Preview FACE OFF: Round 22 - North Melbourne v Adelaide @ Bellerive Oval

[Elder van Berlo]

I reckon this comes down to Grigg himself, not the coaches. It seemed to me he just thought it would all come this year, without realising he still had to work hard and improve his game.

Every single report coming out of pre-season had Grigg as being the standout. Players, coaches, footy department staff...everyone was raving.

He then started the season as a half forward, a position I've never seen or heard of him playing before, and he was quiet and eventually dropped. He's oscillated between SANFL and the best since.

If I had to choose what the cause was, I'm not putting it on Grigg. I don't know of course, but I don't reckon your position is supported by the evidence.

 

[VSTone]

Who do we think have actually improved this year on our list?
I would only put down these players in this order:
1. Jaensch - really has improved a lot!
2. Smith
3. Talia

So, is Milburn the only one actually doing something good down there?

as a defensive unit we leak goals... chicken or egg

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Yeah, Grigg has been average, do you disagree? Are you happy with his output?

Like Lyons, I believe he's been set up to fail. I think in the handful of minutes we've begrudgingly given him that he's outperformed several undroppables.

Overall I'm some degree of unhappy with the ouput of everyone bar Jacobs, Smith, Jaensch, Sloane, Betts and Talia.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Meanwhile MacKay, Wright and Henderson are on track to be 150-200 game players - all following in Reilly's footsteps

This is my issue

Sando picks his side on paper, not on form

Im all for if your an establish proven player you get a little more opportunity to turn around a couple of bad games however Douglas has not been in good form all year and Wright, Hendo and DMac are not even established players however are allowed to carry poor form for extended periods

Sando can't bitch about inconsistency when he does very little at the selection table to weed out the serial offenders

Hawthorn lose last week and axe four players

 

[Smithalicious]

as a defensive unit we leak goals... chicken or egg

Agree, but defence is the one place individual players have improved but as a unit we lose goals.......... Personally I think a large majority of that is from easy ball movement through the midfield and into the forward line.

 

[VSTone]

i tend to agree with you AAlicious, i posted this earlier in the close finishes thread - as something i see too often...

Each of the individual defensive players in the side need to be scrutinized and can bare some blame for our inconsistency.
we bleed too many simple goals at times...

To me the defensive craft/mindset of the current defenders keeps them too mindful of their direct opponent and they get sucked away from the contest / intercept all too easily preferring to keep their man tied up, this is where well drilled forward line oppositions who can create space inside 50 and scoring opportunities thrive. this is especially relevent from centre line restarts and midfield throw in's.

***Solution - at midfield restarts back ourselves to read the incoming ball in flight or dispute and get to it before they do... with defensive minded run and cover from the midfielders and team mates... this should be a half backs & back pockets bread and butter...

and secondly,
all too often we seem to go one-on-one at deep defense restarts (ballups/throw ins) in which the opposition sits correctly on their defensive side facing the goals, we generally follow man on man style and are caught too often on the offside of the pack at the contest, it gets squeezed out and allows them space to attack/kick at goals...

***Solution - have a couple of goal sided defenders always at deep defensive throw ins... it's the onballers job to get the ball and bottle it up, the defenders need to defend.

this should at least stop gifting the opposition goals and occasionally a string of goals.

this could create a goal or too advantage for us quite easily... and maybe just maybe we could have been challenging for a top 4 spot with some enthusiasm...
all is not lost, its not a huge revolutionary change... get it right and we might be able to win 6 in a row!

Basic stuff really and we don't do it well - the good strategist coaches pick us to pieces too often with 101 stuff...

---

 

[robboaustralia]

Disappointed Kerridge and M.Crouch not included but if our players pull their bloody fingers out and fire the **** up we win regardless of personnel. Tackle hard, no second guessing when we have possession and kick straight = we win.

 

[Schulzycrow]

Disappointed Kerridge and M.Crouch not included but if our players pull their bloody fingers out and fire the **** up we win regardless of personnel. Tackle hard, no second guessing when we have possession and kick straight = we win.

Up week all good. Against Saint Kilda....

 

[robboaustralia]

Up week all good. Against Saint Kilda....

