Opinion What is the main issue?

Sep 19, 2006
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OK.. I want this thread to be plain and simple on peoples opinions on simply what is wrong / not working and forcing us to have gone backwards this year. Please keep this thread necessary and also look at it as a positive to actually see 'where' we need improvement. Dimma keeps saying in every press conference that we want to improve. Now i'm starting to get sick of this..because he continuously outlines that our
1. Numbers are down
2. Not winning enough contested ball
3. Playing with low confidence and players not looking where they are kicking (just panicking and kicking it out of danger which results in the opposition taking simple chest marks)

He also mentions that our opposition are taking control of the game and thus not allowing us to play 'our' game. Now..even though this is right and he is honest..what EXACTLY are we doing to make sure this doesn't happen? instead of dwelling on the obvious factors while we loose..why not try or explain how we are to turn this around and get back to the pressurised footy we saw glimpses of last year?????

Please state what you believe our main issue is and how you think it needs to be corrected. Try keep it to one

I'll go first, adding to the above
MAIN ISSUE:
Ive said this before and I'll say it again.. you just DONT win games of footy when you chip the ball around and play slow moving possession football. Not only does it slow the gameplay and make opposition defenders accountable, but we cant even hit our targets and have very poor foot skills this year to hit a player 25 metres away on a lead. Dimma has also stated that we make approximately 4 fundamental errors a game resulting in turnover goals. I believe its gone up to at least 8 or 9

SOLVING THE ISSUE:
It's evident that when we get our run on and players are actually RUNNING we can keep the game moving at a fast pace with giving off quick handballs after marks and kicking to key position players on a lead down the middle giving the ball off to perhaps martin or potentially Jack Riewoldt on a lead (Leading down the MIDDLE from the goal square and not onto the boundary line)
We cannot afford to be lazy and teams like Geelong who play this style are a perfect example of why they have been so successful. Its actually quite simple when you think about it. Lazyness is never acceptable when it comes to the biggest stage.

Can only hope we start to rectify this. There are plenty more issues, aiming to achieve this is just the beginning
 

pebblestone

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1. Slow ball movement means a permanently congested f50.
2. Lack of pace. Not enough x factor (God I hate that word)
3. Lack of fitness. Getting overrun late and looking out on their feet by 3qt.
4. Poor footskills.
5. Lack of defensive run. Not enough pressure on opposition midfielders means silver service for opp forwards or easy goals to those mids.
 
Apr 10, 2012
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OK.. I want this thread to be plain and simple on peoples opinions on simply what is wrong / not working and forcing us to have gone backwards this year. Please keep this thread necessary and also look at it as a positive to actually see 'where' we need improvement. Dimma keeps saying in every press conference that we want to improve. Now i'm starting to get sick of this..because he continuously outlines that our
1. Numbers are down
2. Not winning enough contested ball
3. Playing with low confidence and players not looking where they are kicking (just panicking and kicking it out of danger which results in the opposition taking simple chest marks)

Agree. Trotting out the company line of "nothing changes inside the 4 walls of our footy club", "We need to get better, its as simple as that" etc is fine when its one loss every few games, but 3 times in four weeks is a bit rich!
 
Mar 13, 2007
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1. Due to playing what outside mids we have , on the inside , we have tried to compensate by going spread from contests crazy . As such the opposition are being found often in space inside contests and in space outside of contests .
2. Our selectors are pea hearts who have dropped the bar on what level of performance is acceptable .
 

Cotcho

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I don't know and I'm not even sure the club knows. All I know is that when you play an 18 man press, if a number of players are not capable or willing to participate fully the opposition slaughters you the other way. Do we lack pace or do we lack intent? Do we lack ability or do we lack discipline? How much falls on the players, how much on the coach? I simply don't know.
 

Tiger08

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Nov 14, 2007
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I think we all know that the problem isn't that we're 1-3 - it's the fact we're playing like crap.

I think in trying to learn a second-option tempo game plan of "slow the play down", they've lost their ability to take the right risks and move it quickly - which basically makes it impossible to score in modern footy. Your inside 50s end up being long kicks to a contest. Last week against Collingwood was a bit different - we came out and forgot to play wet weather football on a wet night. Game was over at quarter time.

