bing181

Good luck with that.

Perhaps not as fixable as one might imagine? Also missing from the analysis was any recognition that these things can be as much between the ears. As Goodwin pointed out in the press conference, it's contagious. I can't imagine how much Xavier Lindsay must be dreading shots on goal given that he's missed every one he's taken so far.

Harley Reid putting on a bit of a clinic ... should help to add a few acres to the farm down on the Bellarine.

Not that I want to get into the loading debate here either, but you're also missing the key part which is the rest/unloading prior to the loading phase, without which you don't have the freshness to cope with the excess loads. You can't just add extra load onto footballers knocking themselves out every weekend and where the main focus is recovery, recovery and then more recovery.

Max's point in his interview as well. That you can't give a team a 6-goal start. And then botch any chance of a comeback by not being able to change the look of the game through scoreboard pressure. (per Goodwin)

That's not how it works. There's no meaningful benefit for knocking the players around for a week in-season, quite the reverse. If you want them to be cherry-ripe you give them LESS training, not more.

We're not loading. And were never loading outside of pre-season. A few extra running drills around the bye isn't loading, it's maintenance.

Why do you think they brought in players like Windsor and Lindsay? The shift to prioritising skills and smarts is pretty flagrant. it's also not just horrible goal-kicking, it's horrible kicking period.

Bingo.

One of the reasons is that a reasonable percentage of those weren't simple shots - because of the way the ball was coming in and where we were having to kick from. Quick snaps from 40m are always going to be iffy, as are attempts from marks on the 50m line. (Though some of those players aren't good kicks either, which is never going to change.)

Laughable. I was referring specifically to the younger (1st and 2nd year) players. In that context what happened years ago is an irrelevance.

For the young'uns the issue isn't skills per se, it's execution under pressure. Only way round that is time and experience.

Not sure where we find one, but we've got to get a decent key position forward. AJ and Petty are NOT the answer. If we had that pillar to build a forward line structure and game plan around it would make all the difference. AJ brings very little (sorry to say), and Petty just isn't a one-on-one forward (or back for that matter). I suspect we'll see Jeffo and perhaps JVR next week.

Amongst all that, good to see McVee back to something like his best. Turner really consolidating himself as a first-tier key defender. Probably a few other positives - but perhaps not the time.

Not just his goal kicking, all of his kicking. Mr. Spray.

Tom `Mac for Lever? Hard to see, but bleeding goals/scores with Lever at the moment.

Amongst all the dross, Windsor looking more like his damaging self.

Backline being outrun and outgunned.

Suspect that unless there's a rapid improvement it'll be Jeffo or JVR for Petty next week. Not marking is one thing, but getting constantly outworked and pushed off the contest is something else.

Lever rusty as all hell. Seen this before, miss 8 weeks and then never quite get back up to speed. Being caught out of position, dropping marks, giving away frees ...

"Forward Jacob van Rooyen will join the extended squad, with the final team to be confirmed at 5pm (AEST) on Friday." Hope he stays at Casey, another week to build his skills/confidence. Would be nothing worse than to travel to Alice and not play. Not sure how this plays out though in terms of like-for-like replacement. Perhaps Adams in to free Turner forward? Would have thought we'd bring in Henderson for Spargo with Laurie as emergency not JVR. But what would I know ...

Unless he's injured, yes. Not an emergency. He's ahead of Adams, but you can't have guys not playing each week because they're emergency, so Tom drops back to at least keep up his match fitness.

TMac not included confirms that he was indeed omitted last week, as per team selection list at the time. He was not "rested". He was dropped.

inside info or just guessing?

Not to mention, Saints have lots of negative press this week. Suspect that in reaction they'll come out firing on all cylinders. Could be a challenge.