what exactly did Watts offer yesterday? A spare man in defense who lets his opponent run free and avoids the contest? At least with Dean terlich you get some run and contest.

I would put Terlich for Nicholson and keep Watts. Not sure Barry is quite ready for AFL yet but like to see Kent, Jetta get a run and a few guys go back. Hopefully McDonald and Dawes will be in next week and i am afraid that I would rather see MacDonald for Gillies [no matter what comments are made on here about his disposals at least he competes]!

I am not against Joel Macdonald like others are. He is not great, but he has a dip, and unfortunately, this is enough at the moment.

How about we see Neeld come up with his own ideas and positive suggestions. What are we paying him to do?

We could have 15 pages of positive suggestions and ideas and it will mean diddly squat. The bloke has been put in place to do a job and somehow we've got to tell him how to do that job??? Ridiculous.

The very fact that a thread like this has been started, says it all. We don't have a say in things so it's a pointless exercise. We have a 0% chance of changing things. Neeld either coaches a lot better or he will be replaced.

It's as simple as that.

Talk to each other on the damn field!

Protect the ball-carrier. It's not against the rules to lay a shepherd, something everyone but Viney seemed to have forgotten.

Bombers are a small team, don't go naming a backline of 193cm+ players plus Dan Nicholson!

If Gillies isn't willing to play as a KPD, why even bother continuing. Thanks, but no thanks.

How about we see Neeld come up with his own ideas and positive suggestions. What are we paying him to do?

We could have 15 pages of positive suggestions and ideas and it will mean diddly squat. The bloke has been put in place to do a job and somehow we've got to tell him how to do that job??? Ridiculous.

The very fact that a thread like this has been started, says it all. We don't have a say in things so it's a pointless exercise. We have a 0% chance of changing things. Neeld either coaches a lot better or he will be replaced.

It's as simple as that.

Can't agree more Macca.

2 pages so far and less than half are positive suggestions anyway.

Sack Neeld and drop half the team are not positive suggestions, understandable after yesterday but not positive.

I suggest he coach from the boundary line again so we might get some rotations right.

He is probably afraid of the abuse from the crowd .

He also has a 100% success rate against Essenroid coaching from the ground.

what exactly did Watts offer yesterday? A spare man in defense who lets his opponent run free and avoids the contest? At least with Dean terlich you get some run and contest.

He had a really bad day and he ADMITTED it and vowed that it wouldn't happen again. He is too good a player to be ruthlessly discarded. His skills are just sublime.

Can't agree more Macca.

2 pages so far and less than half are positive suggestions anyway.

Sack Neeld and drop half the team are not positive suggestions, understandable after yesterday but not positive.

With no disrespect to the OP the problem with a thread like this is that many will end up 'playing' coach. And many will come up with some wonderful suggestions and ideas. And it will all mean nothing.

Neeld won't be reading this thread - that is an absolute guarantee. Garry Lyon wrote 1 or 2 articles a year when Bailey was coach. It all sounded great from Garry but it infuriated me at the same time. Why on earth was Lyon telling us what the team needed to do to improve? In effect, he was telling Bailey how to coach. And that's never a good thing coming from an ex player.

I wonder if Garry will write another article this week along the same lines? Short odds he will and it will send the same message.

If it comes to a point where the fans are suggesting how the team should be coached then the real issue is the fans don't have any faith in the coach. Same as it was when Lyon wrote his articles about our team under Bailey.

Edited April 1, 201312 yr by Macca

Brighton Grammar soft by most of the team.

I doubt Watts has ever had a fist fight in his life! Maybe should have stuck to basketball, no so much contact.

As for a suggestion;

Put the lot of them in a boxing ring all week..12 rounds..every day, 'til they bleed!

Find out why our players fail to run, guard space and opponents and provide options for thier team-mates. That should fix it.

Agree 100% - too many looked just plain uninterested and lazy!!!

Things to do:

- institute man on man football

- make a decision - not all four of Garland, Watts, Dunn and Frawley can play down back at once

- only one of Sellars or Pedersen too

- if McKenzie is a tagger, he must start next to his opponent at each bounce not out on the wing and coming into the contest - Boak won centre clearance after centre clearance whereas Kornes was next to Jones all day

- is Grimes a midfielder or a half back? He can't be both

- Jamar must clear the contest with his taps each week not simply tap it to his feet - belt the hell out of it and get the ball into space

- pray to every god known that Saturday night isn't as big a disaster as yesterday

I was also wondering WTF a tagger was doing anywhere other than at the contest???!!!

And as for Jamar - too many hit out stats but very very few have resulted in clearances for the last couple of years. Whack it long and clear for a while and see what happens; certainly could not be worse than the current outcome.

Jamar usually whacks it to the opposition.

Neeld, do the club and everyone involved in it a favour and leave

will not solve anything, its up to the players to lift their intensity, their desire, their work rate, their passion for the jumper and most importantly their self pride

The most positive thing I can think of is that they say nothing.

