Earl Hood

Lions just kicked themselves out of a top 4 spot and all done in the first quarter FFS! 0-8. I have convinced myself the freaking Dorks are going to walk off with another premiership as every team around them falls in a heap.

F••k all GA seats available in the Northern! Everything is reserved for the filth. Up so high I will be calling for oxygen at half time, but I am still surrounded by B&W ferals!

Sestan, any hope there?

Yes there is a lot of work to do but I believe, as much as it makes me feel ill, we were taken apart by this years likely Premiers in top form!

Can’t disagree, we looked insipid early on but to be fair in the second half we chased and scragged and managed to stem what looked like being a 100 pt thrashing into a 36 pt loss. Just where we are I am not sure. The week before against the dogs we tried, we ran, linked up, transitioned the ball from D50 to I50, delivering the ball into our forward line in different ways that allowed us to rack up a competitive score against a better, inform side. Then on Saturday I fear we were watching this year’s best and likely Premiership team take us apart. The Hawks’ relentless pressure across the whole ground laid bare all our deficiencies in skill, lack of system and running power. With the Hawks dominating the midfield we reverted to the get ball, kick ball forward stuff that is a trademark of the Goody years and too easily picked off by good defences. So maybe we are somewhere in the middle and there is some hope if a new coaching panel can develop a resilient, competitive game plan, annd adding some extra midfield leg speed from somewhere. I suspect a fire sale of senior players will not gain us much in return and there may not be many suitors. Our performances are suffering from having experienced players struggling who should be in their prime in their late 20’s. Tracc, Oliver, Langdon are all playing well below their best. Along with Viney their butchering of the ball, lack of poise in traffic is just baffling. Can a new coach change this around? Viney as a defensive forward, Oliver back to handball first, kick second, Langdon back to the wing and new faces (Langford, Windsor, Rivers )for the majority of CBAs. Tracc an extra year from his traumatic injury to regain his ability to operate in traffic. Most importantly in my mind if the old firm starts the get ball and blindly bang it long stuff we are so familiar with, the new coach has to act and drop the offenders.

Wrong Errol!

And hoping Sestan is recovered and up for selection. I assume there is a limit on the numbers of AFL listed players that are allowed in a team in finals?

I agree Max should be handballing off at every opportunity but the problem is who too? Because my other instruction, if I were coach, is that Oliver and Viney should only ever kick the ball in an emergency and I would be considering the same instructions to Petracca and Langdon! That’s the entire original V8 engine room, now operating as a 2 stroke! I am really confused at Oliver and Tracc’s lack of composure in traffic, just grabbing the ball and throwing it on the boot immediately. These guys should be playing their best footy at their ages and experience.

May was very good in his last few matches prior to suspension so he hasn’t lost it that quickly. I wonder if he was fully recovered after his concussion. And as soon as I saw him line up on Gunston I was worried, he should have taken Lewis but that takes him up the ground and perhaps exposes him for pace. If he plays on maybe trial him as a deep forward.

We won the I50’s, the hit outs, the clearances and contested ball count! All were Goody’s non negotiable KPIs. They once meant something, but in the modern game they mean very little on their own.

What is he doing so far off his man?

We have had more inside 50s! I don’t believe it. Of course all entries are just hack long kicks too easy to predict.

We used to get the contested possessions which covered a lot of deficiencies in system and skill. Once we can’t win the ball we look like an under age team playing against a senior team. The Hawks know all they have to do in a contest is handball/throw the ball to the outside and they have guys waiting to receive and run.

How many of our kicks have been smothered?

I would throw Turner forward and Petty back to play with Lever. Turner in his few cameos forward has kicked goals and appears to understand the need to keep moving and present. He’s agile and can take one grab marks. I would also look at the option of extending May’s career by trialling him as a deep forward who doesn’t have to roam too far from goal. That opens up a chance to trial JVR in the backline where he played much of his junior footy.

I was thinking about that gap last week, we seem to have an ageing brigade and then a group of youngsters on the up. Then when I checked the age profile the real problem is our once highly rated 28/29 year olds, who should be playing their best football are all playing below par, Oliver, Tracc, Langdon, Lever for various reasons but I think hunger, or lack of it, is a major part of the problem. Those 4 playing their best footy would provide great cover to allow the growth of our youngsters.

Interesting Kane Cornes said on SEN whoever the new coach will be needs to deal with the senior players Oliver, Viney, Tracc and Gawn. He is very critical saying they have been mollycoddled by coach and club to the detriment of the team. Interestingly he agreed that any new coach prospect putting that to the board of course won’t get the job. I think he has a valid point although it’s a bit too extreme. Gawn is going nowhere but if there was any trade value, we should look at Oliver or Tracc.

Agree. I was at the game and drawn into the contest of course, so I need to look at the replay but my overall impression is we were mostly outrun by the Dogs and should have been overwhelmed but we stayed in the contest with numerous intercepts inside D50 with quick movement forward. And it was the unpredictability of our forward entries that allowed us to score when we needed to. For once Melk and Fritsch could use their mobility and smarts to greater effect. And we didn’t have opposition KPDs intercepting and marking at will in the drop zone from our normal and repeated, predictable long hack kicks forward.

6 Gawn 5 Pickett 4 TMac 3 Oliver 2 Petty 1 Langford

At what point should a core midfield group be beyond the need for detailed instruction? Gawn, Oliver, Viney and Tracc should, after 10 seasons together be able to read each other’s minds at CBAs.

What are these free kicks for?

Yep the more times I look at it, it was a side on charge at full speed at the player gathering the ball. If it was a tackle, it was a highly dangerous one, admittedly putting both players at risk. One would be tempted to call it unwarranted and rough conduct that a “reasonable player” would avoid.

Jeff Gleeson’s “reasonable player” would have predicted that he wouldn’t get to the ball first and had a duty of care to pull out! Standby for a new definition of what a “reasonable player” can predict.

I note the Channel 7 panel all saying it’s a genuine accident, nothing to see here. Saying Newcomb was not intending to bump but to tackle? apparently. Not sure that counts if the May ruling is a precedent, that is the reasonable player should have pulled out.

This is going to be interesting to see what Jeff Gleesons’ “reasonable player” should have done in that clash, especially if the reasonable player is playing for a club in contention and with the finals coming up. Oh sorry I am assuming Newcomb gets cited.