Why has our form dropped away?

Our form has dropped off a cliff the last month. Is it:

- due to the ASADA investigation sapping morale

- a continuation of a long-term trend and symptomatic of our fitness levels

- because our game plan is physically demanding and not sustainable over a full season

 

Over the past three years we have looked like world-beaters early, before form dropping away markedly. In 2011 and 2012, injuries have hit hard and been a major contributor to our form slide. This season we have had a very good run with injury, yet the trend continues. Though an injury to Watson did hurt. Unlike the previous two seasons, we have had the distraction of the ASADA investigation instead.

 

The possibility that Premiership points would be taken away would have to affect motivation levels. If we are to escape that penalty this season, we have already won enough games to guarantee a finals spot, further eroding motivation. The optimist in me says that now that it is likely that we will be participating in finals, motivation to perform will return as players battle it out for a place in the best 22. The pessimist says that the damage has been done already, and that our form drop has been so significant that there isn't enough time to turn it around and play a meaningful part in September.

 

Looking at the role that fitness levels have to play, and demands that our game plan place on the players, another trend is that each year under Hird we have managed to get further into the season before the form crash. This suggests that while our fitness base hasn't been substantial enough to get us through a full season, there has been incremental improvement each year. If the trend continues, by 2014 we should be able to sustain form for a full season and approach finals with a full head of steam.

 

All of these factors, and probably others too, have contributed to our form crash. But what factor has played the biggest part, and is there time to turn it around? Can't say I have a clue myself.

According to some of the post in the Asada topic, bomber said on 360 that they hardly got time to train the players since they’re with the lawyers most of the time.

This pretty much somewhat contradicts Hirdy who have been saying on his regular Thursday presser that the players have been training favorably.

2011 our form didn't drop away as bad as people think. We won 3 of our last 4 leading into the finals, one win being the poor showing against wooden spooner Port where we came from 7 goals down to win and the loss was against the Eagles where we were right in it until 3/4 time when Watson went off with concussion.

 

We all know about 2012.

 

Hird did mention that the players have had a harder training load the past 6 weeks and that has been evident. And there is no doubt the investigation is taking its toll mentally. The last 3 weeks has seen alot of nasty stuff written in the papers and interviews with ex employees. Remember early in the year there was alot written, then it wetn quiet. We then had the two weeks of interviews which ■■■■■■ us against Brisbane, then quite again until Watson said what he said on On The Couch.

 

Keep in mind 2 of our losses were against Hawthorn and Collingwood, two teams who are better than us. The WCE games was deplorable and it looked as though the players were not there mentally. The Roos game, seriously, I just thought we were outcoached. And our skill level was atrocious, however the endevauor and our attack was all back. If we have the same effort and attack and endevauor as we did against North this week we will beat Carlton.

 

This week will say alot. Players are cleared, we won't lose points this year so we are playing finals, players should be feeling good about themselves. It will come down to gameplan, coaching as well as if what Bomber says is true, being able to coach the players during the week.

Pretty obvious.

 

Coaches are spending lime with Lawyers and not players.

Pretty obvious.

 

Coaches are spending lime with Lawyers and not players.

So coaches are the reason players have stopped chasing opponents and hunting the ball. mmmkay.

 

Pretty obvious.

 

Coaches are spending lime with Lawyers and not players.

So coaches are the reason players have stopped chasing opponents and hunting the ball. mmmkay.

 

Maybe we are setting up poorly and opponents are finding alot more space, hence why we are now being exposed?

 

I was staggered how many times we had huge numbers back yet North still found an easy mark in the forward 50.

Hard to say really.

To honest I knew we were gonna get smashed by hawks, they’re a completely different level.

Collingwood was a chance I thought given their loss to gc a few weeks back. So surprised we got thrashed.

Note watson came back after 3 weeks and I think pies had more of its core vet midfielders? I think we also missed couple players eg Dempster

westcoast was 50/50 seeing the last game was so close,genuinely thought thy played better last time we might have been lucky. But the game was on our turf still got thrashed… I think we competed til last two quarters. missing players, also I think we had some big changes to roster.

north melbourne had 4 players in top 50 player ranking missing ryder, heppell basically our line up was messed up. ALOT of fumbling, skill errors that nm concerted to goals really well its their game plan and style.

