Coach Sam Mitchell's direction for the club and 2024 news

[Strapping Young Lad]

If anyone wants to have a listen about what the data is saying in regards to whether we have actually gotten worse this year have a listen to this from the 9:15 mark.

I know a few people have already touched on it, but the data is also showing that our results this year have been slightly better despite actually putting out a younger team and dealing with some injuries.




And here.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

11:50 "they go up there and play Gold Coast on a slippery night"

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[Strapping Young Lad]

I do wonder if sams plan is too sophisticated for the team to understand. Can he strip it back to basics like Ross Lyon does. Saints are flying.

Mate, as outlined by completely neutral observer in the clip I posted, we kick straight against the Bombers and nail that last shot against the Pies and we’re 2-3 while putting out the youngest side in the comp.

The output on Saturday night clearly frustrated Sam, but the bigger picture is that it’s not that bad.

 

[Rhayader]

The fact that you call a 23° evening in April ‘coolish’ shows that your gauge on the conditions and someone from Melbourne’s gauge on them would be very different. I really don’t know why those north of the border can’t grasp this concept - I mean I know the education outcomes up there are bad, but I didn’t know they’d gotten this bad.

Can confirm that when AFL teams play in Darwin it’s the dry season - ie “winter” - and people there are always wondering what these footy players are whingeing about re: the heat/humidity in such glorious weather

 

[Holy Rioli]

The question is, how do you explain all our players sweating like crazy by quarter time?

We played Essendon in the middle of the day on the 16th March and it was 27 degrees & 37% humidity
We played Melbourne at twilight on the 23rd March and it was 18 degrees & 62% humidity
We played Geelong mid afternoon on 1st April and it was 25 degrees & 88% humidity
We played Collingwood twilight on 7th April and it was 18 degrees and 68% humidity (and wet at times)
We played Gold Coast evening on 13th April and it was 21 degrees and 68% humidity

all weather data sourced from https://world-weather.info/

Stop blaming the ******* conditions for Saturday night and start blaming the players poor skills and intent.

 

[Holy Rioli]

I remember Scrimshaw going to bench looking like someone had dumped a bucket of gatorade on him.

Scrimshaw has spent years in that system up there and these were one of the most mild nights he's played a game on the GC. He also pretty much marked everything.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

We played Essendon in the middle of the day on the 16th March and it was 27 degrees & 37% humidity
We played Melbourne at twilight on the 23rd March and it was 18 degrees & 62% humidity
We played Geelong mid afternoon on 1st April and it was 25 degrees & 88% humidity
We played Collingwood twilight on 7th April and it was 18 degrees and 68% humidity (and wet at times)
We played Gold Coast evening on 13th April and it was 21 degrees and 68% humidity

all weather data sourced from https://world-weather.info/

Stop blaming the ******* conditions for Saturday night and start blaming the players poor skills and intent.

No one has been blaming the conditions.

The coaches and the players both put it on the record that they didn’t play to the conditions. Sam was clearly frustrated with that amongst other things.

 

[Holy Rioli]

The fact that you call a 23° evening in April ‘coolish’ shows that your gauge on the conditions and someone from Melbourne’s gauge on them would be very different. I really don’t know why those north of the border can’t grasp this concept - I mean I know the education outcomes up there are bad, but I didn’t know they’d gotten this bad.

I was born and raised in Melbourne/Drouin, same education opportunities as you mate.

Facts are for our games this year:

We played Essendon in the middle of the day on the 16th March and it was 27 degrees & 37% humidity
We played Melbourne at twilight on the 23rd March and it was 18 degrees & 62% humidity
We played Geelong mid afternoon on 1st April and it was 25 degrees & 88% humidity
We played Collingwood twilight on 7th April and it was 18 degrees and 68% humidity (and wet at times)
We played Gold Coast evening on 13th April and it was 21 degrees and 68% humidity

all weather data sourced from https://world-weather.info/

Stop blaming the ******* conditions for Saturday night and start blaming the players poor skills and intent.

 

[Holy Rioli]

No one has been blaming the conditions.

The coaches and the players both put it on the record that they didn’t play to the conditions. Sam was clearly frustrated with that amongst other things.

