Areas to Improve On??

The Passenger

Mr. Mojo Risin'
Joined
Mar 25, 2003
Posts
30,218
Likes
16,807
Location
Hasa Diga Eebowai
AFL Club
West Coast
Thread starter #1
Was going to post this during the week, but would've added great fuel to the Freo trolling fire, but now we've won, there ain't to much they can say :)

So anyway, what areas of football is there that we can improve on. I still think we have a lot of improvement in us, which is great because we are already performing well, and I can see a number of areas to pick up in;

1 - obviousbly winning away, but thats pointing out the bleeding obvious so we'll forget that one and concentrate on general play.

2 - our disposal into the forward 50 is still very ordinary at best. Even when Gaspar comes back it still won't be great because he isn't the best kick. This is why I lik ethe idea of Jako being there for now but thats only a temporary stop-gap. He won't be there for too long.

As I've mentioned I'd like to see Carroll tried here because (I know I'm harping on about this, this must be the 10th time i've said it this season) he is a good kick of the ball when he knows where it has to go.

3 - Aside from poor disposal into the 50, lack of marking target in the first place has meant almost all of our goals have been kicked by small men on the run. I'd say we'd be close to last (if not in last) for marks inside attacking 50.

4 - Communicatoin doesn't seem to be the best going. Been quite a few times this year that guys seem to be getting run down (Hunter the one that springs to mind, but there was one with Gardy today and somebody else but can't remember) when teammates have been in the area and either not told them about it, or the man in possession hasn't bothered to listen or take it in.

5 - Tackling. Do not make enough tackles. Even today the tackle count wasn't in our favour. and added to that Chick and Kerr would make a very large chunk of them. Hopefully the little dog Ready can change that around abit.

6 - Hands below the knees. Seem to be improving each week. It was absolutely pathetic against the Hawks (some of the worst handling I've seen from an Eagles team for a while). Slowly improving but still a few guys who's hand below their knees aren't the best. Judd is superb and should probably give lessons at training - I reckon he'd nearly allready have the best hands below knee level in the AFL, or go close to it. This is the type of skill error that needs to be ironed out. The H&A season is now basically a quarter of the way through, so its not the start of the season anymore.

7 - Need someone who can take pack marks regularly. These players are very valuable. Gardiner does it on occasions but not regularly, and aside from him there doesn't seem to be anyone that can do it. Cox doesn't take many at all. They are quite rare, but we do need someone to work on their pack marking skills - It would be another top bow to Gardy's every growing belt if he could develop this. Its all frustrating because I think he takes the ruck thing to far, in that he oftens punches in pack contests, I'd rather see him try and take the grab.

One area I'd like to congratulate the lads on for their improvement is the defence from kick ins. It was brilliant today. Last week against Adelaide (particularly early on) I was screaming at the ease in which they went through the wings and into their forward 50 from the kick in. Today not so for Freo as we put in a very tight zone. In fact, I dont think they would've gone from the kick in to the wing without us touching it once today - last week Adelaide did that and went further into their attack on 4 or 5 occasions last weekend.

Thoughts??
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

drexel

All Australian
Joined
May 10, 2002
Posts
686
Likes
0
Location
Vic - the place not 2 be
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Juventus
#2
Only concern i see is HF line. Wirrapunda could easily solve that problem aswell as having Gaspar/Jako rotate at CHF.

Matera Haynes Sampi
Wirrapunda Gaspar Rotation Gun Midfielder

That's pretty potent.

Down back...I've been impressed with Carroll all season. Reminds me of Woosha. Not the most talented, but plenty of heart and hardness. Only bad game he had was against Hawthorn but he had a bad match-up with Barlow. Would have been more useful that day on Rawlings instead of Jako.

Green played the best game of his career today. Medhurst looked like he came to dominate but Green blanketed him. He would of been quite useful to play on Riccuito when he went forward last week. Even more impressive was that there was no Wirra to sweep up.

Tackling is reasonable. Reason Freo had more today was coz they were chasing tail most of the time.

Midfield is clearly 3rd best in Comp now and improving.

Only injuries stand in the way of a Top 4 finish this year.
 
Joined
Sep 29, 2001
Posts
1,267
Likes
0
Location
Perth
Other Teams
Eagles
#3
I agree on the second point. Apart from Judd, all our midfielders lack penetration and accuracy in their kicking. I mean even Dan Kerr would prefer to handball over 40m than kick, and the skipper has never had great foot skills.

I see Wirrpunda eventually helping out in this area. I think Woosh sees him eventually playing midfield once his foot is (fingers crossed) completely recovered.

Regarding the lack of marking power. I think Woosh has developed a game plan that doesn't require too much of it. The side will prefer to run it forward, rather than bomb it to a pack where a contested mark is required.

Gaspar and Johnson look like helping us out in that area in the future. Embley provides an element of it in the midfield as well.
 

