Mental Demons

Last year he was a good third tall when we had Hogan. He struggles as a first or second tall and played above his ability in the finals, as Did Tmac. This is a good sign but both have been a failure this year.

Firstly we need Tmac to play well somewhere on the ground. If he gets his skills up it would be great if he could go forward. Have not seen that this year.

He is a third tall in ability - not hard to replace and we would not get much for him. Don't think he would be in much demand elsewhere. Would only really work in a team that already has two good tall forwards.

So who do you think has done a better job down taking the best opposition forward? Frost's best position is as an intercept marker and for the last few years has been encouraged to run and carry. It shows he is versatile and only matched for that by Salem and Fritch who are also being played out of position. Garlett's work and pace up the ground were good and better than Jones and Lewis. Tim Smith is as close as we have seen this year to a forward target and had a good game. It is the delivery that is the problem. It is what you get when the only plan the team has worked on is chaos ball and that is Goodwin fault, some brand.

Hogan was pushed out, I believe he would have stayed. It made lesser forwards (Tmac and Weid) play out of position. As second and third talls they could win their positions. All the others were reasonable decisions, the bad call problem was the replacements. None have made us a better team yet. Some may work out in the future.

Garlett provided run and good link up work up the field, it is not his fault the delivery into the forward line was crap. Tim Smith is so much more versatile and mobile than Preuss and arguably shown that he has been our best forward target we have had all year. Preuss may be of use resting forward, he is so slow though. Frost has been our best back so far this season. It is run this team needs more of. If you are going to sacrifice a forward to play on Sicily then you are playing into their hands and Sicily has won the battle. The way to beat Sicily is to have a good forward make him have to earn it.

Weid is not doing the job but do we have someone to replace him? For the moment T. Smith has his place, he can take a mark and kick a goal. It looks like Viney and ANB are injured and should miss rather than play injured. They need to be replaced with running players. The cupboard is bare. We only have the Wagners and other running players that have less experience. KK only runs one way. Preuss is not a key position target because he is as slow as a wet week and can really only play one position. Lewis and Jones are done and should not waste their records with a too late retirement. Seeing great players past their use by date is sad and embarrassing. If they both retire could it open a couple of spots on the list for the midseason draft?

It is not hindsight reasoning. The fact is they are better now and into the future. There is no evidence the Goodwin has the ability and adapt. He is no novice, he has been at the club for two years under Roos and before that at Essendon. We don't need an apprentice coach we just have a mature one that has fundamental limitations. It is the coach that is meant to steer the team to success and not be crap until the cattle win a premiership in spite of the coach. You are only seeing what you want to see. Goodwin inherited a good list and was there for its building. He has turned our list into a rabble and seems clueless to do anything but talk about the brand. Roos is a much better coach and took a team to a GF win. Goodwin can dream of doing that.

If we beat Richmond, I will think they had a bet on at great odds.

I think they will move Tmac down back - he seems to have forgotten how to be a forward. Tmac and Frost will probably do most of the work on Riewoldt. We can't beat Richmond playing a zone defense. Their forwards make backs be accountable. Our backs are not accountable and will fall in a heap.

Both have won games by out coaching Goodwin. They may not have been versatile. Goodwin is no rookie and has been at the club for years. He is just a crap coach.

Some interesting points you make but the big difference is that all the coaches you have mentioned have the ability to be good game day coaches who are versatile and have won games from the sidelines. I can only think of games Goodwin has lost from the sidelines. Goodwin does not think on his feet and does not read games well. Goodwin only has one game plan and has despite inheriting a good list, has gone for players that fit his one game plan. We have no key position specialists except center. The skill of the natural good footballer doesn't necessarily transfer to being a great coach. Goodwin presents well but I would rather a coach who coaches well rather than talks well. Goodwin's skills seem more suited to being a football or development manager. Can't see Goodwin pulling them across the line tonight.

Tim Smith has a red hot go, which is more than I can say I have seen in most of the team this year.

