Coach Welcome to West Coast: Andrew McQualter

[Ambrose Burnside]

Writing was on the wall when I heard his nickname was Mini

 

[Dark Sharks]

Woodcock's article on McQualter bringing in senior players and how Tom Cole

28

Tom Cole

Age

28

Ht

188cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.9

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

3.7

4star

T

2.7

4star

MG

110.3

2star

D

10.5

3star

K

6.3

3star

HB

4.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.5

3star

MG

110.3

2star

D

9.8

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

4.2

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

simply HAS to perform is going to hopefully get a nice follow up this week.

Say what you will about Woodcock, he tends to have a finger on the pulse of what fans are saying/thinking.

 

[Westend]

We keep the young talent if we show them we are going somewhere. We loose them if we are treading water. We are treading water. The young guys will get over the hiccup of a change if they see progress. The gameplan of a weekend warriors side won’t do it.

Yup it's my biggest worry with mini at the helm retaining the likes of harley and Duurs our two brightest....honestly can see them both leaving to Essendon in a few years time so Duurs can play with his brother

I have no faith that mini is in charge of this list and can encourage talent to the club

I wonder if he is struggling living in Perth and maybe a reason why is struggling as a coach

 

[sharps24]

Would be okay with Hinkley or Longmire as long as there was a plan to transition to somebody else once we started making Prelims (Hinkley) or Grand Finals (Longmire). Sadly I suspect neither would be interested.

Yeah I don't think either of the AFL's most senior coaches who both got pushed out of there last jobs by a "transition plan" are going to be to keen on jumping back in and then handing some rookie coach a Premiership side as soon as they've completed the development piece.

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

When he said after being hired that he would be combining Richmond & Melbourne's game styles, it was already a massive warning sign.
A legitimate coach should have rejected the suggestion by the journalists and declared that he would coming up with his own game plan.
Not only did he try to copy Richmond's game style from the past, but he's also dragged along players & staff from Richmond.
We can only hope that the club hasn't already secretly extended his contract beyond 2027.
Apart from having guys on the list like Reid, Duursma & even McCarthy, who we only attained by being the worst side in the comp at the time, we have barely achieved much else during this rebuild.

 

[Smotie2]

Well I watched his press conference and key takes.

"We knew we were going in small against their forward line and it was a risk."

So why not select bazzo?

"We kicked it to straight back to their players instead of shifting the ball"

You had 3 chances at breaks and multiple times you could have got the message out.

"We are going to play experienced players and not load up with too many young players"

Even if the experienced players are shit?

Lots of "i don't know" and lots of "we played better in areas"
He's just looking at stats.

And the classic line:
"What about Willems goal, that was special for the fans"

Oh geez Andrew....yeah it was but seriously you're going to cloud a loss like that with a Willem goal.

**** off campaigner

 

[Matera92]

When he said after being hired that he would be combining Richmond & Melbourne's game styles, it was already a massive warning sign.
A legitimate coach should have rejected the suggestion by the journalists and declared that he would coming up with his own game plan.
Not only did he try to copy Richmond's game style from the past, but he's also dragged along players & staff from Richmond.
We can only hope that the club hasn't already secretly extended his contract beyond 2027.
Apart from having guys on the list like Reid, Duursma & even McCarthy, who we only attained by being the worst side in the comp at the time, we have barely achieved much else during this rebuild.

The irony being Melbourne are winning now by changing their old gameplan and this clownshoe wants emulate it.

 

[Boohemian]

I might get it in reply to the email I’ve sent this evening

Lmao you sent an email because of course you did.

I can almost hear the fervent thrashing of the keyboard as you pound out an email with your two index fingers.

 

[Dark Sharks]

When he said after being hired that he would be combining Richmond & Melbourne's game styles, it was already a massive warning sign.
A legitimate coach should have rejected the suggestion by the journalists and declared that he would coming up with his own game plan.
Not only did he try to copy Richmond's game style from the past, but he's also dragged along players & staff from Richmond.
We can only hope that the club hasn't already secretly extended his contract beyond 2027.
Apart from having guys on the list like Reid, Duursma & even McCarthy, who we only attained by being the worst side in the comp at the time, we have barely achieved much else during this rebuild.

