Autopsy 2020 GWS Annus Horribillis - Best/Worst - What worked/didn't - List Changes etc

As Lizzy once said, "what a s**t year that was".

A lot of negatives but also some positives, essentially a complete waste of a season.
Input welcome from all, trolliing will result in a ban hammer.

The main negatives for me;
- Not being able to go to most of our games
- An unexplained lack of effort for lengthy stretches in most games
- The lack of run in play
- The non-impact of Jacobs
- The appearnce of no onfeld leadership
- Sam Taylor's LTI
- Injuries to TT, Ward, Davis, Williams
- Non appearance of Flynn or Briggs, despite Mummy being our ruck "option"
- Dumping Cogs when at least 12 others should have gone first, bullshit message to the team
- Disfunctional midfield to forward movement
- Missing a finals series that should have been an easy get

The positives;
- Footy was played, albeit at a fluctuating standard
- Ash, Riccardi, Keefe
- Win against Geelong in R1 (where did that team go??????)
that's me done for now on that..

The nerves;
- Contract status of JC, Williams, Caldwell, Hately, Perryman, XO
- AFL enforced list cuts, of an as yet unknown nature
- A draft pool that is by comparison to recent years, a lucky dip
- Lack of confidence in the game day goaches box
- Percieved lack of desire to commit to the contest by a signifant portion of the playing group
- 2021 may still be played in bubble form

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Dr Giant

Debutant
Aug 9, 2019
54
61
AFL Club
GWS
Yep..what was that

where to start.

I saw a few games at the beginning of the season, but at times I was looking at the TV thinking who were these guys playing for the giants?

The Giants just couldn’t find there mojo. They were so flat for so long it was just boggling, but we did see this before the finals last year where apart from the finals they looked rubbish.

I don’t think you could blame the GF for the season. I always feel that they will try hard, I don’t think there effort in game is a problem they just looked lost. There is something fundamental

so what to do;

Put 2020 in the past, but don’t forget how s**t it was.

There has to be a call on the ruck (Again) Mummy was so badly outplayed by Ryder it was emotional. If Flynn isnt going to get a shot, then trade him. Play Flynn/ Briggs and Fiindlayson at the same time, it couldn’t get worse than what happened against Mummy.

The defence is an issue. I love TT and Hopper, Tom G will be great and win us a lot of games, so there has to be a big effort in the trenches to defend. Adam Kennedy didn’t have a good year, but I am not sure that Jack Buckley is a good run with defender that we need. last year we looked so settled, so with Sam T and Phil missing it looked a little lost. I would like to think that Lachie Ash or Harry Perryman can do Heaters job. We do need another big bodied defender in reserve. Agree the Lachie Keefe had his best year.

Finally Leon needs an experienced assistant. Gee Matthew Nicks was a loss.

There is so much more, and I haven’t even mentioned The Swans game.
 
Nov 7, 2017
27,654
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There's a lot that we need to address, granted I don't want to get caught up in this year too much considering the circumstances of moving around, the pause and the contracts over our head.

Coaching-
Our coaching this year was lack luster, I've said for a long time that I don't think Leon is a tactical coach, he's a man manager who needs someone else to cover him in the tactics side of things. Nicks' loss was an obvious and huge hole in our coaching department, with no one else clearly filling the role, Going into next year we need someone in that role, I've seen Solomon from Suns come up in discussion, I'm not sure how realistic that is however.


Transition from defensive half-
Few points under this one, I know a lot of people say our defenders disposal is the issue, and to a degree I agree we don't have a lot of great disposers in our backline, Whitfield the clear stand out and Perryman when he's down there. I help with this I suggest targeting Alex Witherden from Brisbane (please, I'd love it). I really thought we'd look to do some more run and carry with Ash and Williams linking up although we didn't get to see that as much as I'd hoped =(
I also don't like how much our mids crowd the 50 meter line, makes it hard to quickly slingshot into a counter attack when ourmids aren't in position to lead, mark or run past for a handball

Stoppage setups-
We let the back of stoppages be clear way too often, it was especially evident against Adelaide when I was looking for it, they'd push a defender or winger behind who'd either get it outright or get the handball from a contested mid of theirs. This is fine if we're gonna commit to trying to win the stoppages, but our mids looked hesitant to go for it constantly, it was just weird to watch
 

gee whiz giant

All Australian
Mar 3, 2014
909
911
CBR
AFL Club
GWS
Other Teams
the Toffees, the Bays.
Jeremy Cameron for me.
Last year he won the Coleman.
This year he disappeared for long periods, only to pop up away from his damage zone.
Each and every defender seemed to wear him for long periods of a game.

