3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

[Happy Days]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

2/ We defend the fast break as bad as anyone.

I don't know about this. Their first goal of the game (the most glaring example) looked terrible admittedly but was a consequence of Keath leaving his man to affect a contest (which he won), only to have the receivers butcher the handball out. I don't think their structural faults per se and are more a result of how we defend.

This isn't 15 guys diving head-first in at the ball leaving no one to defend like it was under McCartney. The trade off of our intercept and drive off half back (which were both awesome yesterday) is worth the 1-2 terrible looking goals each week.

[Mantis]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

That’s fine , but the continual and constant negative posting gives me the shits .
How could someone not find one positive after yesterday ? Everyone’s entitled to their thoughts , but they’re also able to be held to account for them as well . Then there’s the “no appearance “ after a win , but everywhere after a loss

If the ‘ could not find one positive’ is directed at me then I’ll list 5 for you to appease the cheerleaders on here:

1/ Bailey Williams had another fine game. Hard & tough when he needs to be, but using the ball extremely well... having a great season.

2/ The Bont is back to his best.. leading the way for the rest to follow.

3/ Mitch Wallis is making his opportunities count and winning crucial 1 on 1’s.

4/ Libba is back to his clearance winning best.

5/ Vandermeer has been a real find this year. Still needs to work the percentages on when to take a player on, but he’s a key member of the team.

And one more for good luck - that was the type of game we need from JJ. His ability to break the lines was exceptional and he defended well we needed him to.

[Remi Moses]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

If the ‘ could not find one positive’ is directed at me then I’ll list 5 for you to appease the cheerleaders on here:

1/ Bailey Williams had another fine game. Hard & tough when he needs to be, but using the ball extremely well... having a great season.

2/ The Bont is back to his best.. leading the way for the rest to follow.

3/ Mitch Wallis is making his opportunities count and winning crucial 1 on 1’s.

4/ Libba is back to his clearance winning best.

5/ Vandermeer has been a real find this year. Still needs to work the percentages on when to take a player on, but he’s a key member of the team.

And one more for good luck - that was the type of game we need from JJ. His ability to break the lines was exceptional and he defended well we needed him to.

Fair enough . Calling someone out for finding 3 negative things after an actual win isn’t cheerleading
They’re your three things and next time I’ll shut up .

[Remi Moses]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

If the ‘ could not find one positive’ is directed at me then I’ll list 5 for you to appease the cheerleaders on here:

1/ Bailey Williams had another fine game. Hard & tough when he needs to be, but using the ball extremely well... having a great season.

2/ The Bont is back to his best.. leading the way for the rest to follow.

3/ Mitch Wallis is making his opportunities count and winning crucial 1 on 1’s.

4/ Libba is back to his clearance winning best.

5/ Vandermeer has been a real find this year. Still needs to work the percentages on when to take a player on, but he’s a key member of the team.

And one more for good luck - that was the type of game we need from JJ. His ability to break the lines was exceptional and he defended well we needed him to.

That’s actually 5 ! I’m telling the police on here

[hujsh]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

Yep, I agree and this trend towards calling out and policing anything that isn't completely positive is a bit tedious.

Any time the coaching group is questioned or a weakness is highlighted, there is an effort to shut it down due to it being 'speculation' or it being 'negative'.

In the last day, I've seen WOOF called feral and likened to Mad Max (which I don't really get but assume it's meant to be a slight). Crazy.

Maybe if the criticisms were actually based on something specific or directed at particular individuals that wouldn't be the case.

Easy one would be that you hear constant laments that our defenders are caught out of position. Well who's our defensive line coach? What has he coached previously? How did that line perform under him? You know, something that can actually be analysed and discussed.

Personally I just stay away from WOOF for a couple of days after most losses as I find the doom and gloom a bit over the top.

Also I took no issue with Mantis' post.

[Ozza]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

Wally has basically rendered Lloyd and Dale surplus to requirements. Hibberd is an excellent medium sized defender who would have eaten either of those two players for breakfast.

Was interesting and unusual to see Hibberd so unsure of himself in the contests with Wallis as the game went on. Not the first defender who has become pretty twitchy when isolated with Wally. In particularly in the contest in the third quarter when English marked over both of them, if Tim didn't mark, Wal gets the free anyway as Hibberd was all at see and had arms all around Wally, including getting him high.

If I was an opposition coach, I'd be putting a tall defender on Wally and suspect he will get one against the cats this week.

[Happy Days]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

Was interesting and unusual to see Hibberd so unsure of himself in the contests with Wallis as the game went on. Not the first defender who has become pretty twitchy when isolated with Wally. In particularly in the contest in the third quarter when English marked over both of them, if Tim didn't mark, Wal gets the free anyway as Hibberd was all at see and had arms all around Wally, including getting him high.

If I was an opposition coach, I'd be putting a tall defender on Wally and suspect he will get one against the cats this week.

Agree with that and it's kind of crazy that they keep sending small/mids to him. Of all of his strengths he isn't going to burn anyone with speed.

