Autopsy Autopsy: North Melbourne vs Fremantle: Round 1, 2019 - 82 point L (59-141) (No opposition posters)

[rm3504]

Christ.

It’s A) just football & B) Round 1

I bet $1,000 you don’t ‘happily give it away’ after today.

Calm down man.

Not all of us accept mediocrity as easily as u

 

[roosmad]

It’s round one, I’m not throwing the baby out with the bath water..

But with no improvement this must be brads last year coaching us....I don’t believe I have ever called for that through his tenure as coach.

 

[Steele7]

Not really surprised. Maybe we have gone 1 too many years with Brad.

 

[Orange Peanut]

Woke up early and re watched the last Q
The players looked knackered. Could it be the lateness of getting to Perth? Overtraining? Lack of fitness?

Probably making excuses, but I don't really think we are as bad as we were last night. We just can't be.

 

[Hojuman]

Woke up early and re watched the last Q
The players looked knackered. Could it be the lateness of getting to Perth? Overtraining? Lack of fitness?

Probably making excuses, but I don't really think we are as bad as we were last night. We just can't be.

Flying in the day beforehand got me as well. Why not Friday and Saturday planning and getting ready for fire and brimstone ?

I also took great delight in * getting pasted by GWS yesterday. But if l was Lance Uppercut, Beerfish or Iggypops T-shirt l'd be bagging us relentlessly on here. We deserve it.

 

[BigRedRoo]

Our field kicking is not afl standard. We are almost incapable of hitting an open target, and when we do it's a pissweak lob onto someone's head rather than a penetrating hit up. We run hard forward and get slaughtered on the soft turnover. When is the first Ashes test?

This comment is spot on unlike our field kicking which is second rate at best. Add the lack of spread and total inability to create space and happy handball is bound to fail. I swear we could have our half back line play in a phone booth. Can anyone explain why when they have the ball we have three players run at the ball carrier leaving two opposition players free to receive the ball? Total lack of accountability, what a rabble!

 

[Nick5025]

You're in dreamland.

Stop it! For your own benefit.

Hahaha. I'm trying to make out that it's not as bad as it is.

 

[Flawed Genius]

With the obvious caveat that our midfield in general was appalling and could not have stemmed the flow of footy into Freo’s forward 50 any worse than they did:

Parts of Macmillan’s game were atrocious. I point specifically to his first quarter where he was seemingly responsible for four or five turnovers simply through poor decision making, a lack of the requisite skills, or a combination of both. I respect that it appears the team has been told to be attacking and look to exit through the use of either quick handballs or attacking kicks to the corridor, we do not have the players with the skills to pull this off. I think it was Tucker’s goal in the first quarter from outside 50 where Macmillan came charging out after a quick clearance and daisy-cuttered one outside 50 to nobody in particular. Tucker just picked it up and launched it back from whence it came. If that’s going to be the tactic to exit the defensive 50, then we must get better ball users (T.Murphy etc) into the side. If Macmillan is to be a leader, which we have been assured he is, then he must defend better. That hit up on McCarthy where Macmillan trailed him in by two metres was terrible. He won’t be dropped, and shouldn’t be, but it is not a good start to a year from a bloke who really should be better. 37 touches (!) continues a higher-possession trend for Macmillan who I noticed had a lot of it in the JLT but didn’t appear to be doing too much with it.

You can’t ask for too much more than what Scott gave as an 18 year old in his first game. Offensively. He looks calm, assured and poised. Makes good decisions consistently and doesn’t give the ball back (100% DE). 8 marks suggests he gets to the right places often. Where I was a little disappointed was his defensive side. I don’t think Brad Hill (28 touches and a goal) has had that much influence on a game in a long time. At times he appeared to be running around doing whatever he wanted. While I can’t put that all on Bailey I think Hill probably began salivating once he realised he would be able to do most of what he wanted to do, as Scott probably has a long way to go as a defensive player. He will doubtless improve as time goes by. But you have to be happy with what he offered first up.

