Mondê

Thanks to all who provide training reports over the summer, it's greatly appreciated to myself and others unable to attend. I have noticed almost every report touches on drills involving our ball movement, particularly forward of 50 and entering the forward 50. It seems as though the coaching team have identified this as our biggest area of weakness over the past two seasons. Having watched our rise and fall between 2018 and 2019 like a hawk, picking apart our strategy with and without possession to understand where we could improve, I landed on the fact that we are just so easy to score against in transition. When the ball was turned over, we simply had no capacity to set up and form of defensive mechanism to prevent a scoring opportunity for the opposition.

Now, this was an area of concern for me in 2018 when we were supposedly flying also. We got torched by the sharper teams such as Richmond and Collingwood, hence the "they can't beat a top 8 team" tag that followed us the entire way through the 2018 campaign, right up until we beat an out of sorts Geelong and Hawthorn with no O'Meara and Mitchell with one shoulder. I'm curious to know if any of the track watchers can report on this aspect of our game. How is our team defence looking? Do we think it's simply a matter of fitness? Is there a significant portion of time being allocated to fixing this deficiency?

Like all teams the rating of individuals within our squad entirely depends on how successful we are as a team. CD had us as the collective #1 rated squad heading into 2019. At the end of the day, that is why these rating systems are flawed, the measures of data don't extend beyond what happens during that 120 minutes on game day. I think when in form we have at least 12-15 players that would walk into the best 22 of the teams you've mentioned. That's the key, form. 

Love this pick. Bit of Mitch Duncan about the lad, smooth mover. Can see him pushing for midfield time down the track 

1 hour ago, Skuit said:

Amateur-hour contribution but I sense a go-home factor in Deven which may be limiting the commentary. 

(Same for Henry, but he's already being marketed by Freo, so there's no way they will let him slip regardless). 

For whatever reason, I don't have the same feeling re. Jackson. Maybe it's his previous exposure to the world? 

That raises an interesting point regarding Jackson though -  which only just occurred to me now:

Kid was on a lucrative path toward the NBA. Called his mum while on camp and gave it up. 

It doesn't scream mental fortitude to continue through the hard times . . . (No serious aspersions intended). 

Absolutely no evidence that he was NBA standard. If anything a kid of that age being decisive about the path he wants to take shows plenty of character imo

We should take a very close look at this guy at 10. You can never have too many A grade mids and this kid has already shown his hand. He's the prototypical modern day ball winning mid with an A+ attitude to boot. WA swoop of Jackson into Robertson is my preference for 3 and 10

36 minutes ago, Ohio USA - David said:

I really am sick of this thread.

Get over it... The MFC will not want at pick 3 or pick 10 a player who cannot play for twelve months.

If you want to start taking bets at whether MFC will take this guy then I am on for $1,000 to say NO WAY.

If you don't like the thread then GTFO

11 hours ago, monoccular said:

I agree (not even considering his coming off a drug ban?).  Frost-like dash with a better footy brain. 

??

He started his career at Sydney and was traded to Collingwood

He's barely worth pick 6 let alone another first rounder. Keep dreaming Bell

7 minutes ago, praha said:

Petty will be a key forward.

Yes, maybe. But we needn't. 

Agree to disagree. Was thrown forward out of necessity, played his entire career before that as a KPD. He performed well up there but can't see it being permanent. Time will tell

Everyone is forgetting that we have Petty coming through also. Yes he was experimented with forward at different stages but he'll end up a rock solid KPD. The best asset Frost has is his speed, and tbh you'd prefer to leave that stuff to your small backs then the big hulks

Is lever alright?

Troy Chaplin?

I am utterly staggered that we're half way through the season and we're still seeing the 'play on at all costs and handball to a teammate under the pump' scenario every time we touch the ball. It simply has to be the coaching, and I'm absolutely sick of it.  

Just now, mikeydemon said:

If I had a dollar for every time OMac lost his feet...

That was a pizzweak effort from o Mac then. Lucky Jenkins is an equally inept footballer

8 minutes ago, Smokey said:

I get your point and don't argue with any of it, however I asked for examples from 2019. Not the last 5 years. 

 I think the last 5 years is relevant considering all of these instances of poor injury management have been overseen by Misson and his team. It's a long history of irresponsibility and it is now starting to reek. 

First post of the year. You can feel the raw disappointment of the supporters everywhere, it's real.

My observations align with many already have touched on - the players appear bereft of confidence in both each other and as the weeks go by, the gameplan. Although we were mildly successful last season, the signs were there. The game against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval, astonishing number of inside 50s for little reward. Stkilda cutting us to ribbons at the G (scarily similar to last week). Anzac Eve, Queens Birthday. We looked exposed in those matches and people forgot because we beat a weak Geelong and an undermanned Hawthorn. 

The fact is - we're a young side, with a hell of a lot of upside that probably overachieved in 2018. Getting rid of Hogan hurts us on field in the short term but was in my opinion the right call to make for the long term due to non- football related issues. 

The player we miss the most is Vandenberg, his tackling pressure is inspirational and is deceivingly damaging with his disposal. He can't get fit quick enough. 

Hang tough guys, some positives to come out of the season so far - Salem is leading the bluey by a mile. Stellar season so far from Christian we all love his poise at times when everybody else is panicking and missing targets. We have the pillars to build a team around, sadly most of them are coming into the year severely under done. Dip into the draft this year and grab forwards and outside runners. Go hard at high end free agents. We'll be right. 

Solidifies our defense. 

Defense wins flags. 

Welcome Steven. 

6 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I know all that

but he is a contracted player, who can assist the Weid in becoming a better forward for a year. 

I just get the feeling the Weid is still a touch green. 

Just my feelings...

I see what you've done there...

7 minutes ago, Clintosaurus said:

Sam Collins signed by the Suns.

May redundancy

2 minutes ago, hardtack said:

You’re missing out on the therapeutic goodness to be gained from taking the opportunity to needlessly speculate, be outraged and wring one’s hands.

I was on board until approximately the 300th page

I can't be stuffed going through all the pages - last I heard Freo had released a statement saying they weren't pursuing this anymore? Am I missing something? 

1 minute ago, EnterTheDragon said:

We may have just fed Barrett the 5 & 23 thing just to make Bell look even more stupid. 

Uppercut and a right hook on the way out the door.

Goes both ways, Hogan now knows how highly we rate him

Pretty disappointed that we were willing to get bent over like that, if true

1 minute ago, monoccular said:

Get tough - 5 and Brayshaw or p off

What is the obsession with Brayshaw other than being related to Angus? We don't need more inside mids. We're past the stage of grabbing the 'best available' we have obvious strengths and obvious deficiencies and Brayshaw does nothing to fix our deficiencies.

1 minute ago, Uncle Fester said:

I say we tell them to go blow a goat and work on getting into the top end of the draft in other ways. Deals are being done as we wait for these dimwits to play there games.

We don't exactly have a lot of currency this season...