Macca

Tonight's stage distance has been slashed due to landslides. 59k only although the last 35 kilometres is a category 1 climb covering close to 2ks in elevation. There'll be lots of attacks and they'll come early you'd imagine.

Worked out alright for Bernal but he was on the attack and the rules fell in favour of the aggressive rider (or riders) So no complaints from me. Mother nature intervened. All to ride for later tonight though and they're still in the Alps with a category 2 climb as well as 2 category 1 climbs. Including a gruelling one with a summit finish. Not a lot separates the top 5 in the general classification so the tour is still up for grabs Meanwhile, the Demons have started well and we're kicking straight!

In other news the connections of the placegetters still haven't been paid prizemoney from the 'Andrew Ramsden Stakes' run back on the 25th May. Steel Prince & Surprise Baby had a battle down the straight with Steel Prince winning narrowly. The winner gets an automatic entry into the Melbourne Cup.

Shame about 'Sea of Class' Tim ... looked a real horse for the future. But Enable is the new wonder mare although 'Almond Eye' has claims to that title as well. Enable is running in a Group 1 late Saturday at Royal Ascot (King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes) Up against Crystal Ocean & Anthony Van Dyck but she should have those 2 covered. Defoe could get into the finish as well. 'Enable' is currently showing 4-7 so the odds are prohibitive. The exacta might pay better or maybe the trifecta. Go to www.racingpost.com for more details.

Accuracy at goal comes with good kicking actions. The biomechanics. The set up, the address, the hands, the balance, the approach, the lining up, the concentration, the ball drop, the execution and the follow through. And there's other bits and pieces as well. And then lots & lots of practice. We've got any number of players who fail in a number of the above areas. So the problem needs to be addressed at the source of the problem. Not the A-end. The poor execution is a symptom. A very bad symptom. So we need skills coaches in specific areas. At least 2 and maybe even 3. For a professional sport we still see amateur standards with regards to the skills. How good are our players on their opposite side? Both by hand and by foot. I'd give us a collective 2/10. As for our preferred side ... 6/10. And I'm being generous. And our overhead marking skills aren't good either - especially in the forward line. 4/10 How do you win a flag with those ratings? The answer is you don't. Our endeavour, energy, effort, ball winning skills, hard ball gets, clearances & contested work is quite good. But we continually butcher the ball when we do get it.

I'm always hopeful but the one thing I do know is that we are mere onlookers. All the chat in the world isn't really going to change how the club goes about it. So we live in hope. Norm Smith had it all figured out ... have an abundance and excess of talent and stay ahead of every other club in terms of innovation and forward thinking. Other clubs followed his doctrine. The man was a genius but the method was quite basic in a lot of respects. Now, it's ultra competitive but the same principles apply. There's just more clubs trying to be the best of the best. My reckoning is that in a perfect world we'd have a number of very good players not being able to get a regular game. Hard to lose in that scenario. It's why I have a few regulars now as back-up next year. It's nothing personal, I just want a great list.

By and large I find the site to be very good. You'll get pushback early but the longer you're here, the less so. There's a weird sort of internet pecking order at play but it's certainly not representative of how things are in the face to face world. It's why I often try to talk with people but I'm as guilty as anyone else in talking at people. Using someone's user name in a post tends to calm the waters SK. Or just agreeing to disagree early if you know where an argument is heading. You usually know early on if someone is rusted on with their thoughts. What amazes me is how different we all are. For a mob of people who all follow the one team, that observation stands out. e.g ... we have an NFL thread here where at least a dozen contributors all barrack for different teams (with the odd exception - 49ers) Yet we're all Demon fans at the same time.

The same sorts of comments were on the game-day thread here. Still there in fact. Makes you wonder about the levels of maturity but you can't educate these people. Anyway, I reported a couple of posts where the crass language was used so I hope the appropriate measures are now taken. I urge others to do the same. Just go back to the last few pages of the game-day thread to see the evidence. It's shameful.

