phill1795
Team Captain
well I hope he can improve even more, maybe I was harsh on him with my above review but I stick by what I said about all the other players
Review 2016 Season Review and Changes for 2017
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Team things
Obviously the midfield needs strengthening. Need competitive players in there and need midfielders who are going to pressure the opposition if we don't win the ball first.
Pressure needs to be a team philosophy, it can't just be Cameron and Sloane doing it, otherwise it's pointless because the weak link in the chain undoes all the previous work.
The two things that pisses me off the most with our team and it happened all night. 1 - Just corralling the player with ball instead of attempting to put pressure on and making a tackle really annoys me. We allow the opposition time to make a decision and execute a disposal. 2 - When the umpire blows play on from a mark or free kick, we just wait again until they dispose of the ball. FFS run at the player quickly and try to tackle or smother, just don't be stupid and over commit which is usually a common occurrence from our players in general play.
We need to get smarter footballers into the team. I think we have a lot of dumb footballers who understand the situation of the game. We slow it down when we should go fast and we bomb long to a contest when we are outnumbered.
We need a lockdown player in the midfield. Too often other midfielders have big quarters against us and we can't stop it. Really frustrating!
Our players are too nice! We need to get some players who will play angry at times, give away a rough free kick here and there if it's going to make a statement. We just let team beat up on us but we hardly ever give it back.
The Slow Lob Down The Line Kick or Slow Lob Into The Forward 50 Kick. My god this pisses me off. We wait so long and then bomb it when we only have one decent contested marking player in the team. Stupidity at it's best.
Players (In order of possessions tonight)
M Crouch - Workhorse. Makes a mistake here and there with his kicking but works hard all game, is good in clearances and is an important player for us.
Laird - Love what he brings to the team. Is a smart player and makes the play. Moves forward to make an option after disposing of the ball and stays in the play until the ball is out of his area.
Sloane - Is a gun but doesn't get enough help. Works his heart out every time when needed but needs support which he didn't get tonight.
Atkins - Smart player but makes some errors by taking risks. I'm happy for him to take those risks because it usually comes off. That play in the third quarter when he ran too far and confused himself and then didn't make the distance was a real momentum killer. Skills weren't great tonight.
Thompson - Was ok tonight and competed but he has no accountability which is part of the reason why Kennedy had 45 and their midfield always seemed to be free.
Lyons - I like what Lyons can do but didn't really get involved much tonight. Would rather he stayed but if we can trade him for a decent pick I wouldn't be too worried about it. Don't think we'll get anything below 35 for him though.
Mackay - In the early days I was a massive fan of potentially what he could do but in my mind is just a really dumb footballer. Did offer some run at times but I don't think he knows what kicking to his team mates advantage is. Always kicks long to a contest and to the favoured side of the opposition. Hopefully never plays for us again because this has been going on for years and isn't going to change.
B Crouch - A nothing game from him tonight. Obviously not fit enough for this stage of the season. Hopefully it's just a full preseason needed to get him to be the player we need him to be.
Cameron - A really good game from him tonight, one of the only players who brought the intensity and competitiveness needed for a final. Has to play further up the ground where he can uses his weapons. Doesn't have goal sense of Eddie to play deep forward.
Douglas - Could be a class player but think his best has passed him. To me is our half version of Trent Cotchin and by that I mean that he regularly finds himself having shots at goal at important times of the game and always misses. The biggest momentum killer in our team.
Lynch - Always works hard and is a smart player. Hard to get involved at the SCG where the half forward line is bypassed most of the time. We don't know how to play to his strengths, we kick it on his head when he isn't very good at taking high marks.
Smith - About time we took the risk and made him a midfielder. Couldn't get involved much tonight from half back but when we made a small run at the start of the third quarter he was really starting to make some things happen.
Walker - Story of his season tonight. Just couldn't get involved enough as much as we needed him to tonight. He makes this happen when he touches the ball but he didn't get it much and this is occurring way too often these days. Need to be the dominant player in our team week in week out.
Hartigan - Impressive season from him this year. Feel like he is really learning quickly. Played to his strengths and eliminated the brain fades, was more safe with his kicking which is what he should be doing.
