DeeSpencer

There's a phenomenon where improper English spreads through the community and is then repeated, especially when you've been at the footy all day and aren't really focusing on writing correctly. Well done on being the grammar nazi on a footy forum though. In the meantime I'll be consulting with Merrian-Webster and hanging out with my old mate F. Scott. https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally

Spoke to MCC/MFC members before the game. I didn't take notes so I'm completely paraphrasing here. Robbo: 'Hasn't Goody being listening to you. Jennings: He's been listening. R: Freo? J: A good side with a lot of solid role players a handful of excellent players. Fyfe, Walters, Hill and a guy who doesn't get talked about but was in the paper today - Luke Ryan. They are excellent players. (Note: Harmes to Fyfe, Viney to Walters, Rotating wings on Hill and Smith to Ryan - they took them seriously) R: What's been going wrong J: We had sessions with 12 fit players over summer R: Coaching changes? J: Goody doesn't want to wait for changes at the end of the year, made them now. R: Forward line? J: Most of the other things have been looking good but the forward line has struggled, we'll look at more changes. Suggests we'd have won more games with better accuracy. Briefly mentioned a goal kicking coach R: Finally, What do you expect/want to see out there today? J: I want to see some Freo bodies hit the deck Old man heckling: How about some goals.

He was worst on ground playing quite possibly the worst game I've ever seen for 3/4's of the game against inexperienced defenders (Ryan was on Smith and Hamling on Hannan). Did Rawlings only start coaching at 3/4 time?

1 year deal with a club option would make more sense than a 2 year deal. Who are we negotiating with? He runs damn hard which opens space for others but skill wise he isn't at the level and he doesn't have the athleticism of game sense to really create space. When Lockhart gets the ball at half forward something happens - good or bad, when ANB gets the ball it's often a fumble, smothered handball, or looped nothing disposal. You're relying on the bounce of a ball or a fumble going the right way to get the results with ANB. Literally you roll a dice when he gets near the ball and hope it pans out. He might improve and we need the runners but I just don't see why we'd commit 2 years. If Spargo, Hunt, Hannan, Lockhart even Chandler yet alone recruits or picks all go passed him next year we'd be stuck with him for 2021.

Against 21 other players it's a couple of men clashing shoulders, standing their grounds. Despicable from Walters. Start a melee, head but someone, dive. Awful sequence of events. Jones should be smarter but it wasn't as bad as it looked.

The one who's spent a whole team of time injured and might not have the soft tissues to play a lot of footy on the wing or even half back might not suit us all that well! I'd only want Stephen if he's a cheap free agent and only after getting one of Brad Hill or Langdon. Brad Hill is the better over all player but even with Langdon's sloppy skills I'd be very keen on him. Stronger at the contest than Hill. Either way, let's get a fair dinkum wingman so we can use Fritsch, Baker, Hunt and maybe KK through the flanks and build a running game.

23 goals in not much more than half a season as a ruck/forward covering Gawn in 2017 as well. It was over 2 seasons that he was looking like an excellent forward. I'm still comfortable with the decision to put the eggs in the McDonald and Weideman basket. It's logical to expect both to improve next year. If we had kept Hogan with our current forward line struggles I'd imagine he'd be worth nothing more than a mid first round pick as an out of contract player. We also wouldn't have got Steven May, who despite his struggles looks like a very good player. And even if we paid too much for May we wouldn't get nearly the same return as May and a decent pick that became Sparrow for Hogan.

There was talk that our previous club doctors quit because Misson outranked them on player management. Injury prevention would be the first priority, but a fitness guru also has to make a call about the right fitness program and when a player is right to play. A doctor or physio would manage the initial stages of injury but I'm 99% sure it then it comes down to the guru to work out the right amount of training. Some of these guys are physiotherapists as well as exercise physiologists. And certainly it's a matter of team work between the doctor, physio and fitness guy to create the best plan.

