What a waste of a season!

[layzie 33,753]

24 minutes ago, TRIGON said:

Roger the Demon Dog is of the opinion that the Football Department 'screwed the pooch' this year.

I respect his opinion because he is a topic expert.

He's right 

[hemingway 7,615]

Part of the disappointment this year stems from the fact that our expectations established on the exhilaration of our remarkable flag win have not been met. Our expectations were probably unrealistic. Certainly talk about a dynasty and back to back flags was premature. 

We know that it’s incredibly tough to win flags and those that do have to have everything going for them. And a successful team has to take the opportunities at critical times during a match. 

Injuries (or lack of them) and form played a major part in the outcomes last year and this year. 

There were issues around selection and tactics that have already been discussed in detail. 

In 2022, the team was away from the pressure cooker of Melbourne for most of the year and clearly benefited from being away together in Perth.  The team bonding and energy created from training and living together appeared to be beneficial physically and mentally. The team, coaching and support staff were focused on this watershed moment in club history. To expect that the team would come back this year with the same energy and sharp focus was unrealistic. A little like the difficulty of an Olympic Gold medallist winning another gold medal. It’s not easy and the competition also gets better each year. And everyone wants to knock you over. It’s physically and mentally harder after the ultimate success. 

It is unrealistic to measure success only in terms of winning the flag. We have had a successful season but because of our expectations it has brought its disappointments. 

So it is important to learn from the mistakes and build improvement through coaching techniques, fitness regimes, skill development, recruitment and team selection changes. We need to introduce new players and play them. We need new blood and we need youth. And this means taking sensible decisions on a group of existing players. It is time for a number of our Casey players to be given the chance at senior level to provide the energy and enthusiasm we lacked this year. 

All is not lost. We still have star players and a good list but we will need change and improvement to win the flag in 2023. 

Supporters need to remain positive and manage their own expectations. Buy memberships, turn up for games and enjoy our successes through the season. Remain constructively critical at times of failure but without bagging players and coaches. Success is temporary unless the club continues to grow and improve each season. 

All for one and one for all. 

 

 

 

[Fritta and Turner 4,345]

what a limp, flacid end to the season

[Salems Lot 2,493]

4 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Dunstan (for Sparrow), Bowey (for Salem)  and one of Chandler/Bedford (for Spargo) & Macca/JVR (for Melk).

While Melk would feel unlucky given his form just prior to the finals, his first finals performance was that bad* it was not a risk worth taking hoping he would bounce back in a follow up do or die final.  Besides it was clear that we needed a second tall KF to help BB out... yet we went with the same line up making it easier for Brisbane to defend in the air.

*Same with Salem

Spargo & Kozzy didnt fire a shot in the first final and also didnt bring enough pressure inside 50.  But again...no change.  Too easy for Brisbane to defend at ground level.

They had us covered in the air and on the ground in defence.

The first final was 'the tell' we were in trouble and that some players were a mile off AFL level let alone finals level, yet SG stuck with the same team & format.

Fair enough but some of this is based on hindsight. 

Not sure Dunstan would have been the difference based on exposed form earlier in the year

Bowey would definitely have been worth a try but I wonder if something is going on behind the scenes that we are not aware of based on his sudden departure from the ones earlier in the year - he looked good in the VFL Prelim. 

Spargo has a fantastic footy brain and does an awful lot of stuff that we don't see

Macca not yet fit (don't forget how little he did in the GF last year) who also said at a recent club function that JVR is going to be special but is miles off tank wise, this would suggest that he would not have helped the fade out.

[Mr Steve 3,820]

Most of us would like to see a Lions Vs Swans Grand final. But how will we feel if it happens knowing we should have beaten both of them ourselves. 

[biggestred 5,016]

My expectations were a prelim. 

easy enough to have a bad day in a prelim and youre out. 

but to finish 2nd and bundled out? absolute failure. 

[Grand New Flag 3,227]

It is true. 

WE BLEW IT!

Too banged up, not fit enough and in the end simply not good enough.

The fitness coach must come under pressure.  He was meant to be following Burgess' plan as his understudy.......... but in January our players said they had never trained so hard and from there we went from running all over teams in the second half (2021) to being blatantly out of puff in the 2nd half's 2022. I say we went from by far the fittest teams to close to the least fit team in the course of 12 months.

I feel the lack of break after 2021 was part of this.  Remember all the players in full training in their holidays without a break.  The body needs rest.  I think this caught up on us.

