Everything posted by Previously known as LITD.
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Forward line questions
I fully agree that the delivery into our forward line is well below par. Has been for a long time now. We lost some finals where our i50 count was higher than our opponents. But our accuracy in kicking has been woeful too. We know who the main offenders are. Unfortunately Fritta used to be one of our most reliable set shots. But I think he's a real confidence player. He is not a traditional fwd. He's not a Tony Lockett example of brute force and he's not a small speedy Gonzales. He's got a good leap and he's great at timing his bumps so his small frame often accounts for moving larger ones. One on one in space, he is a defenders nightmare because he can turn on a dime and needs but a few milliseconds to get the ball onto his boot. He's often in the process of kicking while still turning. He has a great sense of where the goals are and he can often kick freakish goals from the boundary line. He also has great recovery skills after he goes for a mark. He has cat like skills to land on his feet and stay in contention. A perfect example was that gf goal when he and Max went up for the same grab. Fritta is a master of out the back goals. Problem is, as you alluded to, is our delivery. That example I just referenced was one where there was lots of space. Due to the nature of our game plan, teams now have plenty of time to flood our fwd line and therefore nullify Frittata's skills . I will watch him closer now that you have mentioned this. I hadn't noticed it. The big issue for me regarding Fritta is his lack of chasing and tackling. It's not a good look and he just doesn't seem to be giving his all. But the calls to trade him are wrong. He just needs to find his mojo. He has been our leading goal kicker for a while now and even though he hasn't heights of a Coleman, he's gone close in one season. And that's not bad given the way the ball has "delivered" into our fwd line.
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Time to go Goody?
I didn't want Tracc to go but now I'm of the mind that if any player doesn't want to be at this great club than adios. But let's trade as hard as can. No favors for anyone who doesn't want to win another flag for this club. Thanks for the memories but how do I say this....ummm... oh... yea....get lost. (Unless it's Max. Not saying is is though. Just saying. ....I love the bloke).
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Forward line questions
- Time to go Goody?
I think it's fair to assume after two games that we are not going to win a flag this year. I thought we played really well against a very good team in the Giants but Sunday's game was a fiasco. What then will determine if Goody will be around next year? Does failure to make finals justify removing him? Goody did a remarkable job helping this club win a flag. It was 56 years of misery and pain ended by a coach where so many other coaches failed. A flag comes from a combination of many things. Obviously it takes a great collection of great players. And we certainly did have that. In spades. We came so close to winning another in 23. So Goody has been an exceptional coach. And while he's not perfect it has to be recognised that it's a very difficult job. Now we find that many of those players have had injuries ,have left or other issues. Goody doesn't have a great list anymore. I mention all this because I don't want to see the man unceremoniously removed from the job. In today's footy age, coaches resign, get pushed out or sacked in a whirlwind of media judging. These things often have a force and momentum of their own. I have a feeling that Goody won't be coaching at Melbourne next year. The question isn't really should Goody be removed, it's really a question of when and how. Perhaps the club should find a new coach ASAP with the view to let Goody bow out gracefully and the with the respect and kudos he deserves. He certainly warrants leaving the club in a dignified manner . He achieved the ultimate prize that a plethora of other coaches couldn't achieve. He should not be in the centre of s#t storm media prophecy calling for his blood week in and out until it comes to fulfill itself as they always do. And as much as I don't like the word, it is time for a rebuild and as such getting a new coach would help with that. We have often used the term premiership window with the 21 crop of players. For a combination of reasons, this window is well and truly closed. Time to start making a new one. And along with it, time for a new coach.- Welcome to Demonland: Xavier Lindsay
- PODCAST: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
Tx for the PC. Another insightful one in times when many of us are baffled. The scary summation for me is the observation about how our backline is failing us. First the fwd line, then the MF and now this. Despite my calls before this game of possibly moving May fwd....scrap this....we are in trouble in our defence department. Mays's absence was very much obvious. I thought Petty played well but he seemed alone. Maybe Bowey a little better than he's been but he needed to be. The real issue is Lever and May both being injury prone. They are getting on in years. With having to move Disco fwd we are struggling everywhere. And back to our forward line, it's no different. In the PC , someone briefing touched on Max spending more time fwd. Just no for me. If he's not rucking he should be resting. And I'm sorry but he is just a terrible set shot. Up there with Tracca. The p.c. was right about the form of Jvr. It's gone south further than Macquarie island so with him joining the company of Fritta, our backline struggling and our mids all over the shop, we are in for a good deal more pain.- PODCAST: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