FB: Hore May Hibberd HB: Jones Frost Salem C: Stretch Oliver Fritsch HF: Petracca T Mc Hunt FF: Smith Weid Lockhart Foll: Gawn Viney Harmes Int: Wagner, Brayshaw, Baker, Hannan Out: Lever, Spargo, Garlett In: Smith, Lockhart, Stretch That's what I'd do. Freo spread like crazy. Getting as many runners through the midfield and wings will be vital to stop their run. So even though he's a limited player Stretch comes back in to run with Langdon or Hill. Time to give Jones a good run at half back to see if he can reinvent himself. Time to give Smith a fair go at it as the 3rd tall forward to see if that frees up Tom and Sam as it did for parts of the game against the Crows in Darwin. Petracca should get some midfield time as well.

Yes fair, but of all the player problems he's a clear number 1 (with Melksham number 2). He led the forward line like an All Aus level CHF last year and is now lucky to be getting a game. I'd much rather have Tom right than have the Hogan trade back. Quite frankly I'd be shocked if many on here disagree with that.

Why are you assuming Hogan wasn't replaced? Hogan was replaced by Weideman for this year, just as he was after injuries last year. The forward line failures are far more to do with McDonald's form, Melksham's injury and the fitness/skill of the mids kicking it inside 50.

Panacea doesn't simply mean solution, it means universal cure, magic bullet etc. The players are going to have to do the work to solve the problems, Rawlings can only guide them. That's being realistic and sharing responsibility rather than having an ego. A higher conversation rate will result in more wins if the rest of the side can continue to do what they've been doing or improve. Coming out and promising wins is foolish. Bill Belichick might be the best sports coach on the planet and his motto is 'Do your job'. All our coaches need to do is spell out what they want from the players and hold them to that. An assistant coach hyping the fans? Come on.

We consistently struggled to score against good sides last year with Hogan. v Richmond v Hawthorn v Collingwood v Sydney despite stacks of inside 50's. The forward lines best games against good sides were v WCE, GWS and the first 2 finals with the Weid. We didn't bend over backwards to retain Hogan. He was contracted for this year, we could've held him to that. We recognised the opportunity to improve the backline and that the forward line functioned without him. I absolutely stand by that decision as the right one.

- Tom McDonald was the star key forward last year. 50+ goals and got the best defenders. - Melksham and Petracca were both very good medium options, Joel Smith was shifted forward as another difficult match up - Hannan, Spargo, ANB did their jobs well and we recruited more small and flanker options Hogan v top 8 teams last year - 6 games, 8 goals (3, 1, 2, 0, 1, 1) and 26 marks Weideman v top 8 teams last year - 6 games, 8 goals (0, 1, 1, 3, 2, 1) and 30 maks Hogan has had 2 excellent games this year surrounded with a lot of ordinary ones. At this stage he is miles off a once in a generation forward. In fact he has been miles off tracking like that since his first or second season. The Weid hasn't come on but has shown good signs the last two weeks. There's still good reason for optimism that he becomes a very handy player. Tom McDonald going from a guy who kicked 53 goals in 20 games to a pumpkin is the real issue.

How good is he at injury prevention and management - who knows? But Port were fit when he was in charge. They believed it, they played like it and they ran over teams late in games. It was great footy to watch. I'd be willing to risk some injuries to see our players really believe in themselves. We seem so reluctant to kick the ball and run to space. Our quick ball movement game plan will never amount to anything if we're afraid to stretch the size of the ground with run.

Viney's are irrelevant. I'm not suggesting replacing Jeff with an inside midfielder. Hunt - 14 goals/12 games. 2.2 tackles Hannan (last year): 22 goals/15 games 2.2 tackles Lockhart 6 goals/7 games 2.4 tackles They are guys who have some combinations of pace and forward craft. They also have more flexibility to rotate through the midfield or high half forward line so Baker, Oliver, Petracca etc can all spell deep forward. When he kicked 40 goals a season and had electrifying pace Garlett was a great player, but he's lost a yard and lost the hunger for the ball.

