Review R12: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly vs. Sydney Swans

[King Elvis]

I consider Laird and Tex best 22. We are lucky we have some players who can replace them if required.

Laird, I don't - we look better without him, his ball usage is just not good enough for the position he is in.

Tex - teetering on the edge for me; but the structural factor favours him at this point. As I said, come finals games, high pressure, on the big expanses of the CG, he might be a liability.

 

[Golumless]

Can we play Tex in finals? Structurally maybe spreading their KPDs is working at the moment, but at the MCG, big ground, memories of Andy Otten in 2017.

Worth remembering with Otten is we ran 4 KPFs, not 3. As long as Curtin is on the wing, we'll be fine in finals, even if all we get out of Tex is getting a tall defender away from Thilthorpe.

 

[MrBarry]

View attachment 2332163

Not sure if Jeffcrowe has seen this.

I hope we aren’t this years Port Adelaide, make the 8 but can’t beat top 8 teams.

Have to beat Brisbane, win a final at least.

Shows our record, or poor record is being overblown. Theres really only 2 standouts and the games we've lost have been by under 3 goals.

Havging said that, I agree this week is a must win game, we need to be full throttle from the getgo.

 

[CrowBloke]

See I’m not sure.

Very fair reply, thanks.
I'm not sure about a lot of what goes on, either.
Posters with obvious footy nous and tactical awareness (much more than me) often make observations/explanations that really open my eyes (eg Scorpus, feenix67).
I can see obvious flaws with Nicks' Coaching, Selection errors and stubbornness, lack of innovation and Game Day ineptitude and I often think if I (and many other posters) can see these things, why doesn't Nicks?
Why doesn't the Club?
Why doesn't Nicks strive and strive to improve what he does? CHANGE and openness to change are his friends.

I don't mind mistakes; we all make'em.
But repeated mistakes, the same shit again and again? Drives me nuts.

Having said that, the Crows have improved, but I have been soooo disappointed by Nicks for so long that my now-inherent doubts make me wonder how much of the improvement is actually due to Nicks.
Rankine and Dawson and the latest 3 recruits (ANB, Peatling, Cuming) were all developed elsewhere.
They've been great for us.
Look at what the Club has done to prop Nicks up, adding:
Murray Davis
+
those 5 mentioned players and better, smarter first round picks
+
Balme, active behind the scenes
+
Burgess.
I've said often that Nicks can be forgiven for 2020-2021 (he inherited shoddy Assistants not of his choosing, disgruntled playing group, Covid).
I also give him credit for his patience , working through those years to stamp his mark on the team, but 2022-23-24 are proof to me that he does not have what it takes to build a Flag-winning side.
My question is, how could the Crows not improve given those additions, and why are the happy-clappers so keen and easy to forgive and forget Nicks' 2022-23-24 shambles?

BTW I have absolutely no idea how much a head coach has influence over list composition, however there is no denying ours has improved out of sight in the last 5 years, and the people around the head coach are miles better than the last few years as well. I do believe However that if the head coach gets blamed for all these things being bad, then maybe he should get some recognition when they improve.

For me, it depends. Have they been Nicks' doing? How much of them?
Has Nicks mulled over, created, nurtured and infused these changes or are they not coming from him but the improved playing group/additions with astute advice from Davis, Balme and maybe even some wise words from recent Premiership player ANB, who knows?
Based on his first 5 years I am not inclined to give Nicks a lot of praise/credit. I like the 8-4, but that's all.
Based on our 8-4 start, many are prepared to give him too much.

We'll know more come the Bye and after the last Minor Round.

Even then, if we finish Top-4, I'll give Nicks credit for one good year.
If he's retained and the next 4 years are as good as the last 5 have been bad (with a Flag or two to boot), I'll love the bloke.
Just not now. Not yet.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

View attachment 2332163

Not sure if Jeffcrowe has seen this.

I hope we aren’t this years Port Adelaide, make the 8 but can’t beat top 8 teams.

Have to beat Brisbane, win a final at least.

agree

lets hope we keep improving and Nicks keeps coaching well

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Very fair reply, thanks.
I'm not sure about a lot of what goes on, either.
Posters with obvious footy nous and tactical awareness (much more than me) often make observations/explanations that really open my eyes (eg Scorpus, feenix67).
I can see obvious flaws with Nicks' Coaching, Selection errors and stubbornness, lack of innovation and Game Day ineptitude and I often think if I (and many other posters) can see these things, why doesn't Nicks?
Why doesn't the Club?
Why doesn't Nicks strive and strive to improve what he does? CHANGE and openness to change are his friends.

I don't mind mistakes; we all make'em.
But repeated mistakes, the same shit again and again? Drives me nuts.

Having said that, the Crows have improved, but I have been soooo disappointed by Nicks for so long that my now-inherent doubts make me wonder how much of the improvement is actually due to Nicks.
Rankine and Dawson and the latest 3 recruits (ANB, Peatling, Cuming) were all developed elsewhere.
They've been great for us.
Look at what the Club has done to prop Nicks up, adding:
Murray Davis
+
those 5 mentioned players and better, smarter first round picks
+
Balme, active behind the scenes
+
Burgess.
I've said often that Nicks can be forgiven for 2020-2021 (he inherited shoddy Assistants not of his choosing, disgruntled playing group, Covid).
I also give him credit for his patience , working through those years to stamp his mark on the team, but 2022-23-24 are proof to me that he does not have what it takes to build a Flag-winning side.
My question is, how could the Crows not improve given those additions, and why are the happy-clappers so keen and easy to forgive and forget Nicks' 2022-23-24 shambles?

