I am a bit P*ssed off - NOT GOOD ENOUGH DOGS

[bornadog]

We have been in good form beating Melbourne, and we have almost a full list, yet we capitulated in that 3rd quarter.

Yes, we are playing in Geelong against the top of the ladder, we started like a house on fire, yet we didn't give a yelp in the 3rd quarter. 3 Points to 8 goals, weak.

Guys like Macrae have to hardened the *!*!*!*! up, same with Tim English and the rest of your mates. Bruce and JJ with pathetic shots at goal, yet that dud Miers kicks one from the boundary - the worst kicking action in the AFL, and he goals. Caleb Daniel turned the ball over three times for three goals with bad kicking, same as others. Hannan running around with pressure acts, big deal (one for you GG) - FFs mark the ball, attack the ball, pick it up you dope.

Stick your tackles, hurt the opposition, make them earn it.

This team needs to get tougher and make no mistakes, stop turning over the ball, if they want to play finals, as it is no certainty.

Yes, I am not happy we blew it.

[azabob]

Interesting BAD.

I can’t recall you being this critical of the players. In fact you very much defend them.

[chef]

I think we just got beat by a better side TBH.

Selwoods 350th which they were never going to lose.

[Grantysghost]

I think we just got beat by a better side TBH.

Selwoods 350th which they were never going to lose.

Yep they're a far more balanced side and have blooded some good kids.

They had another gear we couldn't match.

It was nice to beat the Demons, but I felt they had us at arms length most of that game we just found some magic from somewhere. It's not going to be there every week.

[bornadog]

Interesting BAD.

I can’t recall you being this critical of the players. In fact you very much defend them.

They need a kick up the backside.

[bornadog]

I think we just got beat by a better side TBH.

I can accept that to a point, but that 3rd quarter, was just weak. We matched them in the first half, so why not continue the intensity and effort in the second half. 8 goals to 3 points is like a top team played a bottom team, yet we are better than that.

As Bevo said in his post match address to members, we had several players down and bang the whole team is down.

There are players in the team that would struggle to make North's best 22.

[azabob]

They need a kick up the backside.

They do and have needed one all year.

[bornadog]

They do and have needed one all year.

We have lost some close ones, and we have been down with some injuries, but this is the business end, and there are no excuses.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

I think we just got beat by a better side TBH.

Selwoods 350th which they were never going to lose.

A better side is a very subjective judgement and does not allow much room for discussion. On the night or all season or at GMBHA etc. We were better than them for the majority of the game.

[GVGjr]

Thanks for this BAD. Appreciate a 'from the heart' thread because I agree some of the players need a rocket.
There have been two many examples where we switch off for a period of time and allow others sides the opportunity to score quickly against us.

I also like that it's not all doom and gloom and very targeted. Dunkley and West stick their tackles but too often opposition players get through our tackling attemps. We need a lot more vigor around the contests.
Missing shots for goals as you called out is just frustrating especially from senior players.
We have also brought back two players from long term injuries and Bruce is struggling and Daniel put in a shocker.
It must raise questions if we are we making the right assessment on players ability to come into the games without form to support it.

Losing to Geelong is frustrating but not the end of the world. Thought Bevo did an exceptional job until Geelong reset and our players didn't respond.

There is a bit of work to do to extract the potential from this playing group for the balance of the season.

[bornadog]

Thanks for this BAD. Appreciate a 'from the heart' thread because I agree some of the players need a rocket.
There have been two many examples where we switch off for a period of time and allow others sides the opportunity to score quickly against us.

I also like that it's not all doom and gloom and very targeted. Dunkley and West stick their tackles but too often opposition players get through our tackling attemps. We need a lot more vigor around the contests.
Missing shots for goals as you called out is just frustrating especially from senior players.
We have also brought back two players from long term injuries and Bruce is struggling and Daniel put in a shocker.
It must raise questions if we are we making the right assessment on players ability to come into the games without form to support it.

Losing to Geelong is frustrating but not the end of the world. Thought Bevo did an exceptional job until Geelong reset and our players didn't respond.

There is a bit of work to do to extract the potential from this playing group for the balance of the season.

Yes it is from the heart and very frustrating to watch goal after goal with no one trying to stop it.

