To make matters worse I’m watching a gallant Richmond bust their guts out in a tough fourth quarter effort against the Hawks. Sure they’re a young side stuck at the bottom of the ladder but at least they are giving it a red-hot go. And I won’t even go on about Hawthorn’s fighting spirit.
The same cannot be said for the Crows round eight match against North Melbourne last night.
We got off to a good start with Stevens slotting the opening goal of the game and McLeod kicking a beauty not too long after.
However, that’s just about where the highlights end until the last term when the Roos ran out of puff and we were able to escape the intensity of our opposition.
The second and third quarters were two of the worst quarters of football I have ever seen us play.
Only round 17 in 2004 against Brisbane at the Gabba, when we lost by a staggering 141, comes close in my mind. I can remember watching that game on TV at home and how I had to restrain myself from reaching for the remote.
This peculiar feeling returned last night. Sitting on level one at Etihad Stadium I found myself to be considering a swift exit at three quarter time.
I was having a hard time coming to terms with just how poor we were.
There was a real lack of intensity and leadership. Where was the hunger? Where was the desire to win the ball on the ground or from the grasp of the opposition? Where was the passion for the jumper?
I saw two young players in Petrenko and Walker try to fire up the side after kicking a couple of goals in the third term but very few of their team mates seemed to give a stuff.
The old playbook was brought back from the dead, with considerable less effectiveness, as our preferred method towards goal. Chip the ball every which way but goal ward. Even in the last 30 seconds, with the game, somehow, on the line we opted to kick the ball backwards instead of going for broke.
Perhaps some painted arrows down the centre of AAMI Stadium might offer a hint as to where to aim this coming weekend.
Another area of weakness was the ruck. North Melbourne was missing their number one ruckman in McIntosh and Hale succumbed to back spasms early in the first quarter. This left 28-gamer Goldstein shouldering North’s ruck duties for the entire night. He finished with 41 hit-outs. Maric fought hard for 19 and Tippett struggled with nine.
In my opinion we need another ruckman in the side to help Maric out. Then Tippett can stay in the forward line, where he is most powerful, and Maric can have a decent spell on the bench.
Basic skill errors were glaringly obvious and also let us down. Misguided kicks and undirected handballs were common and a lack of fundamental football instinct was plain embarrassing at times. At least twice a trio of Crows flew to spoil a North forward leaving loose Kangaroos in their wake.
Despite all the doom and gloom there were a couple of positives to take away from the flattering nine-point loss.
Jared Petrenko has strung two good games together in a row and for a guy in just his second year of AFL football he was one of a few who kept working hard when the chips were down. Tony Armstrong looked a lot more comfortable than in his first appearance in the tri-colours and Matthew Jaensch also looked settled.
It’s a shame I can’t find much to say about some of our more experienced players, Douglas perhaps being the best of the lot.
So overall it seems like we’re going backwards at the rate of knots.
I didn’t end up changing the channel in 2004 and I certainly didn’t walk away last night. I’m in for the long haul no matter how high or how low.
But please Crows play with some spirit. Look like you want to be out there and try your darn hardest because we know what you’re capable of and it’s much, much better than what we’re witnessing at the moment.
