Last year we faced a resurgent Red Cliffs at home and on that day they had the better of us. They had to win to have any chance of making the finals, our position on the ladder wouldn’t change no matter what the result.
The same could be said for last Saturday’s game. Red Cliffs were again primed and ready for the challenge, a loss almost certainly ruled them out of finals action. For us we would remain in 3rd position, win or lose.
I’m not sure if players have this in their heads or not. I suppose they do.
Basically, we played like it didn’t really matter. It was like we had nothing to prove and it (the game) didn’t hold much value.
For the second week in a row we failed to kick a goal in the first quarter. Our attack on the footy was 2nd rate. We went away from our game plan, often.
When we did have control of the footy we squandered our opportunities, through giving away free kicks, making poor choices in relation to our game plan and poor skill execution.
One of the most disappointing parts of the day was to watch these events unfold with little or no resolve. There seemed to be no real desire to alter the outcome of the match. Our talk was down, we weren’t touch on at the stoppages, and the list goes on.
There were a couple of shining lights for us with Steven Denaro trying his hardest and playing above his weight. Vince Iudica and Brent O’Connor working hard down back, and Ian Mennie presenting well up forward.
So where to from here? We have been frustratingly inconsistent this year. When we put it together and stick to our team plan we play a great brand of footy which is difficult for teams to match. On the other hand when we go against our game plan we look 2nd rate.
The positive thing is even though we have been inconsistent we remain in third position. However we can not afford to give away anymore games.
It’s not a given that things will just happen for us. Just because we have a good bunch of players doesn’t guarantee success. We have to work at it. There are many examples of teams that necessarily haven’t had the best list on paper but because of their tenacity and absolute determination on wanting something, they push the boundaries and exceed their expectation.
Cast your mind back to last year, we were one of those teams….
Time to turn things around, we need to work harder. We need our leaders standing tall, we need 21 contributors every week. We need players in the reserves putting pressure on spots.
We have a chance to respond this week against Mildura. We owe them from our earlier meeting. Let’s embrace the challenge and respond.
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