Higgins had 26 and a goal, but the goal came late and when the whips were cracking he was well held. Not his best. You wonder whether he is limited by some sort of injury or whether he was sat on hard.

Like, when even the club website is figuring out that Goldstein is key to the game … clearly Lyon had figured this out as well. Darcy and Lobb worked him over for the most part. Thought Goldy had a really solid first quarter and contributed to the scoreboard, but Darcy and Lobb ended up contributing something like three or four goals and really dominated the clearances thereafter. We were up 9-2 in the clearances halfway through the first quarter – then halfway through the last, down 24-34. That’s a smacking. You wonder whether we should be harsher on Goldy and say against a team like Freo where you have Frankenstein’s son and his mate rucking in tandem, you might bring in someone else to spell Goldy that isn’t our blue chip key forward. I had nightmares seeing Brown in the ruck. Not Goldy’s worst game but had to have more influence in the middle.

Polec was pretty good. When we had that little patch in the second where we played pretty well and restricted them (albeit for like five minutes), Polec was instrumental. You can see he is really good. He will be better when we aren’t playing like s**t. He is icing, not cake. He better be good because we’ve got him for eleven years and a billion dollars. Another 27 touches which really takes the pressure off others.

Hall is much the same as Polec but cheaper. That run in the first was pretty grouse. Another one who I can’t wait to see at Etihad under the roof. Appears to have bought into the idea of North Melbourne football, that is: launch it in the general direction of Brown and see what happens. Outstanding.

Was Dumont playing on Fyfe? Crap if so. 22 touches, so much less impact than last year. He fought really hard and you notice him everywhere, but not terrific, didn’t limit Fyfe and didn’t hurt them going the other way. One to forget for Frog.

Thought Atley was pretty close to our best. Looked good coming out of the D50, one of only about two players to do so (if that). Still got the pace, the willingness to take the game on. 21 touches is good for him, if he can develop into a 25-30 touch player he’ll go a long way to solving some of the problems we have in the D50.

Pittard joins the list of s**t trucks in the D50 who can’t kick. Additionally, it hasn’t taken him long to master the art of the North Melbourne pose: throwing your hands up in exasperation and then slowly going down on your haunches, looking despondently at either the scoreboard or the floor, as a small forward from the opposition confidently walks back to the top of their run up after taking an uncontested mark. He isn’t the solution to our problems, and if anything, he exacerbates them. He’s a worse skilled Williams with a terrible haircut. He has bought into the handball-happy plan and as a result he’s susceptible to high amounts of turnovers. I’m being harsh and it’s not all his fault as the back six was under siege all day yesterday – he’ll probably turn it around – but he didn’t bring anything we don’t already have.

Tyson was OK. I would have preferred Ahern. I don’t think Tyson added anything Ahern couldn’t have. Another who is very handball happy (6:16 K:H). Had 5 tackles at least from low time on ground.

Nice effort for LDU to snag a goal. 15 touches from low TOG. I worry that he is having his genuine elite qualities repressed by a bad coach.

If you told me Cunnington had 26 touches I wouldn’t believe you. Had next to no influence after quarter time. It makes sense because he hasn’t played in anger in a little while and he’s probably still working into full fitness. But he was smashed in the contest and while he tried hard, he didn’t have his usual impact on the game.

McDonald… the less said the better. Another on whom the coach is having a massive impact. Release him up the ground and do it now – at least then his long kicks are into the forward 50 and not onto the wing, where they are returned straight back into his area. He isn’t a defender – I don’t think. Put him in the forward 50 or on a flank. He couldn’t possibly offer less than Turner in a defensive forward role and at least then he’d be within range. He shouldn’t be calling for the ball for a shot on goal if he can’t make the distance. He shouldn’t be handballing if he can’t hit a target. And for the love of Christ, if we heard all off-season that he was making himself chunder at Arden Street doing running sessions with Jy, then why is he in a back pocket where he doesn’t need to do any running? Put that man on a wing. I echo an uncredited, off-screen actor from the extremely good movie Coach Carter when I say: “let the boys play”.