We can't afford to have Oscar in the team, he has not made a contest all year. He is too slow anyway, against one of the quickest teams going around. Frost has done a better job than Oscar has in Oscar's position. Frost is not playing his position which probably has been as Lever's replacement. The team needs more run and also can't afford to carry all three of Jones, Lewis, and Hibberd and expect to be competitive. Spargo needs to develop at Casey. Stretch, Lockhart, Garlet, and Sparrow have all shown more pace and grunt. Tmac to go back and Tim Smith as a forward target. Big changes need if we were not competitive against the Saint's.

They are all marking intercept players, like all the defenders, Hibberd, Frost, Hore Kielty, Petty, even Jetta except for Omak who is not quick enough to intercept and can't make a contest. None of them are lockdown defenders and are playing out of position when they try to be. Some adapt better than others.

Changes - bring in as much pace as we can. Stretch, Garlett, Lockhart. Move Tmac to defense and Tim Smith forward. We can not afford to play all three of Hibberd, Jones, and Lewis at the same time, The game seems beyond Omac's skills. Spargo is not a better option than blooding Chandler or Sparrow and needs Casey development, he has never earned his place.

How many games did SG lose us last year by being ill-prepared and inflexible? Compare that to what the Scotts, Roos or Clarkson, get out of their players. It looks like last year was our window and it seems to be nailed shut now. It is the coaches' fault.

We don't have a spine. Not one key position specialist wins their position except in the center.

How come we have not got any genuine key position players and so often have to play players out of position? Why are we so short on pace? SG had been there for the rebuild and inherited a good list where is it now? If he had any self-respect he should resign if he can't do the job. The coach more than anybody else is responsible for our results, SG deflects responsibility. He has lost many games by being out coached and has no plan B or C. He has not got the best out of our list - it has gone backward. I believe Hogan wanted to stay, why did he get bundled out the door for crap?SG should have been given a performance-based contract, this will be his last and only job as a senior coach.

To extend Goodwin for 4 years was a terrible decision. Goodwin has some skill but like many gifted natural players he does not have a handle on how to get the most out of all the players and most of them are not as natural and gifted. Other coaches do it The Scott brothers, Roos, Clarkson but these are coaches that think on their feet and win games with adaptable gameday coaching. Goodwin inherited a very good list and now they look like a rabble and we are stuck with it for 4 years. He only has one plan. Part of the problem is a lack of winning key position players. The only key position we win is the center. Goodwin is responsible for the current list and poor drafting. Hibberd has lost a yard May can't get out there KK does not play defense or win his own ball, T. Mac is all over the shop, OMac would not get a run at another club. We have a coach getting the worst out of our list. We play a zone defense but all our backline are marking intercept players and not good at accountable one on one defending.

They are doing a crap job on what we do when we have got the ball too. I would rather they worry about that. Spargo has not been best 22 all year. He is young and will get his chance.

The price for that development is Jeff Garlett's career. I don't think Spargo has been best 22 all year. We lack genuine forwards on our list and Jeff is perhaps the most natural forward on our list. Spargo should be doing most of his development at Casey. I would like to see Jeff get a go, we would probably be a better team for it. If Jeff does not work out he can be dropped. I fear his cards have been stamped and he will be traded or delisted.

Our big weakness is we have no key position specialists. We tend to shuffle guys around and play them out of position. The advantage of this is that we are hard to match up on. The disadvantage is that we often don't get the job done that we need to be done. Buddy will be out of the price range of most clubs and staying with the Swans will hamper their development. Can only see him going to a bottom club and likely with the Swans paying much of his wage. I don't think Buddy would go for that. He is something we don't have but if we did OK without Hogan we will do ok without Buddy. That said, at the right price I would have him in a heartbeat. Thought this article was insightful. http://www.hpnfooty.com/?p=5520

Hard to say, he was probably recruited for outside run but they were probably were hoping his defense and contested ball winning was a bit better. From what he has shown so far we can only really risk him as a forward at the moment.