stevethemanjordan

I wish to bring this issue up as a point of discussion even though I'm aware that many posters are talking about it in other threads. Our two major problem areas are clearly our inability to convert inside 50's into genuine scoring opportunities and our inability to limit the opposition scoring when they enter their forward 50. For the former, the answer is seemingly more clear cut. We clearly lack players who possess high enough levels of composure, foot skills and smarts. Evidenced time and time again by our players entering the forward 50 with almost no care for what the outcome will be. Be it quick scrap kicks from stoppages from players like Petracca yesterday or pointless torpedos to a forward line that contains one key position height forward. This is not okay. I don't for one second believe that Goodwin has instructed our players to kick the ball aimlessly into our 50 in the hope that our crumbers will score from that type of play every single time. It is simply unsustainable and amatuer. There are so so many times I can see clear space for our players to kick into to the advantage of our forwards, but they simply don't. This issue hasn't been addressed at all since the beginning of the season. I believe it's a player issue and Goodwin must now either play two key talls in our forward line or send a heavy message to those who continue to move the ball into our forward line with no system to their thought. It's putrid. The latter/second point that is less clear cut to me is the way we setup as a defensive back six. In my opinion, the aggressive zone that Goodwin has implemented is in no way conducive to the type of backmen we have who are meant to be executing this type of setup. Is it not obvious that in order to successfully execute an aggressive zone defence, you need one of two strengths as a backline unit, preferably both. Kicking skills/composure and speed? Playing in an aggressive zone means you're guarding space rather than standing side by side to your opponent. Which also means you need fleet footed individuals who can read the play and have quick reaction times. Aside from Hunt and Frost who both lack composure and foot-skills anyway, we have nobody else in that backline who is quick. In fact, Lewis, Vince, Oscar, Lever and Jetta are all slow with Hibberd being the only one whose pace is good.. Out of that group, I'd say Lewis, Vince, Oscar and Hibberd are generally solid users of the ball however, Lewis is the only player who more often than not shows composure and calmness. The rest of our backline group are far too inconsistent with the way they handle pressure situations. (Although Lewis didn't exactly set the world on fire in that regard yesterday.) Take spoiling as an example. Does anyone believe that Goodwin instructs 3 or 4 players to go up in a contest, all with the intention of spoiling the same ball whilst their opponents run amok once the ball hits the deck? How many times do we see opposition sides score easy goals because of this? That's only one example. But it is directly related to this defensive zone that we play. If our players don't have direct opponents as such, then your backline group need to have the utmost trust, composure and decision making skills in each other to know when to fly, or when not to etc. I believe Goodwin needs to show some maturity and an ability to change when something isn't working and in my opinion, I'd love to see us fall back and play a much less aggressive type of zone that suits players like Oscar, who I must admit was really good yesterday. He is a one-on-one defender. Not a zone playing key position defender. Lever would benefit from a tighter playing backline group, go and look at how Adelaide play and why he was so good for them. Lewis, Vince and Jetta would all benefit from playing closer to their opponents due to their lack of speed. I can't understand it and I really hope Goody can show some humility just like Hardwick did last year and rejig the backline structure. It's okay to be wrong as a coach. As upset as I am with yesterday, I still hold hope that this group will click. I'm certainly beginning to question some of Goodwin's plans though. Thoughts?

Mods, please pin this ^ in the 'best philosophical quotes' section of demonland. Saty is seriously underrated when it comes to making insightful comments and frankly he deserves more recognition.

Opportunities. That’s all this AFL game is really about. Last year going into the final round of the season, an opportunity had presented itself thanks to the season we’d had. Win the game, and we’d be playing in the finals for the first time since 06. It was against a seriously undermanned Collingwood side and we absolutely fluffed it. For days, I was waiting for a statement from the club and an answer as to why and how we could lose such an important game against an undermanned side.The answer was surprising. Jones spoke of everything but that round 23 game. He spoke about the fact that we’d lost games during the season that we shouldn’t have. Well, Jonesy. Here is another opportunity. An opportunity against Hawthorn in round 4 where we can make a statement. A statement to let the football world know that we are genuinely turning the corner. We can string wins together. We can beat sides who we should be beating. And we can go into next week full of confidence and take it right up to the reigning premiers. We have an opportunity to change even if slightly, the story that the MFC become too content with themselves after a win. I want a four quarter team effort with us playing the “Melbourne way”, a term that I’ve heard a lot over pre season but have only seen glimpses of to date. There are no excuses today. Umpires, weather, personnel. It’s time to deliver. Give em’ hell Dees.

I don't wish to derail a thread with Oscar talk. I just find it funny when posters change the narrative to suit their argument in regards to him. A game that includes a total of 6 possessions, 2 of those being uncontested with 3 free kicks against is poor whichever way you look at it. Yeh Brown may have had a couple of goals that weren't directly to do with Oscar. But again, it's interesting none of brought up the goal Oscar gave to Waite when he was caught holding the ball after showing zero awareness in the contest. Oscar was poor both as a number one defender and in providing an option as part of our attacking zone. You can't really hide from the facts. He was totally ineffective in most contests. We can take this elsewhere if you wish to continue.

I believe it’s canthitatargetus.

Hahaha. Very good. O-Mac plays on Hawkins and Hipwood one week and gets all the individual praise for keeping them quiet. But as soon as he has a shocker, (Brown) it’s the rest of the team to blame for Oscar’s downfall. Doesn’t quite make sense.

