jnrmac

Who are the regular players that have improved this year? Brayshaw Langdon Oliver Viney Jordon Petty Players about the same Petracca Kozzie Hibberd Weideman Sparrow ANB Playing below last year Gawn BBrown Fritsch May Lever Salem Harmes Spargo Jackson Tomlinson Rivers I think we have a lot of key regular players that haven't improved with maybe 12 players playing the same or better. That says upside to me as we can improve but we don't have anyone in the Kozzie, Rivers, Jackson camp of last year. And 11 or so players playing below what we know they are capable of. That has sucked some of the enjoyment factor out for me.

Bizarrely it has not been as fulfilling as expected aside from a few moments - Rd 1, the Saints and the lions. The rest of the time it appeared as though we were struggling despite winning a lot of games. Our pressure has dropped off dramatically and our defence has struggled I didnt expect a continuation of last years finals series but I did expect to see more consistent game performances and us running out games.

We got smashed last time in the air Cant let that happen again. Logue went to May and then Lever concussed May. That upset our balance. Freo kicked 10 goals straight to pulverise us in the second half on our home deck. We were beaten in the clearances by 10 and marks 130 to 74. Contested marks 10 to their 17. Petracca had 10 disposals, BBB 2! Time to stand up

We used to do that and rely on keeping the ball in there to give ourselves repeat chances. That has been decimated with latest states showing Brown, Spargo et all are 15th in the league for keeping the ball i50. In addition our defence was rock solid creating most of our scoring chains. Our pressure is now 17th in the league and the above stats are vast departures from the way we were playing last year. Is this deliberate? Have we changed what we are trying to do? Is it laziness? Have teams worked us out? We moved the ball noticeably quicker in the first half against the Dogs but our defensive efforts were well below what we expect. The second half was a rinse and repeat from other games we have lost. Interestingly we have lost 8 4th qtrs and 8 2nd qtrs this year. The 4th qtr stat seems to be the most damning given we have been ahead in nearly all of our losses.

Geelong worked it out. Each time May kicked out they smashed the ball forward to avoid our crumbers at the drop. Their players were waiting several metres back from the contest and they swept it away time and again.

Goodwins rhetoric has changed from 'we are still working things out' to 'its time for us to put the foot down, its the pointy end of the season etc' I think he is a little worried and is subtly trying to lift the collective performance without hitting the panic button

This isn't right. Everything went right after round 17 or 18

Our game plan hinges on predictability. We kick to the left side, probably because its the best side to attack from. We kick to pockets, if we don't mark it we get a fwd half stoppage. We back our players to win contests We used to be able to keep the ball in our fwd 50. No more. We rely on our mids to win the centre clearances Our wings hold their width to give us an 'out' We get leads and try to maintain them rather than put teams away. Way too cute for my liking. Our second half fade outs are concerning. Unfortunately this is predictable to the opposition They kick short rather than bomb it into Lever and May They switch play to avoid kicking to Gawn They rebound out of our fwd 50 much more quickly. Guys like Jordan stop and prop until our team has moved into position. Its methodical, boring and predictable Our wings are being targeted - Langdon was outmarked several times against the Dogs by a taller running player. Overall though our output is down from last year and we miss McDonald - whose running and bullocking was vital to our set up. Harmes, BBrown, Weid, Spargo, Fritsch, Gawn, Jackson, Salem, Bowey, Lever are all significantly down on last year. Our system still stacks up against weaker sides but our record this year against top 8 sides is worrying. They have the talent and ethic to work around our system. We look much better when the ball is moved quickly into our fwd line but slow play kills us.

Tommo was mainly on Bruce

Fending of f is prior

Can we buY aHTB

Umpires starting to influence things HTB decisions are appallingly one way

Tails are up Lots of team first actions, i like what I'm seeing

Good qtr from Weid. Great late goal

Nibbler brilliant tackle

Doggies full back running 25m from the square to kick wtf?

Jack Ginnivan

You would have to think this is already happening

ALL players need to play team first or the magic stops No exceptions. Fritsch is not exempt and is a repeat offender

Here we go. Rule of the week. It will be forgotten in 3 weeks.

You contradicted yourself. If he was out of bounds when he kicked it he clearly ran the ball over the boundary line. Watch it again. He had ample opportunity to dispose of the ball or keep the ball in play and didn't (because we had a spare man down the line). That is textbook insufficient attempt

A thought I had on the Melksham chase down the wing early in the 4th qtr.... Why wasn't Tom Clurey pinged for insufficient attempt? He ran 40m, had ample opportunity to dispose of the ball and then ran out of bounds. Ball in.

Really ? It must be good to be perfect

Kozzie is a team player. His running and pressure are first rate. The goals weren't coming for him until yesterday The club knows through its GPS numbers who is doing the team things and Kozzie is among the best. I am not sure you can say the same abut Fritsch. I think Fritsch picks and chooses IMO but I am sure the coaches know and will be pressuring him to be more selfless. His goal output earlier this year was below his best and maybe that pressure to kick goals has led to some of these moments.

We're the reigning premiers not a 2 win basket case The MFCSS is strong here....