I was already happy with the decision to trade for Cerra but what he showed tonight alone was better than I thought he was capable of. He is a serious footballer and much harder, stronger and more poised than I gave him credit for. His best is going to be extremely good and he seems to be relishing playing with this group.
Hewett will give you 25-30 quality disposals each week and is as tough as teak. He is a massive in.
Durdin was our best forward across 4 quarters. Really think he has a massive upside and he made a real a impact - 2 goals and 6 score involvements. We had 14-1 inside 50 tackles - that would have to be some sort of record for us.
The last 3 weeks have really shone a light on where we are and there can be NO hiding from it - for the Board, the Exec, the Football Dept and the Players [especially the Leadership Group].
We were sitting 12th at 4 wins and 6 losses but coming off a win. About to play the teams sitting 6th, 7th and 8th at the time. All 3 of those teams had been inconsistent to date [like us]. Our season well and truly on the line and about to hit the road together. The club [and the whole rebuild] about to be face it's most serious examination. A few players coming back from injury so absolutely no excuses and no where to hide.
The total and abject failure of the Coaches and the Senior Players over the last 4 weeks has been staggering. I have watched it all up close live. The overall performance has been insipid and lacking in every department - no one should be above scrutiny such has been the scale of the capitulation. The problems are deep seated and wide spread, and we have effectively shown zero improvement or progress despite years or rebuilding. Our strategy and game plan [if we had one] has utterly failed and shown to be fraudulent at the first real test. Just like it had done in the 6 earlier games against decent football teams. It should shake the very foundations of the club, starting with the Board.
Analysing the individual players is pointless as the problem is existential - what does the Club, and this playing group, stand for? At the moment this is not clear. Winning games of football, competitiveness, hunger for success, uncompromising effort, and having the respect of your opponents [both individually and collectively] for how hard you are to play SHOULD be our core Mission - but right now we have none of this as a collective. They look lost, they play without hunger or heart, and they look like they don't even care that they don't have any of those things. The Club and the Playing group have zero respect.
From the outside looking in it is impossible to know what the internal assessment is of where they are at, their acceptance of the problems and how they think that they will address it and try and turn it around. In professional sport when the pressure comes the Coach is always the first one in the cross hairs and this will be no different. He is ultimately responsible for the wins and losses and the overall effort and attitude of the team. Right now that is deplorable, and nothing Teague has said or done over the last 4 weeks gives me any hope that things will change next week or over the next 8 weeks. Some might think that harsh, and that we are going back to the poisoned well looking for a messiah, but keeping on doing the same thing and expecting a different result is madness.
Just back from watching my 3rd game live in 4 weeks - my 11yo son is still to see them win a game live!
Anyone who thinks their is not a huge problem is having themselves on - the difference in work rate, effort and intensity between us and our opponents is staggeringly bad. And our opponents know it - the opposition midfielders lick their lips when they play us because it will be the easiest 25 possession game they will get all year, and their is little of chance of even getting tackled.
The first half was appalling coming off 2 terrible efforts - they had 2 weeks to prepare and they laid 20 odd tackles. Every time the ball went inside 50 they looked likely to score. At half time 5 of our starting backline had not laid a tackle during 30 inside 50’s - it’s simply amazing that could even statistically happen.
When we lift our intensity and play with some spirit for 10-15 minutes we look competitive and we can score. But then we get opened up so easily and we can’t sustain the effort. It’s been exactly the same thing each week.
I can’t see Teague surviving - it’s not just the losses but how easily we turn it up. Opposition teams pay us zero respect and nor should they - they know if they just keep running and putting pressure on us we will fold and give up the fight. We are reduced to a laughing stock.
The club needs a Ross Lyon or Clarko to get the physical standards and effort levels to a much higher level than what they are now. It is simply soul destroying to watch how insipid this group has become and like most on here I’m finding it very hard to maintain any interest or passion given what they are currently dishing up.
Just back from watching my second game in 7 days - a blessing and curse for my son and I.
Only things to add from last week.
