Jump to content

Featured Replies

4 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Sounds like you came up with the initial concept of 'brand' @praha, or at least, hold on to it quite dearly.

I know last year a new position was opened up at another club whereby said person in this position wrote team values/brand in the training area (actually got a graphic artist) - was outwardly and inwardly mocked by players... the team was knocked out in the finals last year and are finals bound this year (if not the favourite). Team branding/values are redundant... the team (anyteam) is already branded merely by wearing certain colours, and playing within the afl industry. 

Whether brands are worthy or not only work within a post hoc analysis sense if you(r) team is winning, otherwise all branding's/language around what we/the team stand for, doesn't stack up.

Goodwin has repetedly said in his tenure that his way is about  building from the contest out... typically we smash the contest and deliver into the 50 enough... this is the part that the entire club is working on now - not the contest anymore, the delivery, the two way running etc etc. 

The rationale behind this philosophy of course is because it is the way finals are played, people tighten up, people dont want to [censored] up , dont want to make errors, skills get worse etc... 

That's fair enough isn't it, to allow time for the building to continue?? Because that is what he and the other employee's will do.

Personally, I am backing Goodwin and his philosophy - it's stage 2.5 of about 5. 

I am not talking about going in and writing "vision" and "brand" on a whiteboard. People take it quite literally and like we saw with Schwab and co when you do that you turn a philosophical approach to vision into a literal one that is difficult to articulate. 

But know what you stand for, who you want to be. What you want to achieve. Setting realistic goals around a centralised vision is a viable and successful mantra. 

Besides, it is not up to the players to create this vision. This is why we have a head coach. His messaging should underline this philosophy to drive success.

You would be surprised how many talented people there are in the world that simply "phone it in": if you're getting paid regardless for achieving personal goals and targets then what does it matter if the team succeeds or not?

I've no doubt a large cross section of the AFL playing community falls into that basket. If you can't build a team of players that buy into the same vision of winning, and are simply satisfied with a nice paycheck, then you are going through the motions. I've no doubt players get disappointed and frustrated at losing. But you can separate the winners, from those phoning it in, and the perennial losers. Find a middle ground and a vision those players can buy into.

you might think it's all rubbish but the psychology of team success is nothing new. players may laugh when they run someone through it, the messaging delivery may be wrong but the idea of vision and brand is inherently embedded in successful teams. If you can't separate yourself from your competitors then you will never succeed. A "brand" is a way of playing football is a metaphor for "what about their playstyle differentiates them?" What is the one element of their game that propels them above others? If you can't answer that then your brand is [censored]. And your vision is failing.

what's to say that team that laughed, has not changed its approach based on that idea of vision?

Edited by praha

 
4 hours ago, binman said:

He stopped running players off the back of the square half way though last season. Goodwin noted this in an interview when asked if his use of players off the back of the square would make the 666 rule a challenge for us (his answer was that basically wouldn't impact us much). 

I maintain the 666 rule has made almost no difference to us or other clubs. The biggest non event since AFLX

That's true, my comment was more addressing the allegation that he sacrificed 2 defenders for this tactic which was untrue. He sacrificed 2 forwards.

3 hours ago, Matsuo Basho said:

Put Roos’ blame casting in the context of him angling for a cushy high paying mentoring role at Carlton and you can see why he said those things. Slippery character Paul. I never felt he 100% bought into Melbourne. Always one eye on his exit strategy.

Big reputation for winning one premiership.

 
53 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

That's true, my comment was more addressing the allegation that he sacrificed 2 defenders for this tactic which was untrue. He sacrificed 2 forwards.

You're point that he is has been anything but conservative tacticaly is spot on.

8 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

He never sacrificed two defensive players, those players were two extra defenders who played off the back of the centre square. We haven't been able to do it this year due to the 6/6/6 rule. If it was two defenders we would just keep doing it .

The two back flanks would rush the bounce to create more numbers at the fall of the ball and the opposition had to choose whether their forwards would run in with those players or stay back to create a 6 on 4 in our backline which they labelled the "Diamond Defence".
This was due to the 4 players guarding space in a diamond formation.
All good when when won the clearance, not so good when we didn't, or turned it over.
Russian roulette stuff.

