Earl Hood

8 minutes ago, McQueen said:

One question.  (Been at a funeral)
 

Is it worth watching?

Definitely watch the first quarter but not after. 

14 minutes ago, faultydet said:

Problem is, unless you poach a star coach from another club, it's always a case of hire and hope.

And I honestly think we have deep seated cultural problems in our club. How many other clubs can give such depressing wins? I've been watching the Dees do this for decades. Smash a team early then sit back and get rolled. We don't often put the foot down, and that is what good clubs do.

Sometimes I wonder if this club would be too much for even the best coaches. Why are we so hopeless at maintaining 4 qtr effort?  Is it the list? Is it the coach? I honestly don't know, although I lean towards coaching/culture.

Logic says it can’t be the coach or the players because it has been going on for so long. I don’t have an answer but it seems to be part of our culture, a tendency to be arrogant and to coast along when we have a half decent side. Oh for the days of Norm Smith and Ronald Dale! Tough and hard, never give an inch stuff! 

4 minutes ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

Yeah, that wasn't impressive.  They really took the foot off halfway through the second and it nearly cost them.  Once that hard contested pressure was removed Carlton was able to get their skillful players on the outside and started to move the ball through us.  They are soft as hell, but if you give them the time and space they have the ability to hurt you.  Hopefully the players learn from this and keep the pressure up for an entire match next time. 

Exactly you could sense trouble with about 5 minutes to go in second quarter, we started to lairise and Captain Max was number 1 culprit, then we had May trying for a specy off the back of the pack that led to their first goal. Added to that we stopped running and dropped tacking pressure. In short we dropped back a gear then found ourselves besieged and had no idea how to regain control. Worrying signs for me. Their is a lot of potential talent there but big questions on player selection, game plan and leadership.

38 minutes ago, Vineytime said:

So how did our 3 key backs go tonight?

Ummh not good. Smith had a shocker, May made a couple of poor decisions he would regret and as for his kick outs, could you once look for an option to your right? You know just to keep them guessing. Why was Jetta on Mackay and Smith on Betts? Lever just not sure, you need to be at the ground to see the full value he is adding, it was not obvious on TV. And do we cut Salem some slack for his first game as his disposal at times was atrocious. Rivers was superb I thought. 

3 minutes ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

Well .... I’ve got no idea what to make of that !!

The better side lost Uncle! I have serious concerns for the mental fragility of this squad, well at least the leadership group. 

5 minutes ago, rolling fog said:

Maxy is putting on a clinic. They've given up contesting the ruck and are now just trying to steal the tap from Viney, Clarry etc. and is working to some effect.

Yes but what was that arrogant flip out the back from the boundary throw in that went straight to Carlton while all our mids are in front of him? That set up their first goal after May instead of punching tried to take a screamer from behind. I hope a Goody has a word to both. God after last year how could you get over confident in 2 quarters of good football? 

8 minutes ago, deebug said:

How is Jackson going?

Struggling with the pace of ball movement so fumbled a couple but he is getting into the right positions and hopefully the nerves settle. 

1 hour ago, rjay said:

 

We haven't even played a game yet with the current coaching structure and you're already potting it.

All clubs had to move on assistants and then make decisions as to how they would use their resources.

We did have an assigned forwards coach by the way.

Was it his fault, the mids coach or Goody that we kept bombing the ball in.

I watched our round 1 game recently and interesting comments from Gerard Healey and Pav as we continually bombed the ball long to McGovern and Barass was the real problem was the mid field bombing long while the forwards were leading out leaving West Coast to mark unopposed! This went on all game, so the forward line strategy hasn’t been communicated to the mid? Or if the mids are under pressure don’t you alter the forward tactics and leave a tall in the goal square to compete? Today will be interesting to see if the disconnect has been rectified. 

9 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

As much as it pains me, Frost has been good. Frawley very good in first qtr.

Yes I have noticed that. It may not last but so far he has taken a clutch mark and run thru the lines and passed off to nearby player which is what he was doing with us but we don’t need that. But is that partly because we spent so many first round tickets on May and Lever? And then we have issues with turning Smith into a back and let’s face it Weideman should be developed into a kPB if we want to keep him. 

4 minutes ago, Demon Dude said:

i hope Max tore strips off the pair of little ***** for breaking the rules. now we have to endure more of ANB again aaaarrrggghhh!

I hope not. Kossie is just a kid. He will learn from it and is probably devastated to not only miss the game but also Nev’s 150! Don’t like the ANB in, would have preferred Bedford or Lockhart. I thought Locky played well in round 1 and Bedford showed glimpses especially in the last quarter as he came to grips with the tempo. 

