Match Day Rnd. 6. Carlton V Sydney. MCG 14.10 pm.

[Merdo5555]

When you have so many players out of form there is usually something going on behind the scenes, whether its the coaching or frustration with umpiring or being tired from the crash and bash style we play it was the coaching staff's job to get it fixed. I'm not suggesting we should be 6-0 but from the first 10 minutes of the Port Adelaide game you could tell something wasn't right.

An average to good performance by this team should comfortably account for Carlton.

The problems have been years in the making, losing mid-tier talent for superstars but the performances are still not where they should be. We seem a lot like Hawthorn who I suspect have been badly damaged by their draft strategy and the bringing in of O'Meara and Mitchell on big money that others in the past were expected to sacrifice for the benefit of the team. I wouldn't be surprised if we are battling it our with Hawthorn for 17th and 18th on the ladder.

[Hotpotato]

I haven't watched it , been working .
There's been no mention of Carlton here?

Like were they much better than expected ?

[Jonesy94]

I haven't watched it , been working .
There's been no mention of Carlton here?

Like were they much better than expected ?

No they were bad, we were beyond bad. I think we were have been flogged by Melbourne from 2008-09 today.

[bloodspirit]

FWIW, I don't believe we should tank or "play for draft position". It seems that regardless of what we do we are going to get a decent draft pick and, for mine, it doesn't have to be pick 1.

I think we should have more pride as a club than to tank. And besides I think we need to teach our young players how to compete and have the senior players pass on their knowledge and guide the kids. Another point is that bottoming out will be terrible for morale and won't be appreciated at all by our core players: Hanners, Parker, Joey, Buddy, Reid, Mills, Heeney, Jones etc. Happily, these 'core' players, with the possible exception of Buddy whose around for a long while to come anyway, are all fairly young themselves and in the prime of their careers - nowhere near the finish. They want to know the future is bright and that we are going to turn this slump around and fast. Tanking sends all the wrong messages and is a terrible idea. We just have to re-find our form. Suddenly I am happy that the example of Freo last year is not all doom and gloom and we can bounce back better than them because we've got better youngsters and we've got more games into them already.

[Jonesy94]

These past few weeks remind me so much of the last few weeks of Eade. Players minds were elsewhere back then coach lost them and they couldnt even do the simple things right.

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FWIW, I don't believe we should tank or "play for draft position". It seems that regardless of what we do we are going to get a decent draft pick and, for mine, it doesn't have to be pick 1.

I think we should have more pride as a club than to tank. And besides I think we need to teach our young players how to compete and have the senior players pass on their knowledge and guide the kids. Another point is that bottoming out will be terrible for morale and won't be appreciated at all by our core players: Hanners, Parker, Joey, Buddy, Reid, Mills, Heeney, Jones etc. Happily, these 'core' players, with the possible exception of Buddy whose around for a long while to come anyway, are all fairly young themselves and in the prime of their careers - nowhere near the finish. They want to know the future is bright and that we are going to turn this slump around and fast. Tanking sends all the wrong messages and is a terrible idea. We just have to re-find our form. Suddenly I am happy that the example of Freo last year is not all doom and gloom and we can bounce back better than them because we've got better youngsters and we've got more games into them already.

The way we playing even tanking seems really hard.

[Markwebbos]

It's been a Swans tradition to start slowly, not put in 100% and have an early season heart to heart / truth session amongst the players after which they've played much better.

They must absolutely hate playing each game at the moment. Fearful of extending this humiliating run.

[stevoswan]

I'm going to stick my neck out and say Swans will beat Brisbane next week.

Well, if we don't, it will be confirmation that the 'Spirit' is dead.......and also reinforce the growing view that there is something 'not right' within the player group, a real worry. Mind you, Brissie aren't too bad this year.....it will be a tough one but at the SCG we should win.

[annew]

Hi guys whats happening to the teeam? I noticed theres no spirit in the guys and a few of them just dont seem to be interested? Is there something going on between some players? Theres no heart and theres no way we are this bad! Something is up.