I am off Turner. He doesn’t do enough. The tackling and the chasing and the harassing is all very well and good, and I am aware of his physical limitations with regard to his height. But you’re in the league now and if you can’t kick 35 metres for a goal, then go back and play VFL. That one coming into the 50 where he had to either hit Brown or kick a goal and did neither – unforgivable. He is one of several players we have that play the same position and offer too little. If the prototype is Breust, we have four of the Black and Gold version which is consistently on sale at Coles and tastes like a horse has s**t on it. I don’t even buy that Scott is coaching the creativity out of him, as he was a late rookie pick that made it based off his work ethic (unquestionable) and toughness (unquestionable). The question is when does work ethic and toughness become not enough, as it’s offset by a complete lack of appropriate skill?

Brown – not sure what is up with him, and whether it’s a coaching directive or something Ben has decided on his own. Why is he playing behind his direct opponent? I think I saw him lead up at the footy once yesterday. It’s not even as if the space is clogged because he was doing it one out inside 50 with nobody in front of him! He is so good because he is fit as * and gets on his bike to make a difference on the lead. He is not a wrestler or a mauler, he’s not Tom Hawkins or Jesse Hogan, and he won’t be effective that way. Get on the lead, jump at the ball, and stop wasting your talents by trying to scrap in the 50 or get easy Joe the Gooses over the back. Too much talent to be doing that s**t.

12 touches and a goal from 90~ TOG is not good enough from any player, let alone your captain. Clearly the delivery into the F50 was atrocious all day, but Ziebell needs to make more of an effort. The empty platitudes after the game are not enough anymore.

Simpkin – Scott is ruining his career.

Tarrant – is clearly limited by injury. Dropping chest marks and not looking like the Robbie of old. Come back next week.

McKay – big men take time. He might take longer than we like.

Wood – He has a month to win me over.

EVW – Unbelievably unlucky.

 

[Only Forwards]

We had the ball 10 more times for 30 less kicks.

We were marginally more accurate with disposals, yet because we move more laterally and by hand we wind up 21 less i50s.

This is game plan stuff. It's not player stuff.

I still have nightmares about the Bradbot we turns Swallow into. Win possession, handball backwards.

We're a long way from anywhere.

 

[Only Forwards]

Thought Atley was pretty close to our best. Looked good coming out of the D50, one of only about two players to do so (if that). Still got the pace, the willingness to take the game on. 21 touches is good for him, if he can develop into a 25-30 touch player he’ll go a long way to solving some of the problems

Mate don't get too set on Atley playing defense, reckon he was only moved back as coverage for EVW.

 

[AbbaRoos]

Brad: there’s no quick fix.

Me: umm...haven’t you been our coach for ten years...

Not a laughing matter but LOL. I would happily consider a Terry Wallet "5 Year plan" at the moment.


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Only Forwards]

Woke up early and re watched the last Q
The players looked knackered. Could it be the lateness of getting to Perth? Overtraining? Lack of fitness?

Someone said earlier in the thread that we are tapering late this season.

Which is great that we give the league a head start so we can thunder home to a midtable nothing finish.

 

[Flawed Genius]

All of my last post is said to say this: Scott’s gameplan is too easily beaten by tactically minded coaches. We can handball as much as we like, but opposition teams will just press up and force it to the boundary, where we WILL mess it up. When we kick, it’s a blind get out dump to the wing where we almost expect Waite to materialise out of thin air and mark it. Instead, it’s Wood not trying to be involved in the play or Brown flying against eight defenders. Our transition out of defensive 50 is appalling, and our kicking into the F50 is entirely dependent on Brown taking the form of Shiva the Destroyer and outmarking every defender on the opposition list.