Jezza gets back to form, finds the ball, kicks a few, then the collective team swagger returns. End of problem.
 
Jun 26, 2018
2
18
AFL Club
GWS
First ever post. Be gentle. I am a foundation member if that helps.

Best
  • Riccardi, Ash and Green joining the ranks
  • Pre season and Round 8 wins against Richmond
  • Having football as a mini escape from the craziness that is the world.
  • Nick Haynes - In every sense
(Unfortunately, not much else)

Worst
  • Cogs being dropped (honestly nothing justifies it, back your captain)
  • Inside 50 pressure
  • Losing Davis and Taylor is being massively under reported
  • Every kick seemed like a Hail Mary

Worked
  • The Indigenous Jumper (So beautiful this year)
  • Faith in Perryman and Hill to step up (they delivered)
  • Toby Greene and Nick Haynes

Didn't Work
  • Letting Matthew Nicks leave
  • Cameron's game plan
  • Response to pressure
  • Freedom of movement in the midfield.

Along with the points above. This was a really tough year to swallow. I got to a point where I could watch the first 5 minutes of any game and tell whether we were going to lose. Key examples of this were the North, Swans, Port, Crows and Saints games. Over roared in every situation.

I have faith in the players and the club to rectify the situation but I have some doubts.

Problems that need to be addressed
  • Contract status of some serious gun players. Cameron will stay but honestly Zac Williams is an absolute machine and I would not blame him for chasing some coin. Anyone who can sub between halfback and mid like that deserves to get paid. Perryman, Hately, O'Halloran & Caldwell are all guns, I don't know where we stand here to be honest.
  • Correct me if I am wrong on this one, but is Jason McCartney doing 2 jobs? Is he the head of football and our list manager? Or is Adrian Caruso, still doing that? I can't find much on the site? Either way we need a more clear divide in the Football department.
  • Lenny Hayes and Brad Miller departing are MASSIVE holes in the coaching department and need to be filled ASAP.
  • The ruck debacle continues. Jacobs has officially announced his retirement and I believe Mumford is doing the same? Flynn and Briggs have some SERIOUS talent and I think they need to be unleashed. The NEAFL is under threat and the AFL is where these two need to grow.
  • I also just want the lads to enjoy their footy. This year no one looked like they were enjoying themselves unless we scraped through for a win.
See you all in 2021.
 
Nov 23, 2015
11,654
17,071
AFL Club
GWS
First ever post. Be gentle. I am a foundation member if that helps.

Best
  • Riccardi, Ash and Green joining the ranks
  • Pre season and Round 8 wins against Richmond
  • Having football as a mini escape from the craziness that is the world.
  • Nick Haynes - In every sense
(Unfortunately, not much else)

Worst
  • Cogs being dropped (honestly nothing justifies it, back your captain)
  • Inside 50 pressure
  • Losing Davis and Taylor is being massively under reported
  • Every kick seemed like a Hail Mary

Worked
  • The Indigenous Jumper (So beautiful this year)
  • Faith in Perryman and Hill to step up (they delivered)
  • Toby Greene and Nick Haynes

Didn't Work
  • Letting Matthew Nicks leave
  • Cameron's game plan
  • Response to pressure
  • Freedom of movement in the midfield.

Along with the points above. This was a really tough year to swallow. I got to a point where I could watch the first 5 minutes of any game and tell whether we were going to lose. Key examples of this were the North, Swans, Port, Crows and Saints games. Over roared in every situation.