There you go #demoncat At around about 0ne hour and 15 minutes.... I think it was George on the outer that sums up your concern about Ed Langdon's change quite succinctly. Not in these words but probably similar.... Ed Langdon is not a ball magnet...he's more of a ball mover. Not to say he doesn't get his fair share of disposals but rather his strength lies in his speed and skill rather than his strength.( If that makes sense.) I think in the p.c. they allude to the fact that Ed is not your typical strong mf who gets in under packs like Viney and wins the ball in tight comps. For me, the mids are there to get the ball to Langdon type players who use their speed and silky skills to move the ball down the ground. So yea not a great move.- PODCAST: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
The same can be said about the move of Petty to the fwd line last year. From memory, he played an absolute pearler against the tigers and booted a bag of sausage rolls but sadly, that's pretty much where the experiment ended. I mean he showed the occasional glimpses of good work but he's just not a fwd . For reasons beyond my limited comprehension, defenders don't convert well to being fwds like fwds can become defenders Tmac is one of the exceptions to this rule as he became one of our best fwds after years of defending and pretty much set up a lot of our wins in 2021 to put us in flag contention. Maybe he was originally a fwd in his salad years. I'm not sure he could play fwd again given the injuries he's had and plus he's doing a bang up job in his old role. Although I do wonder why we haven't tried him again. Maybe we are worried he will get injured. But back to Langdon....you are spot on in calling this change out. It didn't work. And while one could rightly argue that more time is needed than just one game, we don't really have that luxury. And yea it's early days but I foresee hard times and trouble ahead. I know Jbr and Fritta are struggling but if one of those were injured, then oh boy. But back to Langdon. We need Langdon in the position he has absolutely dominated in. And done so many a time. I'll hold off on giving Goody a serve because I feel he's doing the best he can with limited options. He's also been quite flexible and open minded with some of these decisions. I used to think he was quite stuck in his ways. Not anymore at least. But back to Langdon... When he's in top gear, he is a weapon and then some. Let's hope we see him reaching those cogs this year. And in his true position. In fact if we look at our 2021 list and see who is playing in their respective "lower gears", there are quite a few. Fritta Jvr Lever Spargo Bowey And on Sunday we saw The Three horseman of Max, Tracca and Oliver struggle at times. Yes Oliver had a very high possession count, he used the pill poorly more than once. In fact they all did. Last year after that infamous Freo game last year they did so as well. Well Tracca was injured. But that's part of it. With that tremendous talented trio below par or injured or out, it's very noticable. We had May and Kozzie out. Also since 21 Anb and Jackson and BBB have gone That's a lot of stardom out of form, missing or injured for sure. In footy dollars it's a mountain of moola. If you had all the blokes mentioned above playing their best , then you could fill the other spots with unknowns and still come out on top. So there are clearly a lot of problems. But back to Langdon. He's not alone.- van Rooyen and Turner to the backline?
May used to be a fwd and if your happy to try Petty there, then why not. Well mainly because we tried Petty there and it simply didn't work. I think I'm fair it calling that out. I'm sure most would agree he didn't do well playing fwd. And as for Turner, I said well maybe. I was non committal because I saw my own double standard. But again mainly because of Petty not doing well there. He averaged less than a goal a game and why he played the odd good game, they were well and truly far and few between. May is different to those two. He is much stronger and unlikely to get moved out of position. I believe we need someone that can take a few pack marks given the way we bomb it in. i wasn't having a go at you. Apologies if it seemed gruff. Cheers.- Time to go Goody?
After Sunday's tripe, please let me vent 74.- New coach prospects
He won't be sacked. Not during the season. If we continue to stack up more losses like Sundays, he may retire. If we finish 14th again then I can't see him coaching us next year though. And if it gets to that would probably be for the best. And yea he's a premiership coach but like the players, you still have to keep performing. And if we have two years of no finals after two outs in straight sets, even after a flag, surely that's the breaking point. The North outcome strangely feels like the game we lost against Freo last year. At least we have time to turn it around but zim really not hopeful. And zi try to be. It's just Sundays game really exposed some deep core issues and it's not something a new coach could turn around promptly.- New coach prospects
I had to quote you because there's no pull your head in emoji. Pyhi.- Time to go Goody?
Kinda of like not doing anything to fix a dodgy forward line for three years. Yep the cubs shown some significant signs of craziness.- Time to go Goody?