 

[rufus 1,162]

Reckon I am still in a bit of shock that we bowed out that way. Normally not that confident coming in to games, but having watched the Bris v Rich game the week before, I thought their lack of physical pressure, and poor skills under pressure, would give them little chance against us.

On reflection, it is absolutely staggering to me how much we let our own pressure, particularly forward pressure, drop off for the whole season. After having seen it be the main ingredient in winning a flag, I just don't know how we allowed it to drop off like that. I honestly thought we might have been foxing and would flick it on again when the finals started, but we didn't.

Maybe it is a difficult thing to maintain physically (and maybe mentally too). But I was really hoping the softish underbelly of the club was a thing of the past...but it seems it's still there. It's the coaches job to motivate the players and get them doing what is needed to win, and unfortunately Goodwin failed in that. But it sits with the players even more IMO, as in the end it comes down to a pride thing as to whether you really are desperate to do what needs to be done to win. I'm not saying the players weren't trying hard to win. But at some point you really get challenged and you need the desperation to rise up a gear. We couldn't or wouldn't go to that gear many times this year.

Honestly I have no issues losing to a better team and tipping my hat to them. I thought Geelong were a significantly better team than us this year, and if we brought the physical pressure and took all the intangibles off the table, and let the game be purely decided by the talent and form of the players on the park, that they would handle us when it mattered. I just don't feel like the last 2 weeks got decided that way (moreso this week).

For the season to finish with a punking from Dayne Zorko on the MCG in front of 60k fans might drive a renewed attitude next season. Can only hope.

[buck_nekkid 5,847]

We are going to have to plan and play differently next year.  The game has moved on and we didnt. (We were so ‘2021’!).  We also dropped off across a number of players and area of the ground.

all the talk if back to back, dynasties, high expectations and the ‘new season’ of the finals were all overblown.

I think we underperformed, underprepared for what we needed, were found out, were too stubborn on selections and played too many injured players.  We also failed to expose emerging talent to the big time.

How many ‘learnings’ do we need before we heed the lesson?

2023 - we will either be middle of the road or have significant change in method, personnel and philosophy.

[layzie 33,753]

There are learnings out there, you just have to find them. 

[Guest]

On 9/11/2022 at 12:06 PM, Nicko said:

a couple days on and I’m now feeling grateful that our footy team won the first ten games of the year, finished second on the ladder when the other grand finalist from last year limped into the top 8 and one of the other preliminary finalists from last year didn’t even make the finals! And I was at the Gabba a few weeks ago to see an incredible show put on by the boys.

Now thinking of next year….we still have the list to beat anyone. So the outlook is really positive for me.

 

What Nicko said. ⬆️ 

I can’t believe I made it through all six pages without wanting to get a contract put on someone’s head. 😁

Edited September 12, 2022 by WalkingCivilWar

[Wells 11 5,381]

1 hour ago, Grand New Flag said:

It is true. 

WE BLEW IT!

Too banged up, not fit enough and in the end simply not good enough.

The fitness coach must come under pressure.  He was meant to be following Burgess' plan as his understudy.......... but in January our players said they had never trained so hard and from there we went from running all over teams in the second half (2021) to being blatantly out of puff in the 2nd half's 2022. I say we went from by far the fittest teams to close to the least fit team in the course of 12 months.

I feel the lack of break after 2021 was part of this.  Remember all the players in full training in their holidays without a break.  The body needs rest.  I think this caught up on us.

 

This is absolutely the critical question from 22. All the red time goals we started giving up also point to fitness. 5 of these  v lions. Nothing is a bigger concern to me than this. we went from a team that steam rolled others in the3rd and 4th in 21 to one that would dependably be steam rolled ourselves in 22 . This more than game plan, more than selection, more than straight kicking I reckon is absolutely something the club needs to understand. and then address.,

Some say our fitness guy  trained them too hard and ran them into the ground. If that’s so then he needs to know that. Some that Burgess not being there meant we were too soft and he didn’t go hard enough. Others are saying that there was prob 6-7 of our top players  limping through the season with injuries that no doubt restricted training also. I prob concur with this one. But whatever it is the club absolutely needs clear sight on this or 23 is gonna end the self same way as 22. 

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Wells 11

[Dee Zephyr 19,267]

Speaking of wasted, any updates from Mad Monday?

[Macca 16,940]

Out in straight sets has happened more than one might imagine

Since 1967 it's happened 34 times including a double whammy in 6 seasons

Misery loves company and all that!

