Coaching Staff Brendon Bolton - Senior Coach - Locked in until end of 2020 (23/5/18)

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Soapy V

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Of course I'm giving Bolton a chance, but not afraid of discussing possibilities.
It's certainly a discussion I could have at a bar or with friends, so why not here?

There is a difference between "discussing possibilities" and stating that Bolton will be gone this year and with no basis for the comment. That was the issue
 
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Do you think it would be a cart before the horse situation at the CFC?
Do you think the discussion would be off the table at board level? Of course not, or at least it really shouldn't be.

Most supporters don't wish to be thinking about, nor discussing what-ifs, but the club would have to. I'm interested in the club.

I know the club is all over it Harks and we will not tolerate another 2018.
We are however giving Bolton every chance to succeed. We have done everything in our powers to support him and will continue too. Even the most biased supporters could surely not argue this point.
No excuses.
 

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There is a difference between "discussing possibilities" and stating that Bolton will be gone this year and with no basis for the comment. That was the issue

Just had a look. Moody Blue?
Yeah, that was a bit of an ambitious call and Bolton losing his way? Given the disappointment that must have come about for so many of his players attaining recurring and then season ending injuries, it would have drove plenty around the bend.
It's hard enough a job having only your players to deal with but if your left questioning other football departments...........makes it doubly difficult.

My point in all this is that Bolton now has so many tools at his disposal.
He has the players he wanted or at least as many as were possibly attainable. He has what is considered to be the best fitness person in the league and in short a time will come that if things aren't working out so well, the first question that would have to come up; Is Bolton the problem?
You can't blame the other coaches, who Bolton had a large hand in attaining and retaining.
You can't criticise the Recruitment, nor List Management teams.
You can't blame the new CEO nor the Head of Football.
You surely can't blame the board now and if you have to blame the players....well, you're blaming the coach by default then, anyway.

All that seems somewhat clear to me but there's nothing to worry about....Soapy.....tell me there's nothing to worry about. :)
 
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Of course I'm giving Bolton a chance, but not afraid of discussing possibilities.
It's certainly a discussion I could have at a bar or with friends, so why not here?

Bolton is entering his fourth year at the club now and no matter which way you look at things, the heat will be on. It's always on but expectations will now have clocked up and Bolton has largely been given as much material to work with as any coach in the system....along with an advisor.

I just can't see how it's set in stone that Bolton will be at the club post 2019, regardless of the year the club has.
Has the board publicly stated this and if so........ :)
The three years he's been coaching we've had a lot of list changes, would love the club to give him a few years with a settled list.
 
I know the club is all over it Harks and we will not tolerate another 2018.
We are however giving Bolton every chance to succeed. We have done everything in our powers to support him and will continue too. Even the most biased supporters could surely not argue this point.
No excuses.

Of course and Bolton does deserve every chance to be able to succeed, but the board have dug themselves out of a huge hole and the heat has come right off them. even though we finished last with a terrible percentage. Now that's a good trick.

There's only one target left and it's Bolton and if he was to make way, I dare say that as much as we like the individual, the heat on the club wouldn't be anywhere near as much as it would have been should have they acted in the past two years.
i.e. The club would know that under the right circumstances, being poor on-field performances, that it would now have a green light in front of it.
That's not to say they'd do anything other than try to fix the problem, but the exit clause would be wide open to act on.
 

Soapy V

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Last year was just horrible to judge as there was so many factors

Worst injury list ever
In the middle of a rebuild with our list at it's least experienced and we lose our mature leaders.
A very unfit (for AFL) group which has now been addressed
Playing players each week that weren't ready or fit
In the middle of a list rebuild and still carrying a number of very average players

IMO at no stage did Bolton lose the players. Not even close.

This year we go in the with

a much improved list (although still inexperienced)
games into younger players
added coaching staff
new opposition analysis
more better mature players
will be much fitter
better medical
hopefully better injury list

The support system is now as good as ever. If Bolton was to lose the players then questions need to be asked. However, that this stage there is no evidence of it and if anything it is the opposite.

If I could name thing that gives me so much confidence about the club now it is UNITY. I am lucky enough that on some days I get to chat with a number of people who work at the club. Always positive and not one person has ever said a bad word about someone else. That is the Bolton influence. We have great people in charge now and a great culture. They are all on a common path looking for success. They are happy
 

Blue and Blue

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The three years he's been coaching we've had a lot of list changes, would love the club to give him a few years with a settled list.
Exactly. It's a fair bet to say that no-one in the AFL would have done any better under these circumstances. And if thats the case whats the problem? Roos couldnt in a similar case at Melbourne, but he did the groundwork then left on his terms.
 

gbatman

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The fundamentals need to be ticked off before tactics and coaching can have an impact and so far they haven't.

Football is a game of Pressure V Control. Our pressure was good at times but due to a lack of fitness, mature bodies, speed and desire from some it failed enough to be an issue. Control comes from your ability to win possession, keep possession and score and we were the worst in the comp at this purely because we didn't have the skills, mature and strong bodies and running capacity. Our ability to win the ball and keep the ball sucked.

