Why is it that everytime we went into 50 we had to pump the ball high and long? Have they not heard of making space for each other and spotting up leads????

Its not like we were putting it in high and long with fast ball movement either, just slow, predictable high and long ball to Robbo and Davey?!

One being one of the better marks for his size in Robbo, but lets be honest, is no monster Key Posi forward, the other a small crumbing forward with major deficienices overhead.

No wonder we only took something like 5 or so marks inside 50....

Our midfield just needs to be a bit smarter coming inside... it was just terrible. And they kept doing it all night...

Just dumb football...

That's what happens when you play guys like Ward and Brown and give them plenty of space to run forward.

Compare CJ's disposal when going forward, with the usual suspects who deliver the ball in Ward and Brown.

Also, given how much pressure Brisbane applied on our midfield, it was hard for our ball carriers to pick targets and kick the ball in quickly and to target. You only need to look at the way Brisbane was pumping the ball into Brown, to realise how important it is to win the clearances and win them well.

McLean, Jones and McDonland get their hands on the ball in the middle, but have little support and often get tackled, or handball into a pack of players. It's very rare that we have a clean take-out, and it's killing our forward movement!

I think we're 15th in the league for clearances, and it shows.

We lack marking targets up forward which means that the opposition can double team guys like Robo because they know we'll go to them every time.

a few times they muxt have thought davey was 6'8 with the high kicks they put to him.

That's what happens when you play guys like Ward and Brown and give them plenty of space to run forward.

Compare CJ's disposal when going forward, with the usual suspects who deliver the ball in Ward and Brown.

Also, given how much pressure Brisbane applied on our midfield, it was hard for our ball carriers to pick targets and kick the ball in quickly and to target. You only need to look at the way Brisbane was pumping the ball into Brown, to realise how important it is to win the clearances and win them well.

McLean, Jones and McDonland get their hands on the ball in the middle, but have little support and often get tackled, or handball into a pack of players. It's very rare that we have a clean take-out, and it's killing our forward movement!

I think we're 15th in the league for clearances, and it shows.

Have to agree Jaded. The only way for our club to move forward is to say goodbye to those that let you down are too old or can't dispose. My list Brown, Ward, Bizzell, Jamar, Pickett, Neville, Holland, Warnock and maybe Yze.

ease up..... looks like somone has a case of davey syndrome

like it or not ward and brown were in our best 2night and

yze and pickett are both very valuable to us

like it or not ward and brown were in our best 2night and

Those turnovers were the stuff Brownlow medals are made of

Ward hit about 3 targets all night, all under no pressure.

Pickett is not fit and not committed enough. It speaks volumes that we're down to about 25 fit men and Pickett is playing at Sandy.

As for Yze, 2008 will be his last season and he'll struggle to get a game every week.

We lack marking targets up forward which means that the opposition can double team guys like Robo because they know we'll go to them every time.

Agree.

As poor as some of the kicking was, it was made to look much worse when they were forced to kick to out-numbered forwards.

Those turnovers were the stuff Brownlow medals are made of

Ward hit about 3 targets all night, all under no pressure.

Pickett is not fit and not committed enough. It speaks volumes that we're down to about 25 fit men and Pickett is playing at Sandy.

As for Yze, 2008 will be his last season and he'll struggle to get a game every week.

its easy to exagerate isnt it jaded....

Yze - and if it is his last season he will leave a legend.... just becuase u have no respect for him doesnt mean noone else does.

its easy to exagerate isnt it jaded....

Yze - and if it is his last season he will leave a legend.... just becuase u have no respect for him doesnt mean noone else does.

A legend? Get real.

A very good player in his prime who ended his career in a poor fashion as the years went by he became softer and lazier.

As poor as some of the kicking was, it was made to look much worse when they were forced to kick to out-numbered forwards.

My particular favourite was after a solid and positive move out of defence, we hoiked it high to Davey who was, at that point in time, in a four on one situation.

Not the cleverest manoeuvre you will see on a footy field !!!

My particular favourite was after a solid and positive move out of defence, we hoiked it high to Davey who was, at that point in time, in a four on one situation.

Not the cleverest manoeuvre you will see on a footy field !!!

My question is, where were the other three Melbourne players?

That's what frustrates me.

I asked the same thing at the time CB........

But to be honest I don't remember seeing them loose anywhere in our forward fifty

Although truth be told I may have just missed them !!!

its easy to exagerate isnt it jaded....

Yze - and if it is his last season he will leave a legend.... just becuase u have no respect for him doesnt mean noone else does.

