Autopsy 2020 Season Review

[Wigarus]

Said it before and I'll say it again. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I don't think there is any real, noticeable, actual improvement so far under the new coach. I am as pessimistic about next year as I was for this one.

The reality is that COVID serendipitously gave us one of the fairest seasons in our clubs history. Every team travelled unlike most years, we only played every team once. We weren't uniquely shunted to Tasmania. We only had to play 17 games.

Even with all our usual fixture handicaps removed, we only beat two top 8 teams and only 3 teams above us. Teams we also beat last year. So I don't see any evidence the fancy new trendy gameplan will hold up. Personally, I never thought gameplan was the issue. Or coaching 'skills'. I think it's plain and simple that the squad is not good enough.

We didn't have a good run towards the end of the year like we did in 2012 where I think we won 9 of the last 11? , We've won 2 out of the last 5. I don't see any similarity. I think if we were to play another 5 games we'd show more fatigue and more losses.

I like what some of the kids brought, but just like my man Ross, I don't get seduced by talent. There is too much water to go under the bridge with all that youth. First round draft picks being injured in their first year is a Fremantle right of passage. Sturt looks a find but can't get on the park. and who knows if we don't lose one or more to the other clubs again. Even guys like Alex Pearce have basically become question marks that affect our list. Sure the two of them are undeniable quality, but if they can't get them on the park should they be moved on?

My personal opinion is that Ross was sacked for PR reasons because the club knew we were too far off and wanted breathing space. JLO was the right coach to make a 12th place finish palatable for the fans. But I have no confidence he will deliver us a finals win, I have no confidence of us making top 4 and so ultimately I have no confidence we will win a flag.


edit - fixed some inaccuracies

 

[Fat Nyfe]

Said it before and I'll say it again. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I don't think there is any real, noticeable, actual improvement so far under the new coach. I am as pessimistic about next year as I was for this one.

The reality is that COVID serendipitously gave us one of the fairest seasons in our clubs history. Every team travelled unlike most years, we only played every team once. We weren't uniquely shunted to Tasmania. We only had to play 17 games.

Even with all our usual fixture handicaps removed, we only beat one top 8 team and only 2 teams above us. Teams we also beat last year. So I don't see any evidence the fancy new trendy gameplan will hold up. Personally, I never thought gameplan was the issue. Or coaching 'skills'. I think it's plain and simple that the squad is not good enough.

We didn't have a good run towards the end of the year like we did in 2012 where we broke our games won in a row record, We've won 2 out of the last 5. I don't see any similarity. I think if we were to play another 5 games we'd show more fatigue and more losses.

I like what some of the kids brought, but just like my man Ross, I don't get seduced by talent. There is too much water to go under the bridge with all that youth. First round draft picks being injured in their first year is a Fremantle right of passage. Sturt looks a find but can't get on the park. and who knows if we don't lose one or more to the other clubs again. Even guys like Alex Pearce have basically become question marks that affect our list. Sure the two of them are undeniable quality, but if they can't get them on the park should they be moved on?

My personal opinion is that Ross was sacked for PR reasons because the club knew we were too far off and wanted breathing space. JLO was the right coach to make a 12th place finish palatable for the fans. But I have no confidence he will deliver us a finals win, I have no confidence of us making top 4 and so ultimately I have no confidence we will win a flag.

- We beat 2 top 8 teams, 3 above us.
- We didn’t break our games won in a row record in 2012. I think we won 9 of the last 11? Which was a great effort by an undoubtably more mature team, with less injuries, but it’s not what you claimed.

The rest is subjective, you can be pessimistic if you like (sounds to me like you’ve got a chip on your shoulder about Ross leaving though which is affecting your judgement) but get your facts right at least.

 

[Wigarus]

- We beat 2 top 8 teams, 3 above us.
- We didn’t break our games won in a row record in 2012. I think we won 9 of the last 11? Which was a great effort by an undoubtably more mature team, with less injuries, but it’s not what you claimed.

The rest is subjective, you can be pessimistic if you like (sounds to me like you’ve got a chip on your shoulder about Ross leaving though which is affecting your judgement) but get your facts right at least.

Ok. I'm happy to be corrected, I didn't go looking I just went from memory but I would like to be accurate. I don't think it makes much difference to the point of my post.

You are right that I'm bitter about Ross being sacked. Clearly, I'm of the opinion that if we had Ross coaching us this year, we would have won more games than with JLO.

