It's the year of the Dog, but 'Macca' should take a bow

[jeemak]

Here's an interesting take on McCartney's legacy.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...21-gj4p8x.html


This is the thing that stood out most to me:


Whether the Bulldog powers-that-be like it or not, McCartney was the coach who took them through the "cats' heads" period. They were ready to bring joy and fun into their game – just as they have done. Perhaps Griffen and Cooney were two of the problems but information tells me McCartney never "lost" his players.

[chef]

Macca deserves a fair bit of credit for where we are now.

[bulldogtragic]

Disagree. Our improvement has come an engaging coach and creating a conducive environment to perform, a much more modern gameplan and a heap of players playing in positions that he refused to play them.

[jeemak]

Why is it so hard to acknowledge that the players Beveridge has at his disposal already knew the non-negotiables - which form a significant part of being competitive - before he walked through the door?

[chef]

Why is it so hard to acknowledge that the players Beveridge has at his disposal already knew the non-negotiables which form a significant part of being competitive before he walked through the door?

Yep, he's added another element to what Macca already had us doing.

Plus Macca had a huge say in the players playing this gameplan(and getting rid of the deadwood).

Credit where credits due IMO.

[jeemak]

Yep, he's added another element to what Macca already had us doing.

Plus Macca had a huge say in the players playing this gameplan(and getting rid of the deadwood).

Credit where credits due IMO.

There's set-up aspects, both defencive and offencive that Beveridge has added that have made a huge difference. And a few positional changes have taken us another step forward.

Of the good games we played under McCartney the helter skelter or manic forward movement and chaos brought about from an unpredictable and oddly sized forward line are prevalent under Beveridge. Beveridge's message for this to become the norm and for players to be more positive has clearly been communicated well to the playing group, which I think probably helps them buy into the "system" approach to the game.

The hard work and set-up at stoppages was something McCartney worked on, and the team wouldn't be where it is today without it.

We'll never know the impact of having Cooney, Jones, Higgins, Griffen and Minson together on the one playing list from a cultural perspective, though with Minson the only one left of those guys it's hard not to see it having an impact.

[strebla]

Love Bevo but must agree Macca has his stamp well and truly on this team.

[Ghost Dog]

Disagree. Our improvement has come an engaging coach and creating a conducive environment to perform, a much more modern gameplan and a heap of players playing in positions that he refused to play them.

Surely only the players can answer this. And even then you might get differing opinions.

Jarrad Grant, banished for four weeks to the gym. What does that tell us?

But then, on the other hand, a coach who stuck by Lukas Marcovic, who was clearly out of our depth and would not be getting a game with us now, were he fit ( love the guy and his effort, but just too slow ).

A mixed bag. He was able to do some things well as a coach, but as a play-maker, I used to really wonder about some of his decisions on the day.

[boydogs]

Macca seemed limited, we learnt contested ball to the point we were #1 in the league but we were still losing games, and by the end of his time we were losing players too

Good assistant coach is probably a fair description

[jeemak]

Surely only the players can answer this. And even then you might get differing opinions.

Jarrad Grant, banished for four weeks to the gym. What does that tell us?

But then, on the other hand, a coach who stuck by Lukas Marcovic, who was clearly out of our depth and would not be getting a game with us now, were he fit ( love the guy and his effort, but just too slow ).

A mixed bag. He was able to do some things well as a coach, but as a play-maker, I used to really wonder about some of his decisions on the day.

Markovic was delisted in 2013. McCartney coached 2014.

It's funny that in 2013 Grant averaged more marks, kicks, tackles and goals than he has this year. That banishment to the gym must have really done him a disservice.

[bulldogtragic]

Surely only the players can answer this. And even then you might get differing opinions.

Jarrad Grant, banished for four weeks to the gym. What does that tell us?

But then, on the other hand, a coach who stuck by Lukas Marcovic, who was clearly out of our depth and would not be getting a game with us now, were he fit ( love the guy and his effort, but just too slow ).

A mixed bag. He was able to do some things well as a coach, but as a play-maker, I used to really wonder about some of his decisions on the day.

The players have said time and time again this year. Banishing Jarrad to the gym to me shows he had NFI about him. As I've advocated for a long while, Jarrads strengthes are further up the ground and that Macca couldn't or wouldn't do what Bevo did in his first week with us shows he was a limited head coach.

Maccas match days was usually poor, his use of the sub was sometimes emabassing, his push to turn Higgins into a defender and Lake into a forward was limited thinking too, or poor thinking. He had us playing rolling rugby mauls to win only inside ball and despite us winning it we got flogged regularly because there was no gameplan beyond that. Not to mention that gameplan is 10 years old and antiquated. He managed to piss a lot of people off including the captain. He played Austin et al despite neither clearly being AFL standard. That Jake Stringer could have left us is enough on its own to question Maccas legacy. For his development credentials I didn't see enough to be won over.