1 - The leadership of this team [captains, senior players and coaches] have some serious questions to answer over the break. The lack of system, structure, desperation and commitment when the going gets hard is glaring - and every opposition knows it. The lack of pressure and blokes going only 80% is shocking. And it starts at the top - Cripps doesn’t run anywhere near hard enough when we don’t have the ball, Murphy is embarrassing in his his lack of physicality and determination, and even Weitering looks like he is struggling to get out of second gear. We have plenty of guys not playing to an acceptable standard, but it always starts at the top. 2 - our ability to execute our skills under pressure and find a player in a better position is amateur hour most of the time. The number of times we crapped ourselves and kicked the ball straight to a WCE player was almost laughable in the end. The way we move the ball forward on anything other than a fast break is excruciating to watch live. 3 - the question I would ask the players and coaches is “what do they stand for”? Their is a lot of very good footballers in that list but collectively they play with no teamwork, no desire and no hunger. They lack physicality, skills and fitness. They aren’t a smart team, or physically tough. At the moment the team stands for absolutely nothing as far as I can see. 4 - after watching the same thing happen 8 times in 12 weeks any sensible leader would ask themselves “what are we going to do differently to get a different result next time?”. What is the circuit breaker or light bulb moment for this group?
You can’t tell me that they haven’t “been rolling the sleeves up a doing the hard work” for the last 12 games so the coach saying that is a nonsense. IMO the coach is on very thin ice as we are clearly a bottom 6 team right now and that is simply not acceptable. I have never been a ‘sack the coach’ person but after watching the same thing for a season and half with almost zero discernible forward progress for this group I would be sounding out Clarkson. We need someone who really knows to set high standards of performance and not settle for anything less.
- We have periods where we looked very good - but we never look like we can sustain it or really make the opposition pay when we have the ascendancy - We are [still] an incredibly predictably dumb team. We make so many basic errors when we have the ball it is embarrassing to watch. Teams know you just put pressure on us, we panic and turn the ball over, and then we get taken apart on the rebound. - Our lack of organisation and inability to control the ball killed us. The swans defence feasted on our turnovers, especially at half forward to launch probably 75% of their scoring. Their defence is very well drilled and organised, and other than H we caused them no problems. Gibbons, Owies and Silvagni are honest triers, but they aren’t going to win you games against good defenders. Throw in Eddie and Fog and it really is a major worry. - When the crunch time came mid way thru the 3rd we simply wilted physically and mentally [again]. We looked like we had no idea, no spark, no mongrel, no hunger to win. We are incredibly meek and every opposition knows it. We never looked like we had the desire or skill to match them when they went up a notch. They dominated the last 30 minutes of that game and never looked like losing, they outnumbered us and they were running way harder and were more precise with the ball in the last when the game was there to be won - Cripps had one of his better games but his skill errors and turnovers are just killers - The coaching & conditioning group have got a lot to answer for. It just the same stuff week after week and we don’t have any real system to our play when you compare us to a well drilled team like Sydney.
I have the chance to do it all again next week against the WCE. My 11yo son is still to see them actually win a game live so here’s hoping.
Am I the only one who has noticed that every time my boy Luke Parks plays we win? He is the talisman!
But seriously what a pick up off the rookie draft this kid is looking like. He already shown in 3 games that he is a very capable intercept mark who backs himself to beat his opponent 1:1 in the air, he has good poise and disposal [went at 100% DE yesterday] and attacks the contest in way I haven't seen in a Carlton backman since Andy McKay and Peter Dean. And he can really close down hard on his opponent - just ask Tippa or Jack Luckosius.
I am certain that Jones and Weiters play better when he is out there because we are a much better balanced unit.
Give the lad another couple of years in the gym and he could be an absolute star.
Will be interested in where and when Nic Newman will come back in. The only like for like is Plow - Stocker is playing the tough small speedy lockdown role, and Saad and Doc are the rebounders. Maybe Plow up to the wing to replace Newnes??
I can't see that a medium / small forward is our priority right now - we have Martin, Murphy, Jack, Honey, Durdin, Ramsay [and Fisher] all on the list who didn't play on the weekend. That's 7 players, plus Matt Kennedy.
