Carlton Supporters Club

Just had a look at Longmuir's press conference.
A shell-shocked, shattered mess.
No idea what went wrong or what to do about it.
Not sure he will be there much longer.

I read this morning that Fremantle are the 4th or 5th youngest list in the AFL, so I guess that may partly explain their indifferent form over the season. No doubt some will take the view that Justin Longmuir is the most boring man in AFL football, and puts the players to sleep. Personally, I find his calm, unruffled demeanour to be a pleasant antidote to some of the other AFL coaches.

Lods, I suspect most supporters only watch the press conferences relating to their team. I have for a number of years tried to watch as many as time allows, for all teams, and Longmuir's body of work over time definitely matches my description. Yesterday he was off his normal standard by a fair way IMO.

It's a perception thing Paul.
We can look at the same press conference and see different things.
I didn't think he looked calm and unruffled in his press conference yesterday....or even boring.
He looked very disappointed, vague, fumbly and gave the impression of someone without a lot of answers...other than the fact the side was young.
But they've gone backwards and are extremely inconsistent this season.
Now those are views that are shared by quite a few Fremantle supporters last night and today.
But their side just had a pretty bad loss and they've reacted pretty much how we do when we have a bad run.
Many are calling for a change...but their options are probably a bit more limited, and they're not as attractive as a destination for a 'coach in  waiting'.

Just on the 'other' team.
One point Voss made in his presser was that they had 'simplified the game plan and the players had embraced that and as a result were playing better'

Which begs the questions...
Was the game plan they were using in the first part of the year too complicated for our guys and beyond their capabilities and skill level?
We're they not embracing it previously?
What changes were made to the plan.
Was there some truth to the discontent and were some 'hard' conversations undertaken.

Rocky, Cripps polled 181 votes in the 2022 B+F. Docherty was 2nd with 173 votes.

It only looks that way because Darcy isn't the smartest ruckman going around (just one of the strongest). He is fairly predictable in how he plays and how he delivers the ball. If he changed things up occasionally, make himself more predictable to him teammates instead of his opponents, it would be different.
To be honest, not a lot of modern ruckmen are matchwinners; they do a lot of push and shove and forget some of the most important lessons in ruck play.
NicNat has been one of the most complete rucks of recent times; he guides taps do moving mids, he doesn't just do the same things any time, he is willing to give the ball a huge bash sometimes and he often is in the play after the initial contest. he is the sort of ruck that makes premierships.
Not many of that type around these days. There are a lot of crash and bash rucks, who can be effective, but most don't deliver the ball that well.
Pittonet is a crash and bash type, but he can aim his taps pretty well. Not as good this year as he was last, but other teams. have done a lot more work on him, and he has been injured or recovering from injury a lot. But he has the problem in that he is predictable; he almost never smashes the ball forward, for example. That can be a lethal trick, if his mids are ready for it.

Breeann Moody does the big smash more than most rucks. The problem was that few of our mids were prepared for it. That has changed a bit, while Moody is developing her directional tapping better than she used to.

To be a great ruck, you need to be a thinker, not just strong, which limits many modern rucks.

Lets not forget something very important about the game plan, Voss and the coaches developed it around what the players thought about how they wanted to play and what they felt best suited them. The reason for it was so that there was total buy in (ie they all owned it).

Well beaten in rucking contests but I thought the game plan for our rucks was very effective.
Harry was very good rucking up forward.
Young was very effective dropping into defence and contributed a lot at ground level.
Silvagni seemed to spend less time in the ruck but was an excellent contributor around the ground.

Freeing up Weitering, from the last line of defence, continues to pay dividends and the rest of the defenders are developing into a real collaborative team with a willingness to contribute in attacking runs.  The other big difference with the defence is the long-overdue midfield pressure on the ball carriers.  This was massive in each of the past 3 games and it really shows the difference if it drops off even a little bit.  Probably one of the reasons for Dow, LOB and Fisher languishing in the ressies.

How hard, and important is Jack Martin! Fumbled early, but put in a great second half, his pressure is elite! (That bump!!)