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Absolutely bang on, and you watch now every team separate their own forwards now to expose our major weaknesses, a big stopper (gorilla) would Absolutely help but we still need to fix up our overall game style of this run and gun and look like a rabbit in the headlights when the oppo gets a run on.
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FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.Comment
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Yep, we are thin for defenders (all sizes) who can actually defend. That's why I was massive on us chasing Wilkie (he is competition elite, puts the most dangerous opposition talls and mediums/smalls to sleep, and never misses a freaking game) and am very happy getting Buderick. Limited sample size but Butts has potential as a lockdown key defender and I understand the appeal from some on here. And why I'm happy to wear some stick for raising the idea of getting Frost and/or Bews as very cheap insurance because they can both defend 1-on-1, and they both come from elite defence-first systems.
We need more loose intercept Leek Aleer types in D50 like a hole in the head - we've already got JOD, Lobb (who is a better interceptor than he is a 1-on-1 defender), Dale and Bramble in our starting back 6, all of whom have assertive and attacking instincts first.
Also, we need to defend the entire ground much better when we don't have the ball - that topic has been done to death but it bears repeating, just look at that 8 goal shit show in the 2nd qtr against Freo in R24 for ridiculously aggressive positioning by our mids and high-half forwards that exposed our back 6 terribly (when they struggle to defend 1-on-1 at the best of times)."Look at me mate. Look at me. I'm flyin'"Comment
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Those are the points I was trying to make you have just done a far better job so thank you.
We are all guilty of taking the easy observations and saying that's why we lost.
We are all also guilty of having bias against some players but at times you need to look deeper.
As an example, when Fogarty, Thilthorpe and Walker kicked a score against us later in the year we actually had taller players on all of those guys.
It's not just about height or size and more to do with ability and the roles assigned and how players are taught and coached.
This is why Wilkie was so appealing despite his apparent lack of height.
Pratt and Bevo need to make some adjustments with how we set-up the back line group and hopefully Budarick and Sellwood can make a difference for us.
We don't necessarily need giant defenders although it can help but there are plenty of very competitive teams with smaller back lines than ours.
We also need the midfield to be a bit more defensive minded.
Recruiting smarter players who can come in and make a difference will help and just picking bigger bodied boys to play on the Gorillas may not make a lot of difference.Doing my best to use emojis more frequently :oComment
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As an aside, I think we lost vs Freo NOT because we couldn't defend but because in the second quarter we couldn't figure out how to move the ball out of the defensive zone. Which - when you are 18/18 for ground balls in D50 is gonna be a problem. Banging the ball down the line to Darcy is a plan - but it is a bad plan. Even if you surge DTL and get numbers there...well - they had better be BULK numbers...I don't have data to support it (I probs should before making big claims) but I really think our LDL 'method' was poor in many games this year...we were much better trying to go around the oppo than trying to 'force it' to the talls...I would be spending a bit of time unpacking that this pre-season and trying to put a structure in place so that when we DO need to go LDL we can at worst create a stop (which we are generally good at).
Anyway - this post is way off track but great thread.What should I tell her? She's going to ask.Comment
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Jesse was a lover not a fighter especially with himself .
I don’t know how many times I heard the story of him playing cricket in the back yard with his uncle David Boon.
I’m pretty sure it’s the only reason we took him for his speed .
He did make a mark at the dogs for a couple of years after he left , more comical though.Bring back the biffComment
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