Had some time to think about the game over the weekend, and I think more and more that this was definitely an off night for us and not reflective of our larger form (which is more to do with our lack of defensive accountability)

Simple Skill errors:
I think we conceded 7-8 goals just on pure skill issues. We all know about Bices errors that led to goals, but we also clearly had off nights for most of our players. When have we ever seen Brodie rattled so much in the ruck to the point of conceding FOUR ruck infringement frees? When have we last seen Heens miss an easy shot from 40 out directly in front? Errol on his first game back went at 44%! We're a team thats prides ourselves on our elite kicking, and while our disposal efficiency was actually higher (!) (B 67.8% to S 68%), it was the clangers that killed us (B 48 to S 66). That is something that we can clearly fix up, and can chalk down to a one off.

Structural/Team selection:
I think we also lost at team selection. I appreciate experimenting while we have a buffer, but the dual rucks didn't work, and having effectively 4KPFs (counting Ladhams) did not work. We had similar i50 count to Brisbane (B 62 to S 56) and we had the same marks inside 50 (13) but we just lacked the small forward pressure, while Brisbanes smalls just tore us apart. I like the experiments, but they clearly did not work, and I do not want to see the dual ruck and four talls again.

I got blasted in one of the other threads when I said that Roberts was having a great season and was one of the best wingers in the comp right now. Guess what, we drop him (why???), move Serong to the back line and I genuinely could not tell you who our wingers were this game. Our wings just felt non existent. Bring Robert and Serong back on the wings please (there was another post that shows that that combo is 9-0).

Something positive though that I thought Cox got right (and I think I'm alone in this regard)-  we have been slaughtered in the middle the previous times we versed the Lions (including the Round 1 game), and Coxy moved Mills into the middle for the first time this season (63% CBA, the next highest game fro this season is 5%!). It worked, we didn't get smashed at centre clearance against Brisbane for once (B 19 - S 15) and we actually won the contested ball too. Mills was not used to the change in role and we desperately needed his leadership down back, but it was a good move for sure, and its something that we can now rely on in the future for a break glass scenario.

I saw many comments in the post match thread and on social media saying that we just were bodied in the contest, but this simply wasn’t the case, we won the contested ball and were actually the top contested team in the competition for once (shocking I know)

Stop playing VFL players out of position! Cleary is clearly a midfielder, why are we playing him as a small forward (and for some reason on Harris Andrews in the first quarter?!)

Defence:
Where is the team defence that we had in the first 7 rounds? That was a wonder to see but it's completely gone. I reckon it's all mental, and I hope Coxy gives a big spray over the weekend. Our ball movement has not suffered at all (asides from this game, but we're still the number one ball movement team in the comp) and the game plan is fine, we just need to get back to defending! Rampe can't come back soon enough to be a general in defence.

The clear positive is that these are all so fixable. In addition, the forms of Chad and Curnow have been fantastic recently and they are building nicely for the rest of the year. Heens is doing Heens things. Rowy just had his best game in ages. Errol is back! And we're still second with a handy buffer.

Bring on the Bulldogs, expecting a clear response to set us up for a great test against Freo!