Round 4, 2014 v North Melbourne

[goods78]

Round 4, 2014 v North Melbourne

When Kizza changed his guernsey, from up the top of the Brewongle it looked like he had some padding (not strapping) around his right ribs. We were a fair way away - did anyone else notice or get a better look? I am getting the feeling that he is playing with a fair injury and did not wake up with the bad back a few weeks ago. Mitchell is another that does not look right.

Just having a look at the recording, Jack is wearing some protection.

[Matt80]

We just don't have enough players who are playing well. Here is a simple list of our players comparing their early 2014 form compared to their 2013 form. The categories are Better, Neutral or Worse

Smith - Neutral
Richards - Neutral
Rampe - Neutral
Shaw - Worse although did not play much in 2013.
Malceski - Worse
Grundy - Neutral
Laidler - Better
Hanners - Worse
Jack - Worse, but almost a Neutral
Kennedy - Neutral
Parker - Better
McGlynn - Better
McVeigh - Worse
Pyke - Neutral
Bird - Worse
Mitchell - Worse
ROK - Worse
LRT - Neutral but limited Football in 2013
Jetta - Better
Rohan - Neutral
Cunningham - Better
Franklin - Worse
Tom D - Neutral
Reid - Neutral

As you can see there are many players who have dropped, most are neutral and only Cunningham, Jetta, McGlynn, Laidler and Parker have lifted from their 2013 form.

We are still to assess Goodes and Tippett.

We simply have too many players who are down on their 2013 form, and not enough players who are stepping up and going forward from their 2013 form. This tells the big story of the season thus far.

[goods78]

Two very noticeable things at the game.

One - they were slightly dominant in contested situations, but the big difference was we'd do one too many handball, whereas one release handball was enough for them to kick for position in the wet. Fairly basic strategy.

But the second one was more odd. In the first half in particular we'd have LRT, Buddy and the resting ruckman in our forward 50, but the smalls would press up 30 or 40m to the stoppage.

It meant when the ball got banged in there was no one to crumb or hold it in. Bad tactics given the wet made marking difficult. In fact the only one who occasionally held back with the forwards was ROK, but he's too slow to be much benefit.
.

Great post.
The small forwards getting sucked up the ground happened all game. How can the coaches let this happen all game?

[ernie koala]

Well that was a sad and sorry performance, both by players and coaches.

Poor selections (an extra, 2nd string, tall...in the wet???)

Poor tactics ( once again leaving 1 or 2 loose defenders to do as they please)

Poor disposal skills/ decisions...Constantly kicking to out numbered players, in our undermanned forward line

Lack of hard relentless running, both in attack and defence.

Just a general lack of consistent hardness in the contest.

We need to lift dramatically next week and beyond, across the board. Or it will be more of the same.

[giant]

Well that was a sad and sorry performance, both by players and coaches.

Poor selections (an extra, 2nd string, tall...in the wet???)

Poor tactics ( once again leaving 1 or 2 loose defenders to do as they please)

Poor disposal skills/ decisions...Constantly kicking to out numbered players, in our undermanned forward line

Lack of hard relentless running, both in attack and defence.

Just a general lack of consistent hardness in the contest.

We need to lift dramatically next week and beyond, across the board. Or it will be more of the same.

It was bloody amateur hour the whole day wasn't it? Actually that's unfair - I played a lot of amateur footy and no one I played with would have made the dumb arsed mistakes our coaches and players made today.

I did think the players had a crack most of the day, but where they left their brains I have no idea.

[liz]

Ernie and Giant's posts sum it up for me. It's a long long time since we've been that inept against a side that was decent (and clearly far better than us) but not mind-blowingly brilliant.

The lack of composure was what got to me the most. I understand that, in wet weather, moving the ball forward and not worrying about finesse makes sense. But when a player does manage to take a mark in those conditions, surely it pays to stop, look about, and try to kick the ball vaguely to the advantage of the team. I lost count of the number of times our players played on from marks, without even raising their heads.

