Coaching Staff Former Coach Ben "Truck" Rutten - Sacked for real this time - 21/8

FlyingV

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Had a poor day at the office
I thought he showed a lack of imagination- I would have liked to see him shuffle the troops more
Not sure he had a great match committee either
Surely the best wet weather player on the list should have played- Dylan Clarke
Surely that game would have been worth 20 to a player like Nik Cox
Playing Gleeson was shortsighted
I would have liked McGrath to play on Weightman
However props to Rutten- a way better season than I thought possible and the players seemed aligned at long last
A key forward, small forward and a physical midfielder please
Nik Cox would have been like Bambi on roller skates out there. Probably questionable even as a sub imo. Agree with Weightman and McGrath.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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Had a poor day at the office
I thought he showed a lack of imagination- I would have liked to see him shuffle the troops more
Not sure he had a great match committee either
Surely the best wet weather player on the list should have played- Dylan Clarke
Surely that game would have been worth 20 to a player like Nik Cox
Playing Gleeson was shortsighted
I would have liked McGrath to play on Weightman
However props to Rutten- a way better season than I thought possible and the players seemed aligned at long last
A key forward, small forward and a physical midfielder please
thought early we had the selections wrong
Waterman, ironically enough, is not built for days like today. All about dry decks where he can plant his feet and use his strength.
Wright. I'd have played Hooker. Someone who has the experience to know what to do in that game.
If Tippa was ready, he needed to play
Francis should have gone back and Stewart forward. Stewart knows how to lead for a chest mark. Francis would have been better with the balls the dogs bombed in.
McGrath to Weightman. Or even Dev with how little he was offering up forward
Cox for Gleeson given the experience on offer.

but he's a young coach with an inexperienced side.
he's done a mountain of work on the side and i'm excited for next year.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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Devon Smith, the guy who gives away frees just for existing, playing on Weightman, the kid who gets frees just for existing?

What a match-up that would have been...
ah but you see. it neutralises it.
Weightman is gonna get em. Dev is gonna give em away. Put them together and our free against tally should improve, because Dev isn't giving up ones that aren't going to be given up anyway ;)
 

BrunoV

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Had a poor day at the office
I thought he showed a lack of imagination- I would have liked to see him shuffle the troops more
Not sure he had a great match committee either
Surely the best wet weather player on the list should have played- Dylan Clarke
Surely that game would have been worth 20 to a player like Nik Cox
Playing Gleeson was shortsighted
I would have liked McGrath to play on Weightman
However props to Rutten- a way better season than I thought possible and the players seemed aligned at long last
A key forward, small forward and a physical midfielder please


We didn't set up for the wet, that's for sure.

Hard part is that the set up for the dry worked really well. We controlled the tempo of the first half. It would have been a fascinating game if the conditions remained dry.

If I had to guess, I'd say we punted on the rain not coming or it coming late in the hope that we'd be in the game enough to hold on.

I would have preferred Clarke in the trenches but, at the end of the day, we have Stringer for centre bounces who is the only mid we have who matches Bont, Dunkley, Smith and Treloar for power around the ball. Libba is another very physical inside player. As good as Parish is finding the ball inside, it's not his physicality that gets the job done.

Once the rain came I really do not see how we could go with the Dogs.

I honestly see 5 to 7 goals as the difference between the sides (this year) if all things are even. Tactics from both sides do upset that but I can accept the risk we took because I can't see how the alternative would change the end result.
 
Apr 23, 2016
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We didn't set up for the wet, that's for sure.

Hard part is that the set up for the dry worked really well. We controlled the tempo of the first half. It would have been a fascinating game if the conditions remained dry.

If I had to guess, I'd say we punted on the rain not coming or it coming late in the hope that we'd be in the game enough to hold on.

I would have preferred Clarke in the trenches but, at the end of the day, we have Stringer for centre bounces who is the only mid we have who matches Bont, Dunkley, Smith and Treloar for power around the ball. Libba is another very physical inside player. As good as Parish is finding the ball inside, it's not his physicality that gets the job done.

Once the rain came I really do not see how we could go with the Dogs.

I honestly see 5 to 7 goals as the difference between the sides (this year) if all things are even. Tactics from both sides do upset that but I can accept the risk we took because I can't see how the alternative would change the end result.

20 scoring shots to 16, a couple of those Dogs one very dubious.

All up was probably a 2 - 3 goal game in the Dogs favour if we adjust for the poor umpiring decisions versus the inaccuracy from Essendon. I'd say that sounds like about the right result.
 
Selection wise you could make a case for a couple of different directions but at the end of the day having no VFL equaled selecting some players that where under done in recent weeks and also having no one pressuring for selection. How much different may it have been for Walla if he had two proper VFL games to play ?
 

Rutten (& Heppell) addressing the playing group in the rooms straight after the game. Worth the watch I think.
 
Mar 17, 2018
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Every time I hear him speak I feel more and more confident that we're going in the right direction.
Reassuring to hear him explicitly state that he thinks we’re still pretty far away and it won’t be linear improvement. Seems like we’re not getting ahead of ourselves like we have in the past. Seems more and more like he is the real deal.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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Reassuring to hear him explicitly state that he thinks we’re still pretty far away and it won’t be linear improvement. Seems like we’re not getting ahead with of ourselves like we have in the past. Seems more and more like he is the real deal.
this guy has all the hallmarks of a safe set of hands at the wheel.
 
