Autopsy R1: Dockers Go Down to the Cats After Fast Start

[EastcoastDocker]

Playing Jackson as a ruck, with Voss as backup is a great way to get additional run into the team.

Having said that, with Gawn this week it is a good week to play two rucks. Not sure if that should be Cox or Darcy. Happy with Darcy, if he can play at least 65% game time. Under 50 is shit, and means he is not ready for AFL.

Way I see it its either jackson as ruck with Voss backup or Cox playing 3rd forward/backup ruck and Amiss missing out in a battle with Voss. Theres just not enough run in the team playing so many talls with an immobile darcy. Any advantage we have with Jacksons playing as an extra mid is negated by slow lumbering types. Darcy getting match fitness wont do anything. He cant jump at the centre bounce, he never could. Rule changes mean you can wrestle at centre bounces anymore which makes Darcy toothless. Centre bounce is the most dangerous part of the ground.

The modern game has gone by what Darcy and Oscar Mcdonald give. If you cant move, clunk big marks or kick the eyes out of the ball you are going to struggle to find a place in the 23.

 

[theGav56]

Round 1 is actually the best time to get on a flight.

The travel issue is more of a factor later into the season when they’ve been doing it every fortnight consistently for weeks upon end, that’s when it takes a toll.

Right now - round 1, it shouldn’t be as big a factor, you’re fresh, had all summer, get over there chomping at the bit.

I’m sick of every excuse under the sun being rolled out by our fans instead of acknowledging the fact the second half was an utter failure by both the coach and the players.

Honest question: is there evidence to back that up? More wins from teams travelling first up rather than travelling later in the season? Or campaed to buy b travelling teams?

 

[Taylor]

I think fatigue stacks up and travel makes it recover slightly less, so staying home for half a season at the start would be better than staying home all the second half of the year.

 

[swanny1234]

Honest question: is there evidence to back that up? More wins from teams travelling first up rather than travelling later in the season? Or campaed to buy b travelling teams?

I obviously haven’t done research into it, and I’m sure people far smarter than me may have done so, but common sense suggests the toll of travel would be greater the further into the season you get, as away trips back up and you have more miles in the legs.

I know just from going on a couple of long overseas trips (months on end) - the plane trips and travel days are pretty manageable early on, it’s as the trip goes on these become harder.

Throw in the high intensity physicality AFL football and surely it’s harder as the year progresses, not easier. It’s why the longevity of Pav and Mundy is so impressive.

 

[Footskill]

Think what Duff says is a balanced view of the outcome

 

[SupermanCapes]

What is it they say about swallows and summers?

I think we saw everything we wanted to see from the boys in the first half - powerful start, high scoring, ruthless approach.

We then definitely saw a fadeout, which could be down to a number of factors. If we see a pattern of fadeouts over the course of the rest of the season then I'll lead the charge to the shed to grab the pitchforks.

I see this as a bit of a coin flip for the rest of the season - either we saw the blueprint for the competitive season we should expect from this list, or we saw a mistake in preparation which means we can't run games out in which case where's the nearest microwave, I've already vomited on myself today (god I hope people get that reference).

 

[BREATHLESS_987]

What is it they say about swallows and summers?

I think we saw everything we wanted to see from the boys in the first half - powerful start, high scoring, ruthless approach.

We then definitely saw a fadeout, which could be down to a number of factors. If we see a pattern of fadeouts over the course of the rest of the season then I'll lead the charge to the shed to grab the pitchforks.

I see this as a bit of a coin flip for the rest of the season - either we saw the blueprint for the competitive season we should expect from this list, or we saw a mistake in preparation which means we can't run games out in which case where's the nearest microwave, I've already vomited on myself today (god I hope people get that reference).

I don't think it's as much as a fear of being able to run games out (although we did look gassed in the last quarter) - it's the fact a great opposition coach was able to pull a lever at quarter time which completely threw our game off, and we were essentially powerless as they clawed their way back from being 5 goals down.