It is concerning that, after two games that were patchy rather than out and out woeful, the confidence that must have been restored by last week's performance has been destroyed so emphatically.

I'm not one for wrist slitting, or for throwing out the baby with the bath water, but at 1-3 (and with all those losses to decent rather than top notch sides) and games against Freo, Hawthorn, Essendon and Geelong looming in the next six, our finals chances are looking a tad forlorn. I still think we have the core of a pretty decent side, but until a few of our better, experienced players start to find some form, the immediate future doesn't look great. In that context, one does start wondering whether persisting with ROK and Shaw is going to take us anywhere.

And while I don't particularly like singling out players given no-one has been consistently good so far this year (with Parker a possible exception) Hannebery's form is particularly concerning. Over the last two seasons he has turned himself into an elite midfielder with relentless hard running. This year he just seems to be running around like a headless chook, spectating contests and just flapping his arms around. I wish the "real" Hanners would come back.

[Ludwig]

Ernie and Giant's posts sum it up for me. It's a long long time since we've been that inept against a side that was decent (and clearly far better than us) but not mind-blowingly brilliant.

The lack of composure was what got to me the most.

I'm not one for wrist slitting, or for throwing out the baby with the bath water, but at 1-3 (and with all those losses to decent rather than top notch sides) and games against Freo, Hawthorn, Essendon and Geelong looming in the next six, our finals chances are looking a tad forlorn. I still think we have the core of a pretty decent side, but until a few of our better, experienced players start to find some form, the immediate future doesn't look great. In that context, one does start wondering whether persisting with ROK and Shaw is going to take us anywhere.

I wish the "real" Hanners would come back.

I very strongly agree with all of this. I am just more convinced that it is lost cause persisting with ROK and Shaw. And to that I would add LRT and if we had a better option, Grundy as well. We are so far off the tops teams that we need to find a remedy now before a terminal case of Carlton Syndrome sets in.

Who knows what the problem is with Hanners. And Tom Mitchell is well below his form from last year. It's also hard to know why Jetta, who is both skillful and has a good footy brain has decided not to use either; he seems to have decided to both look and play like Rhyce Shaw instead. Difficult to see how to fix this.

Right now we have a losing formula. It's hard to say if we even have a winning formula in the squad as a whole, but we have to try to do something that at least gives us a chance.

We need to recognise that we are no longer a great stoppage, inside contested ball team and have to transition to a quick, intelligent and skillful team.

Hawthorn are putting on a show with their 2 key defenders both under 190cm (Gibson and Cheney). You don't have to be tall, just good at the job. The Bombers are playing this 19 yo skinny kid Gleeson who is tearing it up with his pace, skill and intelligent play.

I'd like to see players like Biggs, Lloyd, Robinson, Towers and Membrey given some time in the seniors, not all at once, but over the course of the ensuing weeks.

Let's get a little proactive.

[mocaholic]

All good assessments above. I thought only nosey, jpk, smiffy and perhaps laidler could hold their heads up. Mal ok perhaps. Nosey has been our best player all year by a long way I reckon.

The only thing I could add here to the comments is about our inability to adapt firstly to the wet conditions (see other comments for poor choice of sub, coaching, dumb kicking, execrable skills overall) - and really, to adapt to the evolving footy conditions. How many times did the ball get over the back of the pack because we had two or three blokes going for a mark that was never going to happen in those conditions anyway. And what happened to accountability?

So many players down - McV, Hanners, Mitchell, Jack, Pyke, Teddy, Jetts, LRT.

This reminds me very much of 2007 when we got Spider one season too late - the same with Buddy, except Spider didn't tie up all our SC. Jude gone, Goodes effectively gone and Ryano all but gone. Add to that list Reg & Shaw.

We've been found out big time - it's hello Clarko 2009/10.

