WB 2013 its gunna be...

[Mofra]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

End result: there's no way around it. Draft players who can kick, trade those who can't. Before anyone replies with "Howard/Tutt" examples, obviously they need to be able to play too.

We would have missed out on Dahlhaus if we adopted this philosophy - and as much as we desperately need footskills, I'd take a Cross/Smith/Boyd over Howard any day of the week. Obviously anyone with excellent footskills who carves it up as a junior goes early in the draft, so decisions after round 1 are always a balance.

Our forward structure is our biggest issue IMO - we don't seem to have a real system. Gia gets by on smarts but at his age can he do it for a full season? With Dahl pushing up the the middle, we will rely on Higgins to stay fit and one of our talls emerging as a genuine target, both very big "ifs" for the upcoming season.

[Mofra]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

When we finish the pre-season (end of March) and play our first few REAL games, then I will put down my thoughts. How anyone can draw any conclusions from a couple of practise quarters is beyond me.

By comparing ourselves with the skill level of other clubs, which appear to be far more advanced than ours.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

We would have missed out on Dahlhaus if we adopted this philosophy - and as much as we desperately need footskills, I'd take a Cross/Smith/Boyd over Howard any day of the week. Obviously anyone with excellent footskills who carves it up as a junior goes early in the draft, so decisions after round 1 are always a balance.

Our forward structure is our biggest issue IMO - we don't seem to have a real system. Gia gets by on smarts but at his age can he do it for a full season? With Dahl pushing up the the middle, we will rely on Higgins to stay fit and one of our talls emerging as a genuine target, both very big "ifs" for the upcoming season.

Daniel Cross - disposal was really accurate last season and he has improved out of sight.

[chef]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

When we finish the pre-season (end of March) and play our first few REAL games, then I will put down my thoughts. How anyone can draw any conclusions from a couple of practice quarters is beyond me.

It's just that we don't look any advanced from last year. Same old problems, can't kick and a none existent forward line.

[Go_Dogs]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

Terrific post TBB, very well reasoned. I agree with all of the areas of improvement you have pointed to.

As far as the specifics, as others have said, Griff's tendency to bomb long to no one has become a concern. We know he can use the ball well by foot, and he still pulls off a few incredible balls every year but he's increasingly inconsistent and needs to get better at lowering the eyes and directing a quick bullet or weighted ball to a shorter target. That being said, I think he was very much in cruise control last night, a few handballs missed targets etc. Just not a high quality Griffen game.

Howard and Tutt are interesting players. Can't read much off last night but big years for both of them. I tend to lean towards Jeemak's assessment that Howard's 2010 was basically a write off because of injury and he has made improvements in 2011 and 2012. I think he's improved his contested ball and tackling, but don't think he's quite got the defensive nous to play back at AFL level. His endurance and speed are ok, and his skills are good enough. Tutt needs to demonstrate more improvements with his contested and defensive skills but he appeared to work a bit harder to shut down space and apply pressure defensively last night. Besides that he has pace and endurance and his kicking is pretty good. Both need to progress further this year to really drive our improvement but I'm not sure either can ever be more than good solid players at this stage.

Cordy is a bit the same with his injury history and probably needs another 12 months before he's really ready. From that perspective I can see why we gave him a long term contract as he simply needs more development time, as frustrating as that is. He'll get plenty of game time throughout the year.

Overall I don't think last night should be seen as indicative of how we'll perform ALL season, but we need to be realistic that we are in for some tough weeks with an inexperienced side which has some players who'll step up but many others who we'll find aren't quite able to deliver what we need. Our senior core has a number of question marks over it because of injury, age and skill level which doesn't help. We don't really have a single genuine, consistent elite performer at the moment. I do think some changes ie. if we set up our forward line and use the ball more intelligently going forwards (as we did on maybe a couple of occasions last night) we can be more effective and competitive, we simply need to get more bang for our buck when we win the ball. We don't need to reinvent the wheel but some minor adjustments and better/more consistent execution we could take some positive steps forward before the years out.

[KT31]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

the year i end up with high blood pressure and hate football

For you, not much different than any other year being a Doggie's supporter then.

[Happy Days]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

Positive: Ben Hudson's beard still lives, on Tom Campbell's face

[Ghost Dog]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

.



Overall I don't think last night should be seen as indicative of how we'll perform ALL season, but we need to be realistic that we are in for some tough weeks with an inexperienced side which has some players who'll step up but many others who we'll find aren't quite able to deliver what we need.

Maybe safer to assume it is indicative, so we can leave some room to be pleasantly surprised!

[Go_Dogs]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

Maybe safer to assume it is indicative, so we can leave some room to be pleasantly surprised!

You might be onto something

[Bornadog]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

It's just that we don't look any advanced from last year. Same old problems, can't kick and a none existent forward line.

Whilst we don't have an experienced forward line, I think our major problem is the back line. The backs are not delivering the ball well in to the forward half. We continually just bomb the ball long to get the ball out of the backline and then expect the forwards to just clung the ball from no where and kick goals. Even Murphy looked lost playing in the forward line last night.

We must settle the back six and get these guys to play as a unit before we have any chance of even winning one match this year.

[GVGjr]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

When we finish the pre-season (end of March) and play our first few REAL games, then I will put down my thoughts. How anyone can draw any conclusions from a couple of practise quarters is beyond me.

You can't draw any serious conclusions but it's a form guide of sorts and we shouldn't just ignore it.

I wouldn't want to see us back up next time with a similar display.

[boydogs]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

When we finish the pre-season (end of March) and play our first few REAL games, then I will put down my thoughts. How anyone can draw any conclusions from a couple of practise quarters is beyond me.

McCartney was certainly disappointed with our performance.

[Bornadog]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

You can't draw any serious conclusions but it's a form guide of sorts and we shouldn't just ignore it.

I wouldn't want to see us back up next time with a similar display.

In 2012 we won one game from the last 14 games - the last 11 straight losses by an average of 50 plus points. When we get our best 22 on to the park, then we can start to judge where we are at this season. Last nights mickey mouse format is no form guide. We are a developing team that will be lucky to win 5 games in 2013.

I remember watching us belt Brisbane Lions in the last practise match in the early 2000's. They went on and won the premiership that season, we finished last or near last.

We know the coaches just experiment, try rookies, play players out of position. Thats why I say lets not be critical yet.

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

A long cold winter

[Flamethrower]

Re: WB 2013 its gunna be...

Anyone seen the movie Major League??

What are you saying? If we play bad enough we will be relocated?

Or do you think we would be better off watching Ricky Vaughn, Pedro Cerano and Willie Mays Hayes each week?

Seriously though, 2013 is not about wins and losses... it is about the process of building a team that in time will become a genuine premiership contender.