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When things aren’t always as they seem
Most of us, including me, are feeling a deep gloom about our current prospects and future. The chance that we will slide even further down the ladder, probably win a spoon in 2020, is even being discussed.
This isn’t about trying to be positive or pollyannaish for the sake of it, but... if we went back in the time machine to 2014, even allowing for our realisation that Mcartney wasn’t the right coach, did any of us think our list was in good shape and that a flag was only two years away?
We would have said we lacked quality key position players ... BUT we won a flag with a forward line which only had Stringer as a genuine tall (albeit one who was lucky to be in the team and at 192 cm, not the size of the ‘gorillas’.) We got amazing contributions from a former tagged, two 19 yr olds, and a guy with three busted knees.
At the other end of the ground, no one was raving at the prospect of a backline held together by three former rookies, including two blokes over 30, one who wasn’t a defender and who some thought should retire or head back to Frankston seconds. Fletcher Roberts and Joel Hamling, even in Sept 2016, were nobody’s idea of quality talls, we would have hoped Talua would be That Guy.
We weren’t thrilled about our ruck stocks, never having been too excited about Roughie and not foreseeing that our GReat White Hope of the Forward line, Tom Boyd, would not play a traditional forward role in our premiership but would ruck instead.
If we’d have been told our most naturally talented player Bob Murphy wouldn’t have been out there our disbelief would have grown even further.
I don’t know what’s going wrong at present, but we still have 3 premiership midfielders still very much in their prime (Bont, Macrae, Libba) and two who since then have played midfield (Dunkley, McLean). The sort of genuine tall you could build a team around in Aaron Naughton, and the best young midfielder I’ve seen since Bont in Bailey Smith.
So is our list any worse or less unbalanced than the group from 2016 or were they exceptionally well coached and motivated? How come the versatility idea for some of our lesser lights (Picken a forward, M Boyd a defender, Z Cordy a defensive forward etc) all worked back then? Can’t the ship be turned around again quickly, with some hard conversations and honesty from coaches and players alike? Are things not as bad as they seem?
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Yep - cool thread.
I agree with it. In 2014 the place nearly burned to the ground. Let's hope we don't need that type of event to turn the ship.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
This where the loss of Monty had a telling impact. He was there for the climb and left when the wheels had full momentum.
Not afraid to tell some home truths even in public.
So the main change from that time is him and we have gone backwards.
It's only looking from the outside in and may be he had put himself in a place that couldn't be recovered but I think how different would thing have been if he was still at the club.
It could have worse or maybe he would have kept the players focus and we may have had a second flag.
Only inside the kennel know and Monty may have wanted to leave because he got over looked in the first place.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
In our history, we've probably had 20+ bad periods. In our history we've won two premierships. There's hope to turn things around, but statically at least, this is probably just another bad period. 2016 is the exception, not the rule based on our history. I do hope things aren't as dire as they seem to be and will be if there's no positive change.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hotdog60
This where the loss of Monty had a telling impact. He was there for the climb and left when the wheels had full momentum.
Not afraid to tell some home truths even in public.
So the main change from that time is him and we have gone backwards.
It's only looking from the outside in and may be he had put himself in a place that couldn't be recovered but I think how different would thing have been if he was still at the club.
It could have worse or maybe he would have kept the players focus and we may have had a second flag.
Only inside the kennel know and Monty may have wanted to leave because he got over looked in the first place.
He was disappointed to miss out on the main gig in 2014 (there were murmurings that he had been promised the job) but thankfully he hung around for nearly 2 years after Bevo's appointment because he is loyal and wanted to help the players and Bevo transition into the new coach's era. Surely he would have left at the end of 2014 if his nose was completely out of joint.
He left just after the last H & A round in 2016 in order to prepare for any new coaching jobs that may have come up without the distraction of being involved full time (and they work a lot of hours) at a club.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hotdog60
This where the loss of Monty had a telling impact. He was there for the climb and left when the wheels had full momentum.
Not afraid to tell some home truths even in public.
So the main change from that time is him and we have gone backwards.
It's only looking from the outside in and may be he had put himself in a place that couldn't be recovered but I think how different would thing have been if he was still at the club.
It could have worse or maybe he would have kept the players focus and we may have had a second flag.
Only inside the kennel know and Monty may have wanted to leave because he got over looked in the first place.