Edited by Fork 'em


I heard by chance part of an interesting discussion on SEN with Dermot Brereton this afternoon about the hiring of Clarkson for the position of senior coach at Hawthorn (Brereton was on the committee). Clarkson presented his idea of a game plan for the team which Brereton was sceptical about, but he was still hired (of course!). After 6 weeks into the season Clarkson realized his game plan wasn't working and threw it away. He came up with a new one to suit the type of players he had in his team. He built his plan around the players available to him, instead of trying to impose an unworkable plan onto the players. He was flexible in other words. This is what I got from what Brereton was saying about Clarkson, and he was praising him as a great coach for being clever about working with what he had and getting the type of players he needed to fit into his plans (of course he was praising him, being a Hawthorn person through and through).

However, this sounded like the secret to Clarkson's success. The ability to see what things are not working and the intelligence to come up with something else which would succeed for his players. Building a successful team in this way also attracts players to want to play for this team.

I also read a quote from Roos about coaching. He said one of the most important things for coaches to remember is what it's like to be a player. "Jack Watts (once) said to me 'we just want to be treated like human beings'. I was quite shocked by that."

How bad was this club's psyche when he took over? Has it gone backwards again? I pray it hasn't.

Half the reason I think Goodwin plays "Chaos Ball."
Knows the players he has can't hit targets to save themselves.

 

Edited by Fork 'em

18 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Sounds like you came up with the initial concept of 'brand' @praha, or at least, hold on to it quite dearly.

I know last year a new position was opened up at another club whereby said person in this position wrote team values/brand in the training area (actually got a graphic artist) - was outwardly and inwardly mocked by players... the team was knocked out in the finals last year and are finals bound this year (if not the favourite). Team branding/values are redundant... the team (anyteam) is already branded merely by wearing certain colours, and playing within the afl industry. 

Whether brands are worthy or not only work within a post hoc analysis sense if you(r) team is winning, otherwise all branding's/language around what we/the team stand for, doesn't stack up.

Goodwin has repetedly said in his tenure that his way is about  building from the contest out... typically we smash the contest and deliver into the 50 enough... this is the part that the entire club is working on now - not the contest anymore, the delivery, the two way running etc etc. 

The rationale behind this philosophy of course is because it is the way finals are played, people tighten up, people dont want to [censored] up , dont want to make errors, skills get worse etc... 

That's fair enough isn't it, to allow time for the building to continue?? Because that is what he and the other employee's will do.

Personally, I am backing Goodwin and his philosophy - it's stage 2.5 of about 5. 

So finals  in about 2022. Is that right?

 

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • PREVIEW: Essendon

    As the focus of the AFL moves exclusively to South Australia for Gather Round, the question is raised as to what are we going to get from the  Melbourne Football Club this weekend? Will it be a repeat of the slop fest of the last three weeks that have seen the team score a measly 174 points and concede 310 or will a return to the City of Churches and the scene where they performed at their best in 2024 act as a wakeup call and bring them out of their early season reverie? 
    Or will the sleepy Dees treat their fans to a reenactment of their lazy effort from the first Gather Round of two years ago when they allowed the Bombers to trample all over them on a soggy and wet Adelaide Oval? The two examples from above tell us how fickle form can be in football. Last year, a committed group of players turned up in Adelaide with a businesslike mindset. They had a plan, went in confidently and hard for the football and kicked winning scores against both home teams in a difficult environment for visitors. And they repeated that sort of effort later in the season when they played Essendon at the MCG. Unfortunately, performances like these went against the grain of what Melbourne has been producing from virtually midway through 2024 and extending right through to the present day. This is a game between two clubs who have faltered over the past couple of years because their disposal efficiency is appalling. Neither of them can hit the side of a barn door but history tells us that every once in a while such teams have their lucky days or come up against an opponent in even worse shape and hence, one of them will come up trumps in this match.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Essendon

    Facing the very real and daunting prospect of starting the season with five straight losses, the Demons head to South Australia for the annual Gather Round, where they’ll take on the Bombers in search of their first win of the year. Who comes in, and who comes out?