 

[Purple Jesus]

Ok. I'm happy to be corrected, I didn't go looking I just went from memory but I would like to be accurate. I don't think it makes much difference to the point of my post.

You are right that I'm bitter about Ross being sacked. Clearly, I'm of the opinion that if we had Ross coaching us this year, we would have won more games than with JLO.

I think you're just plain wrong there.

We would have seen far more blowouts with Ross at the helm playing his favourites. We not have been blooding youth because he would have been trying to keep his job. We didn't really get blown off the park this year. We were in every single game. If we had our full team available or even just 1 or 2 players more (of Sturt/Logue/Young/Pearce), I have no doubt we'd be playing finals - we wouldn't be easy beats either.

I don't think we would be in that same position with Ross at the helm. He was too stubborn and a terrible game day coach for that same reason. Ross is gone, get over it. If you can't see the improvement on every line, that's on you.

Longmuir will bring us our first flag in the next few years.

 

[wayToGo_]

The thing that stands out for me in the journey is Ross admitting we needed to move to more of a skills based game plan to match it with the best sides at the end of 2016 (from memory) and then spending the following years trying to implement a new game style that really didn't suit his strengths nor style of coaching. He was the right coach back in 2012 when our list was full of hardened players with limited skills and he took us as far as possible with that (far from best) list only to fall short against probably the most skilled side in history (excluding GWS who are incredibly talented but clearly not a team).

Ross deserves unconditional respect for what he achieved back then. But the reality is Longmuir has done more to progress a skills-based game plan in just one compromised season than Ross and his coaching team did in 3+ years (after having the luxury of spending 5 years working with them prior).

Longmuir is a new age coach and has replaced an often flood back defensive mentality with a more sophisticated rolling zone in front of the ball. The net result is improved defensive results (#1 defensive team for 2nd half of the season) without requiring as much end to end running from all our players (hopefully reducing fatigue and potential for injury).

The ball movement is clearly a work in progress (understandable given training restrictions) but the intent appears to be less bombing it long (which we failed in some games) and more slicing through a defensive zones with short kicks before accelerating towards f50 to isolate our forwards in 1v1 contests. The added benefit is the defensive zone is mapped out behind the ball as the ball moves down the field to reduce risk of getting smashed on the rebound in case we turn it over. Last year it felt our only successful ball movement was manic running the ball down the wings (via Hill and Langdon) and then hoping to catch the opposition napping out the back. Yes it worked at times, and sometimes it was exciting to watch but when teams shut it down there wasn't any plan B.

My premonition is that once we learn to carve up zones with short kicks along with better forward line timing/patterns then we can accelerate with ball movement (once it becomes second nature to the whole team). And eventually mix things up occasionally with alternate ball movement like the overlap run down the wings.

The core we are working from now seems far superior to what we had in 2019. We also shouldn't forget we've implemented this whilst also relying on 4 players under 22 being key pieces in the engine room. No other team is doing anything even remotely close to that - it's not a coincidence 3 of those players are 22 under 22 and the other is the likely Rising Star.

People are entitled to be pessimistic if they want. I don't see how anyone unbiased (eg not bitter about sacking Ross) can not see this year as a stepping stone toward a winning game plan. There is no guarantee we are headed for our first premiership with this approach (there never is) but I am fairly certain even Ross would be thinking the move made was the right one for Freo and we're tracking in the right direction - and that'd be a testament to how professional he is.

 

[tonygeeks]

Positives : it wasn’t as bad as everyone thought

Negatives : it’s not as great as everyone thinks

Hard to say where we stand in the grand scheme of things , some teams have had really tough circumstances and you can’t just say this team did it or that team did it everyone’s got their own different situations. I think we’ve left the rebuilding rabble tier and nudged up into the battling mid range teams. How soon we can jump another level is anyone’s guess


Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Easiest thing to do is compare to the 4 other new coaches
1) Adelaide - last
2) North - 2nd last (but last in spirit)
3) Carlton - same as us, older team
4) Saints - Finals

I think it is clearly worth mentioning that the coaches of North, Carlton and Saints had been an assistant coach at their club for at least a year and had a decent chunk as caretaker coach.

The only other new coach that came in from scratch came dead last...

Wigarus, thanks for posting what you knew wouldnt be received well, but posting in a calm and reasoned manner. I obviously disagree with you entirely but that's beside the point =)

 

[Daddoo]

Said it before and I'll say it again. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I don't think there is any real, noticeable, actual improvement so far under the new coach. I am as pessimistic about next year as I was for this one.

