How Do We Hang Onto This Season?

[jeemak]

I thought I'd start a thread on what different types of things can be done with our current personnel to help us improve rapidly. And I'm definitely inviting others to nominate areas beyond what I'm going to talk about......because you're all going to think they're nuts!

It seems we're just sleep walking into an August and September we've seen before, without the promise of it getting better by doing the same things we're currently doing. So why don't we roll the dice with some radicalism? We'll still be rebuilding and in need of personnel whether we make an impact or otherwise, so why not just do something different?

Defence - I'm putting Bont back for most minutes and demanding he marshals the troops from behind to ensure they don't press too high and get back with accountability. We can do this in general play after centre square bounces, it also gives Joel Freijah the responsibility he seemed to thrive under when Bont has been out of the side or not at his best. It's the perfect opportunity for Bont to organise the part of the performances that aren't organised, and really show his leadership in our biggest area of need.

Maybe it's the Hodge role, but with someone who's demonstrated he's the best in the league and not just someone you'd love to have a beer with.....

Forward - JJ to play the forward role he did around the 2021 season. Tell him his career depends on it, and challenge him to chase and tackle, and finish (which he can do). VDM has kicked one goal in five matches, and has already had a run of three this season where he hasn't kicked one. VDM in the same role tackles more, but maybe we just need to shake things up to force change.

We have the Always Right (****en legend he was) thread for ins and outs, this thread is hopefully aimed at opening up some off the wall things we mightn't have considered yet.........

[Palmybulldogs]

Personally think those suggested changes are a bit radical when we aren’t that far off. We have a very offensive mindset that relies on the midfield winning, which is why against the better sides we are losing because we aren’t going to dominate in the midfield. With the backline we have, as soon as we lose the midfield battle, or simply just don’t dominate it, we are very vulnerable back there because of how high we push up. I don’t think Bont back there is what we need because it’s more gameplan than individual decision making, we just need to ease off the aggressive offence just a touch. We need to play a high pressure midfield game so we can ensure their disposals aren’t clean, and we need to play surge footy to get it forward then rely on our defensive setup to lock it in our forward half. So personally for me, it’s about knowing when to be aggressive and when to be a bit more cautious

[josie]

Like the thread idea Jee.

If Arty is ready I’d like to see him given 3 or 4 games in a row to see if the promise he showed in qtr & a bit before hammy can be repeated & sustained. He adds spark and speed eg that rundown tackle which led to a goal.

[jeemak]

Personally think those suggested changes are a bit radical when we aren’t that far off. We have a very offensive mindset that relies on the midfield winning, which is why against the better sides we are losing because we aren’t going to dominate in the midfield. With the backline we have, as soon as we lose the midfield battle, or simply just don’t dominate it, we are very vulnerable back there because of how high we push up. I don’t think Bont back there is what we need because it’s more gameplan than individual decision making, we just need to ease off the aggressive offence just a touch. We need to play a high pressure midfield game so we can ensure their disposals aren’t clean, and we need to play surge footy to get it forward then rely on our defensive setup to lock it in our forward half. So personally for me, it’s about knowing when to be aggressive and when to be a bit more cautious

I guess aggressive forward press gameplans don't exist in a vacuum, right? We can kick 90 plus points but still get done by an average of three goals against the better teams.....or whatever it is.

Putting Bont back to me means we don't have to press so high, because we actually have quality in defence we don't have to protect. I keep hearing the commentry about high press being a Bevo trait, but to me it's a preservation trait based on the lack of quality we've always suffered in defence like we are now. Just like kicking narrow/thin into the forward line was a protection measure against the ball coming out quickly against our frankly slow to react and physically slow transition players of years past.

What I'm suggesting is we need an additional tall utility in the area because Coffield isn't working, and someone to take charge of when we press hard and when we taper off and transition quickly. Because we ain't doing that. The added benefit is JF gets to go back into running free like he was earlier in the year.