The conditions were absolutely fine, we didn't have to make any adjustments to our normal game, there was no dew, we weren't slipping or sliding, Frost was nailing laser corridor kicks. We have had hotter/more slippery/more humid games this year previous to this one.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Stop blaming the ******* conditions for Saturday night and start blaming the players poor skills and intent.

None of us have blamed the conditions for the poor skills and intent. I am just wondering why those north of the border can't appreciate that players from Victoria probably felt a bit different to those who are acclimatised to living in the sub-tropics. And please don't come back to me with humidity readings from Melbourne/Adelaide games - I don't know how many more times I have to say that humidity is utterly different in Adelaide/Melbourne to Brisbane/Gold Coast.

And I am a product of Queensland education - which is why I am more than welcome to take potshots at it.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

The conditions were absolutely fine, we didn't have to make any adjustments to our normal game, there was no dew, we weren't slipping or sliding, Frost was nailing laser corridor kicks. We have had hotter/more slippery/more humid games this year previous to this one.

So the only conclusion can that can be made is that the club, coach and players made it up, and tried to “train in the conditions” that didn’t actually exist.

That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn.

 

[Holy Rioli]

None of us have blamed the conditions for the poor skills and intent. I am just wondering why those north of the border can't appreciate that players from Victoria probably felt a bit different to those who are acclimatised to living in the sub-tropics. And please don't come back to me with humidity readings from Melbourne/Adelaide games - I don't know how many more times I have to say that humidity is utterly different in Adelaide/Melbourne to Brisbane/Gold Coast.

And I am a product of Queensland education - which is why I am more than welcome to take potshots at it.

the facts are though that that the conditions for that evening were similar or in some cases more mild than other games we had played this year.

Yes I get it, Brisbane/Gold Coast are hotter and more humid in general than Melbourne. But on this night on the Gold Coast, it could have easily been a Melbourne evening type conditions.

 

[Rhayader]

Tried to do some quick research about the impact of dew on the Gold Coast but couldn’t find any results that weren’t about the Suns’ ex-coach

 

[Holy Rioli]

So the only conclusion can that can be made is that the club, coach and players made it up, and tried to “train in the conditions” that didn’t actually exist.

That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn.

What I'm saying is that the conditions were similar to what we'd typically expect in Melbourne. In fact it was more humid in Melbourne on Saturday night than it was on the GC (yes it was a few degrees warmer on the GC but early 20's shouldn't be a problem).

 

[Rhayader]

What I'm saying is that the conditions were similar to what we'd typically expect in Melbourne. In fact it was more humid in Melbourne on Saturday night than it was on the GC (yes it was a few degrees warmer on the GC but early 20's shouldn't be a problem).

It may just have been that they were being run off their feet and possibly the look of the brown strip - or maybe they just aren’t that fit? - but there were a couple of times during the broadcast that I thought Hawks players looked like drowned rats.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

the facts are though that that the conditions for that evening were similar or in some cases more mild than other games we had played this year.

Yes I get it, Brisbane/Gold Coast are hotter and more humid in general than Melbourne. But on this night on the Gold Coast, it could have easily been a Melbourne evening type conditions.

The fact is that 70% humidity in the sub-tropics will feel different to say 85% humidity in Melbourne. During the La Nina seasons when it can be a higher humidity down here - the mornings where it is say 20-22 but 85% humidity still feel NOTHING like a mild humid day in Brisbane or the Gold Coast. Melbourne in 80-90% humidity is not anywhere close to being as muggy as Brisbane at that level. As SYL keeps mentioning - the club has referred to this also so clearly we are not making it up. I get it was probably a nice mild evening for those familiar with living in that part of the world - for a temporary visitor who lives down here it would absolutely feel different.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

What I'm saying is that the conditions were similar to what we'd typically expect in Melbourne. In fact it was more humid in Melbourne on Saturday night than it was on the GC (yes it was a few degrees warmer on the GC but early 20's shouldn't be a problem).

Ok, but the club deliberately trained the night before to “prepare for the conditions”. Their words.

They then performed horrible the following evening with one of the factors mentioned by both players and coach in the post game being that we “didn’t play to the conditions”.

So either the club, coach and players made it all up, or there was actually something to their comments regarding a difference in conditions.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

If anyone wants to have a listen about what the data is saying in regards to whether we have actually gotten worse this year have a listen to this from the 9:15 mark.

