Craigy - what craic was that - Part 2

[bigman]

I think its time we put the blow torch on Craigy and the panel of coaches.

Their performances game time in recent weeks have been below par.

The non-selection of Maric for Biglands on Thursday was a poor decision in hindsight. Maric played poorly and looked leg weary and mentally out of tune.

We had a forward line that did not function well all day. Why not put Bock in the back lines, put VB on Farmer and get Macca, Stiffy and Rutten up forward to see if we could get some spark out of a forward line that did not look dangerous at anytime today. Put the Bockster to FB - but FFS try something different.

Our midfield is a real cause for concern. It will not win a premiership for us on present form. Shirley (although some will not like me criticizing), Goody, did not feature highly. Why didnt we give Needles some time in there? Once again we were beaten in the contests. I dont think there is anything we can do here in the short term - we have to rely on Clarke and Biglands, because atm the other options are not up ot it. Skippy will need to come under consideration next week and I would even be looking at Knighter and Douglas. We need someone with some class. Try something new - give someone a kick up the clacker. Take some risks coaching staff with your moves. Somedays you have to be adventorous and go out of the square. Shades of last years finals swept through my mind again during this game.

 

[Kaitsey]

take risks!! they're crowbots, risks are not to be taken.

 

[bigman]

take risks!! they're crowbots, risks are not to be taken.

Craigs pig headedness is a strength at times - but on game day it can also be a weakness. You have to make some moves son, when things are not working.

Lets hope our month of hard work will pay dividends and we will start to see a sharper Crows next week and from then on

 

[absolutezero]

How come there are heaps of Weagles trolls apearing in the Adelaide board after a loss to Freo?

 

[Reveler]

How come there are heaps of Weagles trolls apearing in the Adelaide board after a loss to Freo?

they are all over the freo board too.. I swear they are breeding.

 

[tribey]

Let's look at it objectively without hitting the panic button.

• Fremantle are in club record form.
  
• We went in without Ricciuto, Burton, Biglands and Hart. McLeod, Bock and Welsh were back after weeks out. 8 player turnover. Hardly conducive to team cohesion when facing a team in red-hot form.
  
• Young Maric deputised after he was allowed to play for Port Magpies only yesterday for some unknown reason.
  
• We lost McGregor and Bassett over the course of the game. Combined with Maric being spent before first bounce any chance we had of midfield rotations by the crucial third and fourth quarters was gone.
  
• We played crap and Freo played well, taking nothing away from the Dockers.
  
• End result = 15 point loss.

Yes our current form is of concern, especially when you consider our injury list which looks to have worsened again, but this result was hardly a surprise given the circumstances.

 

[sapaul]

How come there are heaps of Weagles trolls apearing in the Adelaide board after a loss to Freo?

Strange considering some of the losses they've had this year. Freo also, Port, Bulldogs(at home).

Only two minor premiers in the last decade have won the flag. We'll be right if we're second at the end of the minor round.

 

[- PC -]

Yes our current form is of concern, especially when you consider our injury list which looks to have worsened again, but this result was hardly a surprise given the circumstances.

While everything you say is correct and a lot of us were worried before the ball had bounced about this game , is Bigmans call for more creativity in the box off the mark?

 

[bigman]

Let's look at it objectively without hitting the panic button.

• Fremantle are in club record form.
  
• We went in without Ricciuto, Burton, Biglands and Hart. McLeod, Bock and Welsh were back after weeks out. 8 player turnover. Hardly conducive to team cohesion when facing a team in red-hot form.
  
• Young Maric deputised after he was allowed to play for Port Magpies only yesterday for some unknown reason.
  
• We lost McGregor and Bassett over the course of the game. Combined with Maric being spent before first bounce any chance we had of midfield rotations by the crucial third and fourth quarters was gone.
  
• We played crap and Freo played well, taking nothing away from the Dockers.
  
• End result = 15 point loss.

Yes our current form is of concern, especially when you consider our injury list which looks to have worsened again, but this result was hardly a surprise given the circumstances.

Have hear these comments and agree in part - but I have also heard this before but it does not hide the fact that the last few weeks look very similar to last year.

