Biggest Surprise & Disappointment of 2019

[bing181 9,155]

Sure the TMac situation is disappointing - but he's not the only one. And therein lies the rub. When you have so many in the team underdone, then it becomes a downward spiral that sucks everyone into it. If TMac had come into the season underdone, but was part of a functioning and efficient forward line, at the front end of a functioning and efficient midfield delivering the ball to them as it should be, then I doubt we'd be having this discussion.

In Tom's position, he might only get a dozen or so chances in a game to really have an impact, and with so few opportunities, it can be very hard to turn things around if you're underperforming, which then impacts self-confidence, decision-making etc.

[Lucifers Hero 39,071]

2 minutes ago, bing181 said:

No, just no. You can never make up for a lack of pre-season loading while you're playing games each week. Nor can you make up for the lack of time spent training *together*.

There's a reason teams start pre-season early November. 

Generally I agree.  But Tom didn't have surgery (his ankles were the previous year) and iirc from training reports he wasn't reported as being in rehab nor did he appear on an mfc injury list.  He had a slight knee issue that kept him out of the AFLX by which time he had completed the preseason.  In the following weeks he in both JLT's.  Unlike many others his preseason wasn't 'interrupted' albeit it was shorter than prior years.  So for mine any fitness issues should have been overcome long before now.  So I don't see that as the reason for his form slump.

My comments about Tom being disappointing were related to not doing the typical tall fwd things effectively rather than not scoring goals or cohesion with other fwds so training together wasn't relevant to my post.

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

1 hour ago, Superunknown said:

if Tmac is injured/unfit, it is kind of an indictment on the selection committee is it not, to not send him to Casey/rest?

Heroes: Hore and Hunt

Disappointment: May (redemption awaits!)

According to the man himself it was/is purely form Super.

This should have happened around Rnd 5, after the Saints, when it was clear to all, including Tom himself, that he was right off.

Two to three weeks with the extra time (space) and less pressure at Casey would have done wonders IMHO.  Less pressure on goal kicking as well to work on that part.

Comes back about Rnd 7 to face a decent, but hardly a world beating team in GC, freshened up with a bit more confidence.  Hopefully able to maintain that form coming into Rnd 8 against the Eagles.

Unintentionally this might have also sent a healthy message to the other seniors that no one is sacred and seen a marginal boost in on field performance (from those who needed to) after the Saints (enough to help win an extra close finish or two).

Edited June 5, 2019 by Rusty Nails

[SwissDee 43]

Lockhart is the surprise for me. Debuted only a few weeks after coming on the list, no preseason (unless unpacking shipping containers counts), has added a bit of grit and pressure, looked right at home.

Of course that might be my Tassie bias coming through.

Disappointment for me is the Joel Smith situation. Thought he was looking good in the practice games, even the one he played injured. Now looking like we might not see him at all this year.

[spirit of norm smith 15,559]

Surprise- How injuries (Jsmith and Vandenburg) listed as 3-4 weeks in round 1 are still 4-5 weeks after round 11. I’d rather the club say “no idea”  

disappointment - again how unlucky our club is  with injury and misfortune 

[spirit of norm smith 15,559]

Amazed - Omcd has a poor 6 weeks. Gets dropped.  Has an average game at Casey.  Gets promoted and has 3 poor games again.  Ffs 

[leave it to deever 17,501]

Marty Hore as the biggest positive. Baker played well last week with some good moves.

Hore has shown enough to suggest he will stand out in years to come.

A few here down on Trac but He was the same last year. He was a high dp and we are all hoped for another superstar but it would have happened by now.

The biggest negative is by far Tmac. Superb last year so that he was earmarked for a Coleman this one. So far away. Also paid a lot.

[kallangurdemon 550]

the biggest disappointment to me  is Fritsch .Omac and his ilk aren't disappointing because they were duds to begin with and have just traveled further along that path.But Fritsch last year was a revelation-so neat and clean of hand and foot .I thought he would bounce back this year from his prelim final setback but that hasn't happened .He just cant seem to find the ball  .The biggest improver has been Salem who has steadily progressed to be now a genuine A grader .

[deespicable me 1,472]

Disappointment is the first half of the season.

Surprise will be the second half of the season. Will still go close to making the 8, winning 6 plus in a row.

 

[Diamond_Jim 12,395]

Disappointment ranking ... 10

Surprise ranking... 3

Been a #$%^ of a season

[Adzman 2,154]

Surprise: Hunt. Many were calling for him to be traded last year and he wasn't a clear best 22. He is now one of our best forwards and looks like he has cemented his spot in our best team.

Disappointment: How could it be anyone other than May? Gave up plenty on the trade table for him only for his name to be splashed across media for being out of shape. Then he gets hurt. To cap it off gets his teammates offside by having a cheeky ale whilst on rehab. I really hope he turns it around.

[nosoupforme 3,085]

Disappointment. How the censored do we have so many injuries during the preseason and play under done players during the season proper? Desperate situations don't get you anywhere.  Oscar Mac what has happened to him? 

 

Surprises. Hore, Hunt, and Frost  for their consistency  and dedication, real goers that's all we ask of them. Well done!

Oscar Baker heading the right direction.