I know a few people have already touched on it, but the data is also showing that our results this year have been slightly better despite actually putting out a younger team and dealing with some injuries.

Listen to this please people.

Ignore the humidity discussion.

 

[Sixpence]

We played Essendon in the middle of the day on the 16th March and it was 27 degrees & 37% humidity
We played Melbourne at twilight on the 23rd March and it was 18 degrees & 62% humidity
We played Geelong mid afternoon on 1st April and it was 25 degrees & 88% humidity
We played Collingwood twilight on 7th April and it was 18 degrees and 68% humidity (and wet at times)
We played Gold Coast evening on 13th April and it was 21 degrees and 68% humidity

all weather data sourced from https://world-weather.info/

Stop blaming the ******* conditions for Saturday night and start blaming the players poor skills and intent.

Did you even read the post you quoted? Or any others? Literally none of this explains why our players were drenched in sweat at quarter time. Nor do any of them blame the conditions or excuse the skill.

I grew up in Brisbane and have lived in London and Melbourne the last 13-14 years, if you think the conditions of that game are even remotely comparable to the games in Melbourne, you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

oh no it's happening again

 

[Holy Rioli]

The fact is that 70% humidity in the sub-tropics will feel different to say 85% humidity in Melbourne. During the La Nina seasons when it can be a higher humidity down here - the mornings where it is say 20-22 but 85% humidity still feel NOTHING like a mild humid day in Brisbane or the Gold Coast. Melbourne in 80-90% humidity is not anywhere close to being as muggy as Brisbane at that level. As SYL keeps mentioning - the club has referred to this also so clearly we are not making it up. I get it was probably a nice mild evening for those familiar with living in that part of the world - for a temporary visitor who lives down here it would absolutely feel different.

I was in jeans and a big warm jumper all night. It would have been too cold to wear just a shirt.

I was in Auckland on the Tuesday/Wednesday before the game and at times it was too warm to wear a jumper.

I was in Melbourne the day before the Essendon game and I wouldn't have dreamed of wearing a jumper day or night.

There have been a heap of GC games where conditions really do matter, this just was not one of them. Anyway I've said enough about this topic so I'm gonna bow out now.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

It would be interesting to know what the players actually did to not play to the condition-based instructions. Ponderously long switches instead of going down the line? No one defensive side on stoppages? What exactly.

One thing that was mentioned was they tried to break tackles when they shouldn't have. Though you'd assume that if it was more slippery than usual then players would be harder to tackle.

 

[HawthornHawk]

It would be interesting to know what the players actually did to not play to the condition-based instructions. Ponderously long switches instead of going down the line? No one defensive side on stoppages? What exactly.

One thing that was mentioned was they tried to break tackles when they shouldn't have. Though you'd assume that if it was more slippery than usual then players would be harder to tackle.

Certainly looked that way when we attempted to tackle them.

I lip read Sam frustratingly telling the players to put some speed on the ball, not sure if that related to playing the conditions though.

 

[BobHawk]

Ok, but the club deliberately trained the night before to “prepare for the conditions”. Their words.

They then performed horrible the following evening with one of the factors mentioned by both players and coach in the post game being that we “didn’t play to the conditions”.

So either the club, coach and players made it all up, or there was actually something to their comments regarding a difference in conditions.

You see what is likely happening though? Looks like poor game prep from coaching team. Same thing happened against Melbourne with what appeared a completely off nuts approach by making Melbourne seem impenetrable so the team was afraid to move the ball forward. Who knows what other issues may have been in the prep for other games seeing the generally poor starts. Would not surprise me if this may be a factor in the lack of effort against GCS. Maybe players have had enough because it hasn't been working.

 

[Hodgey 15]

Listen to this please people.

Ignore the humidity discussion.

Yep. I second this . Please listen to this from Daniel Hoyne.
Thank God. Finally some common sense, pragmatism and FACTS from a voice in media.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

It would be interesting to know what the players actually did to not play to the condition-based instructions. Ponderously long switches instead of going down the line? No one defensive side on stoppages? What exactly.

One thing that was mentioned was they tried to break tackles when they shouldn't have. Though you'd assume that if it was more slippery than usual then players would be harder to tackle.

my guess is they wanted a more surge-oriented style of gameplay whereas we looked to pick holes in their press and play "perfect" footy?