My main gripe is that you have to change thngs if they dont work - Craigy is not prepared to do this and I disagree with this approach We should have tried a few more things today

 

[DaveW]

take risks!! they're crowbots, risks are not to be taken.

How about instead of mouthing dopey hackneyed cliches you actually sit down and watch a game?

Taking risks is not something we're afraid of. Our style today was very much play on at all costs. I'd say too much, as our use of the handball was far too cavalier and resulted in a number of turnovers.

 

[tribey]

While everything you say is correct and a lot of us were worried before the ball had bounced about this game , is Bigmans call for more creativity in the box off the mark?

No.

This gets back to the Stiffy, Macca & Crow-Mo vs TCT debate about the difference between a very good coach and a very good matchday coach.

But it has to be acknowledged his options were negligible given the state of the bench.

Given our tiring and undergunned midfield was where it was lost - and hence there was zero possibility of shaking things up in that department - moving Rutten forward or swapping Bock for Stevens would have been an exercise in futility IMO.

Injecting McLeod in the midfield to add some pace would have also been too hard an ask given his return from surgery. We want to be able to have him around for September, especially if Burton is gone.

I agree Craig is stubborn - waiting far too long to combat Richmond's chipping game earlier this year and leaving Rutten on Darcy to have 4-5 kicked on him in one quarter come to mind - but this week at least I feel his hands were tied.

 

[Crow-mo]

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5590651&postcount=75

 

[bigman]

No.

This gets back to the Stiffy, Macca & Crow-Mo vs TCT debate about the difference between a very good coach and a very good matchday coach.

But it has to be acknowledged his options were negligible given the state of the bench.

Given our tiring and undergunned midfield was where it was lost - and hence there was zero possibility of shaking things up in that department - moving Rutten forward or swapping Bock for Stevens would have been an exercise in futility IMO.

Injecting McLeod in the midfield to add some pace would have also been too hard an ask given his return from surgery. We want to be able to have him around for September, especially if Burton is gone.

I agree Craig is stubborn - waiting far too long to combat Richmond's chipping game earlier this year and leaving Rutten on Darcy to have 4-5 kicked on him in one quarter come to mind - but this week at least I feel his hands were tied.

Dyertribe let me say this - it is the GF - it is half time -do we change things or do we let the game meander on.

OK our third quarter was our best -but sometimes you do need to change things. What happens if this occurs in the finals. Blighty would have made changes, Pagan would have made changes?

Why not move Rutten? What could have been the worse to happen? We lose the game!!!!!!

Why not move Bock back to the back lines? His lack of agility (not pace) and Kenny's made us very slow and robot like up forward. The commentators even said how quick Parker looked today. Even my grandma on her frame would have been made to look quick by Kenny today.

Why not put Needles into the middle? He did little at half forward.

Why not clear everyone out of the 50m arc and crowd up their midfeld.

Why not make sure Cook is not left alone in the first quarter when Freo has the ball?

Why not put Macca or Stiffy forward to get some pace into our forward line Macca could go onto Farmer and Stiffy could go forward. A win win situaiton could occur

Just a few of the things the Coach could do. Try things and you might find out a few things about players you did not know before.

 

[King Elvis]

Just quickly, who is Needles?

 

[bigman]

Just quickly, who is Needles?

Porplycia Chief

 

[Stiffy_18]

I think its time we put the blow torch on Craigy and the panel of coaches.

Their performances game time in recent weeks have been below par.

The non-selection of Maric for Biglands on Thursday was a poor decision in hindsight. Maric played poorly and looked leg weary and mentally out of tune.

We had a forward line that did not function well all day. Why not put Bock in the back lines, put VB on Farmer and get Macca, Stiffy and Rutten up forward to see if we could get some spark out of a forward line that did not look dangerous at anytime today. Put the Bockster to FB - but FFS try something different.

We did for a period of time but it didn't work.

Our midfield is a real cause for concern. It will not win a premiership for us on present form. Shirley (although some will not like me criticizing), Goody, did not feature highly. Why didnt we give Needles some time in there? Once again we were beaten in the contests. I dont think there is anything we can do here in the short term - we have to rely on Clarke and Biglands, because atm the other options are not up ot it. Skippy will need to come under consideration next week and I would even be looking at Knighter and Douglas. We need someone with some class. