Tom McDonald needs to take a good hard look at himself.

[dazzledavey36 54,889]

Absolutely appalling today. Don't care the slightest that its a practise game. the bigger issue is he has been on our list for 6 years yet he cannot kick to save himself. He has cost us at least nearly 5 goals from direct turnovers and he will continue to kill us in games this year. Time and time again he tries to be too cute. He needs to know his limitations and keep it simple and give off the first option.

Also if he wants to hold off on extending his contract then he seriously needs to pull his finger out of his ass because he is part of the problem we are killed in games from costly turnovers.

Needs to lift, he was horrendous today.

 

[Satyriconhome 10,872]

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Absolutely appalling today. Don't care the slightest that its a practise game. the bigger issue is he has been on our list for 6 years yet he cannot kick to save himself. He has cost us at least nearly 5 goals from direct turnovers and he will continue to kill us in games this year. Time and time again he tries to be too cute. He needs to know his limitations and keep it simple and give off the first option.

Also if he wants to hold off on extending his contract then he seriously needs to pull his finger out of his ass because he is part of the problem we are killed in games from costly turnovers.

Needs to lift, he was horrendous today.

 

Gee, I am disappointed, didn't call him an idiot once in all that invective, don't beat around the bush DD give us an honest opinion, read the thread title and knew instantly the author........he had an off day, I am sure Jade Rawlings will enjoy poiinting this out to him, it is the NAB Challenge

[mo64 5,874]

1 minute ago, Satyriconhome said:

Gee, I am disappointed, didn't call him an idiot once in all that invective, don't beat around the bush DD give us an honest opinion, read the thread title and knew instantly the author........he had an off day, I am sure Jade Rawlings will enjoy poiinting this out to him, it is the NAB Challenge

He's been off since the first 6-7 games last season, when he was touted as an All Australian. And it's not just his poor disposal. He's been getting beaten regularly. Needs to lift big time.

[Ted Lasso 19,513]

It's his decisions that kill him, trying to pull the trigger on a kick inside when he's not good enough to do it, if the kick is slightly off it's a turnover an most likely a goal.

Tom is a smart bloke, he needs to know his limitations.

[Wilbur 447]

I guess the  OP  has  never  played footy on a windy day.  

[Wiseblood 24,637]

Just now, Satyriconhome said:

Gee, I am disappointed, didn't call him an idiot once in all that invective, don't beat around the bush DD give us an honest opinion, read the thread title and knew instantly the author........he had an off day, I am sure Jade Rawlings will enjoy poiinting this out to him, it is the NAB Challenge

I don't think that's the point though here Saty.

The point is that, in 6 years, he is still making the same mistakes.  His kicking is average at best and he needs to understand that.  Rather than trying to be too cute or clever he just needs to get the ball forward to a contest.  For example his kick, in the third term, where he was in the back pocket and he kicked it in to the middle of the ground where we had a 1 on 4 was just terrible.  It resulted in a goal and you couldn't help but wonder what in the world he was thinking.  His decision making is still poor as well - forget that it's NAB Challenge, the worrying aspect is that he is still doing the same things over and over again.  Not to mention that he has put off contract talks which doesn't help either.

 

[Lil_red_fire_engine 11,175]

4 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

Gee, I am disappointed, didn't call him an idiot once in all that invective, don't beat around the bush DD give us an honest opinion, read the thread title and knew instantly the author........he had an off day, I am sure Jade Rawlings will enjoy poiinting this out to him, it is the NAB Challenge

You can't defend today's performance. An off day would mean the skill issues are a surprise, which they are not. If you can't execute skills in NAB whats your chances when the heat is actually on? 

He can defend but he should not be given the ball unless there is no other option and once he gets it he needs to play the percentages. 

[dazzledavey36 54,889]

1 minute ago, Wilbur said:

I guess the  OP  has  never  played footy on a windy day.  

Stop sugar coating the truth. He was rubbish. Didn't stop Salem Vince and even Mat Jones from using the ball well today.

Petty little excuses as always.

[DeeSpencer 25,687]

9 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

Gee, I am disappointed, didn't call him an idiot once in all that invective, don't beat around the bush DD give us an honest opinion, read the thread title and knew instantly the author........he had an off day, I am sure Jade Rawlings will enjoy poiinting this out to him, it is the NAB Challenge

Jade Rawlings can leave too. Besides Jetta what's he hanging his hat on as a position coach? When's he going to develop a couple of young defenders to put pressure on McDonald if he won't improve.

[thevil1 421]

I agree dazzle and have a feeling it's all in between the ears for him. Even at his best kicking isn't his strong suit, I think he wants to be a star before he has become consistent. Needs to know his limitations & play accordingly, then he'll be a solid player who could become a very good one. 

As for rawlings, give me a break, he's been a good line coach with limited resources. A player who's been around this long needs to take responsibility for his actions. 

[DeeSpencer 25,687]

Tom's decision making on the field is just terrible and getting worse. Why he feels the need to run in to the back pocket and take the short kick out is beyond me. He's not punching the ball well. He isn't impacting contests and he seemingly refuses to take the safe option by hand or foot. 

Unfortunately his brother was terrible in the first nab game and Frost is busy pretending to be a forward so there's little competition for his spot. 

I'm hoping the bigger ground at the G, the task of guarding Cameron and the fatigue levels of other players helps improve his form. But at the moment he's almost better on the bench until the heat has died out of the game. It's just too quick for him right now. 

I really do think he's plateaued as a football which is a big worry for him and the team.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Said in the game day thread, on his day, he is All Australian, and on days like today, he is an absolutely liability. He has to become more consistent.