The reality is that COVID serendipitously gave us one of the fairest seasons in our clubs history. Every team travelled unlike most years, we only played every team once. We weren't uniquely shunted to Tasmania. We only had to play 17 games.

Even with all our usual fixture handicaps removed, we only beat two top 8 teams and only 3 teams above us. Teams we also beat last year. So I don't see any evidence the fancy new trendy gameplan will hold up. Personally, I never thought gameplan was the issue. Or coaching 'skills'. I think it's plain and simple that the squad is not good enough.

We didn't have a good run towards the end of the year like we did in 2012 where I think we won 9 of the last 11? , We've won 2 out of the last 5. I don't see any similarity. I think if we were to play another 5 games we'd show more fatigue and more losses.

I like what some of the kids brought, but just like my man Ross, I don't get seduced by talent. There is too much water to go under the bridge with all that youth. First round draft picks being injured in their first year is a Fremantle right of passage. Sturt looks a find but can't get on the park. and who knows if we don't lose one or more to the other clubs again. Even guys like Alex Pearce have basically become question marks that affect our list. Sure the two of them are undeniable quality, but if they can't get them on the park should they be moved on?

My personal opinion is that Ross was sacked for PR reasons because the club knew we were too far off and wanted breathing space. JLO was the right coach to make a 12th place finish palatable for the fans. But I have no confidence he will deliver us a finals win, I have no confidence of us making top 4 and so ultimately I have no confidence we will win a flag.


edit - fixed some inaccuracies

I see what you’re saying but Wow. If you can’t find some pleasure or positives in this season... All I can say is I’m sorry, mate. We have plenty of seats on the bus and you are welcome anytime you want. It’s been a nice ride this year.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Nothing]

Said it before and I'll say it again. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I don't think there is any real, noticeable, actual improvement so far under the new coach. I am as pessimistic about next year as I was for this one.

The reality is that COVID serendipitously gave us one of the fairest seasons in our clubs history. Every team travelled unlike most years, we only played every team once. We weren't uniquely shunted to Tasmania. We only had to play 17 games.

Even with all our usual fixture handicaps removed, we only beat two top 8 teams and only 3 teams above us. Teams we also beat last year. So I don't see any evidence the fancy new trendy gameplan will hold up. Personally, I never thought gameplan was the issue. Or coaching 'skills'. I think it's plain and simple that the squad is not good enough.

We didn't have a good run towards the end of the year like we did in 2012 where I think we won 9 of the last 11? , We've won 2 out of the last 5. I don't see any similarity. I think if we were to play another 5 games we'd show more fatigue and more losses.

I like what some of the kids brought, but just like my man Ross, I don't get seduced by talent. There is too much water to go under the bridge with all that youth. First round draft picks being injured in their first year is a Fremantle right of passage. Sturt looks a find but can't get on the park. and who knows if we don't lose one or more to the other clubs again. Even guys like Alex Pearce have basically become question marks that affect our list. Sure the two of them are undeniable quality, but if they can't get them on the park should they be moved on?

My personal opinion is that Ross was sacked for PR reasons because the club knew we were too far off and wanted breathing space. JLO was the right coach to make a 12th place finish palatable for the fans. But I have no confidence he will deliver us a finals win, I have no confidence of us making top 4 and so ultimately I have no confidence we will win a flag.


edit - fixed some inaccuracies

I differ in view a little but know people who share your sentiments. I've enjoyed the season and there have been highlights - like there has been in previous seasons. Of course, the shiny knew toy has placated the masses and it's "exciting new game plan" is a hit. As a result, the invective has dropped off, making it more pleasant to be around football media (including social media).

Our win percentage has improved from 40.9% to 41.2% and our percentage has improved from 91.9% to 93.7%. But they are hardly significant changes and if there were 5 more games played, with a young list, I doubt we would have kept that percentage at a similar level.

I wonder how much if the improvement is from adding more top 10 draft picks and Cerra, Brayshaw and others being a year older and more developed.

I thought we should be playing finals this year with Lyon in charge and I thought that should have been the benchmark for Longmuir. With the interruptions to the season I've wavered on that but it should be the absolute minimum for 2021. Injuries won't be an excuse, they weren't allowed to be in the past.

We're all in on Bell and his cohort. I hope he can deliver.

 

[gungho]

Said it before and I'll say it again. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I don't think there is any real, noticeable, actual improvement so far under the new coach. I am as pessimistic about next year as I was for this one.

