34 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Tom Browne on Talking Footy reported earlier that Gawn was in hospital last week for a day procedure under general anaesthetic.

Not sure if ti's true, and if it is not sure if that impacted upon his preparation or his fitness.

Has anyone else heard anything about that?

Edit: given there's an entire thread on it, I suppose so. My bad.

Yeah it’s true and I’d say it would’ve impacted his fitness.

I got told last night at a family dinner and was surprised that he actually played after receiving that information.

Its nothing serious and it won’t affect him this weekend.

I haven’t been under a general since I was a kid but I’d say it takes a few days to be back to normal, which I probably say why he wasn’t at his best.

Edited March 25, 20196 yr by Megatron

2 hours ago, bing181 said:

No need for the quotes - and this is one of the reasons people suffer in silence, often until it's too late.

Disgusting.

You obviously haven't read any of my previous posts about mental illness in football. I have stated previously I grew up with someone who suffered severe mental illness which impacted not only on themselves but on everyone in their family, including me. In those times there was no help, even if it was sought for. In my previous posts I made the point I feared too many footballers citing mental health problems when they made poor choices in their social life would cause the public to become cynical and feel less sympathy towards the everyday people who suffer mental illness. So what do you find disgusting? How dare you.

On 3/24/2019 at 4:22 PM, Lucifer's Hero said:

The rule change which was most difficult to train for is not having Runners during play.  In the first 3 quarters there were large gaps between goals which limited Goodwin's opportunity to impact the play.  And in the last qtr there were only 3 goals which again limited the coaches ability to make positional changes, get messages out etc.

With Lewis out, Viney on for only 2 1/2 quarters, Max focused on staying on his feet and Jones with his perpetually limited on - field nouse, we had no-one looking at the 'big picture'; marshaling the troops to support each other etc.  The result was 22 players playing largely as individuals; the antithesis of teamwork and the 'esprit de corps' we pride ourselves on.

We can change team selections but I don't know where our on field leadership is going to come from.

The no runner rule may be the one that hurts us the most and probably the hardest to counteract.

On this point, I watched several of the other games from Round 1 as well attending our match and watching the first 3 quarters of our replay. 

The broadcast of most games showed the benches several times with the runners holding up various signs with some fairly obvious meanings (such as Port with their “10” speed sign indicating 10 minutes left in the quarter).

Either our signs were not shown on the broadcast (and I was behind the interchange at the actual game so I couldn’t see there) or we didn’t have anything other than the runner and a sign to indicate player numbers for rotations. 

Anyone know what we were doing signal wise for plays or tactics? (If anything?) 

If we’re not running with any kind of signal system from the interchange bench could that have contributed to our poor showing?

1 hour ago, waynewussell said:

I'm two minutes from 3Qtr time in the replay. Petracca just missed a snap for goal to put us ahead... I turned it off at that point because I know what happened next, but we were still in a winning position very late into the third. The point is that our efforts in the final Qtr are what really stood between a win and a loss. That is where our focus needs to be in fixing things... yes, I know we were shown up by not bringing more physicality to the game from the outset... and we didn't adjust to the PA team tactics against Max, however, this is fixable!

If Jones had held his dropped mark in the fourth and converted the shot (he's a good set shot from that range) the margin would have been 3 points early in the fourth.

In the blink of an eye 3 became 15 and I'm sure confidence across the ground sagged.

I suppose that means we were kind of in it even into the fourth?

5 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

If Jones had held his dropped mark in the fourth and converted the shot (he's a good set shot from that range) the margin would have been 3 points early in the fourth.

In the blink of an eye 3 became 15 and I'm sure confidence across the ground sagged.

I suppose that means we were kind of in it even into the fourth?

That is exactly right. Critical moment. I still think they would have gone on to won but you never no. To be honest though we were lucky to be as close as we were when jonsey fluffed that mark.

1 hour ago, Megatron said:

I haven’t been under a general since I was a kid but I’d say it takes a few days to be back to normal, which I probably say why he wasn’t at his best.

I have played a few days after a general & was way off the pace of the game, just couldn't get going at all.

If this is right it would have had a big effect on Max's game.

Edited March 25, 20196 yr by rjay

28 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

If Jones had held his dropped mark in the fourth and converted the shot (he's a good set shot from that range) the margin would have been 3 points early in the fourth.

In the blink of an eye 3 became 15 and I'm sure confidence across the ground sagged.

I suppose that means we were kind of in it even into the fourth?

The rubbish 50 to Gray late in the third and Jones brain fade, and we could have been in front. Amazing when aside from Salem no other player played four quarters and most of the team were abysmal! Yet we weren’t totally out of it.

Fingers crossed for a lot better display against the Cats. Hard to see us winning after round one, but we can only hope and support the team.

Go Dees!!

Well That Was Bad!