What game style do we even have? Someone please explain it for me.

All pre season last year and this year, i was told by flogs on here and read in the paper how he's adopted this "richmond esque" game style which is all about manic pressure and causing turnover and then going quick and blah blah blah..... it was going to be really good for our young list because it was all system based and simple.


Last year we didn't see implemented and it yielded 1 solitary win.

This year we once again still haven't seen it and we've been pumped by 100+ points twice and just lost to a winless team at home in the first 8 games.

There is no direction to the way we move the ball whatsoever. WAFL teams look more organized than we do. Our ball movement transitioning from defense to attack is laughably slow and bad, only to be outdone by our inside 50 delivery's themselves.

 

[groga]

So disappointed with the lack of pressure. How many times do we watch teams just walk it out, that’s on the coach and needs to be addressed.

But perspective Richmond were still more experienced and older then us. Defence for them was very experienced and it showed. Our problem is we are bloody young everywhere.

But if the changers are Champion for Cripps I’ll spew.

 

[Boohemian]

When he said after being hired that he would be combining Richmond & Melbourne's game styles, it was already a massive warning sign.
A legitimate coach should have rejected the suggestion by the journalists and declared that he would coming up with his own game plan.
Not only did he try to copy Richmond's game style from the past, but he's also dragged along players & staff from Richmond.
We can only hope that the club hasn't already secretly extended his contract beyond 2027.
Apart from having guys on the list like Reid, Duursma & even McCarthy, who we only attained by being the worst side in the comp at the time, we have barely achieved much else during this rebuild.

Circa 2015, I distinctly recall an interview with Simmo where he said that the game plan is secondary.

The game plan adapts to take advantage of the strengths and attributes of the players on hand. You don’t just shoehorn a game plan in.

The context of the interview was in light of how successfully we were able to adapt to losing McKenzie and Brown with McGovern, a very young Barrass and a bulked up Schofield.

Feel like the players just don’t understand the game plan McQualter is trying to implement.

 

[gravy_86]

Must be a hell of a stressful position for Mini to be in. I’ve seen a few comments in this thread that his position won’t be under any threat because the club is soft, complacent etc but I think Don Pyke is the type that won’t hesitate to take action if he thinks Mini isn’t the right guy for the job.

 

[Corn69]

Probably had pressure from the top to win this and hence resorted to experience. Now we see the results, and his head likely to get the chop midseason.

Can't see him surviving, players look confused as fu*K and there's no killer instinct there. McQualter has refused to be brutal with some players and it's showing.

Put him out of his misery and cut him.

I know we memed the hell out of him, but Kenny would probably lift the standards of whatever the fu*k we have going on here.

If cutting McQualter means losing someone like Reid then that's the choice I'm willing to make, if it means we can establish something that resembles a team.

 

[Smotie2]

So disappointed with the lack of pressure. How many times do we watch teams just walk it out, that’s on the coach and needs to be addressed.

But perspective Richmond were still more experienced and older then us. Defence for them was very experienced and it showed. Our problem is we are bloody young everywhere.

But if the changers are Champion for Cripps I’ll spew.

Is that you mini?

Our senior experienced older players are the shit in our team and have been for years.

 

[txbyhull]

Something has got to come out from the club this week you would think, dropping a seemingly un-lose-able game at home and looking shocking whilst doing it

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

In Ken We Trust

 

[VinegarStrokes]

Must be a hell of a stressful position for Mini to be in. I’ve seen a few comments in this thread that his position won’t be under any threat because the club is soft, complacent etc but I think Don Pyke is the type that won’t hesitate to take action if he thinks Mini isn’t the right guy for the job.

Please the same Don Pyke who needed to ''honour the commitment to Baker during the trade period''. Mini is here at least until the end of this year

 

[Goroyals22]

Lmao you sent an email because of course you did.

I can almost hear the fervent thrashing of the keyboard as you pound out an email with your two index fingers.

