9 hours ago, rpfc said:

And that’s what performance is; execution under pressure.

@DubDee - another T-shirt…

I’d buy it.

The wife has talked to me about this topic but not concerning my kicking ability

14 minutes ago, Adina88 said:

I genuinely worry how Viney's going to fit back into the side when he's fit... we need his work and grunt, absolutely, but not his kicking.

14 minutes ago, Adina88 said:

I genuinely worry how Viney's going to fit back into the side when he's fit... we need his work and grunt, absolutely, but not his kicking.

There will definitely be a spot for Viney.

Guys like Windsor, Langford, Tholstrup will start to get tired as the season goes on.

Nothing to do with fitness or anything, just the fact that they are still young and inexperienced and with the game being played at frenetic pace, I can see a world where Vines can come in and give these guys a chop out being a hardened and experienced campaigner.

Viney and Steele together will give us some really good coverage for these kids as we start to hit towards the back end of the year.

19 hours ago, rpfc said:

He’s neat. The only elite kick we have is Kozzy. And Fritsch when he cares.

Fritta is an elite field kick.

His field kicking is laser like.

Also an elite finisher.

Edited Tuesday at 21:341 day by YesitwasaWin4theAges

If kingy can keep this up he’ll be getting a contract extension for sure. He’s been a revelation.

4 minutes ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

Fritta is an elite field kick.

His field kicking is laser like.

Also an elite finisher.

He is also lazy and selfish.

Again, elite requires almost universal execution. Fritsch is not an elite kick because of?

Anyone? Anyone?

… decision making.

Been impressed with Langdon’s set shot for goal accuracy.

Need to do overtime with CJ though.

9 hours ago, Allen Jakovich said:

I think this is due to mindset. With less fear and stress over outcome comes more relaxed and effective kicking. This suggests great belief in what the coaching group is teaching versus the old regime where so many almost had "failure scarring" and were so tense when trying to execute. Think of all those sprayed shots at goal in final quarters over the last few years when games were there for the taking. Let's hope it continues to improve.

Nailed it. This is where the answer lies.

As far as I can see there’s no huge increase in goal-kicking practice and this is where most Dees fans thought the problem was.

Technically Chappy is the goal-kicking coach but as you say, the players have great belief in the coaches as a group. The players are buying what the coaching group is selling.

Credit also to Checkers. He’s had a marked impact on Roo, in particular. His presence in the forward line makes all the difference.

20 hours ago, rpfc said:

He’s neat. The only elite kick we have is Kozzy. And Fritsch when he cares.

20 hours ago, AB10 said:

I would add Bowey when fit to this list

And Melksham when he plays.

I am not sure our skills have improved that much - our first half showed under pressure we still can fumble and fail to execute on basic disposals. But what we have done is use our speed to spread and create clear, simple options that clearly chain together. At our best, we look to have a clear process of moving the ball through the wings from d50 and moving the ball from centre bounce forward to create cleaner clearances.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

There will definitely be a spot for Viney.

…….

Viney and Steele together will give us some really good coverage for these kids as we start to hit towards the back end of the year.

Agree! Pressure is still a key factor and no one is better than Viney at applying it or absorbing it!

On 31/03/2026 at 18:34, Its Time Again said:

To my eye another reason for the more accurate kicking is the leading patterns are into areas creating shots from much better positions. For some seasons Goody was training them to lead out to the boundary in case the opposition got the ball so it was harder for them to rebound from the boundary. Whereas now the philosophy seems to be lets put ourselves in a better position to score and with quick ball movement and separation we don't have to worry about the opposition getting the ball and clearing too easily.

Spot on more the angle harder the shot, closer to the goal the easier the shot it's not rocket science.

20 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Petracca's been pretty good this year.

Yep. First game his kicking to players inside 50 was perfection.

14 hours ago, MrFreeze said:

I am not sure our skills have improved that much - our first half showed under pressure we still can fumble and fail to execute on basic disposals. But what we have done is use our speed to spread and create clear, simple options that clearly chain together. At our best, we look to have a clear process of moving the ball through the wings from d50 and moving the ball from centre bounce forward to create cleaner clearances.

Fwiw the stats agree with you. We are bottom 4 for both handball and kicking efficiency. One could argue the relevance of the 'efficiency' stat but in broad strokes its meaningful enough and at half time last week I dont think anyone would have said our kicking has improved. Kosis' 2nd half hit ups are fresh in the mind.

However our ball use is top 5 after suns, dogs, hawks, swans. We are playing in a way that if the disposal chain is accurate we hit the scoreboard.

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by Jjrogan

On 31/03/2026 at 21:22, dazzledavey36 said:

There will definitely be a spot for Viney.

Guys like Windsor, Langford, Tholstrup will start to get tired as the season goes on.

Nothing to do with fitness or anything, just the fact that they are still young and inexperienced and with the game being played at frenetic pace, I can see a world where Vines can come in and give these guys a chop out being a hardened and experienced campaigner.

Viney and Steele together will give us some really good coverage for these kids as we start to hit towards the back end of the year.

I don't see it. The game has passed him by

26 minutes ago, Bowserpower said:

I don't see it. The game has passed him by

I believe the game that Viney used to play under Goodwin is no longer relevant. But I could see a role for him when he returns. As good as Tholstrup has been in the tagging role, I could see Viney being given this responsibility with Tholstrup freed up to be either a half-back flanker or genuine midfielder.

This says more about how much improvement I've seen in Tholstrup this year than any concerns I might have about Viney's future.

32 minutes ago, Bowserpower said:

I don't see it. The game has passed him by

Not sure about this.

As has been mentioned the younger bodies will tire as the season goes on and seasoned veterans like Viney will be very useful. We're also going to be coming up against midfields of all shapes and sizes and there will be times when we need that extra grunt.

After round one a lot of people wondered if there was a place for him and then we ran into the big body Dockers midfield and got bashed around. Jack is a required player for mine.

Our skills improving under a new gameplan makes me think our goalkicking woes were between the ears. Playing with a bit more freedom and less pressure right now.

Well let's see here, I would consider the following before crediting a coach:

• Removing players who were #1 and #2 on clangers from the team

• Changing the mindset to hit the short hit ups instead of going long

• Being fitter and more able to spread the ground (thus creating a larger margin for error)

Has all benefitted greatly to what is a slight improvement on disp efficiency.

On 01/04/2026 at 09:52, MrFreeze said:

I am not sure our skills have improved that much - our first half showed under pressure we still can fumble and fail to execute on basic disposals. But what we have done is use our speed to spread and create clear, simple options that clearly chain together. At our best, we look to have a clear process of moving the ball through the wings from d50 and moving the ball from centre bounce forward to create cleaner clearances.

Skills automatically become better as the gameplan becomes more imbedded. It’s high risk ..high reward ..that is the gameplan so early days be prepared for turnovers. I’m amazed that after only 3 games we are having some brilliant moments. As Kingy said ..our senior players have played round 10 yrs a certain way & are being asked to change all that. Different players will take diff times but Lever certainly proved that they are getting there. It’s a long way from perfect but so much fun