Post Match Discussion - Round 2

[Dee Zephyr 17,425]

46 minutes ago, Cassiew said:

And again! Never fails 

Last comments Cass, let’s not bore members with this game of tennis. Would you like me to stop posting in fear members reactions will offend others? 

You have an issue with Ethan, I don’t.

No offence, but I won’t engage in further conversations with you on this thread unless you want to discuss the Brisbane game. 

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by Demon77

[Dr. Gonzo 22,412]

1 hour ago, DV8 said:

Attitude in the supporters.

Less passive about the club, and be more outwardly passionate. And spontaneous.

To not fall back into a more submissive role when we all just think,  "oh they know the way forward",  just let them be...

 

This is a balance thing between being too trusting of administrations,,, and being too aggro, and tearing the stands down.

 

I am saying that over the decades, the conservative Melbourne attitude has been too patient with the club, and the way its run.

That the supporters have resisted change too much, and this has allowed our 'over conservative approach' to continue to survive, at our own expence as a club. 

So we miss out on opportunity, after opportunity...  we just do not take them...  chances.

 

Sometimes we should gamble and risk needing the AFL to pickup the pieces...  Sometimes we are just too financially responsible, and so do nothing, but shrink.  and the the AFL has to come in anyway.

 

eg: We should have gone after the Olympic Swimming centre when we had a chance, even though we couldn't afford it. 

Just as one major point, which would have really changed our clubs fortunes. 

 

Sometimes you just have to take that "Leap of Faith"... "growth"  or fail, & be bailed out.

 

We have consistently feared making BIG decisions at board level for the clubs growth,,, for FEAR of failure.

 

Someone said that,  "to keep doing the same things over and over, expecting different outcomes"  is pure madness.  I say its FEAR.

 

a fearful club, is a beaten club.

That's all just platitudes, this is a modern professional sport, supporters behaviour and expectations has very minimal influence compared to say 30 or 40 years ago.

Plus these people who implore the supporters to be more demanding of the club are generally directing it towards people on here who would be some of the most dedicated supporters you can find. Again I don't really see how screaming in the outer/posting diatribes on here is going to impact the club in any way whatsoever. If recent history has taught us anything it's that clubs should be more conservative regarding sacking coaches/players/admin rather than going the typical route of sacking the board, CEO or coach in times of crisis. 

Where would Richmond be today if that laughable group Focus on Football had got their way in 2016?

[DV8 2,271]

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

I don't agree with this. I get that the bigger clubs whine and complain more about fixtures, TV etc but it hasnt helped Collingwood, Essendon or Carlton much - although Carlton have 6 Fri/Sat night fixtures

I'd say our admin hasn't done much wrong at all and given where they have come from have done and extraordinary job.

My biggest fear is that we have a novice coach. Yes he has good credentials and yes he has had a decent apprenticeship but the jury is still out for mine about his ability to coach. There is a difference between managing and coaching and the Coll game last round last year was a huge red flag for me. Clarkson, Sheedy or similar would never have come out to play that game in the frame of mind we did.

We have issues of on-field leadership: Lewis should have brought some of that but has let himself and the team down on more than a few occasions. And the fact we have let teams score 5+ consecutive goals on 10 occcasions since the start of 2017 is a massive failure of on field leadership.

How we deal with that will go a long way to determining our fortunes this year.

That is because you are only thinking of the now.  This current administration is great.

This is not about the administrations, but rather about Us.   All of Us, supporters.

 

This is about an attitude that we'll just put in place smart people, and all will be right.  We vote and then we forget about it all.  We have consistently voted wrong!

 

Its not smart people we need, business community people, its smart Footy People we've needed to hold at least half of the Power on the board. That makes footy decisions on our behalf.

 

But the point is we as a club supporter base are too apathetic about the club and we tend to think what can WE do, so resigned to an answer of I don't think I can do anything, we then sit on our hands or we go to the wine cupboard and telly or the PComp.

