Sargent Shultz

rip up the $50 I put on Richmond winning by 40 plus points - got 4:1 Hope I don't collect

I am cutting Lewis a bit of slack. Apart from The desperate Dees, who brings a player who has not played a game since September 2018 straight back into the side? Surely he should have had a few weeks in the two’s to get match fit. It least I know his trying, which is more than I can be sure of with a few others running around for us.

Agree with one caveat- compete review of the assistant coaches at end of season- Goody needs better help than he is getting

OUT- meaningless post-game statements from the coach, such as: "we're easy to play against" (why is that- bad plan perhaps?) "we're still getting some supply but we're getting beaten in transition" (sound like middle management speak to me) "there is a lot of things going wrong in our game at the moment" (not S*#t Sherlock) "it's really challenging to play the way we want to play" (it looks good at training without any opposition) "were breaking down in a few too many areas" (So....is there a fix in sight?) "we need to connect better with the ball" (isn't this a fundamental skill for a team playing football?) "Our boys are disappointed, our club is disappointed and our fans are disappointed" (another statement stating the bloody obvious) IN - post-game statements from the coach that show insight and honesty: "the plan we devised preseason is being exploited by the competition and we are developing a new plan - fast" "some of the assistant coaches are not up to it and I have briefed Mahoney and Pert to get some new ones - spewing Ratten went to Saints" "its time to focus on 2020, as our GF window is still open, but I need to start blooding some younger players, which unfortunately means some of our "old warriors" like Jordan and Nathan will need to spend time in the VFL teaching our young talent" " we have completely stuffed up at the selection table, both this year and last, which probably cost us the double chance last year. I made a mistake sticking with players who I thought would find form, unfortunately, they didn't" "I wish I could reverse some of the trades we made, some of the players we kept will never make it, and some we let go we could have developed- except I insisted on a culture that worships "hard contested footy"- Unfortunately for me, the club, the players and the fans the game is now all about players with "super fast, elite footy skills" and we don't have too many of those" "I honestly did not think that the rule changes brought in by that D*#khead Steve Hocking would impact on our plan as much as it had - sorry" "I admit now, that all the surgery the boys had preseason has impacted both our ability to execute our game plan and our belief that we could get by in the first 6 rounds while they got back to full fitness" "we totally had our "eye of the ball" or should I say "off Steve May" and should have done a fitness test on him as we signed him. That way we would have known his fitness was sub-par and we could have put in a regime to ensure he was not the most unfit player a the Dees. Even our first year players outran him- I was not happy Jan"

I don’t care how tall he is - can’t play. The stats prove this. He may be ok in a few years. But not now

From the herald sun- sums up the issue- again, what worked in 2018 is not working anymore

Spot on

I posted this after the Bombers game we are playing a game style suited to 2018- problem is its 2019 and the rest of the AFL teams have moved on.

Since we traded hogan we have no other option for tall forwards. Spargo is taking Garletts place, or indeed Kent’s (had we not traded him Too)

I feel it’s not our players, it’s the game plan Godwin cooked up after the loss to the Eagles. Time to admit the plan is no good. Not only can’t we kick goals anymore, we have turned into the easiest team to kick a big score against.

Agree, how he keeps getting picked is mystery to me

I must have been watching a different game - can't tackle unless the opposition player is stationary, won't pick up a player, runs around aimlessly, is slow, on all meaningful stats from last night was last- may one day be OK but in MHO needs a year in the twos to show if he has or has not got the potential the coaches think he has.

ooh- you can add marking skills to the football skills list - last night 61/84 in favour of Essendon, 50/65 in favour of Geelong, 76/102 in favour of Port Adelaide - 2019 will be the year of "the Atheltic Footballer" Perhaps the game has moved on from the ability of some of our players?

