Strategy A serious thread about Dimma's future

[theyellowsash]

Talk about mentally weak, all week the talk was we were going to get thumped by the Giants even after selection many were predicting doom and yet when we lose by less than a kick against the premiership favourite Hardwick needs to be sacked.

Half their injury list would be in our top 5-10 players. Let's not get carried away.

 

[This Is Anfield]

Thirteen blokes on the injury list, GWS.
They'll get more than a few back ... still flag favourites!

And they gathered this depth in a compromised draft period!
Shit the SOS bloke must be a genius.
They could even afford to offload Anthony Miles.
We would have won yesterday if he played.

 

[smasha]

Thirteen blokes on the injury list, GWS.
They'll get more than a few back ... still flag favourites!

Five years of first round draft picks cancels that out substantually.

 

[Tiger2709]

Thirteen blokes on the injury list, GWS.
They'll get more than a few back ... still flag favourites!

4 years of all the best picks would suggest their depth is a little greater than most, still flag favourites I agree, yet we outplayed them, that suggests we are not great but not nearly as bad as you like to make it appear.

 

[Rayzorwire]

In a situation like this we always look to blame somebody. Hardwicks new gameplan has virtually seen us in winnable positions in all but 3 quarters this season! He couldn't kick those goals Jack, Grigga and Dusty missed. Give it a spell! Last years Hardwicks coaching was poor but not this year folks. The coaching staff have done a miraculous job this year.

This year has shown beyond all reasonable doubt what some of us have been saying for half a decade: that we have the cattle to play an attacking, positive brand of football which allows younger players to develop into attacking, positive footballers, instead of frightened geese chipping sideways and backwards at every opportunity.

We should have started doing so 8yrs ago (think how much better at it we'd be by now!) but Dimmer knew better. We should have stocked up on genuine experienced talent in 2010/11 when there was a stack of it going cheap, but Dimmer knew better.

The ONLY things he has got *right* in 8yrs are the things where his ENTIRE footballing philosophy has proved to be sheer lunacy, at which point he's been overruled and forced to tow a line completely not of his own choosing.

His premiership contending side built almost solely from his 2-3 first drafts with no recycled journeymen? Sorry Dimmer, fantasy - overruled.

His 'only good kicks, don't need big bodied insiders' philosophy of the early years? Sorry Dimmer, fantasy - overruled.

His best part of a decade in the making, precision kicking to nowhere abortion of a game plan? Sorry Dimmer, just more of the worst kind of fantasy - overruled.

We may as well have plucked someone out of the cheer squad to coach - their ideas could not possibly have failed more spectacularly than Dimmer's and we might just be able to give them what he'll never earn if he coaches until 2030 - a tick in the 'capable of motivating players when it counts' box.

The writing was very clear on the wall at the end of 2011. All he's learned since that time - when his 'blueprint' became useful solely as toilet paper - is that the only way he can keep his job is to swallow his massive Essendon Accountant ego and do the exact opposite of what his feeble football brain suggests.

He should have been coaching a side chock-full of his bizarre man fetishes at a much lower level half a decade ago.

The longer we keep him, the longer we'll continue to suffer.

 

[Gosha]

Anyone see the way he was laughing about the Fremantle game in the pre-match interview? Then we get done in similar circumstances this week. He's a disgrace

 

[smasha]

Anyone see the way he was laughing about the Fremantle game in the pre-match interview? Then we get done in similar circumstances this week. He's a disgrace

Mooney was quiet as a church mouse all game until the Giants hit back then he was all over the mic like MC Hammer.
Smell the roses Tiger army.
#weareeveryonesgrandfinal

 

[_RT_]

Half their injury list would be in our top 5-10 players. Let's not get carried away.

Point is everyone predicted a belting beforehand then act like we were favourites going in.

 

[aislegi]

Point is everyone predicted a belting beforehand then act like we were favourites going in.

Not so. Many (including me) thought we would win or go close.

 

[This Is Anfield]

Not so. Many (including me) thought we would win or go close.

And we did.

 

[theyellowsash]

Point is everyone predicted a belting beforehand then act like we were favourites going in.

It's more that we are having 0-1 goal final quarters and giving up 5+ goal leads frequently

 

[aislegi]

And we did.

We were competitive against top-four sides five years ago.

Improvement would be winning.

 

[aislegi]

We may as well have plucked someone out of the cheer squad to coach - their ideas could not possibly have failed more spectacularly than Dimmer's and we might just be able to give them what he'll never earn if he coaches until 2030 - a tick in the 'capable of motivating players when it counts' box.

What is the board's philosophy? If we give him the job for life he'll have to be successful eventually?

 

[This Is Anfield]

Not so. Many (including me) thought we would win or go close.

Excuse me, the above is what I replied to.
WTF has the below have to do with it.

We were competitive against top-four sides five years ago.

Improvement would be winning.

 

[Phar Ace]

Point is everyone predicted a belting beforehand then act like we were favourites going in.

I thought we would lose soundly to GWS, though didn't articulate it here as I always hope we win.

In some ways I still think we lost soundly. After quarter time we kicked 1.5, 3.2 and 0.5. You simply don't win games of footy doing that. We were really lucky to be in the game as long as we were. Our forward line simply doesn't function. We rely too much on Jack and rotating mids. Our mosquitoes have been swatted and need to find another way. Soldo needs much more game time but that won't help short term.