The good news is that we still have a lot of young guys who WE KNOW can play. You don't lose your ability in a preseason so let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. We might have found a small forward in Lloyd and more importantly, we might have found a CHF in BG. Get Lids, Ivan and Rance back in the side, give us a few weeks to find some form and then see where we are.

It's a tighter competition this year so 12 wins should make finals.
 
It's between the ears

We are playing out the games stronger than we finish them, so it's not fitness

We have had 1-2 good quarters in all games, so it's not ability

More importantly, they aren't playing in the same way as last season, with minimal on field and off field changes

In the GC and WB game we only came good when we woke up that the game was nearly lost, and against the Pies when the pressure was off.

I don't know if it's arrogance, complacency, fear of expectation, but right now as a team IMO their heads have them frozen. They don't play on (something we always do), they don't fight (something they always did)

Coaches and selection can do all they want, put this is something the players have to sort out and be held accountable for
 

kempinsky

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Players are not buying into coaches game plan which appears to be controlling possession of the footy via chip kicks in the back half and relies on precision kicking with no turnovers. Unfortunately we're not hawthorn so turnovers happen which leads to quick goals by the opposition. There is no risk taking and as a result movement is slow and predictable. The confidence of players who can run and break lines is currently shot. I would rather the tiges lose but play footy I'd pay to watch than the current crap
 

Googstar

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Sorry but there are 2 main issues to me;
1. List Development - Too many ordinary players who can't kick and/or handball. No quick fix. At the end of the year, say goodbye to the likes of Edwards, Grigg and co. and move on. The list needs to be constantly improved with new talent, not the likes of Lonergan, Thomas, Hampson, etc.

2. Fitness - We no longer run. Either our fitness guru is a complete dud or our players are too lazy. Again no quick fix. Turnover the fitness staff until we get the results.
 

AJ Green

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The performances this year are in contrast to the Freo victory at the MCG last season. In that game we executed our game plan perfectly with precise skills and ball movement. Our defensive pressure and and intensity was immense. It's staggering the way we have
fallen away from the values and four quarter effort we brought that day. Dimma should get the tape out of that performance and remind the players of what they're capable of when they play to their potential.
 

Neen

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Problems

1. Successful gameplan from 2012-2013 has been sabotaged by the coaches. Jack "up the ground", Martin in defense, Ellis "run with role" and Vickery the "go to man" while Jack is the decoy. Absolute madness. Biggest problem.

2. Selection table - coach picks his favorites, and they are constantly the same group of passengers that let us down - Grigg, Edwards, Vickery. Complacency is running riot through some of the playing group. Where's the kids ? Rotting in the VFL. Second biggest problem.

3. Match day coaching. Do the coaches watch the live telecast from home ? NOTHING done to stop macaffer on Friday night. Our guns played in the wrong position.

4. Kick in from a behind. Chip, chip, switch, chip turnover. It takes the backline 4-5 possessions to clear the ball from defensive 50m line. Looking upfield - NO ONE demands the footy. Stagnant LAZY footballers.

5. There's currently no confidence in each other. RARELY do you see a player DEMAND the ball. Exception is Cotchin and Martin. Forward line is stagnant as there is no open space to lead into because we take so long to move the ball, that our forward line becomes crowded. Could be a lack of fitness ?

Fixes

1. Go back to what worked. Jack at FF (tick), Martin in the guts and rested forward, Vickery dropped, Ellis allowed to take Grigg's role. Train harder and stop the media crap and get back into the gym.

2. Pick players who want to win and are not there for themselves. Drop Grigg, Edwards and Vickery NOW. Send a message. Start looking towards the kids - Madonna, Lennon, Arnot, McBean, Elton, Helbig, Dea, Bachelor. Pick them on form, not mateship.

3. DO SOMETHING. The ONLY coaching move that has worked has been moving Griffiths behind the ball against Carlton. Next time macaffer tags Cotchin, send the runner our to the mids and instruct them to help our skipper.

