When I watch our team play there's one thing that certainly resonates in my pea brain, I wish some of our players would have a bit more **** (its a word I cant say but you should be able to work it out) in them. I really feel we get bullied way to easily. We should NEVER back down, NEVER take a backwards step, ALWAYS stand up for your mates. Now you probably think what is this idiot going on about, but in all seriousness there is a time and a place now for a brawl or a bit of fisty cuffs if its going to turn the match around to our advantage.
The senior players should know when this is needed by pure instinct alone and get it happening. I'd love to see it especially when we become a better team to show that we are not to be messed with.
If you are going to go down at least go down fighting imo.
Murph is continuing to prove that he was a token selection as captain for publicity etc and nothing else. Richmond were on the charge and only a couple points behind and he got walked through by Griffiths on their fifty heading towards goal.
Any captain in the AFL let alone the better ones would have gone in just to make a collision any sort of way, they were pushing at this point someone had to push back not stand and try to hug him as he coming towards you. There is no natural or instinctive behavour about Murph as a captain and he can't sense the moment in games and was never a leader. Same goes to the rest of the "leadership" group.
I did a little experiment for myself, I went thru our entire playing list and had a good hard look at who I would choose as captain if I could wave my magical fairy wand and sprinkle some fairy dust (minds out if gutter please!!), I really could not find anyone. So as much as people are banging on about Murphy being a questionable captain, who else would you choose to step in right now?
History tells us that great players careers have been hampered or held back by being made captain. The additional responsibility, the burden and the expectation simply bogs them down and they just cant be themselves because they are simply not being themselves. Does the club announce that Murphy is stepping down because he cant cope because that is a huge slap in the face no matter which way you look at it.
I can only speak personally here from my own experience as being a manager where I had to lead 27 people in a medium size company.. I had some pretty basic philosophies that I always followed. I always set the expectation and foundation of what I expected from everyone else. I was never late for work, I never took sickies. No job was to lowly for me to do, I remember a few times jumping inside the large bin skip hosing it down and brushing it down from all the mold and stuff that would be rotting inside, my god that stunk! I would always assist others and help them, I was never afraid to take chance and put my neck on the line for others to help them out whether it was for work or things outside of work. I relished getting my hands dirty. I told people clearly and concisely when they were performing well/poorly, I don't believe in grey areas, things are black and white for me. If i could do it then i expected everyone else to do it, its simple really.
This is what i expect of the captain, he should be running the hardest, being the loudest, crunching the hardest, he should be expectation and foundation of the rest of the team, leading by example, because if our captain is doing by golly the rest of the team should be bloody well do it also.
Can anyone who watched it live confirm that we played man on man the whole match ?
There is no chance of this, many many times when the tiggies had the ball they had 2 - 3 loose men to pass too. They ran harder than our blokes and made space and broke away..sadly very easily as well.
We continue from where we left off last year unfortunately.
This is exactly how i felt at certain parts in the game. I was there last night like I'm sure many of you were as well. Gee it was a tough game to watch. When the game was on our terms we did really well, that being the first quarter.
As soon as the pressure was put on us we simply fell to bits. We were unable to stop the late hemorrhaging, especially as it started soon into the 2nd quarter. You could see the structure, system crumble before your very eyes. The skills just fell away in a heartbeat, and then they started with the bombing, not looking for targets and just hoping for the best.
I'm going to reserve my judgment on how we are looking after 5 rounds, to judge the team as a whole on one poo poo performance imo is a little short sighted.
I just wish i could have had a happier Easter, oh well
Yazz is picking the spaces and forecasting where the ball is going to go very well. Seems to be thinking and being proactive and improving his footy smarts
