buck_nekkid

Every player is poorly skilled and out of form. How does that happen?

So, Goody steps up, what does he say: we lacked connection were hurting, we know our supporters are hurting we are gunna keep working its little things we got a week and a half to go back and work on it we are in this together, we are unified they we’re a great team, the tigers. what do you reckon?

I cannot express how deeply disappointed I am.

We are just rabble. It is done. Where is the sword?

Can we just STOP kicking it to their half backs? Sheesh!

Game day or Shame day? At a minimum I want the team to exhibit some fighting character and courage to honour the Anzacs. 2 soldiers were in talking to the club, lets see what rubs off. I will be stuck in another event until about 1/4 time and will be looking at the app. The service at the start is a highlight, and will miss that part. Not so sure what I will miss for the rest of the night. Go Dees. Wishful thinking - we break down their system and win by 32 points. Reality - (god help us)

Lockhart direct replacement for Jetta. Bull and Weid forward. Tmac on Riewoldt, Frosty on Lynch. Hard tag Harmes on Dusty.

Injury update: May tracking well, 4 weeks away!

And Hawkins got a fine that would have gotten Steven May life in Long Bay.

Wow, thanks Rusty. Look at the pain points: Marks i50 and contested, Uncontested possessions and effective disposals. Closely followed by turnovers. Tale of the tape right there. That really describes what we are seeing. No connection into the forward 50, and a complete rabble there. Too slow to allow them to mark. Thrashed in contested marks, no space to have uncontested possessions (although a lot more teams are playing keeping off across HB) and ineffective disposal with the pill, creating turnovers. I also note we are dead last in doing the 1%ers. Not putting it in the line for team mates. Some things (in isolation) dont look so bad. But we dont play the game in isolation...

It is difficult. Normally we would have: a) more players available, fit and healthy b) more players in the firsts in some form c) more talent in the reserves pushing for their place d) an appropriate break between matches We are therefore stuffed at selection table. We have so few players demanding selection, even from the list of guys that were on the park against St Kilda on Saturday. Probably about 1/2 dozen if I am honest. Then we are carrying a whole lot of out-of-formers who we ‘hope’ will come good. We have no one banging the door down (maybe Garlett), with a few nearly there (Petty, Kielty, Stretch). And then we have the rest. How do we put a competitive team on the park under these circumstances? If the out of formers don’t suddenly find the next gear, we are stuffed.

Injury report should be out today, after training, if they follow their normal cycle pre game. Hopefully we will find out about May. they should also do a form report, and own up to who they are carrying at the moment. Would leave a short list of non injured and in form players.

Saw May on Saturday at the ground. A big boy, looked in pretty good nick. Wouldn’t be saying too much to his face, that’s for sure!

Have we hit rock bottom yet? Unfortunately, we all have expectations that they can achieve so much more. When will they start to deliver on that promise? This week? Next? After the bye? 2020? The club cannot say anything new that will encourage me. I want to see actions. What have you got?

We can drop 4 more games and make the finals. right now can anyone see us even winning 4? such a waste of a year.

*yet*

When I saw Lewis and Jones line up on the wings for the first bounce I almost spewed. Two slowest players in the true ‘outside mid’ positions. Do not offer enough defensive capability from there, and certainly offer little offensively. The barrel must be almost at empty if this is where we are at. i hoped his leadership would add some value, but hard to lead when you can’t lead by example....