4. All in the head. PRESENT. Stop standing around waiting for another player to gift you the football. It is laughable. Watch Lloyd's first game - continually presented. What were our "stars" doing ? Develop a plan to move the ball out of defensive 50 quickly and efficiently.

5. Tempo footy. Teach the group how to play tempo footy. If the players can't adapt. Drop them. Attack the corridor when we have momentum. Stop chipping sideways when we have momentum. Stop turning the ball over with over possession when we have not got momentum.


We, as the supports don't know what is going on behind closed doors. We can only comment on what is presented on match day. CLEARLY we have gone backwards. Looking around us - GCS beat us in round 1 - Hawthorn smashed them on the same ground by 99 points. Our only win was against a second rate Carlton, and they just got beat by a side that lost 13 games in a row. The bottoms sides have improved in 2 years. We have gone backwards two years in the off season.
 

The Rusty Trombone

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This is not the complete problem but a big part of it.
1. How Griggs , Newman and Edwards continue to get games ahead of other players is laughable , the whole idea of having all this depth we talk about is dropping players that are out of form and not contributing for 4 quarters . How Aaron Edwards was not picked for round 1 in those conditions is a childish error.
2. Pettard and king are only in the best 22 when fully fit . That means if they have a good game one week and they are sore then they need to be dropped the next, it's called player managment . I'm sick of their form yoyoing why not just have them in and out of the team on our terms.
3. We miss Maric badly and we screwed up massively giving a second rounder to Carlton for Handsome. He got 2 kicks and 2 hand balls on Friday night with 50% efficiency. He gives us nothing round the ground. He can tap at bounces and throw ins and that is all. He tricked Ratten and Malthouse because of his build and testing but he's not a footballer and he's tricked Dimmma and Blair. From now on he shall be called " The Fugazi"
4. The right mix of small forwards will fix our forward line. Lloyd was the form small forward of the lee season and should of been playing his 4 the game on Fri nite. Madonna was the next Stevie Milne at under 18 level and now he's been played as a 179cm half back if he's played at all.
5. Thomas is a hack. Can't kick it more than 15 m and should be there as depth for wet weather games. We should of promoted Miles as he promotes quick ball movement , Thomas just kicks it metres left right or backwards after going back to the mark when his first instinct should be to go forward and find a target around 35-40m .
6. Because Hampson is such a pea heart and is injury prone we had to promote big O as insurance for him when we could of promoted Benny Darrou to cover for Rance and our backline would of been more settled over the last 3 weeks with Spoofa, Chappy and Darrou . The tight rookie promotions should of been Miles and Darrou. After that we should be looking at ways to develop and bring Todd Banfield into the forward line .
7. The circle jerk has to stop. Dimma has to stop visualising what he thinks the boys are capable of and put players in the positions they are capable of playing in . Eg Brandon Ellis , it's his 3rd year. Put him in the back pocket or back flank and let him develop through the midfield in time. You'd be better putting Vlas on the ball and let Ellis play a role? Who knows he may be ready towards the end of the season to be a full time mid or next year , maybe the year after. Let's let him grow some pubes first and knuckle down for the team , he can be the hero at some stage it's just not now.
 
I don't buy the "players who can't kick and handball" argument, FFS these guys are career, professional footballers who in most cases have been kicking a sherrin since they were 5 years old.

Nup - for me, it's a total loss of confidence thing borne from a fear of failure, pressure to succeed and lack of team and club leadership.

Great people and elite performers do not automatically make great leaders, teachers and coaches.

Dimma is very good but I fear is now at his limit and needs to take the next step in his coaching career and bring the group totally together with one vision and belief - has been found wanting in this regard since late last season.
He also urgently needs to develop plans B & C to use when required.

Captain Cotchin - is finding it tough with Maric and Lids going down to drag the team with him and keep them focused.
Tough gig for a still young Captain.

Selection Committee - needs to grow some balls and select on form and merit and not on draft position and reputation.

Finally, collectively whoever was involved in the reign Jack Riewoldt in decision and the play Martin predominantly NOT in the centre call needs to be blasted and the decision reversed.

It is fixable but we need guts and determination to get it done........... qualities that sadly have not been surplus at Richmond for many years.
 