I don’t think he was the ‘main change’ though of course a significant one. The staggering change is not the loss of one coach, surely it is that NINE premiership players are gone.
Natural attrition/injury: M Boyd and, though a bit prematurely, Picken and the very unlucky Clay Smith
Still playing elsewhere: Stringer, Dahlhaus, Roughead, Hamling.
Mental illness: Boyd.
God knows: the enigmatic Shane Biggs.
Only two in their 30s and foreseeable. The inability to keep the core of that group together is one of the things that is most regrettable in my view.
However, my main point is that the raw mix of talent in the group in 2014 as a whole did not have us salivating, but they were more talented AS A GROUP than we anticipated, with ‘lesser lights’ contributing in unforeseen ways. We did not have 22 stars out there, and you could make a case that our current list contains the same blend of unique talents, plodders that we think we know their ceiling but can thrive in a role given the chance, guys that still have immense potential. All is not lost, I think Bevo needs more support because like all coaches, he is in danger of becoming stuck in tracks of thinking and stick to them to the bitter end.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Out of interest where is Monty now?
I still hate seeing Stringer playing elsewhere. He was frustrating but he was - at times - worth the price of admission alone.
Reality is we are rebuilding now and need more elite, exciting talent. Huge draft coming up - plenty of holes to fill, we are crying out for some raw exciting players to make footy fun again because we’ve been dull for 3 years now.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
I am going to remain half glass full at this stage.
We have been competitive in most of our games this year, but faded in our loses when in a winning position in 5 games.
The trip to WA remains a mystery, we have won one in 14 games over there, in fact we have only won 8 of 37.
Yesterday was expected and I am not sure why many seemed surprised. Talk of sacking the coach and internal turmoil is just nonsense.
We need to move on and see what we can do for the remainder of the year.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
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Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
Out of interest where is Monty now?
I still hate seeing Stringer playing elsewhere. He was frustrating but he was - at times - worth the price of admission alone.
Reality is we are rebuilding now and need more elite, exciting talent. Huge draft coming up - plenty of holes to fill, we are crying out for some raw exciting players to make footy fun again because we’ve been dull for 3 years now.
Port Adelaide I believe
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bornadog
I am going to remain half glass full at this stage.
We have been competitive in most of our games this year, but faded in our loses when in a winning position in 5 games.
The trip to WA remains a mystery, we have won one in 14 games over there, in fact we have only won 8 of 37.
Yesterday was expected and I am not sure why many seemed surprised. Talk of sacking the coach and internal turmoil is just nonsense.
We need to move on and see what we can do for the remainder of the year.
Sanest post I have read. We are not that far away. We will finish lower half of the table and probably lower half of the bottom eight. The difference of this year to last year is that we are way more competitive than we were last year. Also we are competitive for longer and our best is closer to what it needs to be.
Whilst we have had a better run with injuries than prior years losing T Boyd and the versatility he offers is a blow, not just for now, but also for the next 5 to 10 years, because he would be that player. Clay Smith is a tragedy. At 25 he should have been the midfield bull and half forward goal sneak that we are crying out for. Picko was a Brad Johnson clone in his ability to mark in the forward line. Deadly accurate kick as well. We wonder why we have dropped off the pace and haven't moved forward this year. These 3 guys alone guys you an answer.
Maybe we weren't smart at the recruitment table, maybe we should have realised at the end of 2017 that Clay would never get back to his best or at the end of 18 that both Picko and Boyd were cooked, but I think that is simplifying the problems a little.
The positives to me out of the West Coast game were the first 40 minutes. Our pressure levels and harassing of the Eagles had us on top. We just didn't capitalise and we allowed them too many easy goals.
What would I like to see:
1) a more defensive mindset from the whole team, with an emphasis on accountability and pressure;
2) More care with kicking for goal - take a shot like your life depends on it; and
3) More support for teammates, lay the shepherd, block the run
To me this is where we are letting ourselves down.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
FrediKanoute
The difference of this year to last year is that we are way more competitive than we were last year. Also we are competitive for longer and our best is closer to what it needs to be.
People forget that last year we went through some games without kicking a goal for the first half, or quarters without goals.
The difference this year is players are now a little more experienced, but we need to get even more experience into these guys. On the weekend, West Coast had an average of 50 more games than us. Whilst this is not an excuse, what experience does is give you mature heads that can win back control of the game and steady the ship.