 

We are to easy on our leaders.  I don't mean we should send out a posse,,,  but we should be more active as a group in or thinking,,, and talking amongst one another,,, getting a more aggressive nature to our thinking,,,  collectively a more entrepreneurial mindset through our conversations with one another,,,  to try to aid changing one-another's minds to becoming more adventurously spirited about what we want OUR Club to be/become for Our footy club's future.

 

This administration so far, is doing a great job, no issue with it;,,, but it has largely been built by the AFL's guidance.   Not by our votes at Mfc club elections.

 

We supporters need to change our minds, if we want this club to change direction from our past 50 years.  IF WE don't change our own mindset, the club will end up back where its been going, this past half century.

 

Attitude is everything.   We need a more aggressive approach to our footy at all levels to get stronger.

 

.

[binman 37,966]

Just watched the replay. Some random observations/comments:

• Brisbane are pretty good team, with some genuine guns - the future looks pretty  bright for lions fans 
• Cameron was a terrific get for them
• Some truly baffling umpiring decisions and non decisions -  how Gawn didn't get a free in the 3rd (or maybe 4th?) after Martin threw him to the ground from a throw in is anybody's guess and ridiculous that Fristsch didn't get a fifty - he was wrestled to the ground after clearly taking a mark. The free for holding against Lewis in the middle of the ground was ridiculous, made more so when on a number of occasions players were given an eternity to get rid of the ball
• Jetta has had tough couple of weeks, though this week his cause wasn't helped by some tough borderline umpiring decisions
• Lever was ok, made some smart decisions and has great hands. Did make a couple of bad errors that cost us goals at key times (his failure to 'kill' the ball when one of three players up against Walker and then not keeping the ball in front of him allowing Hipwood to goal near the end of the game). I found it curious that Roos was quick to point out these errors and also had made a couple of other mild criticisms of Lever in the call - it made me wonder if he was keen on him as Goody
• hibberd was back to his AA best and i think our most influential player (with apologies to Jeffy who was awesome)
• My take on the Lions come back: Mistake one - not slowing things down. Brendan Speed said at some point in the third we had started to play tempo football, which i though strange because we hadn't. Just as he said Jones (as pointed out by someone above - a good get) elected to go long down the line from hb to a contest rather than going back and chipping it round to slow things down (though to be fair on the tv i you couldn't see if there was spare player - but if a player worked hard enough there should have been). Fom the contest they won the ball and took it the length of the ground to score.
• Mistake two - near the end of the third oliver missed a set shot and jetta a snapped goal from 20 metres. At the start of the last, after a great build up Hogan missed everything from a set shot from 35. Cameron meanwhile kicked truly twice from 40 metre set shots in that same period. We get those goals and momentum is stopped. 
• Also not sure what happened with Zorko - he was instrumental in getting Lions back into the game and didn't appear to be tagged in the second half
•  However after they leveled up we got the goals needed, with Jeffy and Hoges standing up when required with clutch goals - a terrific sign and we will be able to draw on that all season
• Bugg and Melksham missed some very gettable goals that would have mad things harder for lions
• Brendan Speed is a really good commentator
• Fritsch is the real deal. A wonderful mark, reads the flight really well, is brave and for his size is hard to beat in the air. On the ground picks up the ball beautifully and to round things out is an excellent kick with a sound technique. I love left footers so all in all a top package
• Hogan look really switched on, body language and temperament is good and seem in a good place. However he seems to run under the ball a fair bit still
• Gawn look in ripping shape and is better now when the ball is on the ground
• Lewis made some errors but was terrific in the second half
• Oliver is already close to the best mid fielder i have seen at the dees in my 40 odd years of watching us. Big call i know but he is just so good.
• Of course our habit of giving up bags of goals in short periods of time is an issue but a game still has to be considered in totality. And in the end we won by 26 points. One of the best measures of the likely outcome of a match is the line bet as it is a function of bookies, who do not like losing, setting the line and then thousands of people making a decision on the likely outcome, moving the line up and down. Money talks. The line was 18 points and in the end we easily covered it.