The reality is that COVID serendipitously gave us one of the fairest seasons in our clubs history. Every team travelled unlike most years, we only played every team once. We weren't uniquely shunted to Tasmania. We only had to play 17 games.

Even with all our usual fixture handicaps removed, we only beat two top 8 teams and only 3 teams above us. Teams we also beat last year. So I don't see any evidence the fancy new trendy gameplan will hold up. Personally, I never thought gameplan was the issue. Or coaching 'skills'. I think it's plain and simple that the squad is not good enough.

We didn't have a good run towards the end of the year like we did in 2012 where I think we won 9 of the last 11? , We've won 2 out of the last 5. I don't see any similarity. I think if we were to play another 5 games we'd show more fatigue and more losses.

I like what some of the kids brought, but just like my man Ross, I don't get seduced by talent. There is too much water to go under the bridge with all that youth. First round draft picks being injured in their first year is a Fremantle right of passage. Sturt looks a find but can't get on the park. and who knows if we don't lose one or more to the other clubs again. Even guys like Alex Pearce have basically become question marks that affect our list. Sure the two of them are undeniable quality, but if they can't get them on the park should they be moved on?

My personal opinion is that Ross was sacked for PR reasons because the club knew we were too far off and wanted breathing space. JLO was the right coach to make a 12th place finish palatable for the fans. But I have no confidence he will deliver us a finals win, I have no confidence of us making top 4 and so ultimately I have no confidence we will win a flag.


edit - fixed some inaccuracies

Mate, I respect your opinion but disagree. Judging by your post you have followed the Dockers for a few years - surely you can see a difference in game style under Longmuir. There are more short kicks to targets coming out of the backline. We take our time in finding the best option - and then execute - rather than the "gaining forward territory at all costs" game style under Lyon.
Don't believe me? Check out these two stats:
In 2020 we play on after a mark less than any other team. (10th in 2019)
In 2020 we have the highest ratio of kicks/handballs in the competition. (9th in 2019).
Clearly, we have a very different game style this year.
To one of your other points - I don't think Ross was sacked purely for PR reasons but even if he was - it hasn't hurt us. We certainly get a much more balanced view of reporting from the media than we did under Ross.

 

[Purple_Turtle]

Easiest thing to do is compare to the 4 other new coaches
1) Adelaide - last
2) North - 2nd last (but last in spirit)
3) Carlton - same as us, older team
4) Saints - Finals

I think it is clearly worth mentioning that the coaches of North, Carlton and Saints had been an assistant coach at their club for at least a year and had a decent chunk as caretaker coach.

The only other new coach that came in from scratch came dead last...

Wigarus, thanks for posting what you knew wouldnt be received well, but posting in a calm and reasoned manner. I obviously disagree with you entirely but that's beside the point =)

I feel like the comparison is misleading.

1. Nicks coached Adelaide to last, but the club is complete basket case in almost every way. How much could you say he genuinely underachieved by?
2. Shaw is in a similar situation where North probably needed to rebuild last year, didn't, and were promptly exposed after a horrid injury run.
3. Ratten is probably the stand-out of the bunch, but St Kilda is a club that invested a lot at the last trade period to have this rise up the ladder and Ratten's been able to take advantage by actually being competent.

Swap those three coaches around and would you expect to see different results? Does Ratten at Adelaide result in a spoon, or Nicks at St Kilda actually look like a really great coach?

I think Freo this year performed how I thought they would preseason. Good enough to challenge for finals if things go right for us. Which is a tick for J-Lo in my book. But I can see how someone would praise him far more if they of the view Freo were a bottom-4 or worse side.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

I feel like the comparison is misleading.

1. Nicks coached Adelaide to last, but the club is complete basket case in almost every way. How much could you say he genuinely underachieved by?
2. Shaw is in a similar situation where North probably needed to rebuild last year, didn't, and were promptly exposed after a horrid injury run.
3. Ratten is probably the stand-out of the bunch, but St Kilda is a club that invested a lot at the last trade period to have this rise up the ladder and Ratten's been able to take advantage by actually being competent.

Swap those three coaches around and would you expect to see different results? Does Ratten at Adelaide result in a spoon, or Nicks at St Kilda actually look like a really great coach?

I think Freo this year performed how I thought they would preseason. Good enough to challenge for finals if things go right for us. Which is a tick for J-Lo in my book. But I can see how someone would praise him far more if they of the view Freo were a bottom-4 or worse side.