I have faith in the players and the club to rectify the situation but I have some doubts.

Problems that need to be addressed
  • Contract status of some serious gun players. Cameron will stay but honestly Zac Williams is an absolute machine and I would not blame him for chasing some coin. Anyone who can sub between halfback and mid like that deserves to get paid. Perryman, Hately, O'Halloran & Caldwell are all guns, I don't know where we stand here to be honest.
  • Correct me if I am wrong on this one, but is Jason McCartney doing 2 jobs? Is he the head of football and our list manager? Or is Adrian Caruso, still doing that? I can't find much on the site? Either way we need a more clear divide in the Football department.
  • Lenny Hayes and Brad Miller departing are MASSIVE holes in the coaching department and need to be filled ASAP.
  • The ruck debacle continues. Jacobs has officially announced his retirement and I believe Mumford is doing the same? Flynn and Briggs have some SERIOUS talent and I think they need to be unleashed. The NEAFL is under threat and the AFL is where these two need to grow.
  • I also just want the lads to enjoy their footy. This year no one looked like they were enjoying themselves unless we scraped through for a win.
See you all in 2021.
Great first post NorthEastOfTheTownGiant and plenty of salient points there. I'm sure there will be a lot of discussion as the departures from the club become known, and possible draft choices are analysed, so please feel free to contribute.
 
Negatives:
  • We had a crap season, sure, but at no point during this season did we put together a stretch of games that looked like we could turn things around. I know this season was out of the ordinary, but our inability to switch things up and on just wasn't there. We showed glimpses in some final quarter performances but nothing sustained throughout multiple games to save our season.
  • There's still no clear answer at ruck. We have Mumford who looks past it, Jacobs just retired and we haven't seen Flynn at AFL level yet.

Positives:
  • Our Geelong win was probably our most impressive this season and it looked mightly good. I hope we can return to that form next year
  • We got games into some of our young guns - Riccardi, Hill, Ash, Green
  • Players like Daniels and Perryman really solidified their value to the team and their roles within this team

I'm sure I can think of more but I'd rather put this season behind me now.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #8
First ever post. Be gentle. I am a foundation member if that helps.

Best
  • Riccardi, Ash and Green joining the ranks
  • Pre season and Round 8 wins against Richmond
  • Having football as a mini escape from the craziness that is the world.
  • Nick Haynes - In every sense
(Unfortunately, not much else)

Worst
  • Cogs being dropped (honestly nothing justifies it, back your captain)
  • Inside 50 pressure
  • Losing Davis and Taylor is being massively under reported
  • Every kick seemed like a Hail Mary

Worked
  • The Indigenous Jumper (So beautiful this year)
  • Faith in Perryman and Hill to step up (they delivered)
  • Toby Greene and Nick Haynes

Didn't Work
  • Letting Matthew Nicks leave
  • Cameron's game plan
  • Response to pressure
  • Freedom of movement in the midfield.

Along with the points above. This was a really tough year to swallow. I got to a point where I could watch the first 5 minutes of any game and tell whether we were going to lose. Key examples of this were the North, Swans, Port, Crows and Saints games. Over roared in every situation.

I have faith in the players and the club to rectify the situation but I have some doubts.

Problems that need to be addressed
  • Contract status of some serious gun players. Cameron will stay but honestly Zac Williams is an absolute machine and I would not blame him for chasing some coin. Anyone who can sub between halfback and mid like that deserves to get paid. Perryman, Hately, O'Halloran & Caldwell are all guns, I don't know where we stand here to be honest.
  • Correct me if I am wrong on this one, but is Jason McCartney doing 2 jobs? Is he the head of football and our list manager? Or is Adrian Caruso, still doing that? I can't find much on the site? Either way we need a more clear divide in the Football department.
  • Lenny Hayes and Brad Miller departing are MASSIVE holes in the coaching department and need to be filled ASAP.
  • The ruck debacle continues. Jacobs has officially announced his retirement and I believe Mumford is doing the same? Flynn and Briggs have some SERIOUS talent and I think they need to be unleashed. The NEAFL is under threat and the AFL is where these two need to grow.
  • I also just want the lads to enjoy their footy. This year no one looked like they were enjoying themselves unless we scraped through for a win.
See you all in 2021.
Excellent intro to the board mate, welcome :)
 
Sep 8, 2012
10,179
9,036
Sydney
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
GWS
First ever post. Be gentle. I am a foundation member if that helps.