[DV8 2,271]

20 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

That's all just platitudes, this is a modern professional sport, supporters behaviour and expectations has very minimal influence compared to say 30 or 40 years ago.

Plus these people who implore the supporters to be more demanding of the club are generally directing it towards people on here who would be some of the most dedicated supporters you can find. Again I don't really see how screaming in the outer/posting diatribes on here is going to impact the club in any way whatsoever. If recent history has taught us anything it's that clubs should be more conservative regarding sacking coaches/players/admin rather than going the typical route of sacking the board, CEO or coach in times of crisis. 

Where would Richmond be today if that laughable group Focus on Football had got their way in 2016?

It's about the culture of the club,ours is too passive/submissive.

This is an environmental thing;  that is the energy surrounding the whole club; has been for 50 years.

 

This energy field is controlled by all the feelings of all the Mfc people congregating at club functions, from training, to games, to social get-togethers.

 

This IS the Club Culture of the Mfc.

 

And it can change Via the way the clubs support base feels collectively,,, when around its supporters friends, and around the club.

We need to become more assertive/powerful,,, when thinking talking about the Mfc in general. To shift this submissive collective feeling of "Woe is Us @ Mfc".

 

I would hope we can at least all try to be more aggressiveness in our approach,,, to the club being more aggressive about change,,, about home bases, about recruitment, and about development, of club and of players, and of academies etc.

 

Even in your post there is an attitude of negativity rather than inquisitiveness to explore the concept.  "That's all Platitudes",,, is the opening comment from a closed mindset.

 

We have the habit of shutting down any new ideas, that try to aid the club.  Just abs much as we attack other posters with differing views and ideas.

 

.

[Nasher 33,047]

On Melksham: a few have said be's been poor, however all three of the behinds he kicked were those snatch-and-deliver kicks he does before you can blink. If he'd kicked those goals we'd all have voted for him in the PotY thread.

I've really warmed to him as a player. As a half forward, he creates opportunities that others can't because of the speed in which he can dispose of the ball once he gets it. He is getting it, so I think he's not too far off stitching it together and delivering an outstanding game.

[binman 37,966]

Just now, Nasher said:

On Melksham: a few have said be's been poor, however all three of the behinds he kicked were those snatch-and-deliver kicks he does before you can blink. If he'd kicked those goals we'd all have voted for him in the PotY thread.

I've really warmed to him as a player. As a half forward, he creates opportunities that others can't because of the speed in which he can dispose of the ball once he gets it. He is getting it, so I think he's not too far off stitching it together and delivering an outstanding game.

Agree. In addition to his near misses set up two goals with beautifully weighted kicks, including a critical goal to jeffy after a nice mark (yes an easy kick but how many of our players would have instead forced Jeffy to stop and mark and then have to have a set shot from 30?).

Also has booming left foot which he doesn't hesitate to use.

[Diamond_Jim 11,740]

3 minutes ago, Nasher said:

On Melksham: a few have said be's been poor, however all three of the behinds he kicked were those snatch-and-deliver kicks he does before you can blink. If he'd kicked those goals we'd all have voted for him in the PotY thread.

I've really warmed to him as a player. As a half forward, he creates opportunities that others can't because of the speed in which he can dispose of the ball once he gets it. He is getting it, so I think he's not too far off stitching it together and delivering an outstanding game.

Agreed.... Given the game plan played by Melbourne and others Melksham's goal sense and quick reaction is ultra important. One at least hit the post so he was close.

[brendan 3,380]

I’m surprised about the non free kicks to max, he got thrown out of the ruck contest a number of times 

[Deemented Are Go! 3,602]

20 minutes ago, binman said:

Just watched the replay. Some random observations/comments:

................................

