jnrmac

At the moment we are repeatedly kicking to 2 on 1 contests, Uber frustrating

I have heard Gawn say its not fitness. They feel they are super fit after the pre-season. My feel is the instinct is gone and the resulting confusion looks terrible. They are not sure where to run, how to position themselves etc This accords with my view from the top deck of the G - I moved from the wing to behind the goals during the game and it seems obvious that they don't know what to do instinctively. The bees to the honeypot at centre bounce is classic everybody trying too hard and system has gone out the window. But worse is the running to spread when we have the ball. This creates congestion and puts a huge pressure on the ball carrier to hit targets. It so much easier to kick the ball to space and let a team mate run to it. But that takes a lot of co-ordination and team work. By the end of the game they appear to throw in the towel Alarming was the lack of tackling (and ineffectiveness), missed handballs, poor kicking and generally deplorable skills. This was evident in te first quarter where May missed several kicks, rivers missed the ball with his hand when handballing and numerous handballs to players feet. But for me it starts at the coal face. We have 3 butchers in the middle that are not gelling and seem more content to wrestle their opponents. They are being pushed to the contest and the outside becomes a danger zone for us.

This shows effort isn't there. It shows they capitulate. Something rotten in the State of Denmark

Pretty sure our new game plan is not working Whatever it is.

Is it also part of the gameplan to continuously wrestle with your opponent at centre bounces? Does my head in.

Melbourne have a history of crumbling under sustained pressure. GC and GWS' only games at the G this year they were both primed to perform well

GC started the 3rd quarter centre clearances 7- 0 We were hopeless and Jeff White has identified some of the problems Structural but also self imposed pressure where players like Viney have no confidence in their team mate and so repeatedly dives into a contest leaving a GC player on the outside. This is the classic bees to the honeypot and our bad old days. Because the mids are under pressure they seem to have reverted to these poor standards.

Great job Harvey. A bright spot on a dark day

I think most of us were reasonably happy with rd 1. The effort was there. Rd 2 and rd 3 saw an alarming drop off in basic skills - chest marks, tackling, kicking, handballing, two way running etc. Our expectations are that we know how to do those basics already (except for goal kicking which is a shambles). Getting the ball turned over because we are trying to run and handball fwd or kick into the corridor etc is something we can live with short term. What the club has dished up is sadly reminiscent of the dark days of 2012-2013

The problem I have is that this might be true of us. But it doesn't excuse missed tackles, dropped chest marks, handballs to feet and 20m kicks to the opposition. And losing clearance and woeful leg speed. Oh and our fwd 50 entries. Fundamentals of any game plan. Other than that I get your point.

I'd really like to see Campbell play. Scott has a history of targeting Max - and Max's for has been down - so some aggression from Tom might give our mids a lift

That would send a strong signal Fritsch is next to useless at the moment so a shake up is no worse than what we are getting.

I think the club would back itself to be returning to finals contention. Most likely shellshocked that the players are struggling with the change of game plan. I know I am

I am reliably told on Demonland that this sort of 'cohesion' tales multiple pre-season's to occur......

To me the key problem is lack of running to create space. Our players are always under the pump and you can't pinpoint passes in that scenario with any certainty. Kicking a ball to a player in space is significantly easier We also don't kick instinctively. Players stop, prop and its too late. That's confidence. It doesn't explain the missed tackles, lack of talk and dropping of chest marks, handballing to players feet etc

Have been calling for this for some time. In at least 9 games last year he had 2 possessions or less in the first half of games. His weak efforts are a cancer in a team game. Petty is close behind him.

Which players have improved since the end of the 23 season? That tells you a whole lot about this mob.

Thats because we have form at being crud

This does my head in. FFS Clarrie focus on the ball. Kozzie does the same. I watched our centre square set ups closely yesterday. We have gone back to bees at the honeypot. This to me is everyone trying too hard to do it themselves with teamwork or trust in your teammate to get the ball. In the past 11 games we have won clearance twice. Our vaunted mid-field is nothing of the sort.and we'd be better running Chandler, Sparrow, Laurie and Max through there.

Goodwin said the fwd line wasn't the problem because we had 26 entries...

The 'old cohesion chestnut....

We have won clearance twice in the past 11 games.

Our last 11 games we have won clearance twice. I'd say its a fairly important part of the game that we have dropped dramatically

There will be zero accountability for this loss. That's the problem. No standards, 'Head down, we'll work harder' i can hear Goodwin saying But they've got no idea what they're working on. Totally confused. No idea where to run, how to tackle etc etc Total clean out is needed. Very little to salvage

Just turn the lights out