McGovern - Very good first season playing as the 5th forward. Would like to see him develop another part to his game, whether that is becoming a mobile second ruck for bit parts of a game or being able to play loose man in defence at times.
Brown - Don't know what has happened to him this year. Gone from being a good lockdown small defender who had a safe disposal to a turnover king. Needs to build his strength too as he is too easily out muscled or tackled and dispossessed.
Cheney - Become a good player for us, quite consistent. Marks the ball at important times and is usually good with his kicking.
Jacobs - The game is very quickly passing him by. Is no longer dominant in the tap outs and has turned into Doc Clarke around the ground. If the ruckman can't mark the ball around the ground then they shouldn't be in the team.
Talia - Gun player who didn't get much help from the midfield tonight. Good to see him fight on when he was clearly injured.
Betts - Not Eddie's night. Didn't get a heap of opportunity but did go for a few too many hangers tonight when we just needed a realistic contest. That's not his fault because we shouldn't be kicking the lobbed high ball in his direction.
Jenkins - Another pathetic effort. Can be a tough matchup at times when we use him right, but he needs to get competitive. We are wasting Tex by playing Jenkins deep forward and he is giving us nothing most of the time.
Lever - Is already a star and one of the most important players in the team. Hopefully the injury isn't too bad.
Obviously the midfield needs strengthening. Need competitive players in there and need midfielders who are going to pressure the opposition if we don't win the ball first.
Pressure needs to be a team philosophy, it can't just be Cameron and Sloane doing it, otherwise it's pointless because the weak link in the chain undoes all the previous work.
The two things that pisses me off the most with our team and it happened all night. 1 - Just corralling the player with ball instead of attempting to put pressure on and making a tackle really annoys me. We allow the opposition time to make a decision and execute a disposal. 2 - When the umpire blows play on from a mark or free kick, we just wait again until they dispose of the ball. FFS run at the player quickly and try to tackle or smother, just don't be stupid and over commit which is usually a common occurrence from our players in general play.
We need to get smarter footballers into the team. I think we have a lot of dumb footballers who understand the situation of the game. We slow it down when we should go fast and we bomb long to a contest when we are outnumbered.
We need a lockdown player in the midfield. Too often other midfielders have big quarters against us and we can't stop it. Really frustrating!
Our players are too nice! We need to get some players who will play angry at times, give away a rough free kick here and there if it's going to make a statement. We just let team beat up on us but we hardly ever give it back.
The Slow Lob Down The Line Kick or Slow Lob Into The Forward 50 Kick. My god this pisses me off. We wait so long and then bomb it when we only have one decent contested marking player in the team. Stupidity at it's best.
Players (In order of possessions tonight)
M Crouch - Workhorse. Makes a mistake here and there with his kicking but works hard all game, is good in clearances and is an important player for us.
Laird - Love what he brings to the team. Is a smart player and makes the play. Moves forward to make an option after disposing of the ball and stays in the play until the ball is out of his area.
Sloane - Is a gun but doesn't get enough help. Works his heart out every time when needed but needs support which he didn't get tonight.
Atkins - Smart player but makes some errors by taking risks. I'm happy for him to take those risks because it usually comes off. That play in the third quarter when he ran too far and confused himself and then didn't make the distance was a real momentum killer. Skills weren't great tonight.
Thompson - Was ok tonight and competed but he has no accountability which is part of the reason why Kennedy had 45 and their midfield always seemed to be free.
Lyons - I like what Lyons can do but didn't really get involved much tonight. Would rather he stayed but if we can trade him for a decent pick I wouldn't be too worried about it. Don't think we'll get anything below 35 for him though.
Mackay - In the early days I was a massive fan of potentially what he could do but in my mind is just a really dumb footballer. Did offer some run at times but I don't think he knows what kicking to his team mates advantage is. Always kicks long to a contest and to the favoured side of the opposition. Hopefully never plays for us again because this has been going on for years and isn't going to change.
B Crouch - A nothing game from him tonight. Obviously not fit enough for this stage of the season. Hopefully it's just a full preseason needed to get him to be the player we need him to be.