Could not kick goals, joe had 4 behinds.

In summary we never had a consistent line up, the players couldnt find options they usually had, hence the fumbles hesitations and lack of flow weve seen in earlier games.

Another thing was opposition uses man on man play style that pressursd us and we in return didnt do that hence we saw the space they had.

We got a lot of work to do to get back in form and fix those issues…

2011 our form didn't drop away as bad as people think. We won 3 of our last 4 leading into the finals, one win being the poor showing against wooden spooner Port where we came from 7 goals down to win and the loss was against the Eagles where we were right in it until 3/4 time when Watson went off with concussion.

 

We also copped a couple of 12 goal thrashings this time 2012 at the hands of Carlton and Collingwood, and got smashed by about 10 goals against the Eagles a couple of weeks later. The there was the 10 goal hiding Carlton gave us in the final. We limped to the line that year.

 

2011 our form didn't drop away as bad as people think. We won 3 of our last 4 leading into the finals, one win being the poor showing against wooden spooner Port where we came from 7 goals down to win and the loss was against the Eagles where we were right in it until 3/4 time when Watson went off with concussion.

 

We also copped a couple of 12 goal thrashings this time 2012 at the hands of Carlton and Collingwood, and got smashed by about 10 goals against the Eagles a couple of weeks later. The there was the 10 goal hiding Carlton gave us in the final. We limped to the line that year.

 

The 12 goal thrashing against Collingwood was due to the injuries already at the club plus losing two players in the first 10 minutes. The Eagles one was the game I mentioned in my post. We were within 2 kicks at 3/4 time, Jobe got smashed head high and went off for the rest of the game (sub already used).

Players look physically spent,being at the games you can’t fault them they are busting their ■■■ most of the time trying to chase but it looks like there running on the spot.

spitting image of last year where by the second quarter it looks as though we had already played a game earlier in the day.very hard to watch at times but can’t help and admire the boys for the year they have gone through.

Personally think it's a cultural problem that has stuck around from the late Sheedy days, and lasted across 3 coaching regimes now.

 

I think the coaches have to take alot of the blame in that aspect, all of them. I believe they've all created an environment similar to the cricket team, where the in crowd get all the leeway in the world. those who aren't thought to be in the best 22 are basically treated like second class citizens.

 

Yes i say that full well knowing we don't get to see anywhere near the full picture of why and how players aren't picked, we see snippets and form opinions trying to join the dots.

 

But once you start playing favourites, for whatever reason, it's a cancer and it spreads, and kills any team moral we've built up early in seasons.

and before people say players should harden up, lets not forget our captain was ready to walk away from the club, if Sheedy continued on, due to his perceived bad treatment (which was prolly true) from the coach, so it can affect anyone and everyone.

That then snowballs and effects every part of the game.

 

Look at Geelong this year, I remember everyone asking how do they keep finding these great young players. They were playing well and given every oppotunity to do so.

Watching the VFL on the weekend, and there was about 4 or 5 of em back in the vfl playing. Why ?

because when anyone is in form, you pick them no matter what. when they aren't, you pick others who are in better form, than the guys you're replacing.

 

Again our perceived starting 22 is picked no matter what, on the basis of favourites. struggling with form or injury doesn't seem to matter, and you're played regardless.

I just don't think that sets a good example, and again morale plummits starting from there, to the point everything drops off dramatically.

* players not working hard enough defensively

* forward line has actually got worse

* TRB have been outcoached (we still haven't found a way to combat a spare man in defense)

* asada and everything it brings

* mids are struggling

* we are getting some terrible calls from the maggots. Trying to remember the last time we got an iffy call go for us in our forward 50.

* players not working hard enough defensively

* forward line has actually got worse

* TRB have been outcoached (we still haven't found a way to combat a spare man in defense)

* asada and everything it brings

* mids are struggling

* we are getting some terrible calls from the maggots. Trying to remember the last time we got an iffy call go for us in our forward 50.

Also add that we have taken the Adelaide approach to pre-season training ie the players are fit and raring to go in round 1. None of this Sydney approach where by they work there way into a season. It is a very long season and the players seem exhausted (mentally as much as physically). This can be turned around quickly, but we really need Dempsey and Winderlich in the team to provide that outside spark we require.