Just stop and think for a moment where we might be if Rance is unlucky to be injured? How does our team look then. We are seriously fortunate to have him playing so well and must make hay while the sun shines.

 

[Goldust]

And they gathered this depth in a compromised draft period!
Shit the SOS bloke must be a genius.
They could even afford to offload Anthony Miles.
We would have won yesterday if he played.

He did play, or were you not watching.
My response to GWS and drafting, if the RFC has an issue with it, it should not have voted or agreed for it.
Yes they were given plenty, but the clubs AGREED to it. No use crying now.
I'm not sure what your post is even about .... they had plenty of players out was all I was saying! We had a chance to beat them with so many players out. Wasn't to be.

 

[Al Heimer]

Keep this nightmare up for the next two games and come the bye I think our Honour Board is going to have some more gold paint on the coaches column.

 

[This Is Anfield]

He did play, or were you not watching.
My response to GWS and drafting, if the RFC has an issue with it, it should not have voted or agreed for it.
Yes they were given plenty, but the clubs AGREED to it. No use crying now.
I'm not sure what your post is even about .... they had plenty of players out was all I was saying! We had a chance to beat them with so many players out. Wasn't to be.

Fair enough, misread your post.

 

[HTT]

For 3 quarters against freo was it a very good brand? Look at the scores last few weeks? eg yesterday 1st quarter 39 points next 3 quarters we couldn't mach that. How are we playing very good brand when for 3 quarter's we struggle to kick goals. 5 goals for 3 quarters in games is really bad footy. All the close scores tell us is we have a great defensive game even though we lapse at the pointy end.

Yesterday we shot ourselves in the foot, kicking like 4.14 after we're were 6.1. We've kicked 5 or 6 goals in one quarter every game. That suggests to me our game plan is still to attack and score heavily, we just don't have the fitness base to keep it up. Given our game plan was slow ball movement for 3 years, you can't expect the players to just go bang and all of a sudden be machines at running out games. Another pre season though, and it could be another story.

 

[A Tiger 4 lyf]

He's got atleast 2 things going for him atm.

Playing a good/decent brand of footy
Playing & sticking with the Youth

 

[Goldust]

Yesterday we shot ourselves in the foot, kicking like 4.14 after we're were 6.1. We've kicked 5 or 6 goals in one quarter every game. That suggests to me our game plan is still to attack and score heavily, we just don't have the fitness base to keep it up. Given our game plan was slow ball movement for 3 years, you can't expect the players to just go bang and all of a sudden be machines at running out games. Another pre season though, and it could be another story.

I said something along these lines yesterday. Everyone hailing our new improved game plan, but in effect, has it really been successful.
We are not kicking winning score and are being held together by our back half, most noticeably Rance, who somehow continues to get better, and Astbury (yes I did just say that) and Grimes. We've beaten who we should and lost accordingly against those I feared we would. A few of the wins haven't been thta impressive and a few of the losses haven't been good, masked by close results. We are playing a maximum two good quarters each week.

 

[TiggerMan22]

Anyone see the way he was laughing about the Fremantle game in the pre-match interview? Then we get done in similar circumstances this week. He's a disgrace

People react to shit differently. Just because you sook after a loss doesnt mean everyone does.
Ever been to a funeral? Just because some people don't cry doesn't mean they aren't as sad as the ones that are.

 

[Cactus_]

I said something along these lines yesterday. Everyone hailing our new improved game plan, but in effect, has it really been successful.
We are not kicking winning score and are being held together by our back half, most noticeably Rance, who somehow continues to get better, and Astbury (yes I did just say that) and Grimes. We've beaten who we should and lost accordingly against those I feared we would. A few of the wins haven't been thta impressive and a few of the losses haven't been good, masked by close results. We are playing a maximum two good quarters each week.

The game plan is better I reckon. We are playing better I reckon to.

A lot of people have obviously made their minds up a long time ago and that is fine if that is the way they want to think about it ... each to their own. But that is not the way I think about it. I see some improvement this year and I'm pleased about it. Win, lose or draw I'm enjoying the way that we are playing much more this year.

This final point may be where a lot of the disagreement comes from. Winning is the be all and end all for some people. But others can enjoy the footy whether we win or not as long as the players are putting in, playing the game in the right way, and doing their best to improve.

 

[Goldust]

The game plan is better I reckon. We are playing better I reckon to.

A lot of people have obviously made their minds up a long time ago and that is fine if that is the way they want to think about it ... each to their own. But that is not the way I think about it. I see some improvement this year and I'm pleased about it. Win, lose or draw I'm enjoying the way that we are playing much more this year.

This final point may be where a lot of the disagreement comes from. Winning is the be all and end all for some people. But others can enjoy the footy whether we win or not as long as the players are putting in, playing the game in the right way, and doing their best to improve.

I didn't say I wasn't enjoying it, of course itl's a better spectacle - and I do agree we have improved, in some areas.
But has the game plan radically changed us?
Sadly, that is determined by win-loss record.

 

[TheCotchyBear]

He needs to go. Yesterday only justified that. He has had 8 years in the job and hasn't won a final nor built a team capable of winning the flag. Is this team capable of winning the premiership after 8 years? NOPE.

Hardwick will never win a flag with this club.