Best
  • Riccardi, Ash and Green joining the ranks
  • Pre season and Round 8 wins against Richmond
  • Having football as a mini escape from the craziness that is the world.
  • Nick Haynes - In every sense
(Unfortunately, not much else)

Worst
  • Cogs being dropped (honestly nothing justifies it, back your captain)
  • Inside 50 pressure
  • Losing Davis and Taylor is being massively under reported
  • Every kick seemed like a Hail Mary

Worked
  • The Indigenous Jumper (So beautiful this year)
  • Faith in Perryman and Hill to step up (they delivered)
  • Toby Greene and Nick Haynes

Didn't Work
  • Letting Matthew Nicks leave
  • Cameron's game plan
  • Response to pressure
  • Freedom of movement in the midfield.

Along with the points above. This was a really tough year to swallow. I got to a point where I could watch the first 5 minutes of any game and tell whether we were going to lose. Key examples of this were the North, Swans, Port, Crows and Saints games. Over roared in every situation.

I have faith in the players and the club to rectify the situation but I have some doubts.

Problems that need to be addressed
  • Contract status of some serious gun players. Cameron will stay but honestly Zac Williams is an absolute machine and I would not blame him for chasing some coin. Anyone who can sub between halfback and mid like that deserves to get paid. Perryman, Hately, O'Halloran & Caldwell are all guns, I don't know where we stand here to be honest.
  • Correct me if I am wrong on this one, but is Jason McCartney doing 2 jobs? Is he the head of football and our list manager? Or is Adrian Caruso, still doing that? I can't find much on the site? Either way we need a more clear divide in the Football department.
  • Lenny Hayes and Brad Miller departing are MASSIVE holes in the coaching department and need to be filled ASAP.
  • The ruck debacle continues. Jacobs has officially announced his retirement and I believe Mumford is doing the same? Flynn and Briggs have some SERIOUS talent and I think they need to be unleashed. The NEAFL is under threat and the AFL is where these two need to grow.
  • I also just want the lads to enjoy their footy. This year no one looked like they were enjoying themselves unless we scraped through for a win.
See you all in 2021.
Hey mate

Fantastic first post !! Please post more. Enjoyed reading your thoughts.

Here to hopefully a better 2021


On CPH2009 using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

SouthernGiant

Debutant
Sep 21, 2020
52
73
AFL Club
GWS
Positives - very few...

1. Geelong & Freo wins.
2. Games into Ash, Riccadi & Buckley

Negatives - Lack of improvement in most of players other than Nick Haynes.

Coaching in general, not just Leon!
 
Mar 8, 2002
4,593
3,431
Melbourne
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
LA Angels
Positives

- The development team - given the dearth of reserves games it was a fair effort for the likes of Riccardi, Buckley, Green etc to come in and look very comfortable at the level at different times

- Nick Haynes

- Binga Daniels

Negatives

- The bizarre decision (coming off the club's most successful in the history of it's existence) to appoint (in Leon's words) "a brand new, young, relatively inexperienced leadership group". As part of this shafting two of the best leaders in the AFL (Davis and Ward) and including a number of players who don't appear to have any leadership talent or aspirations

- The appointment of Cooper Cronk as "leadership consultant" to oversee point 1 above. Hopefully he isn't let within a million miles of the joint in 2021
 
Apr 12, 2012
45,989
41,667
AFL Club
GWS
Thank Christ that is over, kinda.

We still have to brace ourselves for maybe losing Jezza, Williams and Perryman.

Positives-

- We absolutely nailed last years draft.
All of Green, Ash, and Riccardi are, hopefully with us, long term future stars.
- Perryman stepped up to show he is one of the best kicks in the comp.

