Cox got better the longer the game went and is prob our best contested mark after Tabs & Fyfe. Whether his long term role is down back time will tell, but we need him up forward now.
Our ruck and clearance dominance (+36 & +6, respectively) will start to count once we improve our composure & delivery inside 50 (50 i50’s is very good).
We need another tall forward as the last quarter when Sandi spent pretty much the whole time in there resulted in a score of 5.1. To say we robbed Peter to pay Paul is an understatement, which is why I’d like to see one of Apeness or Strnadica play next week.
Langdon is a jet and they need to lock him in long term. He has genuine pace, good skills and a huge tank.
The backline is definitely improving week on week but when you’re opponent can push hands in the back and swing elbows into blokes jaws without penalty (yes, I’m talking to you Buddy) - then scorelines don’t necessarily reflect the effort. Ryan might yet be one of the best genuine draft steals we’ve had.
Our depth and skill levels are pretty average - not unexpected with 22 new blokes brought in over two seasons - but both should improve over the short to medium term. Mainly as we’ll get back our better players (Hill bro’s, Tabs, Logue, Hodor) and be able to rotate out the kids a bit more.
Crowden gets better each week and Brayshaw, Cerra, Tucker and Banfield all put in strong efforts even if their skills and decision making are not quite to the level consistently needed.
We are simply not competitive against the better sides at the moment (one could argue that for most of our history) and while that makes for unpleasant/disheartening viewing at times - the future looks bright. Managed to un-upset the missus once I calmed down after the game so the weekend is not a complete bust!