So, some rational (?) thought: 1. Our high press defence works well when everyone from half forward to half back works hard and removes space and options. We give the opposition the first or second kick so that we are set up to stop it in the back half of the centre square and repel it back forward. We are simply not running hard enough to the right places, we are not fast enough and we are losing contested ball and groundball gets. 2. Our midfield has no defensive strategy. We seem to believe that we will win every set-up clearance (ball up/ball in) and so set up for offence, with no defensive elements at stoppages. When the opposition do win, they burst away and we are left in the wrong positions to influence the game. This is fine when we are smashing it, but we seem to be barely halving these moments. Also shows up when there is a ball in 30 m from goal. You just know the opposition will score. Happens week in, week out. 3. We are flat track bullies. Put some physical pressure on our midfielders, and they wilt. Get in their faces, push and harass them, and they drop off their game, and give up stupid ‘tough guy’ free kicks. 4. The skills across the park are atrocious. TMAc cannot mark (Goodwin), and we have seen the other glaring problems. Preuss has been a revelation (at least first quarters), but our entire system relies on skills and we are so far down on this it is not funny. 5. Footspeed. Not one chase down tackle. Not one closing speed pressure on the ball carrier (nearly one, but not quite). Is this because we have recruited ‘contest beasts’ or is something else going on? Is it half hearted efforts? The opposition run around and past us all the time. 6. Confidence. Obviously we have zero confidence at the minute. They mark, and stop. Some of the entry into 50 was disgusting. Howe can we continuously try to pass off to people in worse positions (and fail miserably). Trac’s handball to no-one. Spargo’s kicks directly to opposition players on their own, on our 50. The lack of run and spread when we tried to switch play was sad. They would switch, and upfield were a bunch of joggers. No one busting a gut for anyone else. 7. Which half? We are supposed to be a forward half team, but we cannot keep it in our half, or play in theirs. 8. Forward craft. When it does get inside 50, the Saints ran it out unopposed over and over. We could not mark, crumb, hustle, tackle, corral, or sometimes kick simple goals (Trac!). At one stage, we were 30% effficiency inside 50 versus the saints 70%. If Goodwin wants better connection, then he should switch his phone to Telstra. We have some serious issues that need fixing that are more than just ‘connection’. They are fixable, but we are looking at an ugly start to the year, maybe the full first half. With AVB, Hannan, May and Lever we should be better. With TMAc, Weid back (MIA) we will be better. Buckle up, we are in for a long year.

Hannan hasn’t been in this year....

I had the opportunity to briefly share my views with Pert as he was getting into the lift. I was direct, but polite. He looks like he is Petracca’s role model in the pizza eating department.

Our best at delivering inside 50 are Milkshake and Angus. Play them high half forward. Bring in Jeffy and Lockhart to rove, and to lock the ball in the forward 50. Tom Mac will be persisted with but he is terrible ATM. We really need Aaron Vandenberg and Hannan back at half forward, and Lever/May in the backline. Frost did OK tonight, I thought. My guess is we will not be as brutal as we would like. Ins: OMac, Petty, Lockhart, Jeff, Maynard, Kielty Outs: Spargo, Jones, Jetta (inj), TMac (desire, but unlikely), J Wagner, Take your pick of 7-8 others.

That was diabolical and deplorable. We are the best contested ball team in the clomp - except we are not We are the best clearance team in the comp - except we are not. Key problems: Skills - Simply not up to standard. Game plan - ineffective Forward 50 entries and play - completely underwhelming. No crumbles, unable to lock the ball in Defence - broken. The zone is dead. The number of times they ran off us to set up goals was terrifying We were beaten in all phases of the game. All of them Confidence is so low at the moment. Decision making is appalling. Outcoached. We slowed them in the first half, then they just ran around us. All the attributes that Goody prides us on were simply not there We did not run for players, give them options, provide overlaps or lead up marks of quality. Some significant player issues at the moment. Half the list are not up to it or ready. I have been an optimist, but at 4 qtr time, I could see our season on the way out the door. There is going to have to be some magic dust sprinkled around to turn this frog into a prince.

Why am I nervous AF? i think we will win by 34 points, but either I ate a bad curry or this is as nervous as I have before a game in a while.

I don’t hate or love him, I just commented on what I saw. I hate bagging players (they are not ‘spuds’), but his play was noteworthy in its cost to the outcome. Perhaps we all expect more given his role in the firsts?

Nibbles misses a shot. End to end goal. Nibbler horrific handling. Free kick and goal. FMD.