At the moment, I just want to see us nail the basics. Win the clearances. Win the hard ball gets. Higher tackle count. Defensive pressure all over the ground. All the urgency stuff.

And I want to see us unearth more players who can find the ball themselves, and then use it properly.

We're not a top 4 team. Unfortunately we're the complete opposite. Let's concentrate on nailing the basics for now.

And cop a tip - Ross Lyon, as good a coach as his is, wouldn't have this list scaring the likes of Carlton, Hawthorn, WCE and Geelong at the moment.

It would take Lyon TIME too.

I doubt anyone would really. Took Mick 12 at the Pies to reach the ultimate, and 6 after moving into the Westpac centre and having the kitchen sink thrown at him and the team. Hope it doesn't take anywhere near 6 years or more for us, but i think i've now woken up to the enormity of the task ahead. And that's just to make us competitive against the middle rung teams. Ughh

If I had a left nut, I'd give it to have Ross Lyon as our coach. I rate him hugely.

I like Lyon and reckon he's probably a pretty good Coach, but if he'd stayed at St Kilda an extra year or two he'd probably have ended up on the coaching scrap heap; he chose a good time to switch clubs.

I like Lyon and reckon he's probably a pretty good Coach, but if he'd stayed at St Kilda an extra year or two he'd probably have ended up on the coaching scrap heap; he chose a good time to switch clubs.

I tend to agree, from the bits I saw Freo looked pretty good tonight......

This is a very mutually beneficial arrangement (which, I guess, is how it is meant to be!!!)

Lyon/Freo were cold-blooded.

It was very un-Freo-like. Bold and ruthless.

You don't win a flag in an 18-team comp without more than a bit of either.

Hands up! I never really rated Lyon. Shows what I know.

Early days, but Lyon + v good list = contender. Freo were really hard at it, tho' they still made plenty of error; impressive. Imagine if they can get their hands on a decent share of Sandiland's taps (us and Jamar?).

Agree we are far too slow with moving the ball on with decision making compared to the more experienced teams.

Guys like Bate and even Grimes are slow to hit up a teammate on first option. Indecision helps opposition teams close down our options. And adds to the pressure and turn overs.

You see the Cats, Blues move on quickly and deliver on the move. Time and again we seem to take the mark, go to ground, get up, get distance from the mark, then decide.

It's one of the many aspects under the heading "nous" that our team lacks.

Baby steps,,, it's also reflective of the confidence of a struggling side... Learning is key & getting quality players into the side.

IMO were blooding a few this year to add to what we have.

Agree wholeheartedly Dee-luded!

I am confident that after a few better performances in the next 3 weeks confidence will return and many will be surprised

Skills, fitness, teamwork, practice and confidence we will definitely get better through the year

Starting toomorrow evening!Maybe the Dogs will run us into form instead of the usual outcome where we run struggling teams into form

I am confident that after a few better performances in the next 3 weeks confidence will return and many will be surprised

Skills, fitness, teamwork, practice and confidence we will definitely get better through the year

When you're pretty much at rock bottom you can't get much worse.