drdrake

No game plan will matter if we can't keep the football. We don't have a contested marking forward means we need to hit up players on leads. We don't move the ball clean enough and will turn it over that will lead to opposition scoring. Until we can get out disposal up to scratch we will not be contenders. We can keep composure for small parts of the game, but like the third quarter yesterday as soon as we lose it, bad kicking spreads like Co-Vid through our side everybody starts missing targets.

This article is nothing that hasn't been posted on here for the last few years. We are a see ball get ball team, all our players are drawn to the football even when we have it and more so when we don't often we have 2-3 players going for the tackle. Our mids don't work for each other, our forwards don't work for each other. Our defenders are starting to really work well as a unit my feeling is they will have to especially in the first 3-4 rounds. Max needs to stop tapping the ball behind, we don't play a defensive sweeper at centre bounces as we leave that space for Max to hit the ball and mids to run onto this. The issue is our opposition know this and also work to Max's tap it is an easy clearance for them if they win first possession, if we win we either look to feed it to a HBF running through or rush kick around corner.

And the one we have can't kick, great runner and can get the ball just can't hit a target

Our best midfielders struggle against the Bulldogs big body mids, our second/third string had no chance. Really surprised by the negative comments to Jordon, I thought he and ANB kept us in the game in the first half. Drifted out in the last half but should some ability. I thought Bowey looked composed was under enormous pressure playing down back but looks OK. I hope he can play on a wing as we are dire need for another wingman. As posted before really worried about the injury list, starting to look like 2019 all over again with so many of our best 22 out. The team we put on the park today would finish bottom 2. The other Brown has to be a chance to replace Tmac. The third quarter we just went back to missing targets, that really killed us. Hard to take much away with the players we are missing. Who will be ready to come back, Oliver, Salem, Brayshaw, Melksham, Pickett? Hopefully Casey have a game next week for these guys to have a run. Not sure about Hibberd, Viney looks out with Brown and Weiderman still 4-6 weeks away.

Have to be worried about our injury list. A lot out for march

Kicking, same old turnovers by foot.

Pretty much sums up the entire club over the past 20 years. I can't see why if you had a development coach why they wouldn't be used for the entire club. Or at least have WIlliams mentoring the development coach from the AFLW side. To me the club identified that the list wasn't good enough and needed to trade out a number of players to inject young talent. Like any 18/19 year old player it will take a couple of seasons, there are exceptions to this but generally most will take a some time. Hanks is an example of this, by far our best player yesterday and looks like a natural footballer. The younger players coming into AFLW now are more skillful and talented then the ones that have been around a few years, especially the code jumpers. With the players that left the club at the end of the 2020 season, the team was always going to be a middle of table side. Saying all that though, to win a game you have to kick goals, 20-30m out no real angle you have to kick them, you aren't going to win many missing 6-7 shots each week from that range.

You always want to see improvement from the next batch of players. Spargo played well, Chandler, Rivers, Jordon, Sparrow, Jackson add in Laurie, Bowey, Petty, Bedford and a few other from game 2, we can be positive that there is going to be some really good improvement from these guys in 2021.

Tomlinson has been OK, playing a role that allows Lever to zone off. TMac has been OK up forward. I think the balance of our side looks good

Loving how clean our younger players have been, Chandler/Sparrow/Jordon/Spargo/Rivers.

Agree with this add in Jetta and Jones as well. They will be either past it as we should have got rid of them end of last year or fantastic to see them back playing well legends of the club. For me though Oliver has the potential to be both, if he continues on not kicking the football and picking up 20 flick handballs a game he is my whipping boy. If he gets the kicking to handball ratio right and more importantly start hitting targets by foot I might even consider him a midfielder bordering elite.

Have to say 98 was amazing. The backend from the games we beat West Coast at Subiaco, this Richmond game, then the finals smashing Adelaide, St Kilda only to fall to North in the prelim. Some of the most exciting free flowing football that you will every see

I remember they had a couple of weeks paying everything, coaches complained, then a few weeks later they went to paying nothing again coaches complained. It has always been a hard game to umpire, they just keep marking it harder. Don't forget most rule changes also get passed down to local footy as well.

