And we’ll
Lose 3 draft places in the process.
Like our Freo win last year.
Do tell.
Yes, Johnson shows potential. Hopefully Caddy and Kako both develop well. Coaching doesn’t explain endeavour though, so we’ll see.
The ball coming out of the backline was awful last night though. lack of experience and confidence, plus an over-emphasis on the lateral transfer of play, but then the inability to move it fast with the next two possessions after the lateral transfer was a common sight last night I thought.
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We definitely cannot tag both of them. We’d still get totally smacked. We’d still turn the ball over. Our issue isn’t at the centre bounce or even at the other stoppages. We weren’t great, but we weren’t too far behind them. It was once it got away from the contest that they smashed us. When they created the loose man and bypassed our loose players.
I’ve looked at other teams and some do have a Setterfield type who do a tag / run with or someone worse than Caldwell with speed. But teams prefer to run with midfielders who are as good defensively as they are offensively or at best league average.
Adelaide has James Peatling, Carlton have Hewett (who is closer towards a run with than a hard tag), Fremantle use Corey Wagner and I think O’Meara at times, Geelong have O’Connor and Mullin, GWS have Bedford, Hawthorn go with Finn Maginess (although they are shying away from him a bit), Melbourne tried Sparrow and have also tried Langdon, North use Parker and Tucker, Port have Willem Drew, Richmond run with McIntosh (interesting that they persist with him even though they are developing and he is not going to be part of their next premiership tilt), Saints have Windhager, Sydney have James Jordan and the Eagles go with Graham. They aren’t hard tags. Setterfield isn’t a hard tag. They are a run with role that can also help in both directions. They don’t play them every week in the middle, but when needed, they use it.
I don’t really worry about whether we can stop one or two players. If we switched Merrett and Martin for Smith and Holmes, we’d be marginally better off. But what makes them so great are the others within their team.
Players like Atkins, Brad Close, Shannon Neale, Blicavs, Mark O’Connor, Mullin, Bowes, Duncan, Stanley, Jack Martin and Zach Guthrie would be absolute plodders on our team. Those players do their job and can be inconsistent depending on their matchup, but they bring out the best in others on their team and they get the best out of themselves. Even someone like Lawson Humphries would squib any contest at our team. But on theirs, he’s surrounded by defensive minded players that pick up on his deficiencies and allow him to be more attacking. We are using Johnson like that, but there will come a time where his deficiencies will be highlighted even more because of the group of players around them.
Part of it is experience. We can’t expect ADW, Blackistan, Caddy, Lual, Clarke, May, Kako, Roberts and Zak Johnson to be as good as Geelong’s bottom ten players. But there’s also an individual and group strength and weakness issue. Someone like Prior is doing the best he can with the way the ball comes into our backline. But he was a wingman at Brisbane. Maybe last year he played in the backline, but I’d think it was against smaller defenders. Yesterday he was against Dangerfield who is more of a medium sized forward. He’s already set to fail.
Another part is just continuation. Our forward line and backline is vastly different from 2023 and needs time to gel and work out how their strengths and weakness work together.
Another part is game style. Geelong do go slow. But when they see an opportunity to go fast, they take it. We did that against the Swans. Also did it against North. It’s about getting advantages where you can and then taking what you get from the opposition. The opposition won’t let us run free. We are easier to shut down because of inexperience and continuity.
Another part is obviously confidence. Watching from the ground we had small moments where players were free. They tried to get into dangerous spots but because Geelong were good enough, they allow you to see it, then close it down if you miss your target, delay taking the option or there’s a fumble involved. If ADW had the same play again, he wouldn’t handball to Prior who is shepherding for him (and not calling the ball) in the back pocket in a 3 on 1. But an inexperienced player in that moment with very little pressure panicked. Contrary to popular belief, they do not train this, but in the moment against a quality team, they panic. Hopefully he learns from that and the next time he’s in that situation he doesn’t panic.
One gripe I do have about our list is that there is a lot of one dimensional players. Setterfield is a mid only. Parish is a mid only. I think he can play forward, but it won’t be great. Shiel is midfield only. Unfortunately the backline experiment didn’t work. We also have Tsatas and Hobbs following the same path. If the talent is good enough, it can play anywhere. Be it midfield, wing or high half forward. These three positions allow you to work on what makes a midfielder great (speed, acceleration, contested footy and uncontested footy). Any great midfielder begins developing on the wing or on the forward flank before becoming full time midfielders. Durham followed that path, Caldwell did as well and Merrett did too. All of them are capable elsewhere on the field.
