Jaded No More

Here is what I know for sure, we are sh*t and we need good players at any cost. Travis Cloke is a good player.

Stupid thing to do. PLEASE MAKE THIS SEASON END ALREADY!!!

I have never seen a Stef Martin related post/topic, where you haven't been quick to point out that he's useless and that bringing him back into the team is going backwards. And the last time I've had a look at what's happening on the field, I haven't noticed our ruckman being the cause of our problems.

I see you've lost grounds to bash Stef Martin, so you've picked the next closest ruckman?

There is no doubt that Neeld needs and deserves to be given the time to develop the side. My fear is that he'll recruit and develop players to suit his own game plan, which thus far has given us 1 real victory of note. And then what happens if he gets the sack, do we rebuild again to suit the next coach who won't budge and isn't capable of working with what he's been given? In my opinion the list is not all doom and gloom. The spine is solid, and our defense has been a strength until Neeld ripped it apart to try and bulk up the forwardline (and then threw Dunn into the mix, for god knows what reason!). Our midfield is garbage, always has been, and it's not so much the ability to get our hands on the contested ball which kills us, but our ability to use the ball when we do get it. Which is why it frustrates me that Morton and Gysberts are rotting in the VFL, because for all of their faults, they can get and use the ball intelligently. The bottom line is, a midfield can be built and developed quickly, certainly quicker than a defense or a forwardline, but even with all the right players, if a coach is not using the right tactics at the right time, you simply won't win. Right now I'd argue that we've played some equally average teams and lost to them all (nobody cares about beating GWS), and lost comprehensively, when better match day tactics and selection decisions may have got us over the line. P.S.- Jake Spencer bashing is the lowest form of footy discussion.

I'd say it's because he doesn't have the fitness base to run around in the middle, especially in these conditions, and they wouldn't want to aggravate the 'hot spot' in the leg. So I suppose the real question is, why the hell was he the sub?

Lets put everything aside, history, recruiting, past coaching indiscretions, and concentrate on one very simple stat. In the first quarter tonight, we kicked a bigger score than we kicked for the remaining 3 quarters. Despite Port activating their sub in the first quarter, and having another very sick player on the ground. Last week we lost because we apparently ran out of legs. This week, we've been apparently preparing for this climate and had full use of our bench for the whole match, so what's this week's excuse? I fully understand that our list has some holes. Our midfield is horrible, yet players like Magner and Couch, who we all know will never been A graders, are getting a game ahead of Gysberts and Morton. If Neeld wants tough in and under players like Magner and Couch, he should understand that he also needs very good outside support because these guys are rubbish users of the ball. Yet both of these guys were used in attacking roles for the last few weeks. Why? Garland has had a good month up forward, and Rivers is an absolute leader of troops down back. Yet Garland was kept in the backline until the last 10 minutes of the match, despite having a dirty game defensively, and Rivers was never switched back to help. Why? Neeld persists with Dunn down back, who lacks strength and accountability, but who is a beautiful kick at goal, and yet we can't kick to save ourselves. Why? Nothing is ever so black and white that we can categorically say "problem X is the absolute core of our issues". But a senior coach who cannot react mid games, a senior coach who cannot motivate his players to push past their opponents even from very winnable positions, and a senior coach who seemingly won't budge on tactics, is a senior coach who deserves to be questioned. If you just blindly follow what is put in front of you, then you have nobody but yourself to blame for the disappointment that may come your way.

I don't think Bailey's game would have stood up in finals, no doubt, but to blame him for the ineptitude we are seeing now is just cowardly. Neeld makes the calls on who to play and where. He chose to play two rucks in this heat, to have a sub with zero fitness base, to play a tiny makeshift forward line. He tells our players to kick across the ground, even if they cannot actually kick. He is responsible for centre bounce set ups, where we are often hopeless out of position and chasing our opponent. He may not have inherited the fittest or best skilled list, but he inherited a list with lots of good young players who have now gone backwards. It's not all his fault, but when you are leading, you need to take accountability.

His predecessor won more games in his first season, with arguably a worse list, than I reckon Neeld will. His predecessor also got 8 wins out of the same list last year, including over Port in Darwin. We can keep blaming Bailey, and our recruiting til the cows come home, or the people in charge now can try to show us something positive to hold onto. Because right now we have done nothing but go backwards. We are no more defensive, but we certainly seem to have lost our ability to attack. We are back to ground zero. I'd like to see what Neeld's legacy will be. I desperately hope it's a good one, but my hope is not based on anything I've seen thus far. It is just a reason to keep holding on.

No accountability on or off the ground. Mark Neeld has a hell of a lot to answer for, and our list seems to be a lot worse than anyone could foresee after years of rebuilding.

6- Grimes 5- Jetta 4- Martin The rest are dead to me this week.

We've been rebuilding for 5 years. What's another 5 hey?

Exactly. Minus Clark. Now, I'm not saying Bailey was the right coach, I'm not saying we would have won a flag under him. In fact, it wasn't feasible to keep him after 186. But FFS, what is this rubbish? Worse lists than ours have achieved more this year. We have been utterly destroyed by teams who aren't and shouldn't be ahead of us. I simply refuse to believe that we could continue to go backwards with a list that is no different to last year's. Yes we've had injuries and yes we've had off field issues, but nothing excuses the complete incompetency we've witnessed again and again this year. At what point do we question what the hell this game plan is? Why players have gone backwards? When does Neeld take some sort of accountability? I'm tired of feeling so goddamn hopeless.

Good to see how teams really struggle with losing their sub early. We've won 1 game by 1 point this year (I don't count the GWS game because it's not a contest). Under Bailey we never lost to Port outside of Adelaide. Enough said.

[censored] you Melbourne. Every goddamn week. Same [censored]. One man down in this heat, and we are hopelessly out of it.

Well I have a migraine now. This is just another frustrating game, highlighted by rubbish disposal, rubbish decision making and some equally poor opposition. Time to put your coaching hat on Neeld and pull something out of the bag. Switch Rivers and Garland? Strauss to the wing? Can Blease actually run in the middle or is the little redhead too stuffed from his 6 disposals tonight? This is so winnable, it's killing me. You are killing me Melbourne!

What the hell? Seriously. This is just some of the dumbest [censored] I have ever seen Garland do. How can one team be so bad. How? Tearing. Hair. Out.

What a difference Howe makes down there!

Mark Neeld, get a goddamn forward line in there. Argh!!!

Grimes and Martin are the only two I haven't wanted to punch in the face tonight. But there's still time...

Mark Neeld, wtf are you smoking? Get a man in the square who isn't a classified midget. And somebody for the love of God teach our players to kick. Horrible quarter. Sick to death of this team's inability to play 4 quarters. Say what you like about the quality of the list, but our coaching staff and conditioning staff have a lot to answer for. Everyone yelled at me last week that we lost because we were two men down. Port lost one already and have another throwing up on the field. And yet they destroyed us. Lets see whether their lack of run aids us, but somehow I still think we'll limply turn it over and lose.

It's [censored] inexcusable how a team just stops.

[censored], learn to kick Melbourne!

Give me Stef everyday of the week and twice on Sunday* *nothing inappropriate

Great comeback game from Jetta. And as much as Spencer is cringeworthy with ball in hand, his tackling and attack on the ball is great! Ricky Petterd is an angry man who can't kick. Next!