[Ozza]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

1. Ruck is an issue. If Gawn was playing yesterday I'm not sure we would've been singing the praises of Bruce into the ruck. I'm not sure how putting a decent midfielder in there to cop the knees and elbows also is a good thing for his midfield development. Credit to Dunks he fought well. But we need a better plan b if English isn't working.

2. Vandermeer has got something special. An X factor, mind and body willing to take the game on and create. Although his mind did get ahead of his body with that double goose step to nowhere on the wing (Still loved it).

3. I've never seen a better field kick than our Caleb.

The Vandermeer point reminded me....I loved the piece of paly which led to his goal. Bont 50m kick to a leading Naughton - yes it got spoiled by May - but Naughton brought it down front and centre to where Mitch Wallis was perfectly placed to catch it cleanly and then a perfect chip kick to Vanders who was streaming forward. It was the perfect-imperfect play, because whilst we didn't 100% connect all the way through, everyone was doing what they should be doing.

Naughton had a touch day vs May, but continued to present and compete and helped create opportunities in other ways....sometimes just allowing Mitch to be given the space.

[Bulldog Joe]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

The Vandermeer point reminded me....I loved the piece of paly which led to his goal. Bont 50m kick to a leading Naughton - yes it got spoiled by May - but Naughton brought it down front and centre to where Mitch Wallis was perfectly placed to catch it cleanly and then a perfect chip kick to Vanders who was streaming forward. It was the perfect-imperfect play, because whilst we didn't 100% connect all the way through, everyone was doing what they should be doing.

Naughton had a touch day vs May, but continued to present and compete and helped create opportunities in other ways....sometimes just allowing Mitch to be given the space.

I was really impressed with Naughton contributing on what many would consider a bad day. Didn't he handball to Bont for the 1st goal after half time?

[Grantysghost]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

The Vandermeer point reminded me....I loved the piece of paly which led to his goal. Bont 50m kick to a leading Naughton - yes it got spoiled by May - but Naughton brought it down front and centre to where Mitch Wallis was perfectly placed to catch it cleanly and then a perfect chip kick to Vanders who was streaming forward. It was the perfect-imperfect play, because whilst we didn't 100% connect all the way through, everyone was doing what they should be doing.

Naughton had a touch day vs May, but continued to present and compete and helped create opportunities in other ways....sometimes just allowing Mitch to be given the space.

So true. As we all know that big key forward is valuable not only for the big mark which gives control either down the line or closer for a shot at goal, it’s presenting to the contest consistently to the script so all of the other players are activated in that play. Honouring a lead also opens up all that space in behind and sucks out the best defender, in this case May leaving room for Vanders to run into .
Everyone singing from the same hymn book, especially those with “footy smarts”. Also why turnovers hurt so badly and hitting those kicks so important along with defensive pressure attempting to disrupt them.
I just watched the replay you mentioned and it’s exactly as you described. I really hope Naughton and Bruce can work it out together, those two flying would be amazing for our team.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

Maybe if the criticisms were actually based on something specific or directed at particular individuals that wouldn't be the case.

Easy one would be that you hear constant laments that our defenders are caught out of position. Well who's our defensive line coach? What has he coached previously? How did that line perform under him? You know, something that can actually be analysed and discussed.

Personally I just stay away from WOOF for a couple of days after most losses as I find the doom and gloom a bit over the top.

Also I took no issue with Mantis' post.

Did you not see the response to the criticism of Gowers and Gardner?

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

Maybe if the criticisms were actually based on something specific or directed at particular individuals that wouldn't be the case.

Easy one would be that you hear constant laments that our defenders are caught out of position. Well who's our defensive line coach? What has he coached previously? How did that line perform under him? You know, something that can actually be analysed and discussed.

Personally I just stay away from WOOF for a couple of days after most losses as I find the doom and gloom a bit over the top.

Also I took no issue with Mantis' post.

I'd be horrified if our defensive positioning was the fault of our defensive line coach.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

I love players like Vanders. Has a crack all the time, doesn't drop his head. You can never question his endeavour. The bonus is that he's a player who seems to get into the right positions more often than not. Perhaps similar to how Butler has played this season at the saints. He just seems to be in the right spot at the right time. Enourmous potential. But the best thing he has added to the side is the combined pace of the team. We always had JJ and Richards but I feel with adding Vanders we've become collectively faster. Just having that 3rd (or 4th with Smith) speedster gives all of them more opportunity to use their legs.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

Just on Richards, where did he play on the weekend? Was he moved back to the wing with JJ back? I didn't see much of him but I thought he made some important contributions without actually getting much of the ball himself.

[AshMac]

Re: 3 things you have learned - RD 13 v Melbourne 2020

I was really impressed with Naughton contributing on what many would consider a bad day. Didn't he handball to Bont for the 1st goal after half time?

Not sure - he definitely handballed to Wally for his third goal. I love what I’m seeing from Naughton. He isn’t taking marks every week and kicking goals - but his second efforts and off ball movements are outstanding. He’s hungry and agressive and I love it.

I did think he was school by Steven May in aerial contents which is a testament to May. As he builds strength he’ll just get better at marks against a player that strong and big.