•  
• Brendan Speed is a really good commentator
•  

Great point Binman - I agree Speed was no-nonsense and just called the actual footy, unlike some of his boofhead contemporaries  And from memory (haven't watched a second time yet), seemingly with a bit of soft spot for the Dees? Or perhaps his company (Roos) was rubbing off?

[Watts the matter 1,235]

27 minutes ago, binman said:

Just watched the replay. Some random observations/comments:

• Brisbane are pretty good team, with some genuine guns - the future looks pretty  bright for lions fans 
• Cameron was a terrific get for them
• Some truly baffling umpiring decisions and non decisions -  how Gawn didn't get a free in the 3rd (or maybe 4th?) after Martin threw him to the ground from a throw in is anybody's guess and ridiculous that Fristsch didn't get a fifty - he was wrestled to the ground after clearly taking a mark. The free for holding against Lewis in the middle of the ground was ridiculous, made more so when on a number of occasions players were given an eternity to get rid of the ball
• Jetta has had tough couple of weeks, though this week his cause wasn't helped by some tough borderline umpiring decisions
• Lever was ok, made some smart decisions and has great hands. Did make a couple of bad errors that cost us goals at key times (his failure to 'kill' the ball when one of three players up against Walker and then not keeping the ball in front of him allowing Hipwood to goal near the end of the game). I found it curious that Roos was quick to point out these errors and also had made a couple of other mild criticisms of Lever in the call - it made me wonder if he was keen on him as Goody
• hibberd was back to his AA best and i think our most influential player (with apologies to Jeffy who was awesome)
• My take on the Lions come back: Mistake one - not slowing things down. Brendan Speed said at some point in the third we had started to play tempo football, which i though strange because we hadn't. Just as he said Jones (as pointed out by someone above - a good get) elected to go long down the line from hb to a contest rather than going back and chipping it round to slow things down (though to be fair on the tv i you couldn't see if there was spare player - but if a player worked hard enough there should have been). Fom the contest they won the ball and took it the length of the ground to score.
• Mistake two - near the end of the third oliver missed a set shot and jetta a snapped goal from 20 metres. At the start of the last, after a great build up Hogan missed everything from a set shot from 35. Cameron meanwhile kicked truly twice from 40 metre set shots in that same period. We get those goals and momentum is stopped. 
• Also not sure what happened with Zorko - he was instrumental in getting Lions back into the game and didn't appear to be tagged in the second half
•  However after they leveled up we got the goals needed, with Jeffy and Hoges standing up when required with clutch goals - a terrific sign and we will be able to draw on that all season
• Bugg and Melksham missed some very gettable goals that would have mad things harder for lions
• Brendan Speed is a really good commentator
• Fritsch is the real deal. A wonderful mark, reads the flight really well, is brave and for his size is hard to beat in the air. On the ground picks up the ball beautifully and to round things out is an excellent kick with a sound technique. I love left footers so all in all a top package
• Hogan look really switched on, body language and temperament is good and seem in a good place. However he seems to run under the ball a fair bit still
• Gawn look in ripping shape and is better now when the ball is on the ground
• Lewis made some errors but was terrific in the second half
• Oliver is already close to the best mid fielder i have seen at the dees in my 40 odd years of watching us. Big call i know but he is just so good.
• Of course our habit of giving up bags of goals in short periods of time is an issue but a game still has to be considered in totality. And in the end we won by 26 points. One of the best measures of the likely outcome of a match is the line bet as it is a function of bookies, who do not like losing, setting the line and then thousands of people making a decision on the likely outcome, moving the line up and down. Money talks. The line was 18 points and in the end we easily covered it.

I actually think from listening to Goodwin's comments at one stage it was more a case of our recruitment team than him that wanted Lever (I'm not saying he didn't want him). Roos from all reports was very keen in his draft year and I think I have read has a connection with his dad.

We have paid a significant amount to get Lever across so he will always be judged accordingly.