      • Thanks
    • 257 replies
    Demonland
  • NON-MFC: Round 05

    Gather Round is here, kicking off with a Thursday night blockbuster as Adelaide faces Geelong. The Crows will be out for redemption after a controversial loss last week. Saturday starts with the Magpies taking on the Swans. Collingwood will be eager to cement their spot in the top eight, while Sydney is hot on their heels. In the Barossa Valley, two rising sides go head-to-head in a fascinating battle to prove they're the real deal. Later, Carlton and West Coast face off at Adelaide Oval, both desperate to notch their first win of the season. The action then shifts to Norwood, where the undefeated Lions will aim to keep their streak alive against the Bulldogs. Sunday’s games begin in the Barossa with Richmond up against Fremantle. In Norwood, the Saints will be looking to take a scalp when they come up against the Giants. The round concludes with a fiery rematch of last year's semi-final, as the Hawks seek revenge for their narrow loss to Port Adelaide. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons besides us winning?

      • Thanks
    • 17 replies
    Demonland
  • CASEY: Geelong

    There was a time in the second quarter of the game at the Cattery on Friday afternoon when the Casey Demons threatened to take the game apart against the Cats. The Demons had been well on top early but were struggling to convert their ascendancy over the ground until Tom Fullarton’s burst of three goals in the space of eight minutes on the way to a five goal haul and his best game for the club since arriving from Brisbane at the end of 2023. He was leading, marking and otherwise giving his opponents a merry dance as Casey grabbed a three goal lead in the blink of an eye. Fullarton has now kicked ten goals in Casey’s three matches and, with Melbourne’s forward conversion woes, he is definitely in with a chance to get his first game with the club in next week’s Gather Round in Adelaide. Despite the tall forward’s efforts - he finished with 19 disposals and eight marks and had four hit outs as back up to Will Verrall in the second half - it wasn’t enough as Geelong reigned in the lead through persistent attacks and eventually clawed their way to the lead early in the last and held it till they achieved the end aim of victory.

      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Geelong

    I was disappointed to hear Goody say at his post match presser after the team’s 39 point defeat against Geelong that "we're getting high quality entry, just poor execution" because Melbourne’s problems extend far beyond that after its 0 - 4 start to the 2025 football season. There are clearly problems with poor execution, some of which were evident well before the current season and were in play when the Demons met the Cats in early May last year and beat them in a near top-of-the-table clash that saw both sides sitting comfortably in the top four after round eight. Since that game, the Demons’ performances have been positively Third World with only five wins in 19 games with a no longer majestic midfield and a dysfunctional forward line that has become too easy for opposing coaches to counter. This is an area of their game that is currently being played out as if they were all completely panic-stricken.

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • NON-MFC: Round 04

    Round 4 kicks off with a blockbuster on Thursday night as traditional rivals Collingwood and Carlton clash at the MCG, with the Magpies looking to assert themselves as early-season contenders and the Blues seeking their first win of the season. Saturday opens with Gold Coast hosting Adelaide, a key test for the Suns as they aim to back up their big win last week, while the Crows will be looking to keep their perfect record intact. Reigning wooden spooners Richmond have the daunting task of facing reigning premiers Brisbane at the ‘G and the Lions will be eager to reaffirm their premiership credentials after a patchy start. Saturday night sees North Melbourne take on Sydney at Marvel Stadium, with the Swans looking to build on their first win of the season last week against a rebuilding Roos outfit. Sunday’s action begins with GWS hosting West Coast at ENGIE Stadium, a game that could get ugly very early for the visitors. Port Adelaide vs St Kilda at Adelaide Oval looms as a interesting clash, with both clubs form being very hard to read. The round wraps up with Fremantle taking on the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in what could be a fierce contest between two sides with top-eight ambitions. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons besides us winning?

      • Thanks
    • 273 replies
    Demonland