I think we can break why we lost into the areas of the field.
Forwards
Tabs played well, generally he presented and had a brain fade but overall was our best forward. Lobb when he was down there was also Ok both missed easy shots but hopefully we improve. our small forwards were mostly non existent, Frederick played well for a first gamer.
Mids
Started well, tackled hard and applied pressure, but dropped off as the game went on and too much was left to the usual few. We need to keep the pressure applied. I think we fatigued in the second half, not surprising as we still have a large number of youngsters playing I liked the kicking flow from half back to the forwards and I thought our skills had improved from last year but not enough.
Backs
Let kennedy and to a lesser extent Darling get too many looks, you give these guys looks and they score goals. But we are missing our best 3 defenders and Ryan, Hughes and Wilson I thought played well and kept the little guys like their Ryan pout of it, problem was Kennedy and cox hopefully learns from playing on a great experienced forward, if Pearce or Hambling has played we might have seen a difference.
So why did we lose, our forwards fluffed some opportunities and our smalls were missing. Our mid intensity dropped off as the game went on and they got more possession, the weight of possession eventually overwhelmed our undermanned defence.
We are playing a lot of youngsters and with a few top players to come back I think we are on the right track, I like the game plan Longmuir is trying to implement and at times we look quick and dangerous. if we treat this season as a preseason for next season I think next year we might have a good year.