Who said, "you're only as good as your last game"? Maybe in football terms it should be suggested, "you're only as good as your last 3 seasons".

It wasn't only our delivery into the 50 thats was bad but our delivery out of defensive 50 was even worse. Get back to the gut busting hard running preseason with as many sessions as possible with the footballs. Our skills are a disgrace, our 1% don't exist and a lot of players are selfish an dworried about their stats.

i think there a couple of definitive issues that need to be covered in this topic.

our devliery into the forward 50 is a problem. we have lacked foot skills all season. watching the ball kicked above davey or robbos head continuously made me cringe. those two presented all day (robbo was beaten by patfull who punched well but i think thats because of his insistence to jump at the ball and mark on his chest, rather than take it out front) but the kicking to them was generally poor. especially when compared to the lace out ball brown got early. davey is a short man (coincidently so is robbo, just not as short). they are not going to win overhead marking contests, especially not against taller opponents. davey, if on the lead needs the ball out in front so he can mark it in front of him, not above his head. we are better off grubbing it in front of davey and letting him run onto it imo. we need to work on the skill of our passes by foot, giving our forwards the best chance to win the ball. a further point i wish to add on foot skills is the penetration of the kicks. not necessarily distance, but the ability to spear a pass to a player rather than kick a floater. a flatter pass hits the target better. thats why CJ did some nice things on the weekend, he has good foot skills.

secondly i think it is worth noting the number of opposition players around the contest when the ball is delivered into our forward line. this can again be contrasted with the numbers around brown at the other end. there could be a number of reason for this. early in the brisbane game the brisbane mids hung back in the centre rather than pushing forward with the thrust. this works twofold. firstly it keeps our mids away from the backline as we can't afford to let them roam free and by the time we attempt to zone off the kick and mark had taken place, our players were there too late. secondly the brisbane mids are in position to defend our forward thrust, are already in positions to cut us off across the half forward and wing, and are close enough to zone back to provide an extra man in the contest, if we turn the ball over and gain possession.

thirdly our movement of the ball is simply too slow. although i believe this can be a symptom of the above point i think we take too long in general. we have a number of players who dont take the first option. we also have a number of players who take the first option and stuff it around, so the solution to this is not clear cut. our decision making in this area is poor. do we take the quick option and risk turning it over? do we look for the safe option? i think if there is a quick safe option that gains ground it should always be taken immediately. long or short, as long as it is safe. if there are no options slowing it down a little is acceptable. unfortunately we have a habbit (and i'll use doggy brown as an example) of playing on quickly and having no one to give it to. is this again a symptom of the opposition mids hanging back?

there is another point id like to make on this topic and that is the game plan. i saw a number of times on saturday night brisbane players (simon black in particular) switching the ball as he delivered it inside the 50 to brown. was this a set play or was it simple smart footy between two great players? was brown instructed to run there or did he do it because he knew it opened up space? if he just knew that is amazing football. if it was instruction, great coaching performed and by well drilled players. either way, our players need to be taught. our "hot spots" are either obvious or not planned. leading in towards a pack of midfielders won't generate space, but if the players know certain spots where to lead too the midfielder delivering the footy knows exactly where to kick too. the problem with this is that the forwards need to be smart enough to learn where to lead and the mids need to know where to kick it too, whether the player has led yet or not...i suppose this becomes a lot easier when you have one main forward target and a group of skilled mids, as opposed to 3 or 4 different targets every week.

thoughts?

[quote 'condemned 84' ........... "a few times they muxt have thought davey was 6'8 with the high kicks they put to him."

I noticed that, "Condemned", and it's happened in the past quite a bit. Aaron's amidst three tall opposition, so what do they do?......... Kick a high drop-punt, to give him no hope at all. A kick to reach him at ground level(like all our passes to Bater,)or well out in front,and he'd have a fair chance, even when out-numbered. Or perhaps an "up-country", "tumble" punt, which is hard to mark, and which might give him a chance on the ground.

Interestingly, once last year, they kicked him a high one when he was alone in the square with three Sydney talls(incl. Jolly and Barry) , and he outmarked the lot of them for a goal crucial in our victory up there.

I have been saying for last 2 years that our skill level is absolutely shocking.

Brad Green last year was as poor as anybody. Now you have guys like Bruce absolutely shanking it, I can't remember Bruce being "This" bad.

It is so frustrating that when a player is in space he cannot spot up a leading target over 35 metres away. Imagine being a forward in our line up, talk about being made work for every opportunity.

It is something that seriously needs to be worked on before season 2008, I don't think my heart could take anymore pathetic skill shortages for another season!