Changing coaches is not going to change the negligence of the club's poor drafting in regards to a decent hand for Max who could also help our fwd line. The club wasn't off course with the Grundy experience except for two small details... Grundy doesn't mark and he's no fwd. I mean other than that it was a brilliant move. Also it's not going to reverse the bad form of our only TWO tall/ fwds in Fritta and Jvr. ( Disco and Jeffo don't count as yet). Or produce another key fwd somehow. I mean it's not like Goody can put a rocket up these two by dropping them. We don't have anyone to fill their place. So there's that. However, I'll go to my grave yelling Goody cost us a flag with the five game part timer in Laurie as the sub when Gus was almost decapitated. Sure just one player but we were effectively one man down because of it in a game that went down to the wire. And while Goody couldn't predict the sub would be needed for the whole game, that's kinda of the point. Laurie was so far out of his depth in a normal game not to mention a final in front of 80 odd thousand. My goodness Simon, what were you thinking? I know, I know, it's history. But how often do you get a double chance in this game? And this is why he gets the benefit of any doubt. Flags are just so rare, you have to hang on with both arms to any coach that delivers one. But one thing for sure, complacency is a success killer in this game, so it's a fine line. In any event, these things have a momentum all of their own. A couple more performances like Sundays and the noise around Goody will get very loud. And while I'm sure the club will keep him all year, failure to make finals again will produce a cacophony of coach killing calls, that the decision will be made for it. Just saying.- Time to go Goody?
Good point. Norths pressure with its high tackle count and numbers to the contest seemed far superior to our efforts. Especially in our fwd line. Our fwd pressure was terrible. N M seemed to waltz it out of their backline at leisure. Sometimes straight down the guts which often involved a score. Their clearance effort was far better too. Our over the head handballs rarely found their mark. In fact a lot of them were look away ones because of North's pressure. Suffice to say they didn't work either. Funny that.- Time to go Goody?
What did Goody actually say about Max? Did he suggest Max was having some issues outside of the game? If so, is he out of line? Max has been the heart and soul of this club for the last decade and I personally would not be fussed if he ran over a seeing eye dog.- PREGAME: Rd 03 vs Gold Coast
Viney should not be dropped. Fritta is very lucky. But I dare say if we play like this again this weekend, then the calls for Goodys head will start to grow. He's a premiership coach and that counts for heaps. But as the old saying goes ...a week is a long time in footy. Would be a shame to lose him but after yesterday, I'm not sure we are heading in the right direction. At what point do we seriously consider his replacement? Does failure to make finals again this year count?- PREGAME: Rd 03 vs Gold Coast
- PODCAST: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
- van Rooyen and Turner to the backline?
Absolutely not. Well maybe Turner but we do not have that luxury as yet. And the high hopes for Jvr to be another champion chf are fading fast. I don't think putting him the ruck last year helped his form and confidence. As for Disco he's a lovely shot at goal but i think we are messing him around too by playing him in a position he's not really suited for. Id certainly try May fwd but we tried Petty there and it didn't work in the slightest. Here's an idea Mfc, rather than having to keep trialling players in positions they are not suitable for, how about simply recruiting some who are?- POSTGAME: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
- POSTGAME: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
We haven't rebuilt the fwd line. I'm glad we are giving Jeffo a run but we really only have one replacement for Jvr and Fritta and that's Milkshake. And his body must be close to cooked. And he's not a tall fwd either. And Turner hasn't proven himself as a fwd yet. So yea my expectations are in check with a fwd line of Fritta, Jvr and Disco. For sure. But yesterday it wasn't just our fwd line. It was the entire team. Apologies to Chandler. But sheesh one player against last year's second last team. Now I really have no expectations- POSTGAME: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
Yep. We played well against the giants but to be comprehensively smashed by last year's second last team is demoralizing. Fritta should be dropped for a month for his performance. Not a single tackle off the back of a lethargic game prior and a lackluster year last. It's one thing to have an off day but the zero tackle count really speaks towards attitude. I didn't play a great deal of the game and for sure wasn't very good but I always knew that if had trouble getting a kick, I could always lay a tackle. But the club hasn't really recruited any decent replacement for him for three years now. No wonder he doesn't fire. A game each week is a given.- Time to go Goody?
Thank you. Someone's head should roll. Surely. I really don't know that much about footy but I certainly know that we have done absolutely nothing to fix our fwd line set up. Credit for trying the Grundy experience but we let him go and didn't bring in any replacement. It's just baffling- POSTGAME: Rd 02 vs North Melbourne
- Time to go Goody?