Honestly, the similarities of wins, losses and player revolts are very closely matched to Peter Rhode yet there's a romance with one and the other being erased from out memories. I can't stand the Macca got us a VFL team and that's down to him, well I call bull shite. Every senior coach wants a VFL team. Gordo put up the cash out of his own pocket for his vision, not Maccas.

He was at the wheel when our club was driven over a cliff and I hold him responsible for that. He was an unmitigated disaster as a head coach and whilst he did a few good things I won't be attributing the amazing work by/with of Bobby, Bevo and the entire club this year. The club, coach and players this year deserve the credit and that's it for me.

[chef]

The players have said time and time again this year. Banishing Jarrad to the gym to me shows he had NFI about him. As I've advocated for a long while, Jarrads strengthes are further up the ground and that Macca couldn't or wouldn't do what Bevo did in his first week with us shows he was a limited head coach. Maccas match days was usually poor, his use of the sub was sometimes emabassing, his push to turn Higgins into a defender and Lake into a forward was limited thinking too, or poor thinking. He had us playing rolling rugby mauls to win only inside ball and despite us winning it we got flogged regularly because there was no gameplan beyond that. Not to mention that gameplan is 10 years old and antiquated. He managed to piss a lot of people off including the captain. He played Austin et al despite neither clearly being AFL standard. That Jake Stringer could have left us is enough on its own to question Maccas legacy. For his development credentials I didn't see enough to be won over. Honestly, the similarities of wins, losses and player revolts are very closely matched to Peter Rhode yet there's a romance with one and the other being erased from out memories. I can't stand the Macca got us a VFL team and that's down to him, well I call bull shite. Every senior coach wants a VFL team. Gordo put up the cash out of his own pocket for his vision, not Maccas. He was at the wheel when our club was driven over a cliff and I hold him responsible for that. He was an unmitigated disaster as a head coach and whilst he did a few good things I won't be attributing the amazing work by/with of Bobby, Bevo and the entire club this year. The club, coach and players this year deserve the credit and that's it for me.

Thats near impossible to read

[bulldogtragic]

Macca had the option to play Boyd as a HB. He had the option to not play Wood as a third tall defender. He had the option of Picken to play as a mid. He had the the option not to play Wally as a tagged. He had the option to play Bob as a rebounding defender. He had the option to play Grant off the wing. He had the option to play Roughy as a ruckman. He had the option to give Dahl more time up the ground.

He made the choices not to do any of this. None. Bevo did this upon walking into the club and the results speak for themselves. Bevo understood the list from Hawthorns assisting coaching ranks. That's an indictment that an opposition assistant coaches knows more about the list than the head coach.

He is a divisive figure and I don't think we are all going to agree. But thank god he is long gone because this beautiful season wouldn't have happened at him coaching us. Here's looking the finals!!

[The Doctor]

the article was written by Gareth Andrews, who was a highly influential off field figure (vice president) at Geelong when Macartney was there, so it will have a biased opinion in my view. All the Geelong people love macartney and fair enough.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Surely only the players can answer this. And even then you might get differing opinions.

Jarrad Grant, banished for four weeks to the gym. What does that tell us?

But then, on the other hand, a coach who stuck by Lukas Marcovic, who was clearly out of our depth and would not be getting a game with us now, were he fit ( love the guy and his effort, but just too slow ).

A mixed bag. He was able to do some things well as a coach, but as a play-maker, I used to really wonder about some of his decisions on the day.

I think a big part of the problem with Macca's era was timing. He came in at the height of the draft concessions to the new teams that severely limited our ability to transition the team. As a result guys like Markovic and Austin were given extended opportunities that otherwise would not have occurred. I'm sure Macca was aware of their shortcomings but there were not a great deal of other options.
As for trying to reinvent guys like Boyd and Picken as Bevo has been able to do, he's had the luxury of a clean slate to operate in. No Cooney, Griffen, Higgins or Libba to fit in has provided him with the necessary environment to experiment. I recall many here, including myself who had great skepticism in Beveridge's moving of Boyd to the half back line. It looks a genius move now, but i can only imagine the howls if Macca had flagged that move at the beginning of last year.

As much as the decision to part with Macca has worked out well and Beveridge is looking like a great replacement, I equally think that Macca's legacy is strong and that if he had've had his opportunity to coach at a time other than when he got the job his coaching journey would've been more successful.

I don't think there have been too many coaches who got their jobs in the era of expansion teams and the ensuing draft and player concessions made it through with their careers in tact. Waters, Neeld, Macca, all took on teams either bottoming out or already bottomed out and were all unable to build a squad capable of quick success -which is what poorly performed teams need to do in order to keep the pressure index on the coach from blowing out. Yet all 3 did play a part in providing their successor with a platform to build upon once the impact of the expansion team player drain eased. This has allowed those teams to now bring in better quality players, instead of having to settle for guys like Markovic & Austin.