I think it was another case of the opposing coach/team knowing our game plan, exactly how we will play and just working out a plan to counter it and executing it. We managed to play 'our' way for about one quarter. We have so many small players - Jack, Paps, Florent, Jones, Hanners, then Macca, Lloyd, Cunningham, Parks plus those like Hayward who can't t make their tackles stick or take contested marks against bigger or stronger opponents.
Just too many players off their game tonight. And then a collective confidence failure as the game wore on. At least a few had a crack until the end. Let�s hope it�s just one of those off-night aberrations.
Yeah but it came down to when contracts expired. Just bad timing. An earlier contract extension for Mitchell (like we have done for so many of our recent young draftees) before his stocks rose, might have helped. If that had happened, he might have come out of contract this year when Tippett�s retirement opened up more cap space for another renewal. But it didn�t happen that way. We lost him. All we could hope for might be that Tom does an Ablett (or a Capper or a Paul Hawke or any other number of guys who leave a club and return later).
It was pick 14 and Mitchell was 23 at time. Mitchell playing well doesn't explain why Kennedy is playing poorly.
Coming off a 6 day break and playing against a team with a 7 day break seems to make a significant difference, like Adelaide's lethargic big loss to Collingwood last Friday night.
Last edited by Ludwig; 21st April 2018 at 12:46 AM.
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