I am going hold fire on the criticism this early in. I will wait for a body of work so I reckon about Rd 5 or Rd 6 I will have a sense of what the hell they are trying to do this season.

So I, will see you all, round 5 or 6 hopefully with a better reaction then....Well That Was Bad! 

28 minutes ago, rjay said:

I have played a few days after a general & was way off the pace of the game, just couldn't get going at all.

If this is right it would have had a big effect on Max's game.

So we compounded the problem of taking in players with low preparations by taking in one Ruckman who spent 3 days in hospital and was under the weather from GA . Sounds we blew the game at the selection table.

On 3/24/2019 at 9:54 PM, A F said:

No, it's not the only measure. Corralling would be another (do Champion Data record this?). McDonald doesn't lay many tackles, I agree, but I think generally when we're playing well, our mids, half forward and small/tall forwards are laying tackles, as evidenced by being the best in the comp for inside 50 tackles.

I think if you had to pick out one metric to measure forward pressure then turnovers would be probably it (though - again no single metric is likely to give you a complete answer).  Genuine question - do you know how we fared with Forward 50 turnovers last year?

7 hours ago, old dee said:

So we compounded the problem of taking in players with low preparations by taking in one Ruckman who spent 3 days in hospital and was under the weather from GA . Sounds we blew the game at the selection table.

Lol. Ah Melbourne, just when you think we've turned a corner..  . it's smack bang into a brick wall. 
So it appears Gawn was in hospital for some treatment last week. Some 'skin" thing but who really knows...club full of [censored] 
So we go in with at least two UNFIT, two suspect with feet problems, only ONE ruck...(recovering ) and too many who can't hit the side of a barn from 30 !!
Such a clever team ?

1 hour ago, grazman said:

I think if you had to pick out one metric to measure forward pressure then turnovers would be probably it (though - again no single metric is likely to give you a complete answer).  Genuine question - do you know how we fared with Forward 50 turnovers last year?

I know as of July last year we were ranked #15th In the competition for scores from chains beginning in the forward half. Perhaps, this is a telling stat, but I think it might be skewed by the bombing, frenetic inside 50 play that saw us accumulate constant forward thrusts, off the back of our clearance dominance.

https://m.afl.com.au/news/2018-07-25/stats-incredible-your-clubs-quirky-numbers

 

7 minutes ago, A F said:

I know as of July last year we were ranked #15th In the competition for scores from chains beginning in the forward half. Perhaps, this is a telling stat, but I think it might be skewed by the bombing, frenetic inside 50 play that saw us accumulate constant forward thrusts, off the back of our clearance dominance.

https://m.afl.com.au/news/2018-07-25/stats-incredible-your-clubs-quirky-numbers

 

Thanks A F, I think that is what Hinkley was probably referring to then.  Clearly this wasn't helped on the weekend with so many players underdone and out of gas towards the end of the game.

So there's been a few chuckles and back and forth on Petracca's apparent weight issues.

It seems unfathomable that in this day and age of football professionalism CP5 would be that undisciplined or that the footy department might have allowed such a lapse or otherwise mismanaged his program.

Sometime after puberty, the body evidently goes through another stage of transition toward greater 'manhood'. I'm still waiting personally, but could it be that Christian is going through this prematurely and at a rapid pace? 

I now concede that he appears unusually bigger, but not athletically out of shape or unfit per se. It may be tricky to manage such a state and find an optimal balance until the hormones settle into a specific shape.

Or is it really just too much pizza and Maltesers?

On 3/25/2019 at 9:09 AM, spirit of norm smith said:

Goodwin is joking surely.  1. “We wished we would’ve have more time to prepare”. That means missing September.  

2. Good teams back up. They “Are” ready to play. 5 months of preseason.  Suspension and injuries (aside from Viney) were in preparation. No excuses. 

We lost the contested footy and couldn’t handle it.  And they missed Wines. 

Simply we expected to just turn up. Where was the support for Gawn. We need Preuss May VBerg in to match the physical teams. 

Port were worthy winners. They should have won by 40+.

1. He was, not to obliquely, referring to the rules that dictate the leave players must take which critically reduces the time fitness and football staff have to rehab and condition players.  For us it was approx 3 months of preseason (incl JLT) in a 6 month off season.   

I think Goodwin used the words '...the amount of time we were given...'.  Goodwin always chooses his words carefully;  imv there was a clear message there for the AFL/AFLPA.

2.  True - Hawks, Cats, Swans are battle hardened teams.  But its often said that players need 4 to 5 solid preseasons to become an AFL hardened player.  Of Saturday's team only Jones, Jetta, Gawn and maybe Melksham and Hibberd are in that category.  The rest have had several interrupted preseasons or just not had enough of them. 

 

The shorter preseason, clearly impacted all 4 Prelim teams.  Only Rich won but they were playing last years wooden spoon team.  They also are largely a 'battle hardened' team.