For me, it depends. Have they been Nicks' doing? How much of them?
Has Nicks mulled over, created, nurtured and infused these changes or are they not coming from him but the improved playing group/additions with astute advice from Davis, Balme and maybe even some wise words from recent Premiership player ANB, who knows?
Based on his first 5 years I am not inclined to give Nicks a lot of praise/credit. I like the 8-4, but that's all.
Based on our 8-4 start, many are prepared to give him too much.

We'll know more come the Bye and after the last Minor Round.

Even then, if we finish Top-4, I'll give Nicks credit for one good year.
If he's retained and the next 4 years are as good as the last 5 have been bad (with a Flag or two to boot), I'll love the bloke.
Just not now. Not yet.

wouldn't get too excited about Feenix's tactical nous given his recent record

 

[feenix67]

wouldn't get too excited about Feenix's tactical nous given his recent record

 

[CrowBloke]

wouldn't get too excited about Feenix's tactical nous given his recent record

Can't resist an unnecessary cheap shot, can ya?

I don't get "excited' about others' good posts or interesting analyses.
I just acknowledge them at the time. Yours, too, when you make'em.

eg I have a lot of respect for davos44 although we often disagree;

 

[cleanhands]

Can't resist an unnecessary cheap shot, can ya?

I don't get "excited' about others' good posts or interesting analyses.
I just acknowledge them at the time. Yours, too, when you make'em.

eg I have a lot of respect for davos44 although we often disagree;

There are many on here that may have a different view than ourself that actually make you stop and think

 

[Greenfinger]

"Testing our list more" is done in preseason. By the time the season proper rolls around, all that matters is winning the next match.

So you are happy we kept testing Murphy for over 100 games ?

 

[Golumless]

So you are happy we kept testing Murphy for over 100 games ?

I have no issue with it, as it's just how football works. He was in whilst he was seen as the best in his role (and he did a good job killing off McHenry's career in 2023 + genuinely had a good year), and was replaced when someone better (ANB) made him obsolete. Got a bit lucky that he timed his run in a rebuild, but that's also part of football.

It's on our speculative/mid-tier prospects being too shit to replace Murphy. Not many of our gun prospects struggled for games during the last 4-5 years, and the one who did was on the other end of the ground.

 

[kirky]

Who took this photo of me when I wasn’t looking?

 

[feenix67]

There are many on here that may have a different view than ourself that actually make you stop and think

This is the entire point. I enjoy reading people's opinions, especially those who bring some genuine analysis to the table. We all have our views and as you say, there are many times when those views make you take a second look. I tend to discount those who spend 90% of their posts waving their dicks at others, because it's clear why they are here - not to add to the discussion but to inflate their own egos.

If you went through our podcasts over the years, you'd find I've been wrong so many times it's not funny (well it is). But who cares? That's why we are here, and that's why people enjoy listening to our pod, not because we are the definitive be all and end all of Crows analysis, but because we have genuine discussion and debate about the club we all want to succeed. If I did a podcast to reinforce my ego that I was always right, I'd be rocking in the corner most of the time

 

[kirky]

 

[cleanhands]

Who took this photo of me when I wasn’t looking?

More work needed on the tiny head

 

[cleanhands]

This is the entire point. I enjoy reading people's opinions, especially those who bring some genuine analysis to the table. We all have our views and as you say, there are many times when those views make you take a second look. I tend to discount those who spend 90% of their posts waving their dicks at others, because it's clear why they are here - not to add to the discussion but to inflate their own egos.

If you went through our podcasts over the years, you'd find I've been wrong so many times it's not funny (well it is). But who cares? That's why we are here, and that's why people enjoy listening to our pod, not because we are the definitive be all and end all of Crows analysis, but because we have genuine discussion and debate about the club we all want to succeed. If I did a podcast to reinforce my ego that I was always right, I'd be rocking in the corner most of the time

The more that agree with me the better off they would be

 

[pjcrows]

Watching Fox Footy, you can tell Bucks bloody loves us.

 

[kirky]

Watching Fox Footy, you can tell Bucks bloody loves us.

He could not give any more signals he’d love to coach us.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

He could not give any more signals he’d love to coach us.

I don't get the reverence people have for this bloke. Great player obviously but everything after that is just meh.

 

[kirky]

I don't get the reverence people have for this bloke. Great player obviously but everything after that is just meh.

Reckon he will be a much better coach second time round.

 

[jenny61_99]

Where’s his arse???

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Reckon he will be a much better coach second time round.

Has he ever once admitted to his shortcomings as a coach? I haven't seen this really humble Buckley but I admit I don't watch a lot of football media.

 

[jenny61_99]

Reckon he will be a much better coach second time round.

Absolutely! I’d have him in a heart beat!

 

[Mr_Moogle]

View attachment 2332353

This triggers me. Connor Rozee can afford to pay rent.

 

[cleanhands]

Where’s his arse???

More likely no front bum either