DeeSpencer

To be fair a short break back from Alice in a full 120 minute game in the wet should mean we were fatigued. The saints had the short break too but the Eagles are a genuine training run. Credit Goodwin for playing Tracc forward and bringing in 3 fresh runners. We also allowed the Saints to have a half forward and sat a defender back. In that way we did adsorb and didn’t allow them any easy shots at goal aside from when we coughed it up. Defensively: 8/10 for coaching, selection, execution. The ball movement all over the ground: 4/10 at best given the Saints surely would’ve been blowing from half time

Disgusting win. Backline did some excellent defending but geez they have no idea how they want to move the ball. Credit to them for actually switching it a few times but no cohesive plan. And the panicking on contested loose balls is just embarrassing from all involved. With Tracc playing forward it was pretty much Viney and a VFL midfield and that includes both rucks. All our mids had a go but they just aren’t very good. Gus and JJ had some moments at least. Forward line showed signs of life but Melksham still looks long odds to actually do anything more than a little cameo. Brown completely cooked after a half. Grundy’s a waste of a body down there and Gawn not much better.

May gets the 6 purely for taking out 2 opponents. Stuff the rest

Were you in a coma in September 2021?

And by earlier in the year you mean the preseason and maybe the Sydney game. It’s amazing how well he’s fit in to our system of moving the ball as slowly as possible and as boundary as possible. We should play him on the right wing and have him swing corridor side to see if that can produce anything of value from his disposals.

I don’t think Choco’s methods are working for Tracc. Our players start with a steady walk in and keep very straight lines. Good technique for most players. But you can see Tracc desperately nervous on the walk in, spinning the ball around, panicked look on his face. The straight lines doesn’t work for him either. He needs to arc out to let his leg swing through. I’d have him either on a very short walk up or (the rarely used) purposeful run up followed by a swing out as he kicks. He also needs a left foot snap in general play. So many of his misses are desperate checksides that have little to no hope. Most of the games most powerful forward mids have a decent left foot snap - Dusty, De Goey, Stringer. I don’t care if he goes 0.20 on left foot snaps inside 30 he needs to try them.

I think big talls are still important in the wet, Ben bought it to the ground well. We didn’t go in too tall. Fritsch was meant to be the main deep target. Smith a mobile presence in the wet. Probably the plan was for Grundy or BBB to be subbed for Melk if things went well as the game opened up. And Sam Taylor would’ve given JVR a smacking using his strength advantage. Now Ben’s had a run and gets to play at probably his best ground, likely with JVR along side him in the best conditions.

Out: Brayshaw In: Oliver Out: Grundy In: JVR Out: Langdon In: Woey Out: ANB In: Laurie Out: Hunter In: Howes (Bowey wing) Out: Harmes In: Turner (Riv on ball) Out: Fritsch (inj) In: JJ FB: McVee May Lever HB: Howes Petty Salem C; Woey Petracca Bowey HF: Sparrow JVR Chandler FF: Smith BBB Pickett Foll: Gawn Rivers Oliver Int: Turner Viney Laurie JJ S: Melk Obviously not all of those should happen and certainly not in one week, but given we have few if any solutions in the forwards we need to change the midfield. If you’re slow and can’t kick then get out of the kitchen. (Unfortunately Laurie’s slow and JJ can’t kick but at least they’re something different).

It’s mental fatigue. The longer you control games and can’t finish with any rhythm or skill the more the pressure builds and you see guys make even stranger decisions or more basic mistakes. Plus you can’t play perfect defensive footy for 120 minutes every week. Josh Kelly rolled the dice staying a mile forward of the ball, the play slipped out to him and he won the game. It was our only mistake apart from the 5 minute patch in the 3rd and it was the ball game. We have to take a step backwards in playing such a defensive system and picking such a defensive side to get a mental refresh by playing the game with some freedom.

The ball movement all over the ground is just trash. Obviously it would help if we had a pair of mature key forwards and a healthy Fritsch but it doesn’t matter who’s up there when the supply is just consistently awful because so few of the players have the ability to move the ball. Our backline did a mighty job with clean hands avoiding the Giants pressure but apart from a short period of the first quarter and third then couldn’t get the ball through the corridor. Our midfield just lacks any penetration that isn’t Viney or Tracc from a stoppage. The entire midfield kick either 45m up and unders or 30m around the corner up and unders. No short kick, no powerful long kicking either. And we all know the forwards are a mess to kick to but when they do get it at half forwards it’s so rarely streaming long with any useful options. And the few times it was we had ANB or Pickett stuff it up anyway. Its deplorable just how bad the basic skills and decision making are. And how far they’ve dropped off given pretty much the same side in 2021 at least had the basic skills to dish a handball and balance up and hit a target

Hunter - grim Grundy - worse Nibbler - diabolical Chandler - bog ordinary Harmes - never again McVee - needs a rest Stafford - just leave him in Alice

