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Rocket Science: the epitaph for the Beveridge era - whenever it ends - reading 'Here lies a team that could beat anyone on its day, but seldom did when it mattered most'. 15/7/2023
I think the last 3 weeks start to tip the scales. A small loss to the Swans; a decent win vs Essendon; and a loss after coughing up a 30 point lead. He and the brains trust will point to injuries in the GWS game, but our tactic post the injuries were wrong. That is on the coaching team. Personally right now, I would be having conversations with replacement coaches, Cameron, Buckley, maybe even Gia with a view to seeing how the season plays out. Making finals and crashing out is not a pass mark - we topped up experienced players and got no further than last year.
He makes some valid points. But I don't buy that we have one of the AFLs great lists. Also, he says Marra is in the absolute prime of his career! We have 3 of the 5 best players in the league. He doesn't mention our lack of key defensive talent.
He likes playing the heel. We are an easy target today.
(Interesting. Stevie J "they don't have the talent of Collingwood or Port")
He makes some valid points. But I don't buy that we have one of the AFLs great lists. Also, he says Marra is in the absolute prime of his career! We have 3 of the 5 best players in the league. He doesn't mention our lack of key defensive talent.
He likes playing the heel. We are an easy target today.
(Interesting. Stevie J "they don't have the talent of Collingwood or Port")
The stats for our defensive part of our game is there for everyone to see. If we don't get the game on our terms then defensively we are a bottom 4 side. That is just unacceptable for any list with the name Bontempelli in it. I said it a number of times & the fact as a club we haven't supported Bevo with the assistant coaches he requires to balance out his obvious weakness is unacceptable also.
Its been years since we can say we were good defensively & the fact we won the flag as an awesome defensive unit its hard to fathom why Bevo has never ever showed any improvement to this side of our game.
I think the last 3 weeks start to tip the scales. A small loss to the Swans; a decent win vs Essendon; and a loss after coughing up a 30 point lead. He and the brains trust will point to injuries in the GWS game, but our tactic post the injuries were wrong. That is on the coaching team. Personally right now, I would be having conversations with replacement coaches, Cameron, Buckley, maybe even Gia with a view to seeing how the season plays out. Making finals and crashing out is not a pass mark - we topped up experienced players and got no further than last year.
Yes. It is the small margins in a close season that kill you. Collingwood win the close games last year and finished top four. This year they have won games by 6, 1, 2 and 2.
If we win the games against the Suns 7, Swans 2 and GWS 5 (had a good claim on all of them) and then we are sitting in the top four and no one is having this conversation. But at critical times we didn't get the job done. It is a very small margin between good and great sometimes.
If we win the games against the Suns 7, Swans 2 and GWS 5 (had a good claim on all of them) and then we are sitting in the top four and no one is having this conversation. But at critical times we didn't get the job done. It is a very small margin between good and great sometimes.
You are 100% right but at the same time 100% wrong.
This comment is kind of against type for me as I would generally say in games won/lost by less than a goal, all that's happened is the siren has gone at the RIGHT time for one team and the WRONG time for another team.
Our losses aren't really like that though.
We have good excuses for the GC defeat (one week Ballarat, next week Darwin?) and the Giants defeat (2x kpd's out of the game). I guess even the Swans game was away from home.
In each defeat though the oppo is 'coming hard' late in the game...it is us 'trying to hold on'. Collingwood have become 'legends' (has a team without a flag ever been held in such esteem) because they 'ALWAYS' come back. For us? Well, we are ALWAYS vulnerable.
Yes - if we had won those games then we would be top 4...at the same time, does anyone think we were EVER going to win those games? The players sure as hell didn't.
He makes some valid points. But I don't buy that we have one of the AFLs great lists. Also, he says Marra is in the absolute prime of his career! We have 3 of the 5 best players in the league. He doesn't mention our lack of key defensive talent.
He likes playing the heel. We are an easy target today.
(Interesting. Stevie J "they don't have the talent of Collingwood or Port")
The truth is always somewhere in between. Cornes and Stevie J are both partially right. But ultimately it is all outside noise, and Bevo and the club are accountable to their own internal expectations that have influenced list management decisions for the last 4 years. He/the club think we are a top 4 contender and he and the club need to be held accountable to their own words. A finish in the 9-12 bracket is a massive failure against internal expectations, which is all that ultimately matters. There is so much to play for in the next 4 weeks, for both the players and the coaches.
I think the media severely overate our list.
For mine it?s a 6-12 list.
We only have 2 genuine fwds in our fwd line who could play 22 games (Jamarra and Weightman)
We have a slow midfield who unless aren?t in the centre square are pretty much non eventful with no defensive bones in their bodies
We have arguably a top 5 ?worst back KPD? in the AFL. Keath, Gardner, Bruce, O?Brien are stuff of nightmares, with Buss and Darcy a mile away.
Yes we have certain players who have days out or have a consistant year, like Richards or Dale etc, but we are a long way off as far as I can see?and I?m expecting some torrid years coming up, made even worse by the Tassie inclusion (if that even eventuates)
The truth is always somewhere in between. Cornes and Stevie J are both partially right. But ultimately it is all outside noise, and Bevo and the club are accountable to their own internal expectations that have influenced list management decisions for the last 4 years. He/the club think we are a top 4 contender and he and the club need to be held accountable to their own words. A finish in the 9-12 bracket is a massive failure against internal expectations, which is all that ultimately matters. There is so much to play for in the next 4 weeks, for both the players and the coaches.
And supporters too Sedat. I for one am looking forward to the next 4 weeks with relish starting this Friday night against the Tigers. We are still in it. I will only give up once we are not.
I think the media severely overate our list.
For mine it?s a 6-12 list.
We only have 2 genuine fwds in our fwd line who could play 22 games (Jamarra and Weightman)
We have a slow midfield who unless aren?t in the centre square are pretty much non eventful with no defensive bones in their bodies We have arguably a top 5 ?worst back KPD? in the AFL. Keath, Gardner, Bruce, O?Brien are stuff of nightmares, with Buss and Darcy a mile away.
Yes we have certain players who have days out or have a consistant year, like Richards or Dale etc, but we are a long way off as far as I can see?and I?m expecting some torrid years coming up, made even worse by the Tassie inclusion (if that even eventuates)
Why exclude Jones from this list? Jones is clearly a top 6-8 key defender when up and going he covers over cracks. Take Darcy Moore out of Collingwood's defence and see how they goes.
He makes some valid points. But I don't buy that we have one of the AFLs great lists. Also, he says Marra is in the absolute prime of his career! We have 3 of the 5 best players in the league. He doesn't mention our lack of key defensive talent.
He likes playing the heel. We are an easy target today.
(Interesting. Stevie J "they don't have the talent of Collingwood or Port")
If we were good enough to make the GF in 2021 then I think that indicates it was a bit stronger than some give it credit for.
We also didn't do anything to replace Bruce for 2022 once again which indicates that the club had confidence in the list.
Where Cornes is way off track is around comments that Marra is in his prime which really could be 3 years away.
Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"
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