Mead

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Mar 2, 2002
Posts
6,795
Likes
1,080
Location
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Eagles
#4
Originally posted by TheRealBuzz
I agree on the second point. Apart from Judd, all our midfielders lack penetration and accuracy in their kicking. I mean even Dan Kerr would prefer to handball over 40m than kick, and the skipper has never had great foot skills.

I see Wirrpunda eventually helping out in this area. I think Woosh sees him eventually playing midfield once his foot is (fingers crossed) completely recovered.

Regarding the lack of marking power. I think Woosh has developed a game plan that doesn't require too much of it. The side will prefer to run it forward, rather than bomb it to a pack where a contested mark is required.

Gaspar and Johnson look like helping us out in that area in the future. Embley provides an element of it in the midfield as well.
On the marking, well, (points to sig)
Wierd as it sounds, our forward line looks a lot like, well, a forward line coached by Peter Sumich. We get a heap of goals on the run, and we're at our best when the ball is put over our forwards heads, and they're given the chance to swoop and snap (often from impossible angles) We've booted a huge number freakish goals this year- Cox's snap against Port, Cousins' and Matera's numerous efforts from deep in the forward pocket, et al.
Case in point is Haynes- give him a set shot from 30m out directly in front and we're in trouble, but if he's got it on the run from 50m out on one of the flanks, and he'll dob it no worries.

I can just imagine things at training-

Sampi: 'Um, so I just wait till Haynesy leads to about 35 directly in front an' put it straight down his throat?'

Sumich: '**** no. Ya wheel onto the left, squeeze along the boundary and snap it across ya body from 50 out. Geez, take it to the hot spot already! Now, queue up, we're gonna practice missing our set shots to lull them opposition drongos into a false sense of security.'
 

Mr Eagle

I like to watch.
Joined
Jun 2, 2001
Posts
28,409
Likes
14,787
Location
Melbourne
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
GWS
#5
With issues over delivery into the forward line, I'm just not convinced that a relatively immobile CHF like Jako is the way to go. Johnson? McDougall? Lynch? Hansen? McIntosh???

(no scratch that last one, Milli has been doing pretty well down back)

Much as I hate the idea of benching Jako, he is a man for certain matchups.
 

drexel

All Australian
Joined
May 10, 2002
Posts
686
Likes
0
Location
Vic - the place not 2 be
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Juventus
#6
Jako is the best player i've seen play CHF for us since Ball in 94.
He isn't great but makes a contest if the ball is in front of him and is good at scooping up and giving the handball off. Fitness is a concern though...but he's definately more mobile than Macdougall, Lynch, and Johnson from what i've seen.
 

jod23

TheBrownDog
Joined
Apr 2, 2000
Posts
61,486
Likes
17,878
Location
Perth, Australia
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Liverpool, Chicago Bulls.
#9
Our forward line is still a little wayward and we break down at CHF a lot of the time. We need Gaspar back and perhaps Wilson (who can certianly take a pack mark) and McDougall who can do everything .... we hope. :D

We just need a few more big targets up forward. Time and time again I have seen the Eagles midfield kick it too Matera or Haynes or Chick or Sampi on a lead, the spoil will come and the team mops up from CHB. What we need is to kick it to Wilson, Gaspar and have Fido, Sampi, Haynes doing the crumbing rather than the leading!

I dont know, I cant really complain that much after whooping the Dockers.
 

carlyp

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Mar 19, 2002
Posts
7,968
Likes
4
Location
In sin............. ;-)
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
The West Coast Eagles
#10
Originally posted by jod23
Our forward line is still a little wayward and we break down at CHF a lot of the time. We need Gaspar back and perhaps Wilson (who can certianly take a pack mark) and McDougall who can do everything .... we hope. :D

We just need a few more big targets up forward. Time and time again I have seen the Eagles midfield kick it too Matera or Haynes or Chick or Sampi on a lead, the spoil will come and the team mops up from CHB. What we need is to kick it to Wilson, Gaspar and have Fido, Sampi, Haynes doing the crumbing rather than the leading!

I dont know, I cant really complain that much after whooping the Dockers.
Yeah i agree Jod23. I noticed again on the weekend that the same scenario kept happening: A midfielder would bomb it in to the 50 long and the small forward would more often than not drop the mark and the defenders would swoop and have cleared before you could say "For Christ sake Duncan, Fido is little god damn it! Dont go bombing it in for ****s sake!"
If we had the taller men back in, we'd have a few direct targets up forward and we'd kick a few more goals! I want Willow back in the team ( he's my adopted player)! I think he's played some good footy in the WAFl and he warrants a call up!
 

