It's been a tough season so far in 2019 but........

[GVGjr]

I know many of us think we have dropped the ball on the season and it's going to be tough road ahead but in my opinion we are entering a very important little stretch that will help shape the club going forward. While I would have loved a couple of more wins I'm far from disappointed.
Careers are in the balance though and decisions will be made on who to invest time in and who will just be treading water until the end of the season


The positives
Aaron Norton - The move forward has been a brilliant one by Bevo. He has played some excellent games and we now have a genuine match winning forward signed for a long period. His marking has been a real highlight.
Caleb Daniel - I'll be honest here but I never expected him to be the force that he has been as a small (well smallest) defender. It's been another brilliant move and he so often provides great decision making and he just distributes the ball so well. I had my doubts that other coaches would have worked him out by now and exploited his lack of height but week after week he is making a difference for us
Bailey Smith - he has vastly exceeded my expectations especially given his limited preseason. He's got the pace that we need, he's physical in a contest and his skill level has looked very good. I thought he'd need to be rested and managed throughout the season but he's handled the transition from the TAC better than most of us expected. It's hard not to get excited about his future
Josh Dunkley - A return to the midfield has returned a midfield beast to us. Dunkley has some faults but he's been a strong performer and someone I hope continues to improve

Special mentions to:
Lloyd, Trengove and Crozier as recent additions via trades, Bontempelli who is one of the games genuine stars, and Hunter who despite some critics has had a good season so far

Time to Lift
Macrae - He's currently not the force he's previously been and perhaps it's a slight change in his role but he isn't at his best
Liberatore - Started off well but has faded a bit in recent weeks, we just need a bit more from him
Richards - He was sensational for us last year but he just has come close to that form. Perhaps he's another one who has had difficulties adjusting to a new role
McLean - Another player who is well down on the form he displayed last year
Wood - The captain has been almost immune from criticism and expectation for his career just now needs to adapt and lift for us.

Question marks
We know Boyd and Picken are gone but there are a number of players with questions marks against there names for 2020
Morris - The warrior who we need to finish the season off strongly. Could he get another 1 year deal?
Dickson - The sharpshooter who is struggling a bit with injuries and form
Roberts, Webb, Dale, Lynch R.Smith and Jong who have all been given chances to establish themselves but haven't quite yet. The next few weeks loom large fore them
Porter has yet to be tried but needs to get a wriggle on
Of course there are some others but attitude and effort will play a big part of who stays and goes at the end of the season

The 'balance' of the list
It's been hotly debated here and most were very comfortable with the balance of our list at the end of the trade period last year but as we enter the middle of the 2019 season I think some might have altered their view on if we have enough key position players and ruck man. Even Bevo concedes this.
On top of that we have an over supply of mid sized defenders
It's critical going forward that we strike a better balance and maybe Power and Austin start this correction with the mid season draft on Monday

Summary
I think there are a few too many supporters reluctantly considering putting their cue in the rack for the balance of the season but in my opinion there are a number of things that will play out in the next few months. It should at least be interesting.
Many on the playing list need to impress, many need to show improvement simply from a pride perspective and then there is a good chance we can turn a game on it's head like we nearly did yesterday.

Stick with us folks, there is still plenty of machinations to play out in 2019

[AshMac]

Really good thread.

I’d put English in the top category too if players to be excited about. He isn’t burning the world down, but he is exceeding (at least my) expectations. A decent kick in front of goal and he keeps getting stronger in marking contests and he is a player we can genuinely anchor a midfielder around.

In the lift category - is out both Wally and JJ. Wallis is great in patches but I just don’t think we’ve found the perfect spot for him. Good from inside 40 and rarely beaten in 1 on 1’s he is up an down for mine and needs to find some consistency across a season.

JJ too. Thought he was really good yesterday and were starting to see that excitement again when he gets the ball off the back flank but he seems to be inconsistent with his kicking and decision making.

Two senior players who at their very best are exceptional.