No doubt we looked a million bucks in the first when the game was on our terms - but you would hope, 7 years in, at this stage of the list build, our team would have the built in software, so to speak, to deal with the opposition ramping up the pressure and changing the look of the game. But it almost looked like we had no answers. Crudely put, we didn't have a Plan B or C ready to go once plan A stopped working. Brisbane are famous for having different modes of play to throw at the opponent depending on how the game looks. I'm yet to see that for us.

All that said, I'm not one to throw the baby out with the bathwater of the back of round 1, and hopefully we pick up the lessons and move on. But it's a little bit of a worry in the back of my head that we can't handle everything that may be thrown at us, especially in finals.

 

[Lach72]

We kicked 3.4 in the second quarter to 5.3

With 3 minutes to go we were winning the quarter, then Ras turns the ball over and we cough up two goals.

We held them in the third but started to run out of juice and in the fourth we missed 4 gettable chances. Lost by ten points.

I’m not sold on Longmuir but ****ed if I’m going to shit all over myself in panic and rage over that game.

We lost by 10 with easily ten players who were, at best, poor.

One very positive thing was our efficiency going forward.

We had 30 scores from 46 entries. We looked like kicking goals every time we went forward.

 

[SupermanCapes]

I don't think it's as much as a fear of being able to run games out (although we did look gassed in the last quarter) - it's the fact a great opposition coach was able to pull a lever at quarter time which completely threw our game off, and we were essentially powerless as they clawed their way back from being 5 goals down.

No doubt we looked a million bucks in the first when the game was on our terms - but you would hope, 7 years in, at this stage of the list build, our team would have the built in software, so to speak, to deal with the opposition ramping up the pressure and changing the look of the game. But it almost looked like we had no answers. Crudely put, we didn't have a Plan B or C ready to go once plan A stopped working. Brisbane are famous for having different modes of play to throw at the opponent depending on how the game looks. I'm yet to see that for us.

All that said, I'm not one to throw the baby out with the bathwater of the back of round 1, and hopefully we pick up the lessons and move on. But it's a little bit of a worry in the back of my head that we can't handle everything that may be thrown at us, especially in finals.

Yeh this is all very fair. You're right that there is a macro trend of our boys not knowing what to do when the other team punches us in the nose. I'm hoping that is down to fatigue and getting a bit overeager with the first game of the year but even that I don't love as a reason. I remember hearing at some point in the game that AB was our most experienced player on the pitch - it shouldn't have but that threw me for an absolute loop.

 

[Randomizor]

I don't think it's as much as a fear of being able to run games out (although we did look gassed in the last quarter) - it's the fact a great opposition coach was able to pull a lever at quarter time which completely threw our game off, and we were essentially powerless as they clawed their way back from being 5 goals down.

No doubt we looked a million bucks in the first when the game was on our terms - but you would hope, 7 years in, at this stage of the list build, our team would have the built in software, so to speak, to deal with the opposition ramping up the pressure and changing the look of the game. But it almost looked like we had no answers. Crudely put, we didn't have a Plan B or C ready to go once plan A stopped working. Brisbane are famous for having different modes of play to throw at the opponent depending on how the game looks. I'm yet to see that for us.

All that said, I'm not one to throw the baby out with the bathwater of the back of round 1, and hopefully we pick up the lessons and move on. But it's a little bit of a worry in the back of my head that we can't handle everything that may be thrown at us, especially in finals.

Has JLo ever shown a plan B?

I can name a few games off-hand that Lyon shook things up (Zac Dawson to the ruck is a very clear example), but I can’t do the same for JL.

I can actually understand not doing that in your first few seasons in order to hammer in roles and expectations, but in season 7, with this list, you have to be prepared to make some tactical moves.

