kev martin

"A fierce wll to win" isn't just a bull at the gate type. In team sports it requires players chemistry and cohesion. I believe that it is about making the others around you better players, because without that we lose. Often, our disposals put the teamates under pressure. We need a team that brings the best out of each other, with act towards the advantage of the other, 1 percenters, support and sacrifice. We need a team, that as a collective, refuses to lose.

We need all members of the team to want to win and not settle for second best (not just a couple of them). They also need a variety of AFL level skills that can be performed under pressure but they have to be able to "will" themselves in the game. I hope one day we find a team that can get a 70% win/lose ratio.

I want them to recruit players that want to win. People that hate to lose. We need heart and desperation. Get the psychologists to test them. They also need AFL standard skills. If only Ding had the AFL skill level, as he hates losing!

It is his first public criticism of the team. Assume he would of said '(censored)' privately or shared within his group and with other board members during his tenure. We are not really playing like achieving the objectives the club told the supporters we are aiming for over the next 5 years. Without addressing the clubs on-field problems that have been there for a long time. (such as; playing the 4 quarters, controlling the momentum within the game, responding when we are challenged, having a functional forward line, developing drafted players, making good decisions, having AFL standard skills, being a 'hard' team to play against, etcetera) the club will suffer, membership will suffer and objectives will not be reached. People who have shots at the team aren't sick of the team but are sick of the results. Most will keep their interest but will they stay financial supporters? The board want us to be a powerhouse again. PS. I think most of us will still be watching. Not sure if Goodwin is the type of person to 'take the paint off'. He would more likely set processes into action. Let's hope playing the bottom teams helps us get our game right.

Suggest you crack at Bartlett about his 'wingeing'. Tell him to stop watching and that he is not the type of fan you want in the MFC.

Agree about May., he is playing accountable football. We have a bit of a backline flood and crowding of the zones going. This is why I think our backline is working ok, though at the expense of energy to the midfield group.

So the topic is "so I think I worked it out". Are you saying the problem is the fans? Or there is no problem? Are you telling me not to watch MFC games? I think the obvious problem remains our forward line, the lack of connection and conversion of inside 50's to score. Give us you thoughts on this? Please don't tell me how to use my time. I'm an adult and can choose my own behaviour without your mastery.

I believe there are some academic papers that suggest that once the professional players get the right contract then their performances suffer. Perhaps we need more contracts that emphasise the performance. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_year_phenomenon

Turnovers kill us. I wish we could dispose of the ball to our advantage. Is it the skills and that we can't execute under game pressure? Are we drinking the bath water again? Is Pickett going to kick some goals? We need marks inside the 50. Also thought that they were at last playing for 4 quarters before the Port game showed our flaws. The next two weeks will tell alot about us. Isn't that always the way, constantly play, have to win games. Always under points pressure. Hoping we will get ahead of the curve someday.

I don't mean they are found all at the same time in that area. It is difficult to know with tv viewing. Though what drew my attention was seeing Fritsch in the backline. It is also the high forward line that gives me ths impression of everyone zoning the defensive. I want to work out why our 50 entry conversion is atrocious and the opposition (Port in particular) sling off our forward line to score. I feel it is about transitions, disposals to advantage and intensity. The players don't seem to know where each other are as they continually change roles. So my idea is that we run around the field too much. Our main 6 backline players are our stability, the rest could be anywhere.

You are right. Our backline is doing the job. I notice that every player is sometimes found in that part of the ground, which makes it a bit easier to defend in a crowded area. I think we lose energy and intensity because of the effort to fill the back zones. My point is more about how we are playing out of traditional positions and our forward structure suffers. Players cannot blindly kick knowing a tall will be close to the ball drop.

The haircut of first year player Jackson. It shows some people in the hub have no idea.

No one is playing positional football. They are all doing a "role". Chasing nothing to get to a zoning area. Skilled teams kill them as they can pierce through the holes. Hard at it teams beat us with chaos. We beat ourselves because players aren't where we expect them to be when we push forward. We need to create normal leads, space to play in and one on one pressure. Manic, up and back exhaust us. It is difficult to dispose of the ball without turnover as we have no plan for when we are under pressure to find any advantaged one on ones. The player could be a small or 2 on one when we clear the pressure. We also seem to be on the outside. We can't seem to hold the corridors. Very few pressured kicks to advantage. To many running to a field position, exhausting themselves. Our handball/running offensive game can't get going as we are tired from pushing to get to our zones. Do they know, who is in what position. A quick ball seems to always go to the opposition. We kick to mismatched or outnumbered. We can't hold the corridor and are always pushed wide. I think we need to go back to playing in position. Getting one on ones across the field. Let our midfield chase in packs and the rest play normal suburban set-ups. We are too complicated and the players don't know where the talls are positioned for a get out of pressure disposal. We have no patterns or instinctuals, so development as the season progresses is lacking. I want one on one play and for us to hold the forward and back lines in the 6 and 6 positions.