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

On 6/5/2019 at 12:06 PM, Lucifer's Hero said:

That is bound to bring out all haters for their favourite whipping boy.

For me it is TomMc.  Lack of preseason fitness should have been overcome by now.  The odd poor game is understandable but he has played one good game in 11 (vs GCS).  We needed him to stand up this year but he has been ineffective in virtually every aspect of a tall fwd play.

In an interview earlier in the year he said there was no pre-season issues LH and that he was in a form slump and couldn't understand why himself.  Personally i'm guessing it might be a combo of now getting the best of the opp's defenders and 666 meaning there is a more one v one focus (back of shoulder / close checking) from the opp's back 6 (and for T-mac it's a double up impact vs the Opp's best defender compared to 2018)

Edited June 6, 2019 by Rusty Nails

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

The three biggest falls from grace vs 2018 statistically (and percentage wise)....

T-Mac's output down 44.6%!  Dropping a massive 19 places from 5th last season to be ranked 24th on last year's exact same average weighted composite.  That's one rank lower than his brother!  Spargo -43.8% and Viney -40.2%! 

But there's plenty of others that have also had a massive drop off.  Aside from T-Mac the biggest disappointments for me have been Tracc not coming on (down 28.6%), Fritsch being played out of position (ie., just not getting the defensive role at all) and Goody continuing to play him there without trying to change things up (eg., give him a look on a wing or up forward for a few weeks to try and find his mojo again) and the massive drop off in touch and form of Gus (-20.9%).

Biggest surprise...

Marty Hore by a long way presently sitting in 4th (more likely 5th once you add hit outs to advantage to Max's score).  Hunt not far behind.  Have absolutely loved this come back in a complete change of role.  Not easy to do but he's really given us something up forward and been reasonably accurate in a pretty inaccurate forward line with some very ordinary entries much of the time.  Output (in this model) up 22.8% and leaping 17 places to 17th after finishing in 34th place in 2018.  

Then there's Harmes.  Bloke has stepped up yet again.  A 9.3% increase vs 2018 is something else given the year we've been having.  Salem right on his heals as well having a stellar season.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Rusty Nails

[M_9 2,037]

Biggest disappointment: Tmac by the length of the straight.

Last Sat was pretty typical: zero tackles, zero goals, zero goal assists, zero hit outs, one mark.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,678]

I'm simultaneously surprised and unsurprised by Marty Hore's performances this season.

Surprised in the sense that his preseason and early real season games didn't give me much of an indication that he could really play and I wrote him off a bit based on that.  But perhaps my initial judgment was partially due to an expectation that Taylor and Co have been pretty good at picking up quality diamonds in the rough from the VFL (i.e. Fritsch and Hannan) that I had put high expectations on Hore's potential to walk in and look at home at AFL level and in that respect I'm not surprised. 

The key thing now is, can he maintain it?  There was a mature guy we got from SA a while back Alex Georgiou who put in a good string of early games for us and looked the goods to an extent, but couldn't maintain that form or rise to the next level.  Dean Terlich was another mature age defender that showed early promise, but didn't have what it takes over the long haul.  I really do hope that Hore can make it, as we will need some replacements for Hibbard and Jetta in a few years as age catches up with them.

Oscar McDonald has been my biggest disappointment because he held our defense together reasonably well last year and I was expecting him to take another step forward and instead I think he has gone backwards.  Some might say I'm delusional, but I still have hope that Oscar can step up and make it, but perhaps he now needs to do what so many of our other players did, but he always seemed to avoid and that's build on and correct deficiencies in his game at Casey.

Asides from Oscar, my biggest disappointments for somewhat the inverse reasons to Hore have been Keilty and Petty.  I sense that Petty has more scope and potential to further mature and make it, but that Keilty may be living on borrowed time as a MFC listed player.  I'd love to be proven wroung on Keilty, because I like what he gives, but my perception is that you only get so long to develop, particularly as a mature age player and he has been with us a few years now.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,678]

Another thing that has somewhat surprised me is that Jeffy Garlett has got as many games as he has.  Not that I think his inclusion has been totally unwarranted, but he was soo out of favour last year and hasn't really set the world on fire this year.  His radar for goals hasn't been so great this year, but he has been getting to the right spots and threatening to explode or tip games in our favor with that well timed goal on occations, but just can't quite seem to crack it at the moment.  I feel that unless Jeffy can get his kicking boots on, he will be replaced by Hannan or Baker in comming weeks as our list hopefully regains some strength.

Conversely to Jeffy, a disapointing (though not completely surprising event) is second year blues Spargo.

I do get the feeling that many of our players individual form and confidence is suffering due to team performance.  It's much easier to be a good player in a side that's performing well and it can be a fine line.  I wouldn’t just say that it's soft receiver type players that are suffering either.  Angus Brayshaw goes from what was it 2nd or 3rd in the Brownlow to having a somewhat below par year and even Oliver hasn't consistently produced what he has over the previous two or three years and I wouldn't say either of those players are soft by any means.

Overall I'm kind of ok with putting our performances this season so far down as a kind of team mulligan, but what has to happen now is that we get our shiiit together and build for a genuine crack at the premiership in 2020.  ...but that's probably another thread of it's own in the making come bye week.