I dont think North or Adelaide's list is any worse than what we had from 2016 though till now and we were never as consistently bad as they have been this year. I think you would get different results personally, particularly with Shaw who seems like he is completely out of this depth

 

[Purple_Turtle]

I dont think North or Adelaide's list is any worse than what we had from 2016 though till now and we were never as consistently bad as they have been this year. I think you would get different results personally, particularly with Shaw who seems like he is completely out of this depth

Did North actually consider another applicant before making him coach? Beyond not pulling the trigger for a rebuild and Shaw's shocking first year they're starting to look really bad.

 

[Wigarus]

Mate, I respect your opinion but disagree. Judging by your post you have followed the Dockers for a few years - surely you can see a difference in game style under Longmuir. There are more short kicks to targets coming out of the backline. We take our time in finding the best option - and then execute - rather than the "gaining forward territory at all costs" game style under Lyon.
Don't believe me? Check out these two stats:
In 2020 we play on after a mark less than any other team. (10th in 2019)
In 2020 we have the highest ratio of kicks/handballs in the competition. (9th in 2019).
Clearly, we have a very different game style this year.
To one of your other points - I don't think Ross was sacked purely for PR reasons but even if he was - it hasn't hurt us. We certainly get a much more balanced view of reporting from the media than we did under Ross.

I think you have misunderstood my points... Obviously there is a difference in our game style under the new coach. My point is that just because it's different does not mean it's better. If game plan was the issue, then you would expect more wins from the same team slightly older.

It doesn't matter what I think anyway. I hope I'm wrong and we start next season 0-4. All I'm saying is that I started the season thinking that this would not be a better year than last year and I was hoping (because at this point that's all I've got) to be proven wrong. So far that hasn't happened. I'm not interested in the attractiveness of our football, I'm interested in wins in a tough competition.

I personally don't believe that we will jump from 12th to a flag. I feel like we will probably have to make finals for a year or 2 before it is possible. I was hoping this year would be the year we make finals, now I hope it is next year. But I am giving my honest opinion that I do not have confidence that we will build on this year and improve enough to make it and I worry we might go backwards.

As far as PR, obviously it hasn't hurt us, that was my point. The Wests editor specifically targeted Ross and as a club we didn't back him in, we did exactly what they wanted and sacked him. Maybe this is just tinfoil hat conspiracy theory craziness but I don't think a major sponsor of our cross-town rival has our best interests at heart and I felt a lot more comfortable with them hating our coach than loving him.

 

[Fat Nyfe]

I'm fine with people not being impressed by our year, ultimately we finished in around about the same spot as last year and the year before that, 12th isn't particularly exciting. But a lot of change has happened at the club recently and if you dig a little deeper there are a lot of signs of a tide that is turning. Turning the club around in a year was pretty unlikely given all the circumstances particularly the horrid injury list/covid/new coach, and comparisons to 2012 don't make any sense other than it's the first year of a new coach. The list profile is completely different for one.

My expectations were lower this year so I was happy to ride the wave but I'm setting the bar pretty high next year, after all the talk of turning over a new leaf we have to walk the walk. We need to play finals, and I reckon not just trying to sneak in like Melbourne but really break through for a top 6 finish and win a final. There shouldn't be a ceiling though if they get on a roll. Looking over the list we should be hitting a sweet spot soon with a mix of senior, middle and younger players with a now 2nd year coach. For the first time in five years there will be high expectations on the club which is a welcome change from my point of view, pressure and expectations forge good teams. So I'll take this year for what it was, but ultimately we need to convert it into results in 2021

 

[Fat Nyfe]

As far as PR, obviously it hasn't hurt us, that was my point. The Wests editor specifically targeted Ross and as a club we didn't back him in, we did exactly what they wanted and sacked him. Maybe this is just tinfoil hat conspiracy theory craziness but I don't think a major sponsor of our cross-town rival has our best interests at heart and I felt a lot more comfortable with them hating our coach than loving him.

We had growing list of good reasons to get rid of Ross, it wasn't because The West hated him. And making decisions just to be contrarian to that s**t rag, such as keeping him on, would be the opposite of good management.

 

[theGav56]

The point about the travel regime during covid being to our advantage is well made as is the shorter season and shorter games.

I think we got through the season "OK" but nothing much more. Certainly can enter the next season with all the optimism of a club in the final stages of a comprehensive rebuild.

