Sharp Axes

[SonofScray]

I think we were standing off the mark again. So what's old is new again? There was nothing obvious; in fact we seem to have thrown a lot of the new things we were developing during the off-season out the window. Naughton was deep, McNeil was high/wing, Harmes was outside.

We threw Gaggs inside when the horse had bolted in a significant nod to the fact we were being destroyed in that area. Considering it was happening all game, I'm not sure why we waited until the last quarter when the game was almost over.

In terms of ball movement. Same old, and I believe we still rolled one up to the contest. That's just how Bevo does things.

I'm really starting the lean towards a change at the top. I'll cool my jets until the half way mark however you really don't need to be Einstein to see that not much has changed.

Credit to the recruitment of Bramble. He looks like a good player.

Halfway?

Too generous.

[Grantysghost]

It's been mentioned we looked different pre-season and Bevo mentioned we failed to do things he thinks we're good at normally. My hope is that with the fatigue and pressure of the first actual game of the year against proper opposition, players just reverted to what they know best, what they've done for the last 3-4 years, and it's not reflective of how we want to play or how we will play this season. Muscle memory in a sense.

This is my hope too.

[azabob]

We've completely changed assistant coaching personnel, fitness & conditioning and have also changed footy dept structure all off the back of a Peter Jackson led external review - with many fresh eyes from different club environments. The club has also stated we are a top 4 talent list and in the premiership window (and have been for a few seasons now) - their words.

If we are going with the same game plan/structure in 2024 that has been regularly and easily picked apart by the better teams since the 2021 GF, Bevo will be gone in 2 months, we will be a non-factor again this year, and the club will have once again significantly under-achieved against their own set metrics.

I can't actually believe the club would have done all this work off-season with a view to a little minor tinkering in terms of game plan. It appears that yesterday was a poor first-up performance in this new era, and things would want to improve especially in the area of defending without the ball and taking away the opposition ball movement weapons.

Sedat, watch the game. Seeing is believing.

Nothing has changed. We didn't even look to be trying something different and kept stuffing it up.

[azabob]

It's been mentioned we looked different pre-season and Bevo mentioned we failed to do things he thinks we're good at normally. My hope is that with the fatigue and pressure of the first actual game of the year against proper opposition, players just reverted to what they know best, what they've done for the last 3-4 years, and it's not reflective of how we want to play or how we will play this season. Muscle memory in a sense.

Do you need some more straws to clutch at?

Normally I agree with your considered approach, not once at all did I see something remarkably different, not even in the first quarter.

[bulldogtragic]

Do you need some more straws to clutch at?

Normally I agree with your considered approach, not once at all did I see something remarkably different, not even in the first quarter.

That was more disappointing than the loss for me. I believed the club when they said they’d change. Fool on me for taking them back and believing again. We keep on ‘double or nothing’ since the 2021 GF. If the club was a human some caring people would stage an intervention.

[jeemak]

The coach said we didn't do the things we were trying to do and that was bad, and at the same time you're upset that we didn't do something different and that was bad.

Aren't you guys just saying the same thing as the coach?

[Sedat]

Sedat, watch the game. Seeing is believing.

Nothing has changed. We didn't even look to be trying something different and kept stuffing it up.

I don't doubt this at all - the post-match comments from everyone on here make for pretty damning reading. And if that trend continues for the next month or two we will be in the market for a new coach come the mid-season bye.

There has been a lot of moving parts between our last H&A match and yesterday - I'm hoping the muscle memory analogy alluded to earlier in the thread is what transpired yesterday, and that we quickly start to consistently piece together what we have been working on all summer.

[azabob]

The coach said we didn't do the things we were trying to do and that was bad, and at the same time you're upset that we didn't do something different and that was bad.

Aren't you guys just saying the same thing as the coach?

We agree round zero was a shit concept although our reasoning is different.

So, same shit, different day. No idea where I'm going with any of this.

[Grantysghost]

When a team is slicing through you by foot out of defense, and it's pretty much the deciding factor, what are you doing in the coaches box to restrict this?

Run and carry to break the lines as West did, or maybe try and possess it for a bit ourselves. We never seem to play tempo footy (yes I'm going there again!!).


It was like watching a slow motion car crash.

Geelong have been doing this to Bevo sides for EONS.

[jeemak]

We agree round zero was a shit concept although our reasoning is different.

So, same shit, different day. No idea where I'm going with any of this.

What I'm getting at is the coach said we didn't execute and it was disappointing. You're saying we didn't show anything different than previous years (I assume when we didn't play well - because we did at times and it looked different than yesterday) and it was disappointing.

I think we're all in agreeance.

[Grantysghost]

What I'm getting at is the coach said we didn't execute and it was disappointing. You're saying we didn't show anything different than previous years (I assume when we didn't play well - because we did at times and it looked different than yesterday) and it was disappointing.

I think we're all in agreeance.

He said he was really surprised that we couldn't keep up or cover the ground as expected. I wonder who were the biggest offenders?

[Mantis]

He said he was really surprised that we couldn't keep up or cover the ground as expected. I wonder who were the biggest offenders?

Our mids were woeful in this area.

[josie]

When a team is slicing through you by foot out of defense, and it's pretty much the deciding factor, what are you doing in the coaches box to restrict this?

Run and carry to break the lines as West did, or maybe try and possess it for a bit ourselves. We never seem to play tempo footy (yes I'm going there again!!).


It was like watching a slow motion car crash.

Geelong have been doing this to Bevo sides for EONS.

Well said. It?s like nearly all our players have low footy IQ. West stuck out yesterday with his game awareness, willingness to take game on in a clever way and high quality disposal.

[DOG GOD]

Our mids were woeful in this area.

They always are.

[DOG GOD]

Well said. It?s like nearly all our players have low footy IQ. West stuck out yesterday with his game awareness, willingness to take game on in a clever way and high quality disposal.

And will probably find himself dropped before other more obvious players.