In the past we have been accused of being a soft team playing “bruise free footy” .ln the last 2 games JVR has been suspended , Kozzie reported on Friday - for the second time this year - and Sparrow gives away a free kick for allegedly pushing an opponent player into the fence.Do we need to change our style of play?

Oh jesus...

They're individual incidents that are not a reflection the game plan, ethos or style of the team as whole.

We are not soft physically. Mentally is on the other hand, a potentially different story. 

11 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

Oh jesus...

They're individual incidents that are not a reflection the game plan, ethos or style of the team as whole.

There is going to be some real garbage come in the next few weeks, gotta shake your head.

No. 

We need to kick straighter.

NEXT.

There's another thread about Jack Riewoldt and Tom Hawkins up at the moment.

Coincidentally, both of them have been given more dodgy get-out-of-jail-free cards than Van Rooyen has had total incidents of any kind.

Meanwhile, Pickett's bump which slipped up and (rightly, yes) earned him a week suspension was on a guy who delivered a jumping face-high unnecessary and forceful elbow to the face of an unexpecting opponent, and then went on to be awarded the Brownlow medal.

Come to think of it... more than half of the last ten Brownlow medallists have specific records of throwing elbows in faces, among other things. Chicken wings and bowling-ball grips come to mind, too.

So, no, we aren't playing too rough. No.

Our suspensions let us down this year in marginal losses the following week:

1) Kozzie round 1 - lose to Brisbane in round 2 by a margin that Kozzie could've pegged back on his own.

2) Sparrow round 9 - lose to Port in round 10

3) Hunter round 10 - lose to Freo in round 11

4) JVR QF - lose to Carlton in SF

5) Kozzie SF - round 1 2024?? (and would have depleted our forward line even more if we got through to the prelim)

 

We are soft, cannot deny this

 

Just look at the Brayshaw/Maynard incident, nobody flew the flag apart from Viney

 

Gawn is just too nice

Bring back Cale Morton and Jordan Gysberts! 

There's a big difference between playing tough, hard, contested football and the brain farts listed by the opening poster. 

There is nothing wrong with the style of football played by the majority of our list the majority of the time, but there is definitely a degree of maturity and composure lacking in how the likes of Van Rooyen, Sparrow and Pickett conducted themselves in these moments.

Time and experience should aid Van Rooyen, but Pickett's lack of discipline in key moments is increasingly a concern.

Jvr in the semi probably would have tipped the scale.

It's difficult because his aggression makes him so competitive.  I don't condone hitting players but if there's one take from this season do it smart and "smother."

But at the end of the day it was a silly act and given how many fwds we have injured,  let us down.

 

Edited September 19, 20231 yr by leave it to deever

How many times to do we see Max get assaulted by opposition players all over the ground and nobody goes to help him. Indictment on the club.

People be starting threads on anything these days…

4 minutes ago, rpfc said:

People be starting threads on anything these days…

That's what happens when you lose games you should win. 

14 minutes ago, 58er said:

That's what happens when you lose games you should win. 

People go crazy? 

4 hours ago, SthSea22 said:

We are soft, cannot deny this

 

Just look at the Brayshaw/Maynard incident, nobody flew the flag apart from Viney

 

Gawn is just too nice

We’re a tough hard contested team. That flying the flag stuff is last century. 

Carlton  belittled MFC about 15 yrs ago after they beat us, saying they were bruise free after playing us.

On Friday, their supporters whinged like banshees when Kozzie bumped a couple of guys.

Theyd be sorer than us after their lucky win. 

They “know that they’ve been playing” against the Dees!

Theyll suffer against Brisbane with no “ noise of affirmation” influencing the umpires.
 

Van Rooyen plays in a way that is going to draw the attention of the MRO and tbh I don't mind that.  The incident in the QF was silly but his attack on the man and ball has been hard and mostly fair in his first season. Our perceived softness is mental rather physical. And that perception will only change when we start winning the close ones regularly.

7 hours ago, SthSea22 said:

We are soft, cannot deny this

 

Just look at the Brayshaw/Maynard incident, nobody flew the flag apart from Viney

 

Gawn is just too nice

I hate this ‘flying the flag’ [censored]. Who does it benefit? And how? Serious questions.

You think it’s wise to have a bunch of our players run to physically retaliate against an opponent and risk being cited for an errant fist to the face or something? Is it wise to have our players hopelessly out of position when play resumes?

1 hour ago, Swooper1987 said:

Van Rooyen plays in a way that is going to draw the attention of the MRO and tbh I don't mind that.  The incident in the QF was silly but his attack on the man and ball has been hard and mostly fair in his first season. Our perceived softness is mental rather physical. And that perception will only change when we start winning the close ones regularly.

We won most of our games by small margins this year .So we know how to win the close ones regularly. And yes l know,we lost the last 2 games- by small margins.We didn’t get blown away.

10 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

I hate this ‘flying the flag’ [censored]. Who does it benefit? And how? Serious questions.

You think it’s wise to have a bunch of our players run to physically retaliate against an opponent and risk being cited for an errant fist to the face or something? Is it wise to have our players hopelessly out of position when play resumes?

I am not saying that at all

 

But at least go harder at the ball and make Maynard feel every tackle

 

We did the opposite 

11 hours ago, Dingo said:

We won most of our games by small margins this year .So we know how to win the close ones regularly. And yes l know,we lost the last 2 games- by small margins. We didn’t get blown away.

We won some of them - we also lost to Freo by 7, Carlton by 4, GWS by 2, Port by 4 and then the two finals by a combined 9. We beat Collingwood by 4, Gold Coast by 5, Adelaide by 4 (getting run down) and Brisbane by 1 (running over the top). So that's 6 losses and 4 wins in games decided by 7 points or less.  If that doesn't indicate some level of above the shoulders fragility I don't know what does. Especially given that we had we had more shots in both finals, against Carlton in round 22 (16-14), against Freo (22-19), and against the Giants (20-12). Goal kicking is partly where you take them from and partly composure and execution and that last part is in the mind more than the body.

56 minutes ago, SthSea22 said:

I am not saying that at all

 

But at least go harder at the ball and make Maynard feel every tackle

 

We did the opposite 

Very old school thinking.

2 hours ago, SthSea22 said:

I am not saying that at all

 

But at least go harder at the ball and make Maynard feel every tackle

 

We did the opposite 

So we should’ve focused on roughing up Maynard, thereby not 100% focusing on the game?

With respect, that sort of thinking should be left in the past, where it belongs. 

8 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

So we should’ve focused on roughing up Maynard, thereby not 100% focusing on the game?

With respect, that sort of thinking should be left in the past, where it belongs. 

You mean the same past that Maynard used, to end Gus's finals and our campaign?

BTW, you misread SthSea22's post. He said "But at least go harder at the ball and make Maynard feel every tackle"

He didn't say to "focus on roughing up Maynard, thereby not 100% focusing on the game?"