Looking at Geelong’s midfield from 2023, they had Dangerfield, Stanley the ruck (Ceglar when not Stanley), Blicavs was in there too with Atkins. Bruhn was getting some time. Parfitt too. Mark O’Connor took on hard tagging roles. This year they’ve Brough in Holmes from the wing / back flank, shifted Blicavs to wing / back flank, Bailey Smith replaces Dangerfield who plays in the forward line, Mullin gets tagging roles, Blicavs plays relief ruck at times, Dangerfield gets some token midfield time and they’ve tried to give Knevitt some games earlier this year while Bailey Smith was wing / half forward until he was ready for full time midfield.
We don’t have those options at our disposal. And that’s just the midfield.
We also have one dimension strengths and weaknesses that counter act on each other. Parish is a good at the contest. So is Shiel. So is Hobbs. So is Tsatas. But struggle with uncontested footy because it exposes their weaknesses. I could add Setterfield into that lot too, but he actually doesn’t expose his weaknesses the the rest. McGrath is great in the contest, but in an uncontested situation, he either runs back into it or doesn’t hit up targets and just boots it forward. Perkins is more uncontested than contested. Peter Wright is more uncontested than contested (but he’s getting better). Caddy prefers the contest than uncontested footy. I’m glad that some of our recent draftees and pickups (Duursma, Roberts, Kako and Clarke) are more of a balance between contested and uncontested (being mindful that they are undersized). Zak Johnson is more uncontested than contested, but he has time to improve on his contest work.
We’ve had a decade of not being able to play to modern style defensive first footy, I can’t recall us having any modicum of forward press before Scott arrived. We’ve also had a lack of run across the team during that period. We had Saad and McKenna off the backline, but very little through the midfield (Shiel was our best). We’ve had moments of good footy, but are not flexible enough to withstand the oppositions defence and cannot adapt to a different style within the game. Again, prior to Scott, it was one style (whatever it was) all in and do it for 120 minutes and 22 rounds per season. The game has changed. Every game style in the last 20 years (possession footy, forward press, loose man, extra at the contest, go fast through the middle, go slow along the boundary, go from contest to contest grind it out) still works. A good majority of the better teams have trained it incredibly well and use parts of it through a game when they think they can get an advantage by doing it. If it doesn’t work, they try something else. There isn’t a sign raised from the bench. Messages go out and they try to adapt within the quarter. The best teams aren’t only good at one style. They can do a good enough percentage of them. Collingwood is a great example to look at. They were risk on, run through the middle, play with dare through the season in 2023. Finals came along and it was a slow, contest to contest grind for every one of their finals victories.
We’re miles off the pace. And I’m fine with it. I still think we win 1 more game this season. Maybe surprise one or two others. But this is nothing like 2023 and last year. We haven’t even sniffed a spot in the 8 this year. And have never looked anywhere near it.
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107 points from turnover and from the back half
That’s the game right there
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I’m a draft optimist.
I won’t even pretend that all these kids are going to make it. Many of them don’t, which is why you must go ‘all in’ on many drafts and find the best kids.
I just don’t agree with Brad Scott when he says that we can compete for finals and rebuild at the same time. We have proved that you can’t, over 20 years.
That’s not how the AFL have rigged it.
Good call. Agreed!
The swans are getting results out of their academy.
Essendon needs likewise. Whatever that looks like.
Sydney, Brisbane, Geelong, Collingwood etc all seem to be able to do it.
Hawthorn have the shallowest of dips too
The dogs keep recruiting incredibly well.
How do we find a Lachie Neale to turn around Essendon?
Brisbane were a joke
Or is it Fagan?
It was def a cultural change. They were bleeding high end draft picks to the point where they were picking pairs of mates in drafts in the hope they wouldn’t leave. You’d have to say Fagan has been instrumental, funnily enough my cousin played under him at Devonport and thought he was a really ordinary tactician and poor communicator. He obviously learned a lot from Clarkson.
Yet you don’t seem to understand the difference about where this club is at, and the ones you just mentioned.
‘Just do what the top teams do’ doesnt work if you don’t have the culture or the talent of the top teams.
You should know that by now.
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Went at nearly pick 60 in the draft because everyone thought he was too small to make the grade. We took Kav, Jackson Merrett and NOB before him that year
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We are one game ahead of 15th.
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Despite the desire of some to finish 11th, we need to be getting down to 15th or lower ASAP and stay there.
We’ve certainly played like it for 95% of the season.
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We will finsih bottom four Saints and Richmond are our only chance of wining games and both are 50/50
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What does it matter if get down there now or in round 23?
Because the closer we are to reaching the top 8, the more delusional the club becomes about having the preference of playing our most experienced team “as we’re still in with a chance as it’s still a mathematical possibility!” rather than playing youth and trialling the list. Huge mistake this year.
And soon as we have that upset win somewhere along the line, the supporter base then get thirsty for more as well.
Get the ■■■■ as far away from that top 8 as soon as possible.
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