Do any care to revisit this conundrum ?

Is the window half open or half closed ?

We're but one game in....i know....  but 2 teams showed up.... only one was ready.

We've had as long as any to BE READY.... no ??

It always concerned me we had a somewhat hard first half dozen games and that would set the cast for the season. 

First offering was just this side of putrid tbh.

This is not a knee jerk reaction to a loss. Ive thought for some time we have a mismatch between players/abilities and preferred ( by Goodwin) game style.

We have a lot....a LOT of work to do if we're to be even competitive this season.

The scoreline flattered us in a fashion. Sydney isnt that world conquering...  but easily accounted for us.

Not thinking we need worry about a straight sets exit this year......

I haven't changed my thoughts for us this year.... but am happy to be shown wrong.

Tough year ahead. imho :(

Other's thoughts ?? 

45 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Do any care to revisit this conundrum ?

Is the window half open or half closed ?

We're but one game in....i know....  but 2 teams showed up.... only one was ready.

We've had as long as any to BE READY.... no ??

It always concerned me we had a somewhat hard first half dozen games and that would set the cast for the season. 

First offering was just this side of putrid tbh.

This is not a knee jerk reaction to a loss. Ive thought for some time we have a mismatch between players/abilities and preferred ( by Goodwin) game style.

We have a lot....a LOT of work to do if we're to be even competitive this season.

The scoreline flattered us in a fashion. Sydney isnt that world conquering...  but easily accounted for us.

Not thinking we need worry about a straight sets exit this year......

I haven't changed my thoughts for us this year.... but am happy to be shown wrong.

Tough year ahead. imho :(

Other's thoughts ?? 

Has to be Goodwin's last year if he can't deliver at least one finals win IMO.

For as much as people think our list may be a bit overrated, I personally don't think so, it's still one of the best.

 

Hibbo. Brayshaw. Harmes. Jackson missing from premiership 22. Tmcd and BBB in constant physical rehab.  Core group still there for a shot.  Goodwin needs to get real. Spargo. Schache. Laurie.  They are not good enough and we need to make tough decisions.  

It’s over I’m afraid . We’re mid-list at best, I fear bottom 4.  One of the best  lists in our history produced just  one flag. 

Unfortunately I think it is closed. Others going past us and giving us windburn on the way through. To our Western Australian brethren who witnessed in the flesh football nirvana, I genuinely envy you. I do think we will make finals but wouldn’t surprise me if we just miss out. I just think there are teams out there with deeper lists and better coached. 

Slammed shut IMV. 
Huge list changes since 21.

Last year was the one that got away (notwithstanding CFC or Lions in a GF would have been hard)

The continued persistence with sub par players is puzzling 

 

Imagine life without May and Gawn.

We’ve got two years tops

Can't see us winning one soon with our lack of skills and polish in the midfield. Our grunt and sheer weight of forward entries with the best set up back 6-7  got the job done in 2021. But skills and rapid ball movement from opposition can bring us undone quickly. And unfortunately we don't have the cattle to execute a similar game plan against top teams

In 22 and 23 we started big and stayed big until finals when we ran out of puff or playing skills.

Let's try staring small and slow for a change and build to the peak in September.

Who knows?

GO DEES

 

5 hours ago, Superunknown said:

 

The continued persistence with sub par players is puzzling 

 

David king on SEN said on Scache this morning that uncompetitive talls really stand out. He looks and plays like he is scared. 

8 hours ago, DeeZee said:

Imagine life without May and Gawn.

We’ve got two years tops

Not even... if allowing for declining input etc.

The abyss .....it's  just down.the road imo.

58 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Not even... if allowing for declining input etc.

The abyss .....it's  just down.the road imo.

And due to extremely average list management we don’t have any up and coming rucks of note nor do we have a proper key position backman to man the King’s, Lynch’s, McKay’s etc who are all over 200cm. 

13 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Do any care to revisit this conundrum ?

Is the window half open or half closed ?

We're but one game in....i know....  but 2 teams showed up.... only one was ready.

We've had as long as any to BE READY.... no ??

It always concerned me we had a somewhat hard first half dozen games and that would set the cast for the season. 

First offering was just this side of putrid tbh.

This is not a knee jerk reaction to a loss. Ive thought for some time we have a mismatch between players/abilities and preferred ( by Goodwin) game style.

We have a lot....a LOT of work to do if we're to be even competitive this season.

The scoreline flattered us in a fashion. Sydney isnt that world conquering...  but easily accounted for us.

Not thinking we need worry about a straight sets exit this year......

I haven't changed my thoughts for us this year.... but am happy to be shown wrong.

Tough year ahead. imho :(

Other's thoughts ?? 

We played poorly - yes 

Sydney looked like they wanted the win more - that’s easy to fix in theory 

We had our 2 most potent forwards absent (again) Petty and Pickett (excluding Fritta) - we also had arguably the next two best forwards missing in McAdam (who knows) and Melksham 

We were in the game for all but 15 mins despite playing poorly 

I’m as disappointed as anyone but It’s not quite time to panic - yet 

Another 3 or 4 poor games and then we can all start to worry as that means we aren’t as good as we thought 

Edited March 8, 20241 yr by Sydee

1 hour ago, MoeSyzlak said:

And due to extremely average list management we don’t have any up and coming rucks of note nor do we have a proper key position backman to man the King’s, Lynch’s, McKay’s etc who are all over 200cm. 