[binman 37,966]

2 minutes ago, Watts the matter said:

We have paid a significant amount to get Lever across so he will always be judged accordingly.

Yep - and fair enough too. I am 100% confident though he will be worth the investment

[Dee Zephyr 17,425]

53 minutes ago, binman said:

Some truly baffling umpiring decisions and non decisions

Did anyone notice the non-advantage to Oliver paid as advantage that resulted in Hipwoods goal when scores 79-67?

Oliver clearly pulled up on the kick and raised his arms in protest. Ump blew the whistle to award the free kick to Tyson just as Oliver is about to kick.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Demon77

[Gorgoroth 12,308]

5 hours ago, Nasher said:

I thought the same about Harmes, but then discovered he had 23 disposals. His heat map shows the majority of them on the half back flank near the boundary, or directly in the middle. I'd say he's playing the role of a foot soldier in contests, perhaps probably as the link player (received handball from inner mid, deliver to the runner/kicker); that might explain why his touches go unnoticed or appear low impact. I'd say he is probably contributing more than we are giving him credit for.

Great thing about Harmes is even when he isn’t playing well his efforts and two way running is right up there with the best.

[Gator 16,891]

If I want a laugh I only need to go onto one of these threads.

There's no perfect team, but Demonlanders don't seem to understand this.  many think the Giants will win the flag this year and they nearly lost to a depleted Collingwood side that was two men down in the last.  Sydney got rolled on their own deck.

No teams are playing their best footy at round 2.

[Jaded No More 57,784]

9 minutes ago, ProDee said:

If I want a laugh I only need to go onto one of these threads.

There's no perfect team, but Demonlanders don't seem to understand this.  many think the Giants will win the flag this year and they nearly lost to a depleted Collingwood side that was two men down in the last.  Sydney got rolled on their own deck.

No teams are playing their best footy at round 2.

You’re not wrong, but the issues of teams scoring heavily against us in periods of play is not a new one. It’s an issue we had last year and what ultimately cost is finals. 

Nobody here is calling for heads or declaring our season is over, but round 2 on the back of last year, is a good enough sample size to know that we have issues that need to be resolved. To put it down to “it’s round 2”, is not actually an answer and I doubt internally the club is burying their heads in the sand about this. 

[Gator 16,891]

11 minutes ago, Jaded said:

You’re not wrong, but the issues of teams scoring heavily against us in periods of play is not a new one. It’s an issue we had last year and what ultimately cost is finals. 

Nobody here is calling for heads or declaring our season is over, but round 2 on the back of last year, is a good enough sample size to know that we have issues that need to be resolved. To put it down to “it’s round 2”, is not actually an answer and I doubt internally the club is burying their heads in the sand about this. 

Of course.

I just about broke my TV when the complacent soft XXXXX got ahead of themselves and relaxed.

But I also don't think it's an insurmountable problem and I reckon it will start disappearing.  I'm certain we (and other teams) will be playing a lot better footy in 5/6 weeks.

[jackaub 1,402]

3 hours ago, Deestar9 said:

Such ridiculous statements ...you are not the coach or coaching panel..have no idea what they want implemented behind closed doors ...we have heaps of improvement to make & with a team full of young players that is what we will get.  We won the game ..we are seeing a team that had new set ups & new players & two very important players missing ...learning to work & gell together. I am happy as a supporter to watch this team develop & improve ...it’s a very long season so let’s save our angst for when it is genuinely deserved...we are in the 8 at the end of Rd 2 ....pretty happy with that !!

Yep D9 the same problems we had all last year are still there

Rose coloured glasses wont make them go away

Coaching and planning will!

I just really want to see that improvement ok?and BTW cheap shots about not being the coach dont do you any service

Lookss lil  nasty .its just a discussion.

[Demon Dynasty 15,383]

5 hours ago, WattsUp2312 said:

The hysteria around lever is ridiculous. 2nd game for us, 21 yrs old and not even close to his physical peak yet. He’ll be right.