- Bobby Hill He always has had the talent but he is starting to get a tank as well.

Negatives-

- Covid, yes every club had to deal with it but ours didn’t. We looked to be bang on in our 1st game (and pre-season) and fears were put aside that we may have a hangover from the GF belting. Then we covid hit and we had an extremely long layoff where every seemed to forget their own talent.

- Skill was gone. We were kicking in the field like 2012, so many opposition intercept marks. Every player around going up for the mark and then the ball bounced out into the plethora of oppo players waiting to crumb.
There were times when we looked like we had found it again but 5 mins later it was gone.

- Ruck,ffs, why in gods name weren’t Flynn or Briggs given a go? They could of done no worse the Sauce or Mummy.

-confidence. We had none. We had Coleman medal winners 15 metres out looking to hand pass the ball to another instead of taking a shot as an example.

- Defense. With Taylor and Davis gone we were a shadow of our usual selves. Add the lack of confidence coming out of defence and it was downright nightmare inducing.


I don’t think it’s terminal.
If we can keep Jezza and Perryman (which sounds likely) and play a more regular season next year have no doubt we can make finals, even with our Ruck situation(Flynn and Briggs get a go).
 
Nov 7, 2017
27,654
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Melbourne
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If it was to happen

- Jezza
- HH
- Finlayson
- Keefe
- Mummy
- Sauce
- Shaw
- Taranto
- Kennedy
- Leon himself
Are a few I would have before Cogs. If someone had to be dropped
Seems harsh on Tim, I thought he was one of our better performers for the season, took him a couple of games to work into it but certainly no worse than Cogs, would've had Hopper there before Tim
 
Apr 12, 2012
45,989
41,667
AFL Club
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Seems harsh on Tim, I thought he was one of our better performers for the season, took him a couple of games to work into it but certainly no worse than Cogs, would've had Hopper there before Tim

Yeah as i said, If I had to drop then those would of gone before Cogs.
They could of all done with a rest and wake up call as all were terrible.

Just a bad year for all.
 

Ichabod Noodle

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 13, 2011
9,402
14,248
The Riff
AFL Club
GWS
Other Teams
Raiders, Brumbies
2020 (in general) can go f**k itself with a 40 foot barge pole - sideways

How can you go from beating Geelong, Richmond and Collingwood but turn around and lose to Sydney, North and Adelaide?

Positives?
Not a lot - liked the look of Riccardi and Ash - Green was good in parts so a tick for last year’s draft - but that’s about it.

Negatives:
Injuries to Davis and Taylor in particular - and other injuries in general.
Lack of leadership (sorry Cogs, love you but the leadership wasn’t there this year)
Lack of run/ lack of ball movement (what happened to the tsunami? What happened to just getting it forward?)
Lack of effort in large sections of a game.



But... you know... it’s footy, so there’s always next year.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #20
Good opening post Determinant but interested in who you think these 12 should have been?
To be honest 12 was more a number to indicate "many", when many would have been a better insertion..

There were a lot of changes for R17
Out:
Corr - Injured
Hill, Riccardi (Managed)
Hately, Caldwell, Ash, Jacobs, Coniglio (Omitted)

In:
Daniels
Idun
Perryman
Buckley
Kelly
Mummy
Green
Williams

Additional players I would have dropped for R17 would have been;
Hopper
Kennedy
HH


I would NOT have dropped;
Jacobs
Hately
Ash
Cogs
Caldwell

So I would have gone;

Corr to Perryman
Hill to Daniels
Riccardi to Kelly
Hopper to Green
Kennedy to Williams
HH to Flynn
 
First ever post. Be gentle. I am a foundation member if that helps.

Best
  • Riccardi, Ash and Green joining the ranks
  • Pre season and Round 8 wins against Richmond
  • Having football as a mini escape from the craziness that is the world.
  • Nick Haynes - In every sense
(Unfortunately, not much else)

Worst
  • Cogs being dropped (honestly nothing justifies it, back your captain)
  • Inside 50 pressure
  • Losing Davis and Taylor is being massively under reported
  • Every kick seemed like a Hail Mary

Worked
  • The Indigenous Jumper (So beautiful this year)
  • Faith in Perryman and Hill to step up (they delivered)
  • Toby Greene and Nick Haynes

Didn't Work
  • Letting Matthew Nicks leave
  • Cameron's game plan
  • Response to pressure
  • Freedom of movement in the midfield.