It’s for another thread, but Simpkin (outrageously talented junior), McDonald (outrageously talented junior), Wood (talented junior), and LDU (outrageously talented junior) are all heading the way of Harper (outrageously talented junior) and Black (talented junior), where for a combination of reasons, they do not reach their limitless potential. Simpkin could be anything. McDonald could have been anything. Wood is a cat. LDU could still be anything. I am terrified that Thomas, Scott, Taylor et cetera, will be turned into half back flankers who handball at every opportunity and value “playing to the structures” and “implementing the game plan” over being daring, creative and taking the game, which is what got them drafted in the first place.

People hang a lot of s**t on Melbourne, but we might be just as bad in ******* up the development of talented juniors, turning them from excitement machines into dour, “get-the-job-done-and-get-home” footballers. For this reason and probably this reason only, I lean towards giving someone else a chance to coach them. 10 years in the job means you should not be serving this effort up in Round 1.

 

[Flawed Genius]

Mate don't get too set on Atley playing defense, reckon he was only moved back as coverage for EVW.

We may have nobody else

 

[Only Forwards]

We may have nobody else

Where's Wright?

 

[Flawed Genius]

Where Wright?

You'll explode the Ziebull's head if you keep that up

 

[Friday Night Lights]

Everything FG said.

 

[Royal Flush]

Could one of our better posters,
Compile an articulate essay of the shortcomings we (as a collective) see in our player development and coaching style and address it directly to one of our board members for a response.
An open and transparent response .





Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Horizons_00]

With the obvious caveat that our midfield in general was appalling and could not have stemmed the flow of footy into Freo’s forward 50 any worse than they did:

Parts of Macmillan’s game were atrocious. I point specifically to his first quarter where he was seemingly responsible for four or five turnovers simply through poor decision making, a lack of the requisite skills, or a combination of both. I respect that it appears the team has been told to be attacking and look to exit through the use of either quick handballs or attacking kicks to the corridor, we do not have the players with the skills to pull this off. I think it was Tucker’s goal in the first quarter from outside 50 where Macmillan came charging out after a quick clearance and daisy-cuttered one outside 50 to nobody in particular. Tucker just picked it up and launched it back from whence it came. If that’s going to be the tactic to exit the defensive 50, then we must get better ball users (T.Murphy etc) into the side. If Macmillan is to be a leader, which we have been assured he is, then he must defend better. That hit up on McCarthy where Macmillan trailed him in by two metres was terrible. He won’t be dropped, and shouldn’t be, but it is not a good start to a year from a bloke who really should be better. 37 touches (!) continues a higher-possession trend for Macmillan who I noticed had a lot of it in the JLT but didn’t appear to be doing too much with it.

You can’t ask for too much more than what Scott gave as an 18 year old in his first game. Offensively. He looks calm, assured and poised. Makes good decisions consistently and doesn’t give the ball back (100% DE). 8 marks suggests he gets to the right places often. Where I was a little disappointed was his defensive side. I don’t think Brad Hill (28 touches and a goal) has had that much influence on a game in a long time. At times he appeared to be running around doing whatever he wanted. While I can’t put that all on Bailey I think Hill probably began salivating once he realised he would be able to do most of what he wanted to do, as Scott probably has a long way to go as a defensive player. He will doubtless improve as time goes by. But you have to be happy with what he offered first up.

Higgins had 26 and a goal, but the goal came late and when the whips were cracking he was well held. Not his best. You wonder whether he is limited by some sort of injury or whether he was sat on hard.

Like, when even the club website is figuring out that Goldstein is key to the game … clearly Lyon had figured this out as well. Darcy and Lobb worked him over for the most part. Thought Goldy had a really solid first quarter and contributed to the scoreboard, but Darcy and Lobb ended up contributing something like three or four goals and really dominated the clearances thereafter. We were up 9-2 in the clearances halfway through the first quarter – then halfway through the last, down 24-34. That’s a smacking. You wonder whether we should be harsher on Goldy and say against a team like Freo where you have Frankenstein’s son and his mate rucking in tandem, you might bring in someone else to spell Goldy that isn’t our blue chip key forward. I had nightmares seeing Brown in the ruck. Not Goldy’s worst game but had to have more influence in the middle.

