stevethemanjordan

Goodwin had the opportunity to change some things over the start of this pre-season. Over the last month I've seen nothing but the same mistakes being made. That tells me we have a list and system break down. Am I still wrist-slashing after tonight? Or are you and your pals finally waking up to the reality that something genuinely stinks?

Goody's presser should be a hoot.

The longer this season has gone on, the less impressed I've been with Goodwin. Selections again are baffling. Not rewarding form at Casey (JKH), and playing individuals who consistently underperform. (ANB as an example). And now his pre-game presser has topped it off: "We need our big men marking the ball inside 50 and at the moment Braydon probably isn't doing that for us". How many weeks did he give Tom McDonald to start clunking the thing? When asked about Tom's form earlier in the year, whilst agreeing he was out of form somewhat, he'd shift the emphasis on both the quality of ball coming in and the need for our smaller forwards to lock the ball in when brought to ground. It doesn't make sense and it sends an inconsistent and unprofessional message to Brayden as well as the supporters. I believe Pruess and Gawn should be playing together for the rest of the year as both a trial and opportunity to gel together. Petty should have been sent back in May's absence and we could have had Tim Smith, Pruess and Fritsch as marking targets. It's genuinely baffling. Oscar didn't play last week because of illness and the week before that he didn't impress in the VFL. I don't understand the guy.

I like it a lot. A big positive in what's been a shockingly negative year.

Yeh, you forgot the part where we're back to being a basket case though. Last year was a year of wild inconsistency. Yes we made a prelim of the back off several weeks of good form. But remind me what happened? No goals to half time? Was it an anomoly? No. That performance was all too familiar.

Following on from the above, a genuine question emerges that I'd like to ask the happy-go-luckies around these parts. There's one obvious trend that has emerged from the last few years regarding inside 50's. Against many top 10 sides over the past three seasons, we have either matched or beaten them in inside 50's yet we've ended up losing the game, sometimes very badly. What has Goodwin done as far as list approach goes to rectifying this over that period? What genuine changes has he made? Anndddd go.

A quality back six unit can only be formed when the individuals comprised play a significant amount of game-time together. May and Lever have played what, three games together? We need them to play every game possible together and that goes for Jetta, Hibberd and Frost too (if he's going to play that third tall). IMO it would be absolutely ludicrous to play May forward with a handful of games to go when we're sitting 17th on the ladder.