Apr 23, 2016
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Reassuring to hear him explicitly state that he thinks we’re still pretty far away and it won’t be linear improvement. Seems like we’re not getting ahead of ourselves like we have in the past. Seems more and more like he is the real deal.

And has the clubs backing to take the required time as well, which as we're seeing with Carlton, is very important.
 

the PILL

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It's a good feeling knowing he's a realist and well across most areas of how he wants the team to play and behave.

Slowly but steadily putting things into place, weeding out our vulnerabilities list and strategy wise, as well as creating a play for each other culture.

Imagine if he succeeds even just winning a final and or dare we dream the ultimate prize down the track. 😊

Instant place in EFC folk law and a hell of alot of offended from the oppo foaming brigade.

Also lol at swear filter changing things to "offended" 😅
 
Reassuring to hear him explicitly state that he thinks we’re still pretty far away and it won’t be linear improvement. Seems like we’re not getting ahead of ourselves like we have in the past. Seems more and more like he is the real deal.
He's 100% correct but I can't help worrying that the fanbase will get impatient and lead to coteries demanding they do something dumb in an attempt to speed the process up
 

BrunoV

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Not expecting linear improvement simply means not expecting to match the level of improvement of the last 12 months over the next 12 months. It doesn't mean the expectation shouldn't be a top 6 finish including winning a final next year. That could end up being only 1 or 2 more wins.

The foundation was set this year and it seems to have come on a bit quicker than expected resulting in the jump into the top 8 with a health percentage. An equivalent leap or linear progression would result in top 4 and at least a prelim final.

I like that Rutten is looking to fast track the development of the kids. I'm expecting to see Reid and Bryan next year which is pretty exciting. We're likely to be younger again next year. The attitude of the last 12 months has been refreshing, to say the least.
 
Last edited:
Apr 23, 2016
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Not expecting linear improvement simply means not expecting to match the level of improvement of the last 12 months over the next 12 months. It doesn't mean the expectation shouldn't be a top 6 finish including winning a final next year. That could end up being only 1 or 2 more wins.

The foundation was set this year and it seems to have come on a bit quicker than expected resulting in the jump into the top 8 with a health percentage. An equivalent leap or linear progression would result in top 4 and at least a prelim final.

I like that Rutten is looking to fast track the development of the kids. I'm expecting to see Reid and Bryan next year which is pretty exciting. We're likely to be younger against next year. The attitude of the last 12 months has been refreshing, to say the least.

If we finish in a similar position; healthy percentage, around the 6 - 10 range, but see more of Bryan and Reid, with Parish and co consolidating their form, I'd consider that a successful season personally.

Ideally we improve, but if we can at least consolidate what we've shown and get the young KPPs in to to side and performing well, that really sets us up for 2023 onwards to consistently challenge IMO
 
Not expecting linear improvement simply means not expecting to match the level of improvement of the last 12 months over the next 12 months. It doesn't mean the expectation shouldn't be a top 6 finish including winning a final next year. That could end up being only 1 or 2 more wins.

The foundation was set this year and it seems to have come on a bit quicker than expected resulting in the jump into the top 8 with a health percentage. An equivalent leap or linear progression would result in top 4 and at least a prelim final.

I like that Rutten is looking to fast track the development of the kids. I'm expecting to see Reid and Bryan next year which is pretty exciting. We're likely to be younger against next year. The attitude of the last 12 months has been refreshing, to say the least.
I think he’s stating the obvious to temper expectations among the fan base. I don’t know if this board is a representative sample of fan opinions but I’ve seen an alarming number of people seemingly expecting a top 4 finish in the next couple of years which I think is hopelessly optimistic.

We have a young list and if we’re going out of our way to get games into the kids it could well be at the expense of mature players like Cutler who would contribute more in the short term but are less important than the kids in the longer term. That deliberate lack of experienced players in the side could easily cost us games in the short term, which is fine if it leads to faster development but might also lead to people questioning our performance if they are not aware of the broader strategy.
 

joey_jo_jo

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I think it also means he's acknowledging we will probably get a tougher draw next year, look what happened to St Kilda this year (obviously they also had to deal with injuries to key senior players)
 
According to Xavier Campbell on SEN yesterday, Rutten was heavily involved in the documentary series for the 150 years. He really loves the history stuff and so Dave Barham took him under his wing.

The documentary series will apparently also be used as a coaching tool :)

It’s kind of amazing to think the players and coaches didn’t already know a bit of the history… must’ve seemed kind of soulless in a new facility with no inkling of the history beyond the 16 premierships.
 
According to Xavier Campbell on SEN yesterday, Rutten was heavily involved in the documentary series for the 150 years. He really loves the history stuff and so Dave Barham took him under his wing.

The documentary series will apparently also be used as a coaching tool :)

It’s kind of amazing to think the players and coaches didn’t already know a bit of the history… must’ve seemed kind of soulless in a new facility with no inkling of the history beyond the 16 premierships.
Might be why we have been bog average for so long. Nothing to play for.
 
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