titan_uranus

Crap thread number 2.

I'm satisfied that at the time of each draft we took who we considered to be the best player. That's all we can ask for. Hence this thread, and all others like it, which are purely about using hindsight to criticise draft picks, is pathetic.

Nope, seems like you're the one missing the point. The idea is to pick a game plan that will win you a premiership, then stick to it until you get there. It means short term pain for long term gain. We've seen it happening since DB came to the club. Otherwise you play one way for a year or two, then need a fundamental re-structuring of your players to win a flag.

Crap thread.

In Geelong's case, they definitely changed it up. They were playing in the first half the way they usually do, but it wasn't as effective, and they recognised that against Sydney, in the wet, at the SCG, kicks might work better, so they noticably changed to a kicking game. Against Collingwood we didn't change anything, we just played well. Good strategies those days (manning up/tagging Maxwell, Shaw and O'Brien).

We've been over this for the last 3 years. DB has been trying to formulate a game plan that will win us a premiership. To that end, we spent the last few years playing in a way that was going to lose us games because we weren't good enough at what we were doing. The problem now is whether or not that game plan is actually going to be successful. I doubt it, I think the game has moved on and we have been left behind.

Good post. I do. Adelaide did it two years ago. Hawthorn did it last year. Heck, Geelong did it mid-game against Sydney a few weeks back, where they reverted from their usual run/handpass game to a kick-dominated one with different forward options. IMO we don't need to do too much. A change in forward structure is the biggest thing. We need deeper forwards leading towards the ball carrier, not starting their leads on the wing and running sideways/towards goal (or worse still, not leading at all).

This is a typical wallpaper-over-the-cracks statement. There is more to this than just our senior players aren't standing up. We can field a youthful, inexperienced, physically underdeveloped side. But they need to have a go, and at the moment the youth are not giving 100% for 100% of the game. Sure, you could argue that the leaders need to do this in order to make the kids follow suit or something like that, but the way I see it, we do not have 22 players on the field who are giving their all, and that is more than just a leadership issue. It's why Bailey is rightly copping flak, and why, if we don't turn it around, he's dead.

You're living in Melbourne. You reckon Port just got off scot free in Adelaide?

But your first point is something the coaches have to take credit/flak for. And last night wasn't the first time we've struggled to move the ball through a press.

So he improved. No one else did. Where most played their worst game for the year, Watts played his best. He was better than you're giving him credit for. Not exactly a break-out game, nor even a great game, but a clear step in the right direction.

Not sure about Maric. What we all want to see is a lift in intensity. Maric was lacklustre (at best) in his 1.25 games. He is the antithesis of intensity. I'm not sure he is what we are looking for right at this moment. Dunn has to go. Morton has to go. Bennell ought to go. Petterd should come in. MacDonald should come in (push Tapscott/Grimes into the midfield).

1. Four quarter intensity. Enough said. 2. Green playing as a deep forward, leading to the ball carrier. That is, IMO, where he plays his best football. I don't like him on the wing, I don't like him up the ground. I like him deep, getting on leads, and marking in front of his defender. He is not playing well, which may or may not be related to the captaincy, but I think the best thing to do with him is put him deep. 3. Tweak the game plan/structure. It's time for some small but important changes. For one, we need to ensure we leave our forwards closer to goal. This gives us a get-out option, and it means when we're bringing the ball out of defence we have forwards leading towards the ball carrier, not away from them. It looks good when we play well to have our forwards streaming into space towards goal, but that only works when the opponent's defence is a shambles, and in 2011, maybe the Gold Coast and Port Adelaide are the only sides who can't defend that tactic well enough. Players like Watts, Jurrah, Green and Petterd are all mobile enough to make leads towards the ball carrier and then double back and make leads back into space when required. 4. Something that resembles a plan for kick-ins. I'm sick of us kicking long to a contest. It doesn't work, it's predictable, and it's dumb. We need to work on who takes the kicks, who gives us the short option, whether we're going to move the ball via hand, foot, or by running, and who is going to position themselves where in order to make this happen. It's a shambles at the moment. 5. A tighter defensive press when we're defending. We're too loose and we don't apply the same pressure on the opposition that we are feeling when we have the ball.

Correct.

Of course, last year. Sure, we lost to them, but our overall brand of football and the future we saw in our youngsters was well ahead of what anyone saw coming out of West Coast.

Again, the question that comes to the forefront of my mind is whether the style of play we are trying to implement is going to work for us. Last night, again, we could not bring the ball out of defence. At this stage of our development we shouldn't be having this problem popping up week after week.

It's not a great response, but what else can he say? Intensity should be non-negotiable. We shouldn't have to say, after a loss, that we need to lift our intensity.

It's more than a fair point. But for how long can we look to our youth and inexperience as a waiver for poor performances? Fact is, younger and more inexperienced sides can still show effort and skill. They might be pushed around, or run out of puff, or make mistakes, but they should not be playing like we did last night. Moreover, how did West Coast surpass us so quickly?

This is the killer for me. We are soft. There's no questioning it. No doubt. No debate. We have only a few players who are willing to get tough (Moloney, Jones, Jamar). Most of the rest are either afraid of physical contact, or just look like they're afraid. We don't have a presence.

Unfortunately my optmisism is slipping into hope. That's not good. I honestly thought we were on the up, as did most of us, and maybe we still are. But when you play like that, against a side that won just 4 games last year, and shouldn't be that much better than us, you have to question things. Another game where we did not put in the required intensity or effort. Another game where our skills weren't good enough. Another game where our gameplan failed us. We're five games into the year and we haven't played one yet for four quarters. We haven't looked like it, either. That's not good enough, by anyone's standards.

No, but not for the reason given. I wouldn't want him because he's not that good.

Well, I'm flabbergasted. Serious groin injury in Round 1, and only 4.5 weeks later he's back. Hopefully he's not actually at full fitness. Won't be Martin as the sub, and I doubt they'll put Morton back in there again. So I think it will be Dunn or Bennell, which makes sense as they were two of our worse players against the Gold Coast. I'm still a bit surprised Dunn's held his spot over Petterd. Last chance saloon I guess.

I'd be flabbergasted if LeCras was picked. Groin injuries like that don't just go away. If he doesn't play, I'd look at Frawley on Kennedy. Rivers didn't work on him last year. I don't know much about Darling but maybe Garland can take him, and thus Rivers to Lynch (when he goes forward). If LeCras plays, I think Frawley will go to him, as he did last year. A bit risky given LeCras won't have played any lead-up football (i.e. might be a waste of Frawley), but he could win them the game off his own boot. Then we'd need Rivers on Kennedy and Garland on Lynch. Bail to run with Embley, who's in fine form in 2011.

When is the team announced, tonight? I'd be hoping for Watts to get a full game, and Dunn to make way for Petterd.

Well I think I'm considerably younger than you, but from the 10 years of football memories I have, I honestly cannot think of a worse day I have spent at the football. Sure, the consecutive 100 point thrashings to start 2008 weren't great, but for mine, that game last year had absolutely nothing going for it.