I’m not sure there’s much point dwelling on the mistakes of 1965-2014 costing us thousands of fans. And whilst it would be better if we were more attractive to watch I don’t think it’s impacting crowds. We’re still better to watch than about a dozen teams. I don’t particularly agree with those examples. Gawn’s forward because we desperately needed a second ruck good enough to carry the load when he was injured and there weren’t a lot of choices. It was Grundy, Lloyd Meek or bust. Brayshaw’s had a run of midfield games now and he’s just meh as a midfielder. Despite his flaws often standing out early in games when the pace is hot I think he’s actually best on a wing or half back. Agree on the need to mix more skills through the forward flanks and on ball. Salem’s so important behind the ball and not sure we want to mess with Bowey who’s still a young player, every chance he’s no improvement on Spargo as a half forward. Petty forward and Smith forward have been tinkers well worth trying and have worked about as well as anything else we’ve got. They need to roll the dice on guys like Henry and changing up the list. But in fairness to the list management team that only thing I heard last year were we exhausted every option of finding a key forward and rumours of a desire to try our home grown younger players and bank cash and picks. The plan all along might’ve been keeping our powder dry for a year to pay down the debt owed on some ageing talls and rebalance the list this year. Aside from recruits just from natural improvement I hope Howes, Woey and perhaps Laurie are playing regular games next year which can help.

I mostly agree with you but I think you’re harsh on our crowds which have been very good this year. And overrate the impact of style Pies crowds, they could win 31-30 and fill out the G if they keep winning. Not much we can do short term about the fact we we’re rubbish for 50 years and the Pies have 150 years of breeding like rabbits filling out the northern suburbs train lines and the rest of the city/state/country. Plus decades of prime fixturing. Short of a dynasty, membership gaps take decades to make up. Im also not convinced we are playing too many players out of position and if we are it’s largely because we have to (ie. having 2 rucks and a shortage of playable depth options). Our list management last year was Hunter for Hunt, Grundy for Jackson and the hope Chandler and JVR could step up and so far that’s all we’ve got. With the bonus of McVee. The Pies bought in 4 mature guys. Brisbane had a great draft and topped up. Port have been building their list up for years with clever additions and waiting for Rozee and Butters to come of age. I think it’s close to time for a Taj debut but it’s hard to imagine he drastically changes much. And time to consider taking Salem or Riv in to full time mids, but that’s robbing perhaps one of our best 2 backmen. Regardless we’ll be scrambling to fill the key forwards, provide midfield run and skill and in an ideal world we’re probably missing a powerful medium forward too.

I certainly do. They’re strong and balanced in the midfield, particularly when DeGoey is back. They pressure very well all over the ground. And their backline is versatile and solid when one on one. Whilst N Daicos and Noble play like aggressive soccer wing backs they cover off with wingers and their other 5 defenders: Moore, Howe, Murphy, Maynard, Quaynor are great athletes and strong overhead so they peel off and cover each other. In 2018 we were opened up defensively by certain teams but we our talls weren’t up to it, the Pies have Darcy Moore, they can play more open! Yes they leave themselves vulnerable to turnovers but they don’t have too many of the really bad ones because everyone’s on board with the style. Their half forwards work very hard. But that’s not to say they are perfect or we should be exactly like them. But we have to put some pace, aggression and run to space in to our game. And we can’t just expect to push the switch and bring elite pressure when we need it either. Almost every week we pressured well in 2021, since then our pressure has been spotty.

Dutton decided to do something remotely human and watched tv one night with his kids and saw a bunch of gambling ads that didn’t please him. So he’s actually on the record against it. But the proposal was a staged introduction of restrictions which is totally reasonable. Tearing up a bunch of ad contracts and a stack of people losing jobs isnt a fair thing to do.

I think sports betting should be more akin to alcohol (very harmful for some, ok for many others) than smoking (utterly harmful to everyone) and so should be allowed some limited advertising when kids aren’t targeted. Clubs have wisely jumped away from having betting sponsors. The league should ditch their deal. The percentage of turnover as a product fee funds integrity and has to stay. Id be ok with one ad a quarter/ad break post 9pm to minimise the impact on addicts but not completely derail tv ad revenue. It’s certainly going to be a challenge for the tv networks though, I wonder if the afl had a contingency in the tv deal for less revenue if gambling ads were banned.

Gawn hasn't been a great centre bounce tap ruckman in at least 5 years. He gave up jumping at bounces (for good reason) so his taps are mostly predictable. Now he's ageing and struggles to provide any useful defensive pressure from the centre bounce (remember the days of him laying desperate tackles on mids?). His handballing/decision making has also gone to slop. So if the opportunity is there for him to grab it and guarantee we win the clearance then I'm all for him taking it. The reality is he shouldn't be taking so many centre bounces. He had 15 to Grundy's 8 against Geelong. It was 11-10 on King's Birthday. Even 50/50 is probably too many for Max unless Grundy can't find any cohesion with the mids. He's got so much more burst and skill to contribute at ground level.