Unfortunate for Tyson that he’s ill. But it helps our cause imo against a more dynamic hawthorn midfield. Tyson has been playing wing and is a very average runner and outside player so I hope Brayshaw is the direct replacement. Also don’t think we need Frost in the side as Hawthorn will only have Roughie and Gunston as talls. Would much rather the Weid to come in as another key forward to keep Hawthorn worried. Hogan can take Frawley up the field and run him around.

I’d have had Brayshaw in the side over ANB, Melksham and Tyson for any of the rounds so far. Cearly there’s something more than ‘form’ that we’re not privy to. ANB and Melksham have been seriously underwhelming to date. And Tyson hasn’t been much better imo. Yet none of them have been dropped.

I think he was jesting.

Explain your logic. It really doesn't make sense.

An unbelievable talent. Can’t wait to watch his career unfold. He and Petracca were made for finals footy.

Great thread. I agree that the way we're being drilled to play means quick entries inside 50 are of most benefit given we've adopted the 'in vogue' high pressure forward-line. However, there are many times in which we have plenty of space and options for players to see and hit. But they don't and that's a weakness that we have across the board.

Are they coaching issues though? How do you know? At this level, navigating how to enter the forward 50 in a smart and deliberate way is up to the individual. Bombing it aimlessly forward when your entire team know that the opposition have a loose man sitting back is not the coaches fault. Take our forward running set-play as an example: When we send a half-forward to run in off the square at a centre bounce from the half backline, it obviously means the oppo have a spare defender sitting inside our forward 50. Our players should be fully aware of that so if we happen to win a clearance at that centre bounce because of our extra runner coming through, we need to be entering our forward 50 with purpose and care, not just blazing away. The coach sets these plays. The individuals must carry them out. Tempo footy really isn't a plan B imo. It's just common sense. However, I'm more interested in the part before the "tide had turned", so to speak. I've just revisited the Brisbane game and there are were number of warning signs halfway through the third quarter that are the reason we lost control: - Individuals lost their ability to be clean with the ball in the contest - Some certain individuals lost some critical one-on-one contests at important times - The level of our ball use dropped significantly - We missed some opportunities to kick very easy goals during that quarter It was a matter of Brisbane picking up their contest game and ball use and us dropping away heavily in that area. That was the difference. Had we still been clean around the ball and kept our ball use up, the quarter would have been halved imo.

Astonishingly, I’m in total agreement with this post and your last. The talk of Goody and co needing a plan B, C, D etc is ridiculous. Look at any strong opposition side who have played consistently well over a period of time and you’ll see that they have one game plan and their players execute it to a consistently high level often. Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney over the years, Richmond last year, Doggies in 16 etc. Our single quarter meltdowns are nothing to do with the way we’re coaching. Go over any of the footage from our second quarter against Geelong or the last 10 mins of the third and first half of the fourth against the Lions and it’s obvious to see that there is a distinct drop off from far too many individual players. Skill errors, decision making errors, fumbles, disciplinary issues, positional etc. They’re the first things that notably drop-off which give the opposition a chance to hit the scoreboard. Momentum comes later when an opposition can sense a swing in the game. Until we get a dozen or so guys playing at a consistently high level for four quarters, nothing will change, no matter who is sitting in the coaches box. Gawn has been playing half games, Lewis is not playing to a high enough level, Jones is not using the ball as well as he usually does, Melksham and ANB have been wildly inconsistent, the contrast of Garlett’s game this round compared to last. The list is endless for so many. It’s player driven. Our game plan is fine. We need more individuals playing high level footy for 4 quarters. Oliver is one. * Would like to make an apology to @Wiseblood for my last few posts directed to him. Supporting this team is infuriating at times.

Possibly doesn't need its own thread so to the overwatchers of this forum, feel free to merge. To anyone who has info, what is going on? I heard him interviewed during the week and he gave away nothing to suggest his omission was due to his wisdom teeth being pulled/lack of preparation. I had just assumed it was to do with that. He is a number 3 pick, highly talented and I can't understand why he's been overlooked again when any number of players could have been omitted for this week's game.

I do hope you jest.

Again, gotta love that we hear about this through external outlets and not the club.

Compete in a global market? lol. Nobody cares about the game outside of Australia and that's why it is such a sacred and special game given the popularity of it in our home country. I think you mean nationally, we are competing with soccer, which is a global game? The only reason the AFL continue to 'Americanise' the game is to make it more attractive globally and because $$$. As Australians, we kiss so much US dick it's disgusting.

I agree. And I’m happy that Frost and Oscar will be battling for that second tall position. It will make them better players individually and will hold them to higher accountability on game day. All of it being a positive for the club. We’ve also got the best crop of 21-23 year olds in the comp and it sound as if they want to stay together given their love for one another. That’s what excites me most about our future. They’re all super close.

Hardly a slap. I’m just using you as an example of the demonlander that greatly overrates our players.

It’s a contributing factor, sure. But it’s only structural now that we have Lever at the club. And that trade in itself said a lot about how the coaches viewed a backline of Oscar and Frost in tandem as talls. His footy fundamentals have never been up to scratch and he’s been trialled in almost every position, failing to lock down any of them. I was baiting supporters who loosely throw around the term ‘gun’. Which is an annoyance.

Frost simply has too many question marks to his game, not sure why that’s not obvious to some posters. Especially @Drunkn167 who has termed him a “gun”. His best go is in the backline. But Oscar has had an enormous summer and is looking solid. I wouldn’t be surprised if Frost missed against St Kilda either, unless we were to rest Oscar/Lever.

Non-story imo. I heard Tom McDonald say the same thing last contract. Perhaps the club has made a lowball offer, if anything.

JimmyGadson thanks DeeVoted

You are. But that’s cool.