[Ozza]

GVGjr, I note in the OP, that Macrae, Libba and McLean are listed as time to lift. All 3 are spending significant time in different roles this season. For Libba and Macrae - inexplicably they are spending significant time forward, which oppositions must be enjoying, given how both are regarded as mids who can win clearances and accumulate possessions.

McLean seems to have been pushed out of the midfield on account of Dunkley. But what is baffling to me, is that we go from having McLean as a 25+ possession mid last season, who could get clearances, to players like Lipinski, Williams and Gowers getting opportunities at the centre bounce. I'm all for Bailey Smith getting his crack in there also, but it is very strange that McLean has fallen so far down the pecking order.

[GVGjr]

GVGjr, I note in the OP, that Macrae, Libba and McLean are listed as time to lift. All 3 are spending significant time in different roles this season. For Libba and Macrae - inexplicably they are spending significant time forward, which oppositions must be enjoying, given how both are regarded as mids who can win clearances and accumulate possessions.

McLean seems to have been pushed out of the midfield on account of Dunkley. But what is baffling to me, is that we go from having McLean as a 25+ possession mid last season, who could get clearances, to players like Lipinski, Williams and Gowers getting opportunities at the centre bounce. I'm all for Bailey Smith getting his crack in there also, but it is very strange that McLean has fallen so far down the pecking order.

Fully agree, I suggest there is a bit of a log jam for time in the middle and maybe there has been and expectation that many of them haven't enjoyed the same amount of time in the middle. There has to be a correlation between Dunkley's return to form by getting more time in the middle and say Liberatore just dropping back a bit while he has spent more time forward.

Our midfield depth might not be working that well for everyone

[kruder]

GVGjr, I note in the OP, that Macrae, Libba and McLean are listed as time to lift. All 3 are spending significant time in different roles this season. For Libba and Macrae - inexplicably they are spending significant time forward, which oppositions must be enjoying, given how both are regarded as mids who can win clearances and accumulate possessions.

McLean seems to have been pushed out of the midfield on account of Dunkley. But what is baffling to me, is that we go from having McLean as a 25+ possession mid last season, who could get clearances, to players like Lipinski, Williams and Gowers getting opportunities at the centre bounce. I'm all for Bailey Smith getting his crack in there also, but it is very strange that McLean has fallen so far down the pecking order.

It was bizarre when North were taking the game away from us in the second quarter that we continued to put both Lippa and Smith in the same centre bounce. The bonus about 666 is that you can stop/gain momentum by getting a clearance and scoring and at the same time another clearance to the opposition can turn it into a landslide. it was obvious that it was a pregame setup. In a game when our season is on the line at round 10 after 2 pathetic seasons give me Libba/Macrae/Bont anytime. Bevo is absolutely playing with fire atm, he seems to finally have gotten the wheel turning again but if we fall away in the second half of the year I'm not sure sure he is ever going to get it back without significant change.

[jeemak]

It was bizarre when North were taking the game away from us in the second quarter that we continued to put both Lippa and Smith in the same centre bounce. The bonus about 666 is that you can stop/gain momentum by getting a clearance and scoring and at the same time another clearance to the opposition can turn it into a landslide. it was obvious that it was a pregame setup. In a game when our season is on the line at round 10 after 2 pathetic seasons give me Libba/Macrae/Bont anytime. Bevo is absolutely playing with fire atm, he seems to finally have gotten the wheel turning again but if we fall away in the second half of the year I'm not sure sure he is ever going to get it back without significant change.

It's interesting that towards the final month or two of last year the senior players told the match committee to stop taking the piss and play to our strengths, perhaps this needs to happen again surrounding midfield personnel. If it is happening already and the players are being ignored, that could create a fairly toxic outcome.

The hubris that must go into this type of planning is what I struggle with, and indicates to me we've probably created an echo chamber within the coaching group that doesn't critically assess some of the ideas that are tabled to extent they should be. It's abundantly clear to me we need freshening up.

