bornadog
18-07-2012, 12:10 AM
Dear Member,
To capitulate the way we did against Hawthorn —and that’s a good word to describe it — was really disappointing.
The thing with this game is that when the opposition kicks a goal, it goes back to the centre and you get another opportunity to jump in after it and put pressure on, to keep it in your forward line or defend it and we just lost our way there.
We were walking around aimlessly which we were disappointed in. There were people walking around just lost in the moment and not coming back to the team. That’s probably more disappointing than the score because that’s a behaviour that we’ve got to fix up and deal with.
I saw some experienced players lost in their actions and I saw some young players seeing those behaviours and getting caught up in it also.
When you follow this game and you go on champion data and go back in time and look at great players in their first, second and third year, look at their output and marry it up against young players on our list, you won’t see much difference.
The reality of the competition is, until they mature physically, and then they mature mentally, then their output in their fourth or fifth year is pretty much what you get through their career. More often than not, they’re able to duplicate that week to week. It’s just reality.
That is still the area that excites us most about our club.
To keep the morale of the group at a level it needs to be, we will keep coaching honestly with clear feedback. We’ll keep looking for the things the players do well and we’ll keep providing challenges for players with different match-ups and positions.
As part of the management of the Club, we’ll also keep watching the shop floor, the gym room and watching all the little areas of the Club for people that just come to work to get better every day.
Often what people don’t see when a Club has had some average on-field performances — are the wheels that are still wearing internally and the people that are getting better.
There’s still vibrancy at training, there’s still a high standard at training.
We’ll get out of this as our players mature and develop; we will get out of this. It just takes time that is well spent, well planned and well thought out.
Sincerely,
Brendan
To capitulate the way we did against Hawthorn —and that’s a good word to describe it — was really disappointing.
The thing with this game is that when the opposition kicks a goal, it goes back to the centre and you get another opportunity to jump in after it and put pressure on, to keep it in your forward line or defend it and we just lost our way there.
We were walking around aimlessly which we were disappointed in. There were people walking around just lost in the moment and not coming back to the team. That’s probably more disappointing than the score because that’s a behaviour that we’ve got to fix up and deal with.
I saw some experienced players lost in their actions and I saw some young players seeing those behaviours and getting caught up in it also.
When you follow this game and you go on champion data and go back in time and look at great players in their first, second and third year, look at their output and marry it up against young players on our list, you won’t see much difference.
The reality of the competition is, until they mature physically, and then they mature mentally, then their output in their fourth or fifth year is pretty much what you get through their career. More often than not, they’re able to duplicate that week to week. It’s just reality.
That is still the area that excites us most about our club.
To keep the morale of the group at a level it needs to be, we will keep coaching honestly with clear feedback. We’ll keep looking for the things the players do well and we’ll keep providing challenges for players with different match-ups and positions.
As part of the management of the Club, we’ll also keep watching the shop floor, the gym room and watching all the little areas of the Club for people that just come to work to get better every day.
Often what people don’t see when a Club has had some average on-field performances — are the wheels that are still wearing internally and the people that are getting better.
There’s still vibrancy at training, there’s still a high standard at training.
We’ll get out of this as our players mature and develop; we will get out of this. It just takes time that is well spent, well planned and well thought out.
Sincerely,
Brendan