Polec was pretty good. When we had that little patch in the second where we played pretty well and restricted them (albeit for like five minutes), Polec was instrumental. You can see he is really good. He will be better when we aren’t playing like s**t. He is icing, not cake. He better be good because we’ve got him for eleven years and a billion dollars. Another 27 touches which really takes the pressure off others.

Hall is much the same as Polec but cheaper. That run in the first was pretty grouse. Another one who I can’t wait to see at Etihad under the roof. Appears to have bought into the idea of North Melbourne football, that is: launch it in the general direction of Brown and see what happens. Outstanding.

Was Dumont playing on Fyfe? Crap if so. 22 touches, so much less impact than last year. He fought really hard and you notice him everywhere, but not terrific, didn’t limit Fyfe and didn’t hurt them going the other way. One to forget for Frog.

Thought Atley was pretty close to our best. Looked good coming out of the D50, one of only about two players to do so (if that). Still got the pace, the willingness to take the game on. 21 touches is good for him, if he can develop into a 25-30 touch player he’ll go a long way to solving some of the problems we have in the D50.

Pittard joins the list of s**t trucks in the D50 who can’t kick. Additionally, it hasn’t taken him long to master the art of the North Melbourne pose: throwing your hands up in exasperation and then slowly going down on your haunches, looking despondently at either the scoreboard or the floor, as a small forward from the opposition confidently walks back to the top of their run up after taking an uncontested mark. He isn’t the solution to our problems, and if anything, he exacerbates them. He’s a worse skilled Williams with a terrible haircut. He has bought into the handball-happy plan and as a result he’s susceptible to high amounts of turnovers. I’m being harsh and it’s not all his fault as the back six was under siege all day yesterday – he’ll probably turn it around – but he didn’t bring anything we don’t already have.

Tyson was OK. I would have preferred Ahern. I don’t think Tyson added anything Ahern couldn’t have. Another who is very handball happy (6:16 K:H). Had 5 tackles at least from low time on ground.

Nice effort for LDU to snag a goal. 15 touches from low TOG. I worry that he is having his genuine elite qualities repressed by a bad coach.

If you told me Cunnington had 26 touches I wouldn’t believe you. Had next to no influence after quarter time. It makes sense because he hasn’t played in anger in a little while and he’s probably still working into full fitness. But he was smashed in the contest and while he tried hard, he didn’t have his usual impact on the game.

McDonald… the less said the better. Another on whom the coach is having a massive impact. Release him up the ground and do it now – at least then his long kicks are into the forward 50 and not onto the wing, where they are returned straight back into his area. He isn’t a defender – I don’t think. Put him in the forward 50 or on a flank. He couldn’t possibly offer less than Turner in a defensive forward role and at least then he’d be within range. He shouldn’t be calling for the ball for a shot on goal if he can’t make the distance. He shouldn’t be handballing if he can’t hit a target. And for the love of Christ, if we heard all off-season that he was making himself chunder at Arden Street doing running sessions with Jy, then why is he in a back pocket where he doesn’t need to do any running? Put that man on a wing. I echo an uncredited, off-screen actor from the extremely good movie Coach Carter when I say: “let the boys play”.

I am off Turner. He doesn’t do enough. The tackling and the chasing and the harassing is all very well and good, and I am aware of his physical limitations with regard to his height. But you’re in the league now and if you can’t kick 35 metres for a goal, then go back and play VFL. That one coming into the 50 where he had to either hit Brown or kick a goal and did neither – unforgivable. He is one of several players we have that play the same position and offer too little. If the prototype is Breust, we have four of the Black and Gold version which is consistently on sale at Coles and tastes like a horse has s**t on it. I don’t even buy that Scott is coaching the creativity out of him, as he was a late rookie pick that made it based off his work ethic (unquestionable) and toughness (unquestionable). The question is when does work ethic and toughness become not enough, as it’s offset by a complete lack of appropriate skill?