It also reduced our ability to practice tactics for the new rules.  Three of our senior players didn't play with the rest of the team in practice/JLT games so their ability to show leadership and implement those tactics was limited on Saturday.

Add surgeries and other injuries to the mix and our ability to get the team 'battle ready' was severely hampered.

Port had 4 months of preseason with most players healthy and most 'battle hardened'.  The difference was stark.

Our players will get conditioning in the next month.  I just hope that their injuries don't reoccur or have setbacks because they came in underdone. 

Not sure the selection committee had many options. 

Edited March 25, 20196 yr by Lucifer's Hero

3 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

2.  True - Hawks, Cats, Swans are battle hardened teams.  But its often said that players need 4 to 5 solid preseasons to become an AFL hardened player.  Of Saturday's team only Jones, Jetta, Gawn and maybe Melksham and Hibberd are in that category.  The rest have had several interrupted preseasons or just not had enough of them. 

 

The shorter preseason, clearly impacted all 4 Prelim teams.  Only Rich won but they were playing last years wooden spoon team.  They also are largely a 'battle hardened' team.

It also reduced our ability to practice tactics for the new rules.  Three of our senior players didn't play with the rest of the team in practice/JLT games so their ability to show leadership and implement those tactics was limited on Saturday.

Add surgeries and other injuries to the mix and our ability to get the team 'battle ready' was severely hampered.

Port had 4 months of preseason with most players healthy and most 'battle hardened'.  The difference was stark.

Our players will get conditioning in the next month.  I just hope that their injuries don't reoccur or have setbacks because they came in underdone. 

Not sure the selection committee had many options. 

This ties in with the points that have been previously made about our list demographic.

Port's key players (Boak, Ebert, Gray, Ryder, Watts, Westhoff) are all far more experienced, with more pre-seasons under their belts, than our key players (many of whom have barely played 50 games).

Posters bagged Petracca all pre-season saying he looked heavy. To all those posters you were 110% spot on. He looked to be moving like the OX post ACL. It is obvious Petracca needs to slim down and regain some explosiveness, otherwise he is only just a VFL player.

1 hour ago, ThreeOneSix said:

Posters bagged Petracca all pre-season saying he looked heavy. To all those posters you were 110% spot on. He looked to be moving like the OX post ACL. It is obvious Petracca needs to slim down and regain some explosiveness, otherwise he is only just a VFL player.

I want Alf Stewart to put up another post like this one. 

Pedersen: 3 years and 300 burgers

Not sure how many Tracc has eaten. Maybe 264?

1 hour ago, ThreeOneSix said:

Posters bagged Petracca all pre-season saying he looked heavy. To all those posters you were 110% spot on. He looked to be moving like the OX post ACL. It is obvious Petracca needs to slim down and regain some explosiveness, otherwise he is only just a VFL player.

Looks like a body builder, i.e. muscle bound and slow. Also has no tank. One decent effort and he takes minutes to recover. Number 3 pick going nowhere at present.

Just looked at the stats we had one of the most inexperienced sides of the round quite amazingly...average 76.1 games per player that's less experienced than Carlton's rd 1 side!

 

Lewis being replaced with a first gamer would have contributed largely to this of course.

3 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

This ties in with the points that have been previously made about our list demographic.

Port's key players (Boak, Ebert, Gray, Ryder, Watts, Westhoff) are all far more experienced, with more pre-seasons under their belts, than our key players (many of whom have barely played 50 games).

If that is the case we have achieved some serious over achieving last season. 

58 minutes ago, sisso said:

Just looked at the stats we had one of the most inexperienced sides of the round quite amazingly...average 76.1 games per player that's less experienced than Carlton's rd 1 side!

Thats incredible. 

1 hour ago, sisso said:

Just looked at the stats we had one of the most inexperienced sides of the round quite amazingly...average 76.1 games per player that's less experienced than Carlton's rd 1 side!

 

Lewis being replaced with a first gamer would have contributed largely to this of course.

Puts things in a bit more perspective. While many think we are premiership contenders, its easy to forget we are still a fairly young and inexperienced side who is still growing on field. Proves we are still going to have teething problems this year.

19 hours ago, old dee said:

So we compounded the problem of taking in players with low preparations by taking in one Ruckman who spent 3 days in hospital and was under the weather from GA . Sounds we blew the game at the selection table.

This 100%.

They made this blue a few times last year. They need to review their selection policies.

5 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

This ties in with the points that have been previously made about our list demographic.

Port's key players (Boak, Ebert, Gray, Ryder, Watts, Westhoff) are all far more experienced, with more pre-seasons under their belts, than our key players (many of whom have barely played 50 games).

Its not necessarily that. It's that our experienced players were terrible. Their young players were the cream unlike us where we were relying on young players to do the job. 

Jones, Viney, Gawn, Hibberd, Jetta et al were well down on form. Frost & OMac were disgraceful