Their actions are all I am interested in

Another way of looking at this problem is what do successful clubs do that we do not do?

Brisbane bears when at their peak played man on man, and tackled hard, if you did not take the ball first time or fumbled you were ground into the dirt. They play with the concept of 'no easy kicks'. These are things that most good sides do automatically, which appears to be opposite to what we do.

You cannot hope to give any player 5 yards and hope to catch him, which is what we do all day long with our zone "defense" ironic that it is no defense at all.

Good teams shepherd and run for each other, they lead and present they talk...

Most good sides apart from Collingwood go down the centre corridor, we avoid it like the plague which is kinda why port owned it and just about everything else yesterday. We should not be afraid of using the corridor, going from side to side was farcical the way we try to do it. Kick long preferably to an even contest if you cannot find a man on his own, but why do we kick it to a man out numbered 3 to 1?

How about we see Neeld come up with his own ideas and positive suggestions. What are we paying him to do?

We could have 15 pages of positive suggestions and ideas and it will mean diddly squat. The bloke has been put in place to do a job and somehow we've got to tell him how to do that job??? Ridiculous.

The very fact that a thread like this has been started, says it all. We don't have a say in things so it's a pointless exercise. We have a 0% chance of changing things. Neeld either coaches a lot better or he will be replaced.

It's as simple as that.

With no disrespect to the OP the problem with a thread like this is that many will end up 'playing' coach. And many will come up with some wonderful suggestions and ideas. And it will all mean nothing.

Neeld won't be reading this thread - that is an absolute guarantee. Garry Lyon wrote 1 or 2 articles a year when Bailey was coach. It all sounded great from Garry but it infuriated me at the same time. Why on earth was Lyon telling us what the team needed to do to improve? In effect, he was telling Bailey how to coach. And that's never a good thing coming from an ex player.

Another way of looking at this problem is what do successful clubs do that we do not do?

Brisbane bears when at their peak played man on man, and tackled hard, if you did not take the ball first time or fumbled you were ground into the dirt. They play with the concept of 'no easy kicks'. These are things that most good sides do automatically, which appears to be opposite to what we do.

You cannot hope to give any player 5 yards and hope to catch him, which is what we do all day long with our zone "defense" ironic that it is no defense at all.

Good teams shepherd and run for each other, they lead and present they talk...

Most good sides apart from Collingwood go down the centre corridor, we avoid it like the plague which is kinda why port owned it and just about everything else yesterday. We should not be afraid of using the corridor, going from side to side was farcical the way we try to do it. Kick long preferably to an even contest if you cannot find a man on his own, but why do we kick it to a man out numbered 3 to 1?

Nice post Deecisive. This is true of most good quality AFL teams. In addition they follow through after their initial possession/give off, try to run/spread into open space and make an option either sideways from the player they gave it to or up the field as an overlap. 2nd/3rd efforts and hard work to provide "another" option after the first give, making space! And as you pointed out, they lead up....hit up....lead up....hit up.

Mind you, you still have to have decent passing/handballing skills to pull this off, which just isn't there for us in a big way atm unfortunately.

This is what we saw in a major way from the Cats in the 2nd half today. We aren't Geelong and i realise they're a star studded bunch with many top liners and veterans. But it might be worth sitting the boys down and showing some of our "stationary" style of play, work ethic (ahem), decision making etc and then watch the 2nd half of todays match as a stark wake up call with regard to basic non negotiables and levels we have to start going to.

And yes Macca. You're spot on. I doubt anyone at club level will give a rats tossbag what we are writing about on here. And i agree with most of your points, especially that it's a sad reflection on where we're at. But unfortunately this is where we're at as a club atm. And Neeldy was the one who through his hands up and asked the question of the press. And you never know in life Macca, when people are under severe pressure, sometimes they do look to others for a bit of inspiration or a lift. He certainly won't be turning to us for inspiration or ideas lol, but who knows. Someone from the club might be watching and maybe just maybe 1 or 2 super ideas (in the eyes of the reader) might filter through to the war office. Lord knows they need something different happening down there cause whatever it is they've been doing up till now just isn't working.

I'm certainly not suggesting any ideas i might have are worthy, nor am i suggesting we tell Neeldy "how to". That's one reason why i referred to an MM idea as an option because in the end suggestions/ideas have to come from someone a coach might respect and take notice of. However, I'm very much holding out hope that he's leaving no stone unturned and at least willing to seek advice and/or suggestions from those he does look up to. Neeldy certainly needs a serious change up from here if we're to make something of this season.

In all seriousness though, what we write and vent on here means nothing to anyone of importance at the club for sure, but we talk about these matters Macca because the club means alot to us. I suspect that's a part of why many others, including yourself, are here as well! B)

Edited April 1, 201312 yr by Rusty Nails

Nice post Deecisive. This is true of most good quality AFL teams. In addition they follow through after their initial possession/give off, try to run/spread into open space and make an option either sideways from the player they gave it to or up the field as an overlap. 2nd/3rd efforts and hard work to provide "another" option after the first give, making space! And as you pointed out, they lead up....hit up....lead up....hit up.