Good OP.

[Twodogs]

It's interesting that towards the final month or two of last year the senior players told the match committee to stop taking the piss and play to our strengths, perhaps this needs to happen again surrounding midfield personnel. If it is happening already and the players are being ignored, that could create a fairly toxic outcome.

The hubris that must go into this type of planning is what I struggle with, and indicates to me we've probably created an echo chamber within the coaching group that doesn't critically assess some of the ideas that are tabled to extent they should be. It's abundantly clear to me we need freshening up.

Good OP.

Yep, we need someone who will challenge the conventional wisdom. There are ideas that sound great but there is a very good reason that clubs don't go with them and that's because there is a hidden problem that nobody has noticed (usually due to a lack of experience). In isolation new ideas are great but when you risk the perception (or the reality) that you are drinking your own bathwater then it's probably a good idea to have someone a bit more experienced to bounce those ideas off.

[kruder]

It's interesting that towards the final month or two of last year the senior players told the match committee to stop taking the piss and play to our strengths, perhaps this needs to happen again surrounding midfield personnel. If it is happening already and the players are being ignored, that could create a fairly toxic outcome.

The hubris that must go into this type of planning is what I struggle with, and indicates to me we've probably created an echo chamber within the coaching group that doesn't critically assess some of the ideas that are tabled to extent they should be. It's abundantly clear to me we need freshening up.

Good OP.

The body language of Macrae, libba and Mclean suggests this..

[bornadog]

One of the areas we need to improve on is our last quarters. For some reason we seem to fade out. Is it our fitness?

Against

* Suns started the game poorly, came flying home, but just couldn't get the win on the board.
* Collingwood - 5 points up at 3/4 time
* Freo - 6 points down at 3/4 time
* Geelong - got to within 5 points and then allowed 3 quick goals in the dying moments of 3rd qrt. Still in it in the last but gave up in the last 10 minutes.
* North - hit the front in first 10 minutes of last, then lost

Something is not right.

IF we can finish off games, there will be plenty of wins ahead.

[GVGjr]

One of the areas we need to improve on is our last quarters. For some reason we seem to fade out. Is it our fitness?

Against

* Suns started the game poorly, came flying home, but just couldn't get the win on the board.
* Collingwood - 5 points up at 3/4 time
* Freo - 6 points down at 3/4 time
* Geelong - got to within 5 points and then allowed 3 quick goals in the dying moments of 3rd qrt. Still in it in the last but gave up in the last 10 minutes.
* North - hit the front in first 10 minutes of last, then lost

Something is not right.

IF we can finish off games, there will be plenty of wins ahead.

We had a full preseason so I'm not sure fitness is the issue but there were certainly some spent players yesterday but I noticed it more after North rallied and reestablished a decent lead against us. It's hard to say with a lot of confidence but we probably aren't fighting out games once they become out of reach.

[Danjul]

I don’t want to see more grunt or toughness.
I want to see more skill. I want to see the player with the ball take responsibility for doing something with it.

Too much of the possessions count does nothing to help win the game.

who gets the ball, sprints 10 metres and kicks a low 45 metre pass. Nobody except Bont (and Smith)

At present everyone simply looks for a handpass. Most weeks we have 20, 30 or 40 more than the opposition and lose because of resulting turnovers.

Combine quality kicking with a sensible goal to goal line and we would enjoy significantly more wins.

[mjp]

I don’t want to see more grunt or toughness.

At present everyone simply looks for a handpass. Most weeks we have 20, 30 or 40 more than the opposition and lose because of resulting turnovers.

Combine quality kicking with a sensible goal to goal line and we would enjoy significantly more wins.

That wasn't the case vs North. We had more kicks and LESS handballs.

I am not talking about toughness being the difference. It is about defensive concentration and not allowing turnovers to become goals...on the weekend we had LESS turnovers than North and were actually MORE efficient inside fwd 50 than they were...so what gives?

