Always great when Roco comes on… especially after a win!
Swans only play 1 quarter a week, we played 1.5-2 quarters.
We did well to hold on, did leave a sick feeling in the stomach.
But the way North played against Lions (who were complacent) Shows that grinding wins are still ok.
in games decided under 10 points, Brad Scott rules.
10W - 5 L 1 D
compared to previous 3 years
7W 7L 1D
There were encouraging signs individually, and its hard to argue, the way the media are frothing over Caddy and Reid. This week. El-Hawli gave us a taste of what he can deliver on a wing. Imagine having 2 decent wingman. Martin runs about and does as he pleases. McGrath put in a match worthy of a pick 1. Even McKay wasn’t useless. Prior was good. Roberts delivers every week. Goldy pretty much broke even in the hit outs Goldy (29) Grundy (32). We won without Merrett having a major influence on the result. Lots of positives not just from the kids.
5 Likes
Seriously?
This is absolutely delusional in my view. What exactly are you expecting this year?
5 Likes
A gameplan.
Rutten’s first year we were absolutely blue collar. Year two it disappeared when the players got confused with our game plan.
2 Likes
If you can’t see a game plan, that’s on you.
We’re clearly trying to play a possession style of game which is, in part, contributing to the ability to stop teams scoring.
This is super common for teams that are light on experience and id expect some more daring ball movement to come when we have the cattle to bite off some risky targets.
14 Likes
You need to check the scoreboard more as we won 
Lions draw v North should give everyone perspective. Its a close competition and wins are bloody tough
5 Likes
Would you say that the competition is on a knife’s edge?
7 Likes
Thanks Brad.
1 Like
We are playing a rubbish possession game that is shut down by opposition going man on man. Defensively, teams just slice though our zone at ease. We won that game because the swans were terrible in the first half missing 30m targets, then missed they opportunities at goal in the 2nd half.
1 Like
Our pressure was over 200 in the first half that’s elite.
We hunted the Swans by pressuring/forcing them into turn it over and then scored from it
It wasnt rubbish we were very good in how we played in the first half.
9 Likes
OK Nino, Lets see what happens over the next couple of months against the better teams.
Wht are you acting like any of this is a surprise?
Because the stupid media is talking us up.
1 Like
You’ve honestly got no idea if you can’t see how the defensive profile has changed. It might be exposed by better teams, but we’re clearly seeing a game style to combat scores against and give us a chance in most games.
7 Likes
I have only seen slight changes but I’m not convinced. We do seem better organised when opponents have it in our F50. We seem to be dropping back further with our zone. Not pressing as much. F50 pressure looks a little better. General ball movement looks inconsistent as per last few years. Ball movement at times does seem a little slow for my liking, think it’s tied to attempting to get us setup. Over the next month we will see if our defensive setup is better. If we loose but we are not getting smashed or opened up like we did against Collingwood then that will be a step forward. Bulldogs game is going to be really interesting.
3 Likes
So we have a gameplan to combat the crap teams only. Yeah, I can see why everyone is so excited.
Did we get smashed by collingwood? Sure the final margin looks that way, but we were a straight caddy kick away from trailing by 11 points at the 23 minute mark of the last, the margin flattered them
6 Likes
What about Hawks game everyone was raving how well we did even tho we lost
Sure, I don’t think the margin flattered them. I am more interested in watching our ability to defend the ground. As I said I have seen some slight improvements. With decent competition it will show if the systems in place can hold up. I am not expecting us to be a top 4 side defensively but maybe top 8-10 side would show progress.