What did we learn on Saturday.

[Mantis]

When I watch our team in action I like to watch the game closely and learn something new about our team & players each week, so what did I/ you learn about our team/ players on Saturday?

Add 1 and pass it on. (I get 2)

1. Tom Williams is still only learning and isn't the answer yet (maybe never?) in defence.
2. If it was ever in doubt to the fact that Nathan Eagleton was finished we got our definitive answer.

[The Coon Dog]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

3. Josh Hill is not the answer one out at full forward.

[Desipura]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

3. Josh Hill is not the answer one out at full forward.

4. Addison is not a full forward (why do the coaching panel focus on a strength in certain players whilst dismissing their weaknesses).
I have no doubt Addison was played forward due to his defensive pressure. How about taking into account his lack of height, his inability to read the ball as a forward and his lack of marking strength.

[The Pie Man]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

Brian Lake can kick a goal from a set shot

[DOG GOD]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

we'll never win a premiership until we have a spine.

[Mofra]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

We need to find a way to mentally switch the team on before the bounce.

Was it Cooney on Sunday who mentioned Eade gave them a spray before the bounce as they looked very flat during the warm up?

[Desipura]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

Brian Lake can kick a goal from a set shot

See how wide he ran off the mark? Should not have been paid a goal as the siren went and I believe it should have been called "play on". Would take a courageous uimpire to pay it though.

[Max469]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

Everitt needs to be tried on the wing.

[The Coon Dog]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

See how wide he ran off the mark? Should not have been paid a goal as the siren went and I believe it should have been called "play on". Would take a courageous uimpire to pay it though.

I was right behind Brian as he ran in for that kick & couldn't believe just how much he veered off the mark, very Buddy like & he's never been pinged for it. I heard Gieshen say that the umpires allow a bit of flexibility in such circumstances.

[Sedat]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

1. We struggle to impose our run and carry game plan against teams that employ a heavy zone/press game plan. The Hawthorn game doesn't count as they were shot to bits with their personnel at the time.

2. We have to work twice as hard for our goals as the opposition. On Saturday, it was 63 inside 50's to 45 and yet West Coast's forward 50 entries were clean, precise and far more dangerous.

3. It has taken me a while to succumb to this train of thought, but we simply need to have a permanent big target up forward to underpin the rest of the forward line structure - Hall won't be here for the rest of 2009, so we need to roll the dice and push Minson deep for 90% of his game time for the remainder of the year, and back Hudson in to do the bulk of the ruck work from here on in. Premierships can be won without superstar big forwards (West Coast, Geelong) but a big presence up forward straightens up our structure and brings the rest of our forwards into the play through means other than spotting up a precision kick on the lead.

4. If we do employ Minson up forward permanently, Hahn and Welsh are in all sorts of trouble to retain their places in the team for the rest of this season, let alone 2010.

5. Our immediate depth is nowhere near as strong as we all thought it was. We have precious little key defensive cover coming through the ranks, there are very few midfield line-breakers being developed, and none of our key forward options will be making any significant impact at AFL level in 2010.

[ratsmac]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

I learnt on Saturday that we can't go on without a key forward. Yes we can be a heavy scoring team without a key forward, but we can be found wanting at times. I personally have tried to deny they fact that we need a 'Barry Hall' type of player up forward, but when a bottom four team can expose your forward line, I don't even want to think of what could happen in the finals. Why wont they give Skipper a go up forward??? The last few weeks would of been the perfect opportunity for him to get a game and see what he is capable of. They games that I remember him playing in the ones he has been servicable, but due to injury he has ended up losing his spot in the team. He might have also been dropped from time to time, but hey he's tall and has been in good form all year at Williamstown. What do we have to lose?

[LostDoggy]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

What I learnt. Glad to be (and hope I am) wrong:

Didn't Fremantle last year teach us that the game goes for four quarters? You don't stop at three-quarter time, like Fremantle, and you don't start at the second quarter, like the Dogs.

Football isn't magic. Anyone can pull a rabbit out of a hat. Try pulling a habit out of a rat. Are we carrying uncoachable players who keep doing the same unproductive things (e.g., Griffen trying to break every tackle), and who won't follow instructions?

Some people are under the impression that 'GPS' stands for 'global positioning satellite'. Wrong. GPS means 'Get Pavlich Soon'. Whatever it takes to get a player like Pavlich, if not the man himself, we need to bite the bullet, whether it means cutting deep and/or trading quality player/s.