It makes me smirk that players like Tom put off contract talks to see the how the team fare, when it is himself that cost us at least 3 or 4 goals directly from turnovers today.

[martin 727]

Tom McDonald in his current role is an absolute liability. He has been for a long time. For the life of me I cannot understand why we have recruited Frost,leaving him running around the forward line like a headless chook when he is a nailed on defender. Conversely,McDonald's ball winning ability could be an asset further up the field without the morale sapping costly turnovers. Could someone please explain to me why the coaching staff have not at least experimented with this option in the NAB challenge? Quizzical to say the least.

[Rob Mac...... 638]

TMcD's a great contested footballer, but I agree with this thread; his disposal remains lousy, especially today.

I think of Nat Jones who turned his kicking around, ditto Howe was a lousy kick at first.  Even Matt Jones, so far this year seems to have much improved disposal.  I watched him closely last week.

Tommy needs to practice kicking for about 4 hours every day for many months, on top of everything else he's doing.

[P-man 13,366]

I hope critical discussion of T Mac doesn't get immediately shut down on here like it has done to date. 

He's a good one one one defender, but there are aspects to his game that aren't even AFL standard. Today was NOT a one off.

[Bang Bang Bang 5,826]

His field kicking can be good sometimes but he struggles massively with the trajectory, and of course accuracy. Also, I get the feeling he thinks he's a better kick than he really is.

HIs teammates shouldn't give him the ball unless it's the ONLY option, even then, proceed with caution.

[whatwhat say what 22,747]

he's not attacking the contest, and hasn't done so since the first six or seven rounds of 2015.

in pretty terrible form this whole nab cup - but at the same time, his one-on-one defensive accountability has been pretty good. it's just his decision making and his disposal that is reprehensible. 

[Forest Demon 4,681]

On 6 March 2016 at 5:25 PM, Rob Mac...... said:

TMcD's a great contested footballer, but I agree with this thread; his disposal remains lousy, especially today.

I think of Nat Jones who turned his kicking around, ditto Howe was a lousy kick at first.  Even Matt Jones, so far this year seems to have much improved disposal.  I watched him closely last week.

Tommy needs to practice kicking for about 4 hours every day for many months, on top of everything else he's doing.

Jones definitely improved his disposal, but Howe was a horrible kick until the day he left. Constantly put team mates under pressure with loopy kicks to space.

[Ted Lasso 19,513]

Needs to do some serious work on his kicking action and just take the easiest option every time, let the more skillful players attempt the kicks inside and so on

[Lucifers Hero 39,758]

Either he is getting poor directions from the coaches or he isn't following coach's directions. 

If he doesn't improve and improve fast, the back line structures need to change to protect the team against his weaknesses. 

Edited March 6, 2016 by Lucifer's Hero

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Hopefully they swap Frost and TMac around for the last week. We know he will get plenty of it at CHF, and can just bomb long to Hogan rather than trying to pick passes coming out of defence. Simples.

[DeeSpencer 25,687]

10 minutes ago, martin said:

Tom McDonald in his current role is an absolute liability. He has been for a long time. For the life of me I cannot understand why we have recruited Frost,leaving him running around the forward line like a headless chook when he is a nailed on defender. Conversely,McDonald's ball winning ability could be an asset further up the field without the morale sapping costly turnovers. Could someone please explain to me why the coaching staff have not at least experimented with this option in the NAB challenge? Quizzical to say the least.

Because for the first half of last year McDonald was an AA level defender, whilst Frost never really cemented a spot at GWS. We think he's a decent defender, but we aren't certain. 

Tom McDonald's turnovers and missed goals would hurt just as much forward. 

At this rate the coaches will have to make the move eventually, but I don't blame them for trying to fix McDonald first.

Frost will be moved back if/when Pedersen/Dawes/Weideman or others are available for selection up forward. We hardly have a heap of options. 

[Rob Mac...... 638]

3 minutes ago, Forest Demon said:

Jones definitely improved his disposal, but Howe was a horrible kick until the day he left. Constantly put team mates under pressure with loopy kicks to space.

Yes I almost didn't mention Howe, but I recall very early on people were saying that he and Nicholson were our worst kicks.  The next season Nicholson was the same but Howe came out kicking better for awhile, somewhat, okay still not very good.

[Macca 16,965]

We're using the corridor a lot more so therefore the rule of unintended consequences kicks in.

We need a lot more numbers in the corridor if we're going to use the corridor - the turnovers happened (and there were a lot of them) because if a player has to move to receive the ball, an opposition player can intercept (especially if we're greatly outnumbered)

Our players just don't have the pinpoint accuracy skills but the answer is not to go back to hugging the boundary (which is an even worse option if the skills are poor) ... the answer is to work on our foot-skills (crash-course style) and get more numbers in the corridor. 

The issue is related to T-Mac but any number of our players can be culprits ... I saw a number of our players turn the ball over today with poor decision making and poor execution. Reading this thread one might be led to believe that the issue only pertains to one player.

[dazzledavey36 54,889]

50 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

Gee, I am disappointed, didn't call him an idiot once in all that invective, don't beat around the bush DD give us an honest opinion, read the thread title and knew instantly the author........he had an off day, I am sure Jade Rawlings will enjoy poiinting this out to him, it is the NAB Challenge

This just sums you up perfectly.

Out of all the replied comments, you in your typical fashion style are the only one that disagrees and see's it as an 'off day' because he is your twitter mate.

I watched the whole game, you listened to the radio.. So in all honesty why are you bothering commenting on this when you didn't even watch it.

unbelievable..