I’m more worried on hunt - appears off the pace currently and Positionally still naive.

On Lewis - does some great things then some idiotic things...we forget he was part of the Hawthorn machine....sometimes I think he loses it due to the frustration with our team losing its structure.

this season is going to be tough - looked at the fixture list again this morning. Going to be extremely tight all season. Don’t expect +30 point wins in many games

 

5 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

Hunt looks to have bulked up and may have lost some flexibility. May come good yet as his body adjusts. Or maybe he's lost the X-factor that made him a viable AFL player?

Also oppo coaches may have worked out how to limit him. Force him on to his wrong foot, etc.

 

4 hours ago, Mike said:

It looks like Hunt has played more of a lockdown role lately, so maybe he's had a little less freedom to burst off halfback? I remember a great tackle in the 3rd qtr, possibly on Cameron. Was right on his tail.

He will be fine.  Maybe a week off to reset and refresh.  I would start pushing him up to become a link man on the outside of mid field stoppages on the burst.  Time to unleash his burst speed further up the ground where he can impact more coming inside 50 and provide us with some much needed outside run.  Would need to work on his disposal though and lower eyes more often.

Can be done and plenty of depth / run down back to cover him in this role if/when Frost & T-Mac come in.

[Gorgoroth 12,308]

11 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

He will be fine.  Maybe a week off to reset and refresh.

Week off to refresh???

The season is two games old...

[Demon Dynasty 15,383]

2 hours ago, binman said:

Just watched the replay. Some random observations/comments:

• Brisbane are pretty good team, with some genuine guns - the future looks pretty  bright for lions fans 
• Cameron was a terrific get for them
• Some truly baffling umpiring decisions and non decisions -  how Gawn didn't get a free in the 3rd (or maybe 4th?) after Martin threw him to the ground from a throw in is anybody's guess and ridiculous that Fristsch didn't get a fifty - he was wrestled to the ground after clearly taking a mark. The free for holding against Lewis in the middle of the ground was ridiculous, made more so when on a number of occasions players were given an eternity to get rid of the ball
• Jetta has had tough couple of weeks, though this week his cause wasn't helped by some tough borderline umpiring decisions
• Lever was ok, made some smart decisions and has great hands. Did make a couple of bad errors that cost us goals at key times (his failure to 'kill' the ball when one of three players up against Walker and then not keeping the ball in front of him allowing Hipwood to goal near the end of the game). I found it curious that Roos was quick to point out these errors and also had made a couple of other mild criticisms of Lever in the call - it made me wonder if he was keen on him as Goody
• hibberd was back to his AA best and i think our most influential player (with apologies to Jeffy who was awesome)
• My take on the Lions come back: Mistake one - not slowing things down. Brendan Speed said at some point in the third we had started to play tempo football, which i though strange because we hadn't. Just as he said Jones (as pointed out by someone above - a good get) elected to go long down the line from hb to a contest rather than going back and chipping it round to slow things down (though to be fair on the tv i you couldn't see if there was spare player - but if a player worked hard enough there should have been). Fom the contest they won the ball and took it the length of the ground to score.
• Mistake two - near the end of the third oliver missed a set shot and jetta a snapped goal from 20 metres. At the start of the last, after a great build up Hogan missed everything from a set shot from 35. Cameron meanwhile kicked truly twice from 40 metre set shots in that same period. We get those goals and momentum is stopped. 
• Also not sure what happened with Zorko - he was instrumental in getting Lions back into the game and didn't appear to be tagged in the second half
•  However after they leveled up we got the goals needed, with Jeffy and Hoges standing up when required with clutch goals - a terrific sign and we will be able to draw on that all season
• Bugg and Melksham missed some very gettable goals that would have mad things harder for lions
• Brendan Speed is a really good commentator
• Fritsch is the real deal. A wonderful mark, reads the flight really well, is brave and for his size is hard to beat in the air. On the ground picks up the ball beautifully and to round things out is an excellent kick with a sound technique. I love left footers so all in all a top package
• Hogan look really switched on, body language and temperament is good and seem in a good place. However he seems to run under the ball a fair bit still
• Gawn look in ripping shape and is better now when the ball is on the ground
• Lewis made some errors but was terrific in the second half
• Oliver is already close to the best mid fielder i have seen at the dees in my 40 odd years of watching us. Big call i know but he is just so good.
• Of course our habit of giving up bags of goals in short periods of time is an issue but a game still has to be considered in totality. And in the end we won by 26 points. One of the best measures of the likely outcome of a match is the line bet as it is a function of bookies, who do not like losing, setting the line and then thousands of people making a decision on the likely outcome, moving the line up and down. Money talks. The line was 18 points and in the end we easily covered it.

