3 things I've learned - R2 vs StKilda

[merantau]

1. Our skills are poor.
2. We have lost the ability to lead into space.
3. We can't nail set shots. Snaps? Forget 'em.

[1eyedog]

1. Our skills are poor.
2. We have lost the ability to lead into space.
3. We can't nail set shots. Snaps? Forget 'em.

#1 is definitely a big issue. We've been able to paper over the cracks re. a one-paced midfield with top 8 level skills that have completely deserted us.

[bornadog]

3. Our defence is the scapegoat. Our midfield is the issue. All this talk about having one of the best in the comp when they perform like one of the worst. Macrae and Smith were absolutely awful for large chunks of tonight. Daniel in the middle is simply not going to work.

Totally agree, we only had 37 inside 50s, the mids couldn't get the ball past the f50 line and we starved the forwards of opportunity.

At one stage, I think it was the 3rd quarter, I looked at the stats and all we had was 23 inside 50s. This is the team in the past has had the ball inside 50 - 60 plus times a game.

[D Mitchell]

We had Treloar and Smith in the team last week who are supposedly hard bodied explosive mids yet we still got towelled up.

Neither Treloar nor Smith
(a) are monsters like the Melbourne 2;
(b) played inside.
The Melbourne 2 are Bont, Mcrae and Libber with pace and directed to go forward.

[Danjul]

English has been our best player this year I don't really understand why we'd change the only thing that's working.
This argument may have once had merit, pushing it now though really seems like flogging a dead horse in lieu of arguments which explain the current struggles.

We are still searching for arguments which explain what we are seeing. But only those arguments that are politically correct can be mentioned. The only solution is what we have already tried. Conveniently forget it didn?t work before and try it again. Expect a better result.

This week it was Garcia and West would solve everything. Didn?t help at all. The week before it was Lobb?s height and Hannans speed. Didn?t work. The previous game (final) it was Darcy was going to save us. As some expected, no.

This is the problem.

You are not allowed to revisit our successes and retry what seemed to work.

It is all fairytale stuff. Last night JUH was used in the ruck. For the hundredth time, putting a forward into the ruck simply puts them off their game and makes it harder for the others. It just makes things worse.


The fantastic start in 2021 has not been repeated. Why not? Maybe it is because we did something then that we are not doing now.

[Grantysghost]

We are still searching for arguments

Agree I'm completely baffled.

I guess Lobb is the chop out for English. So we had to improvise.
English was sitting off the play when we were in attack so a forward was taking the stoppages.

There's a reluctance with Sweet due to what he brings when he's not in the ruck I assume (guessing).

[bornadog]

Agree I'm completely baffled.

I guess Lobb is the chop out for English. So we had to improvise.
English was sitting off the play when we were in attack so a forward was taking the stoppages.

There's a reluctance with Sweet due to what he brings when he's not in the ruck I assume (guessing).

Sweet is not the answer.
VFL yesterday:
Hitouts - 36 - tick
Kicks 3
HB 7

Conclusion - not good enough

[Danjul]

Agree I'm completely baffled.

I guess Lobb is the chop out for English. So we had to improvise.
English was sitting off the play when we were in attack so a forward was taking the stoppages.

There's a reluctance with Sweet due to what he brings when he's not in the ruck I assume (guessing).

You are perfectly correct.

And what did the others bring when in the ruck? Nothing.

And when not in the ruck? The answer is?absolutely nothing. Once again, absolutely nothing. But it's a politically correct nothing.

Last year Weightman was selected when injured, had one possession and the propaganda said it was a selection masterpiece because it forced a good backman to mind him. When an unfit Bruce got two possessions, another stroke of genius because not getting the footy allowed him to be a general. Fortunately JUH played his best ever game, got 5 goals and a win and confirmed everything was perfect.

Against Melbourne last week at least 6 players had 6 or less disposals. Not relevant because that's a statistic and easily dismissed as too small a sample size??? Did any of them get selected and fail again. You bet. But that?s a good failure. And if the good bloke fails it?s far more acceptable than the bad bloke who might fail (but usually doesn't).

But the truth is: Game after game - next to Nothing can be ok. We are being regularly belted out of the park. Large slices of the game are simply reruns.

Last night our best contributor was the umpires. Three goals in 5 minutes. In the other 105 minutes the whole team scored 2 goals.

I think we have scored 15 goals since half time in the final against Freo. Why have we averaged 1.5 goals a quarter like that?

The fact that Naughton is a superstar is the only allowed official comment, but because he is unreliable is the actual reason. Not a criticism of him but of the game plan. He is a superstar who only copes with the game plan and kicks lots of goals when we play bottom teams. Weightman similar.

But examine the game plan? Oh no, that's been handed down from above via a football prophet.

[Danjul]

Sweet is not the answer.
VFL yesterday:
Hitouts - 36 - tick
Kicks 3
HB 7

Conclusion - not good enough

This year Darcy is averaging 3 disposals and 2 hitouts per game. Good enough? Or do we replace him with someone who might do marginally better?

The fairytale answers are Yes - No, he might be next weeks match winner. I wonder what the professional sport answer is.

And for the record I saw Lobb get only 2 kicks, 4 hb, 3 ho and be criticism free.

[JanLorMill]

Sweet is not the answer.
VFL yesterday:
Hitouts - 36 - tick
Kicks 3
HB 7

Conclusion - not good enough

Ok then just continue with 50 point losses. Personal ruck stats are the not the only measure in why we need another ruck. Nullifying the opposing ruck is another and throwing your weight around is another.

[Happy Days]

I don’t think Sweet is the answer but more to the point I definitely don’t think bringing in anyone who makes us even slower than we are already is the answer.

[mjp]

I don’t think Sweet is the answer but more to the point I definitely don’t think bringing in anyone who makes us even slower than we are already is the answer.

To be fair, everyone looks slow when they don’t have the ball.

[Hotdog60]

Were Sweet's hitouts to advantage?
If most of them were then that gives our more offensive and less defensive mids a better look.
Sweet has his limitations but you would have to ask is getting first use more important with a midfield that can't defend.
Sweet could play the Lobb role while he is out and his input wouldn't any worst than what Lobb currently was giving.

[Grantysghost]

Were Sweet's hitouts to advantage?
If most of them were then that gives our more offensive and less defensive mids a better look.
Sweet has his limitations but you would have to ask is getting first use more important with a midfield that can't defend.
Sweet could play the Lobb role while he is out and his input wouldn't any worst than what Lobb currently was giving.

English has 9 hit outs to advantage so far this season (couldn't break down further).

For comparison :

Marshall : 7.5
Witts : 13

[Danjul]

English has 9 hit outs to advantage so far this season (couldn't break down further).

For comparison :

Marshall : 7.5
Witts : 13

English had 23 ruck contests against Cordy winning 12:7 with 3 to advantage. Is Cordy widely viewed as a ruck? If not, should we expect better? Cordy is giving away at least 10 cm and 15 kg by the looks of it.

Our best performing ruck was the Bont. Contested 1, won 1 with 1 to advantage. He knew to quit while he was ahead.

But I think the problem was Naughton, JUH, and Darcy had 20 ruck contests between them and two of them had terrible games.

Naughton got 2 goals. Would he have gotten more if a genuine ruckman was hitting the ball in his direction?

Do these 20 contests amount to lost opportunities on the forward line?

Should a young forward focus on being a forward. Personally I think they should. After all, we/they are struggling to score at the moment.