Changes vs Hawks

[hey shorty]

Jenkins isnt good enough to be a pure forward. Needs to chop out in the ruck way more than he currently does.

With Walker back an Otten/Jenkins rotation may not be too bad.

I mean even if we don't win the ruck we are a damn sight better chance around the ground.

 

[Squiba]

I mean even if we don't win the ruck we are a damn sight better chance around the ground.

Exactly. Otten will function as an, albeit slow, seventh midfielder that Sauce just cannot do this year.

Playing him into ground in the name of 'continuity' ****s us every year.

 

[Elite Crow]

Bit like ones who crack a sad after a camp they didn't like?

You dismiss it and yet you didn’t experience it. Are you really in a position to judge?

 

[MRB37]

Exactly. Otten will function as an, albeit slow, seventh midfielder that Sauce just cannot do this year.

Playing him into ground in the name of 'continuity' ****s us every year.

Especially when he has a chance to have 2 weeks off. But basically we need to win and they obviously believe we can't without Jacobs, even one who barely contributes around the ground anymore.

 

[thebirdman 24]

Weak.

he was probably only using 5% of his minds ability.

 

[Bay62]

My point wasn't that it's ok that we're doing bad because Fyfe struggled.

Having three decent finals winning seasons in a row, culminating in a minor premiership and grand final favouritism was a journey. It led from our worst ever moment (Walsh) to the brink of our best and crashed back to our worst ever onfield moment.

Emotional wringer. Three years of effort for nothing.

The mis-reading by the coaching staff of our squad post GF is stunning. They just figured the players were weak and needed some mental hardness so they don't falter on the big stage again.

Actually they were all probably grappling to some degree with 'what's the point of it all' thoughts, like Fyfe did, and needed something completely different to refresh, regain the fire and challenge again.

What we did - ramping up the workload and being harder on the players is what Craig would have done.

Yeah. Seems like the thinking was, we weren’t enough, we need to be more. Let’s give them more

It’s a top-up model that isn’t necessarily correct for the situation

 

[CrowBloke]

Given hes been our best forward.....

Since you missed the emojis that indicated I was having a SEMI-light-hearted go at JJ --- 20.15 makes him our best scoring forward, for sure. He's equal tenth in tackles/game, 5.3 marks/game, both not bad.
Let's look closer.
Pretend for a moment that you were an opposition backman, preparing to play the Crows this week, then you find out who you're standing:
"Oh hell, I've got Walker this week" *sleepless night*
"Oh no, coach wants me to stand McGovern" *visions of being a step-ladder*
"Jeez, I've gotta mark slippery Betts this week" *fearing his dizzying trickery*
"Beauty, I'm on Jenkins" <== at least that's what I'd be thinking, and until recently I was a JJ fan.
Why? He's utterly predictable.
His second- and third-efforts are almost non-existent. He's easy to run off when the oppo gains possession --- does not chase. Have a look at the bloke!!! 200cms, 108Kgs, built like a brick shithouse and should be a fearsome presence in our forward line, should run through packs, should run over defenders Lomu-style, should rag-doll oppo players when they have the ball, should muscle and mongrel opponents at every chance around stoppages in our F50 --- except, he doesn't.
JJ c-o-u-l-d be a monster, a minotaur . He isn't --- he's more like Ferdinand .
The only time I remember him playing hard, tough, mongrel/aggressive/unsociable football is when we belted Geelong in the minor round last year at home (only kicked one goal, but his workrate and physicality were terrific). I'd have so much more respect for him if he fired up consistently so, yeah, I think he's capable of harder efforts and quickly falls away heart-wise when the going gets tough.
Here: when have you ever seen him lift his efforts from OK to spectacular, to inspire and lift the team? Ever?

 

[Slippery Pete]

My point wasn't that it's ok that we're doing bad because Fyfe struggled.

Having three decent finals winning seasons in a row, culminating in a minor premiership and grand final favouritism was a journey. It led from our worst ever moment (Walsh) to the brink of our best and crashed back to our worst ever onfield moment.

Emotional wringer. Three years of effort for nothing.

The mis-reading by the coaching staff of our squad post GF is stunning. They just figured the players were weak and needed some mental hardness so they don't falter on the big stage again.

Actually they were all probably grappling to some degree with 'what's the point of it all' thoughts, like Fyfe did, and needed something completely different to refresh, regain the fire and challenge again.

What we did - ramping up the workload and being harder on the players is what Craig would have done.

Interesting points.

One of the things I see a lot with the “medals for participation” generation is that they never developed the skills to handle failure. They weren’t allowed to, because they were protected from fundamental competition all through their formative years. When they do finally experience loss, they go full ******, and the grief becomes them.

That Fyfe article is very revealing. A 22 year old with everything in front of him, wanted to give the game away - not because of some personal or physical tragedy - but because he lost a grand final. Something that happens to 22 blokes every year. You can’t put into words how juvenile and selfish that is. It was an adult tantrum. And not surprisingly, it sounds like he was pretty quickly told that.

What I was getting at earlier is successful people fail all the time, especially on the way up. The difference between them and the rest is that failure doesn’t crush them.

One of the things you have to know, and be ok with, in any pursuit, is that you might lose. And if you do, you have to have it in you to keep marching on. If you don’t, you’re a fraud who was only ever playing with house money.

You can either be a Hawthorn in 2012/2013, a West Coast in 2005/2006..... or you can be a Port Adelaide in 2007 or a Fremantle in 2013....

Which one are we?

 

[LittleCrowBoy]

I mean he's our leading goalkicker and all...... but I don't wanna get into that discussion again.

My point is that Josh would at least provide something around the ground, as would Otten. Problem is I'm led to believe Jenkins is also carrying 2 injuries.

Yes...and that’s on top of the permanent heart string injury he’s carried his whole career

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Interesting points.

One of the things I see a lot with the “medals for participation” generation is that they never developed the skills to handle failure. They weren’t allowed to, because they were protected from fundamental competition all through their formative years. When they do finally experience loss, they go full ******, and the grief becomes them.

That Fyfe article is very revealing. A 22 year old with everything in front of him, wanted to give the game away - not because of some personal or physical tragedy - but because he lost a grand final. Something that happens to 22 blokes every year. You can’t put into words how juvenile and selfish that is. It was an adult tantrum. And not surprisingly, it sounds like he was pretty quickly told that.

What I was getting at earlier is successful people fail all the time, especially on the way up. The difference between them and the rest is that failure doesn’t crush them.

One of the things you have to know, and be ok with, in any pursuit, is that you might lose. And if you do, you have to have it in you to keep marching on. If you don’t, you’re a fraud who was only ever playing with house money.

You can either be a Hawthorn in 2012/2013, a West Coast in 2005/2006..... or you can be a Port Adelaide in 2007 or a Fremantle in 2013....

Which one are we?

To me it's akin to getting dumped by your long term girlfriend who you thought was the one.

You crash down to earth, shattered.

Your friends encourage you to get back out there, rejoin the game, back on the horse. Sure... you probably will in time. But you need a little while on your own on the couch with pizza and alcohol first.

George: This experience has changed me. It's made me more cynical, more bitter, more jaded.

It needed a get around each other summer. Not a let's go through all your flaws and demons and highlight them in front of the group summer.

 

[Slippery Pete]

It needed a get around each other summer. Not a let's go through all your flaws and demons and highlight them in front of the group summer.

Yeah, you could be right. They might’ve needed to, as George would say, decompress.

I’d also argue a lot of this comes down to the individual drive of each player.

One of Blight’s famous ones: it only takes four or five guys to start believing they can’t... and the wheels fall off.