Great to see Sparrow in the team. Has a beautiful kick and is a strong bodied player. Hoping he gets lots of disposals and does the 1 percenters. Would love to see him add to O,iver's, Viney's and Brayshaw's game with shepard's and protection.

I think Oliver has the yips ever since he fluffed that short pass in the dying minutes that would have given us a chance to win. I think it was against Geelong or maybe Richmond, not sure. The media pressure was on him with repeated critiques. He is a beautiful long kick as his bombs show. At training his field kicking is great. He is still learning and getting over the yips is part of the process for players.

We have no flexibility in our game plans. "How a game of keeping off " cost the Dees, was the headline. I wonder if Goody didn't see it happening at the time or couldn't do anything about it. Both a bit damning though. I wish we had a team that could adjust to the opposition's game plan. A game plan isn't just what we bring, but how quickly we react to counter to the other. We are at the moment a "just about there" , kind of, nearly team. I am hoping we can become an intelligent team that creates space, so our connections work and we play a mentally harder game

@Lever08 Were the forwards, especially Weideman taking any marks inside the 50? What was the score in goals and points?

I noticed a few times the forwards playing a kind of 'ring a ring a rosy', before leading during simulations. The area was central and 10 metres from the goal square. It included two or three attackers and the defence. Running in arcs in a congested area, they'd pick off the defensive player, get in the way of a defender so as to get a step ahead, get a clear lead or get a mismatch. The half's were out on the 50 helping with the final connection. Plenty of fast ball movement around the outside of the fifty. Sometimes they set up the halves to be at the front and centre of the aerial contest often when Weids was leading to the boundary. Bombs into the forward area with this set up merely put the ball into the pack of defenders. With a defence that zones and sweeps then the lead is easy to spoil, especially if not precise on the delivery. In previous years they practiced in a line down the middle spaced 10 metres apart and led laterally and at different times, then rotated back to the central area and go again if they weren't the receiver. I didn't see much of this style. Another set up was with all players away from the forward line and the players leading back into that space. Seemed to work well when we moved it quickly or when in possession on the boundary line. The resulting mark was close to the goal for an easy conversion. (A sweeper on the last line would easily defeat this strategy.) Another set up was everyone in conventional spacing and giving short lateral leads to the space behind defenders, Fritch was an expert. Hope this helps, but of course it is only a bit of a guesstimate as to what was happening. There was plenty of set ups that appeared routine and I couldn't see the structure. Tag D4life

Merry Christmas to all on demonland. May all of our wishes come true for the red and blue. Wishing you all health, luck and making good decisions. From Kev

Having a tough run at it. I am a bit philosophical and warm fussy about it. The body reacts to what it needs. Perhaps his body some how knows it was not yet ready, so it broke. Another year out of the game and with plenty of gym work, his body will mature. With stronger muscles and bones, he will be better suited to the seniors. Though he will lose the learning curve and be well behind in experience. Hoping he picks lots up in an intellectual way and can apply it when he returns.

What a leap! Is that the ruck/goal kicking coach Stafford underneath him? Wow!

I thought his training was going well when I observed him. Reading the play beautifully. Experience will help him in decision making. Like ball disposal to the right area, turning into space and evading the tackler, and structuring and leading the defensive team. I believe his achilles problems are behind him now. This could give him confidence to push his body to a higher limit.

Anyone know about how Kade Kolodjasni is going?

He was in runners last week as well. Slipping when turning sharply. Must be foot management.

Jackson, looks like he will fit in. As he matures I expect him to be a difficult match up. Would love to see him kick goals. Picket looks like he wants to play and pressures the opposition. Great that he has family at the club, with Neville. Our indigenous program, is it led by Wonaeamirri? Anyway, it will make a difference within the group and the wider communities, welfare and acknowledgments. Can see May, Neville, Bennell and Picket forming a strong bond, and bringing others with them. Hope he can make goals out of nothing. Rivers will be a dream for Crossy (I rate as the best kick in club), Lewis and Vince with his accurate style of kicking, if they mentor him. Hope he can break lines with his precision and footy IQ.