Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

[Jasper]

I've always heard that you need to have everything go right to win a premiership. At the start of the year I thought we had a chance, the feeling after the night grannie was good....but lets look at a few things:

Bad luck

1 - Key players cut down by injury - Higgins, Ward, Johnno, (and yes Akermanis), Murphy, Hahn have all played under duress this year. And now Wood, Morris, Cooney, Harbrow and Lake (3 of our quicker players) have been rolled with injuries at the business end of the year.

Simply put with injuries like this, we have never had a decent run at it all year, and it looks like our chances have been cruelled going into the finals. For equivalence in importance to respective teams in the first final, take out Swan (Cooney), Didak (Higgins), and have Presti (Morris) and Harry O (Lake) playing under duress. Also include Maxwell (Johnno)

2 - We all knew we needed some pace, that is why the Dogs were gunning for Lewis Jetta in the draft....we missed him by one draft spot. We recruited a new forward in Thorne to add some spark...he wrecks his knee - just shit luck

Management

The decision to keep both Eagle and Aker was a gamble that didn't pay off, both players lost their kicking power and accuracy, meaning two of our better run, carry and kick players have dropped off. Could we have picked up someone instead of Aker..? Probably, but I still think that at the time, keeping Aker was a good gamble given his premiership experience. It just didn't work.

The gamble in picking Thorne didn't pay off, just bad luck.

The gamble in picking up Hall has kept us competitive.

All in all you have to think the club has done okay with its list management.

You have to ask if we have just been unlucky with injury, or has our medical team performed well enough in preparing our players?

Leadership

Its hard to question leadership from the outside, you can only see what happens on the ground and we have all seen failures of the leaders of this club to stand up at critical times on the ground. I just think that if we had some luck our leadership issues on field could have resolved themselves. Others will say we make our own luck.

I hope we can give it a shake this year, but really the football gods have not smile on us this year, they have shat all over us all year.

[GVGjr]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

List management has been my main criticism over the last 12 months or longer. We just didn't cut into the list deep enough over the last two years and unfortunately I think it has exposed our lack of options.

I will write a bit more about this later.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

List management has been my main criticism over the last 12 months or longer. We just didn't cut into the list deep enough over the last two years and unfortunately I think it has exposed our lack of options.

I will write a bit more about this later.

No we didnt test the real depth just kept recycling the same players to give ourselves the best chance but it hasnt worked out yet.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

I've always heard that you need to have everything go right to win a premiership. At the start of the year I thought we had a chance, the feeling after the night grannie was good....but lets look at a few things:

Bad luck

1 - Key players cut down by injury - Higgins, Ward, Johnno, (and yes Akermanis), Murphy, Hahn have all played under duress this year. And now Wood, Morris, Cooney, Harbrow and Lake (3 of our quicker players) have been rolled with injuries at the business end of the year.

Simply put with injuries like this, we have never had a decent run at it all year, and it looks like our chances have been cruelled going into the finals. For equivalence in importance to respective teams in the first final, take out Swan (Cooney), Didak (Higgins), and have Presti (Morris) and Harry O (Lake) playing under duress. Also include Maxwell (Johnno)

2 - We all knew we needed some pace, that is why the Dogs were gunning for Lewis Jetta in the draft....we missed him by one draft spot. We recruited a new forward in Thorne to add some spark...he wrecks his knee - just shit luck

Management

The decision to keep both Eagle and Aker was a gamble that didn't pay off, both players lost their kicking power and accuracy, meaning two of our better run, carry and kick players have dropped off. Could we have picked up someone instead of Aker..? Probably, but I still think that at the time, keeping Aker was a good gamble given his premiership experience. It just didn't work.

The gamble in picking Thorne didn't pay off, just bad luck.

The gamble in picking up Hall has kept us competitive.

All in all you have to think the club has done okay with its list management.

You have to ask if we have just been unlucky with injury, or has our medical team performed well enough in preparing our players?Leadership

Its hard to question leadership from the outside, you can only see what happens on the ground and we have all seen failures of the leaders of this club to stand up at critical times on the ground. I just think that if we had some luck our leadership issues on field could have resolved themselves. Others will say we make our own luck.

I hope we can give it a shake this year, but really the football gods have not smile on us this year, they have shat all over us all year.

Our medical team has done its best but when you play majority of your games on a concrete carpark covered with a layer of green throw away lawn that was even harder than last year. You need a hell of alot of luck just to get through and we just didnt get it

[Dazza]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

I have no idea why the match committee choose to play injured players. The game has got to the point where if you are 1-2% off in your ability to chase you will get carved up.

