Colville’s Corner – Round 12

A tale of two halves on Friday night. For the most of the first half we were disciplined, competed well and looked reasonably potent when moving the ball quickly through the middle of the ground and inside F50. After our match against Glenelg we wanted to ensure we were not easily transitioned from our forward line and for the most part this worked. Within a goal at the 20min mark of the second term, errors started to creep into our game, our one take and tackling in contested ball dropped and we were beaten on spread. This was disappointing because we had been so competitive prior to this. Trailing by 14 points at half time we came out very poorly. Two quick goals to the opposition and our heads dropped. What followed was too familiar. We lost potency at stoppages, our forwards went ball hunting rather than staying with structure, which allowed easy marks by defenders staying deep. We were then transitioned on the open side. Inevitably we looked fatigue and unable to keep up,  however, this is can in part be attributed to the fact that we are desperately chasing all over the ground. The simple matter is this- if you lose stoppages, contested ball and don’t keep structure- the tide will go against you. And despite your best efforts to chase, you are doing this from a really poor defensive position and will have limited impact. Stemming the tide when we lose momentum is a challenge we have had for a long time. We will again try to work through this with our structures this week.

I am acutely aware of the disappointment and frustration for our supporter base. I will continue to own these results and ask the players to do the same. This is a young group who are for the most part giving their all and displaying qualities required for League football. We know we are not doing this for long enough however.

Isaac Johnson had a great game at half forward and again earnt his goals on the back of elite work rate. Tom Keough was great in contested ball and Josh Ryan again accounted for his opponent. Youngsters Sam May and Lachie Squire displayed strong contest and composure in our backline whilst Hamish Ellem was the best of the tall forwards. Again, having three first year players stand up in a tough game, was a pleasing outcome.