Vince was unable to go with Zorko for more than a roughly one half is probably what happened BM.  The drive from Zorko out of the middle after half time playing a big part in turning the game's momentum.

I would have left Maynard in the team or brought in Brayshaw for that 2nd half tag team role with Vince, instead of bringing in Tyson. 

Would have played Bugg on Cameron.  Bugg up forward a complete waste of space.  If Bugg isn't tagging a ball magnet in the middle or defending down back on a small/medium small, I wouldn't be playing him at all.  Hannan is a much better option to groom into this medium forward role.  Has the potential to be our version of Menzel if we persist and he puts in the hard work over the next few years.  First game last week like everyone else.  Wasn't great but wasn't as bad as some on here were saying for an omission (for Bugg!).  Needed a second go at it and a challenge put to him by the coach for this week's match against the wooden spooners.  Would have been a great opportunity for redemption.

Melk made up for an ugly shot or two but his vision and delivery to advantage inside 50 to allow others to run on and score was first class.  Made up for this IMO.

How Max didn't get that free!  Rag dolled out of that contest!

Nice summary

[Demon Dynasty 15,383]

17 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

Week off to refresh???

The season is two games old...

In the mind (and to a lessor degree legs) Gorgo..... or a third go at it but release him as an outside linking mid further up the field.  Hitting targets inside 50 occasionally would be a must also if he's to play a role there rather than our usual bombing.

[Stretch Johnson 2,568]

2018 is a new year and our coaching and playing group still have much to learn. 

With coaching there is a fine line between being stubborn and being too reactive.

Are our current group capable of managing young men whilst tweaking selection and strategy to get the most out of the list?   Can we get those bottom six performing a consistent role? We will find out this year. 

[Deemania since 56 6,132]

5 hours ago, Mike said:

It looks like Hunt has played more of a lockdown role lately, so maybe he's had a little less freedom to burst off halfback? I remember a great tackle in the 3rd qtr, possibly on Cameron. Was right on his tail.

Both Hunt and Harmes are being played wearing a Goodwin leash; it needs to be removed to free up these two players with their trademark creativity and dash - both in possession of the ball and in pursuit of an opponent. 

[Wiseblood 24,636]

1 hour ago, ProDee said:

Of course.

I just about broke my TV when the complacent soft XXXXX got ahead of themselves and relaxed.

But I also don't think it's an insurmountable problem and I reckon it will start disappearing.  I'm certain we (and other teams) will be playing a lot better footy in 5/6 weeks.

Agreed.

I know it's a small sample size, but after two rounds we've won 6 of the 8 quarters we have played.  That's level with both Port and the Giants, who are unbeaten to start the season.  We are also averaging 60 inside 50s a game; again, it's a small sample size but it shows that we having no problems winning the footy and getting it forward.  Our efficiency going forward still needs a little work, but that's another thing that can be fixed.

Bottom line is that we have a game plan that can win us games.

Once we get a few more games under the belt and we start to settle a little, then I think you're right in that these lapses may begin to subside.  I'd still like to see a few game plan tweaks as well, but I also think that will come as the games this season progress.