He never seemed to get over that injury he got against the Bummers EB. He really did look like the goods before that but it has seemingly sapped all his confidence and a lot of his composure.
In fairness to Weitering, before he got injured last weekend he was far from our worst and tracking pretty well up until 1/2-time. He and Jones were made to look silly on the TV at times, but that wasn't their fault as our defensive run from Forwards and Mids was borderline abominable! With the modern game's quick handballs, throws some might say, no defender can deal with 2 or 3 opponents.
I don't know what the AFL can do about these throws, but I feel as clubs push the rules further and further congestion gets worse! They basically want the opposition sucked in some they can create a clear space around the stoppage and then the get first hands on the ball and throw it away!
Also, for those of you listening to the radio, a couple of the turnovers attributed to Weitering during the call on the ABC Grandstand were actually Liam Jones. Something you only pick up on when you watch one and listen to the other. I recommend doing that when you get the opportunity, it makes you realise that you have to cross check everything the radio callers say before you make a judgment on a player! The callers rarely voluntarily correct each other, they rely in the fact most listeners are not watching, it's not like the old days when a radio callers accuracy was a valuable skill! Williamson would be despair, Beitzel and racings Bill Collins would turn in their grave, listening to some of the modern spuds!
Hard to determine what to expect, we are so variable and therefore hard to predict.
So expect in regard to what I would like, or what I expect us to do are very different things.
What I would like; History, around the club and players, The Hyphen, Fev, Armfield Aggressive Behaviour, in the Media, On Field and Coaching Steely Resolve, I'll take it wherever and whenever we can find it! Attitude, we own it, make it look that way!
What I wouldn't like; Conciliation Appeasement Excuses Blame Spin Submission Surrender
If we are going down, let's go down fighting, and as Ted would say, it's time to stick it up em!
We can probably play two other KPFs, a KPF and a Forward Ruck(Probably McKay's role this week), a KPF with Cripps resting forward, or any other combination given Charlie is available to fill a role as a mobile marking forward.
I think Charlie is the key that unlocks those options, not sure we even need him to kick goals once we can find him some decent F50 support!
FWIW, in addition to being poor we were probably unlucky last week, Kreuzer was not fit and has not been, Phillips got injured, Simmo was out costing us flexibility, McKay had a rubbish VFL game the week prior and Kerr was returning from a hip.
Bolton was interviewed today. Simmo, Marchbank and McKay are playing.
The Cupboard really is bare!
An older statesmen a week after a calf scare. A kid with heart arrhythmia.* A KPP who spends all day roving.
* How was that gem of data this week, allegedly Marchbank has had these occurrences before during his AFL career, how can it be it's never been discussed? I realise these things can be managed, but was that industry knowledge before we traded for him, or was it another case of buyer beware!
[2] A recognizable game plane, with maybe some innovative tactics.
It's the biggest thing I miss about Ratten, like him or hate him, he was a bit different and willing to try things.
Too many of our recent coaches, including I'm afraid the current coach, just seem to deliver the same old same old! They must be saving their IP for when it counts, that is if they ever get the opportunity to use it! It would be a pity for BB to be shot down with his powder still dry!
Having said that, I thought last season BB was on the right track, he just needed some tweaks here and there to get an extra couple of goals a game on average. Instead this season he seems to have thrown the baby out with the bath water and started from scratch! I don't understand that tactic, I'm sure many fans don't!
Is the reason BB is safe the soft cap, have we blown our total football department spend budget on kiboshing Ratten and MM?
If Cripps stars nailing set shots he will be close to the most damaging mid in the business. Bugger chasing if he can add a direct offensive component to his game. Chasing should be left to racehorses, his job is inside.
I agree.
He has to get that part of his game sorted though, once he does( I expect him to do so ) he won't have to chase because they'll be crap scared to leave him unattended!
I think the bigger worry is the apparent lack of willingness from some of our forwards to try and pick up the slack! Cripps jogging behind the opposition I can totally accept, FFS his team-mates should chair him to the next stoppage, but four or five of the others doing that I cannot!
I was hoping the inclusion of Pickett might mask some of this, given he has speed to burn, it didn't eventuate so lets hope the result is an aberration!
In fairness to Cripps, I'm not sure his efforts are any worse than those of Taylor Walker.
On second thoughts, that might not be the best example going around!
An aside, I heard mentioned on radio that Cripps is as fast across the ground as Jarryd Roundhead, I'm not sure where that comes from does Antoine have a source of figures?
I saw it live. I am pretty sure the first time it was shown it wasn't even commented on by the w4nkers in commentary. So no interference in my perception there. But I take your point about peoples perceptions being open to influence.
Now extend this to the way The Pudding Face Twins get on the front foot when their player is heading to the tribunal.
