Mega Thread The 2015 Buckley coaching megathread

[loki04]

Correct, was a good player because he was the one who rarely received any attention because of the class he had around him, he has done nothing at the Eagles to warrant them giving up a first round draft pick, but am happy we were able to get that from them.I'll take grungy over wellingham everyday of the week

Im not arguing the point of letting him go as I think it was the right call as the Wellers who left was not the player he was in 10/11.

 

[ace andy]

I love all the debate about our game plan, or lack of one. The reality is that teams with a high quality list can display their game plan to full effect. Teams with lesser quality lists generally look like they don't have a game plan.

I think our problem at the moment is that we don't have a list capable of executing a game plan against the best. Once the pressure comes on our skills let us down and the plan turns to shit.

We lack the foot skills to implement any type of plan that might be successful against the best. This is not an easy fix. We have not recruited well in this regarded over many years. Until we have players with good skills we a doomed to not having an effective game plan. The coach is almost irrelevant.

There are some pretty basic things you can do regardless of the overall game plan. Setting up positions so you actually have someone to kick to rather than always having to either kick to a contest or kick to a player leading away from you is pretty basic stuff that we don't do well at all.

 

[Apex36]

Adelaide were a class above us on Saturday.

Their average age was 24 years, 320 days. Ours was 24 years, 99 days.

The experience gap was 1723 games to us, 1728 to them.

Minimal differences for a team that looked a class above us.

The average age of the Adelaide squad was well above that. They only had 8 players under 25, and none under 23. Your maths doesn't work out.

 

[PieBeast]

I love all the debate about our game plan, or lack of one. The reality is that teams with a high quality list can display their game plan to full effect. Teams with lesser quality lists generally look like they don't have a game plan.

I think our problem at the moment is that we don't have a list capable of executing a game plan against the best. Once the pressure comes on our skills let us down and the plan turns to shit.

We lack the foot skills to implement any type of plan that might be successful against the best. This is not an easy fix. We have not recruited well in this regarded over many years. Until we have players with good skills we a doomed to not having an effective game plan. The coach is almost irrelevant.

I agree that our list is sub-par but surely a coach in his fourth year at the helm and largely responsible for our current direction should be held accountable for this???

 

[Mame]

There are some pretty basic things you can do regardless of the overall game plan. Setting up positions so you actually have someone to kick to rather than always having to either kick to a contest or kick to a player leading away from you is pretty basic stuff that we don't do well at all.

Which is why experience and on-field leadership is so important and we're badly lacking in that atm. Even Hawks struggled without their centre and defence on-filed leaders in Mitchell and Gibson last game. We have Pendles, Brown maybe. Not even close.

 

[12kilos]

I agree that our list is sub-par but surely a coach in his fourth year at the helm and largely responsible for our current direction should be held accountable for this???

Disagree mate. Our list has a lot of potential if nurtured properly.
Totally agree with you that Buckley has to take responsability in the fact he decided to rebuild a youthfall team in its premieship window in 2012.
I was supporting Buckley until now. I think if our team does not show improvement at the end of the season he has to get the flick.Let someone else take our young list to the next level.
No one is questioning Buckley's knowledge of the game, however he seems to lack considerably in being a father figure for the younsters, creating a culture were players play for each other as one unit.Developing youngsters and even his strike rate in his selection of recycled players is poor.
These days an afl coach has to be a soccer style manager ie Fergerson, Mourhinio or in the afl Clarkson,.As a manager Buckley has proven to be a very poor man manager.
As a pie fan i hope i am proven totally wrong, but i am a fraid it wont happen.

 

[Mugavin]

The average age of the Adelaide squad was well above that. They only had 8 players under 25, and none under 23. Your maths doesn't work out.

http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2015/010420150411.html

Totals 24y 98d
Totals 24y 320d

 

[Starcevich90]

How many finals series have we missed under Bucks?

Two coming up, don't think three next year is out of the question. Plus he inherited one of the highest quality lists any new coach has taken over in the modern era.

 

[No SPIN]

4 years is more than enough time to see some progress not just a stagnation and free fall decline.
Eventually, you need to cut your losses.
There's only so many times you can continue to go to the same well.

if injuiries have compromised BUCK'S progress in the first 3 years as many have agreed - then logically you are suggesting he has ONE year to prove himself. Its a huge ask.

 

[Mugavin]

What if Buckley has contributed to the soft tissue epidemic?

 

[Starcevich90]

How'd those baby bombers go?

When you clean out older players/experience you are skinny on depth. Tell me which young teams went on to dominate in subsequent years?

#flagpinch

Hawthorn (2008)
Geelong (2007)

 

[PhiloBeddoe]

Disagree mate. Our list has a lot of potential if nurtured properly.
Totally agree with you that Buckley has to take responsability in the fact he decided to rebuild a youthfall team in its premieship window in 2012.
I was supporting Buckley until now. I think if our team does not show improvement at the end of the season he has to get the flick.Let someone else take our young list to the next level.
No one is questioning Buckley's knowledge of the game, however he seems to lack considerably in being a father figure for the younsters, creating a culture were players play for each other as one unit.Developing youngsters and even his strike rate in his selection of recycled players is poor.
These days an afl coach has to be a soccer style manager ie Fergerson, Mourhinio or in the afl Clarkson,.As a manager Buckley has proven to be a very poor man manager.
As a pie fan i hope i am proven totally wrong, but i am a fraid it wont happen.