We do have lot of deficiencies, particularly in the big man area, but I have no doubt the club has a plan with the recruitment of English, Naughton, Lew Young, Schache, Gardner. Once these guys mature, god help any team coming up against us.
As Fredi has pointed out and MJP keeps telling us, we need to stop the goals against us with a better defensive system.
I would like Bevo to work on defence and come up with an alternative plan to stop goals being kicked against us, whilst continue being an attacking side.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
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Originally Posted by
Grantysghost
Port Adelaide I believe
Yes defence coach at Port. Only started after the end of last season, not sure what he did in the previous 2 years?
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
I still hate seeing Stringer playing elsewhere. He was frustrating but he was - at times - worth the price of admission alone.
Yeah I'm the same - I've heard some pretty cooked stuff about why he was booted that make me not wholly disagree with the decision, but a bigger part of me thinks that Jake wasn't the only unprofessional one in all of this. Part of being an effective man-manager is having the emotional intelligence to navigate conflicts, and Bevo (who I still love) has several black marks against his name in this respect.
Also- it really really irritates me when talented players leaving the club is rationalised as a good thing based on something external to their ability (be it the return gotten (Dahlhaus), the equity achieved (Hamling), or the harmonious effect of being cleansed of their personality (Jake)). We still lose considerable talents in areas of need and replace them with nothing. These are all losses.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Happy Days
Yeah I'm the same - I've heard some pretty cooked stuff about why he was booted that make me not wholly disagree with the decision, but a bigger part of me thinks that Jake wasn't the only unprofessional one in all of this. Part of being an effective man-manager is having the emotional intelligence to navigate conflicts, and Bevo (who I still love) has several black marks against his name in this respect.
Also- it really really irritates me when talented players leaving the club is rationalised as a good thing based on something external to their ability (be it the return gotten (Dahlhaus), the equity achieved (Hamling), or the harmonious effect of being cleansed of their personality (Jake)). We still lose considerable talents in areas of need and replace them with nothing. These are all losses.
My mum used to say "why cant we have nice things?" We seem to be hell bent on proving that we can't handle good things.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Axe Man
Yes defence coach at Port. Only started after the end of last season, not sure what he did in the previous 2 years?
Coaching at one of the private schools in Melbourne.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Our best two KPPs right now are Naughton (19) and Cordy (22), in terms of KPP they are babies.
God knows where we find two more as Schache is unproven. Le Young very raw, Trengove is a spare parts Mr Fixit then there's Gardner who might be a decent second tall at either end but Cordy isn't a first KPD.
As mentioned we have an experienced, solid midfield group. English is raw but promising.
We have a number of role players, very few of whom have established themselves. Some of these guys have time to make positions their own, in some cases (La Young) performing far better than they ought to be. We also have a genuine second potential A grade mid (Smith).
here's enough there to build from and as we're seen in the past, it can come together surprisingly quickly.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mofra
Our best two KPPs right now are Naughton (19) and Cordy (22), in terms of KPP they are babies.
God knows where we find two more as Schache is unproven. Le Young very raw, Trengove is a spare parts Mr Fixit then there's Gardner who might be a decent second tall at either end but Cordy isn't a first KPD.
As mentioned we have an experienced, solid midfield group. English is raw but promising.
We have a number of role players, very few of whom have established themselves. Some of these guys have time to make positions their own, in some cases (La Young) performing far better than they ought to be. We also have a genuine second potential A grade mid (Smith).
here's enough there to build from and as we're seen in the past, it can come together surprisingly quickly.
Players get certain labels in their career. Already Trengove is being labeled a 'trier' or a 'journeyman', but if he got decent feed he could tear it up in the forward line. I tend to be a little overly optimistic but if he wasn't playing ruck he could do a decent job in the forward line, at least splitting packs.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
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Originally Posted by
Ghost Dog
Players get certain labels in their career. Already Trengove is being labeled a 'trier' or a 'journeyman', but if he got decent feed he could tear it up in the forward line. I tend to be a little overly optimistic but if he wasn't playing ruck he could do a decent job in the forward line, at least splitting packs.
The label for Trengove is based on an entire career's worth of work. He has been tried in our forwardline too given he was signed as a ruck/forward but his best work at AFL level has largely been in the ruck with his work in defence a close second.
