25 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

would like to agree but can't

but vfl aint afl

he's a good kick and mark but not when contested

Well Goody could have brought him on in the last quarter, replacing Tom Mac, who was absolutely hopeless, with 1 possession in the 2nd half.

Schache could have run the dizzy, concussed Weitering around and ended up with an uncontested possession, which could have put us in a PF.

3 hours ago, Macca said:

@Slartibartfast

If Schache had any attributes as some sort of forward, surely the MC could have found a spot for him after Petty, Melksham, Fritsch, T-Mac, Brown & JVR were all injured or unavailable?

In the end we went with 1 KPF who was on 1 leg ... an indictment on Schache don't you think?

But we've extended his contract so go figure

Well they extended the coach's contract  before the end of the season as well.

Go figure 

 

 

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

Well Goody could have brought him on in the last quarter, replacing Tom Mac, who was absolutely hopeless, with 1 possession in the 2nd half.

Schache could have run the dizzy, concussed Weitering around and ended up with an uncontested possession, which could have put us in a PF.

so could have grundy, plus contested work

34 minutes ago, IRW said:

Well they extended the coach's contract  before the end of the season as well.

Go figure 

The coach is doing alright.  He can't kick the goals himself

Our way of playing (brand) is based on defence and contested ball.  Often not pretty but I'll take our team and the way we play over anthing we witnessed from '07 to '15.  Ugly and we lost a lot

'65 to '86 wasn't all that flash either, IRW

It no longer matters.

Lots that might..

But....

We all know little is as it seems.

An EGO driven industy.....meh

56 minutes ago, Macca said:

The coach is doing alright.  He can't kick the goals himself

Our way of playing (brand) is based on defence and contested ball.  Often not pretty but I'll take our team and the way we play over anthing we witnessed from '07 to '15.  Ugly and we lost a lot

'65 to '86 wasn't all that flash either, IRW

Cant kickem

...might organise the front game a tad better.

His approach is flawed. He found his moment in the sun.... the sun has moved on...  us....not so much.

Much work to be done.

Oh... good luck Bun...thanks for visiting.  Cheers.

Honestly, the whole saga leaves me disappointed in all parties.  During preseason there was such hope and a strong showing of a two ruckman system.  For various (and fair) reasons that style did not show throughout the home and away season... but to have it end in such a solitary manner between the club and Grundy makes me feel bitter as a fan.  In Sydney, I can't rely on special information.  I can only see what is happening in the media and this forum... and most of it just muddies the water.  Grundy seemed like a great and professional player - if he disengaged to the extent people are saying, that disappoints me.  The way Max and the club appear to have behaved and the lack of acknowledgement of the situation disappoints me too.  There may be good reasons for each party to act like this but I have a day job and can't spend every moment reading every tea leaf to figure out all the allusions.  I hope we play well next year and that Max's body holds up against the onslaught (but the pessimist in me doubts it)... I am sad Grundy departed but wish him no ill will.  It is what it is.

Edited October 12, 20231 yr by DeelightfulPlay
Clarity

9 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Cant kickem

...might organise the front game a tad better.

His approach is flawed. He found his moment in the sun.... the sun has moved on...  us....not so much.

Much work to be done.

Oh... good luck Bun...thanks for visiting.  Cheers.

Nearly all our forwards were incapacitated but we very nearly won 2 finals ... not an excuse but sound reasoning

We therefore went into the finals with forward line more attune to a bottom 4 team

If our injuries had have been spread around the team instead, this conversation would probably not exist

In a nutshell, 1 or 2 injuries to our backline, midfield & forward line and we could have covered those losses

But losing Brown, T-Mac, Petty, Melksham, Fritsch & JVR at vital moments really hurt our chances.  Along with Brayshaw being king hit

And with all that happening, if we'd kicked straighter we win anyway

It was indeed the one that got away.  In 10-20 years time we may still be bemoaning 2023 

Mind you, the Cats & Pies have had any number of 'nearly' moments.  Swans as well ... it comes with the territory

We just have to remain in contention year by year

10 hours ago, Macca said:

The coach is doing alright.  He can't kick the goals himself

Our way of playing (brand) is based on defence and contested ball.  Often not pretty but I'll take our team and the way we play over anthing we witnessed from '07 to '15.  Ugly and we lost a lot

'65 to '86 wasn't all that flash either, IRW

I'm looking for the part where I said the Coach shouldn't have  been reappointed

11 hours ago, daisycutter said:

so could have grundy, plus contested work

My post was in answer to Scahche being describe as only capable of uncontested possessions.

I was posting that maybe one uncontested possession, which was more than Tom Mac was contributing, could have won us the game.

