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Let me preface this by surrendering to the fact that this topic may seem/be self-indulgent, but I feel a strong desire to spit it out and I'd also like to generate some discussion surrounding some of these problems that I see and I'm sure many others see. As our list stands today, I feel as if Paul Roos has been able to squeeze everything he can out of each individual which is clearly why he's regarded as one of the best coaches in the league. He has been able to get our players to compete hard and has instilled a 'defend hard' attitude which is evidenced by many of the drills we've seen at training during pre-season and our ability to make it more difficult for opposition teams to score. However, I would argue that we've also been extremely lucky in most of our wins as well as some games we're the difference in score was only a few goals. With the exception of the Port Adelaide game, the Western Bulldogs game, Carlton game and St Kilda game, here's a breakdown of the scoring shots both teams had in games previous as well as contested possession and inside 50 deferential. GWS: 29 scoring shots MELB: 12 scoring shots Contested Poss: -9 Inside 50's: -20 GC: 31 MELB: 23 CP: -2 I/50: -3 SYD: 24 MELB: 13 CP: -5 I/50: -20 ADEL: 22 MELB: 15 CP: +8 I/50: -23 RICH: 29 MELB: 21 CP: +17 I/50: -9 COLL: 21 MELB: 13 CP: -11 I50: -14 ESS: 27 MELB: 18 CP: -32 I/50: -33 NM: 32 MELB: 16 CP: -11 I/50: -12 There are some very worrying signs when you look at the scoring shots of both teams and here are some things that come to mind when I look at that: 1. Clearly we've been extremely lucky both in games we've won, (Essendon, Richmond and Adelaide where really those teams lost the game themselves), and games we've lost by honorable margins but really they could have been frighteningly similar score-lines to some of last years games. (Collingwood, NM, Syd, GC and GWS). 2. The Contested Possession stat vs Inside 50 stat is a great one. Especially for us because it gives us a great understanding of where we break down as a footy side and what our weaknesses are. We are clearly, and I mean CLEARLY not struggling with winning the inside ball anymore. That's blatantly obvious by looking at the Contested Possession deferential above. Only in the Collingwood game is there a big CP difference. However, looking at the inside 50 count in games especially when measured against our disposals per match screams out the obvious. Ball Movement! (Or lack thereof). Let's break ball movement down into these three categories: Decision making, kicking ability/skill and player movement/spread. These are the three areas that absolutely kill us and are the direct causes of all of our losses and where we breakdown when trying to move the ball forward. (Decision making can clearly be anything from deciding to switch a pointless ball when there are clearly a number of opposition players already guarding space on the switch side, or something like three Melbourne players going up to punch a ball and two opposition players staying down ready for the spill, or kicking long to a 50/50 contest when there are a number of short options available*) * I'm sure this goes hand in hand with players who clearly don't possess great kicking and therefore are not willing to go for the shorter option. Something pretty much our whole backline suffer from. Kicking skill and ability is also a massive concern. I almost can't comprehend the amount of players on our list who possess below average or average kicking and decision making skills. We have three elite kicks in our best 22 side who can make great decisions and execute the kicking skill beautifully and those three are Watts, Vince (who is obviously in his first year) and Salem (who is in his first year!). That is deplorable. Running/spreading is the third category and it's still a work in progress but I still reckon it's secondary to being able to make great decisions and being able to kick well. If you look at our kick-outs you'll see we breakdown immediately as a side trying to move the ball forward. Sure Dunn has a great long and penetrating kick, but he clearly doesn't have the ability to hit up a short pinpoint pass as nearly all of our kicks are bombed long to the boundary and to a 50/50 contest. It's disgusting we are doing that. As for running and spreading in general play, of we had more players who could kick well and make sound decisions, we'd be moving the ball a lot quicker as those players trust in their abilities and it means games would open up and our players would be forced to get the spread and run as they would be rewarded for their running and spreading. When you have players like Grimes, McKenzie, McDonald, Frawley, Garland, Bail, Matt Jones and a host of others who either bomb to a contest because they don't trust themselves to hit up short targets most of the time, of course you're not going to notice other players push hard into space on different sides of the ground because it's as if they already know the players with ball in hand will not even attempt to kick it to the for fear of turning it over!!! It's clear to me where our problems are. It's clear as [censored] day. We, the MFC, have far too many players who do not possess critical attributes such as decision making and kicking ability. We have a host of them from deep in the backline right through our midfield and still on our list at Casey trying to get a game. Roos has been able to get the most out of individuals when it comes to 'effort' but effort has got nothing to do with something you're naturally gifted at which is why I don't have an issue with Frawley leaving. Because our problem lies within the midfield and through a compo pick for him, we'll be able to bring in some class. Which is also why I refuse to congratulate players like McKenzie, Matt Jones, Nicholson etc. Players who give their all but absolutely cannot be on the list if we want to be there in SEPTEMBER one day. Skill and decision making are traits that need to be shown from day one. Within the AFL, a club can't afford the time nor resources to be teaching nearly a whole list of players how to kick or giving them better advice about how to make the right decision. Posters and supporters who keep bringing up the fact the 'X player is only 21, he's got plenty of time to develop' need to understand that it's not the way the cookie crumbles at this level. Sure we'll have some players who are afforded the team to develop areas of their game that are weak if they are valued highly. But not every player. Some will go. And need to go. We should expect more. We should look at the bigger picture. Holy [censored] that was long.