bing181

Which is why we drafted Windsor, and traded up to get him.

Nicely done, but can't ignore the impact of Academy players (Sydney) and father-sons (Collingwood) amongst that list. Also, can't underestimate the arrival of even a single key player, e.g. Dangerfield at Geelong as a way of avoiding the dreaded rebuild and keeping clubs competitive.

It's an opinion piece from one of their editors and a Dee's fan - not something from their FD. And not any different from anything you're already reading here.

He's playing the best we have. If you think there are players running round at Casey - who have won 3 matches all year - that would make any appreciable difference, there's a bridge in Sydney that's up for sale.

No he won't, nor should he. Current situation has little or nothing to do with the coach, as the higher-ups understand even if it's frustrating for supporters. We can run around screaming "do something" all we want, but if the cupboard is bare ...

Short of pulling him out of games for 6 weeks and putting him through a mini pre-season, what you see with Clarry is what you get. You can't build fitness in season, it's all you can do to maintain fitness.

You can't keep losing your best talent and expect to compete at the same level. But you can still compete, so getting into the finals would be a good season, winning a final under current circumstances would be a very good season. The one positive is that this could help fast track a few of the younger players/lesser lights. And in terms of wishful thinking, my knight in shining armour coming over the hill to save us is the return of Melksham. if he can get back to his best (??), marshalling the forward line and nullifying key defenders, it could give us a whole new look up forward and go some way to covering the loss of Trac. And from there, who knows.

You also don't win flags without your best players playing to their best, and the lack of games + pre season in the cases of Oliver and Petty only add to the losses of Brayshaw and Petracca. People should also remember we've lost Smith, who in spite of everything was our best forward in last year's finals.

Under the AFL system that's what's supposed to happen. Equalisation. The only way round it is through father-sons (looking at you Collingwood), or Academy (come on down Sydney Swans).

"The empirical analysis shows that the shock effect of a turnover has a positive impact on team performance in the short term. Results reveal no impact of coach turnover in the long term. The favourable short-term impact on team performance of a coach turnover is followed by continued gradual worsening of results. The turnover effect is non-existent when the comparison between the new coach and the old coach is done over 10, 15 or 20 matches before and after termination." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236043349_Coach_Mid-Season_Replacement_and_Team_Performance_in_Professional_Soccer

Viney struggling (age?), Oliver with no pre-season, Petracca having to play forward/now injured, Brayshaw out ... that's pretty well our entire mid-field. Just what were people expecting?

... then that will indicate that the list isn't good enough.

You're only speculating in any case, so go right ahead.

This, this and this. Whole team balance looks out of whack without him, both on and off the field. If you're looking for reasons as to why a team might lose its way, start with loss of leadership and experience. Having Melksham out for a year isn't helping either as he's in a similar category, same with Lever over a shorter period.

If ever there was a post to prove my point it's this.

That's literally his job.

Thank god some of the posters here are nowhere near the football department.

Tholstrup, and play him for the rest of the year. Time to make selections for the future rather than the present. Unfortunately. Not sure that any other changes are more than rearranging the deck chairs.

Bad form to quote my own post, but should have added a postscript to that as there's a fourth player. Angus Brayshaw. It was playing Brayshaw through the middle that let us release Petracca forward. Unfortunately, there's no-one even close to stepping into his shoes.

Much of this turns on three players for mine: - Oliver. Missed most of the pre-season and has never got going. His under-performance around the ball is costing us badly, especially when we're having to play Petracca more forward. - Lever. Back line is all at sea without him and May is exposed. - Melksham. Is to the forward line what Lever is to the backline, the general. Without him we're lacking leadership, experience and smarts.

Drafting high-contest vs high-skill players got us a premiership, but is coming back to hurt us.

This.

Nothing to do with it. Sacking coaches is generally a backward step, it's all on the players. Both North and the Suns brought in "star" coaches and the differences are marginal at best. Improvement can only come through the list.

Maybe the players could kick straight? Just an idea.

Laughable. Not going anywhere. Deal with it.