Lack of confidence & Structure

[kozi 0]

I can honestly say today I went into the game knowing we would get belted...all pre-season we have been poor, unable to hit targets and lacking in any noticeable team structure. Today however, I think the most glaring issue was the sides lack of confidence. All to often the players first instinct was to kick sideways, handball to stationery teammates, not take risks and not kick through the corridor...what kick in structure is in place? how difficult can it be for a professional AFL side to work on a structured kick in system (and if it doesnt work have an option b or c ?)

anyone who says keep the faith with Bailey and his coaching team are dreaming...we have been all conned by his constant generic responses and its time this side stood up and showed some heart...we all deserve more as supporters! hard decisions needs to be made sooner rather than later as the core of any good side is confidene...and this team has none under bailey!!

[agent_orange 0]

I can honestly say today I went into the game knowing we would get belted...all pre-season we have been poor, unable to hit targets and lacking in any noticeable team structure. Today however, I think the most glaring issue was the sides lack of confidence. All to often the players first instinct was to kick sideways, handball to stationery teammates, not take risks and not kick through the corridor...what kick in structure is in place? how difficult can it be for a professional AFL side to work on a structured kick in system (and if it doesnt work have an option b or c ?)

anyone who says keep the faith with Bailey and his coaching team are dreaming...we have been all conned by his constant generic responses and its time this side stood up and showed some heart...we all deserve more as supporters! hard decisions needs to be made sooner rather than later as the core of any good side is confidene...and this team has none under bailey!!

Bailey loves to blame the players in his press-conferences but not once has he accepted blame for our poor showing. Your the coach, if our intensity and skills are not upto standard, the buck stops with you Bailey. Especially now Bailey is in his third season.

[DirtyDees DDC 171]

Why do we also hang off our opponents? We seem to leave 10-15 metres of space b/w our guys and their opposing player when we are not involved in the play. Then we get exposed when the other team can kick straight and that's what happened yesterday. Twice in the second quarter they kicked off from full back, then used 4-6 kicks to score at the southern end. We never got close.

We beat Hawthorn in tackles, so we made a contest of the game when we could get near them, but they had 61 more uncontested possessions. Sometimes this stat can be misleading, (eg; defenders chipping it back to each other) but yesterday the Hawks kicked the ball forward with precision and it hurt.

St kilda and the Swans play man-on-man and cover every player. The finals are played the same way - look at last years GF - far more kicks than handpasses. For some reason we do things differently. I'm not a big fan of watching their style of play but at least it's honest. Surely we can do better than leave opposition players free all over the ground. Let's bring back some accountability.

The only positives from yesterday were heroic efforts from individuals - Green and Grimes were 2 examples, and little Scully throwing himself in front of roughhead. There was also a passage of play in the last quarter where we moved the ball from the backline through a chain of kicks and handpasses and scored the 6 points. We can do it, but we have to do a lot more work off the ball. 22 players have to learn to run into space and create opportunities, while cutting out the space for the opposition. I hope it's that simple.

[damon the demon 57]

Nathan Brown on the footy show said there are whispers from Melbourne players that there is no game plan. Sounds about right.

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

Was mentioned on the ch 9 Footy show about ten minutes ago that there are rumours that there are grumbles from the players about our lack of game plan. Don't know how true it is but...

[stranga 328]

The rumours about lack of morale and faith in the coach is a massive concern and i think the decision to extend Baileys contract so early was a massive mistake. I know Bailey is another Rhode, Schwab or Frawley and that these three years will have to be a write off. Have we unknowingly put our faith in a board that is just as bad as the previous ones in terms or football decisions?

Scott West was on SEN earlier and showed an absolute lack of passion or remorse when discussing how we played. Also he seems to be a very poor communicator in my opinion.

[Pipefitter 2,027]

Has Bailey got the worst coaching record of all time? Would be interesting to see where he fits on the all time list. If there is a plan, a structure he obviously isnt getting through to this team. The last 3 years have been the worst football i have ever seen the club play and there has been absolutely no improvement. At the moment I'm bracing for the game where we dont actually kick a goal. How could the players be happy getting belted week in week out? I hate to be one of those "SACK BAILEY" type people but if i had shown this kind of performance at my workplace i would have been shown the door long ago. We were completely outcoached amongst all the other issues yesterday. Hawthorn defence were sitting ten metres in front of our forward line just waiting for Miller and Bate to crash into each other leading to the same space and then take the ball into there f50 with zero pressure from our forwards. If Bailey is such an "astute thinker" of the game what is he thinking in the coaches box game day? Preparing excuses for the press conference? Its his job to put a structure in place, and his structure is even poorer than our skill level. Seriously what has this team being doing all summer? Is that the best they could come up with in 6 months?

[stranga 328]

I honestly believe we are now in crisis. Three years with no improvement in any of the key areas. While i admit Trengove and scully were positives out of the game, that is on a small scale compared to the deep rooted fundamental issues we have with this football team and its attitude, game plan, skills and tactics. When we look at this teams development over the last 3 years rather than just yesterdays performance, do we have to admit we are pretty much now in crisis?

[agent_orange 0]

I honestly believe we are now in crisis. Three years with no improvement in any of the key areas. While i admit Trengove and scully were positives out of the game, that is on a small scale compared to the deep rooted fundamental issues we have with this football team and its attitude, game plan, skills and tactics. When we look at this teams development over the last 3 years rather than just yesterdays performance, do we have to admit we are pretty much now in crisis?

Would say we are truely in trouble - not on the quality of players but quality of coaching in general. Cannot for the sake of me wonder what the Bailey grilling by the board achieved except that nobody except Jimmy and Leoncelli know anything about game plans.

[heartbeatstrue 57]

Nathan Brown on the footy show said there are whispers from Melbourne players that there is no game plan. Sounds about right.

This is an easy way for troublemakers to attack us just now. IF there is no game plan (and the players would know), then Bailey must go, quickly. I don't believe it, however.

Yes what is being asked of them by the coaching staff is beyond them as a group, just now. And yes, maybe a Plan B should be ready and waiting to be implemented more quickly in future (maybe the coaches didn't realise before yesterday how desperately a Plan B to minimise damage and restore competitiveness is, to be implemented quickly during situations like yesterday). That I can understand.

Obviously supporters need some answers. Either Bailey or Connolly (probably the better communicator of these things) should consider giving us a quick technical update addressing the game plan questions, and where they believe we are heading.

I believe the future is very bright. Just right now is darker than most of us feel we can endure, after the past two seasons. GO DEES!