I swa numerous times when Brissy had the ball that we had two or three players on their own jogging through the middle. There were clear Lions players free but no one bothered picking them up.

Its obviously not the same as being at the game but t is blindingly clear on TV that we do not work hard enough when we don't have the ball. Lazy, dumb, lazy and dumber

Fair comment

Trust Stuie to start a thread on something that we're not even doing:

"The more footy you see at the moment, you see that zoning is out, we're not going down the path of zoning."

(Neeld in today's press conference)

"We will be the hardest team to play against"

Neeld in his first press conference as MFC coach...

I think you are both partially correct - our players inability/failure to properly implement the zone is a contributing factor as is our players inability/failure to spread or spread at the correct times. I think another contributing factor is our poor skills resulting turnovers across midfield/half forward which allows the opposition to quickly transition the ball to their forward line with little pressure. It is pretty hard to implement a defence-zone if you're caught out trying to create an offensive play in your forward half and the ball is turned over due to a skill error.

Absolutely spot on Dr. Nice one.

Out of interest, does anyone know how many uncontested possessions we averaged last year? I'm interested to know the difference.

This year we average 68 less (my original stat was before the Lions game), I haven't got the exact stat (worked it out roughly to be somewhere around 45 less), but officially we were LAST in uncontested possession differential last year.

"We will be the hardest team to play against"

Neeld in his first press conference as MFC coach...

To be fair to Neeld I think he was misquoted. He meant "the easiest"

Why did we allow Brisbane to waltz through the centre with no pressure. Players aren't working hard enough or don't understand what Neeld wants. Or Neeld's a complete whack job and has little idea with regard to game plans.

The latter.

The latter.

That's what I worry about. I'm holding judgement for a while yet

Why did we allow Brisbane to waltz through the centre with no pressure. Players aren't working hard enough or don't understand what Neeld wants. Or Neeld's a complete whack job and has little idea with regard to game plans.

The latter.

Quite possibly both...

I seriously think fitness has to be an issue... as in... they can't physically complete the running tasks that are required to defend uncontested chains...

When we went forward against Brissy it apeared that it was hard work. On the flip side Brissy often went forward quickly and it would sometimes resemble what would appear to be a training drill. So i think that their players worked harder defensively and we did not spread well when we had the ball and vice versa when Brissy had the ball. Tim Watson mentioned this in the third qtr i think.

Therefore, we are either not fit enough, lazy or the game plan is not been implemented/respected. The concerning point was that they had a majority of their midfield out and also our highest possession getter was Terlich (similar to the start of last year when Magner was our leading possession getter for the first two rounds). We are in so much need of some developement into our midfield that its not funny.

"We will be the hardest team to play against"

Neeld in his first press conference as MFC coach...

Mark neeld thought our list was Good when he took the job, he got a massive shock, he for a group of lazy unskilled, a group that lacked any experienced leaders, a group that was a mile behind nearly every other afl club in terms of professionalism and preparation. look at the difference in neeld, round one last year gee have the most honest press conference we have ever seen from a coach, he was fuming, frustrated by a team that he thought could be good. By round 4, he was resigned to the fact that our playing list was bad and i believe went from a coach about winning now to a coach facing a massive rebuild, we will turn over another 10+ players at the end of the year that will be over 50% of our list.

If nothing else Neeld will instill some much needed professionalism into the club. I

The issue with our zone opposed to oppositions zones are that once the ball leaves the opponents foot/hand, our players just stand their still zoning. They are meant to go in and contest! not just stand their flat footed guarding a space but not even willing to move off where they are standing!

And just by the way. I take no notice of what Mark Neeld (or any coach) says in a press conference. It's all being said for the players' consumption. So I hope they're the ones taking notice.

It's being said for the public's consumption, not the players. Coaches keep it diplomatic for the club's image overall. Players don't give a [censored] about the press conference and would probably actively ignore it (and are probably structured to ignore it).

The issue with our zone opposed to oppositions zones are that once the ball leaves the opponents foot/hand, our players just stand their still zoning. They are meant to go in and contest! not just stand their flat footed guarding a space but not even willing to move off where they are standing!

Reminds me of kids playing that game 'Octopus' in primary school where you can wave your hands around but can't move your feet.

Spot on Stuie. Watch and listen to any top clubs, when they lose a close game or just get over the line, or get pumped like the Pies last week on a rare occasion, they will often mention, among a few other things, that "we gave our opponents too much latitude or/room/space". By not placing intense pressure on the ball carrier for 4 quarters these clubs (and top line players) no too well what the consequences will be.

We fail to place enough pressure on the ball carrier for long enough in almost every quarter. Combine this aspect with our slowness in general, terrible skill set and a lack of footy smarts in the top paddock and u have a recipe for perpetual pumpings. In addition the Neeld way of hugging the boundary (bombing it long to a fairly predictable spot) for most defensive sets and then trying to win the ball and run it around the long way is sucking the oxygen and any run we might have out of most players in the first half. Might be a part of the reason we get pumped big time in most 2nd halves.

The biggest worry for me is that we have a pretty stubborn coach who might be unwilling to alter the recipe. He appears to have put the cake in the oven which is baking its way to oblivion. Hopefully he notices the burning smell before it's too late.

I'm prettttttttttty sure it reached the point of no return after the 24-goal loss.

Who likes burnt cake?

If i am not mistaken, this is our zoning and general game-plan at the moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEjI7_BKU9s  

We continually kick to two on one contests. This is a clear indicator of two things. Firstly players aren't running to create options. (Lazy or slaves to the zone?) Secondly, players are still dumb enough to kick it to a two on one contest anyway.

this topic needs a name change

"its the lack of zone" or "the afl's worst zone"