I expect a lift in both pressure and control next season. The effect this will have and the effect it will have on our game style will be significant. If the midfield can win more of the footy and control the game better then that's less energy the defenders will spend on defending and more on attacking. If the pressure increases then the defence will spend even more time being offensive. With more midfield control we can really make the opposition defend more put them under the pump and give our forwards more scoring opportunities.

We improve in the two fundamentals of football next thing we will find is that our backline is being far more attacking and proficient in defending, our midfield will be winning a lot more and we will be playing a lot more direct and we will be less prone to opposition defences rebounding against us.

I think it will be an up and down year in terms of how we play. I think we'll have a few games where we smash a couple of sides but also probably have a few where we let ourselves down at times. I think we're in for a good handful of wins if our list holds together.

Matchups and finding gamestyles that work against different opposition will come into play. There are teams out there who don't like it when you play open, fast and free flowing footy (Richmond) and some who do (Collingwood, Essendon). There are teams out there who don't like it when you close the game up and make it a low space and physical match (Essendon Collingwood) and some who do (West Coast).

There will be times where direct, up the middle play with a very weaks press works for us depending on who is in the side and who the opposition is. There will be times when a really strong press and a lot of boundary play works for us depending on the same.

It's going to be interesting to see what the team is capable of and what it's suited to. In modern footy you need the ability to transition from one style to the next quickly. We saw Richmond V Collingwood in the prelim, both sides kept the game open and very fast and Collingwood won easily though Richmond would have been a better chance if they pressed harder and kept play along the boundary. Next week in the Grand final, the game was open early and Collingwood got the jump but West Coast closed it up and gradually clawed back to win.

I want us to find that balance between the two styles. The AFL have changed the rules to encourage teams to keep it open and are trying to encourage teams to run and gun and get the ball to the back of the press quickly so we may be able to use that to weaken the opposition's press or open the game up so tactics will play out but in the end it's all useless if the fundamentals aren't nailed down.

I would doubt the coach will feel he has what he wants, I think there will be a wishlist come season's end although I feel that we're getting back in a position where things will start going forwards thought we are a long way off in regards to nailing down what style of footy we want to play and being able to proficiently play both.
 

Soapy V

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The three years he's been coaching we've had a lot of list changes, would love the club to give him a few years with a settled list.

Agree. Some people forget that when Bolton took over the club committed to a "rebuild" and always said they were in for the long haul. The list is great but still needs time. Bolton is only now getting what was promised/envisaged. He has put development ahead of himself for the good of the club. This is about years 2020-2030 and beyond.

A Malthouse or Lyon would have done something completely different and we would be no where

Amazes me the thinking of some people some times
 
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Blue and Blue

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My point in all this is that Bolton now has so many tools at his disposal.
He has the players he wanted or at least as many as were possibly attainable. He has what is considered to be the best fitness person in the league and in short a time will come that if things aren't working out so well, the first question that would have to come up; Is Bolton the problem?
You can't blame the other coaches, who Bolton had a large hand in attaining and retaining.
You can't criticise the Recruitment, nor List Management teams.
You can't blame the new CEO nor the Head of Football.
You surely can't blame the board now and if you have to blame the players....well, you're blaming the coach by default then, anyway.

All that seems somewhat clear to me but there's nothing to worry about....Soapy.....tell me there's nothing to worry about. :)
That really is the hard question. We can imagine that Hawthorn Geelong Richmond and Collingwood all asked that same question. Then tossed it aside and moved on fast up the ladder. They would all have been justified to sack the coach at the time. The thing is all of them had young sides about to fire but hadnt quite got there yet.
 

gardiner stand

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We’ll assess in 3 or 4 years time how Clarkson goes with his ageing list...not saying he’s not a good coach but the team he has now doesn’t have the young Hodge ,Roughead ,Mitchell etc and it won’t benefit from comprised drafts keeping other teams down.
 
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Champion players make coaches.
We’ll assess in 3 or 4 years time how Clarkson goes with his ageing list...not saying he’s not a good coach but the team he has now doesn’t have the young Hodge ,Roughead ,Mitchell etc and it won’t benefit from comprised drafts keeping other teams down.
The signs were there 2 years ago when they missed the finals. A friendly fixture & a massive season from Mitchell helped them back up the ladder in 2018, but it will be interesting to see how they go in 2019 with a less favorable fixture & no Mitchell.
 

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gardiner stand

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The signs were there 2 years ago when they missed the finals. A friendly fixture & a massive season from Mitchell helped them back up the ladder in 2018, but it will be interesting to see how they go in 2019 with a less favorable fixture & no Mitchell.
They won’t be making the 8 and I’m pretty confident we’ll finish above them
 

gbatman

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Hawthorn will probably fall down then build back up again. The thing is there are a lot of clubs out there who are very thorough and very good with what they do and who they have and how they manage things. I think one of the best example this century is Collingwood. They build up, have a genuine crack at it and then drop off for a few seasons only to build back up again. They know because they have some really quality staff that good players will just keep coming through all the time and will be developed well and when rebuilding needs to happen it's already half way done because of this. Good sides often come to a time when they have to get themselves back up there but through doing things well the previous years, they never have to go the full rebuild like we have.

Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney, West Coast, probably now Richmond as well are like this because they are so well staffed/run they just keep bringing in the right players, managing contracts well, trading well and they are always either up there on on their way back. Good recruitment, trading strategy, sensible player contracts, good culture, good development staff. By the time these teams hit the bottom they are already on the way back up.

Contrast to us who have had a lot of second rate people, roles not filled, departments under staffed and under resourced. We've had a lot of presidents, CEO's and heads of football get a lot of credit over this century but truthfully none of them have been very good. We've had a lot of coaches cop a lot of flack this century but truthfully the ones at fault are those who run the club into the ground (Elliott) and those who proceeded who failed to bring the club into the modern era.

Only now with the people who we have are we starting to catch up to the top clubs, get all the roles filled and with quality people and get those people resourced up to their eyeballs and only now are we starting to see genuine strategy and results with recruiting. Only now are we going to see genuine results with fitness and development. As for coaching, I think we have a wish list and still have work to do and I think we will add to that.

We are finally in a position where it looks like we have a president and CEO who seem to know what they are doing and are actually taking notice of what other clubs are doing and bringing us up to their level or better. We still have not fixed things but have made big improvements in MLG's time. We are still building up our off field team, we are still building and developing our list. We just need to be patient, never has a club had such an extensive rebuild both on and off the field with such limited resources as the AFL provide.

If you fill all the roles off the field with the best people, all we have to do is sit back and wait and results will come and for us they will but we must keep stability, patience and still continue to strive for growth in all the small areas because in this era of footy, if you are behind in any area, even just a little, you will fall behind the leaders of the competition and other areas that are reliant will fail as well.

It won't be change that we will be after so much, it will be growth and I think that will apply to Bolton and his team.
 

TooBlue14

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Someone has to finish in the bottom 4 every year. Every time a team rises another falls. For every great club and great coach there are strugglers amd coaches on the chopping block. I’m sick of it being us. Hope to see 2019 as four other clubs and four other coaches getting the attention as were on the way up.
 

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I’m confident we will be ahead of GCS, St Kilda, Freo & maybe Brisbane and/or Hawks.
Can't see Western Bulldogs being flash. Super thin in ruck. Dahlhaus, Adams, Roughead and Campbell gone. Just English, Boyd, Trengove and Sweet as ruck options. Some good youngsters, Bont, Hunter, Macrae and a couple of others give them some hope around the ground, but very thin in places.
 

TooBlue14

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Can't see Western Bulldogs being flash. Super thin in ruck. Dahlhaus, Adams, Roughead and Campbell gone. Just English, Boyd, Trengove and Sweet as ruck options. Some good youngsters, Bont, Hunter, Macrae and a couple of others give them some hope around the ground, but very thin in places.
No exp KP Players either. Naughton is the only decent KP defensive player and he’s about to enter his second year. There quick game plan and running ability puts them in enough games at Etihad. Once we get our running to their level we won’t get past them due to their experience in the midfield. But we should smash them once it’s sorted out.
 
No exp KP Players either. Naughton is the only decent KP defensive player and he’s about to enter his second year. There quick game plan and running ability puts them in enough games at Etihad. Once we get our running to their level we won’t get past them due to their experience in the midfield. But we should smash them once it’s sorted out.

I like the analysis and reasoning - but I kinda think with a fair share of teh football - Carlton might just end up having too much height and too much factor X for their shorter heights in defence - I'm pretty excited about our forward line this year - quietly confident that they are going to make our midfield look pretty good as long as thye get a fair share of the ball...
 

slashin_velvet

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I like the analysis and reasoning - but I kinda think with a fair share of teh football - Carlton might just end up having too much height and too much factor X for their shorter heights in defence - I'm pretty excited about our forward line this year - quietly confident that they are going to make our midfield look pretty good as long as thye get a fair share of the ball...
Are we actually THAT tall? Harry is tall, but Charlie is 194 and McGov is 191. It's our mobility combined with moderate height that will make us a threat if Teague has a good system.
 
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Are we actually THAT tall? Harry is tall, but Charlie is 194 and McGov is 191. It's our mobility combined with moderate height that will make us a threat if Teague has a good system.

All 3 play taller due to explosiveness, especially Charlie and MM

Prefer all 3 hitting the marking contest while on the lead/move, rather than wrestling with their opponent
 
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Certainly sounds like Bolton has eased back a bit with the players over the off season. Numerous interviews with players suggest this has been a good thing for everyone. Even in a recent article Bolton admitted his people management at times could have been much better. I like the sound of his progress recently in developing strong relationships. Hopefully this continues throughout 2019.
 
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