We don't seem to have a Plan B. Eade may be a great innovator, but once innovation crystallises into a game plan that every other team can read it becomes the very thing that inspires further innovation. I don't see a willingness to experiment, and the team seems to be easily frustrated by zone defence. Experimentation isn't as potentially quixotic as may seem- who ever would have considered Chris Tarrant to be in the running to be an All-Australian defender?!

Members, and supporters in general for that matter, don't want bulls&*t from the club. Premierships are not dreams, you don't just hope and wish for them, or hold a carrot on a stick in front of a donkey. If, objectively speaking, the club isn't thereabouts yet, then dump the 'premiership' rhetoric. We can deal with re-building, or even just being the best of the also-rans. We just don't want false hype.

We don't win the games we should, and we can't win the games we must. Sorry, but that's my perspective on what seems to be the harsh reality.

But when all is said and done... Go Doggies.

[LostDoggy]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

We need a more structured forward line
It just looks like they are put there to fill in numbers
Barry Hall maybe?

[vho]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

What I learnt. Glad to be (and hope I am) wrong:

Didn't Fremantle last year teach us that the game goes for four quarters? You don't stop at three-quarter time, like Fremantle, and you don't start at the second quarter, like the Dogs.

Football isn't magic. Anyone can pull a rabbit out of a hat. Try pulling a habit out of a rat. Are we carrying uncoachable players who keep doing the same unproductive things (e.g., Griffen trying to break every tackle), and who won't follow instructions?

Some people are under the impression that 'GPS' stands for 'global positioning satellite'. Wrong. GPS means 'Get Pavlich Soon'. Whatever it takes to get a player like Pavlich, if not the man himself, we need to bite the bullet, whether it means cutting deep and/or trading quality player/s.

We don't seem to have a Plan B. Eade may be a great innovator, but once innovation crystallises into a game plan that every other team can read it becomes the very thing that inspires further innovation. I don't see a willingness to experiment, and the team seems to be easily frustrated by zone defence. Experimentation isn't as potentially quixotic as may seem- who ever would have considered Chris Tarrant to be in the running to be an All-Australian defender?!

Members, and supporters in general for that matter, don't want bulls&*t from the club. Premierships are not dreams, you don't just hope and wish for them, or hold a carrot on a stick in front of a donkey. If, objectively speaking, the club isn't thereabouts yet, then dump the 'premiership' rhetoric. We can deal with re-building, or even just being the best of the also-rans. We just don't want false hype.

We don't win the games we should, and we can't win the games we must. Sorry, but that's my perspective on what seems to be the harsh reality.

But when all is said and done... Go Doggies.

Post of the Day for mine

[LostDoggy]

Re: What did we learn on Saturday.

What I learnt. Glad to be (and hope I am) wrong:

Didn't Fremantle last year teach us that the game goes for four quarters? You don't stop at three-quarter time, like Fremantle, and you don't start at the second quarter, like the Dogs.

Football isn't magic. Anyone can pull a rabbit out of a hat. Try pulling a habit out of a rat. Are we carrying uncoachable players who keep doing the same unproductive things (e.g., Griffen trying to break every tackle), and who won't follow instructions?

Some people are under the impression that 'GPS' stands for 'global positioning satellite'. Wrong. GPS means 'Get Pavlich Soon'. Whatever it takes to get a player like Pavlich, if not the man himself, we need to bite the bullet, whether it means cutting deep and/or trading quality player/s.

We don't seem to have a Plan B. Eade may be a great innovator, but once innovation crystallises into a game plan that every other team can read it becomes the very thing that inspires further innovation. I don't see a willingness to experiment, and the team seems to be easily frustrated by zone defence. Experimentation isn't as potentially quixotic as may seem- who ever would have considered Chris Tarrant to be in the running to be an All-Australian defender?!

Members, and supporters in general for that matter, don't want bulls&*t from the club. Premierships are not dreams, you don't just hope and wish for them, or hold a carrot on a stick in front of a donkey. If, objectively speaking, the club isn't thereabouts yet, then dump the 'premiership' rhetoric. We can deal with re-building, or even just being the best of the also-rans. We just don't want false hype.

We don't win the games we should, and we can't win the games we must. Sorry, but that's my perspective on what seems to be the harsh reality.

But when all is said and done... Go Doggies.

Thoroughly enjoyed this post, and welcome to WOOF.