binman

That is 3 quality ins. Two quality defenders, one of whom is our best kick and the other a key to our ability to transition forward, and a forward who can grab a mark, win a contested ball, win a ground ball and appy forward half pressure.

I feel like in the blizzard of disappointment the fact that weed is not in the team has been skimmed over a bit, here on dl and in the media. Much was expected of weed this year and for a young player he is inordinately important to us given he is one of only two key forwards we have. He gets dropped for form and to work on his craft. Yet to return despite our inability to score and huge injury list. He hasn't looked fit and part of me hopes that is due to carrying an injury as the alternative is he hasn't done the work he needed to have done. He has the talent, is still young and may well be carrying an injury so the alarm bells are not ringing. Yet. Fingers crossed he is back soon and delivering on his talent.

He totally is. And there is 8 or so others

Putting facts where? That's confusing.

yes an issue, not our greatest weakness as even when there is a good option offered we miss that target more often or not - or alternatively put on their head not out in front of the leading player.

I disagree.Of course a fearless desire for and commitment to the contest is important and every team needs some players like Viney who are next level in that regard. And yes all players have 'to go when its their turn' But not all have to be competitive ball winning beasts. And i think we have too many of those, even when we have our best 22 on the park. The best teams have players with mixture of strengths. GWS have a brilliant balance and as grapviney said on the podcast hard not to be envious. My number 1 is being a really good, natural footballer who at a minimum can execute AFL standard fundamental football skills: can hit targets by hand and foot, has a capacity to read the play, anticipates what is going to unfold, knows how to use their body in marking contests, wants the footy, knows where to run to (and where not to), can weight the ball to advantage when kicking to team mates, and understands the nuances of the game. You can teach a player to have commitment to the contest (and drop them if they don't show it - which is what will happen to jeffy soon enough unfortunately) but by the times a player gets to the AFL it is is too late to teach them the above skills (by and large). A player who does not have at least most of those fundamental skills is of little use and really you can only carry one or two. Maynard is a classic example. A goer, a competitive beast but that is simply not enough, particularly when we have Viney who is simply a terrible kick (but does have some of the other skills, fortunately).

A bit stiff. Video inclusive. I'm not convinced LHO actually did it. Heard a rumour the coach directed players to target JHK.

If you get the gig whatever you do don't agree to a medical exam from the club. They'll recommend surgery and you will stuggle to perform at your best for the next 12 months

You should apply for Misso job. Some on here would rate you ahead of him on this assessment alone

It's weird and my feeling is it a footy thing. Maybe rugby too? Certainly not the case in cricket. As an example once Smith and Warner went out expectations went through the floor. My sense is it doesn't happen in NFL or NBA though stand to be corrected as I don't follow either closely. Not sure about top level soccer. I wonder if it is partly stems from how many players play the game. Most team sports are dependent on key players to score (e.g. striker, quarter back, point guard). Footy is higher scoring, with a bigger spread of scorers and with 22 players each player is not as influential as sports with half that or less on the pitch, court etc

This. In the Wagner's, Lockhardt, Spargo, possibly Stretch, and possibly Smith we have five players who are good VFL players who would not be in the team if we had even a third of our injury list available. Add players like Lewis, Petty (who may not be ready) and Garlett who would not be selected due to form if others were available and that is closing on half a starting 22 who should be playing VFL. That is a bridge too far, pure and simple. I just find it ridiculous that so many that people, including people paid to comment on football, don't understand this is the reason we are not winning games of AFL football. One reason is so many footy media people are ex players and the culture of not blaming injury for poor performance is hard wired in of the DNA of football clubs and footy culture more broadly. Stoopid is as Stoopid does.

Agree on all points. What I'd add is the above list only covers games missed through injury, not the number of players who couldn't build a proper fitness base in the preseason because of surgery or being in rehab. Tmac (despite his comments it is a form issue), Oliver, Melk prior to his injury and Viney have clearly been hampered this season. That's four of our best 10 players. The pies and tigers do have better depth. Who would dispute that. But both teams had good pre seasons in terms of getting miles into the legs of most players. And besides neither club has suffered as badly us injury wise. Melks latest setback (not back until after round 16 according to the hun) is yet another example. The injury worm will turn. Too late for this season, unless a miracle happens. But it will turn. Fitness is another issue. Facts are facts. Players who have interrupted pre seasons will always struggle to get near their optimal fitness during a season. Too much recovery and too little time to focus on fitness.

