It’s a slow work day so I thought I’d take the time to collect my thoughts on the whole issue of coach sacking. I’ve read so many posts across so many different threads that just numb the brain with stupidity, but also some good thoughts as well.
- The bagging of Woosha for ‘not saying much’ in press conferences.
Did we not just spend five years bagging the AFL and every journalist for the way they treated us during the saga? Do we not constantly bag the same journalists week in week out for refusing to ask decent questions? And you want him to front the media… and do what exactly? Help them out? I get frustrations that supporters want to hear from the coaches but reality is that doesn’t happen anymore.
- Not playing the kids.
Last week we played 15 players who had played under 100 games. In contrast, West Coast had 8, with 11 players that had played over 150. That’s half their list. The only other clubs to come close to that 15 number were St Kilda, Sydney and Melbourne who are all below us on the ladder. We currently have one of the most inexperienced teams going around and have added numerous young players to our best 22 over the past 12 months while simultaneously moving out the older brigade. Redman, Parish, Clarke, Begley, Laverde, Langford are all getting a lot of game time (and all developing nicely) while Bags and Myers are left out.
We have also tried Mutch, Ham, Ridley, Francis and will probably add a couple more to that list before the year is out. This is also without taking into account McGrath, Guelfi, Orazio who are all rather inexperienced.
We are actually the ONLY club in the AFL without a 200 gamer on their list (Zaka about to change this).
- The mantra is “finals or sacking” but also “play the kids”.
These two whilst not always contradictory are difficult to achieve together. You can’t cry for 6 first gamers in one post and then try to sack the coach for not making finals in another. We will have ups and downs and inconsistent team performances whilst we are playing a young, inconsistent group.
The mantra is WIN A GRAND FINAL! Now, to achieve this, you need to realise that success is not linear. Clubs don’t automatically go up in a steady trajectory to win a flag, it’s up and down, learning, changing things and going again. The draw, injuries, form – it all plays a part and to win one single premiership you need a lot to go right.
- “There is no plan b”.
Do the Eagles have a plan B? Fk no, they put pressure on the ball carrier to force long kicks down the line which they intercept, then go long to big marking forwards. In fact, most sides don’t have a ‘plan b’ they just have a way to get the game on their terms. Our game style has proven to stack up against the literal best sides in the competition but we too often fall down when executing it and rely too much on Saad and McKenna to deliver that run and carry. If we aren’t pressuring the ball carrier and getting fast turnovers at half back we struggle with slow ball movement down the wing. The lack of confidence is extremely evident as we are risk adverse and predictable.
This is a criticism of the game plan btw, I just don’t think the problem is not having a plan b it’s maybe that we don’t have the right cattle, right motivation, right practice, right whatever.
- He doesn’t make moves.
In 2019 if you want Hooker ‘thrown forward’ you should deregister yourself as a fan. He is second in the league for average intercepts per game, we have one of the best defences in the league, he is our best mark, best contested mark, best one on one player and we want to throw him forward and upset that?
- Injuries are a thing, but so is preparation.
We have injuries to extremely important players but they are also reoccurring. Why? What is our preparation like? What is our recovery like? What is our decision making like? These injuries are having a big effect on our season but I refuse to believe they are purely down to luck. We did this ‘reinvent the fitness department’ before and ended up losing 5 years, but questions need to be asked.
How can we start the season with such little intensity?
- We aren’t actually travelling that bad.
Our percentage stands out like dogs balls in the bottom of the ladder. We have played 6 of the top 8 and we are currently 2 wins and 4 losses, however, we have beaten both the teams in the bottom half of the 8 and lost to the top 4. We are the only team to have played two of the top four twice after this weekend. They have been disappointing, reality check losses but we have actually performed against the other top 8 teams quite well.
The issue is we didn’t perform against some of the bottom 8, namely St Kilda and Sydney (who have gone on to prove that’s not such a bad loss). Finals are still on the cards despite all this, despite a loss even this weekend. Will we make it? Who knows, but we aren’t a bottom four team and we are also one of the youngest lists in the AFL.
Anyway, there’s probably more but cbf.