2 hours ago, IRW said:

I'm looking for the part where I said the Coach shouldn't have  been reappointed

Look elsewhere as the coach isn't the issue ... injuries to our forwards cruelled us plus we need to sharpen up our goal kicking.  Practice under pressure a good remedy

But how do you win a flag with a makeshift forward line?  Rated no higher than C-?

If all our forwards were fit & firing we're a B+ up forward

And if it's any consolation the new clause in coach's contracts means that a coach can be let go with only 6 month severance money owed (regardless of the length of time of contract)

Related to KPI's

That clause came in during covid and has stayed

Same as the slashing of the small cap (coaching dept. overall) has stayed on post covid

Edited October 12, 20231 yr by Macca

I wonder if he gets booed if/when we play Sydney at the MCG next year?

Surely not.

Incredible to think that Schache was 2nd pick in a star studed 2015 Draft.

He was much higher than Curnow Mckay and of course Oliver below him a few rungs.

Weideman was  higher than Curnow.

Bizarre draft. We picked Weideman ahead of McKay. Might have cost us a flag. LOL  

Didnt MFC pick Cam Mills ahead of Oliver but Swans kicked up a stink so we had to settle for Oliver.

Win some you lose some.

Pertaining to the SF

If Grundy was available (?) then Gawn could have been played forward (Grundy rucks)

A logical move considering our only key forward was on 1 leg (played the whole game??) and that was it

Yeah sure, we abandoned the Grundy project towards the end of the season with Gawn as the main man but once we were down to 1 KF (on 1 leg) we had to re-evaluate 

But of course if Grundy wasn't actually available then you probably go with what we went with (the C- forward line) 

38 minutes ago, Deebauched said:

Incredible to think that Schache was 2nd pick in a star studed 2015 Draft.

It's not incredible at all as Schache was a standout junior.  

That's how drafting works because drafting is (somewhat) flawed

Projecting greatness on unproven but standout teenagers is hit & miss ... more hit than miss, but nevertheless, busts are a part of drafting

Mind you, Jason Taylor has the midas touch so we're in good hands

Edited October 13, 20231 yr by Macca

15 hours ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

Honestly, the whole saga leaves me disappointed in all parties.  During preseason there was such hope and a strong showing of a two ruckman system.  For various (and fair) reasons that style did not show throughout the home and away season... but to have it end in such a solitary manner between the club and Grundy makes me feel bitter as a fan.  In Sydney, I can't rely on special information.  I can only see what is happening in the media and this forum... and most of it just muddies the water.  Grundy seemed like a great and professional player - if he disengaged to the extent people are saying, that disappoints me.  The way Max and the club appear to have behaved and the lack of acknowledgement of the situation disappoints me too.  There may be good reasons for each party to act like this but I have a day job and can't spend every moment reading every tea leaf to figure out all the allusions.  I hope we play well next year and that Max's body holds up against the onslaught (but the pessimist in me doubts it)... I am sad Grundy departed but wish him no ill will.  It is what it is.

My thoughts exactly. We should have stuck with him. No idea what happened or what the real reasoning was. We were playing better than people realised with him in the squad. Would love a deep dive of how we did holistically with him playing vs not. I'd hazard a guess our performances with him and Max in the squad were better than the two performances we put in the QF and SF. We win both with Grundy playing in either imv.

Edited October 13, 20231 yr by praha

9 hours ago, Macca said:

Look elsewhere as the coach isn't the issue ... injuries to our forwards cruelled us plus we need to sharpen up our goal kicking.  Practice under pressure a good remedy

But how do you win a flag with a makeshift forward line?  Rated no higher than C-?

If all our forwards were fit & firing we're a B+ up forward

And if it's any consolation the new clause in coach's contracts means that a coach can be let go with only 6 month severance money owed (regardless of the length of time of contract)

Related to KPI's

That clause came in during covid and has stayed

Same as the slashing of the small cap (coaching dept. overall) has stayed on post covid

I am not clear who these" fit and firing forwards" are.

I was a fan of Tom and BBB but their ship has sailed.

I hope Petty can do better than most re Lisfranc injuries. 

 I am confident than Fitta will be ok and that Kossi will kick 35 over the season.

Gawn will learn to kick?

McAdam?

Trac up forward..yeah as long as Oliver and Angus are good.

Your spot on about kicking under  pressure.

Surely they've had some practise at that already  though?

 

14 minutes ago, IRW said:

I am not clear who these" fit and firing forwards" are.

I was a fan of Tom and BBB but their ship has sailed.

I hope Petty can do better than most re Lisfranc injuries. 

 I am confident than Fitta will be ok and that Kossi will kick 35 over the season.

Gawn will learn to kick?

McAdam?

Trac up forward..yeah as long as Oliver and Angus are good.

Your spot on about kicking under  pressure.

Surely they've had some practise at that already  though?