Our kicking skills are poor. Even worse when you have close to half of your best out. And without reopening an old argument - and reiterating that I respect and understand the decision - tgis is the key reason why I disagreed with the decision to trade watts. Our biggest weakness is our foot skills and we trade our best kick. And by the by on that the Fritsch as replacement argument does not hold up. One because it assumes we could not have got fritsch without trading watts and two even if you think of fritter as a direct replacement he is nowhere near as good a kick as watts.

Don't agree. You may be proven to be correct but way too early to write off our game plan. Way too early. And impossible to make an accurate assessment with so many injured and unfit players. A key issue for us is so the injuries and fitness issues we struggle to negate the spread and keep possession style. Just as we did against West coast in the preliminary because we were cooked. But prior to that we were able to neutralize that approach, most notably against the hawks, with hard running to cover the outlet and hold them up. We did the same against wc, this year and it was instructive that it wasn't until we lost Smith and ANB (and late in the game salem) that they were able to reestablish their game and get on top. Without those injuries our game style would have likely prevailed.

That is simply not true. 6 6 6 has had almost no impact on the game. Classic example of a symptom being ascribed to the wrong cause. It is a coincidence that the strategy to keep possesion is becoming the dominant strategy. West Coast employed it last year, won a premiership and as always occurs others ate now following, most notably the pies who lost the grand final.

On the couch had a fascinating stat on Monday. The 2 teams that move the ball slowest as measured by play on from mark or free are the top 2 on the ladder. And the inverse is almost the same. We are one are one of the quickest teams and are near the bottom of the ladder Added to that the cats, pies, eagles and to a lesser extent gws are all high possession sides who simply deny the opposition the ball and more than happy to chip it around their defensive 50 and use the width of the ground. This represents a significant tactical shift in the game away from our and richmonds approach. The tigers team have been rhe strategic benckmhmark in the last 2 years (even last year - easy to forget that prior to being been by the pies in the finals they were the overwhelming favorites to win the flag as they had been all year). The real question is will the slow, maintain possession style (a staple of soccer for forever and a day - for good reason as your opposition can't score if you have the ball) will prove to be the premiership wimning model in the next few years. Leaving that question aside we are spectacularly ill equpied for that strategy as it relies on excellent kicks and players with enough pace to recreate a marking, outlet option. Our kicking is appalling. On our list the ONLY two players I trust with ball in hand is omac and salem. That's it.

And given the ball will be on the deck quite a bit we'll also miss his ability to bend down and collect ground balls. Might miss his elite pointing ability as well.

If spargo plays they play a short player

Have you not heard, or perhaps seen with your own eyes thst the 6-6-6 rule has made almost no impact on how the game is played.

And it was instructive that goody in his presser i think for the first time, listed all the players out and those whose return is imminent.

And without Salem was literraly the only defendwe you could rely to kick it to a teammate

Agree on firts three points. Not sure i agree with the last Before he got injured last year he was starting to play really well and much more fluent and instinctive. But seems so hesitant now. Needs to release the ball more quickly and take the game on and break some lines. Those issues were on display again yesterday, though there was couple of occasions where he did kick quickly. On improvement i think it is dependent on his mindset. If he he can free up a bit and have the confidence to attack then he could well improve. And to be honest that is the coaching staff's job to help him get his mind right. I would have dropped him after WC but was ok yesterday and with our injuries gets his chance to make a case to stay in the idea. I hope he takes the chance as i think the talent is there.

Three things

I reckon that is huge for us. The ground won't be soft, not nearly enough rain and the G drains incredibly well. We are a much better chance if it is dry during the game.

A very reasonable perspective and one that is hard to argue with. I'm probably a bit guilty of marking jeffy a bit hard in terms of his contests. I guess my concern is that it is becoming a pattern rather than a one off. But perhaps he's conscious of not damaging the shoulder he hurt pre season. I'll cut him slack.