin, although he was excellent in bursts, it was an overall disappointing game from him.
On other players that were down on the night;
As MT noted earlier I agree that Maric didnt have his best game. His clearence work was good but he had No contested marks, he didnt drop back much in defense and when he did he failed to make an impact there highlighted by some crucial errors ie. the dropped mark in the goalsquare and the failed punch when Kruzer marked the ball in the pocket.
I thought newmans was serviceable but I didn't notice him at all especially in that frenetic last quarter when the blues were on a roll. As the most senior player in our team and former captain I think he needs to show the team that he really wants finals footy. A finals like game as thursday night was I would've expected more from him especially in that last quarter. No inside 50s from him or any scoreboard influence at all. I'd expect him to improve and although he's no Judd, I still expect some Judd like cameos just to display some of his experience and leadership.
As good as Lids was with his run and carry, his goals on the run etc. he did go missing in the last quarter. I'm guessing these senior players did run out if legs in the last and I'd expect that their endurance won't be a problem as the season progresses.
Griff made Hampson look good which was annoying.
Nahas was terrible. He failed to have any impact as the sub.
A sub should always have an impact IMO.
Also It was frustrating that at times Judd was completely lonely in the second half and killed us. Walker was getting too many easy kicks and no one was interested in Gibbs in the last quarter where he was killing us with his skill and poise just seemed to rack up possessions at will.
The fact that we let them nearly pinch the game. Hopefully maturity and self belief will help the guys smash teams and put them right out of the game.
I'm not angry upset or frustrated at all. I was celebrating all night Thursday night and I loved the win even though we let em come back.
I'm still celebrating and won't be letting up on any cheating scum supporters that I know or meet.