Any sort of round robin competition would only be to fill some space. It shouldn't and couldn't be deemed a "premiership" for the winner. Play it in that spirit and it would be OK. Players would appreciate a run of sorts even if it was only for a half dozen games then into the off-season with a bit of match practice behind them.
The problem would be the draft. That could possibly be solved by a lottery for positions from 2019. Top half in one pool and bottom half in another.
Nice thoughts Capcom....and it is quiet at present.
It's a funny situation and a little difficult to explain. I just have no 'feel' for football at the moment. Normally at this time of the year I'd be glued to the site but at the moment it has a very low priority. I'm in the process of buying and selling a home. I'm living in a hired caravan at my daughters, who is due to have a baby in two months time, and I have some concerns over my own health that put me in a position where I really cant afford to get a dose of the 'dreaded'.
Having said that I think there is a general quietness on site. That stems from the rather unique position we find ourselves in. You see, apart from a few weeks around Christmas the football (and discussion) never really stops in a normal year. During the season we have plenty to discuss in terms of games and player performance. Then there are the finals followed quickly by a frantic trade and draft period that takes us through to November. A couple of weeks break for Christmas and then it's back to preseason training and the anticipation of the coming season.
Contrast that with this period. No football, no training, and no real idea when and if things can return to normal, what that will look like and what the fall-out will be.
My personal preference would be that we scrap the season. It won't be a true competition. That doesn't mean 'no football' and if the opportunity presents itself we could play some type of World Cup competition over a couple of months, with a round robin set up in 3 or four groups followed by a few weeks of quarters, semi and finals.
How can a group of young men possibly have their total concentration on playing football at this time....especially when a look into the stands will reinforce that these are not normal times.
Madness at the shops this morning but by about 1.00pm it had died down to a normal Sunday. I suspect a lot of folks got a bit jittery after some of the restrictions that are being advised over the last few days and took the opportunity to stock up.
Surprisingly the only items I was looking for that were completely sold out at my particular Woolworths was pump soap. Yesterday it was canned tomatoes. They still had a couple of multi-packs of toilet paper.
But Lods, there was not even a glimpse (to me) that we can fight when the 4 points are up for grabs. Read my post carefully, we are making the same mistakes over and over and over. Not being able to compete for 4 qtrs is a real worry. For example, Setterfield had a bread and butter shot from from around 30m out directly in front at the Royal Parade end. He sprayed it badly. This is an end where they train this week in week out and have shot after shot. You tell me there is no intensity or pressure in these games and yet he simply misses. Just plain UNACCEPTABLE. Excuses keep getting made year after year, I am effin sick of it. I say again, Its not the loss per se', its the way we lost, same as every other loss for the last 5 years. If we were trying something totally different and we lost, I would get it. But it was a full dress rehearsel for round 1, David Teagues words pre,match on FOX not mine. Well if thats the dress rehearsal, we're forked.
It might very well be that what we're seeing is an indication of how our season will pan out. I sincerely hope not. But the way I look at it is this....It's a long season. Players know that in the next few weeks they're going to have to switch up to another level. Experienced players like Kreuzer, Simpson and Murphy have been around long enough to know that they need to pace themselves at this time of year so they can see the season through. Even Cripps seemed to dial it down a gear as the game went on. It doesn't require a massive drop in effort but this is nowhere near the level of attack on player and ball we'll see in round 1. These matches are really just a run, a bit like a racehorse racing at different distances before settling into the main focus of a campaign. While it's nice to say they should be a '100% all the time' in these games or 'you play as you train' it's now a bit cliché. Training loads and intensity are much more sophisticated than they were back in the days. We have no idea of the training loads in the days leading up to these games but I suspect there will now be a bit of a freshening up as we head towards the Richmond game. Skill errors by players are likely to hurt their chances of selection, so those who don't execute will be lucky to play unless they bring other attributes. We'll find out in a few days if what we've seen is what we'll get.
Some of us are a little (greatly) concerned after the practice games. Others are a "wait until the proper stuff starts" type of supporter. I've always been in the latter camp. There's nothing wrong with either train of thought...it's just different.
I remember when we used to win, or go very well, in the pre-seasons only to fall in a heap once the season proper started. It's chalk and cheese. Have a look at the results in some of the other practice games and tell me that's a true indication of the relative strengths of some sides.
We won't know which way it goes until the first shots are fired in 'anger'....and for me that's the main difference between practice games and regular season games. There's no anger., no intensity and very little pressure in these games. It will increase dramatically when 4 points are on the line. Some clubs will thrive under those conditions, others will falter. That's when we'll be able to see where we really stand.
Just a positive one...Coles at Wynnum Plaza today. Walked into empty shelves and just as I was about to go to the next aisle out came a trolley of TP. No mad rush. Folks just stood back while the store people unloaded. After they'd finished people helped themselves and just about everyone only took a single packet despite a store limit of 4. Maybe it's calming down a bit.
The irony is that the 'dills that went troppo' for the toilet paper actually made it so that sane people who would just purchase on a needs basis were left struggling to find some if they hadn't made a recent purchase. They were able to say 'Who is silly now?"...well it's still you, you silly rabid folks! Makes you wonder how things would go in a real apocalyptic situation....seeing this is just the "pre-season"
There's also now the stigma many will feel now when they actually get around to making a legitimate purchase. The judgemental glances we'll receive at the checkouts for our 8 rolls of double length Quilton.
But isn't a practice game the ideal time to use and test tactics? I sure would have thought so
It's a time for a whole lot of different things. You try some new roles, tactics and matchups without giving too much away. The side against Richmond (Rnd 1)will be different to the side that played Freo I suspect the last practice game before Round 1 will be closest to our starting line up but even then we'll probably try a few different things in terms of game time and tactics.
I’m not too concerned about the players or their skills. Our list is better than it was last season, injuries heal and skills execution can be up and down. What concerned me most about the Freo game was the apparent lack of positive action from the coaching box. Of course, that could be down to fitness and conditioning restrictions limiting Teague’s capacity to address Freo’s tactics and favourable matchups.
I reckon the club will be desperate for a better showing next game so that the membership momentum continues. If so, we may see more proactive coaching and fewer players having their game time limited.
I guess the unknown here is how Teague is using these games. It may be that he persists with a match-up or tactic in practice game for a bit longer than he would in a regular season game simply because he wants to see if it turns around or how the individual player responds. The practice games have no real consequences for doing so.