Along with the points above. This was a really tough year to swallow. I got to a point where I could watch the first 5 minutes of any game and tell whether we were going to lose. Key examples of this were the North, Swans, Port, Crows and Saints games. Over roared in every situation.

I have faith in the players and the club to rectify the situation but I have some doubts.

Problems that need to be addressed
  • Contract status of some serious gun players. Cameron will stay but honestly Zac Williams is an absolute machine and I would not blame him for chasing some coin. Anyone who can sub between halfback and mid like that deserves to get paid. Perryman, Hately, O'Halloran & Caldwell are all guns, I don't know where we stand here to be honest.
  • Correct me if I am wrong on this one, but is Jason McCartney doing 2 jobs? Is he the head of football and our list manager? Or is Adrian Caruso, still doing that? I can't find much on the site? Either way we need a more clear divide in the Football department.
  • Lenny Hayes and Brad Miller departing are MASSIVE holes in the coaching department and need to be filled ASAP.
  • The ruck debacle continues. Jacobs has officially announced his retirement and I believe Mumford is doing the same? Flynn and Briggs have some SERIOUS talent and I think they need to be unleashed. The NEAFL is under threat and the AFL is where these two need to grow.
  • I also just want the lads to enjoy their footy. This year no one looked like they were enjoying themselves unless we scraped through for a win.
See you all in 2021.
good start.
I agree with most of this.

My only disagreement, is I liked the message that was sent by dropping Cogs (close to my favourite player), he was woefully out of form, and with a side like ours that has talented players not getting a game, it says no one is safe, you can play you way in and out of the side.
Saints dropped Del Santo, Goddard and Montagna at different stages (as established stars) not long before that group really got it and became the best side in the comp despite not winning a flag.

I also fully see the other side in that you should never drop your captain.
 
A very bad negative. He's going to be very hard to replace.
We were always going to lose someone.

This might actually be the best of a bad bunch. Should allow us to keep jezza, Perryman, and 2 of Caldwall, XOH and Hately (maybe even all of them).
Allows us to keep a better balance of players. Will most likely be round 1 compensation, we can bring in another top 10 pick.

I think the worse result would have been keeping he big 2 and losing the rest. Would have been a very top heavy side again.
 
Sep 6, 2012
3,055
4,738
Sydney
AFL Club
GWS
Other Teams
Thunder
Positives

- Jake Riccardi's debut showed plenty of promise
- Beating Richmond twice (the pre-season win was pretty good)
- Being able to actually go to a few live games

Negatives

- Our failure to make the eight stands out like a sore thumb. Our peers from last year’s finals - Richmond, Collingwood, Brisbane and the Bulldogs - are all back for another crack, but we’re not
- The general disinterest repeatedly displayed on the field, and the inability of the club to address it
- Losing Davis to injury late in the season, and Taylor for most of it
- Himmelberg's loss of form - was he carrying an injury?

Question marks

- The annual saga with the ruck is still unresolved
- Troubling reports about internal club politics
- What will happen with the captaincy

We're in uncharted waters at the moment. The steady upwards trajectory that rapidly gained momentum in 2016 has just come to a screeching halt, and the causes are not well understood. There's also real pressure on the coach.

Plenty to think about this off-season.
 

Giant Pete

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 17, 2013
7,541
8,205
AFL Club
GWS
Some positives:
Bobby Hill is electric.
Brent Daniels was one of our best and could play midfield if he wanted.
Nic Haynes is one of the first picked in AA.
Lachie Ash is going to be very good for us. Excellent debut year in a team under the pump.
We managed to position ourselves so that we accrue yet another top 10 draft pick (once we get compo via free agency). Well done boys!
 
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