Melbourne star Christian Petracca conceded his workforce‘s scoring efficiency needed immediate attention in the wake of a qualifying final loss the “expected score” suggested the Demons should have won by four goals.
A set-shot miss just before three-quarter time, albeit from close to the boundary, by Petracca was one of a series of crucial missed opportunities for the Demons, including three in the final quarter, which left Melbourne seven points short of Collingwood at full-time.
The statistical analysis made sorry reading for the Demons who finished with a massive 32 more inside 50s, fuelled mainly by their second half-domination, and 18 scoring shots to Collingwood’s 17 however misplaced 9.6 to 7.11.
Forwards Bailey Fritsch, Tom McDonald and Kozzie Pickett all squandered possibilities to kick objectives within the remaining time period, with Pickett additionally spraying a snap within the third time period.
Winger Ed Langdon additionally squandered what might have been a set shot for Fritsch within the third time period by taking the benefit from a free kick to the ahead, solely to overlook his dribble shot at aim.
The incapacity to grab alternatives made the loss all of the extra arduous to take for Petracca, who, together with captain Max Gawn and fellow midfielder Clayton Oliver, labored to the purpose of exhaustion towards the ladder-leading Magpies.
With an impending must-win conflict towards the winner of Friday’s conflict between Carlton and Sydney now in entrance of Melbourne as they appear to progress to no less than a preliminary remaining, Petracca stated the positives have been apparent in his workforce’s front-half domination.
But he stated that effectivity, with Collingwood scoring its 9 objectives from simply 37 inside 50s in comparison with Melbourne’s seven from 62, needed to be mounted.
“It was disappointing, it’s really flattening,” Petracca stated.
“We left it all out there in the last quarter but it was all a bit too late. First half was where we let them dictate the play.
“The pleasing sign to take away was we were plus 31 on inside 50s, the expected score was four goals up, our contest and defence were very good.
“It’s probably an efficiency thing, which we are not foreign too, so it’s back to the drawing board. We have to regroup again, we have to play a game in eight days time.”
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin couldn’t shrink back from his workforce’s poor execution near aim and conceded he and his workforce had a “lot to work on in that space”.
“It‘s a little bit how we play. We’ve had some games where we get a lot of repeat inside 50s, it’s a little bit from a method perspective,” he stated.
“We just didn’t execute as well as we would have liked from our inside 50s, and that shows up on the scoreboard.
“We didn‘t kick a big enough score to win. We’ve still got a bit to work on in that space.
“We played the game the right way for three quarters. Yeah, we didn‘t execute in front of goal and we didn’t get enough reward for our entries, but it’s the right way to play.”
Originally printed as AFL finals: Melbourne want to handle scoring effectivity quick
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