[YvonneH]

[QUOTE=ScottH;637143]Apparently Jetts is bald.
Less wind resistance??

Funny Story. My daughter said to me and I quote "Does McVeigh have a fake tan? Look how brown he is" She could only see the number '3' on his jumper and not the '2'

[dimelb]

Apparently Jetts is bald.
Less wind resistance??

Funny Story. My daughter said to me and I quote "Does McVeigh have a fake tan? Look how brown he is" She could only see the number '3' on his jumper and not the '2'

At one stage I saw only the 2 and thought it was Shaw.

[R-1]

Disposal efficiency stat says it all. Tis a shame. Time to readjust my expectations this year I think.

Worried that we've become like the pre-WW1 French army thinking that ?lan conquers all. "Try harder than everyone else" isn't a sustainable game plan so hopefully we're smarter than that.

[ScottH]

At one stage I saw only the 2 and thought it was Shaw.

The way he played I thought it was Shaw.

[liz]

Jetta was awful yesterday but he's been OK up until now. Last week I thought he was showing signs of getting back to 2012 form, and he was one of our better players against Collingwood.

Also think Reg has been reasonable at times this year and he should have several seasons of footy left in him. I highlighted ROK and Shaw because they're probably in their final seasons and because we should have players in the reserves capable of playing similar roles. Bird should be back in the side and I'd pick him now ahead of ROK.

I really feel for Shaw. He's worked desperately hard to get himself fit again after a knee reco just six months ago. He's giving it his all but looks like he's just trying too hard. I know the game was over by then, but his decision to play on from a mark in a crowded defensive 50 yesterday late in the final term just about summed up the game from the team and the season thus far from him.

[Rod_]

They played wet weather footy, we didn't.

From the selection table to who played where. When are we going to learn some players play really bad in the wet.

Rod

[Flying South]

I think I have calmed down enough, to hopefully write something that it is not full of anger. There are some good assessments above from I?m-uninformed2, Ernie, Giant, Liz, Ludwig. There are a myriad of things of things we can point to, skill errors, decision making, forward line structure, poor coaching, slow clearances, contested possessions, lack of ruckman, etc. As frustrating as these things are, they are things that can be worked on and hopefully fixed. Eternal optimist that I am. But what worries me, and is not so easy to fix, is the perceived lack of strong leaders in the club. Both at a playing and coaching level. As Leigh Matthews would say, ?don?t give me excuses, give me leadership?. In the past, the likes of Stewy Maxfield, Brett Kirk, Adam Goodes, Jude Bolton, Craig Bolton and Ryan O'Keefe were all extremely strong leaders who demanded excellence, trust, commitment and honesty among the group. When Darren Jolly first came to the club, he said he of Stewy, ?I didn't like him. He was brutally honest with the feedback he gave me in terms of how I was playing football. He was a hard, no-bull@@@@ kind of guy. He lived and breathed everything he preached. When he spoke everyone listened?. Who are our strong leaders now? And I am not just talking about the captain. You don?t have to be the captain to provide strong leadership. I am worried that the famed Bloods culture slipping away. It makes my blood boil when I see players standing on the outside of a contest watching the ball and expecting someone else to step up and put their bodies on the line. There is no way the likes of Kirky, Jude or Stewy would stand back and not provide a contest. This is not the bloods way. The bloods way is about stepping up and doing your bit, because your brothers did it before you and you trust that they will do it after you. There are a numbers of players who would not be able to look their brothers in the eye and say that they stood up. And where is the brutally honest feedback from our leaders about the lack of commitment and respect for the bloods code. Perhaps a chat from Stewy and Jude during the week might be able to turn things around. But that would require Longmire to admit that there are problems. Hopefully this is all actually happening behind closed doors and it is just a perceived issue for me. But it does worry me.

McVeigh once said, ?you choose your way in, or in choose your way out?. There are a number of players that need to go back to the ressies and ?choose their way back in?. The Bloods culture demands it.