Yep.
The quality of our clearances have been terrible for the better part of a decade now.
When the opposition win it, they get it to within 40m of goal and give their forwards a chance.
We seem to get a grubber kick out to a flank or to the wing and work far harder to hive our forwards the same opportunity.
Surely the coaches had considered the possibility of Buddy ripping the game apart and what strategy to implement should that happen. Surely. Everyone knew it could happen, and there we were five minutes into the second and he’s slammed on three. It should’ve been complete lock down and holding possession from the mids and backs till half time. But we shat the bed and it opened wider and they piled on another seven.
So that’s either:
- Coaches went with no plan B.
- Communication breakdown, no one on field knew how to follow coaching instructions.
- Players knew exactly what needed to be done but didn’t/couldn’t.
- The backup plan was bogus to begin with.
Farked if I know, but I’m leaning towards 3. I’d hate to think we went through a season and into a final with any of the other three a possibility.
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Hird is a much better match day coach. Flame me but I would have him back in the box with Woosha to do match day coaching.
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How about we employ a fulltime “credentialed” midfield coach to start with!
Worstfold says:
“They were a better prepared team”
That is his OWN words… that our opposition were a better prepared team. So why were they better prepared? Do we have players not listening? Did Woosha not prepare enough?
I can accept we got beaten by a better team but how the fark do you say the opposition were “better prepared” and not raise alarm bells???
I’m not suggesting he is wrong… you are damn right Sydney were better prepared. They have better structures, a better game plan and more team discipline. They have a better culture and a better attitude.
How about next time we go into a final… we have a coach that is better prepared.
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How about we get a decent midfield?
Our problems stem from there. The backline is constantly under the pump due to our pathetic midfield. Its not the system its the individuals. Take out Zack and maybe Zaka and Parish…the rest are garbage.
No coach can improve that midfield. Our scores come from attacks from the backline because the midfield is ■■■■■. We have to win the ball back every game before we can go forward. Its not the coach, its the cattle
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Are you serious he did that? Fark me you’d think his main job is for us to be as best prepared as possible.
our midfield hasn’t been there for many years and if its not fixed then we are just making up numbers
If the coach doesn’t realise that after last night hell never wake up.
as I keep saying we are a NICE team…now just think about the top teams and none of them are described as nice!
Fix the midfield and we be moving up!
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“We played a team that was more prepared, harder and just a better finals group,” Worsfold said.
I don’t have an issue with labelling them a ‘better finals group’ and probably even ‘harder’ but yeah… more prepared really stung a little… he says it in the video and post game too.
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I think that is more of a dig at the playing groups attitude going into the game rather than the game practice and drills. They were more mentally prepared to work their butts off. It was obvious our players were not.
Could possibly mean “more prepared” as they know alot of what is expected to play well in finals as they’ve had more finals experience.
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That is scary.
That is close to an admission of failure on the part of the coaches.
Caracella has either played or been an assistant coach and been involved in winning a premiership at every club he has been at so far, except Richmond. Richmond people have said they owe much of the change in the game day plays to Caracella. They are a force to be reckoned with, like them or not.
So, using Richmond as a positive example because until recently, many of us looked at them negatively and called them Ninthmond. We might be Ninthmond now. As a club they seem to be on track and doing a lot right from only a year ago, when the media were screaming for Dimma’s throat. Success has not come to Richmond without pain, disappointment and discomfort.
Are we too conservative as a club (not taking into account the supplement drama) and are we dragging our feet resisting change?
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The swans have been in 19 of the last 20 finals campaigns
Of course they were better prepared
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Could mean a few things without any real context to judge it on. Physically, tactically, emotionally , team balance, etc etc.
My concerns with the coaching group as a whole revolve more around developing the next gen - i didnt like the reluctance to back a few kids over more ‘senior’ bodies - and our midfield balance/setups. We were 0-7 for centre clearances at one stage yesterday. That procession saw everything fall to pieces elsewhere.
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Haven’t listened,… but isn’t it more likely he said, or at least meant “Mentally” prepared? … and if he did, he’s right, and there isn’t much for it but Finals experience/schooling, which they just had.
Difficult to imagine he would have been saying, “I/we didn’t prepare the players well enough”, …
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Need a couple of fresh assistant coaches and couple of good midfielders.
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Yeah possibly/probably… but I reckon 95% of the blokes on Blitz had a pretty good idea what we needed to do to beat Sydney… and yet we did none of it.
So if the players aren’t listening… then why not? Are they the wrong players? Is the message too complicated? Is the message not clear enough?
We play a zone up the ground and we have been carved up over and over all year… that is a COACHING issue… that is a clear direction that you are to ‘sag off’ and allow the easy lead up kick and mark. Presumably the idea is to slow the ball movement down to allow more time for our defensive zone to set up. Unfortunately it means, in reality, that most of our slow ■■■ mids are caught in no mans land against teams with quick, decisive ball movement.
In the backline we positioned Goddard as the ‘loose sweeper’ but he was starting at the D50… he should have been starting 15m in front of Franklin. Ambrose was left on an island and he got burnt in a 20 minute display of dominance. A change in positioning and match ups did come… but the damage was done. Our ability to respond to game day situations is sickeningly slow.
Our strength was on the outside and yet TBell consistently drops the ball ‘at the hip’ and played right into Sydneys hands. The ruck should have been instructed to clear it wide of the contest to allow guys like Parish, McGrath and zaharakis to find more space.
Sydney defenders sit ‘back should’ with one sweeper about 20m off the last ‘pair’ at centre ground, and the sweeper moves only about 5m off the centre corridor line as the ball travels down. The Sweeper only commits to one side once the ball passes the centre circle. This makes the switch across ground utterly useless and pointless against the swans. Everyone knows this and yet we tried to implement it time and time again.
Sydney force you to back yourself, pick a side and attack quickly… and try to beat their defenders 1-1… we played into their hands beautifully. When we did go quick… JD actually looked quite damaging.
So yeah… maybe the players weren’t mentally prepared… don’t know, I’m not in their head but I know for absolute certain that our game plan was not prepared to play and win against Sydney. At all.
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Listening to a small portion of Woosha pre game speech, I have to say I was NOT inspired. Speaking in mono tones, reserved body language, maybe that’s just his style.
Were our players so focussed on TRUSTING each other, that we weren’t switched on and didn’t turn up to play in the quarter? Consequently we were completely over-run. It was all over before it begun. Not only that, we lacked intensity more so than I have seen us in a long time. Nerves??? What happened??? We were like the deer overcome by the car’s headlights???
That game for us, was nothing but a forfeit.
I want caracella at Essendon. He’s proven himself at other clubs. I don’t want Dustin Fletcher to walk into a role without actually coaching somewhere else in some capacity. I’d have Kelly as a coach but not in too important a role, a developmental role perhaps.
I just don’t think we can do the same old Essendon think of bring the old boys club we’ve been for a while.
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