We need the right players as well in the team, and those that don't pull their weight should be dropped. Bevo asked Keath to go back to the VFL and work on certain things. McComb and Hannan as mentioned in other threads, need to also work on their skills and maybe a few other players that don't pull their weight.

Win the next three and we are in

[josie]

I’m with BAD. Why try and tap 10m or so from middle when Danger is sharking it time after time? Why not tap to ground and let it be ugly footy in close where Libba excels? Why allow their mids to blanket, grapple, hold Libba at centre clearances without so much as a whelp from the other mids (Libba tried his guts out all night). Why not put McComb or someone on Danger instead of letting him roam pretty much free? I’m really upset with Smith and English especially. Where’s the grit, the determination? Where’s the slow tempo play when we do have the ball just to draw breath and try and break oppo momentum. It just wasn’t there in Q3. This happens too regularly in games and has been for quite a while.

Also why didn’t the coaches do something to stem the tide? Naughton to backline, West to middle, Hannan to F50, JJ to backline, Khamis to ruck, English to shore up backline….something to try and stem the tide. It may not have worked but we did nothing. Also when Weightman was crunched in Q4 who responded? Garcia - and a bit later Bruce. Good on Garcia who is a young pup but where were our mature leaders?

And if players cannot execute basic skills like kicking to a team mate or marking relatively easy ones at least most of the time then why are they chosen week after week? It’s just baffling. Did we not learn from Gowers, Honeychurch experiments? If they cannot execute basic skills reasonably reliably do not choose them and I bet the other players are as baffled as we are. Surely this stuffs up team morale?

[angelopetraglia]

In the end we only lose by 28 points. Yet we let them DOMINATE us in what Bevo called the POWER PLAY for an entire quarter and kick goals basically without any pressure. We did not give any response. We didn't show any fight. If it was a one off thing you could cop that. Bad night, bad quarter, bad game, bad moments. But this team now has a track record of allowing the opposition to completely dominate us without a response for sustained periods in games. It has happened multiple times this year. It can't be just a talent thing as we can normally compete with these teams at other times within the same game. It's all above the shoulders. They need to get to the bottom of it.

[The bulldog tragician]

In the end we only lose by 28 points. Yet we let them DOMINATE us in what Bevo called the POWER PLAY for an entire quarter and kick goals basically without any pressure. We did not give any response. We didn't show any fight. If it was a one off thing you could cop that. Bad night, bad quarter, bad game, bad moments. But this team now has a track record of allowing the opposition to completely dominate us without a response for sustained periods in games. It has happened multiple times this year. It can't be just a talent thing as we can normally compete with these teams at other times within the same game. It's all above the shoulders. They need to get to the bottom of it.

I think of it in contrast to a match in 2016. Same venue, same highly fancied seemingly invincible opponent. The week before Wally broke his leg: the team had witnessed his agonising pain. They had every reason to say “not this week, not tonight, not this year.” In match we lost Libba and Macrae. Yet we came close and never ever gave up. Yeah we lost but I remember they made us so proud.

Mentally something is missing with this group. There have been so few 4 quarter performances. More often even when we start well, we wilt too easily under pressure. This is the players, but we must also ask searching questions of our coaching team and those repeated inexplicable selections.

[Scorlibo]

I'm with you BAD. It's not about the scoreline, it's the way it went down.

When we're at our best we relish taking a body to give ourselves the best look possible, but yesterday in the second and third quarter we looked allergic to body contact.

The last couple of weeks Garcia has been tackled a lot, but I love that he doesn't shy away from it. He'll take on the tackle instead of coughing up the ball. Too many of our players would prefer to avoid being tackled, even when the only alternative is a tiny little handball to the swarming opposition or a quick kick out to their intercept defenders.

Sometimes you have to take the contact and risk having holding the ball go against you, so that the team can potentially get someone out in space. And HTB turnovers might be humiliating for the individual but they feel so much less costly to the team than turnovers in free play. That extra few seconds makes a big difference.

Same goes for taking open space to draw defenders to the ball carrier, before releasing. If you're not doing that then you're not really making them defend, they're only threatening to defend.

Also when Weightman was crunched in Q4 who responded? Garcia - and a bit later Bruce. Good on Garcia who is a young pup but where were our mature leaders?

Spot on Josie, Ceglar's hit was way more than a late arrival to the marking contest - he lined Cody up. His shoulder was driven through Cody's head. We needed to fly the flag in that moment.