He's aggressive and never drops his head, wonderful teammate and he has allowed Wood to play more of an intercepting game but he's not the long term answer to our KPD needs IMO and as a forward he looks like a ruckman.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mofra
The label for Trengove is based on an entire career's worth of work. He has been tried in our forwardline too given he was signed as a ruck/forward but his best work at AFL level has largely been in the ruck with his work in defence a close second.
He's aggressive and never drops his head, wonderful teammate and he has allowed Wood to play more of an intercepting game but he's not the long term answer to our KPD needs IMO and as a forward he looks like a ruckman.
With respect, everyone but you and I have been tried in our forward line but the list of blokes who've flourished rather than perished down there is grim. The personnel might not be the problem ...
Reckon you've nailed Trengove's present value to us though, particularly with Moz still on the sidelines.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Happy Days
Yeah I'm the same - I've heard some pretty cooked stuff about why he was booted that make me not wholly disagree with the decision, but a bigger part of me thinks that Jake wasn't the only unprofessional one in all of this. Part of being an effective man-manager is having the emotional intelligence to navigate conflicts, and Bevo (who I still love) has several black marks against his name in this respect.
Also- it really really irritates me when talented players leaving the club is rationalised as a good thing based on something external to their ability (be it the return gotten (Dahlhaus), the equity achieved (Hamling), or the harmonious effect of being cleansed of their personality (Jake)). We still lose considerable talents in areas of need and replace them with nothing. These are all losses.
There's also some sections dismissing the regular thumpings as being acceptable because we're a young team, totally ignoring the fact the past 3 years we've had a number of mature and experienced players walking out the door and needing to be replaced with kids. The team doesn't get any older and the youth excuse becomes a permanent crutch.
We can convince ourselves that losing mature players is a good thing because they weren't helping anyway but you have to wonder why guys like Roughead, Dahlhause, Stringer, Hamling can go to other clubs and play a leading role while we thought they either couldn't contribute or weren't worth the trouble to a team at the bottom of the ladder and sinking further. Clearly our people management is sadly lacking.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
We all remember Jake pre mid 2016 and his ability, then his life changed for a number of reasons. He has never hit the same heights as his 2015 AA year, and pretty much was a non-event in the finals. Given he was a bully and trouble maker at the club, with no sympathy for Boyd and the things he said and did to him, his off field issues which I won't go into, I am glad he was given his marching orders. To blame his departure on a lack of management at the club is really a joke.
He has continued to be a good ordinary footballer, but nothing special. Good luck to him - the end.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rocket Science
With respect, everyone but you and I have been tried in our forward line but the list of blokes who've flourished rather than perished down there is grim. The personnel might not be the problem ...
Reckon you've nailed Trengove's present value to us though, particularly with Moz still on the sidelines.
Fair comment - I guess it does go back to a central theme in that I think we need to emphasise the strengths of players rather than try and mitigate their weaknesses, and in part that means playing them in their best position where possible.
Dunkley is a contested mid, so for me he should play in the middle not forward. Wallis is a decent forward or an average mid, he should play far more forward (for the first 6 weeks those roles were reversed).
Richards can run the ball so I think one of his real fortes is wasted forward. Wing for mine, defence a second option.
Gowers is a much better forward than midfielder, he should be played forward.
etc.
I don't think it would take much to get our list into good shape - remember Lloyd and Crozier cost very little and have been fantastic for us. Our core group of mids are in their prime which is always a very good start.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
FrediKanoute
What would I like to see:
1) a more defensive mindset from the whole team, with an emphasis on accountability and pressure;
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the team does what it is told.
The coach needs a more practical defensive mindset.
He could start by telling the players to stand 10 to 20 metres closer to their opponents after we score a behind. That might stop the ball leaking to the opposition forwards so easily.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Attachment 943
Here's our 3.5 year form line as a graph.
The only question I have is if the trend has bottomed out now, or whether there's more southward going line to come in the graph.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bornadog
We all remember Jake pre mid 2016 and his ability, then his life changed for a number of reasons. He has never hit the same heights as his 2015 AA year, and pretty much was a non-event in the finals. Given he was a bully and trouble maker at the club, with no sympathy for Boyd and the things he said and did to him, his off field issues which I won't go into, I am glad he was given his marching orders. To blame his departure on a lack of management at the club is really a joke.
He has continued to be a good ordinary footballer, but nothing special. Good luck to him - the end.
So why wasn't he suspended during his time with us if he was so bad?
No doubt he was/is a questionable character but the way we (management) handled the situation was diabolical.
