He's come in for some severe criticism so the onus is on him now to prove his mettle. It's a character test for him, and he has the talent to rise to it...it's whether he has the attitude and will.
@Lods Fans carry on a bit, they bang on about it was just an arm across the body, no force, etc., etc..
But from an AFL perspective that delay from somewhat trivial contact costs you 2 or 3 steps, and 2 or 3 steps of an AFL player on the move is 6 or 7 metres, you'll never close the gap unless you are chasing a dullard like Riewoldt.
In NRL, they look for shoulder to shoulder, if a player is detained illegally it's a professional foul with either a send off, a penalty try or sometimes both! The AFL need to look at this as part of the score review chain, to stop those two bullcrap incidents enacted by Handbagger players.
I don't care if it's in the fall of the ball zone, I want to see the contest, but this sh1zen happening 20m or 30m away from the footy is a joke. Scott's learned that his blokes can get away with if it's far enough off the ball and delivers them a field wide overlap.
What happened to Williams has always been a free, his flopping is a symptom of the Handbaggers being allowed to scrag and delay players way off the ball. Even if he wasn't scraged it's unlikely he would have got half way to the opponent before they scored, it's the absence of the free that changed the game not Williams ability to get near the fall of the ball.
The discussion about Williams is a smokescreen to stop the focus on an illegal Handbagger tactics, nothing more and nothing less.
Yet I wouldn't say the defensive problems are a function of our defence.
I'd assert, many of the shortfalls come from the other end of the ground or perhaps the midfield. It's possibly being masked by some players having good tackling or 1%er stats, but the counts can be misleading, it's far more important to know where and when they collect those stats.
For example, how many times did a Tuohy or Guthrie type find themselves unattended just outside of goal range, and Cameron for that matter? How many times was Cameron unattended exiting our F50, the escape kick, then became a target a kick or two later inside our D50? There is next to nothing the defence can do about that, the problem starts further up the field and it's not about body type or size, it's about evening up the numbers and closing down space.
Many times the Handbaggers were actually forced by our defence to pause entering our D50, and yet they still ended up with a loose player as a target inside F50, that player comes from somewhere in the overlap created outside of the arc.
Once we start getting players back, if you want to play both rucks in your 22, you are leaving out someone like Kennedy, Cottrell, Hollands (x2), Williams.....etc.
The above assertion is just an extension of the media trying to peg Voss on a fixed selection strategy, nobody should be gifted a spot, the MC should not take a formulaic approach. the real world is not like Supercoach.
Week to week MC selections should be based on merit, conditions and the strategy of the day. I hope our MC will be clever enough to analyse and pick the eyes out of the best strategies for each opponent, some weeks we might go tall, some weeks we might go small.
Every week the opposition will try to leverage our deficiencies, if we are predictable it becomes easier for them, like last weekend kicking it on the head of Charlie or BigH who were stuck between 2 or 3 defenders.
And both would be well within the best 22 at the moment. Would you drop Pittonet or Tom to add 'one of' Cincotta, Binns, Durdin, Owies, Carroll, Cowan, either Hollands etc etc.
Agreed, they are automatics at the moment, Midfield and Ruck is not our problem.
If anything yesterday perhaps we got it wrong with Charlie and BigH, should have got up the ground a bit more and made themselves an annoyance for Cameron? Most rucks can't go with Cameron, so you either need a big mobile KPD or you have to find ways to make him accountable, if Cameron charges off up the ground to become the loose man in defence, make his opponent a focus.
I didn't give him a vote, but plenty impressed with Boyd, gets better every week.
Made a few mistakes that burned some opportunities, but fixed most of them, his relentless 2nd efforts are A-Grade, others need to watch his intensity.
One of the thing that's really impressive is his use of handball at the moment. He's standing in tackles and dishing it off.
For me, it's Pitto's strength that allows him to push off opponents under the new ruck rules, which basically makes him more agile than he would be if he was just in a flat foot race to the footy. If opponents grab his arm they are likely to get pinged for holding, and when Pitto pushes off he becomes another ground ball player, he is above average below the knees for a bloke his size.
In this regard the "strong arm" rule is perhaps better for Pitto than say Nankervis or McInerney who are less mobile.
I always thought the go for TDK would be to play similarly, basically concede the tap with a minimal effort but push off to recover and become another midfielder in the chain of play. You either assist team-mates or become a road block for opponents, but you must always be one or the other.
The way Leigh Matthews used to get his side cheery ripe for finals and dominate despite never finishing top. 2001 - 2004 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd - Flag, flag, flag, runners up.
Managed two rucks through those seasons to perfection, the media bashed Matthews for bringing Keating in(cold) late in the season, in retrospect it was a master stroke. Recall many in the media thought Keating was cooked and should have retired.
It's basically where Chris Scott learned the Dad's Army system of senior player management.