I didn't Just clarifying that I'd keep Hunt as well but he doesn't necessarily get a game. Our depth has never been great, certainly in the recent past so to have a 5 or 6 reasonable players all fighting for limited opportunities in the seniors is the ideal scenario. Right now our depth consists of various C & D graders. To my way of thinking best 22 should mean that every one of those 22 players is a good or top player. Our supporters have seen it but not with our team. The Lions of the early 2000's, various Hawthorn teams, the Cats ('07 - '11) Bombers mid 80's, Blues '79 - '82 etc all had an excess of talent. That has to be the aim and the goal of the club thus my call to bring in 2 quality forwards to plug in and play (KPF & Small Forward)

My comments were in relation to who actually plays in the forward line with a full list (with quality added) Hunt goes to being a back-up if we had a top-rate forward line. Or plays elsewhere within the team as a utility type. Perhaps starts from the interchange. It has to be remembered that the club will want to add as much quality to the list as is possible. You can never have enough good players (all things considered) If you were the coach you'd be demanding some quality players to add to what we've got. He won't be sitting back hoping for the best.

Hannan jogs around too much ... no urgency. Lockhart gets another year. Weideman has been a major disappointment whilst T-Mac hasn't been much better. Agree on Spargo & Garlett. Hunt is too hot and cold and doesn't play in front. Could be way better if he puts his mind to it. But out of the 6 possies I've only got 4 in from the present list (Petracca, Melksham, T-Mac & Fritsch) No room for he's ok or he's alright types. I want a gun forward line.

These things are selective ... schoolyard type rules. It's who you know and who's on the nose or on the outer. You'll never see fairness or consistency. Gain any advantage you can get is the only way to win the fight.

Our forwards also won't adhere to the fundamentals either although with a change of personnel, we were much better yesterday Playing in front, making space, defensive pressure, multiple leads and leading patterns, marking ability, the forwards playing as a team and other factors have been sadly lacking. And we can't kick straight for goal. It is the worst performed forward line I have seen at the club (all things considered) and I'd be surprised if we don't see a line up that looks more like this next season ... HF : Petracca KPF (Rec) Melksham F : Fritsch T.Mac Small Fwd (Rec) Weideman as a back up 2nd or 3rd forward whilst Hannan, Lockhart, Spargo & Garlett have it all in front of them. That's if all 4 in fact remain on the list.

As for Brayshaw, one of many who hasn't reached the heights of last year. I'm not one to single out individuals in a team sport ... so our forward line letting us down badly this season I see as the main problem Looked at another way ... lets just say our forward line was functioning 'well' this season. We'd have a lot more wins on the board and would be pushing for finals. But easier said than done ... we lost Hogan and the other teams have done their homework on us. But the yips in front of goal? That's entirely on us. We've blown at least 4 winnable games through poor kicking for goal. 5 & 12 should read as 9 & 8. And then this conversation is way different. On nearly all the threads. We've shot ourselves in the foot (no pun intended)

Yes, Alaphilippe faltered a bit last night And with 3 tough mountain stages to come (Thurs, Fri & Sat) it's all ahead of him No real help from.his team forthcoming either ... he's done well to be going so well this far in though

Not necessarily but it's not like Danny Frawley has any relevance. Another dinosaur. Dermie's comments are a bit off the mark though ... we're not so much downhill skiers, more like whatever the phrase is for shooting ourselves in the foot. That's it Rangie ... 'We shoot ourselves in the foot' We don't beat up on the easybeats and then cave-in against good opposition (like we used to do) We simply keep finding ways to lose through our own ineptness. Especially with regards to our general field kicking and our shooting for goal. Our endeavour, energy, effort, hard-ball gets, clearances & contested work isn't too bad. But with ball in hand we butcher it.

