Pretty much this. We were just a tiny bit less clean with our ball handling skills than the Crows, just slightly slower at reacting to the drop of the ball, just slightly poorer at getting players to contests, and just slightly worse at missing tackles (or better at missing tackles). It all adds up and saps the confidence somewhat, but we only need a handful of players to improve by a small margin and better football will follow.Originally Posted by dejavoodoo44
The umpiring was frustrating as. It was signalled with a free to Walker in the first quarter for being out of position in a marking contest and flailing in the air, and carried on all night. I have no idea what some of the decisions against us were for but I am sure others will provide an autopsy over the next few days. However, I did just want to comment on a couple of acts by our two oldest and most experienced players out there this evening. They were both among our better contributors tonight, so my criticisms are specific to a few instances.
Firstly, the 100m penalty rule is dumb, but players trying to milk a 100m penalty by veering off course and deliberately running into an opposition player is not on for me. The umpires fell for it in a JLT game but weren't going to fall for McVeigh's attempt tonight. I expect better from him. (It wasn't helped by the fact his mind was clearly not on the next passage of play, given he then proceeded to kick the ball 15m to an unmarked Crows player.
Secondly, I know a lot of players play for frees, and appeal for frees, particularly when they get frustrated. And I'm sure Buddy was as frustrated by the umpiring tonight as we were, sitting in the stands. But twice (at least) he just fell over with minimal contact from an opponent and voraciously appealed for a free kick. You're better than that Lance. Leave that for the mere mortals. (I also don't think I've seen him blatantly duck into a tackle as he did once this evening - and actually fooled the umpire and kicked a wonderful goal from it. Another thing I hope doesn't become a regular part of his game. He's too good to resort to that).
Not only do I not like the poor sportsmanship of incidents like these, it also sends a poor message to the younger players. Team do get shafted by the umpiring from time to time, and sometimes possibly perceive they are getting shafted even when they're not. But there's little they can do to control that. The players just need to move on from decisions that go against them, and play the next passage of the game. A lot has been said about the 2016 GF umpiring but the 2012 umpiring was almost as bad. Yet the team still won the game because they didn't let it affect them. If the leaders of the team don't ignore it, and just keep their concentration on what they can control, how can we expect the younger players to do so.
Having said that, it was wonderful to see Buddy starting to get some touch back. He showed tonight that he's got a lot of quality football left in him yet. He's not quite up to full speed yet, but a few of his plays tonight were exquisite.
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