Re: AFL Rd 5 2023 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Adelaide
Reply #115 –
Couldn't agree more... but then, after the bye, not so much. We started this year much like we finished last year with the exception -- until Thursday night -- we were winning - just.
Love to know what you believe the reasons are, old son. Personally, I see injuries, inconsistency in games and out of form or just not up to it blokes taking the field. Our safe and conservative approach at the selection table also contributes to the issues.
Baggers I can't pin point any one thing, there are multiple factors at play here and the ones you mention are certainly some.
Injuries: There are some on our injury list that just aren't worth worrying about or factoring in simply because they are never a factor because they never ever seem to play. Doc and Gov out hurt us for sure, the selection committee has a lot to answer for with respect to the replacements bought in. I refuse to single out players from Thursday night's catastrophe but I will say Kemp, Cincotta and one of Dow/Fogarty should have played. In other words, I dont think the correct replacements played. Would they have made a difference on Thurs? No one knows really but we would have known more today. I didn't like the idea of rotating George or Cerra to the half backline when you have other replacements and those 2 could have remained at the coalface where they belong. Where did we get smashed the most on Thurs? At the coal face especially in the first qtr.
I do think there is an element of pacing themselves. What I mean by that is the our first half of the year last year was "all in", pedal to the metal to the bye. After that we dropped off severely, maybe because the guys looked thrashed. Perhaps, there is a concerted effort this year to better manage their loads (at training and in game) to minimise the effects of injuries.
I tend to think our game style may have been tinkered with a little and perhaps the blokes are still coming to grips with it. We are definitely not doing to the basics right, whether that be errant kicks or handballs, spilling easy marks, ineffective tackles (this one is a big problem for mine) or simply trying to be too cute (how many overhead backwards handballs did we do and mess up the other night). We also seem to be selecting the wrong options far too often, like giving off to say a left footer who only has his right side to work with.
All this can be fixed (I think), it's just a question of how much damage did that loss do between the ears of our players and coaches. Now I have seen us rectify structural problems and tidy up ball movement within games this year, I'd like to think (or hope) we can do it in 9 or 10 days this time. Finals aren't made or won in March, April or May.
Topic: AFL Rd 5 2023 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Adelaide (Read 4176 times)
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