BW511

I have been critical of Kossie at times and am hesitant on Jacko becoming a star, however, we were to lose both in one off season, the club would be in serious turmoil

It’s interesting that we have 2-3 players who are solely in the forward half for defensive reasons, yet we still can’t seem to lock the ball in. We need some more leg speed across the ground but particularly across the centre and half forward line. Kossie can’t do the defensive work alone

To put a positive on this, we get 6 months off from the suffering

I’m not sure we have the cattle to right this ship. Our bottom 6 players are ordinary and our middle 6 have done their best to be worse than them all year If we are fair dinkum, there needs to be some pretty significant changes to game plan, personnel and attitude

Doing the same thing every single week for 2 1/2 years will eventually fail. This has been a pretty pathetic second half of the year, regardless of whatever niggles come out during the week

[censored] me, Petty has put an exclamation mark on just how ordinary Brown and Jackson are.

Just don’t have the hunger for the contest in the back half of this year. Seem a long way off Geelong, Sydney & Collingwood even if we do win this

It’s not good at all. Very bland and far from the usual intensity of a final

I agree, the example names posted all confirmed the point. @Old55 clearly doesn’t rate any of them and yet they are putting up better numbers than what we have. I think we need some HFF’s with better skillsets. Spargo is a good player but is limited by his size and pace, plus a lack of goal scoring and marking power. If he was lightning quick & getting 25 touches a week, he’d be an absolute gun. Likewise if he was 6’-6’2” instead. He is definitely upgradable. ANB is a great runner and team man, after that he’s got nothing. He’s an over zealous tackler, very slow to get rid of the ball and seems to use soap instead of grippo on his hands. Again, definitely upgradable. Both of those two are part of the structure and play roles, however we could tip the defensive weight a little more in the positive and it would help considerably.

I’m no ANB fan, but the same situation applies. He’s just covering 2 HBF’s instead of one and a mid

Not sure this is rocket science and Brisbane are not a defensive team. If he was to debut in finals, this is exactly the game for it. Not a game for Fritta, not a game for Gawn and definitely not a game for BBB. So where does our score come from? A bit of youthful energy could create a special kind of chaos. I guarantee he won't be the reason we lose - if we do, give the kid a run!

I would argue that our depth isn't great at an AFL level. We don't have guys capable of coming in and performing to a level where they could be relied upon to effectively contribute. An example from the weekend is Trac, if he's running round at 70% from early in the game and still considered better than the replacement option (Smith), our depth isn't good enough. He was a liability and everyone could see it. Joel Smith should have been furious Our depth is also largely untried because of our success over the last few years, catch 22

Maybe the infamous war chest will finally get some use! I can’t see any way Clarko is interested in a rebuild, he’ll finish his contract and North will only be marginally better off. He’s too proud/arrogant for that

Did you read what I wrote? Tracc is someone that needs to be constantly involved in the game, he's not opportunistic and therefor provides little value as a stay at home forward

I have a Carlton supporting mate who said they would be happy to part with McKay due to inconsistency - granted, this means nothing but I can’t believe the thought of giving him up. I was shocked. I really hope we are at least sounding him out

If May did not give away those stupid frees, it would have been close to his best game in the red & blue.

If Fritta does not come up, JVR may come in anyway. Could be his best opportunity, although the club would have to seriously consider T-Mac for experience in the circumstances

Given we tore Brisbane apart a few week back, what do we think they will change up to try and counter us? I don't want to suggest they are a one-man side, although they are about as close as it comes

I think he would be a better option than Ben Brown at playing the current Ben Brown role. All we are doing is shortening Brown's career making him stand under high balls.

Takes a special defender to completely shut Kossie out of a game, not many teams could cope with two of him. I think it's a smart play.

Not sure Trac offers much as a stay at home forward. He need to be in the game

I think our success comes from our system, however our insistence on the system is also our downfall. We are great when the game is on our terms and we can control it. When Pies/Swans type teams really come at us and can use skill to pick us apart, there is no Plan B. Our mids are elite at winning contests, granted, however they would be well below in every other metric. We are seriously flirting the line of being ‘front runners’.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other, which I know the ‘loading’ camp reiterates every week

One thing that is overlooked a little is that we have a target on our backs as the reigning premier. Being the hunted each week is taxing, mentally and physically. We were the benchmark and teams have had to step up their game to combat us. We planned our peak absolutely perfectly last year and no doubt tried to replicate it in ‘22, however our draw has been the hardest of all and it’s not even debatable. No team had played against top 8 sides more and the 3 extra times we’ve done it would take its toll. The emergence of Freo and Collingwood, combined with another year of Sydney learning their game plan all adds up

Trac had 24 disposals at 46% efficiency for the match. I am confident Joel Smith could have at least broken even with him over the last 3 quarters and maybe given a point of difference