What we probably need to know is how much resistance Buckley had to cope with in 2012 and even earlier. There's no doubt that MM was loved but if we're going to pull out the old line "play for the coach", when are we going to give equal weight to "playing for the jumper"?
Sometimes I think it has less to do with Buckley and more about the players being loyal to Mick rather than the club. If so, no matter how much he did in terms of good man management practise, he was doomed.

 

[Mugavin]

How'd those baby bombers go?

When you clean out older players/experience you are skinny on depth. Tell me which young teams went on to dominate in subsequent years?

#flagpinch

Essendon had a bad year in 1994 but they then rebounded.

In 1995 they finished fifth.
In 1996 they would have made a GF but a Tony Lockett point stopped that.

1993 was a strange year. A low total of wins gave you a Top 2 berth and Carlton, WC & North were all on Essendon's level.

That young side didn't dominate the competition like Collingwood did in 2010.

 

[Apex36]

http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2015/010420150411.html

I stand corrected, was looking at the wrong list. The average age however, is a deceptive stat. The average age was very similar in NAB 1 vs the Hawks, but in reality we had a more even spread of 22-24 year olds where they had a heap of kids and a few veterans bumping up the average age. Same thing has happened in this scenario if you look at the spread of players in each age bracket.

 

[Apex36]

Essendon had a bad year in 1994 but they then rebounded.

In 1995 they finished fifth.
In 1996 they would have made a GF but a Tony Lockett point stopped that.

1993 was a strange year. A low total of wins gave you a Top 2 berth and Carlton, WC & North were all on Essendon's level.

That young side didn't dominate the competition like Collingwood did in 2010.

The baby Bombers were 2000.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Oddly the commentators made specific note of the fact that there was no lack of desire and that was not the reason we lost.

Well, if the commentators said, it must be true.

 

[12kilos]

What we probably need to know is how much resistance Buckley had to cope with in 2012 and even earlier. There's no doubt that MM was loved but if we're going to pull out the old line "play for the coach", when are we going to give equal weight to "playing for the jumper"?
Sometimes I think it has less to do with Buckley and more about the players being loyal to Mick rather than the club. If so, no matter how much he did in terms of good man management practise, he was doomed.

You bring up some good points mate , however he has to take responsability in rebuiding a team in 2012 that had at least 3 years left in its premieship window. He is in charge he is the coach! He has to take responsability.With our current list he should at least be putting games in our 2nd and 3rd year players ie Broomhead Grundy Witts Kennendy Marsh Freeman and Sharanberg when he comes back. Tell the youngsters in that age bracket you will play 7 or 8 games in a row and you wont be dropoed.
Even x factors like Fassolo and Karnezis . Everyone is calling for Fassolo to get the chop this week.For once show faith in him How many times do you you hear from retired champions the game is 90 persent mental. How many times has Fassolo been dropped after 2 or 3 games due to poor form? Give him 7
.

 

[Mugavin]

The baby Bombers were 2000.

Incorrect. The Baby Bombers were 1993.

In the modern era, Collingwood's 2010 win was the youngest since Hawthorn in 1978.

5 years after that flag (where we are now), Hawthorn won another flag (1983).

 

[12kilos]

Buckley seems to treat all the players the same way, like robots.
Players are individuals what works for Grundy may not work for Fasdolo? For example.
Greats like Sheedy even Malthouse at Collingwood and even recently Clarkson are all great exponents in delivering messages treating players like individuals, yet getting the players to play as one! Beating in the beat of the same drum.

 

[Good_Old]

Hawthorn (2008)
Geelong (2007)

Hawthorn 2009?

 

[Maggie5]

Buckley seems to treat all the players the same way, like robots.
Players are individuals what works for Grundy may not work for Fasdolo? For example.
Greats like Sheedy even Malthouse at Collingwood and even recently Clarkson are all great exponents in delivering messages treating players like individuals, yet getting the players to play as one! Beating in the beat of the same drum.

Do you work at the club to have this knowledge or is this just an assumption?

 

[Good_Old]

Buckley seems to treat all the players the same way, like robots.
Players are individuals what works for Grundy may not work for Fasdolo? For example.
Greats like Sheedy even Malthouse at Collingwood and even recently Clarkson are all great exponents in delivering messages treating players like individuals, yet getting the players to play as one! Beating in the beat of the same drum.

Really? Because from all the pre season videos I felt that he'd make an incredible player developer, more so than a coach.

 

[Good_Old]

Do you work at the club to have this knowledge or is this just an assumption?

An assumption is putting it politely.

 

[ksardog]

The baby Bombers were 2000.

No, first was in '93, liked it so much they reused it in 2000.

 

[Mugavin]

Really? Because from all the pre season videos I felt that he'd make an incredible player developer, more so than a coach.

Why would he make a good player developer?

The knock on Buckley from day one when he stepped inside Victoria Park was his ability to deal with players who don't live for football like him.

The proof in the Puddin has seen a number of players traded who unwind from AFL and don't totally love for football because Buckley can't relate to them.