I just hope that lack of 4 points for that effort doesn't end up more a downer than the boys realising the intensity and hardwork they showed for the last 2.5 quarters is what they need to bring to the table each and every week for 4 quarters. In the past, a gallant loss against a good side was too often followed by a downer and a poor loss to a weaker team. I'll wait until after the Melbourne game before I see today's effort as a potential turning point.
Pros:
* Lids and Rance were massive ins and they showed how much we missed them. Lids for his line breaking and Rance for his intercepts.
* The up and coming 2nd tierers - Conca, Vlastuin and Ellis - had good games especially Reece.
* Astbury grabbed another scalp. That's Cloke, Roughead and Hawkings in the past month.
* Team defensive structures held up today. It was only when there were dumb schoolboy errors did we cough up soft goals.
* Spread and run from midway through the 2nd onwards was very good. We are far more deadly when we play long and direct quickly.
* Kicked the first goal of the 3rd qtr for the first time in a long while. We actually came out after half-time ready to go again at the intensity required.
Cons:
* You can't give any opposition, let alone Geelong, a 6 goal start and expect to win. Our first quarters have been ordinary all year and today's was just as dreadful. We were non-competitive for the first 40 mins. Not good enough and not AFL standard and clearly so based on the effort we then found for the rest of the game.
* We tried to play dry possession footy, which we obviously had practised midweek, for a quarter and a half in the wet which was just dumb, dumb, dumb.
* 6 goals to Geelong directly from our turnovers (they only kicked 11 in total). Most of those turnovers from dumb schoolboy errors. That goal just before half-time in the end proved so costly.
* Geelong had 10 more scoring shots but missed a few which kept us in the game one the scoreboard. You can't rely on that again. If we are honest we were outclassed early on and again in the last which got them across the line.
* Our forward line is still dysfunctional and kicks inside forward 50 are still too much pray and hope.
* Still too many needless 1m backward handballs when kicking the pill was the better option.
* Still too many kicks under no physical pressure that miss open targets. Not good enough at this level.
* Wet weather games which involved more contested footy really show up those players who don't like going when it's their turn to go.