Think about this in the context of Gloch and Dangerfield making public statements prior to the Curnow case reviews. There is a reason contempt of court is an offense, and Gloch is basically guilty of it, but then he probably "Is the Court" in that case because he hires and fires all the relevant actors!
I've long had a problem with our clubs marketing and media crew, I'm not sure we are professional enough, we are certainly passive and not proactive!
The laughing in the stands doesn't worry me too much. He looked like he was embarrassed to be on the big screen, and really, does it matter if he was laughing? Like someone said, people even have a laugh at a funeral. (not specifically aimed at you LP)
The trouble is it's like Barrett claiming his laughter at Barry Hall was an uncomfortable laugh.
The effects of Pareidolia come into play. You've been told it's an uncomfortable laugh before you even look at the video, so you think it's an uncomfortable laugh, you cannot unlearn the prior information. It's like the tabloid reporter telling you just look at this slimy person in the following video, you'll watch it and determine the subject is a creep. See the face of god in this piece of toast, hear the word Yanny or Laurel. Some of you may recall a famous episode of The Simpsons that made an issue of how this works!
It happens for speech, vision, touch and written word.
Barrett relied on that which is why he got on the front foot before most people heard the audio. It's a common media trick, and it's used in print and broadcast media. It can be as simple as the choice of song they play before a story is reported, and marketing people have known about those effects for decades!
The people who watched the video and saw McKay laughing at the team's efforts, will forever look at the video and see McKay laughing at the team's efforts! The people who heard that McKay laughed at the teams effort before they watched the video, are more likely to agree with that perspective. The people who heard McKay laughed uncomfortably about being on the big screen, are more than likely to agree with that!
You have to ask yourself a question Thry...has Cripps ever chased?
Opposition teams always man Cripps at the stoppage then run off him and play wide knowing he wont go with them........he doesnt have the tank or speed to chase and in his case he gets excused like Selwood, Greg Williams etc...he is a champ at what he does well and we need him fit at every stoppage not buggered from providing some useless chase that he will never be successful at anyway. Problem arises when that man on him at the stoppage gets a lot of the ball or is damaging and you have to way up the pros and cons....
It's true EB1, but if the team-mates of Selwood, Watson and Diesel had failed to cover for them they would get burnt as well!
To me it's says we are in self-preservation mode, a bunch of individuals, rather than working as a team.
It may be a strike against Cripps as a potential captain, but it's probably an even bigger issue for the coach!
Whilst we are light on for average, we need blokes who aren't stars setting good standards. Robinson may have done so onfield, but you cannot argue that off field he did, otherwise the leadership group wouldn't have green lit an example being made.
Robinson has been in the AFL for 10 years, at two clubs. One of which has been firmly rooted to the bottom of the ladder during his time there (and now he is having limited impact as they are getting better) and the other he was sacked from as they slid from a top 8 side to the bottom 10. He was handy, but you don't put up with dishonesty from handy. On this same converstation, Fevola got more chances because he was good. He got sacked eventually. Robinson was here for that. What lesson did he learn? without raking over old ground too much further, Chris Judd and Dale Thomas took Cripps under their wing and he went along obligingly and has become captain material. Cripps has done so with Fisher. Did Mitch ever do this with anyone and before we continue, lets not forget that he was part of a pack led by Eddie Betts, including Jeff Garlett (cant get a game at Melbourne due to playing too much one way footy), Chris Yarran (retired with issues) and Kane Lucas (retired lack of opportunity for an outside runner with no defensive side to him).
I have been saying for a while, as have others, that there is something going on behind the scenes which explains why he isn't getting a game. Whether it be due to attitude, not meeting KPIs or something else, we just don't know. Obviously the media are none the wiser, although the cynic in me would say they know exactly what's going on and just want to make trouble. Unfortunately the club are damned if they do, damned if they don't. If they come out and say McKay isn't doing what he's told, or he has a poor attitude, then it seems very harsh to publicly humiliate a 20 yr old guy, and may be poor for his development. If they stay silent, fans and media criticise them for not playing a seemingly good option.
This detail gets fed to the media by someone, it's not an accident, the player himself, the players manager, a family member, another clubs list manager, a disgruntled support(Someone of note), a Carlton staffer, another Carlton player. At other times it can be purely a guess, but in this case as fans we know there have been rumors, the public see and hear stuff.
And you are right the club cannot win, the best they can do is find a way to shut it down, if they are scurrilous the best way to address it may be to have McKay himself call out the bullsh1t by fronting the media! But if he's is even slightly disingenuous they will rip him apart!
For what it's worth I agree with your perception, it appears is something not right between the club(As in coaches, players and Admin) and McKay! We know there have been rumors around for some time about off-field issues, but again we do not know if they are a cause or an effect.
Some will never accept McKay laughing in the stand last weekend, to some extremists he signed his death warrant that day no matter what the circumstance!
