we also had Hurley, Goddard, McKenna, Saad and the odd Hooker cameo playing back
apples and oranges - look at the state of it currently
1 Like
The decision to delist Clarke was a fizzer in hindsight, we didnât have a surplus of size and strenght and he was one of the few players we had that was capable of both tackling and playing midfield.
At the very least he would have offered something in the VFL, helping our young guys out by providing a big body. His running was as good as Hams and he easily could have played that wing/hf role without being a non-factor around the contest.
5 Likes
Defence is more than the back 6. Same thing in 2018, Smith was a tackling machine, what happened? I wouldnât put it down to his knees or attitude, the gameplan is â â â â and even the coaches appear to know that now.
How did we end up with so few quality players?
Ask the list manager.
1 Like
Iâm not defending the club, I think itâs a â â â â â â â basketcase
Iâm just saying itâs a more robust conversation that âwe â â â â â â the gameplanâ. The reasons why we tried to change it are well established
Itâs weird how Matthew Lloyd forgets a good 3/4 of his playing career, including all of his captaincy.
2 Likes
Iâve said it before, we seem to change or move around our assistant coaches yearly. Itâs as if we are a coaching development clinic and not a football club. How about we fine tune something that was close to working rather than revamp the gameplan completely every year. Keep the same coaches in their roles for 3-5 years and drum the gameplan into the players.
I think hiring Cara, Gia, Tudor and Tapping pretty much confirms that
the personnel from last year to this year in defense really hasnât changed all that much
1 Like
To me there was a clear change of direction after 2018/19.
Worsfold had brought in Smith, started pushing McGrath into the middle and moved a few older, bigger and slower guys out of midfield, putting the focus squarely on tackling.
We had no forward line and didnât really get anywhere, but I thought it was a reasonably good performance from the coaching group.
Then Harding got sacked, Skippie got sacked, Cara came in, Rutten came in, and âteam defenceâ became the focus along with, of course, âblue collarâ
Which you could be forgiven for mistaking for a really heavy focus on ball movement and attack, attempting to defend pretty much as a zone and intercept all the way; not much interest in slowing the game with tackling & repeat stoppages.
Which, fine, thatâs your idea, but weâre 2.5 years into it, and itâs worked for about half a year in that time.
2 Likes
smith said in 2019 he was literally told to stop running past teammates to lay tackles and try to influence them to do it themselves. For reals.
2 Likes
This would not surprise me.
Hereâs the pure numbers if people want to see them
At least our numbers are going the right direction this year 
4 Likes
Itâs like riding a roller coaster. I feel sick in the stomach just looking at it.
1 Like
This will be training this week.
Rutten: Everybody look here.
Rutten: You will forget everything that you leaned about team defense over the preseason.
2 Likes
I would argue it hasnât even worked for half a yearâŚ
The second half of last year was not due to the game plan suddenly âworkingâ⌠it was that we threw out the game plan and we had a couple of really influential players have career defining purple patches along with some kids who just âsaw ball, get ball, kick ballâ and then the confidence came.
Our oppo during that ârunâ helped a bit tooâŚ
At NO point has this game plan (that Rutten has now implemented FOUR pre-seasons in a row) delivered on field success for any period against any kind of opposition.
I really do not know how to get guys like you to see what an abject failure Rutten is as a coach. Four seasons and we still do not have an identifiable team structure, a consistent and winning on field style or anything close to resembling a competent game plan. That is failure no matter how you slice it.
He must be sacked and sacked now. This isnât about âthrowing the toys out of the cotâ or instant success or any other BS⌠Rutten has had a chance and has shown he is incapable for delivering what we need.
And before you go pointing out that Dimma and Goodwin faced âchallengesâ before then delivering a flag⌠very very different set of circumstances. Dimma had gone almost too savage on the list and tried to over manage everything⌠his review led to more support at the assistant level and getting in some âmatureâ bodies to assist. The review highlighted that the playing group was committed, there were several metrics that pointed to some really good parts to their game. It wasnât a surprise to many that they were able to do some minor tweaks and then climb the ladder easily. Same same but different for Goody⌠Yes Melbourne had a shocker BUT the whole footy world could see what they were trying to do. They were playing a manic defence style and had zero ability to score. They were also let down by the fact that the young guns in the middle would run out of steam late in games (see Hawks this year). I didnât think they would win the flag last year⌠I thought they might need another couple of seasons⌠but you could see the plan and you could see a very good coach (I still wish we had kept him instead of Bomber!!).
So no⌠sometimes it isnât about âsticking with a coachâ until they suddenly turn good⌠it is about seeing what is happening and being objective about it. Four years on and we are the worst defence in the league, we have holes all over the place, we have no brand, our players are being openly mocked and we have not been able to beat any competent sides consistently⌠even during our âpurpleâ patch. I really hate to tell you⌠but you could give Rutten another thirty years⌠he will not win a flag. His method is broken. It is no good. It is bad. He is a bad coach. He needs to go.
8 Likes
the continuity in the numbers is fascinating. Itâs quite stark how far backwards weâve gone this year.
3 Likes
I blame Alex Rance
1 Like
donât suppose you have the data set up to run a round by rounds % for the last 6 seasons.