BW511

I am subscribing to the training load theory, we are in a definite slump form wise, but our blokes all look like they can barely break into a canter. The younger guys should have been in a constant 4-6 week rotation in my view. Use their youthful exuberance for impact. Rivers, Jacko, Jordon and Kossie look absolutely spent, while Sparrow sits and watches on each week. We also employ a very taxing game plan.

With the current form line, I think we are a 5-8 team. Other teams have timed their run and have key players in form at the right time. I love Oliver and his work around the contest but his 35 touches a week isn’t winning us games. He needs a partner in crime that will turn up every week and help. Trac had plenty of the ball but he is so far off being influential, would rather we target a full time mid and rotate him in from HFF. We lack depth and quality in the middle, still. As a direct comparison, Bont never looks like he gets out of a stride and does the simple things very well. He’s the best in the game right now, can do it all. Longer term, we are looking ok but there’s still a very heavy reliance on 4-5 players and we have been incredibly fortunate that they have played almost all games.

In a year where there is very little between the top sides, we are trending the wrong way at the wrong time of year. There’s also been criticism of Burgess before that his teams come out firing and fade, I fear that may be us. We don’t have the fight in us or the intelligence onfield to stem the flow. We continue to go head to head with teams in the middle and get slaughtered. Bont will get 3 votes, McCrae had 38, Libba 27, Daniel 34. If you let those guys get the footy, you just won’t win. Our bottom 6 are not good enough for a flag, particularly when we’ll out of form

ANB, Harmes, T-Mac, Hibbo, Rivers, Jacko, Jordon, Spargo could all be justified. If we want to get fair dinkum, there needs to be changes made. You can’t keep failing to contribute and hold your place. Most players have had enough chances over the last 5-6 weeks.

We still have a lot of passengers. Gawn may have just broken even with English Harmes on Libba backfired, Bont did as he pleased, McCrae gets nearly 40. Our midfield was torched again. Josh [censored] Schache came from the wilderness and actually played a role. We are a fair way from our early season form, it doesn’t look like changing in a hurry either. If we are fair dinkum, the last 6 weeks warrant some big changes. We are just not hungry enough

I feel an ‘honourable’ loss coming up here, which will be flattering.

The way they throw the ball is extraordinary

Lacking composure again. The dogs are making us come at them and then forward running players like Bailey Smith are waltzing out of contests. Incredibly frustrating to watch. No doubt the dogs are getting a good run with umps too

Not a day for Gawn to be taking it out of the ruck

If Bowey is 80% of what Caleb Daniel is, get him in. He is in everything

I think he's played his role well this year, particularly as a very young fella. Just not sure his output warrants a guaranteed place after the last 4-5 weeks

I think he well and truly has

Agree. If Lever, May and Petty are not controlling the air, we are pretty stuck for offense. They allow Salem, Rivers, Hibbo and Hunt to get moving. Also, this is exactly why Ben Brown makes us a better side, for those on the fence. Things opposition teams do to us can also be flipped and implemented.

This his to be the reason, Bevo is out of his mind if he thinks that could work on a wet MCG

Hibberd is in our side each week and Maynard is better than the best version of Hibbo. It would be a pretty serious upgrade

Luke Parker is one of my favourite players, would love him in Blue and Red

I would argue yes. The pressure of being top of the ladder and the expectation that comes with it, has slowly caught up with us

I hear you, but the whole team is well down. Don't care that we beat Port, our last 6 weeks have been ordinary at best. Brown needs a 4-5 week stretch of games, if he isn't producing, we can worry then. I believe he is incredibly valuable for exactly the reasons you listed above. He draws a good defender away from T-Mac or Fritta, he makes teams nervous with his height and as the weather improves towards finals, the marks will come. A firing big forward would be the icing on the cake for us, so we need to give him a chance to be that. Heading into finals, he is more critical to our structure than ANB, Kossie, Melksham or Fritsch will ever be. You can't just make a bloke taller

They are obviously doing a lot right if he feels he needs them there. The penny might have dropped

We are an infinitely better side with Brown in, there is no way he goes out. Of the players on notice, I think he'd be well behind a few others.

There has been very little recent talk of our game being a 'front-half game' either. We definitely have a soccer style game plan and a very physically taxing one to employ for a whole year, to the level required.

The King article gives the perfect example of what a few have been banging on about for weeks. We are playing a negative brand of footy, sitting back of centre and letting the opposition come at us. It's designed to allow Lever and May to control the ball and tempo of the game, however when we are a little off or teams really come at us, it falls apart. It's utilizing a strength but an incredibly risky strategy. I'm very confident that our mids (Gawn, Trac and Oliver) pay absolutely no attention to what the opposition are doing or are instructed that way, because we were zigging when Max was zagging at an extremely high percentage of the centre bounces on the weekend. Hawthorn gave it everything and exposed us, they just were not good enough across the board to actually win the game. Collingwood and Adelaide did the same, but got over the line. I don't care if our record is good against the top teams and we 'get up' for those games, it's only a matter of time before we don't and it would be heartbreaking if that were week 1 or week 1 and 2 of finals.

This brings me back to my point about Jordon and Sparrow being involved earlier in the year. The midfield worked better with different guys rolling through, they had to collectively think about it a little more. At this point I am not sure that Gawn, Trac and Oliver know which play to employ or when. Trac and Clayton are definitely tight and it is probably part of what makes them so good, however they need to be given a proper kick up the [censored] regarding the selfless mantra the club supposedly values. The media always has them as in the upper echelon, but never without a caveat . Trac could take over Dusty's mantle if he could do it each week, Oliver could be the best player in the comp if he runs and kicks more. They have to want to be the best and to do that, it needs to be unconditional that the effort is there every contest, every week.

It's interesting to watch, our midfield trio of Gawn, Trac and Oliver seem to be the ones that we rely on to drag us over the line, but if they actively try and win us the game themselves it is often to our detriment. You can very rarely win modern football games without a positive contribution from at least 1/2 your side. We either have 18 players involved or 3-4 trying to go solo. Easiest way to get players going is to bring them into the game, share the footy around and stop getting ahead of yourselves.

So the question then arises, when all the talk pre-season was about the group buy in and being selfless, how can the last 6 weeks have happened? Have we used all our petrol tickets too early in the year? Were we too reliant on the young guys (Riv, Jacko, Kossie) to provide spark? Are they all a bit fatigued and trying to feather their own nests? Has the Weideman/Brown drama caused some instability, likewise Viney being rushed back in? In my opinion, Jordon being shifted out of the permanent mid role has reduced our efficiency. He is very balanced and smart around the ball, his tackles stick and he genuinely plays a team-first style. He also covers the ground well. Same could be said for Sparrow, he didn't win the ball as much as Viney and was prone to the odd brain fade, but he was definitely working to the team first mantra. We had a more dynamic mix early in the year.