The Rusty Trombone

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Problems

1. Successful gameplan from 2012-2013 has been sabotaged by the coaches. Jack "up the ground", Martin in defense, Ellis "run with role" and Vickery the "go to man" while Jack is the decoy. Absolute madness. Biggest problem.

2. Selection table - coach picks his favorites, and they are constantly the same group of passengers that let us down - Grigg, Edwards, Vickery. Complacency is running riot through some of the playing group. Where's the kids ? Rotting in the VFL. Second biggest problem.

3. Match day coaching. Do the coaches watch the live telecast from home ? NOTHING done to stop macaffer on Friday night. Our guns played in the wrong position.

4. Kick in from a behind. Chip, chip, switch, chip turnover. It takes the backline 4-5 possessions to clear the ball from defensive 50m line. Looking upfield - NO ONE demands the footy. Stagnant LAZY footballers.

5. There's currently no confidence in each other. RARELY do you see a player DEMAND the ball. Exception is Cotchin and Martin. Forward line is stagnant as there is no open space to lead into because we take so long to move the ball, that our forward line becomes crowded. Could be a lack of fitness ?

Fixes

1. Go back to what worked. Jack at FF (tick), Martin in the guts and rested forward, Vickery dropped, Ellis allowed to take Grigg's role. Train harder and stop the media crap and get back into the gym.

2. Pick players who want to win and are not there for themselves. Drop Grigg, Edwards and Vickery NOW. Send a message. Start looking towards the kids - Madonna, Lennon, Arnot, McBean, Elton, Helbig, Dea, Bachelor. Pick them on form, not mateship.

3. DO SOMETHING. The ONLY coaching move that has worked has been moving Griffiths behind the ball against Carlton. Next time macaffer tags Cotchin, send the runner our to the mids and instruct them to help our skipper.

4. All in the head. PRESENT. Stop standing around waiting for another player to gift you the football. It is laughable. Watch Lloyd's first game - continually presented. What were our "stars" doing ? Develop a plan to move the ball out of defensive 50 quickly and efficiently.

5. Tempo footy. Teach the group how to play tempo footy. If the players can't adapt. Drop them. Attack the corridor when we have momentum. Stop chipping sideways when we have momentum. Stop turning the ball over with over possession when we have not got momentum.


We, as the supports don't know what is going on behind closed doors. We can only comment on what is presented on match day. CLEARLY we have gone backwards. Looking around us - GCS beat us in round 1 - Hawthorn smashed them on the same ground by 99 points. Our only win was against a second rate Carlton, and they just got beat by a side that lost 13 games in a row. The bottoms sides have improved in 2 years. We have gone backwards two years in the off season.
I love this Neen, it's what everyone is thinking , just can't see how the club didn't see it.
 

The Rusty Trombone

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Rance, Deledio and Maric

May as well become a Carlton mod if that's all you've got to as to the conversation. Rance and Lids played round 1 and that was a disgrace . Our injuries are not an excuse except for Maric. Hampson is 1 tenth the player Maric is. We have the cattle to cover Rance and Lids for a couple of games.
 

docko911

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I've never been so uninterested in the way we play football. We look like utter poo. What could we possibly lose by taking on the game and running the middle. Port do it, the good teams do it, after a while you get good at it and you win games of football. It is alright to play kick to kick in the back half when the zone has pressed up outside our defensive 50 but if the other team has you pinned you need to take on the guts or keep turning the ball over on the wings.
 
Oct 15, 2009
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It's between the ears

We are playing out the games stronger than we finish them, so it's not fitness

We have had 1-2 good quarters in all games, so it's not ability

More importantly, they aren't playing in the same way as last season, with minimal on field and off field changes

In the GC and WB game we only came good when we woke up that the game was nearly lost, and against the Pies when the pressure was off.

I don't know if it's arrogance, complacency, fear of expectation, but right now as a team IMO their heads have them frozen. They don't play on (something we always do), they don't fight (something they always did)

Coaches and selection can do all they want, put this is something the players have to sort out and be held accountable for
Because they don't run for the first 2-3 quarters. We go out hard and can't run it out. We bludge and finish strong.
 
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