There was a fragility to the Bombers that would worry Scott and his legions of fans longing for an end to the final drought. It didn't take long for them to lose their way.
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There was no comeback after a morale-boosting three-minute stretch in the third quarter, which Brad Scott described as an “unfortunate series of events.” Stronger sides, however, find a way.
Instead of being awarded a free kick for a frontal contact and/or arm cut on Sam Draper, the ball was played at the other end for Gary Rohan to score and score.
Then, from the center bounce, Jye Menzie was penalized for deliberately running a back after Ollie Dempsey dived expertly to avoid pressure.
Technically, the free-kick was there as Menzie was “not under immediate physical pressure”, as the Laws of the Game state, and had time and space to dispose of the ball. Frustratingly for Bombers fans, this rule isn't often enforced, while the free throw at Draper generally is. Draper would have been kicking to put the Dons within three points. Instead, they went to 15 points.
Oliver Dempsey is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal.Credit: AFL photos
The flow of the game had already changed. Alarmingly for the Firemen, at one point in the third term, the Cats were +29 for possessions and +10 for tackles, +7 for contested balls and 23-4 for marks.
Scott didn't mince words with a blunt assessment of his players' inability to stop the slide.
“What I'm most disappointed about is that we lost momentum and then we lost our composure,” Scott said.
“We couldn't recover the momentum. We couldn't stabilize the game.
Coach Brad Scott Brad Scott offered a scathing assessment.Credit: via Getty Images
“Things go against you in football games all the time … as frustrating as it is, there's nothing you can do about it. The only thing you can do is control your response. And our response tonight was be really disappointing.
“Now it's a step back in this area for us, which has been very good so far this year. So our ability to regain composure after losing momentum in the third quarter compounded it and made it worse.”
Clubs rely on their leaders on the pitch to spot change in the game and stop the bleeding. Scott did not name names and blamed the team rather than his senior stars, but skipper Zach Merrett, whose leadership has been celebrated this year, and vice-captain Andy McGrath were much calmer after half-time .
“No matter what happens, whether it's good or bad, you have to keep your level up and keep competing,” Scott said.
“I thought we prepared the game very well in the first half, I thought we had a lot of opportunities to be much more in front than we were at half time. And then in a short period of time in the third quarter we lost momentum and to some extent let our pack down.”
Call her to play both Draper and Todd Goldstein with raised wet eyebrows. They won the takedown count by eight, but the shutout scores were tied. Scott said playing two rucks didn't hurt his side. It could be argued that it didn't help them either, as Sam De Koning and Mark Blicavs were much more effective around the pitch.
Another concern was their inefficiency inside their forward 50. For the third time in as many games against a finals opponent, they had more tackles and lost. As they did against Carlton, they managed just nine goals in 60 innings. It remains an “RFI” (room for improvement), Redman said.
It was at this stage last season that the Bombers lost their way. History threatens to repeat itself.