[anfo27]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

The MC have stuffed time and again playing injured players. Why did they play Johnson when he was hobbling around last week?
Why did they play Higgins last week when they knew he was having issues with his energy levels?
this just doesn't make sense to me.
Its not bad luck at all, if you work hard enough you make your own luck and we never work hard enough.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

Kelvinator, I have been in my kennel, licking my wounds and just ventured out in the world

You have raised some interesting points, i.e., take the equivalent players from the Pies, and see what they are left with. I guess these injuries have exposed a lack of depth at this time. We have some young guns who are not quite ready nor up to playing against the big boys at the moment, and yes, I agree with you, the gamble on Aker and Eagle just hasn't worked out (probably same for Johnno to a certain degree - he has never suffered through a year like this before). I don't think we can question the medical staff - IMO, all clubs play players who are injured to some extent all year - I'm sure lots are just managed/nursed through. Does this make it right - I don't know the answer to that.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

Let's hold the post mortem when the season is over!
More Bad luck than anything,Johnno's body packing up and Cooney's hamstring. I agree they probably erred in playing Higgins when he wasn't right,he still may be back as will Cooney (after we get a break with the first final)

[LostDoggy]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

Let's hold the post mortem when the season is over!
More Bad luck than anything,Johnno's body packing up and Cooney's hamstring. I agree they probably erred in playing Higgins when he wasn't right,he still may be back as will Cooney (after we get a break with the first final)

Yep we cant wait for the week off

[LostDoggy]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

Bad luck with injury. List management has some questions, but I'm sure all clubs do.

[stefoid]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

I think playing injured players is pretty much the norm.

The thing about playing injured players is the fans only notice when it doesnt work. Guaranteed a footy team carries more injuries into a game than fans will ever know. The MC is playing the odds - they arent stupid. If something doesnt work all the time they will stop doing that thing. It must work out more often that it doesnt.

I think a major part of it is that Boyd and Cross need good outside support to work effectively - we cant rely on Boyd for instance having to dispose of his own ball all the time, because his disposal is his weakness. With Cooney out, who is the opposition going to sit on? Griffen of course. And we know he can be undone by a hard tag.

[mighty_west]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

In regards to list management, you can understand why the club wanted to keep the older blokes, where the team is at, recruiting in Barry Hall as well as a few mature aged draftee's [although one could challenge the recruiters on some of the main deficiencies with some of these blokes whether it being not quick enough to play the game or attitude problems with the amounts of extensive testing these days, and working these things out before getting to the draft table].

There is no doubt that the core of our group is aging, but i'm not it is a major concern if we take into account the types of players coming though to take over these players, as long as the issues are addressed right now, this next trade & draft period.

Footy Classifieds also spoke about this last night, and here is a breakdown of the players getting on a bit.

34 - Brad Johnson

33 - Barry Hall

32 - Nathan Eagleton

31 - Ben Hudson

29 - Mitch Hahn, Lindsay Gilbee, Ryan Hargrave

28 - Matthew Boyd, Brian Lake, Dale Morris, Daniel Giansiracusa, Robert Murphy

Going on last year, and one could say that Brad Johnson could almost go another 2 seasons, but as well all know, the older players get, it can go downhill very quickly from there, and right now as it stands, with the ongoing achilles problems to the captain, that you can just about put a line through his name at the end of this season.

Eagleton & Hahn also seem to be on the outer, no longer best 22 players, and at their age, you'd think it was also time to move them along, Akermanis is also gone from the list.

So that takes care of 4 players, with only Johnno being a best 22 player right now.

Barry Hall still has another year left in him one would think, and the continued develpoment and playing in the senior side, Grant, Jones & Roughead will take over from Hall, Hahn & Johnson, they simply have to be best 22 players from next year on, plus Cordy & Panos coming through.

Let's say Ben Hudson has 2 years left in him, Jordan Roughead is arguable right now on par with Minson, plus we still have Minson at 27 years of age, and the continued development of Cordy, Prato is also a work in progress, but one would think that we also have Huddo covered.

The beauty about this season, is that Hahn & Eagleton are just depth players, and Johnno & Aker have hardly played this season, yet we still find ourselves right up there.

Then we have the core of our group, the 28 & 29 year olds, apart from Hahn, you would think that these players still have a good 3 or 4 years left in the game, we drafted 2 kids with elite kicking skills last year in Howard & Tutt, so you would imagine that they will cover Gilbee & Eagleton, for those that have had a look, especially at Howard, like what they see, i kind of compare him to a young Ryan O'Keefe.

The engine room of Cross & Boyd, as well as Hargrave, Mitch Wallis & Tom Liberatore will be great gets in this years draft, Libba is an engine room Sam Mitchell type of extracting inside mid, but with very good kicking skills [unlike the old man]...i personally know one of the fathers of a kid playing in the TAC Cup this year for the Dragons, he personally said to me, that Libba is going to be an absolute gun, and said there is no doubt in his mind what so ever that both will be 200 gamers for the Dogs.

The main area i think we need to address is our key defenders, we have drafted & brought in Howard & Wood, Tutt could end up a Gilbee type of rebounding defender, we drafted Everitt in 06 to play a key defensive role, buit he is clearly more a flanker type, Ryan Hargrave, we simply have to find replacements for Lake & Morris, that time is now.

Losing Harbrow will hurt, so one or 2 speedy mids with good skills is also on the menu for this years draft, a couple of key defenders as well as the 2 father / sons.

[mjp]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

I am pretty sure all of that reflects the hopes of the club MW.

A bit of bad luck (injury or illness) and a couple of the young guys not coming through (they wont all work out - we had high hopes for Jessie Wells at one point) will mean the reality is somewhat less than the vision.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

we simply have to find replacements for Lake & Morris, that time is now.

Boumann.

[mighty_west]

Re: Our Current Plight - Bad Luck or Bad Management??

Boumann.

Is Boumann tight enough to play a Morris role though? Was disappointing to see him still being played in the Willy magoo's on the weekend.