The big surprise is Carlton - 8 times out in straight sets in this snapshot of time

1967 Blues (played in the 1968 GF)

1969 Pies (played in the 1970 GF)

1972 Pies

1973 Pies (the quick treble)

1975 Blues

1976 Blues (back to back)

1977 Hawks (won the flag in 1976 & 1978)

1979 North (played in the 1978 GF)

1980 Blues & Cats (Blues won the Flag in 1979 & 1981)

1983 Fitzroy & North

1984 Blues

1986 Swans

1987 Swans (back to back)

1988 Pies & Blues (Blues won the Flag in 1987)

1989 Essendon (played in the 1990 GF)

1994 North & Blues (Blues won the 1995 Flag)

1995 Eagles (won the 1994 Flag)

1996 Blues (that's 7 straight-set exits over a 22 period ... plus '67 to make it 8) (Won the 1995 Flag)

1997 Cats & Eagles

1999 Bulldogs

2001 Port

2007 Eagles (won the 2006 GF)

2014 Cats & Freo (Freo played in the 2013 GF)

2015 Swans (played in the 2014 & 2016 GF)

2016 Hawks (Won the 2015 Flag)

2018 Hawks

2019 Brisbane

2021 Brisbane

 

Footnote: The last, and possibly only time we went out in straight sets was in 1961

Edited September 12, 2022 by Macca

[Fat Tony 5,220]

It was a wasted year because we failed to win the flag. But I think it was particularly disappointing because we had few injuries and didn’t give ourselves the best chance.

We tried to repeat last year too much and didn’t look to evolve and improve, believing we had the right blueprint. In a parallel universe we are favourites for the flag in the preliminary finals right now. 

[Gunna’s 2,102]

7 hours ago, Jontee said:

what a limp, flacid end to the season

Is that for all the one eyed supporters 😉

[Gunna’s 2,102]

A lot of good points raised by all. No one contributing factor. Hard to say whether the year was wasted…..will be determined whether the learnings are taken on board. 
We have a nucleus that can win several more premierships. I trust that next year we will bounce back and we will be a dominant force again. (I want the 2023 premiership market to open, I’m that bullish). 

I think we wanted to replicate 2021 too much. We set up our season perfectly but then the unfortunate injuries hit. Burgo’s mantra of playing through the niggles was not the right plan. As mentioned we have the cattle at vfl, Gawn|Brown|Lever|Tracc etc. who suffered some sort of set backs and all should have been rested to hit finals cherry ripe.  The replacements aren’t stars, but are serviceable and can play roles.

The cats managed their stars and it pains me that they are still in contention and in the box seat. We needed our selection panel to take a mature approach in round 18-21. 
 

Whilst I am still disappointed, I can see 🏆🏆🏆 on the horizon. 🔴🔵

[jnrmac 20,055]

3 hours ago, Wells 11 said:

This is absolutely the critical question from 22. All the red time goals we started giving up also point to fitness. 5 of these  v lions. Nothing is a bigger concern to me than this. we went from a team that steam rolled others in the3rd and 4th in 21 to one that would dependably be steam rolled ourselves in 22 . This more than game plan, more than selection, more than straight kicking I reckon is absolutely something the club needs to understand. and then address.,

Some say our fitness guy  trained them too hard and ran them into the ground. If that’s so then he needs to know that. Some that Burgess not being there meant we were too soft and he didn’t go hard enough. Others are saying that there was prob 6-7 of our top players  limping through the season with injuries that no doubt restricted training also. I prob concur with this one. But whatever it is the club absolutely needs clear sight on this or 23 is gonna end the self same way as 22. 

 

Good points.

Brisbanes pressure in the second half was 214. Sydneys pressure in the second half was over 200.

We crumbled under pressure. Our rock solid game style built for finals was a mirage.

While that is a very high pressure number we should have been prepared for it and we weren't. Slow the game down,. Create repeat stoppages, narrow the ground, put the pressure back on them. We didn't do any of that.

Red time goals are such killers. You toil for the quarter and bam give the other side a sniff.

 

Infuriating

[titan_uranus 24,979]

11 hours ago, layzie said:

Firstly I don’t disagree with you, the facts are the facts and we didn’t get it done enough against quality opposition. What kind of bugs me with this hindsight view that people and media always seem to take is that it doesn’t tell the whole story. 

