To an extent I agree with him. Take the MFC for example. Under Roos they rack up the numbers but still don't win. But the reality is that it depends what stats you look at. Number of inside 50's and scoring effectiveness once in there is a good one, as is the defensive comparison at the other end. They indicate game style. We concede a heap of inside defensive 50's but defend well, and achieve low inside attacking 50's, but score well. What they tell us is that we are being beaten in the midfield and the contested ball numbers show that, and as a consequence we get very little opportunity to spread and generate quick, clean entry inside 50.
But anyway, the stats aren't telling us stuff we don't already know. Our ball usage when we do win it is generally poor, especially out of stoppages, our slingshot is gone to the dogs, we continue to shut off mentally defensively for periods and our forwards are being starved of clean opportunity to influence games, and when they do get it they are out of form.
I'll be going to the game tonight for the first time in years with very little excitement and very little to look forward to. And that blows.
I reckon most of our real flat spots this season have been fathomable.
Round 1 - new game plan, Essendon up and about. C'est la vie.
We were always going to struggle against the Pies coming back from a big win in Sydney.
Adelaide are always hard to beat in Adelaide.
The Gold Coast game was very disappointing, but they do have some premium talent and they were on song that day.
Cats are always hard to bear down there, got a rocket in the leadup, and some of their ageing stars wound back the clock.
To me, none of those losses were wrist slashingly bad.
However, last week was unfathomable. Brisbane are a very poor side, coming back from a heavy ground in the West. It appeared almost unlosable and the first quarter was further evidence of that.
I still livid about it, because it stands out as the most disappointing loss of the year, by a country mile.