And under mutual agreement he coached out the 2004 season after being told it was his final year and they then tanked the rest of the year. After being 4 & 4 after 8 rounds the Tigers proceeded to then lose their last 14 games. Sacked then tanked. Odd combination but it happened.

Once again our forward line cost the team a victory. This time around we at least looked dangerous going forward and our forwards generally got to the right spots, played in front and won their own ball. A change in personnel up forward was like a breath of fresh air. But we can't kick straight. Which has been a problem for at least 2 years now. Our poor conversation rate has happened at least 6 times this season and about the same amount of times last year. Perhaps the numbers are even worse than that and the yips might stretch back further than 2018. The fix is a ton more practice and to recruit players who know where the goals are. The club needs to look at the kicking actions of a number of our players as well. Especially the balldrop.

The bigger issue is our depth of key forwards There is none that I can see and the ones that we've got aren't exactly A grade. Yet we have any number of NQR inbetweeners on the list ... year after year after year. A list management re-think needs to occur. Take rucking for instance ... we used to have an excess of back-up and now we're getting the total number of ruckmen on the list right (as the game has changed) The mid season draft covers the need for an extra ruckman. Key forwards aren't as effective as they once were due to how the sport is played but you've still got to have good ones otherwise a forward line can be rendered ineffective. Backmen make mistakes when they're under seige or if they are confronted with goal kicking forwards. And September footy often sees the key forwards stand out more. Since '64 we've played finals about 13 times and nearly every time those finals years were on the back of good functional forward lines. Conversely, we've struggled nearly every other time because our forward lines were ineffective.

With our top end pick (if we use it) we are almost compelled to take the best available young talent. And the history of drafting tells us that the best talent available at pick #2 is almost certainly a midfielder. The restricted talent available doesn't necessarily lend itself to drafting for needs like it is in the NFL for instance. That's why KPF's are often traded for. We could trade an established midfielder for needs though. Or just find a way somehow. I believe I'm right in saying that Lynch was a restricted free agent so all Richmond had to do was fit him into their salary cap. That's what you call a bargain buy. We should be looking at doing something similar but again, others here will know who might be available.

Trouble is the much safer bet with a top-end pick is the best midfielder type. And at this stage we're staring pick #2 in the face. KPF selections throughout the history of the draft has a history of turning up busts. Even so, the big blokes take longer to develop and blossom anyway and our needs are immediate. Maybe with a later pick but our best option might be to trade for a KPF. We could use next years first round draft pick especially if the club believes we can bounce back into finals contention next year. Much like we've done with May & Lever down back. Even Frost came to us through a trade. And there's always free agency but I'm not sure who might be available anyway. That's what our recruiting people are there for but I see our needs up forward as being critical to our success. The Tigers went hard after Lynch even though they looked to be in a position of strength. No thoughts of sitting back and now they've rebooted and could win it all again.

Poor kicking at goal has cost us another win. We are our own worst enemy. They ran all over us again which is another issue that needs to be addressed. Kick straight and we would have been up by 5 goals at 3/4 time. And with that sort of lead the legs find another gear.

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Goodwin makes the ultimate decision though. So it's on the coach. But I never had a problem with shipping Watts out even though I could see his value if we kept him. It wasn't a black and white issue and as much as Watts was great with ball in hand, he was average to poor in a lot of other areas. Garlett is in the same boat and it will interesting to see if Jeff is kept on the list.

The support for Goodwin diminished somewhat after he got rid of Watts. It wasn't pronounced but a number of people here aren't as all-in with him after he made that decision. With Hogan it was different ... Jesse wanted to go and we let him go. And given all the circumstances, we made the right move. The issue I've got is that we haven't replaced both players with upgrades. In fact, we were all-in with T-Mac & Weideman and it hasn't worked. Are people here happy to go with those 2 next season after what we've seen this season? A big risk if so. I see our forward line as our biggest issue and I was calling for the club to recruit at least 1 key forward as soon as it was obvious that Jesse was going. Not late to the party here.