Brown – not sure what is up with him, and whether it’s a coaching directive or something Ben has decided on his own. Why is he playing behind his direct opponent? I think I saw him lead up at the footy once yesterday. It’s not even as if the space is clogged because he was doing it one out inside 50 with nobody in front of him! He is so good because he is fit as **** and gets on his bike to make a difference on the lead. He is not a wrestler or a mauler, he’s not Tom Hawkins or Jesse Hogan, and he won’t be effective that way. Get on the lead, jump at the ball, and stop wasting your talents by trying to scrap in the 50 or get easy Joe the Gooses over the back. Too much talent to be doing that s**t.

12 touches and a goal from 90~ TOG is not good enough from any player, let alone your captain. Clearly the delivery into the F50 was atrocious all day, but Ziebell needs to make more of an effort. The empty platitudes after the game are not enough anymore.

Simpkin – Scott is ruining his career.

Tarrant – is clearly limited by injury. Dropping chest marks and not looking like the Robbie of old. Come back next week.

McKay – big men take time. He might take longer than we like.

Wood – He has a month to win me over.

EVW – Unbelievably unlucky.

Pretty summed it up perfectly

It’s going to be a longgggg year

 

[koshari]

Normally i am a bit more calm the day after a loss but today iam still furious, to go a whole game and not even be competative for a single quarter, i cant even remember the last time that happened.

that hot potato rabid hand-balling in the back half then ultimately picking out a freo player to bomb it to , happened time ad time again, and it was perceived pressure, very few of the clearing kickers even had an opposition player close enough to place a hand on them, in the first half mcmillan must have kicked it strait to an opponent at least 8 times,i put it to you that if directed to do so he couldn't possibly replicate that feat! would have to be the worse 30 plus possession game i have seen since Liam Anthony was at the club.


Goldy just looked completely lost at sea, much like the viking sky, i don't doubt he was trying to cover the ground but was completely tag teamed by lobb and darcy.

Think Cunners tried, but his frustrations were evedent with his brain fart, undisciplined and he will miss at least 1 maybe 2 weeks for his troubles.

Mason wood skylarking all game, given hew quickly that freo moved the ball all over the ground it beggers belief he could be so far away from the footy for so much of the game!

almost for the whole game the players looked confused, and there was absolutely no changing it up to try and change the outcome, why wouldn't you try something like swapping JZ with Mackay to see if we could generate some drive out of half back, geex even JZs hacks i would at least been a 50/50 prospect at hitting a 1 on 1 rather than JMacs certs to go to a unmanned opponent,

EVWs knee just plain sad.

The single positive was Bailey Scotts game, how does a bloke fresh out of the juniors come into a professional sporting environment and shop up the complete senior squad in this day and age?

iam not convinced our team are anywhere as crap collectively as the show they put on yesterday which points to the obvious problem being structure and execution and that rests with the coaching/off field staff. Clearly they need to man up and take responsibility for this because until they do we will continue operating in denial.

 

[koshari]

You're in dreamland.

Stop it! For your own benefit.

To nicks defense it would actually be an achievement for us to be as bad as we were another week running, however the way the Lions demolished West Coast its frightening looking to next week. we could quite realistically be looking at carlton round 7 winless.

 

[The Nostradamus]

Where's Wright?

Hopefully the vfl with his plodder mate Macmillan

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Simpkin is not quick at all, sloppy by foot, struggles to find it. Aside from his sidestep, there is nothing that makes me think he could be something.

 

[Flawed Genius]

Simpkin is not quick at all, sloppy by foot, struggles to find it. Aside from his sidestep, there is nothing that makes me think he could be something.

Nah the campaigner can play footy

He's having it coached out of him

 

[shintemaster]

This is a pretty ironic Tweet given the club itself gave up on Victorian members to play an extra home game in Tasmania this year and the representative selected to peddle it's bullshit lines did the same thing on Bigfooty when challenged on it. Maybe this is a cultural issue from the top of the club to the bottom when it comes to digging deep and having the fortitude to fight for what you want.