We keep losing proven talent for more youth for various reasons and it needs to stop.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Happy Days
Yeah I'm the same - I've heard some pretty cooked stuff about why he was booted that make me not wholly disagree with the decision, but a bigger part of me thinks that Jake wasn't the only unprofessional one in all of this. Part of being an effective man-manager is having the emotional intelligence to navigate conflicts, and Bevo (who I still love) has several black marks against his name in this respect.
I've heard plenty too, and no doubt he was disruptive/unprofessional to a degree, but why wasn't he suspended/punished?
We kicked him out of the club without punishing poor behaviour. Yes, we probably tried to 'help' him, but it still makes no sense to me. IF he was so bad, WHY didn't we send him away from the club for a period of time?
The bloke is supremely talented and we let him walk to one of our biggest rivals.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
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Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
So why wasn't he suspended during his time with us if he was so bad?
No doubt he was/is a questionable character but the way we (management) handled the situation was diabolical.
We keep losing proven talent for more youth for various reasons and it needs to stop.
You don't remember he was dropped to the VFL?
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bornadog
You don't remember he was dropped to the VFL?
Form related which was 2016.
If he was as bad as was made out to be he should have been away from the club for a period of time.
We did nothing until we decided to kick him out, which was also handled poorly.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
Form related which was 2016.
If he was as bad as was made out to be he should have been away from the club for a period of time.
We did nothing until we decided to kick him out, which was also handled poorly.
Not one person on this forum knows that for sure TBB.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
I've heard plenty too, and no doubt he was disruptive/unprofessional to a degree, but why wasn't he suspended/punished?
We kicked him out of the club without punishing poor behaviour. Yes, we probably tried to 'help' him, but it still makes no sense to me. IF he was so bad, WHY didn't we send him away from the club for a period of time?
The bloke is supremely talented and we let him walk to one of our biggest rivals.
I to agree with you. If he is as bad as it’s made out to be. How have the Bombers been able to change that around and these things not now be a issue.
Biggs an issue, Libba an issue, Dahl an issue. We all have had “issues” in family or workplaces and with some open communication and boundaries most of things fall into line.
I think with the likes of Monty, Murphy, Pickin and Marty Boyd gone has left a huge leadership gap that we didn’t realise would hurt so muck.
I remember seeing Redpath and Roughy in our leadership group and being surprised. Well they have gone too. This equates to 25% of our on field leaders.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bulldog4life
Not one person on this forum knows that for sure TBB.
Thankyou . Bit of perspective.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
It’s been a tough few years after our great premiership win in 2016. We love the Bulldogs and that is why we are so passionate and frustrated at the moment which is totally justified.
Things just have not clicked since then and there are a number of factors contributing to that. Injuries have hit us hard the lasts few years but we can’t really use that as an excuse as we had injuries in the premiership year. Clubs worked us out in 2017. Our premiership was built on team defence and the ability to lock the ball in our forward 50. We didn’t need to score 100 points in a grand final but in saying that you want to be strong up forward which we clearly have not been and this needs to change with a thorough review of our goalkicking people at the club.
We have some great kids coming through which is great but our senior guys haven’t been that great and need to lead the way now. The captain Easton Wood in particular hasn’t been what he used to be. We need strong on field leadership.
There have been good signs at times this season but I’m afraid they have been a bit few and far between judging by our win loss ratio of 4-7 and we have had some heavy defeats taking a hit to our %.
I’m more inclined to keep Bevo but we need to change the assistant coaches around him I feel. King, Corey and Hansen have been here for a number of years so fresh ideas, new direction might be what is required for Bevo to thrive again.
Need to play players in their natural positions and don’t go overboard on experimenting too much. Can work for example with Naughton who has been great up forward this year coming from the back but never play JJ and Woof ahead of the ball.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
Form related which was 2016.
If he was as bad as was made out to be he should have been away from the club for a period of time.
We did nothing until we decided to kick him out, which was also handled poorly.
The club provided therapy which he didn't turn up to. Murph publicly said there were 2 years of difficulties. That's a long time to put up with things.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
Form related which was 2016.
If he was as bad as was made out to be he should have been away from the club for a period of time.
We did nothing until we decided to kick him out, which was also handled poorly.
