Adam The God

Midfielders in the draft. You don't waste high picks on ruckmen. You can get fantastic ruckmen from the Rookie draft. Mids, mids, mids, small forward.

Exactly. That is the sort of leadership players like Watts have lacked to look toward.

Good post. That said, I believe the main function of kicking to the pockets is in fact so you don't leave yourself open to the counter through the corridor. If you kick to the pockets, it's tougher for the opposition to then counter through the middle. Against the Bulldogs and Tigers we had much bigger forwardlines than our opposition and should have been hitting the top of the square and putting their smaller defenders under more pressure. An example of this is Watts shrugging his opponent off in the goal square to take a contested mark. Keeping the ball in our forward 50 is essential, but kicking to the pockets isn't always the best option. It depends on who's inside our offensive 50. We have to be able to make better decisions. You're right though. The press certainly just clicked for West Coast in a season. My concern is the lack of fitness. This year has to be about changing the mindset of the players, so it becomes instinctive. Once again though, the worry is that the press will become outdated by the time we effectively implement it.

Where did Nick Riewoldt start his career? On a wing. No one is saying he'll necessarily be a wingman for life, but that is where you develop. Meanwhile, Grigg was playing off half back, Watts played on the wing...

Not sure I agree with this entirely. When both boys were drafted, Watts was by far the slimmer frame. NicNat was already a hulk of a man. However, I wouldn't say the way Bailey handled Jack was the best way either.

I thought there were a couple of times he pin-pointed passes, but his team mates let him down by dropping easy marks.

Very good point.

They have been down by half time all three weeks now though. That said, I agree.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Yeah, I'd certainly agree with that.

Disagree with this. You're clearly referring to the time he rode the bump, slickly dished off to Davey, who then had time to dish off, but decided to take a further five paces to get on his left foot. This resulted in him being tackled. Not Jack's fault. Aaron should have dished straight away.

And "experience hurt us"? Wtf? We have more if not the same amount of experience as Richmond. Unintelligent comment, I thought. Either obviously lying or worryingly denying the reality.

Continued improvement, no matter the starting base is still nonetheless, improvement. If a player has a decent game, but is still not at the peak of his potential in terms of performance, that doesn't lessen his potential impact on a game.

Agree, in a way. I would have said there is a clear style to Neeld's direction and that is; grab the ball and kick it long as quickly as you can. It's not particularly shrewd. It's simple and so far not all that effective. In fact, the only thing that could possibly be gleamed from all of this is that contested footy "might" be required by Neeld's team. Although the midfield accountability would suggest otherwise.

Agreed. Fix up that attitude. It's worrying. Still, telling that he has Riewoldt's measure even when out of form. That said, the delivering wasn't great to Riewoldt today. However, one-on-one in their multiple duels, I cannot recall Riewoldt outmuscling Chip.

I could be wrong, but to my eyes no one was being tagged today.

I think he's on his way, Rhino. Clearly in our top 2 or 3 today. There were a number of moments where he was quite physical. The times he didn't go hard enough were often those times when he was judging the game and estimating he'd be the outside mid. I'd back his footy brain to be honest. Not saying he had a brilliant game, but merely noting his continued improvement.

Thought Frawley killed Riewoldt today (as usual). My worry with Chip is that he used to thump the ground whenever his opponent touched it. Now he looks like he couldn't give a damn.

Spot on, DD.

I absolve him of nothing. Neeld is equally liable. But that doesn't change the fact that Royal's track record is ordinary.

Agreed. It's frustrating when I read some of the rubbish written about him. It's only fair to read it back the other way as well.

That's all very well, but if you set your followers up poorly at stoppages, Jamar is only partly to blame. Royal and to an extent Neeld have to be accountable for this. The way you set up at stoppages is more vital than ever before in the modern game. Clearances are king and if you get first use of the football, you're half way there.

I vowed that nothing less than a win today would provide me with any solace. However, I have managed to find a positive to get really excited about (outside of Howe's fantastic game). The progression of the unfairly, maligned, Jack Watts. Already this season he's shown definite development and maturity. Remembering that he's had very little leadership to look toward in the forwardline. Still, he is slowly, but surely improving every week (not something you could say for the majority of our promising players - whose development seems to have been stifled by poor coaching and management). It does help that he's bulked up over the pre-season (but still needs another 5kg) and increased his aerobic capacity. This has and will enable him to magnify his versatility. On that note, there's a lofty comparison I'd like to make. There's a bit of Goddard in the way I can see him developing. He is a beautiful kick of the football. He can play anywhere on the ground and usually makes really good decisions. I'm at the stage of wanting the ball to be in his hands at almost every opportunity. He rarely misses targets and is able to pin-point lace out passes, over fifty metres on the run. He also kicks goals. With added muscular power, Watts and Clark will be a formidable duo. Both tall, yet extremely agile. Get a Liam Jurrah next to them and another pacey small forward (the likes of Eddie Betts or Gartlett) at their feet, and all of a sudden you have an extremely dangerous forward combination. It's about the work rate down there though. If the likes of Petterd and Dunn are to get games, they must adhere to maintaining the all-important defensive mindset. Chasing, tackling and forcing the opposition to turn the ball over. Jack still has a few things to work on, but he's showing marked improvement. Once he gains more strength, we can expect him to lay strong, uncompromising tackles as he did on a couple of occasions today. Enlarging his aerobic capacity will allow him to chase opponents down all day as well. I thought Jack's progress was worth noting, particularly considering the way the media (and indeed our own supporters) have unjustly crucified him. We can expect nothing less than what he delivered today from now on. I for one believe we have someone special on our hands.

Thought Martin's "chasing" was pathetic. Walked around and appeared lost most of the game. Took a great mark and then couldn't convert (playing as a key forward) from 20 metres directly in front. Subbing him was clearly the right move. Meanwhile, Davey's applied pressure was at about 70%. Bate didn't do enough and neither did Dunn or Sellar. My sister made a really salient point following the match. Just about the only player in our forward half willing to chase was an import from another club - Mitch Clark. Another damning pointer toward our pitiful club culture. The majority of our midfielders are too slow. We don't have any line-breakers in the middle. You can afford slow midfielders, as long as they've got dashers around them. They are also not working anywhere near hard enough when the opposition spreads by hand (the essence of the OP).

The way we set up at stoppages is an absolute joke. Most of the time Jamar is not in sync with the rest of his followers. Meanwhile, we crave a speedy outside mid, with silky skills. Easier said than done. Tappy was off the pace today, but hopefully better for the run. He will be an asset to the midfield, but probably better as a wingman or back flanker with those kicking skills. I concur. Royal is horrid and must be given the flick (if we had a better replacement - any suggestions?).