 

I have to agree about the umpires. I know all teams get a bad run every now and then (except West Coast) but an even handed display would do us wonders.

According to the stats on this site we have about 5 threads that have scored 10 to 16 thousand views battling it out for 2nd to 5th as the most viewed thread since the old site crashed. Out in front with 490,000+ viewings and a full head of bilious steam is the thread that disappeared up its own sphincter months ago. That says a lot about the unprecedented nature of the onerous environment the players are forced to work in. Just wish there was a way to quarantine them from all the crap. Then we might find out how good they really are.

For whatever reason, we’ve stopped running.

Forwards allowed goal side, midfielders allowed outside. Because we’ve stopped running.

We have a spare man in defence (same as our opposition), but we kick to a contest from a point.

Because we’ve stopped running.

Kicks and handballs to stationary targets. Everybody now…

We’re being tackled to death while not laying tackles ourselves. Why?

We’re forced sideways, backwards, get corralled and when the turnover comes all of our players are forward of the ball because…

I don’t know if it comes from mental fatigue or physical fatigue or just ill-discipline, but it’s that.

Run & spread, we are not getting numbers to each contest. We are getting out numbered far too easily and it appears to be the same problem as last year.

I think it’s fatigue, we are just not fit enough to run out a full season. However, could it be mental fatigue? I really don’t know how the mental & physical exhaustion from everything could impact our run?

It just looks all too familiar.

The players are spent. Just like last year and the year before that.

Personally think it's a cultural problem that has stuck around from the late Sheedy days, and lasted across 3 coaching regimes now.

 

I think the coaches have to take alot of the blame in that aspect, all of them. I believe they've all created an environment similar to the cricket team, where the in crowd get all the leeway in the world. those who aren't thought to be in the best 22 are basically treated like second class citizens.

 

Yes i say that full well knowing we don't get to see anywhere near the full picture of why and how players aren't picked, we see snippets and form opinions trying to join the dots.

 

But once you start playing favourites, for whatever reason, it's a cancer and it spreads, and kills any team moral we've built up early in seasons.

and before people say players should harden up, lets not forget our captain was ready to walk away from the club, if Sheedy continued on, due to his perceived bad treatment (which was prolly true) from the coach, so it can affect anyone and everyone.

That then snowballs and effects every part of the game.

 

Look at Geelong this year, I remember everyone asking how do they keep finding these great young players. They were playing well and given every oppotunity to do so.

Watching the VFL on the weekend, and there was about 4 or 5 of em back in the vfl playing. Why ?

because when anyone is in form, you pick them no matter what. when they aren't, you pick others who are in better form, than the guys you're replacing.

 

Again our perceived starting 22 is picked no matter what, on the basis of favourites. struggling with form or injury doesn't seem to matter, and you're played regardless.

I just don't think that sets a good example, and again morale plummits starting from there, to the point everything drops off dramatically.

What?  Really?

 

Name the bloke that is getting preferential treatment, and who the player is that should have his spot and is being dudded.

 

The one guy that you could make this claim about last year was Melksham.  And I'd suggest this year has proven that getting games into the lad has been a win (much to my amazement).

 

 

Pretty obvious.

 

Coaches are spending lime with Lawyers and not players.

So coaches are the reason players have stopped chasing opponents and hunting the ball. mmmkay.

 

Maybe we are setting up poorly and opponents are finding alot more space, hence why we are now being exposed?

 

I was staggered how many times we had huge numbers back yet North still found an easy mark in the forward 50.

 

Coaching may be to blame partially, the ASADA strain may also be partially to blame. But this is the same ■■■■ we are copping as per the previous seasons. For whatever reason, the players either give up mentally (not a physcial thing this year) or they are simply incapable of playing the same gameplan for an entire year (and fall into old bad habits).

 

It is sad, but while we were going strong, I never wnated to jump fully on the lid off bandwagon because our real litmus test is winning games in the last 1/3 of the season. And again we have failed. This time may be different, but until we win and play well in the last 1/3, we are just amking up the numbers. We never play our best footy when it counts. So what is the point if that is the case.

 

Have to change things considerably next year, or change players (not wholesale either).

The players are spent. Just like last year and the year before that.

If GC in their 3rd year can perfom late in the season.......