Less of the flying doormat and more the trundling crew cut

Just about the only way to avoid long high kicks inside 50 is to move the ball quickly from the back half forward or across to the fat side. To do that requires switching, run and carry or kicking up the corridor. Short kicks along the thin side flanks take more than the 15 or so seconds it takes an oppositions midfield and half forwards to transition to clogging space across half back. Salem helps, but he mostly mops up and uses it safely. Riv has been trying with various levels of success. May’s largely lost the ability to break through tackles and take the game on. Hibbo’s the same. McVee is great at getting out of trouble but otherwise has a limited attacking game. Lever is a mess. Petty barely tries to attack. Tomlinson looks like Bruce Doull in the VFL but given he only runs in straight lines he doesn’t find the same space at afl level. Eddie Langdon is/was a master of the wide but fast run, but he’s struggling to get runners to feed him and isn't picking out targets. Hunter, refuses to pull the trigger on anything that involves more risk than him behind the wheel of a car. Viney, Sparrow and Gus can get the ball moving but you don’t want them taking risky kicks too often. So it’s Tracc or bust without Clarry’s corridor charge. The half forwards have stopped leading because the ball never comes so you get a pack 60 out from goal, followed by a scrimmage then often a dump to the pack 15 out. Now, there’s still plenty of situations where the ball moves well to half forward and things break down, we are good at those too. And I’d argue some of those are by design looking for deep inside 50’s because a mark inside 30 on a good angle is probably worth 4+ expected score, a mark 45 out on a 45 degree angle is probably worth 2.5 at most. But there’s a coaching issue of forwards blocking for each other, timing leads and the half forwards playing on or dishing well timed handballs to mids on the roll by for the hit up kick. JVR takes a strong grab 60 out, flips handball to PLAYERX then hits up PLAYERY. The only answers that I can picture are Spargo to Fritsch. Which is hard if Spargo is in the 2’s. And I can’t see JVR giving the handball to begin with!

If you’re bagging Collingwood for losing 2 finals by under a kick, or ignoring Geelong playing with more quick tempo to win a flag, or ignoring Port this year then you’re just acting in bad faith. We simply have to move the ball faster, with more width, more creativity and a lot more off the ball running or we aren’t going anywhere. Apart from not beating the best sides we’re also deskilling our players. This isn’t the late Daniher or Neeld days, we have defenders who can kick and we have a mature midfield and half forwards who should be capable of hard running. Switch, kick to space, over lap run to receive, get the ball back through the corridor. There’s so much we can do to improve our ball movement that doesn’t require gun key forwards or pinpoint kicking inside 50.

FB: Hibberd May Lever HB: Rivers Petty Bowey C: Langdon Petracca Hunter HF: Woey Smith Sparrow FF: Pickett Brown Fritsch Foll: Grundy Viney Salem Int: McVee Chandler Brayshaw Gawn S: ANB In: Bowey, Brown, Woey Out: JJ, JVR, ANB Time to roll the dice with Salem and/or Rivers in the guts to give us some skill and run on ball. Similarly Woey as the 3rd wing/half forward for some more speed. Langdon some half forward too. Im hardly convinced Nibbler should be dropped but at the same time he could do with getting some touch and we can use his spot to rotate numbers through the midfield. BBB a run and JVR a rest. Unless Grundy is in need of a week off. Coaches to be ready for Petty forward, Gus or Salo back, Woey on ball if needed. But I still think our issues are far more ball movement, run and skill than height.

We’ve been so reluctant to sub either of them off as well. I thought part of the plan to get Grundy was 5 on the bench or the non injury sub meant we didn’t have to have them on the ground. Grundy’s playing 60% every week but never been subbed. If he’s only good for 60% he should be able to play it quicker then get off. We also seem to have little faith in Grundy’s fitness or positional work because he rarely plays forward and gets caught being lazy defensively in the ruck. The drop off in Max’s handballing / basic decision making with the ball is such a shame. He was always good for one silly kick a week but otherwise was a smart player at his best. Now he’s a genuine worry every time he gets the ball. Not sure what the answer is. Maybe Grundy and Gawn start deeper and play more full forward to be in position for the long bombs. I’d like to see them switch roles on the ground more often to keep teams guessing too.

This is the equivalent of saying could Melksham come in for Steven May.

I don’t hate him, he’s just not an AFL footballer in any role but sub or defensive undersized tall any more. He hasn’t made appropriate defensive efforts or won ground balls for years and snagging a few goals in a comfortable win against out classed opposition doesn’t impress me.

Bowey and Disco probably best on. But both probably more good than great. Bowser didn’t exactly carve them up with ball use. And Disco dropped a few marks (probably could’ve had 10-15 intercepts) and occasionally made odd decisions with the ball. Woey the best mid for the first half, played exclusively wing and was quieter in the second half. Harmes ok. Dunstan in and out. Spargo had his moments but he’s trying to do too much rather than linking up. His defensive intensity was a cut above early thought. Laurie, the classy moments are great but there’s too many slow or not physical enough to get from traffic moments, played almost always forward, way too much Munro and White on ball today. Verrell competed strongly in the ruck and tackled well. But he was playing 2 shortish stints per quarter and running on fumes quickly which wasn’t a surprise. BBB - maybe? Certainly holding marks and looking more sure of foot. Can a ruck miss a week so we don’t lose mobility? Howes - can he just step up and demand selection already. He’s such a pure mover and kick. Contest work just isn’t there yet.