After the way the umpires umpired the GF I think my spirit was down going into this year too. I also believe that we over achieved last year and should not have made the GF with the number of new players that came in, was really indicitive of the rest of the comp. This is our 2009 and quite frankly how p----- will the rest of the comp be if we get no 1 draft pick cos they are still carrying on about the academy. This could be the year that the worker bees in Buddy, Hannabery, Parker Grundy, Smith and Kennedy get the time to regenerate their bodies while Longmire can play Allir & others for experience and to get up to speed and also start weeding out the dead wood so to speak. I would rather finish in the bottom and get a decent couple of picks than scrape into the 8 and get knocked out week 1 just so we can say we made finals. Just think our second pick in the draft would nearly be the equivelant as what our first pick has been over the past many years. Once we sustained all the injuries we were effectively gone.

[Markwebbos]

These past few weeks remind me so much of the last few weeks of Eade. Players minds were elsewhere back then coach lost them and they couldnt even do the simple things right.

Many of the players hated Rocket by the end and were also paralysed by the fear of making a mistake. Roos changed their outlook on the game.

Players don't hate Horse, but must feel that it's pointless to keep playing the same way and expecting a different result. Losing must be very demotivating. I can see why a fresh something is required.

[Jonesy94]

So I am reading now Tippett and Grundy had a massive fight in the changerooms after the GF. and some other players got involved. Tippett said something about "Ok well time for holdiays" or something of that sort and Grundy snapped and it was all in.


is this true?

[Foreign Legion]

The issue is what do we change to win a match?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The 3 things are:
Intensity
Intensity
Intensity.

At the game today the pressure and skills and application was at VFL or lower, standard. Until we regain our desire for the ball and the tackle we won't win.

[S.S. Bleeder]

It would be interesting to find out what really went on after the GF and if it's the reason for the lack of effort and spirit.

Why did Tippett not play today?

Apparently Tippett injured his hip in the last training drill. He's about as tough as Humpty Dumpty.

[Jonesy94]

After the way the umpires umpired the GF I think my spirit was down going into this year too. I also believe that we over achieved last year and should not have made the GF with the number of new players that came in, was really indicitive of the rest of the comp. This is our 2009 and quite frankly how p----- will the rest of the comp be if we get no 1 draft pick cos they are still carrying on about the academy. This could be the year that the worker bees in Buddy, Hannabery, Parker Grundy, Smith and Kennedy get the time to regenerate their bodies while Longmire can play Allir & others for experience and to get up to speed and also start weeding out the dead wood so to speak. I would rather finish in the bottom and get a decent couple of picks than scrape into the 8 and get knocked out week 1 just so we can say we made finals. Just think our second pick in the draft would nearly be the equivelant as what our first pick has been over the past many years. Once we sustained all the injuries we were effectively gone.

Yeah I have to admit after last years gf and the terrible way we lost really deflated me. Must be really hard for the senior guys during there time of introspec to have to focus again and know how hard it is only to feel robbed. We didnt play badly in the GF, we just wernt give the chance to play fairly. Our main problems are from our midfield core seniors who are waay down and seem they could do with a hug and a good cry to let it all out.

We look broken.

[Hotpotato]

Maybe Horse could go overseas on stress leave for a few months .
He must have hit the wall as well .

[bloodspirit]

Aardvark, Melican is not slow. On the contrary he has excellent pace for a KPD. Also looks like we may get a chance to try someone other than Reg next week. Most likely Talia over Maibaum thanks to his greater experience and recent good game.

Horrible as this is, and while I don't understand it, sacking Longmire is definitely not the answer and not something we are close to doing. He's the guy that got us to three grand finals and one flag plus a couple of minor premierships. He may need to change some things but he's not the sole or even the main reason for our loss of form.

As for Hawthorn, I'd still much rather be us than them. They are going to find it much harder to get out of the hole they're in. They're old, they have no draft picks, and their young talent is not as good as ours.