Cameron - A really good game from him tonight, one of the only players who brought the intensity and competitiveness needed for a final. Has to play further up the ground where he can uses his weapons. Doesn't have goal sense of Eddie to play deep forward.
Douglas - Could be a class player but think his best has passed him. To me is our half version of Trent Cotchin and by that I mean that he regularly finds himself having shots at goal at important times of the game and always misses. The biggest momentum killer in our team.
Lynch - Always works hard and is a smart player. Hard to get involved at the SCG where the half forward line is bypassed most of the time. We don't know how to play to his strengths, we kick it on his head when he isn't very good at taking high marks.
Smith - About time we took the risk and made him a midfielder. Couldn't get involved much tonight from half back but when we made a small run at the start of the third quarter he was really starting to make some things happen.
Walker - Story of his season tonight. Just couldn't get involved enough as much as we needed him to tonight. He makes this happen when he touches the ball but he didn't get it much and this is occurring way too often these days. Need to be the dominant player in our team week in week out.
Hartigan - Impressive season from him this year. Feel like he is really learning quickly. Played to his strengths and eliminated the brain fades, was more safe with his kicking which is what he should be doing.
McGovern - Very good first season playing as the 5th forward. Would like to see him develop another part to his game, whether that is becoming a mobile second ruck for bit parts of a game or being able to play loose man in defence at times.
Brown - Don't know what has happened to him this year. Gone from being a good lockdown small defender who had a safe disposal to a turnover king. Needs to build his strength too as he is too easily out muscled or tackled and dispossessed.
Cheney - Become a good player for us, quite consistent. Marks the ball at important times and is usually good with his kicking.
Jacobs - The game is very quickly passing him by. Is no longer dominant in the tap outs and has turned into Doc Clarke around the ground. If the ruckman can't mark the ball around the ground then they shouldn't be in the team.
Talia - Gun player who didn't get much help from the midfield tonight. Good to see him fight on when he was clearly injured.
Betts - Not Eddie's night. Didn't get a heap of opportunity but did go for a few too many hangers tonight when we just needed a realistic contest. That's not his fault because we shouldn't be kicking the lobbed high ball in his direction.
Jenkins - Another pathetic effort. Can be a tough matchup at times when we use him right, but he needs to get competitive. We are wasting Tex by playing Jenkins deep forward and he is giving us nothing most of the time.
Lever - Is already a star and one of the most important players in the team. Hopefully the injury isn't too bad.
Wymo
Senior List
I can't see how Cheney's spot is up for grabs.
- Aug 5, 2013
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The coaching/management decisions got more and more conservative as the season wore on.
Ultimately The club made the decision to half-arse the West Coast game in an attempt to get a better finals performance, but did not exceed what would have been the absolute worst possible outcome after a win in round 23.
This is where any internal analysis of the season should start. The rest will follow.
Ultimately The club made the decision to half-arse the West Coast game in an attempt to get a better finals performance, but did not exceed what would have been the absolute worst possible outcome after a win in round 23.
This is where any internal analysis of the season should start. The rest will follow.
- Apr 18, 2012
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Good words from Pyke about not being happy with simply being a good footy club. I believe him.
Made a point to stick it to the players that it's about winning finals. Some positives but in the end - have to get better. Some of its personnel.
Made a point to stick it to the players that it's about winning finals. Some positives but in the end - have to get better. Some of its personnel.
I agree with your assessment. But it looks like we are sticking with him. Good old AFC.
Don also responded to "what did you think of the ruck contest?" with "I didn't really have a close look at it to be honest."
Ok Don Pyke. My opinion may be starting to turn on you. That is a ridiculous thing to say.
phill1795
Team Captain
yeah I have to agree with that, as if that is all you would say about the ruck contest. Sauce got beat by two guys that are only backup ruckman and not even best 22, that is seriously the best he could say.
GreyCrow
TheBrownDog
- Mar 21, 2016
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I agree B-. I am keeping my thoughts on Pyke until the start of the next year. See what happens in the box and on the ground first. I hope you mean by significant changes you mean strategic. I don't want change for changes sake.