The Passenger

Mr. Mojo Risin'
Joined
Mar 25, 2003
Posts
30,218
Likes
16,807
Location
Hasa Diga Eebowai
AFL Club
West Coast
Thread starter #11
If we are going to bomb into the forward line, our best bet is to bomb into space in the forward line, ensuring the ball goes to ground. With our little men capable of anything at ground level this gives us the best chance of ending up with the ball IMO.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

carlyp

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Mar 19, 2002
Posts
7,968
Likes
4
Location
In sin............. ;-)
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
The West Coast Eagles
#12
Originally posted by Black Thunder
If we are going to bomb into the forward line, our best bet is to bomb into space in the forward line, ensuring the ball goes to ground. With our little men capable of anything at ground level this gives us the best chance of ending up with the ball IMO.
NO NO NO NO NO!!! We have to have our big forwards back in, they should be our go to players! The little men should be their if the the Big guy drops a mark to swoop and kick a field goal! We've got some good big men in our team we should use them as our main goal scoarers. Let the little guys do what they do best...kick the field goals and provide some pressure through tackeling in the forward and half forward line!
 

The Passenger

Mr. Mojo Risin'
Joined
Mar 25, 2003
Posts
30,218
Likes
16,807
Location
Hasa Diga Eebowai
AFL Club
West Coast
Thread starter #13
Originally posted by carlyp
NO NO NO NO NO!!! We have to have our big forwards back in, they should be our go to players! The little men should be their if the the Big guy drops a mark to swoop and kick a field goal! We've got some good big men in our team we should use them as our main goal scoarers. Let the little guys do what they do best...kick the field goals and provide some pressure through tackeling in the forward and half forward line!
There's no use bombing to our big men - as Jod said Wilson is the only one who can take a pack mark and he isn't playing. I know We want to get our big forwards, but we won't do that by bombing into the forward line. It will just create congestion.

The only way we're going to get our big forward into the game effecitvely is by spotting them on leads - very few teams can get away with bombing into the forward line. If you do that you need players such as Tony Lockett and Paul Salmon, who don't come around like rain does.

We need players to take leading lessons from David Haynes, and we need Haynes to take kicking lessons from someone like Chris Judd.
 

drexel

All Australian
Joined
May 10, 2002
Posts
686
Likes
0
Location
Vic - the place not 2 be
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Juventus
#14
I doubt we will see Wilson back and i can't say i'm dissapointed.

Our forward 50 delivery is useless anyway and it suits us having a quick mobile forward line. It causes confusion and scares the **** out of other teams when we can get a throwin or bounce down in the 50. Think about it. Gardiner Rucking with Sampi, Matera, Wirrapunda, Judd, Cousins,Embley, Kerr, Fletcher all waiting to swoop.

Like someone said, theres no point playing a Tall forward if he isn't up to standard or else it's just a wasted player.
 

carlyp

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Mar 19, 2002
Posts
7,968
Likes
4
Location
In sin............. ;-)
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
The West Coast Eagles
#16
Originally posted by daddy_4_eyes
With the quality of our midfield we really shouldn't be bombing into attack, full stop. A FF like Wilson should get adequate delivery everytime.
Exactly! We should be able to pin point it to perfection..right into Willow or Doogs or someones arms!
 

thegur

Team Captain
Joined
Oct 8, 2001
Posts
363
Likes
0
Location
west virginia
#17
every forward line needs a target player ...... how can you not? When kicking the ball into the forward fifty, in fact, anywhere on the ground, SURELY, you look for a player who is leading. Surely?

Now, we know Haynes leads well, but if Hay / Fletcher / Michael / Scarlett is on his tail, ready to spoil, chances are, a great deal of the time, he will not mark the ball.

Very few forward set-ups (Pagan's Paddock asides) revolve around not having a target forward, and even then, PP had an unbelivable player who could pull it off.

We need a key position type to take the best defender away from Haynes, but also to provide the leads that Sampi's and Matera's crumb from. A lot like what geelong needs with Kingsley. A strongmarking, middle sized player, but put against a good FB, probably will struggle.

Yes, (and quite possibly this weekend given the predicted Melbourne weather) a small nimble forward line is perhaps what the doctor ordered, but don't under-estimate the positive mental state a strong marking forward instills. Then, add the other components (which IMO we already have), and you have a potent forward line.

So as you can guess, I am in favour of a target man, be it Howser, Lynch or Willow. if nothing else, it adds stability.

As for Jak at CHF. Well, as long as he is presenting, I have no problems with him there. Plus he is marking well and creating trouble. He is too valuable to the team to leave out, thus, if there is no match up for him at CHB, by all means, CHF. With Travis coming back ... well ... that's why I am not coach. Maybe throw Travis to FF, he leads well, marks well, and kicks ... well, he marks well. So there, here is my forward line for Melbourne .... Jako at CHF, Gaspar or Howser at FF.

rant over

thegur

p.s someone has Lynch turning into the Hulk as their avatar thingy right? It's a stretch, but does this mean, followers of Quinten could be Hulkamaniacs?
 
Top Bottom