This is oft-overlooked but a very important point 

7 hours ago, Superunknown said:

This is oft-overlooked but a very important point 

Adams??? 

On 08/03/2024 at 08:12, Superunknown said:

Slammed shut IMV. 
Huge list changes since 21.

 

Two or three draft picks does not constitute huge list changes, which is exactly the problem. 

We have 10 players on our list that aren't AFL standard, and most of them have been around for at least 3 years. 

We're a serious injury to Gawn or May away from a bottom 6 finish. 

Headline on SEN website after our meek capitulation to the Swans:

“THEY WERE IMPOTENT!”: WHY DO MELBOURNE REFUSE TO ADDRESS THEIR BIGGEST FLAW?

It's a fair question with our window fading as we face yet another season without a dominant key forward in the squad.

 

 

 

On 14/01/2024 at 21:59, Macca said:

Well at least we agree that Flower played the corridor often

Which was the thrust of my original argument where I'd prefer it if the boundary line wasn't a friend for Langdon & Hunter

So absolutely knowing how much room you've got as a wingman might lead to using that area and then kicking 'down the line'

And I'm over seeing another inside 50 go boundary side and then get thumped out of bounds by the opposition.  As previously discussed, those outcomes often leads to another wasted inside forward foray

Collingwood on the other hand ..... 

So you see, I explain my position rather than just sounding off at another loss

And you can't change your game plan in a week.  We were stuck with that style and didn't have the forwards to carry out our plan (injuries to Brown, T-Mac*, Petty, Melksham, Fritsch**, Brayshaw***) 

And just blaming Goodwin is poor analysis.  He's not the midfield coach nor is he the forwards coach (last year that was the domain of Yze & Stafford) Nor is Goodwin to blame if the players miss easy shots at goal ... that's on the players

Goodwin is responsible for the game plan and style of play and he's got a bit of work to do.  But sacked?  With a 16 & 7 record in 2023, that's a fanciful suggestion

 

*T-Mac on one leg

** Fritsch not fit

***Brayshaw out effected our ability to play Petracca forward

Last time I. Checked Goodwin was the senior coach... His job is to oversee everything. Most clubs would have moved on Stafford by now 

On 08/03/2024 at 19:25, Sydee said:

Sydney looked like they wanted the win more - that’s easy to fix in theory 

Our lack of fight at the right time in important matches of recent memory is the thing that is worrying me most at the moment… we’re hungry and brave in the first five minutes and then go cold when the game is on the line.

Glad someone thinks this is easy to fix.  I couldn’t think of anything harder to fix.

On 08/03/2024 at 19:25, Sydee said:

We were in the game for all but 15 mins despite playing poorly 

Silver lining I suppose but the 15 minutes we play poorly seems to be the most important 15 minutes of games.

30 minutes ago, The Jackson FIX said:

Our lack of fight at the right time in important matches of recent memory is the thing that is worrying me most at the moment… we’re hungry and brave in the first five minutes and then go cold when the game is on the line.

The TV coverage literally showed footage of Gawn's on field pre-game rev-up to the players, where he was saying (paraphrasing) "after everything we've had going on this pre-season, give me everything you've got for the first 5 minutes. The first 5 minutes. The other 115 minutes we can worry about when we get there."  Seems he got the desired effect.

41 minutes ago, The Jackson FIX said:

Our lack of fight at the right time in important matches of recent memory is the thing that is worrying me most at the moment… we’re hungry and brave in the first five minutes and then go cold when the game is on the line.

Glad someone thinks this is easy to fix.  I couldn’t think of anything harder to fix.

Silver lining I suppose but the 15 minutes we play poorly seems to be the most important 15 minutes of games.

It’s our inability to halt momentum. Would love to see us change things up a bit more when teams get a run on and go more man on defence or even a split zone decence but we seem to persist with a full zone. Our mantra is contest and defence yet we play so much zone. Would love us to mix things up a bit more than we do. And then when we do win the ball more speed in transition, honour the switch and have some forwards that actually stay at home instead of pushing so high up the ground. 

Biggest issue is list depth, the list is worse than last year… simple. 

3 hours ago, Vineytime said:

Biggest issue is list depth, the list is worse than last year… simple. 

Biggest issue is game plan it doesn't suit the playing list and we continue to be reliant on a fading Max Gawn who was allowed to be monster's

Game plan needs to change in my view

 

Edited March 10, 20241 yr by Kent

I honestly feel Goodwin’s contract is 1 year too long at the minute. A failed year this year would put a lot of pressure on him and then he’d have 2025 to turn things around. Crazy to think he has 3 full years ahead of him (it expires 2026) which brings him to 10 years in total at the club. If there’s not at least another grand final in 2024-2026 then surely his contract won’t be renewed. Although I fear our window would definitely be shut by 2027.

The club in all departments is just too stubborn imv. Which in turn makes things stale. In 23 we weren’t far away but that doesn’t mean things just carry on keeping on. Imagine if they addressed the issues we are all fully aware of. And when was the last time we went into a game with a direct plan for the opposition, seems almost every week our apposing team does that to us. What we always do will get it done is the only plan. Never an adjustment for conditions either. On the small snap shot of this weekends games, there’s no way we have the fundamental skill to beat this weeks winners, and we know the pies will be better. And we still wilt under pressure. And as supporters there’s never enough consideration of the rest of the competition. Adel, Cats, Suns, Freo will all be big improvers, along with Carlton, Gws, Port, Pies already at or above our level. And who knows what dogs, Saints and Bombers will be. It’s never been tighter.