bing181

He'd already said in a previous OTC that they were told there'd be changes to the playing personnel. May, Petracca and Oliver were already out the door long before King arrived. From the drips of information that are available, it seems that the decisions to move them on came from across the club, from the FD (Richardson and Lamb) to the Board, with Guerra (and Smith, perhaps Green?) driving it all.

Not what I took out of that article.

Meanwhile in another galaxy, far far away ...

Have to agree. It doesn't just start at the top, if that leadership isn't focused and clear, you're always going to be pushing it uphill with everything else.

I really don't get these kinds of comments. JVR himself admitted that he wasn't playing well last year, and he even became a bit of a whipping boy here. Playing a key forward in the ruck is fairly standard AFL fare. Petty played forward because a) we had May, Disco, Tom Mac and Lever available down back and b) we badly needed a big-body foil for JVR, Jefferson and co - a role which is now taken by Mihocek. As for Tholstrup, he came straight into the team Round 6 after his stress fracture without having to pass by the VFL, and kept being played even when he was only getting single figure disposals. There were also reports that he was read the riot act at his exit interview in terms of his attitude and preparation. Given all that, not sure of where "not getting much of a go" came from, from the outside looking in I'd tend to say the reverse. I get it, the coach and a few others were moved on, but the Goodwin-bashing here is both tiresome and superficial. He was maybe not the right coach to be taking us forward, but as JVR summed up recently: "Goody was such a good coach for so long, and I think Kingy’s done really well to come in and hold on to what makes us a great footy club, while also bringing aspects of his coaching style."

Depends on their age and experience. Once you get 8 - 10 preseasons under your belt having a reduced one doesn't have the same impact as with younger players.

Lever's 7 intercepts was higher than any other Melb player, so not sure what would qualify as "high level". Not saying we don't need more, and agree on his ball use - what I don't quite get is why someone who's a leader and known for his footy smarts, doesn't know his limitations. Do not centre the ball Jake. Equally, it's a team defence, and it's for all the defenders to work together understanding who's doing what. Jake should be left one on one as little as possible - if possible. That said, it remains to be seen how successfully he can adapt to the new playing style. It's fast and furious out there.

You play players because of their strengths, not their weaknesses. Doing what he does best got Lever an AA.

Kind of what I was getting at. But I'd suggest that a happy, committed group of players are also more likely to push through when fatigue sets in at the end of games/quarters. i.e. fitness is as much between the ears.

Interesting that there have been no comments regarding our fitness - even though it's the same fitness team. Selwyn is still the main man. Perhaps all those last quarter fade-outs of the last couple of years were never about fitness after all - not in the physical sense anyway.

That game has to be seen as a vindication for all the changes that have been made over the last 6 months. Positive vibes all around, including from the media - e.g. notice how few articles there were referring to us that mentioned Petracca, even though he took the game apart in Perth. The grey clouds have lifted.

You're probably right, but with 7 votes it could have split 5 - 2.

Not the place, but perhaps one day we'll have a decent discussion on Demonland regarding the actual role of the head coach - and everyone else in the FD for that matter. Assistant (and even development) coaches have a lot more input in what goes on than many here give them credit for. Sure, King is Head Coach and it's his name at the top and as you so rightly put it, he's the one who has to front up to defend decisions at the Press Conferences. But it's a coaching team. Without any inside knowledge so could be well wide of the mark, I don't believe that the decision to play Kolt on NWM came from any one person or any one process. It could have started with a question to the fitness staff, and King mentioned Kolt's fitness profile as making him ideal for the job (fast enough, but can run all day). I would imagine that even the development team got involved. etc. etc.

It just really intrigues me what people think the assistant + development coaches do. Sit around all day playing Pokemon on their phones and then putting out the cones for training?

Fritsch's 6 in the 2021 Granny don't count?

Or AMW ...

Great to see the win, thank god for a functioning forward line. Mihocek is the player we've needed for 4 years, just straightens us up and creates space (in every sense) for the other forwards. Was pleasantly surprised by Jiath, more than did enough, and thank god for Steele. Apart from he and Kozzy, our mids were MIA. Lots of room for improvement there - hard to imagine Langford having a worse game again - but when we win games it's not going to be through dominance around the ball. As many suspected, our defence is problematic, especially the smalls. We won but they still had 32 shots on goal, more than enough to win and win comfortably. Attacking defenders are great, but sooner or later we're going to need good one-on-one defenders. Hopefully some room for improvement, only our first game. But more than happy to take the 4 points and get the monkey off our backs, does wonders for the self-confidence. Especially happy for JVR, he's clearly put in a power of work across the off-season.

The issue with Lever is he's having to play as a 1 on 1 defender because we hardly have any. Lever's strength is as a free agent and interceptor, he's never been good - or even OK - as a lock down defender.

Get Xavier Taylor in, even if he's not ready. Backline needs bolstering. St Kilda had 15 goals and 32 scoring shots - that would win most games.

Wait till we start loading.

Lots to like, backline not so much. Getting cut up by their smalls especially. Where's Nev Jetta when you need him?

Only if you're playing a team who are playing their first match. But doesn't have to be a huge advantage. Any advantage is an advantage. (Old Chinese proverb).

So long between drinks, seems like a lifetime ago. Impossible to feel optimistic or pessimistic about this, no idea what we're going to see. But alarm bell for me is the way that the teams that played in Opening Round have the rub on the teams just starting their season. Longmuir was pretty filthy on it after the Dockers ran out of legs against Geelong. If we're to have a chance we could need a decent margin at the last break. But heh ... go dees.

McVee will be fine. He's too good a player to not re-find his mojo. Just not against us ...

Sure. The need to repeat the 21 premiership and confirm the dynasty was a millstone around everyone's neck. Everyone's, not just Goody. Omnipresent and relentless, it's no wonder a few turned to substances and unhealthy habits, must have been quite a pressure cooker atmosphere. Goody had to go as much as anything to release the pressure valve, to definitively break with 2021. The clean slate we keep hearing about isn't so much a break with Goodwin's Melbourne, it's a break with the flag and everything that went with it. We start from zero, with no expectations to weigh people down.