1 hour ago, old dee said:

Wow we are really pushing the odds with that forward line.

Of course you have to believe that is the way they will line up which seldom happens.

If we accept it in broad terms the the two key forwards are a player who has only once produced his 2018 form and a kid who is playing his first game straight from under 18’s football. 
We then have Brayshaw who has seldom been a goal kicker along with Petrecca with the same disease and another kid who has played one game since leaving the under 18’s. we are going to need 6 from Fritsch to be in the hunt.
Still taking out Spargo gives one more competent player in the 22.

We will struggle to win this game.

Re the forward line I don’t think they will line up that way but it was interesting to watch round 1 replay today of our loss to West Coast. Gee we were rusty in the first half but what kept being repeated by the commentators was our forward line/midfield disconnect which I found interesting as I missed this at the time. I remember us repeatedly bombing the ball in long to just see McGovern or Barass line up to take turns for intercept marks. Very frustrating but what I didn’t realise at the time was, as the commentators said, the problem is not the bombing long, it is the fact the forwards are all leading out toward the ball carrier only to see it go overhead. if the plan is to bomb long that is not a real problem as long as your big forwards stay long then bring the ball to ground for our small forwards to crumb but this didn’t happen. we had forwards leading with entries flying over their heads to the opposition! This is really dumb stuff but it has been there for some time but why? 

The commentators kept asking is the midfield game plan on the same page as the forward plan? The main culprits were Oliver, Langdon and Hibberd but sometimes they booted forward under pressure but our forwards weren’t in the obvious place. That is another issue. Let’s hope all is sorted now after a 10 week break but I am not confident we won’t burn another kid in Jackson. 

9 hours ago, Deeko2 said:

These hindsight drafts really give me the craps.  We really were given some exceptional opportunities only to shank it on many occasions.  Still, I do believe nearly every pick at one stage or another showed they could potentially belong at AFL level however agree with most at our ordinary development. 

The biggest hindsight issue I picked up is how Gold Coast picked up bulk draft picks and surrounded them by a few mercenaries where as GWS picked up even more draft picks but surrounded them by elder statesman with more elite training habits.  

I'd love to know how some of the players we picked up during the dark years would have turned out if they started there careers with a West Coast, Sydney or Hawthorn.

There is some talent that we picked up from 2006, they can't have all been duds:

FB:      Morton (4)     Frawley (12)       Bennell (35)

HB:     Strauss (19)    Cook (12)     Grimes (14)

M:     Blease (17)    Gysberts (11)      Scully (1)

HF:     Petterd (30)   Hogan (mini)   Howe (33)

FF:     Maric (21)     Watts (1)     Tapscott (18)

R:     Gawn (34)     Trengove (2)   Toumpas (4)

Well a number were/are not duds, Frawley, Scully, Hogan, Howe, Watts, Gawn then Petterd, Trengove were cruelled by injury. Still I agree not the greatest return. 

H Petty indefinite! A groin, are we talking osteopubis? And I note AVB still working toward full fitness! After what 10 months to get fit we still have 5 on the injury list plus AVB still working toward selection. Oh well to be expected as our usual year on year injury list average always seems to be around 10 to 12.  

39 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

We have a plethora of defenders.

We have very few forwards.

Smith is a better forward than defender.

We are playing Smith as a defender.

We never learn.

And Harmes down back who is a goal kicking mid and a great tagger. 

Did Petracca play? 

17 hours ago, Pates said:

I can't see both Jetta and Hibberd being dropped, maybe one of them. Hibberd for me had the worse game of the two, though Jetta was well off as well.

I admit I can't remember that far back but I don't remember OMac being particularly awful, I mean I know in general his bar is set kinda low for a lot of people. I can see Rivers coming in for Hibberd, I've been hearing a lot of positive things about the kid, and he looked good in the scratch match vs North.

This is what I think, make of it what you will. I'd love to say HB gets a gig but I think they're going to play a longer game with him and make him tick more boxes before they bring him in.

B: JETTA , MAY, LEVER

HB: SALEM, OMAC, HARMES

C : LANGDON, PETRACCA, TOMLINSON

HF: PICKETT, WEIDEMAN , JONES

F: MELKSHAM, T.MCDONALD, FRITSCH

FOLL: GAWN, OLIVER, VINEY

IC: BRAYSHAW, HANNAN, RIVERS, AVB (if fit) or JACKSON (or BENNELL a smokey)

EMRG: HIBBERD, LOCKHART, SMITH, JACKSON

OMac shut Darling down if I remember so gets a game.  Any info on Sparrow, I liked the look of him in preseason but who knows now? Think Harmes is wasted down back, he is a tagger/run with player and midfield goal kicker. Maybe Smith comes in down back and any intel on AVB? 