 

[theGav56]

Easiest thing to do is compare to the 4 other new coaches
1) Adelaide - last
2) North - 2nd last (but last in spirit)
3) Carlton - same as us, older team
4) Saints - Finals

I think it is clearly worth mentioning that the coaches of North, Carlton and Saints had been an assistant coach at their club for at least a year and had a decent chunk as caretaker coach.

The only other new coach that came in from scratch came dead last...

Wigarus, thanks for posting what you knew wouldnt be received well, but posting in a calm and reasoned manner. I obviously disagree with you entirely but that's beside the point =)

Clearly Longmuir has been the best of that bunch of coaches but that list highlights how difficult it is to find a decent coach and how vulnerable a club is taking on rookie coaches. Shaw may end up being a decent coach but to me that appointment looks like it could threaten the Club's existence. Same with Cameron at Giants.

 

[mightymouse75]

The proof will be in the off season.
The last 3 years we have had hill, Weller, Langdon & Neale sail off into the sunset.
We have actually done very well out of it but something was starting to stink at the club.

 

[Daddoo]

Dear Buddy,

Geez, we've been through a lot this year. First we had to deal with the first hub, the stutter, then back home, more stutter, back to the hub, stutter was gone and then it came back, and now your back home. It's been a roller coaster.

You've probably seen all of the BF posts (I keep telling you NOT to read them!) banging on you and saying you've had the worst year ever. Look, mate, most of that is just noise. Despite the shortened season with less games and shorter quarters, you took more contested marks than last year (37 up from 32) and, in fact, you had your most inside 50 marks since 2017 (16 marks i50 this year, 15 last year, 12 in 2018). And, despite kicking 3 less goals this season (which is to be expected with less games!), your efficiency in front of goal actually improved (10 goals/6 behinds this year, 13 goals/11 behinds last year). Now, some on here are going to say, "but that's because he totally missed the sticks!", but I'm not one of them. Your clangers were down from 37 to 33 and your free kicks against were down from 10 to 6. You also had to adjust to a changed game plan in this crazy season. In fact, you had more i50s than you've had in your entire career (40), which may be a result of the change in your role in JLo's game plan and the ascendancy of the Graberner.

Now, was everything rosy? No, but it was a difficult season and despite Lloydy, Dunstall, and the Pav all emailing me constantly (Seriously, why did you give them my email address?) to ask if they could help your goal kicking, I think you went alright.

Sorry we couldn't stop that stutter after 68.5 hours of therapy, but I did what I could. I guess you get what you pay for, mate.

Take some time off and come back recharged. We need you in our 3-headed attack next year. It was great being your buddy.

Love,
Your buddy

P.S. Don't be mad, but I'm changing my avatar.

 

[Lach72]

I feel we're better organised, and even given the injuries we were still competing strongly at the end of the season...last few years the wheels largely fell off after round 11.

Some signs of better ball movement but not enough.
And we also had wholesale changes in the midfield. Walters was barley in there. Fyfe about a third less. Mundy ran out the whole season...He looked fresh at the end.
We had a first year player play almost every game as the key midfielder...he attended more center bounces than anyone...
The organisation was impressive given how many key pillars we were missing.
Lobb was THE major disappointment for me. Dropping marks and kicking like a clown shoes...

 

[Joao]

Yeah I think the consistency is the improvement. We also never had close to a full strength team this year but we did at times last year and that is when we got those good wins.

 

[Nothing]

I feel we're better organised, and even given the injuries we were still competing strongly at the end of the season...last few years the wheels largely fell off after round 11.

We were hardly impressive post R11 this year. In that time, the only game that I see as "good" was NM and that says more about the opposition IMO. We also suffered some significant losses considering the length of games. I'd argue last year's win against Geelong was far more impressive.

 

[Lach72]

We were hardly impressive post R11 this year. In that time, the only game that I see as "good" was NM and that says more about the opposition IMO. We also suffered some significant losses considering the length of games. I'd argue last year's win against Geelong was far more impressive.

Sure...that team was also facing a Geelong who had been on the road for a couple of weeks, playing at home in front of our own crowd, and also contained Sandilands, Logue, Hamling, Brad Hill and Ed Langdon, coupled with Matera and Switta as older forwards and Walters and Fyfe playing almost 100% midfield.
7 of those weren't playing and Fyfe and Walters are playing roles that develop the team and prolong their careers.

I think our wins against North, Sydney and Melbourne were pretty good personally

 

[Scatter]

I seriously think we should consider asking for 2 blocks of 3 games in Melbourne and staying in a hub for the 2 weeks (twice) - it has got to be better than travelling back and forward every second week.