Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

[mjp]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

I will always believe we spent 2012 fixing something that wasn't broken (contested ball) whilst failing to address the things that were:

Kicking skills given the impending departures of Hargrave and Gilbee and Cooney's ongoing knee issue.
Ball movement which was papered over in 2011 due to Hall's stellar back end...we had lost the ability to kick 100 points per week and competition scoring was going up.

That said, I have mostly enjoyed our efforts this year...we aren't going to win much but the players generally try pretty hard and Stringer/Macrae are encouraging. There is clearly a plan and if the run arrives to support the grunt and Jones keeps improving, we might end up back where we were in 2008...when we hopefully don't have to deal with the next super-power whoever that might be. The eagles swans in 05/06 got it right (and we nearly did in 97/98)...be the best team in an average year and you walk away with a cup.

[Bornadog]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

I will always believe we spent 2012 fixing something that wasn't broken (contested ball) whilst failing to address the things that were:

Kicking skills given the impending departures of Hargrave and Gilbee and Cooney's ongoing knee issue.
Ball movement which was papered over in 2011 due to Hall's stellar back end...we had lost the ability to kick 100 points per week and competition scoring was going up.

That said, I have mostly enjoyed our efforts this year...we aren't going to win much but the players generally try pretty hard and Stringer/Macrae are encouraging. There is clearly a plan and if the run arrives to support the grunt and Jones keeps improving, we might end up back where we were in 2008...when we hopefully don't have to deal with the next super-power whoever that might be. The eagles swans in 05/06 got it right (and we nearly did in 97/98)...be the best team in an average year and you walk away with a cup.

What we do have looming over the next couple of years are GWS and GC. Some of the kids look fantastic and if they can hold the team together, they may very well be the new super powers.

[azabob]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Stiff chedda, I was vibing off on a series of comments, one by a moderator, on left foot drift vs right foot and other stuff. Are you some kind of Nazi or something? Why don't you tick off the moderator in the same thread doing the same thing? What does that say about you?

Yeah, typical lack of recognition of diversity on your part.

I think you have a short circuit with this one. I took jeemak's comment as saying he was going off the topic, not you.

[GVGjr]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Stiff chedda, I was vibing off on a series of comments, one by a moderator, on left foot drift vs right foot and other stuff. Are you some kind of Nazi or something? Why don't you tick off the moderator in the same thread doing the same thing? What does that say about you?

Yeah, typical lack of recognition of diversity on your part.

Yep, you have taken what Jeemak said the wrong way. Have another read and advise if you still needed to whack others in your reply.

[GVGjr]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

That said, I have mostly enjoyed our efforts this year...we aren't going to win much but the players generally try pretty hard and Stringer/Macrae are encouraging. There is clearly a plan and if the run arrives to support the grunt and Jones keeps improving, we might end up back where we were in 2008...when we hopefully don't have to deal with the next super-power whoever that might be. The eagles swans in 05/06 got it right (and we nearly did in 97/98)...be the best team in an average year and you walk away with a cup.

The part of the season I have enjoyed the most is the way the younger players have developed and the way the experienced guys have added something to the mix.

Roughead, Jones, Liberatore, Wallis, Johannisen and Smith have really stepped forward and Lower, Young, Goodes and Stevens have offered a bit more. Add Stringer and Macrae and we are adding some good players to the senior list.

We are still balancing the list management part but there are a lot more encouraging signs than we have had in a while in terms of player development.

[stefoid]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

IMO they simply had better squads than we did.

St Kilda lost 2 games prior to the 2009 prelim, and they arguably had 3 of the top 5, and 5 of the top 15 performing players in the league across those years (Reiwoldt, Goddard, Hayes, Dal Santo, Montagna).

That we got anywhere near them in that prelim is a credit to Eade ... and anyone who watches that prelim and says we didn't at least match their hardness was watching a different game. Mental strength to put away those 3/4 shots in the last ... well, maybe that I'll give you. But I've seen the supposedly mentally toughest team in the history of the world miss chances like that in the 2008 Grand Final too.

Speaking of which, same probably applies to our list against there's too. Ablett, Scarlett, Chapman, Ling, Corey, Selwood, Bartel, Ottens ... on any given day, any one of these blokes could find themselves in any number of top 5, top 10, top 20 in the comp lists at the time ... we on the other hand probably had 4 or 5 players of that (elite) elite calibre, and at the other end, lack of depth meant we were carrying the likes of Tiller and Callan into finals.

Truth is that we were battling against one of the best squads that have been put together in the last 20 years. That's why they beat us when it counted ... and again, we had our chances that could have seen us get up - it's a credit to Eade that we were even in a position to, rather than any kind of negative on his coaching.

I felt like our 'prelim teams' had a few too many players who couldnt win contests and/or maintain their performance under finals pressure.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Interesting to hear Steve Mcburney on umpires round admit he made a few mistakes in the 09 prelim.
He was on air with Lindsay Gilbee who constantly reminded him during games he said.
You sure did Steve

[Twodogs]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Interesting to hear Steve Mcburney on umpires round admit he made a few mistakes in the 09 prelim.
He was on air with Lindsay Gilbee who constantly reminded him during games he said.
You sure did Steve

Was that on SEN?

[The Pie Man]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Interesting to hear Steve Mcburney on umpires round admit he made a few mistakes in the 09 prelim.
He was on air with Lindsay Gilbee who constantly reminded him during games he said.
You sure did Steve

Really?

Don't know how to feel about that.

[Maddog37]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

I feel like vomiting at the thought of those decisions.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Thanks for admitting it. Makes up for us not playing in a GF.../sigh

[WBFC4FFC]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

09 was far worse than the 97 Prelim, as the dodgy decisions occurred all night and were always against the Bullies.

I distinctly remember the following day in the paper how there was a full page devoted to 3 pr 4 of the most dubious from the 09 Prelim, with the AFL official stating every time how the umpire made the correct call. I have never seen anything like it before it or since.

[LongWait]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

What we do have looming over the next couple of years are GWS and GC. Some of the kids look fantastic and if they can hold the team together, they may very well be the new super powers.

I agree - so what should we do to combat them? We can't "out-skill" them.

I think we have a game plan and style under construction that takes on the highly skilled sides in areas where they are likely to be less accomplished. It also theoretically takes away some of their skill advantage as physical pressure is applied to a higher degree than they would normally experience.

[Missing Dog]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Interesting stats from last night's Geelong Essendon game...

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-match-report/classy-cats-leaders-of-pack-20130510-2je2r.html

Geelong was beaten in clearances, beaten in contested ball (narrowly) and shaded even for forward entries.

So clearances aren't the one and only. I am not saying they aren't important, there's just more to winning a game. We need to be better at what Geelong does best...

The most glaring differential was in what these teams did with ball in hand. The Cats found teammates, in space, and moved the footy with fluency.

[comrade]

Re: Lloydy on Footy Classifieds last night

Whilst they may not win a huge amount of clearances in total, Geelong's effective clearances must be pretty high.

When they do win a stoppage, it's generally to their own advantage and especially from the centre, it leads to clean forward 50 entries in contrast to our usual extract-and-kick-long style of clearance.

How do they do this? They block and spread very well and get the ball into the hands of guys who can dispose of it effectively. We lack spreading run and good kickers so we're forced to just bomb it and see it bounce back over our heads.