No mate you have every right to say you have seen no improvement this year. I just have the right to stop debating it
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The same for me, although my journey applies a generation earlier. In 1977 l spent the year back packing around Asia, sleeping on beaches and a couple of nights in the Taj Mahal. When l came home l started teaching and began attending games and took immense joy watching the development of SMadden, TWatson, Vanders, Neagle and others. It soon became obvious to me that premierships were on the way, it was only a question of how long they would take to arrive and how many there would be.
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I agree. Letâs hope Iâm wrong!
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You have to measure us on 2024 as opposed to this year. Yes it does have a very 2021 feel to it, not going to go into the intricacies but in the face of doom and gloom we have performed admirably, as we did 24 months ago. However the follow-up to 2021 the following season couldnât have been worse if we tried. So next year is the big test. Can we build on whatever positive strides weâve made this season? With Brad as coach Iâm far more optimistic we will as opposed to Rutten. Part of it is on the coach but also on other parts of the club. Player development, fitness and conditioning, professionalism, list management will all play a part on whether this is another so-called âupâ year and we will be back in the pits next season, or if this is sustainable and we can grow from this point.
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As a point of reference, the 2021 team that played each week averaged 67 games. So far this year we average 77 games. The overall list averaged 53.7 games at the start of the season, this year itâs 55.
Our five most experienced players played 9, 18, 0, 19, 8 (54 games) in 2021. So far our five most experienced players have played 13, 10, 13, 12, 9 (57 games) with 9 rounds to go.
âMuch more experienced teamâ isnât really accurate.
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Clone_Hirdy will still say that would be meaningless.
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Itâs all about premierships!
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Think about it. Brad Scott with north 2014 6th (2 finals wins), repeated it the next year 8th (2 finals wins). Good evidence of right systems, the right structure on and off the field, the right coaching and the right recruiting and development.
I canât be bothered looking it up, but I assume from there they had a couple of top four finishes and played in a close Grand Final and we poached him from one of the best run clubs in the league.
Whereâs the 2023 Lid On thread, damn it.
If Scott wins a final this year with this list, they should build a statue of him outside the Hanger!
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Biggest issue remains as defence for Scott.
We have done better at restricting the bad teams, but we still canât defend the good teams.
Excluding bottom 6 teams, we are conceding on average 90 points a game. In 2022 we conceded 96 points a game against non-bottom 6 teams, so only a minor improvement.
North scored 99 against us, which is their highest score since round 19 2021. They have only scored over 90 points 4 times since round 1 2021
We cant defend the ball between the archs that has to be worked on over the summer
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Is it a case of our forward defence , needing to develop better structure and in-game scenario set -ups depending on what is going on.
It may be complex but switching between zones and man on man particularly when defending kick-ins or free kicks from the forward half.
To me it seems some teams have been allowed to kick short wide, then switch it back across the other side, widening the field of play and spreading the defence, then they pick off off a leading player in the corridor and slice through.
When the field is made big the space a zone allows causes problems if the opposition is accurate by foot as were Freo.
Is it a case of our defence between the arcs in much need of improvement, or our defensive set up in the forward half?
It could also mean youâre underestimating the quality of the list. If we win a final this year, though I think this is unlikely and would be unexpected, it would confirm the list is better than you think.
I donât think players do the man to man thing on the kick ins. Itâs more of a loose man to man with the aim of forcing them wide rather than through the middle. Conversely, if you do give enough space through the middle but are able to close down the space, we should end up with a better shot for goal than if we get it on the wing.
Some teams still play the old way. If they donât go long down the line, they swing to the other side of the field and hope to beat the opposition on fitness to the other wing. Itâs a very taxing style of play which doesnât always work.
What teams are slowly doing is cutting off half the field. Youâll see a line of players straight down the middle of the ground to try and keep the ball in one half of the field. What some teams do, if they are trying to hold the play up a little is force the contest wide and the aim is to bring the ball down boundary side where you can get the ball over the line and slow the game up.
If teams are trying to be more attacking they kick to the wing and try and bring it down towards the centre and get some overlap run on the weak side of the field.
Freo are still playing a side to side game style. I think we held them back pretty well in general play. There is a bit of a risk reward in that if we push up on their defenders, they can get over the back and daisy chain their way down the field. This was our problem last year and itâs been minimised pretty well. As highlighted plenty of times, the big difference was the centre clearance goals.
It definitely needs much more improvement. But the midfielders need to mature and get a good fitness base into them to be able to cut down the opposition play between the arcs.
This is where our improvement next must be. I donât think weâve closed the gap enough fitness wise on the opposition on gameday. Itâs improved but so has the opposition. For memory, the rule of thumb was two relatively unrestricted pre-seasons gets you to a base, then thereâs a giant leap after that. Weâve struggled to reach the second year since the saga.
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Youâre right. A great deal has been terrible. The rest has been forgettable. Any highlights have been transient.
By far the most memorable season (for all the wrong reasons) was 2016⌠those victories were sweet and such a massive FU to the football world at large.
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For me Scott wonât get a pass mark until end of season 2024 and we have shown consistent football to then. Untill then Iâm assuming itâs continuation of the ânew coach bump yearâ followed by a âweâre super close trade our picks for a shiny objectâ and âcollapse by R1 2024â cycle.
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Iâm going to have to assume our team selection this year is part of some sort of masterplan, because roughly 1 in 4 games itâs been puzzling at best, bad at worst. Particularly in relation to guys being dropped (either altogether or to the sub) off the back of good games.
Last weekendâs game being a case in point.
I donât want to say âlacking selection integrityâ but itâs been periodically⌠decidedly interestingâŚ
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Last season tip against the bombers practically every game. This season tip the bombers more for than against. Came unstuck against Freo. But this proves beyond doubt that we are improving and going places.
Thatâs pretty in depth for me.
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Of course OUTSIDE the Hanger. He ainât fittinâ in there after a finals win.
Weâve been terrible in June for as long as I remember, ususally starts with losses to Richmond and Melbourne and we go through 4 weeks of trash, lazy, unaccountable trash before showing some spirit towards the tail end of the season. Weâve done slightly better this year but the June fall off still hits hard.
This is the most interesting part of the season for Brad, how does he respond to the team going âyeah this is the effort limit weâre happy to go home with a paycheque withâ. We saw all the Rutten traits in the Freo game. Poor decision making across HB, no pressure on ball carrier, benny hill music play after play, no midfielders going with their men on the spread, backline leaking constant easy goals, ball up circle work a complete â â â â â â â â â â â .
That wasnât Brad Scott football, letâs see if he can get them back playing it again
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