I thought a comparison between the competitiveness of the rd 2 team vs yesterday would yield quite a difference, given the terrible result. Here are the teams:
Rd 2: Melb
FB 49 Matt Dea 28 Mitch Brown 12 Mark Baguley
HB 42 James Gwilt 36 Michael Hartley 43 Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
C 9 Brendon Goddard 11 David Zaharakis 20 Jackson Merrett
HF 7 Zach Merrett 29 Patrick Ambrose 30 Kyle Langford
FF 48 Mathew Stokes 6 Joe Daniher 38 Nick Kommer
FOLLOWERS 22 Matthew Leuenberger 3 Darcy Parish 51 Ryan Crowley
INTERCHANGE 8 Martin Gleeson13 Orazio Fantasia 17 Adam Cooney 47 James Kelly
Rd 11: Freo
B Courtenay Dempsey, Patrick Ambrose, Shaun Edwards
HB Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, James Gwilt, Matt Dea
C Jackson Merrett, David Zaharakis, Will Hams
HF Brendon Goddard, Mitch Brown, Darcy Parish
F Mark Baguley, Joe Daniher, Adam Cooney
FOL Matthew Leuenberger, Ryan Crowley, Orazio Fantasia
I/C Zach Merrett, Martin Gleeson, Craig Bird, Kyle Langford
Out: Hartley, Kommer, Stokes, Kelly
In: Dempsey, Edwards, Bird, Hams
Not that big a difference and certainly nothing to explain the difference in competitiveness. No Hartley was a loss of KPD height but at least Dempsey is in a similar role. Overall looks to be a similar balance in height/roles but the team was so comprehensively outplayed/coached. Have the opposition teams simply worked out all the tricks we used in the Melbourne game and we have nothing else up our sleeve?
Nothing to do with personnel. We couldn’t execute basic skills last night. Fremantle came out really sharp too and were clinical in order to bury the tanking hatchet IMO (though I do question how “team shows they are capable of playing way better than they have been all year” buries the tanking hatchet).
Melbourne dropping the ball against us gave everyone else a free lesson not to. We were also turned on then, with our first home game, the walk, etc. we were turned off last night.
If you want to see the difference between a turned on team and a turned off team, compare the pathetic Collingwood that lost today by 67 pts with the one that beat Geelong by 24 pts not that much difference in quality of personnel but a massive 91 point difference on the scoreboard…
We got around 9 players out of best 22 - As a reference look at the form of GC and Collingwood who are injury ravaged - That's your answer.
My point is not why we are getting thumped, but why is there such a difference in performance between the rd 2 and all the more recent sides. Personnel is not much different but we are getting comprehensively outplayed. Rd 2 was a ripper from Zaka, Zerrett and Daniher, seems that if you shut down 2 of the 3 you have pretty much won the game.
We got around 9 players out of best 22 - As a reference look at the form of GC and Collingwood who are injury ravaged - That's your answer.
My point is not why we are getting thumped, but why is there such a difference in performance between the rd 2 and all the more recent sides. Personnel is not much different but we are getting comprehensively outplayed. Rd 2 was a ripper from Zaka, Zerrett and Daniher, seems that if you shut down 2 of the 3 you have pretty much won the game.
My post provides an answer - Its up to you whether you accept it.
Lot of players to a varying degree are cooked. We have a mix of young players, new to AFL players, top ups with limited pre-seasons, and very few in between. When the players are cooked it looks like a lack of effort but I am sure it is not.
In saying this every year at about this time we have really dropped away. This has been happening for a long time. Only difference is this year we need to be at 100% just to compete. We will cop plenty more floggings like this one. But Perhaps we are behind other teams in the fitness and recovery area?
The people blaming the coach have NFI as far as I am concerned.
There is a difference between blaming the umpires for a loss, and recognising that there was a fair bit of ■■■■ umpiring.
Anyway, I don’t know what people were really expecting this year from this team. We’ve exceeded my expectations so far.
It’s not just that its kids, a few VFL players, and a couple of seniors - there’s no way a group thrown together in the manner they have been can be expected to do anything much. They’ve played 10 games together and there’s been changes every week. The blitz gnashing of teeth is ridiculous if predictable.
The one thing I question is why its fine for opposition teams that are much, much better than us decide to use a tag, but despite having one of the best taggers of the last 10 years, we can’t use him in that role. Anyway, it’s all moot now, if it was anything other in the first place.