You are speculating. I can tell you 100% that the club did a lot for him to get himself back on track. With flogs like GrubGrubGrubGrubGrubGrubGrub hanging around to make us look bad, the club kept things away from the press. Even David Smorgon sat down with him, every angle was tried.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndrewP6
The club provided therapy which he didn't turn up to. Murph publicly said there were 2 years of difficulties. That's a long time to put up with things.
Exactly.
I don't mind having discussions on a forum but making things up is another thing.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndrewP6
The club provided therapy which he didn't turn up to. Murph publicly said there were 2 years of difficulties. That's a long time to put up with things.
Which is kind of my point in that where was the punishment and/or tough love? We effectively let him get away with it until we kicked him out.
Hell, didn’t we suspend Boyd and Cordy for a week for a scuffle?
Remi and alike posters can continue to close their eyes but many of the issues I was raising about our club in 2017 have proven to be a few of our many downfalls since 2016 and the Stringer saga is one of those.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bornadog
You are speculating. I can tell you 100% that the club did a lot for him to get himself back on track. With flogs like GrubGrubGrubGrubGrubGrubGrub hanging around to make us look bad, the club kept things away from the press. Even David Smorgon sat down with him, every angle was tried.
I know the club tried to help but I question they could and should have penalised him instead of continually wrapping their arms around him. The fact that it finally blew up in the public and NOW he’s back on track is testament to this. We were so hellbent on shielding him and where did it get either of us? The beneficiaries were Essendon.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
I remember when Bmac was the coach. Some of the posters here cast doubt on his decisions, having sat in the box on game day and watched him work. They turned out to be 100% right. You know who you are. There are a lot of clever people here with deep football knowledge, and it's you who make this forum what it is. But I also remember 2016, when many on this board dismissed us. So you never really know. We back this club and make no more excuses, for youth and injuries and whatever. Cause that was 2016 and that is who we are. Things are never as good or as bad as they seem. I firmly believe we could have come close to the Eagles if we handn't have dropped our chins, first quarter says that. And I think this season has some strands of a narrative yet. Prove me right dogs!
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Axe Man
Yes defence coach at Port. Only started after the end of last season, not sure what he did in the previous 2 years?
He was at Melbourne Grammar as football director
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Stringer's gone and he's not coming back so he's not relevant in the discussions about what we can do now and in the immediate future.
I mentioned on another thread we have to abandon reputation and talent and simply reward effort as that is playing a large part of where we're breaking down. If that means dropping a senior player and promoting a kid who is barely ready for AFL action (West/Porter/Vendermeer) than so be it. As supporters, if we lose we lose but non-efforts are completely unacceptable.
It may well hurt us for a week or two this year - but for the rest of the year and next year there will be little doubt that effort is a non-negotiable. I don't think it will cause discontent in the playing group as someone busting their gut gets an opportunity.
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Re: When things aren’t always as they seem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mofra
Stringer's gone and he's not coming back so he's not relevant in the discussions about what we can do now and in the immediate future.
I mentioned on another thread we have to abandon reputation and talent and simply reward effort as that is playing a large part of where we're breaking down. If that means dropping a senior player and promoting a kid who is barely ready for AFL action (West/Porter/Vendermeer) than so be it. As supporters, if we lose we lose but non-efforts are completely unacceptable.
It may well hurt us for a week or two this year - but for the rest of the year and next year there will be little doubt that effort is a non-negotiable. I don't think it will cause discontent in the playing group as someone busting their gut gets an opportunity.
Totally agree you set a code of conduct and you enforce it no matter the player. This applies on and off the field. You can't say well player X you don't have to wear your seatbelt today because you're a premiership player. Applies to everyone , all the time and you have systems in place to assist those who are having a hard time. Personally as I've gotten older my favourite part of Aussie rules and following the dogs is the new kids coming through. Remember Bonts weaving goal on the boundary v Melbourne, wow! So to tie in with this great thread, things aren't as bad as they seem when you have at start of the season Dunkley, Cordy, Scache, West, Roberts, Gowers, English, Naughton, Smith, Richards, Williams, Lipinski, Greene, Young1, Young 2, Dale, Porter, Hayes, Lynch, Gardner (have I missed anyone!) that are just starting their senior careers with less than 50 games who else would you follow ! The wheel turns, in this instance a little WD-40 wouldn't go astray but it will turn and with the aforementioned list, some smart recruitng, our bona fide stars and Bevo at the helm I'm greatly anticipating our next time in the sun (because 1. I miss Cairns and 2.The last one was too short!)
Go dogs.