An aside, ignoring all the other stuff, we should be bitching about Stanley holding, not getting penalised for holding allowed Stanley to reduce the influence of Pitto. A fit Pitto is perfectly suited to the new rules because he's so strong when fit.
Another left field, should we have told TDK to run with Cameron, what do we do if next when we play the Handbaggers, only Rnd 15 not far away, if McGovern is out? The last few seasons Cameron hasn't played as mobile, the ongoing Handbagger weakness in the ruck has forced Cameron up the field reminiscent of his early GWS days. Opponents need to find a way to curtail his influence.
How that umpire penalised Pitto for a hold is bizarre, the umpire was in front of the contest on the side Stanley was holding from, free of obstruction could see Stanley's arm wrapped around Pitto's waist, and pinged Pitto for holding!
....and he has also stated that he has a soft spot for Carlton during the same time frame.
Hmm, maybe, but in particular I'm not so sure the comments in the heat of the moment aren't genuine.
As for having a "soft spot for Carlton", I'll assert it's his and the AFL's purse that has Carlton giving them a thrill, they love the crowds bringing in the dollars!
It's the very same motivation for McGuire, they want us in the race for as long as possible as long as we fall on the last hurdle, Carlton actually winning the race is their nightmare, but maybe not the AFLs!
Last week was similar until mid-way through the 3rd qtr where every changed once we were 20pts down. Pressure rating went from the 150s straight to 240 and stayed there changing the game. Maybe we thought we could get away with it again and didn't.
I followed the pressure ratings the last 2 weeks and it rose massively once we fell behind. Once we raised it both GWS and Geelong had issues with it. Yesterday, not long enough.
I hinted a week or two ago that this sort of loss was coming, we can't keep living on the edge and escaping with close wins, we have to find ways to lock down on opponents and have easier wins or we'll be cooked before the finals.
At times last year we got off to flying starts then faded, this year we are slow out of the blocks but finishing strongly, we need to find a balance. I'd say last year's late season game style was less punishing than this years game style, but we should be better at controlling the footy this year so if we get off to the better start it would be harder for opponents to close the gap.
Dunstall only gives us a raw deal when we don't try. He used to barrack for the blues and very much has a soft spot for us now. If he is critical, you can guarantee we are on here as well. He actually loves the club.
Dunstall publicly stated on one of the footy shows, just last season or the season before, that despite following the Blues as a kid he now hates Carlton.
Even so, love or hate us, his comments about the rub of the umpiring can't be challenged because it's just too obvious. It was so obvious it must be almost embarrassing to some AFL officials.
Like or loath that stuff, opposition club's can't allow it to continue, they have to find a way to bring the Handbagger tactics into focus.
Coaches votes will be interesting, outside of Cameron I suspect we had 3 of the best 5 on the ground, but I gather from his post game demeanour Voss won't see it that way!
Or be clever. Charlie calls "iso" and we kick it to Harry.
Yes, the Handbagger ball use and decision making made us look D-Grade, they picked the open target 9 out of 10 times, and we went to blokes who were outnumbered 3:1.
Having watched the replay this morning, even the commentators were astounded by how much the Handbagger Dad's Army get away with, even Dunstall who normally thinks us getting a raw deal is good was inspired to something, before trying to explain it way with an excuse of being kind to the Handbaggers.
Nothing in any proposed rule changes can stop the asymmetry, the problem is not a rule the problem, it's that some teams basically badger and batter officials until things fall their way.
A great example is happening today, rather than the AFL media focussing on Handbaggers continually infringing off the ball, the Handbagger mafia is at play beating up a storm about Williams staging for a free? The AFL media has largely ignored the act of holding 20m off the footy, it's a smokescreen by the Handbaggers, who are desperate to escape a focus on their off the ball activities.
Another great example came from yesterday, Cripps continually gets coated hangered by opponents and while he get's some frees he probably deserves twice as many. He hunts the footy, puts his head over the ball and get's grabbed over the shoulder, the blokes 195cm, most have to reach up to grab his shoulders! It's bizarre in an ear in which the head is supposed to be protected.
Fans forget, when the Handbaggers do the fast break, it leaves opponents loose all over the ground, if the opposition force a turnover they are left vulnerable, so they get away with it by nefarious off the ball tactics that stop opponents finding or closing space.
We have more AFL umpires out on the ground than every before, how can it be they don't see the illegal holds and shepherds that allow the Handbagger Dad's Army to remain competitive? Those illegal checks and grabs, basically keep opponents close enough for the Dad's Army to impose pressure and slow the transition if they lose the footy. They also stop our own defence closing space when you turn it over yourself. Some fans have bought into it, but the reality is by the time Williams extricates himself from the arm drag it's too late, he's been illegally stopped / delayed and the opposition have 10m of clear space, so he has no choice and it didn't just happen once or just to Williams.