 

[AFC979810]

Couple of in the know posters say he has performances clauses allowing early termination of his contract.

If that's the case, I hope we don't make the finals this year.

Really hope this isn't the case unless those performance clauses are 'win a flag within 3 years'.

Otherwise - Sando is coaching to keep his job, not to get us closer to a flag.

 

[Deaneus!]

So everyone at the club is on the same page then?

"Short term fixes to keep jobs"

 

[AFC979810]

Like Lyons, I believe he's been set up to fail. I think in the handful of minutes we've begrudgingly given him that he's outperformed several undroppables.

Overall I'm some degree of unhappy with the ouput of everyone bar Jacobs, Smith, Jaensch, Sloane, Betts and Talia.

Luke Brown deserves to be in that list.

 

[Wright Away]

I don't like Sando, but I want us to win. I want us to finish 8th and have the opportunity to play Port in a final in the off chance that we can knock them out, sure losing a final to Port would really suck, but we've already got the dreamfinal win so I reckon it is worth a crack!

Knocking them out would be the 2nd best thing to a premiership.

 

[Shoota Welsh]

can wright please get the green vest... please!

 

[mattymac]

Just leaving alone the buffoonery of making Griggy sub for a month then dropping him on the excuse that he's underdone...

But honestly, fancy leaving Kerridge out against North Melbourne. No wonder the footy gods hate Sando.

 

[AFC979810]

Just leaving alone the buffoonery of making Griggy sub for a month then dropping him on the excuse that he's underdone...

But honestly, fancy leaving Kerridge out against North Melbourne. No wonder the footy gods hate Sando.

Agree 100%...

He only missed 5 games of footy (round 15-19) and then had two games in the SANFL where he played the entire game and got 26 touches. He is in form, a highly talented player, and a guy who has kicked 10 against them in the last 2 contests.

 

[Grenville]

Luke Brown deserves to be in that list.

Yeah, not sure how much more you could realistically have hoped for out of Walker either? In my opinion he's tracked as well if not better than expected coming off 12 months out.

 

[AFC979810]

Yeah, not sure how much more you could realistically have hoped for out of Walker either? In my opinion he's tracked as well if not better than expected coming off 12 months out.

Have been very pleasantly surprised by Walkers return. Was really worried about his mobility and how he would go coming back. I think he is at about 85% still and getting him through a full preseason will really allow him to enter 2015 at full speed (with full confidence).

Scary to think that at 85% he is still:

Ranked 12th in the AFL for Goals per Game
Ranked 7th in the AFL for Goal Assists per Game
Ranked 18th in the AFL for Marks Inside 50 per game
Ranked 14th in the AFL for Contested marks per game.

Really -those are the only 4 stats I really care about Walker.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Luke Brown deserves to be in that list.

Sorry, yes. Forgot him. He's been excellent.

 

[hey shorty]

Didnt mind Grigg being sub for a few weeks. Other clubs do it, I figured it was worth trying the role but not to be.

 

[Huntercrow]

Who do we think have actually improved this year on our list?
I would only put down these players in this order:
1. Jaensch - really has improved a lot!
2. Smith
3. Talia

So, is Milburn the only one actually doing something good down there?

Basically every other player has gone backwards or stayed the same or returned to the previous year (Jacobs).

Even in the SANFL! Siggins has improved and LJ looks like he could be something in the backline and LT is getting a go.

Just don't understand it, hoping we have a good review of the coaching staff and leaders around the club.

Martin has improved but too many have gone the other way. Including Dangerfield

 

[WeeBlake]

New players this year:-
Cameron - had a fair crack
MCrouch - had only a few games
CEY - one game as sub

Am I missing someone?

 

[Mattrox]

New players this year:-
Cameron - had a fair crack
MCrouch - had only a few games
CEY - one game as sub

Am I missing someone?

Not by my reckoning.

Crouch 7 games.
Cameron 7 after this weekend.

 

[Elite Crow]

Hendo hasn't trained at all this week, I can understand him being selected given his unreal form and fitness.

Reilly is on stand by, *

 

[WeeBlake]

Not by my reckoning.

Crouch 7 games.
Cameron 7 after this weekend.

For a mid table side it is a woeful record