Fair enough, disposal efficiency...we were down by a couple of percent - but it really was line ball...

I am all for your comments about too much of our possession not actually helping us win - that was the main thrust of what I was posting last week - but I thought our kick/handball ratio was much improved vs North, but our efforts in transition, efforts to provide an effective outlet/shut down the outlet were poor...and the efforts of our forwards to quickly empty out and get goal side were not good enough.

I am curious what you mean by a sensible goal-to-goal line...who should play???

[Danjul]

That wasn't the case vs North. We had more kicks and LESS handballs.

I am not talking about toughness being the difference. It is about defensive concentration and not allowing turnovers to become goals...on the weekend we had LESS turnovers than North and were actually MORE efficient inside fwd 50 than they were...so what gives?

Fair enough, disposal efficiency...we were down by a couple of percent - but it really was line ball...

I am all for your comments about too much of our possession not actually helping us win - that was the main thrust of what I was posting last week - but I thought our kick/handball ratio was much improved vs North, but our efforts in transition, efforts to provide an effective outlet/shut down the outlet were poor...and the efforts of our forwards to quickly empty out and get goal side were not good enough.

I am curious what you mean by a sensible goal-to-goal line...who should play???

we had the same number of scoring shots but got 12 behinds to 7 (similar against Geelong). One thing I noticed that seemed to impact on goal kicking accuracy was the transition into the forward line. Slow movement around the wing with handball or short kicks allowing defenders to flood back. A successful kick into the 50 metre arc often results in a shot at goal from difficult angle or on the kicker’s distance limit (short forwards leading out ).

I would like to see faster and straighter kicks into the F50, from closer to the centre square. The Bont does this well.

I would like to see a genuine tall at CHF who can kick long goals. I think Schache is our best option now. Then Naughton at FF might not get two tall defenders so often. Also, the smaller forwards can focus on gathering spills and using speed to run into better positions.

on the backline we should have Suckling kicking in with a choice of spaced targets, the ruckman and 2 genuine talls who are good overhead. Lewis Young was like that. Trengove can take a mark. . I suspect we waste Daniel at present. He could set up some smart play further up the ground.

At present our exits are slow , often leading to a contest too close to opponents goal. This invariably involves the opposition ruckmen.

[Twodogs]

Quote Originally Posted by mjp

It takes an entire TEAM to stop a goal. It takes an entire TEAM to stop an opposition i50. In transition, if just ONE PLAYER makes a mistake, is a bit slow, is a bit 'soft' (broken tackle)...GOAL. Everyone needs to consistently and continuously play their part in order to stop the opposition.

Quoted because it's the truth.]Our 2-way running is dreadful.. to a man our players go half rat power when transitioning from offence into defence. And when you have a backline that isn't all that good at one-on-one defending you're in big trouble.

So true. Most teams play to their strengths but we seem to play to our weaknesses.

[mjp]

we had the same number of scoring shots but got 12 behinds to 7 (similar against Geelong). One thing I noticed that seemed to impact on goal kicking accuracy was the transition into the forward line.

I neither agree nor disagree with any of this...I just don't think our ball-movement was the problem on the weekend. We had enough of the ball - we just allowed too much of it to North. Fair enough vs Geelong we over-used but we didn't really do that against North.

I guess the question I would ask is WHY you think we were slowed down on the wing. Is it our structure (it sounds like you think yes) or the oppositions willingness to push back hard and defend in numbers (I think it is this). When I watch - and I am in Perth remember so beholden to the broadcast angle - going quicker would result in MORE turnovers rather than less because we are so often outnumbered behind the ball...

I understand what you are saying about structuring around Schache and Naughton...I just can't see Schache at CHF making a lick of difference. We will kick it to him - he wont mark it - the opposition will take it away. I guess I am just nervous about the idea of Josh playing high as any sort of marking target because he WILL be under high entry kicks (that's the life of a CHF) and I haven't seen him mark those balls going back to his time in the u18's.