You're kidding…surely he didn't say that
Less than 10 effective possessions while his opponents destroyed us.
Things I'd like to see happen next year:
Mental preparation - we have consistently started poorly all year. That must be corrected. Our first halves have been basically identical for the last month or so. The only difference tonight was that the swans were good enough to really punish us. Next year, we need to be switched on from minute one.
Player changes:
Thommo must surely retire.
Mackay should play at least 15 games in the SANFL, as depth only.
Douglas next in line after Mackay.
More AFL game time into guys killing it in the SANFL, particularly Wigg and ROB, but also Menzel, Doedee, etc.
Target a quality midfielder in trade week, like Rockliff (but preferably someone with better disposal).
Coaching changes:
I'd like to see Pyke be more willing to use more players. We have depth, but got punished in September for not exposing our depth players earlier in the season.
Trade bait:
Hendo
Grigg
Lyons (although I think he's shown more than enough this year to be worth keeping)
CEY (unfortunately is behind Lyons and the Crouch bros in his preferred spot and, his disposal isn't good enough for other roles)
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Mental preparation - we have consistently started poorly all year. That must be corrected. Our first halves have been basically identical for the last month or so. The only difference tonight was that the swans were good enough to really punish us. Next year, we need to be switched on from minute one.
Player changes:
Thommo must surely retire.
Mackay should play at least 15 games in the SANFL, as depth only.
Douglas next in line after Mackay.
More AFL game time into guys killing it in the SANFL, particularly Wigg and ROB, but also Menzel, Doedee, etc.
Target a quality midfielder in trade week, like Rockliff (but preferably someone with better disposal).
Coaching changes:
I'd like to see Pyke be more willing to use more players. We have depth, but got punished in September for not exposing our depth players earlier in the season.
Trade bait:
Hendo
Grigg
Lyons (although I think he's shown more than enough this year to be worth keeping)
CEY (unfortunately is behind Lyons and the Crouch bros in his preferred spot and, his disposal isn't good enough for other roles)
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- Oct 28, 2014
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Nah he was good tonight, good year & good tonight.You're kidding…surely he didn't say that
Less than 10 effective possessions while his opponents destroyed us.
the universal
Norm Smith Medallist
- Jun 20, 2015
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Changes as in 'please bring in Hampton/Wigg/Knight/Menzel ok thanks' and 'please no Thompson and Mackay'.
GreyCrow
TheBrownDog
- Mar 21, 2016
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Its interesting what I heard about Sydney. They have their top 6 do most of the midfield work. Now when they have quality like they have you can understand it. It brings cohesion and understanding. It makes sense when the players are so attuned and experienced. I think Pyke was looking for the same mix . It didn't work though. I never saw too many other options come in. I think with a group like ours we need to run 10 through the middle. Upset the opposition with different players at different times. It also gives players an option to get into the game when they are stagnating.
I'm finding it difficult to grade our season. Overall we exceeded my expectations at the start of the year, so I'd like to give a B...
But we have to re-evaluate our goals as the situation changes, and in round 18 or so, top 4 should have been par.
C+ for me. Might have been a B, but coming into round 23 I thought we were a genuine flag chance, and we threw away any chance we had at a flag in that insipid performance.
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But we have to re-evaluate our goals as the situation changes, and in round 18 or so, top 4 should have been par.
C+ for me. Might have been a B, but coming into round 23 I thought we were a genuine flag chance, and we threw away any chance we had at a flag in that insipid performance.
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I have been a fan of Thommo because of his service to the club, but I can't believe the 5aa guys, especially Kym Dillon (isn't he a Port supporter?) arguing that he should play on. Dillon even said that his mail is that he has an offer from the club and he will. Obviously an agenda there.
He was one of our best players today. The more established "stars" like Smith and Brown performed much worse.
Cheney is a keeper.
RippaRiley43
Club Legend
- Jan 27, 2013
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Oh boy. Another season over in the blink of an eye. Our premiership drought is now an adult, as is our last consecutive finals win.
I can't be stuffed really zeroing in on individual players tonight as I usually do, so I'll just go for some random thoughts.