 

[Cesoir]

We had no answer to Hawthorn's short kicking possession gane under Lyon. Over a decade later we continue to look clueless whenever an opposition switches into this mode. We play a zone defence and allow the ball to be chipped from one end to the other without ever touching leather. Frustrates the hell out of me - can we not man up and close down the short pass options?

It's like we are happy to fold back and allow them to walk the ball into our defence. Once it's there we are so crowded in defence we have no outlets other than a long "kick and hope".

I'm not in the JLo hate camp, but the dogged refusal to waver from "team" defence will be his undoing - the smart teams have us worked out.

 

[TimN2]

Yeh this is all very fair. You're right that there is a macro trend of our boys not knowing what to do when the other team punches us in the nose. I'm hoping that is down to fatigue and getting a bit overeager with the first game of the year but even that I don't love as a reason. I remember hearing at some point in the game that AB was our most experienced player on the pitch - it shouldn't have but that threw me for an absolute loop.

Apparently it's a Mike Tyson quote: "Everyone has a plan until they're punched in the mouth." In the modern AFL that's metaphorical, not a literal punch in the mouth, but it does seem a bit of a trend that if an opposition finds a way to land a few telling blows, it takes the players on the park a little while to reorient themselves and figure out how not to get hit again.

It's not the whole story, but I have a nagging doubt about which of our players have the footy smarts to get the team back on track. There's a good number of them have individual footy smarts, but I wouldn't count on too many to see the big picture.

And yeah, the fatigue issue didn't do us any favours in the last quarter, especially when it comes to clarity of mind. But all the energy and gut running in the world is no good if you're running to the wrong place, and no one is telling you otherwise, or at least not until it gets time for the post game review videos.

 

[Purpletown]

Has JLo ever shown a plan B?

I can name a few games off-hand that Lyon shook things up (Zac Dawson to the ruck is a very clear example), but I can’t do the same for JL.

I can actually understand not doing that in your first few seasons in order to hammer in roles and expectations, but in season 7, with this list, you have to be prepared to make some tactical moves.

Josh Treacy into the back line has happened a few times. Mostly successfully with one notable exception in last year's final v GC.
Even that may be an on field move instigated by JT when required.
We definitely need to evolve more strategic moves to deal with changes within each game now that our list is more mature.

 

[mattis117]

Interesting to see the Wheelol player ratings - we had the three best on ground but also most of the worst as well. Voss a strong net negative!

Erasmus' score a little surprising, same as Bolton being that high. Wagner and Voss' scores not a surprise at all, though I think Wags was playing a shutdown role.

 

[Cesoir]

Interesting to see the Wheelol player ratings - we had the three best on ground but also most of the worst as well. Voss a strong net negative!

Erasmus' score a little surprising, same as Bolton being that high. Wagner and Voss' scores not a surprise at all, though I think Wags was playing a shutdown role.


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I like Ras, but I thought he made some very costly mistakes in defence. I guess he was back there supporting our undermanned defence but there were a few panicked kicks and soccers that cost us.

 

[Quay Club]

I like Ras, but I thought he made some very costly mistakes in defence. I guess he was back there supporting our undermanned defence but there were a few panicked kicks and soccers that cost us.

Yes I like him too , he did make some errors in defence but he also did some good things in the mid and forward.

He is still a work in progress but there is a decent player in there once he comes to terms with his role in the team and keeps improving his disposal.

 

[Doctor J]

Has JLo ever shown a plan B?

I can name a few games off-hand that Lyon shook things up (Zac Dawson to the ruck is a very clear example), but I can’t do the same for JL.

I can actually understand not doing that in your first few seasons in order to hammer in roles and expectations, but in season 7, with this list, you have to be prepared to make some tactical moves.

Of course he has. We were the best team last year for coming from behind from 3/4 time deficits. The issue is trying to get that style of play earlier in the game (like 1st quarter last week). However, you can't play like that the whole game, it's too tiring, but we just need to increase it to 10-15 minutes per quarter.

 

[Kram]

Still pissed we somehow dropped this.