 

Petty, Melksham, Fritsch, JVR, T-Mac & Brown were all unavailable when we needed them (injuries mainly)

Even if only half of them were fit & firing in the finals it would have made a huge difference (Fritsch was proppy on his return) 

And we couldn't play Petracca forward as much as we would have liked because Brayshaw was taken out

You can't lose that many forwards and expect to win the flag ... so we did extremely well to get as far as we did

2022 we had no such reasons.  And in 2019 we fell away far too much

 

Edited October 13, 20231 yr by Macca

25 minutes ago, Macca said:

Petty, Melksham, Fritsch, JVR, T-Mac & Brown were all unavailable when we needed them (injuries mainly)

Even if only half of them were fit & firing in the finals it would have made a huge difference (Fritsch was proppy on his return) 

And we couldn't play Petracca forward as much as we would have liked because Brayshaw was taken out

You can't lose that many forwards and expect to win the flag ... so we did extremely well to get as far as we did

2022 we had no such reasons.  And in 2019 we fell away far too much

 

Yep I left JVR out..my mistake 

Another year in the system should be a bonus there, especially if he plays according to his actual size 

Let's see about Melksham though; unlike many on here I have always been  fan, but an injury and one more year....?

Your rational optimism is impressive and difficult to contest, but I think there is some  airbrushing  at play.

Through the season there was realistically no TMac or BBB  and I think the best two teams over the season  played off for the flag .

2024 is going to be red hot for the 8 and game plans and canny coaching will count as much as injuries ( within reason)

Meanwhile Aussies are dominating world sailing..not that anyone seems to notice.Cornes hasn't said a word 

 

5 hours ago, praha said:

I'd hazard a guess our performances with him and Max in the squad were better than the two performances we put in the QF and SF. We win both with Grundy playing in either imv.

Carlton yes.

Collingwood no.

1 hour ago, IRW said:

Yep I left JVR out..my mistake 

Another year in the system should be a bonus there, especially if he plays according to his actual size 

Let's see about Melksham though; unlike many on here I have always been  fan, but an injury and one more year....?

Your rational optimism is impressive and difficult to contest, but I think there is some  airbrushing  at play.

Through the season there was realistically no TMac or BBB  and I think the best two teams over the season  played off for the flag .

2024 is going to be red hot for the 8 and game plans and canny coaching will count as much as injuries ( within reason)

Meanwhile Aussies are dominating world sailing..not that anyone seems to notice.Cornes hasn't said a word 

 

Sailing?  Olympics maybe and when Bondy ruled (albeit with his own unique style)

Melksham this year only and I've given the reasoning on the others.  We might have banked on either Brown or T-Mac being ok at the pointy end

Fact is that we went into the SF against Carlton with a C- forward line

Harsh but we were threadbare

Reminded me of the horror years of '07 - '15 (forward line)

So what do we do from here?  What if we're injury free as in 2021? Do we recruit a big forward?  Another small forward?  Another Melksham type?

 

Edited October 13, 20231 yr by Macca

Thanks  '@Macca' one of the few voices of reason.

On 13/10/2023 at 18:51, Macca said:

Sailing?  Olympics maybe and when Bondy ruled (albeit with his own unique style)

Melksham this year only and I've given the reasoning on the others.  We might have banked on either Brown or T-Mac being ok at the pointy end

Fact is that we went into the SF against Carlton with a C- forward line

Harsh but we were threadbare

Reminded me of the horror years of '07 - '15 (forward line)

So what do we do from here?  What if we're injury free as in 2021? Do we recruit a big forward?  Another small forward?  Another Melksham type?

 

Fact is we went into both finals with threadbare C- forwards yet still were within a couple of better shots at goal, a shonky ARC and a spot of luck from getting into a GF.  

No I am not at all satisfied that we weren’t able to nail it this season but we came bloody close with a very powerful headwind. 

On 12/10/2023 at 20:31, Macca said:

The coach is doing alright.  He can't kick the goals himself

Our way of playing (brand) is based on defence and contested ball.  Often not pretty but I'll take our team and the way we play over anthing we witnessed from '07 to '15.  Ugly and we lost a lot

'65 to '86 wasn't all that flash either, IRW

Not entirely convinced of Goody doing alright. At least not his selections in the finals. Laurie was a huge mistake and Tmac a second chance after the Prelim wasn't a good call for me. And ultimately as head coach our lack of kicking goals skills falls upon his shoulders. Not like it's a new problem either. After losing on straight sets last year, I would have thought Goody might have been more careful with finals selections but nup. I don't think I'm being harsh. I think he's done a great job overall but I'm just saying I think he dropped the ball this year.

3 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

 I'm just saying I think he dropped the ball this year

Goodwin is not responsible for nearly our total forward line being injured and as for the kicking at goal, that's on the players

Edited October 15, 20231 yr by Macca