It's abundantly clear that our midfield isn't up to scratch at the moment, and we're in grave danger of sliding further back into the pack, especially compared to the teams still in it. The wildcard is Brad Crouch. Realistically wasn't going to dominate this year, but will have to put in a huge 2017 now that he's got some continuity in his game. Needs to be in the AA squad next year at the least for me. Also disappointed that Smith didn't get much of a run in the centre square this year. It's been something I've wanted to see for years as I think he will give us something different in there, but it never seems to eventuate. I won't hold my breath, but perhaps, just maybe, if Doodle comes on next year, we could move him there (unlikely). We get shelled in the clearances and few of our midfielders bar Sloane and Lyons want to do the defensive running and second efforts. Defence is a team effort, not just the responsibility of the backline. I'm not happy with Camporeale if he has anything to do with this. We could do with a fresh new midfield coach anyway.
I'm also concerned with Jacobs' ruck work, which has fallen off a cliff this year. Never looks like putting it down the throat of a running Crows midfielder. A bit harsh, but perhaps a suspension next year after that bump may give O'Brien a few more games to show his stuff?
Thompson has to have played his last game for us tonight. We all love him and he's an absolute great of the club who carried us through our darkest period in 2010-11, but he was burnt off by the Swans engine room far too many times tonight, and burnt it with the ball in hand a lot tonight. Happy for him that he got a goal though.
I might be starting to agree with OutofTownCrow actually - may not be adverse to trading out Lyons on amicable terms IF it helps us get a Rockliff type, but not for a second rounder, as that won't be our saviour. We should hit the trade table hard, as we will not be able to play catch up in the draft with picks 15 and 700. That strategy hasn't worked for us. Get what we can for CEY, Grigg, one of Otten/Kelly, Henderson (I'd love to say Dougie and D-Mac too) and try to improve our draft position or take a punt on some players on the outer from other teams. And do not overpay like we usually do. Thanks.
Our selection continues to be an issue. It's utterly foolish for anyone to suggest that players such as Douglas, Thompson or D-Mac could not be dropped at all this year. It would not have cost us any games, and we could have seen what a Troy Menzel, Harrison Wigg, Wayne Milera or Riley Knight could do. Jenkins was an absolute traffic cone tonight, but rather than playing O'Brien or even rolling the dice with Menzel, we decided to play it safe, and it backfired big time. Not debuting Wigg and instead playing van Berlo was extremely poor, as was David Mackay's selection with no SANFL form after being dropped against the Pies. Also seemed like Jacobs and Luke Brown were playing injured, which was again dumb. And when we did give opportunities, they were pretty much all to guys like Henderson who we've already seen what he gives us. It further perplexes me that Wigg didn't get a shot in defence when Laird/Brown were injured - didn't he play there in the U18s?
I'm not entirely convinced about our backline. Some good names in there; Talia and Laird are stars, Lever will be and Hartigan has improved a lot, but they continue to leak goals to annoying small forwards, particularly Brown and to a lesser extent Cheney. I'd expect Eddie and Charlie to kick ten goals between them on our backs if they played for another team.
It's probably not fair to be entirely negative. There is a lot to work with. I probably didn't expect 16 wins at the start of this year. We had 3 AAs and seven players in the 22under22 squad, not bad considering our garbage draft positions year after year. And as everyone knows, our forward line is one of, if not the best in the league. Eddie ended up kicking 75 for the year, while Jenkins and Lynch put up personal bests, while Tex had a stinker of a year but still probably got close to 50 goals. McGovern looks the goods and Cameron impressed me a lot tonight with his fighting spirit and taking the game on, even if it didn't always pay off.
Still, I'm getting sick of being able to say we exceeded expectations when nobody gave us a chance. So what? When will we get our sweet revenge for all the traitors who have abandoned us?
I can't be stuffed really zeroing in on individual players tonight as I usually do, so I'll just go for some random thoughts.