Unfortunately, I think the sad truth is that we recruited a team based upon congested footy, where a premium was placed on hard nuts who could win a contested ball. The new rules place a premium on players with elite football skills (by hand and foot, with speed in the open spaces. Witness - How many time last night Essendon players were out on their own receiving a perfect foot pass. We may be able to adapt- but I don't think so - at least in the short term- we have after all had 6 months to reset. Waiting for May and Lever to fix things is like waiting for Godot

Personally, I am not buying into any of the rubbish on this thread about our players not being good enough or trying hard enough. I do think the amount of surgery that went on after last season has hampered our start. Logic suggests the following: they are the pretty much the same players who got us to a semi-final last year- the only ones missing last night were; Lewis, Tyson, Vandenberg, Hannam and Spargo. Vandenberg, Hannam and Lewis may have made a bit of difference. But not substantial, as Hunt, J Wagner and Fritsch (new to the team) played well last night So what has changed since September 2018? well - the rules. I think, the most significant change in the last 10 years; 6/6/6, kick out from goal square and the willingness of umpire to play free kicks for infringements that were not paid last year So what has the coaching staff done about this? well - not much. As we sit 0/3 and likely to be 0/6 in a few weeks logic suggests to me that the coaches have totally failed to adapt to the new rules, and the players are simply executing a failed game plan- these are pretty much the same players that were a game away from a grand final So what to do? anyone that knows anything about coaching young people (in business or sport) knows that piling on criticism and anger tends to make them withdraw, lose confidence and perform worse. Coaches must take responsibility, admit their plan is wrong, learn from the likes of Geelong who have clearly adapted to the "New Way" and change their model- quickly. As my old friend Darwin said:

I think everyone on this thread needs to take a Bex, drink a cup of Lipton's and have a good lie down. Then watch Godwin's post-match interview. Of the four finalists last year, Eagles, Pies, and Dees all defeated and looked tired- clearly underdone for the beginning of the season. We will build from here. As for the Tigers- well they played last years wooden spooners, so they should have won. Clearly, the interrupted preseason due to surgery and a late start has meant the players are not yet "cherry ripe" They will get a lot better as the season progresses. As they say in golf "you can't win a tournament on the first day, but you sure can lose one" We have 22 matches to play and will be towards the top of the ladder in the last round- maybe even top On a slightly negative note - can someone please explain to me how Spargo keeps getting a game? He cost us at least 2 goals from basic skill errors, at important phases of the game, that resulted in a turnover and resulting goal to Port. Preuss surely would have been better in the forward line and giving Max a hand in the ruck- given we have a new found love of bombing it in there.

agree

excuse me, have been missing in action for the last few weeks

bugger.....ill have to pick another pseudonym now that Hogan has gone- his not my hero anymore.

I agree with "selection blunders" however, disagree about JKH who is not up to playing in the AFL at the moment- witness the poor turnover kicks (one resulted in a Geelong goal), The Ablett miss tackle (Ablett did not even have the ball) that resulted in a Geelong goal and the missed goal in the last few minutes. Can't believe we did not bring in Can Pederson for this match. The Crows forward line is very tall with McGovern 190 cm, Walker 193 cm, Lynch 193 cm, Jenkins 200 cm - we will regret not picking Pederson 193 cm, to help Frost, Oscar and Smith. Smith may be OK but is a 8 game player. The Crows forward line is much taller and more experienced. We don't need JKH.

feel sorry for JKH - plays like a star in the VFL and looks lost in the AFL- time to move him on

not sure you can drop a player who has the 3rd highest disposals, 6th highest AF points, 9th highest metres gained etc etc

When he changes his handball to kick to handball ratio and kicks a few more goals (you cant handball a goal yet) he will win a Brownlow - something not achieved by MFC since 2000. Otherwise, he compares favourably to Dustin Martin - and we all know what he achieved last year. Clarry to Martin (Averages per match this year) Marks 2.6 to 3.4 Goals .5 to 1.5 kicks 9.1 to 14 handballs 19.2 to 10 contested possession 16 to 11 clearances 7.3 to 5.4 tackles 7.7 to 1.7 inside 50's 4.5 to 5.2 (more kicks will improve this) metres gained 328.5 to 423 (more kicks will improve this too) So yep I think he is the most exciting talent we have uncovered for a long time