Mind you, you still have to have decent passing/handballing skills to pull this off, which just isn't there for us in a big way atm unfortunately.

This is what we saw in a major way from the Cats in the 2nd half today. We aren't Geelong and i realise they're a star studded bunch with many top liners and veterans. But it might be worth sitting the boys down and showing some of our "stationary" style of play, work ethic (ahem), decision making etc and then watch the 2nd half of todays match as a stark wake up call with regard to basic non negotiables and levels we have to start going to.

And yes Macca. You're spot on. I doubt anyone at club level will give a rats tossbag what we are writing about on here. And i agree with most of your points, especially that it's a sad reflection on where we're at. But unfortunately this is where we're at as a club atm. And Neeldy was the one who through his hands up and asked the question of the press. And you never know in life Macca, when people are under severe pressure, sometimes they do look to others for a bit of inspiration or a lift. He certainly won't be turning to us for inspiration or ideas lol, but who knows. Someone from the club might be watching and maybe just maybe 1 or 2 super ideas (in the eyes of the reader) might filter through to the war office. Lord knows they need something different happening down there cause whatever it is they've been doing up till now just isn't working.

I'm certainly not suggesting any ideas i might have are worthy, nor am i suggesting we tell Neeldy "how to". That's one reason why i referred to an MM idea as an option because in the end suggestions/ideas have to come from someone a coach might respect and take notice of. However, I'm very much holding out hope that he's leaving no stone unturned and at least willing to seek advice and/or suggestions from those he does look up to. Neeldy certainly needs a serious change up from here if we're to make something of this season.

In all seriousness though, what we write and vent on here means nothing to anyone of importance at the club for sure, but we talk about these matters Macca because the club means alot to us. I suspect that's a part of why many others, including yourself, are here as well! B)

Yeah fair enough RN, you make a good point. I must say it's been a fairly emotional time for all of us. Rather largish meltdown last night reflected this.

I just wrote a critique of our centre square work on another thread which in some ways contradicts everything I've said on this thread !! As I was writing it, I was hoping that somehow, someone at the club might take note!

Just really frustrated like many others and I just don't understand how us supporters seem to know more about how the team should play than the people at the club. It's like the club and the way we play is continually 3 or 4 years behind the standard level.

Edited April 1, 201312 yr by Macca

RUN......CHASE.....RUN.....LEAD.....CHASE.....MAKE SPACE......RUN........FILL SPACE.....JUST BLOODY RUN!!!!!!!!!!!

VERY SIMPLE GAME REALLY.

OH....YES....AND SHOW A BIT OF PRIDE

Edited April 1, 201312 yr by monoccular

Man up.

Kids know how to do that.

I think Macca has it pretty well covered, but I will offer a serious suggestion anyway - training should consist of 80-90% skills! Reason: most other aspects are expected, eg fitness, sprint running, etc - players should do these in their own time - they are the basics of their job if they are truly professional! Good skills make playing the game much easier in terms of running the game out and following a game plan.

We are in desperate need of some smart arses on the field as well. Blokes that can sh#t their opponents. We are an overly earnest playing group. We needed a Grinter or Zantuck yesterday.

I'm hoping Blease has got that in him.

Yeah fair enough RN, you make a good point. I must say it's been a fairly emotional time for all of us. Rather largish meltdown last night reflected this.

I just wrote a critique of our centre square work on another thread which in some ways contradicts everything I've said on this thread !! As I was writing it, I was hoping that somehow, someone at the club might take note!

Just really frustrated like many others and I just don't understand how us supporters seem to know more about how the team should play than the people at the club. It's like the club and the way we play is continually 3 or 4 years behind the standard level.

I think we have to pray that we're the rank amatures Macca and the Circus Masters in the FD actually have everything under control, even though it appeared the chimps escaped yesterday and were running the show.

Unfortunately i've felt we've been behind the other top clubs, and at this point pretty much every other AFL club (other than GWS....i hope!), for decades now with only the Northy years an exception. And for a time there i was a believer in 1994, at least until we met a rampaging West Coast lol.

Edited April 1, 201312 yr by Rusty Nails

I think we have to pray that we're the rank amatures Macca and the Circus Masters in the FD actually have everything under control, even though it appeared the chimps escaped yesterday and were running the show.

Unfortunately i've felt we've been behind the other top clubs, and at this point pretty much every other AFL club (other than GWS....i hope!), for decades now with only the Northy years an exception. And for a time there i was a believer in 1994, at least until we met a rampaging West Coast lol.

We are behind GWS too.

We are the basket case of the AFL.

Play footy like you are actually happy to be out there.