Talent that plays without desperation doesn’t win premierships.
Desperation is always essential. Every successful team in any sport has it. The best teams also have talent and tactics and systems; but those things alone don’t create a successful team.
Nobody would argue any one thing does. Talent, experience, system, fitness…
So the question is how to get as quickly from being a mediocre team to being a good one possible.
I think the problem here is the word ‘desperation’. I see it as more focus, determination, application, in that order. ‘Desperation’ harks back to a one-on-one biff it out type of play, which is basically obsolete. Teams are a kind of machine. They need to be efficient and with all parts working together as much as possible. Ideally, teams need to maximise their strengths while minimising their weakness, and do the reverse to the opposition. Very little needs to go out of sync in even the slickest of machines for it to run unacceptably poorly. This common effect is most usually seen as ‘poor effort’ or lack of care’ by punters. Or as commonly - ‘do something!!!’ cries. The important part - the ‘something’ is what tends to be either glossed over or thrown a token bone - like "tag Mitchell’.
We’ve had this discussion before and I don’t think either of us is going to convince the other. For me, it’s as plain as the nose on your face, it sticks out like dogs’ gonads, etc., etc., that the one thing that a team needs above everything else is absolute commitment, determination, desperation to win – to get to the ball and win the ball. Without it, no team will have real success. It’s the one thing that should be non-negotiable with the leaders of the club. To be successful you need other things as well: talented players (not necessarily a lot of them); discipline; fitness; a good coach; but without commitment and desperation, they’ll get you nowhere.
You seem to think that there are other things more important than commitment and desperation: systems, game plan, I don’t know what else; and that when it comes to a big game the coach can say to the team, “Oh, by the way, guys, today you need to play with desperation and commitment,” and somehow it will magically happen. I think that’s fanciful.
But there you are. You’re entitled to your opinion and no doubt you’ll stick to it. Wrong as it is.
I never rate O’Meara ?every since the media got on his bandwagon when he won the Norwich rising Star, when shiel nominated Essendon as a preferred designated club, we should collect it our thought ,buyers regret
If we wanted to retain Merrett or recruit more elite talent, what would be more important?
A. This years wins and losses
B. The way the team function, their system, effort and belief by seasons end.
For me it’s B
For our side, I’m not sure anybody has been able figure that out, and it’s doesn’t appear anytime soon either.
I kinda agree with HAP. You know the saying, train smart, not train hard? With the squad we have right now, it’s all about developing and learning what our strengths are, so it makes it easier to know what our system needs to be, and trust it to win us games in a couple of years.
This doesn’t mean losing at will, though.
but conversely, also understand if you dont wanna subject yourself to it.
The Parish v Shiel numbers are going to tell an interesting story again. But a very different one to last week, me thinks.
To win games, sure.
To build a side, the focus needs to be on structure, recruitment and gameplan.
Putting the focus entirely on (displayed) desperation is just going to result in a team full of mid career jobbers, and fewer games into the less seasoned, but more talented, kids.
And the mid career jobbers aren’t cutting the mustard
James Kelly was our stoppage coach, I wonder how much of an impact of him leaving is having on our performance in the midfield
About what? Parish? He had an absolute nightmare, never seen him miss so many handballs. It happens.
Parish and Langford are going to get their chance now with Caldwell out and presumably Shiel.
Any official word on Shiel yet?
Thought Langford played alright when shifted on ball in the last
The whole team was scared and nervous. I don’t know anyone in our club has answers to that mental issue.
We were beaten before the first bounce.
As I said, we’ve had this argument before. The difference between us is that you see structure, game plan, etc., as somehow separate from desperation and endeavour; whereas my belief (which I think you’ll find is shared by every single successful coach of any contact sport you care to name) is that any game plan or structure or whatever that doesn’t have 100% intensity and commitment right at its core is doomed to failure.
Could see us giving more time to Smith and Tippa in the middle, if Stringer returns he will get some midfield time aswell.
Well see - there you’ve used ‘intensity & commitment’ instead of ‘desperation’. And with that little change, I agree with you.
Excellent, although I would have thought that desperation, endeavour, intensity, commitment, effort, etc., were pretty much synonymous in this context. If we’d shown 100% intensity and commitment in the third quarter against Hawthorn they wouldn’t have scored 8 goals and we would have won the game.