[Hotdog60]

With our defensive structure does it point more towards Pratt what say does he have in how we setup. Last year we sang the praises because we are right up the top for scores against but this year we don't seem to with the top 4 sides and are not much better than Carlton.
I think Jones is the biggest factor in the scheme of things and we were singing his praises all of last year on how he killed the contest by either marking or spoiling and this year he has missed big chunks of the game. I think bad or not we have to play him if fit for the rest of the season and very high on the shopping list should be a like for like replacement.

[Mantis]

I like the creativity of looking at what we can do to re-jig but I’m against both those moves.

Bont is our best I50 kick, we need to be leaning into that and getting him the ball in the forward half. Understand our back half needs help, but there’s other ‘foot soldiers’ who can carry out that role.

JJ is just about done… he’s lost his agility and is just hanging in there.

[Bornadog]

If we were talking about next year and changing roles over the preseason, I would agree at doing something, (have to think about the roles) but not at this stage of the year.

[Sedat]

We need to do something to get Dale involved when he is sat on, which is going to happen every week from now on. To be fair, we did swap Dale and Williams against North to positive effect for both players - I wonder if this could be a more permanent move, as Dale is simply not going to be allowed to do as he pleases off half-back.

[Dogs 24/7]

I applaud the idea of looking outside of the norm but moving Bont back shouldn't be seriously considered.
As for JJ, He must be hanging on by a thread for team selection. Perhaps a move up forward might work, he still has excellent intercept instincts but he's struggling on the field.
His footy smarts might work better up forward but I wouldn't count on it.

[Rusty12]

Good Thread.

Before anything too radical, we should at least try the obvious first, or keep it simple, stupid.

JOD is not a D1. Lobb is a failed forward, mostly due to being out-bodied by big bodies......... And now finds himself on Larkey and Thilthrop. Playing as a little bit loose-intercepting defender was working, now we have NO ONE intercepting, and Lobb getting 5 kicked on him.
Pick Jones or Buss, let them sink or swim, and free up JOD and Lobb.
When Jones was dropped, he was still squaring his 1v1s at twice the ratio as every other key position defender we have tried this year.
What am I missing here?

Hynes and Dolan have done nothing to suggest they were ready for this type of pressure and game. Stop picking them.

I agree with experimentation with our small forwards. Find a mix that contributes to F50 retention, and do it quickly.
VDM needs McNeil in the team, so he is not exposed as the worst small forward on the ground.
JJ could be interesting.

Darcy is resting more on the bench to get ready for his Ruck time.
Pick Khamis, play him 2nd ruck and leave Darcy forward.

Start by picking out best 23.

[Sedat]

I'd prefer to see Anthony Scott than JJ as part of the small forward mix. We never looked better under Bevo than the first 6 rounds of 2021 when we had Scott and McNeil as our small pressure forwards locking it in there.

If Scott is fully over his injuries and concussions, he is a smart footballer who deserves a chance to cement his place back in the seniors.

[doggies ftw]

Good Thread.

Before anything too radical, we should at least try the obvious first, or keep it simple, stupid.

JOD is not a D1. Lobb is a failed forward, mostly due to being out-bodied by big bodies......... And now finds himself on Larkey and Thilthrop. Playing as a little bit loose-intercepting defender was working, now we have NO ONE intercepting, and Lobb getting 5 kicked on him.
Pick Jones or Buss, let them sink or swim, and free up JOD and Lobb.
When Jones was dropped, he was still squaring his 1v1s at twice the ratio as every other key position defender we have tried this year.
What am I missing here?

Hynes and Dolan have done nothing to suggest they were ready for this type of pressure and game. Stop picking them.

I agree with experimentation with our small forwards. Find a mix that contributes to F50 retention, and do it quickly.
VDM needs McNeil in the team, so he is not exposed as the worst small forward on the ground.
JJ could be interesting.

Darcy is resting more on the bench to get ready for his Ruck time.
Pick Khamis, play him 2nd ruck and leave Darcy forward.

Start by picking out best 23.

Nailed it mate, agree with basically everything you’ve said here.