-    We play the Dogs in Rd 1 in a GF rematch with the opposition desperate to atone and kick things off on the right foot in 2022
-    We play Essendon in Rd 3 who although lost the first 2 were still a finals side from last year and looking to get on the board with what was still a decent team before becoming a basket case.
-    We play Port in Rd 4 on their home deck. Again, a prelim finalist from the previous year needing to make a massive statement at home to get their season back on track
-    We play GWS in Rd 5, another previous year finalist sitting at 1 and 3 and needing a win
-    We play Richmond on Anzac eve, finalist.
-    We play St Kilda in Rd 8 who were sitting 5 and 2 and giving a lot of teams problems around that time.

Now I know a lot of these teams nose-dived but it’s easy to forget that there were a lot of big challenges here that we passed with flying colours at the time. If people think our 10-0 start was all easy wins then they are out of their mind. 
 

This is fair, although Port, Essendon and GWS were all poor in the first half of the year.

The main fixture issue is that we faced almost exclusively good sides from Round 11-23. There was no break in that period where we had North or West Coast or a cooked side. Adelaide was the only side we played in that period who wasn't in finals contention at the time. 

2 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Good points.

Brisbanes pressure in the second half was 214. Sydneys pressure in the second half was over 200.

We crumbled under pressure. Our rock solid game style built for finals was a mirage.

While that is a very high pressure number we should have been prepared for it and we weren't. Slow the game down,. Create repeat stoppages, narrow the ground, put the pressure back on them. We didn't do any of that.

Red time goals are such killers. You toil for the quarter and bam give the other side a sniff.

 

Infuriating

Those two figures for Brisbane and Sydney are huge.

Our opposition's pressure is out of our control. Yet we regularly saw opponents reach season-high ratings against us.

Teams continually found ways to get themselves up when playing us. We were drained, I reckon. We copped huge pressure almost every week; Brisbane in Rounds 15 and 23 might be the only times our opponent was short of intense?

[layzie 33,753]

We need to stop blaming the draw as the reason why we fell off and insist that we should have had a better one. It is luck, it was tough but we finished the season playing Carlton, Collingwood, Freo, Adelaide all teams who missed the 8 last year. How were we to know what would happen?

Plenty have blamed the draw but what are you going to do? Get a good one and bribe them to change it when it's not shaping out well?

Get our team as healthy as possible to finish, get them as fit as possible, fix the gameplan and stop blaming things we have no control over.

[Soidee 1,496]

2nd spot was a total waste, two final losses to interstate teams on our home deck.  This MCG hoodoo is a worry for the MFC, we dont play this ground well and it’s our supporters who turn up to see the cluster.  Don’t  get me started on the other issue regarding the home base which is taking forever.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,220]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:03 PM, Gunna’s said:

Is that for all the one eyed supporters 😉

Nice work Gunna's!!!!

[layzie 33,753]

Do higher membership levels give you more complaining rights? 

[Earl Hood 6,082]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:25 PM, jnrmac said:

Good points.

Brisbanes pressure in the second half was 214. Sydneys pressure in the second half was over 200.

We crumbled under pressure. Our rock solid game style built for finals was a mirage.

While that is a very high pressure number we should have been prepared for it and we weren't. Slow the game down,. Create repeat stoppages, narrow the ground, put the pressure back on them. We didn't do any of that.

Red time goals are such killers. You toil for the quarter and bam give the other side a sniff.

 

Infuriating

How do they measure those pressure ratings? I wonder is it easier to up that rating however it is measured if your opponent is playing static, predictable, boundary hugging football? If the measure is based on how well you close down an opponent’s time and space then our game plan was inviting it. 

[titan_uranus 24,979]

13 hours ago, layzie said:

We need to stop blaming the draw as the reason why we fell off and insist that we should have had a better one. It is luck, it was tough but we finished the season playing Carlton, Collingwood, Freo, Adelaide all teams who missed the 8 last year. How were we to know what would happen?

Plenty have blamed the draw but what are you going to do? Get a good one and bribe them to change it when it's not shaping out well?

Get our team as healthy as possible to finish, get them as fit as possible, fix the gameplan and stop blaming things we have no control over.

We also need to stop dismissing the draw as irrelevant. 

There’s nothing unfair about it. Under the current system, the AFL has no choice but to base it on the prior year’s results. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to note that from Round 11 onwards our draw was brutal. It’s an important piece of the overall puzzle. Of those 12 games, 11 of them were against sides in finals contention, and that we didn’t have a proper bye, and that we had six weeks in a row at different venues, and with multiple road trips and comparatively few games in Melbourne. No let up. So that factors in to our sore/injured players, whether we could/should have rested players, the pressure we faced weekly, etc.