Hey, 30 plus years of doing admin means I’m very proficient in using my index fingers to type emails thanks…

I guess you’re woke enough to use proper typing techniques

 

[TomEmilioDavies]

I at least just want a statement from the club that at least acknowledges that losing this game is completely ****ed.

 

[Boohemian]

Hey, 30 plus years of doing admin means I’m very proficient in using my index fingers to type emails thanks…

I guess you’re woke enough to use proper typing techniques

Besides achieving nothing, it must have been a cathartic release nonetheless.

 

[Shuestar13]

Besides achieving nothing, it must have been a cathartic release nonetheless.

I’d imagine the word “woke” would have been mentioned once or twice

 

[groga]

Is that you mini?

Our senior experienced older players are the shit in our team and have been for years.

That’s my point we have no experienced players anywhere and are young everywhere. Richmond had experience everywhere, especially the defence.

So there is no fix but bringing in Cripps over a young player isn’t the answer.

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Hey, 30 plus years of doing admin means I’m very proficient in using my index fingers to type emails thanks…

I guess you’re woke enough to use proper typing techniques

You’ve made me go and find this meme again.

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

I’m going to try to take a bird’s eye view that doesn’t focus too much on consecutive bad losses and is more a look at the overall product and play on the field.

We’ve continued to have some bad luck with injuries, but unlike last year we have had Yeo for most of the time, and with the exception of Starcevich the injuries should not be the type that seriously derail a season. Like Dev and Newton, I liked their toughness and pressure but it’s not as if you’re going taking Harley and Jake out of the side.

In recent years the competitiveness in the middle just hasn’t been there and that’s made it somewhat hard to judge everything else. Sure, we’ve been allowing way too many points and not hitting the scoreboard enough but when you’re getting destroy in clearances every week what hope do the forwards and defenders have?

This year is different. We are a lot more competent in the guts and it’s not just constant one-way traffic after stoppages, especially since Flynn was turfed out to the Beagles. Yet the results are not much better. Our forays inside 50 seem to be either shallow kicks that are immediately marked by opposing defenders and quickly turned the other way, or marks by Waterman on the boundary line 45m out.

Meanwhile, teams rebound way too easily against us and marks are often taken in high-percentage areas (not to mention the easy goals from fast transition plays). It happens so frequently it’s not really worth mentioning specific plays, but I recall one passage against Freo where someone missed a set shot they should have kicked, Freo kicked in and basically had a series of uncontested marks to go down and goal. That should not happen. Even if the set shot was bad, it’s a serious failing in attention to detail and work rate to not have any sort of structure behind the ball.

There was also a stoppage today, I think early in the 4th, where Richmond won the clearance, someone burst out of the stoppage way to easily, they just barged up the middle of the ground and Campbell (I think) kicked a goal on the run from around 50. Again, Richmond didn’t do anything amazing here. It was a simple tap and clearance win where the exit was way too easy, then the passes down the field were so straightforward that any professional football should have been able to make them.

So I guess in summary, there just seems to be something wrong. I don’t know whether it’s work ethic or attention to detail or game style, but ultimately it’s a lot easier to sack the coach than all of the players. When you bring in a new senior coach to lead a young, very bad team it’s always hard to know how much rope to give them. Of course he’s going to lose a lot; Malthouse or Sheedy in their prime couldn’t have won with these scrubs. But there should be improvement, and the past month and the rather aimless game style makes me think that he’s never really going to be the guy. And realistically, this can’t go on forever. It’s great that Harley signed on for two more years but if we are still floundering in wooden spoon territory next year there’s a high chance that some of our elite young players are going to be looking for greener pastures.

 

[Barrybran]

Not sure what everyone expects of Mini. The boys responded today but their skills are terrible. For some, they won't make it. For others, it's mental, particularly the young guys. Mini can't go out and execute for them. Our on-field leaders have a role to play here though as they are kicking, handballing and fumbling the football. I'll excuse the kids as they won't be making the same kinds of mistakes as they are now in a couple of years time.