We have very limited backup for KP defenders and Ruck. TDK is on the way back which potentially gives you Levi as the only realistic backup for both roles. If Jones or Weiters got injured we would probably play Parkes as a key defender which is not ideal at this stage of his development. One the numbers and the risks I would be looking for a tall asap.
We have turned up our toes here. Our lack of skill and heart is embarrassing. We are no where as a club right now based on our 3 performances against decent opposition. We are miles away.
I thought we were very good upto the middle of the third quarter, and then we took our foot off the gas and started to make dumb decisions with ball in hand and we let them back into the game. For the last quarter and a half it was pretty ordinary footy, but the game was won.
For a team in our position you would love to see us win that game by 80-100 points which I felt we probably should have, such was the gap between the 2 teams.
The biggest issue for me was Levi - he was putrid again imo. If he wasn't playing McKay would have kicked 12 - but Levi often leads his man too where McKay is leading rather than blocking or providing a dummy lead to provide more space for Harry. Against such an under manned defence he really should be doing damage in his own right, but he was very poor. Up until 3qtr time when the game was actually there to be won he had 5 possessions and went at 41% DE overall.
He looks unfit and jogs around the forward line most of the time in the wrong spot. Off the back of his first 2 weeks I would not have played him and I can't see why McDonald isn't given a chance to show whether he can give us more than Levi can.
I love Eddie - but I reckon he will get 2-3 games to prove he can still cut it. Yesterday he was next to invisible - did a couple of nice things and he is always thinking about how to create opportunities for others as much as himself, but when we were dominating against a poor opposition in the 2nd and 3rd qtrs he touched the ball once [which was a great goal]. From a team balance perspective I am not convinced that he and Murphy can both play.
Also impressed with Parks because I think he can be an important link between the talls and the smaller running players. He was desperate and pretty composed with ball in hand and didn't panic [which has been a hallmark of our defence for some time]. Doc played a much better game yesterday, as did Plow and Jones, so that's a tick for the setup. We are still poor as a defence at communicating and working together which is frustrating at this level - the number of times we spoil each other or have 2/3/4 up in a marking contest [look at their goal middway thru the last when all 4 of Plow, Jones, Weiters and Parks flew in a pack and all of them ended up on the ground and the Freo guys walked into open goal] is incredible. The lack of communication from the smaller defenders to call guys in or out is really poor and they need to get that sorted quick smart.
Will be interesting to see what they do - he's unlikely to be an interchange player due to his role so you would think they are picking him to play as the sub. And you wouldn't think he would be the sub either?
I would think he replaces either Willo or Plowman as the 3rd tall. Freo are quite small and fast so I wouldn't think he is a swap for SPS.
Couldn't be more excited - Luke is from my local club.
You won't hear anyone say a bad word about the kid - wasn't a super star as a junior but a a very hard working kid. Went thru the Swans Academy but they didn't rate him at draft time [they took Will Gould from Glenelg who is yet to play] so he luckily went to SA just before Covid lockdown hit to play SANFL at Glenelg to follow his dream. He's a talented intercept marker with good disposal and decision making who has grown physically a lot since his draft year. Will probably keep growing for another few years in a full time professional environment. He has done it hard way.
Think of him as a young Phil Davis. He brings a point of difference as he is a type of player [apart from maybe Caleb Marchbank] that we don't have and could sorely do with. Go well young fella - fingers crossed it is the first of many.........
Surprised no love for Fogarty. 21 disposals and 4 tackles, plus an important goal and 5 score involvements. I thought he was hard at it and composed with the ball when he had it. Pretty good last week as well I thought but looks like a solid pick up.
Also thought Williams in his first game showed plenty. I love his desperation and effort. Hopefully he will be better for the run.
5 goals in the second half both weeks, and zero goals in the final 12 minutes both weeks when the game was there to be won. Absolutely smashed in the time in possession stats both last quarters. Our fittest and hardest working player all game is our youngest player. As a coaching and playing group it is completely unacceptable to not be able to run out games so consistently at this level.