Jones might not have been at his absolute best but our supporters are really enjoying making a new narrative about how bad he was to justify his non-selection. The flow on effect to Lobb especially is noticeable.

This is all very salvageable as soon as this week if we make the right decisions but let’s be honest we’re going to double down on the wrong path and probably lean into it further. This is what we do, we’ve seen this narrative many many times in the past.

[doggies ftw]

Re-jig the backline completely ASAP. Jones (or at least Buss) into FB, freeing up Lobb & JOD to do what they best which is mark the footy not wrestling one out in the goal square. Sellwood in as the medium who actually can play short and tall, has both the aerial game and athleticism to give the talls a proper chop out. Shit kick but going to have to make do.

Williams & Davo back to our full time wingers, I was all for the move of Williams to defence but I didn’t realise how much we’d miss him on the wing. Runs so hard defensively and just so dependable. This was working let’s get back to it if we can replace Williams in def, and I think Sellwood can go some way to doing that.

Buku back to 3rd tall, a role he was basically kicking 2 a week in and finding a way to impact. Also can do most of the chop out for English keeping Darcy where he belongs.

Hynes had a nice taste, back to the 2s along with Poulter & Coff (who both should never be seen at this level again), Dolan can stay or be sub but has to play as a small forward, spending time on the wing at this stage of his career isn’t it.

I’d also be tempted to drop JJ and go back to Freijah full time HB for the rest of the year. We need to settle him in a spot to get some consistency, especially now Bramble has found his form again probably only need one of the 2.

JOD Jones Sellwood
Dale Lobb Bramble

Davo Libba Williams
English Bont English

Sanders Naughty Kennedy
West Darcy Harmes

Freijah, VDM, Buku, Garcia, JJ

[Mofra]

I'd prefer to see Anthony Scott than JJ as part of the small forward mix. We never looked better under Bevo than the first 6 rounds of 2021 when we had Scott and McNeil as our small pressure forwards locking it in there.

If Scott is fully over his injuries and concussions, he is a smart footballer who deserves a chance to cement his place back in the seniors.

Just one year later he was arguably our best wing.
I fear Scott is one concussion away from retirement though.

As much as Truck can chop out in the air, we may need him back on the wing (where he was a top 5 wing last year according to Champion Data) and push Freijah back as the kid is starting to lag. JJ & Bramble runt he ball out of defence but Dale kicks it out, and is he's sat on it kill sour ball movement. Freijah becomes kicker no 2.

I'd have Buks ahead of Poulter too as the 3rd forward.

[Rusty12]

Re-jig the backline completely ASAP. Jones (or at least Buss) into FB, freeing up Lobb & JOD to do what they best which is mark the footy not wrestling one out in the goal square. Sellwood in as the medium who actually can play short and tall, has both the aerial game and athleticism to give the talls a proper chop out. Shit kick but going to have to make do.

Williams & Davo back to our full time wingers, I was all for the move of Williams to defence but I didn’t realise how much we’d miss him on the wing. Runs so hard defensively and just so dependable. This was working let’s get back to it if we can replace Williams in def, and I think Sellwood can go some way to doing that.

Buku back to 3rd tall, a role he was basically kicking 2 a week in and finding a way to impact. Also can do most of the chop out for English keeping Darcy where he belongs.

Hynes had a nice taste, back to the 2s along with Poulter & Coff (who both should never be seen at this level again), Dolan can stay or be sub but has to play as a small forward, spending time on the wing at this stage of his career isn’t it.

I’d also be tempted to drop JJ and go back to Freijah full time HB for the rest of the year. We need to settle him in a spot to get some consistency, especially now Bramble has found his form again probably only need one of the 2.

JOD Jones Sellwood
Dale Lobb Bramble

Davo Libba Williams
English Bont English

Sanders Naughty Kennedy
West Darcy Harmes

Freijah, VDM, Buku, Garcia, JJ

If only there was a VFL game, for Sellwood to make another push. I left him out, only for that reason, with Freijah going back.