30 minutes ago, dworship said:

I must of listened to a different podcast . I heard Richo talk about his ability "to cover the ground". I'm not sure how that has morphed into your statement. Are you involved in the media like SWYL?

No I read this on MFC media site where Troy Chaplin was talking about the backline options for round 2. Was surprised to hear his summation of Joel, superior leg speed and endurance. Sounds to me like he might be in round 2 based on that. I wasn’t aware of his endurance capability. I have always liked him as a footballer, he looks like a natural, he just can’t get a run at it and maybe never will. 

8 hours ago, whatwhatsaywhat said:

Troy Chaplin very bullish on Lockhart and Rivers in the latest official podcast 

And he was a big wrap for Joel Smith, talking about his unparalleled athletic endurance! I was not aware of this, watching him only at training. It is obvious he has natural footy ability and is a natural forward but understand their thinking of throwing him back. But it is interesting if he has always had endurance and he does have some leg speed why hasn’t he been tried on the wing? Ok that maybe just because he is always injured. 

2 minutes ago, MyFavouriteMartian said:

Smith has missed so much footy,  and is yet to establish himself in the senior team.   Its best for him to start back,  in defence,  to find some form and confidence.

Been wondering for a while if they should trial Weideman down back to get his hands on the ball and build some form. He appears to have the basics to be a good footballer, perhaps a bit more aggression would help but it’s not easy to be a consistent KPF. 

Extraordinary bad luck with injuries is the only reason we didn’t snaffle a flag in the 90’s. I mean the talent on our list was amazing. The Ox, Gazza, Jimmy, both Lovetts, Tingay, Charles, Neitz, the Febeys, Healy, Pike and in 94 Jakovich was still on our list for heavens sake. As I remember it in 93 Balme as coach tried to develop a new game plan and we dropped the first 4 games of the year and played well thereafter but missed the finals. In 94 we played well but dropped games to just sneak into the finals and lost to the eventual winners. Then from 95 it was just a procession of injuries, Ox, Charles, Jackovich, Tingay, Glenn Lovett and Pike sent packing. Oh what could have been with a little bit of injury luck.

At the time I thought we should have had a good look at Dusty for sole reason that we needed some mongrel in the squad. Trenners and Scully were maybe the obvious talents but to me we had a list of nice players. In 2008 I preferred Hurley at No1 but we went for Watts, that is OK but then you have to mix it up to get a great squad. Consistently picking skilled but non physical players throughout that period cost us. Add Morton, Gysberts, Grimes, Bennell, Blease, Maric and you keep selecting supposedly skilled outsiders but no insiders and no enforcers you get an inconsistent team. That is because you lack leadership, aggression in a physical, competitive sport. Remembering around that time we offloaded Junior and Bruce. So your drafting and trading should take that into account. 

Won’t need hubs by the time the AFL gets going in June/July surely. If there is no secondary surge in infections, state borders will be open and there will be limited social interactions and there will have to be if teams are allowed to train together and play. If interstate travel is available this hub idea is defunct. If there is a secondary outbreak, there won’t be any footy this year. 

Not a good look at all. I have no idea about Howcroft’s football related ability but he was around and in a position of influence when we were totally dysfunctional as a club so why would you bring him back? Are there no consequences for failure for board members? 

As a club we have suffered since 1965 with second rate administration and board oversight and leadership. I suspect because we continue to appoint Admin and board positions on the grounds of who you know, what school and University you went to rather than what you have achieved or your leadership abilities and knowledge. 

1 hour ago, dieter said:

I suggest you graduate to Nebbiolo...

Can be a bit expensive though! 

31 minutes ago, BillyBeane said:

I dared to watch the a replay of the 1987 Prelim...Jim Stynes actually gives away at 15m penalty earlier in the game, and in the Final quarter John Kennedy of the hawks is awarded a goal when the ball seems to miss/hit the post (same one Ricky Jackson hits 1 year later interestingly enough)

My vague memory of the game also says Eishold took a Lunging chest mark in the goal square but he slide outside the square and was directed by the umpire to kick from an acute angle, which he missed. I thought at the time he took the mark within the square so should have kicked from dead in front. A goal would have won the game. I remember Ex umpire Harry Beitzel saying you take the kick from where the marker ends up, not where he took the mark! So if I take a lunging mark running into the goal line and slide through I then take my kick backwards from the fence? Never made sense but then there was all the confusion about Jim crossing the line but after the siren so does the rule still apply..... fact is we had numerous chances to sow it up but it also summed up our unique ability to fail and Hawthorn’s tin [censored] ability to scramble through for a win they never deserved but to their credit they just kept plugging away hoping and we’re rewarded.