It's abundantly clear that our midfield isn't up to scratch at the moment, and we're in grave danger of sliding further back into the pack, especially compared to the teams still in it. The wildcard is Brad Crouch. Realistically wasn't going to dominate this year, but will have to put in a huge 2017 now that he's got some continuity in his game. Needs to be in the AA squad next year at the least for me. Also disappointed that Smith didn't get much of a run in the centre square this year. It's been something I've wanted to see for years as I think he will give us something different in there, but it never seems to eventuate. I won't hold my breath, but perhaps, just maybe, if Doodle comes on next year, we could move him there (unlikely). We get shelled in the clearances and few of our midfielders bar Sloane and Lyons want to do the defensive running and second efforts. Defence is a team effort, not just the responsibility of the backline. I'm not happy with Camporeale if he has anything to do with this. We could do with a fresh new midfield coach anyway.
I'm also concerned with Jacobs' ruck work, which has fallen off a cliff this year. Never looks like putting it down the throat of a running Crows midfielder. A bit harsh, but perhaps a suspension next year after that bump may give O'Brien a few more games to show his stuff?
Thompson has to have played his last game for us tonight. We all love him and he's an absolute great of the club who carried us through our darkest period in 2010-11, but he was burnt off by the Swans engine room far too many times tonight, and burnt it with the ball in hand a lot tonight. Happy for him that he got a goal though.
I might be starting to agree with OutofTownCrow actually - may not be adverse to trading out Lyons on amicable terms IF it helps us get a Rockliff type, but not for a second rounder, as that won't be our saviour. We should hit the trade table hard, as we will not be able to play catch up in the draft with picks 15 and 700. That strategy hasn't worked for us. Get what we can for CEY, Grigg, one of Otten/Kelly, Henderson (I'd love to say Dougie and D-Mac too) and try to improve our draft position or take a punt on some players on the outer from other teams. And do not overpay like we usually do. Thanks.
Our selection continues to be an issue. It's utterly foolish for anyone to suggest that players such as Douglas, Thompson or D-Mac could not be dropped at all this year. It would not have cost us any games, and we could have seen what a Troy Menzel, Harrison Wigg, Wayne Milera or Riley Knight could do. Jenkins was an absolute traffic cone tonight, but rather than playing O'Brien or even rolling the dice with Menzel, we decided to play it safe, and it backfired big time. Not debuting Wigg and instead playing van Berlo was extremely poor, as was David Mackay's selection with no SANFL form after being dropped against the Pies. Also seemed like Jacobs and Luke Brown were playing injured, which was again dumb. And when we did give opportunities, they were pretty much all to guys like Henderson who we've already seen what he gives us. It further perplexes me that Wigg didn't get a shot in defence when Laird/Brown were injured - didn't he play there in the U18s?
I'm not entirely convinced about our backline. Some good names in there; Talia and Laird are stars, Lever will be and Hartigan has improved a lot, but they continue to leak goals to annoying small forwards, particularly Brown and to a lesser extent Cheney. I'd expect Eddie and Charlie to kick ten goals between them on our backs if they played for another team.
It's probably not fair to be entirely negative. There is a lot to work with. I probably didn't expect 16 wins at the start of this year. We had 3 AAs and seven players in the 22under22 squad, not bad considering our garbage draft positions year after year. And as everyone knows, our forward line is one of, if not the best in the league. Eddie ended up kicking 75 for the year, while Jenkins and Lynch put up personal bests, while Tex had a stinker of a year but still probably got close to 50 goals. McGovern looks the goods and Cameron impressed me a lot tonight with his fighting spirit and taking the game on, even if it didn't always pay off.
Still, I'm getting sick of being able to say we exceeded expectations when nobody gave us a chance. So what? When will we get our sweet revenge for all the traitors who have abandoned us?
One is not enough
Big difference between quality experience and just experience.
- Sep 16, 2011
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It didn't really sit well with me dropping Thommo (despite probably needing to be) in that to put all this work in over the years and then be dropped for the big dance would be a massive kick in the guts, but now we are back to zero again, sorry mate but the time has come.
Agreed.
I'd be going hard for Wells and Rockliff.
If there's another astute trade for a young player on the fringes I'd entertain it but those 2 would improve our midfield dramatically.