Multiple times in each game he: - Clearly runs under kicks to avoid body contact from behind, spilling or clean missing marks - Takes flying shots on goal to avoid contact - Approaches defenders from behind to lay run down tackles rather than having to attack them from front or side on which requires more force and courage and is more likely to create a turnover - Passes off goal scoring opportunities including the 30m shot against the Pies that was inexcusable All these things are clear to see. If you can't see them then I don't know what you're watching. Yes, he has far more forward craft than any of the alternatives but he's no longer a competitor. He plays like a guy who doesn't want to be there. Now that we've got Hunt, Hannan and Lockhart all available we have 3 guys who can do the job and are actually willing to put their bodies on the line.

I'm pretty sure from watching training that McCartney is a play it on quickly Geelong under Thompson style coach. Lever and May should mean more intercept marks and with a fitter midfield group that could mean more kick mark style. The desperation to move the ball quickly stems from having a forward line without goal kicking power and a midfield with running power. A controlled build up needs more run in to space and forwards who can beat a man.

Maybe. I just look at the Hawks with Clarko and a bunch of young assistants he turned in to senior coaches whilst Fagan had his back. Coaching has evolved so quickly since the mid 2000's that you need guys who are innovating and advancing the game. Anyway, I'll take comfort from the idea that Goodwin and/or Mahoney have made some changes. The worst control freaks are the ones who get their people in positions and keep them forever.

Plapp and Chaplin seem exactly the type of guys Goodwin will keep. Plapp's worked his way through the system from VFL development coach at Willy, to TAC coach at Sandy to being very successful at Casey and now in to the senior coaching panel. I suggest Ben Matthews as stoppage coach is the more experienced of the midfield coaches so I don't particularly see an issue with a less experienced coach there. Chaplin is certainly inexperienced but he now gets sole responsibility to coach the position that he played very well. I don't think he would've been promoted on the way to being shown the door 10 weeks later. I would think the best balance for assistant coaches would be having a good split of experienced coaches and younger guys who are driving the implementation of tactics, analytics and technology. Rawlings adding to the line coach experience plus either putting McCartney where he's best used or replacing him is a good step to using experience. Otherwise I imagine changes are more likely with the guys who just got demoted than with the assistants keeping their positions.

We hired a doctor who had worked in Emergency Departments and as GP to head up the medical team dealing with professional athletes. Not as serious but it's the equivalent of needing an operation - even something simple like an appendicectomy - and going to a GP rather than a surgeon. Medicine is very specialised these days, there's just far too many diseases, treatments and so on for doctors to know outside their speciality. A good GP with time in an ED will know how to manage the basics of what goes wrong on a footy field - stitching wounds, assessing knee injuries, relocating shoulders - but it takes advanced knowledge to accurately assess injuries on game day as well as to oversee treatment plans. The club doctor has to deal with surgeons and other specialists when it comes to injured players which means having the expertise to work on that level. It takes a lot of experience and knowledge to make hard calls in circumstances like if a player has a dodgy foot and needs to see a few surgeons or the player is being rushed back by the fitness guys and needs more evaluation. He now has far more experience and may have even finished his advanced training, hopefully he has, but it was still a very unusual hire at the time.

I'm guessing Rooke didn't have whatever it is that was required for Tom to get out of his own head and back to impacting games. Rawling's is a far more imposing character. It might be a cuddle, a kick up the backside or a demotion to the VFL but something needs to change with Tom. I'm looking forward to some fresh approaches.

For every goal Jeff kicks he stuffs up 1 for either himself or a team mate through gutless efforts. He's a laughing stock.

The medical/fitness changes are possibly more interesting. Dr Z has been promoted. He still isn't a fully qualified sports medic as far as I can tell but hopefully he's on the right track. Looks like they promoted the 2IC as well who was previously at Hawthorn for a number of years. Let's hope that works out. Misson on to special projects before his farewell. Bad coaching can be fixed pretty quickly. Bad fitness/medical management for the next 10 weeks can impact players careers. Hope they've got it right.

If I were Jade Rawlings it would be a big kick up the backside for Tom McDonald, see you later Jeffy Garlett and a commitment to team work from all of the forwards. Get them working for each other and things might turn around.