I've said my piece many times over the last two years regarding our list, so @titan_uranus has either missed reading those contributions or hasn't been bothered which is why he believes I haven't provided detail. Not my prob. I don't wish to comment on every aspect of the club because in many areas we are doing just fine. I have concerns with our list and as of this year, Goodwin. For three years, I have always been of the belief that we are a noticeably unbalanced and poorly skilled side compared to most others and therefore very one-dimensional in the way that we play and how we're instructed to play. Last year in June, I responded to Saty with the post below as he was (as always), taking a very relaxed approach to our losses and just generally toeing the company line. "Here's a question. If the players had 'learnt' from bombing the ball long against stronger sides who apply strong pressure, then we'd have rectified it after round 1 when we beat Geelong 64 to 41 in the inside 50 count yet lost the game by 2 points. What's your answer? Against Hawthorn we won the count 54 to 53 yet lost to them by 67 points. Against Richmond and Collingwood we were comprehensively beaten up around the ball being smashed in clearances and possession chains out of stoppages resulting in scores due to opposition heat. We nearly always gave the ball up under pressure. Against Port, we smashed them in inside 50's yet lost the game by 10 points. Again. Pressure. Like you, I can see a lot of positives within the group and I know there's a lot of growth and potential there with our core group of 23-24 year olds. But unlike you, I'm completely aware that these patterns emerge because of a team deficiency that can only be changed by additions to our squad that will give us a better balance and blend of attributes. " The way that we lose games to disciplined sides is no mystery at all to me. Goodwin has shown a complete lack of flexibility regarding our list and hasn't done nearly enough to address what have become obvious trends in the way we lose games. I also posted this after our queens Birthday loss to Collingwood last year: "I've tried hard not to post since Monday's loss, allowing for some time to view the game on TV, (having been there live) and to watch closely on what went on at the coal face which is where the game was lost. First off, it's clear as day that Buckley went to town on the first quarter of the bulldogs game and would have shown his players and said, "look what happens when you pressure Melbourne to this level". Props to him, we couldn't handle it at all and they maintained that level of intensity for the entirety of the game which was impressive. Why were or levels of intensity and pressure not at theirs given its what we've built our entire brand on? Buckley also exposed us in a couple of areas within the midfield. Having a contested heavy, one dimensional midfield group who are all natural ball chasers/inside players can be a double edged sword. When we're on, playing with intensity and most importantly are 'clean' in the contest, we look really good. If the opposition put pressure us at the coal face and nullify Gawn's taps then we look slow and reactionary given the types of players we have playing as half forwards and wings. As an example, if you watch Harmes closely in patches when he's on the wing, you'll see how hard he finds it to sit back from the contest and trust that a team mate would win the ball. Some of his efforts when he decided to chase the ball were very poor as he had no impact and it allowed for his opponent to sit back on the outside and become an option in space. Too many times this happened, and Collingwood had a much better spread of midfielders both inside and outside. Sometimes I wonder what instruction is given to players like Harmes and Brayshaw when they play on the wing and or if they're listening? Both players played their under age years as inside mids with Harmes having rests forward. Unfortunately at this stage, if the opposition get on top in that area, we don't really seem to have another plan due to our personnel through through the midfield. I noticed Goodwin tried to throw Hogan in there again and for me, that's just clutching at straws as he is not a midfielder and cannot play that position effectively. Watch some of his efforts and you'll see. Whilst there are other areas of the ground we can tinker with, like the Vince and Lewis in the same backline conundrum, I thought I'd concentrate on the midfield as it's our strength. Bringing Tyson in is not an answer for me. Unless you're taking one of our starting mids out which there's no need yet imo. We need to get back to starting the game with real intensity and being clean with that first possession. Pederson whilst strong in the air, doesn't provide the same defensive pressure as Smith or Weideman. I would bring Smith back in. Other than that, keep the same side. The only way we beat Port over there is by playing to our strength and smashing them at the coal face. Oh, and Petracca needs to start in the middle. Needs a rocket. " The way in which we lost to Collingwood^, Hawthorn and Richmond last year were eerily similar to how we lost to West Coast in the Prelim. The same can be said for losses in 2017. There's a trend. And now this year, with a whole range of other influencing factors such as an extensive injury list, poor off-season pre-season numbers, poor depth and Goodwin playing the same squad with the same personnel lining up in the same positions, we find ourselves sitting 17th on the ladder. We had a one wood and when it is taken away from us we have absolutely no other way of playing due to the makeup of our list. It's a real problem. Can it be addressed? Obviously. As I've also said many times, this might have been the year we needed for Goodwin to get his wake up call.

Whenever I'm asked. Happy to answer any questions.

Because some supporters on this site simply can't handle cold hard criticism directed at the club, not least from a past player. It cuts at them and so they become triggered and feel the best way of handling the truth is to say things like, "yeh well Garry Lyon appointed Neeld so he doesn't know n e thingggg".

Not exactly diving into detail regarding those games are you. I wonder why.

Agree on all points. But careful, you'll be called a wrist-slasher by the happy-go-luckies.

People in glass houses.

Yes, because an afl club with the year we've produced after making a prelim would sit on their hands.. What kind of a comment is that? Are you complimenting them for it? No [censored] they'll be trying to turn the ship around. You're turning into the bearded supporter that goes to training.

I'm not a betting man. You look too foolish if it's a loss.

How's that Oscar bet going? Not to be dropped this season and then changed to 'will play again before the season is out'. #oscarmyths #notactuallymyths

Saty watches them kick from 60 off three steps all the time so I don't know what you're talking about frankly...

Frost: "Hold my beer"

We're missing set shots, fumbling and making skill errors because of injuries right?

I've said none of those things and I don't hold the view that you're arguing against so this is a pointless exercise.

Accepting mediocrity vs wrist slashing. I wonder which is more extreme... And what determines 'measured' in this instance? It depends on the perspective one takes. Most of these types of threads are statistical, pointing at how god-awful we've been this year. They're measured. It's just we have one group who believe that injury is the reason we're 17th vs another who believe there are underlying problems and injury whilst contributing has only further highlighted thoss problems.

Ha. Comparing drummers is like comparing midfielders. Different skill sets. Sugarfoot is also great.

Still doesn't excuse going from a prelim to second last in a single season. Not even close.

You hope for 'rational', yet label those who agree with the FACT that our club has some major issues as "wrist slashers". Haha. Very good.

Well done, you have a skill in exaggeration. And 9th is most clearly and obviously not the same 18th. For so many reasons I'm not sure where to begin. What a strange thing to say.