rpfc

Meh

Umm, we have some very good players. 3 star mids, the best ruckman in the game, one of the best FBs, the best CHBs, the best wingers... As much as the hand wringers would like to avoid this truth - we underperformed in two games this season and it cost us a chance to play a couple of finals. We should be amongst the better teams in 2021. Plus we overpaid T Mac and Tomlinson and there is the crunch.

Do you reckon we are a chance on Saturday night? The bookies don’t see us as a realistic Premier this year... #believe

A well executed game plan the players believe in. Assuming our midfield is good enough. And it is.

Fritsch was a stop gap FF this year. He needs to realise what @Pollyannais intimating - there is no role for you unless you adapt your game to the skill set required. He needs to get out of the square, get up the ground, show defensive pressure, and deliver to forwards well if he is to stay in the 22. My 7 (in Brown scenario) Weid CHF up the ground. Brown FF Lead up Jackson isolated but outside 50 (Gawn deep when resting) Petracca/resting mid Pickett Spargo Fritsch/Hunt/Melksham - whoever can be good enough at delivering, pressuring, and getting out of Browns way.

We have had trouble understanding today’s player let alone prognosticating tomorrows player. So maybe yesterday is where we should be heading - 4th dimensionally speaking.

Same. If I am reading tea leaves it’s at the end of a very gritty tea experience.

Good idea for a thread. Having Stars May, Lever, Petracca, Oliver, Gawn, Langdon, and Viney are comforting group of players to have as a base to work from. We should be in every game. Genuine Small Forward Pickett is a genuine talent and if he can calm down his final two steps with the footy he will be amazing. Has a left foot, super quick, good closing instincts and can tackle. Genuine Full Forward [Text Missing] Desperation Everyone will be under the Sword of Damocles and I think that is healthy for our progression back to relevance to not be satisfied with 9th.

If I see that effing Jack Nicholson GIF again I am going to earn another warning point...

If this guy gets Fritsch out of the effing square then I am all for it. Balancing Brown and Weideman may be an issue, it may mean Weideman further up the ground which I think suits him. For the right price it is worth doing.

3 top 3 finishes in the B+F in the last 4 years. Quibbling over him getting $50-100k more than you think he should get is not worth pushing him out. He’s a leader, a CP machine, and will always give first use. He allows Oliver and Petracca to be more outside, and if Clayton wants to be as damaging as his mate in the 5 was in 2020 - he might want to take the assist that Viney provides.

No, just no.

He's not soft but he is a dumb footy player. He is the most infuriating player we have; it's not his fault he is the main forward alot of the time but he rarely leads at the footy, he tries to body out too much, he goes up for speccys with a childlike cadence, and he looks like a terrified kitten when lining up for goal. Apparently, he takes 50 shots before the game. It isn't helping - he should stop doing that - he is obviously putting the weight of the world on himself every time he lines up for goal. And he shouldn't put that pressure on himself - if he is the difference between us winning and losing then we don't have a very good team... I am always harder on forwards but he really gives me the [censored].

Wilson is a [censored] stirrer. And with us - there is a lot to stir... The thing I can't abide is the faction nonsense - making/keeping enemies is only self-defeating and it reads quite petty. I don't want change for changes sake but if removing any of Bartlett, Mahoney, or Goodwin gets us a better option then we have to seize the moment. Yes, I am looking at Clarkson but similarly for a President that unites or a football manager of higher quality and experience.

I don't think those two views are antithetical - it's a third of the team. The only reason I am not on here ranting and raving is because it is a 4 day break but make no mistake - we stank against the Swans and 7 changes doesn't fill me with confidence for tomorrow night. We should win well, but we should have won well last game...

I can buy that if it weren't for Oliver, Petracca, Viney, May, Lever, Salem, Harmes, Fritsch, et al We have enough talent - I think we let our coaches off the hook with that - I have better teams out of less talent. And lastly, that 3rd quarter against the WB does not follow the we are not good enough viewpoint - we were fine up until then - and then the wheels came off. You don't suddenly lose talent and skill over a half time break...

Of course it is - but all that work is to "ensure the players are ready on game day"... He's not a counsellor - he is trying to get a consistent performance out of group of blokes that have struggled to find it. I like the way we play and I don't care about not having a "Plan B" as I see that as a fallacy for good teams (diff tactics do not equal diff ways of playing) but where do they go at times? I can understand it if it skills, but it's not... I can understand if it's talent, but it's not... I would make minimal changes this week and see how the players respond. We can go in the other direction too - we have the style of play and the talent. Now to execute.

Very late to this thread - got a 4 month old so I won't be able to post in depth but some of the coaches that I talked to in the last few years up here in Canberra and around Coaching Clinics and the like is not only stealing from soccer in much the way @A F describes but also from basketball; the transition. The key thing from my point of view is that 'transition' in bball highlights defence and offence as important as each other and that (most) players love transition bball; it's open, it's quick, and involves the players more. It's pretty much: 'if you run enough, you will touch the ball' That's what I see now watching the Dees in the last few weeks (and of course the best teams) - Charlie Spargo works hard, gets into space, takes an uncontested mark 25 out. You don't have to be a world beater you just have to work hard, and trust your teammates to work hard.

Small v. From memory, he preferred it but Ainslie never wrote it properly. But I think that was more to do with the bloke who did the team sheets - lovely bloke but slightly dim and was a tough conversation. I guess that is the same at all clubs...

We have tempered the frenzy and that means less panic, more running with the footy, less pointless in close hands, and therefore more effective and impactful spread. Defence is less exposed due to turnovers being further up the ground. It’s decision making and confidence and that is on both the players and their direction from Goodwin.

He’s fine. What do you expect when we do what we did against Port and then last night against Coll? 4 games removed and a world apart in how we executed basic skills, went inside 50, and harnessed the frenzy. We are a flag contender if you play like that enough times; that was not we were a month ago.

He’s certainly athletic... Thats glib. As a forward, forward coach and former head coach I cannot help myself when I look at how forwards move without the footy - and Luke has a long way to go. His instincts are not great in close when chasing and he is very reactive. It’s hard to tell leading patterns on TV so I don’t get hung up on that just yet and his jump and speed will get him to where he wants to go without much movement prior to his leads. I have been burnt before so I am taking it slow...

I don’t know about his demeanour with the players but he has been an automaton outward for his entire tenure. Comparing coaches is difficult but we all Daniher the Reverend because of his change in the early naughts to being a spruiker of the club. And I think that had an effect on the club itself and I thought it was important. Goodwin needs to show more passion and personality as a coach outwardly - what he does inside the club is a different story. He should do whatever he needs to keep this form of the last two weeks up for enough of the season to get us into a finals run. He has enough talent at his disposal to do it - and that’s regardless of passion and histrionics.

Certainly was after half time