So you can stand someone 5m to the right or left of the mark. If umpires paid holding the ball and incorrect disposal correctly you would have a much better game. Adding rule changes is a band aid solution as coaches will work a way around the changes. Pay the old fashion laws of the game correctly and you will have a faster free flowing game. When the umpires went whistle happen on holding the ball last year the games got better. Shame they only did it for a couple of weeks

This is the issue, they changed the rule to allow for natural arc, essentially if a player standing the mark can't move left or right using your arc you don't have to kick over the man on the mark. Buddy or anyone that wants to use an arc should have to start 1-2m outside the line of the mark and as soon as he crosses the line of the mark it should be play on. This is a bloody stupid rule, it is natural to follow the kickers arc and also cut off the handball. What sides might do is have 2 -3 players on the mark, one standing the mark the other 2-5ms either side

Yep, makes sense. Like I posted get rid of AFL clubs in the VFL, go smaller with AFL list sizes have Werribee, Williamstown, Ballarat, Albury, Port Melbourne, Coburg, Casey, Geelong, Frankston, Sandringham in the VFL. 10 sides 18 game season top 5 gives the VFL clubs the chance to develop the region they are in. Get rid of Junior Interleague, leagues are assigned to VFL clubs and the players represent the VFL club at 13/14/15/16 level in round robin format to Divs 4 games each top 2 of each div play off. This creates a pathway, at the moment it is to adhoc and sports like Basketball who absolutely milk the Rep program are a mile ahead.

Do you know what the worse thing is, the AFL will appoint a private firm to do a review cost millions and nothing will change.

The AFL has severely neglected junior boy programs for a number of years. It is about money, female participation at present brings in more government money, sponsors want to be linked to Female participation. You look at every add for sport on TV it is all about female participation. AFL has hid this issue with the drop in Male participation, they have been able to do this as over all numbers due to massive female growth keeps this hidden. Take out Auskick numbers, from what I was told the uptake from Auskick to Junior footy in Metro Vic is something like 20%. There is something like a 35% drop off between the age of 12 to 16 years old. VFL has been completely stuffed up by the AFL. As a kid you get elite coaching at the private schools, elite facilities to train at. Local footy you get a dad and you hope that they have some idea on what they are doing, good kids wont develop heading back to local clubs to play. The AFL should be the elite level 30 odd players on the list only. Allow top ups for long term injuries. Then state leagues Run seniors and U19s both male and female, VFL/WAFL/SANFL/TFL/ NSWFL/QFL, no AFL clubs, players who miss out on AFL go back to original club or in case of interstate recruits go to a nominated club. It is simple, the AFL is just making it so complicated. You put a Basketball/Football/Soccer ball in a play ground at most schools in Metro Victoria and I will bet the Football will be the the least played sport on the oval.

The massive advantage of living on an Island, which is a long way from most. The only way this virus is getting in is through hotel Quarantine. On the Footy, will be interesting is our lockdown is extended if the AFL impose the same training restrictions across the entire competition. From memory they did this last year.

I really wish I could share your optimism about our current midfield, I'm just really concerned by the lack of skill by foot and the inability to play as a unit rather than individuals. Trav Johnstone in full flight was amazing, we just didn't see it enough. 2002 he was flying won a Bluey in 2005. He to me was our most talented midfielder in the past 21 years. Ranking our best midfielder is bloody hard as we haven't had an elite midfielder for a very long time. We have/had some good mid's but not a complete mid that can change a game consistantly.

Hawthorn might do the ok afl we will play 11 home games in tassie and 11 away games in Melbourne with member access to these.

I disagree with your first comment, the first group at the same age bracket took the club into a Grand Final they all would have been early 20's. The biggest difference between the 2 groups to midfield of 2000-2006 they all could kick and carry the football, also kick goals. It certainly helps having a Neitz and Ox to kick to, but I reckon Neita would have appreciated the delivery he got. The other difference the first group had the benefit of playing some games in the late 90s with some fantastic players/leaders, current group haven't had this.

Not many would disagree with that comment, however he wouldn't have been many most clubs best best midfielder

Just to clarify, when I mentioned hurting teams nothing to do with physicality, it is improving his disposal to enable him to get the ball into more advantageous positions, for opposition to think that every time he gets the Footy it will set up Melbourne for a scoring opportunity. There is no questioning Oliver's ability to win the Football, the biggest question mark is what he does with it.

This is how I sum up Oliver, no issues getting the ball but at some stage he needs to start hurting teams. Petracca is our most valuable and important midfielder. I think the Midfield group of White, Yze, Leoncille, Rigoni, Johnstone, Woewoden, MacDonald (A & J), Powell, and Bruce are a mile ahead of any midfield group we have had in the last 21 years. Pretty hard to argue considering this group took us to our last GF appearance and 5 years of finals. Our current mids have achieved little, underperformed and more concerned about individual performance then team.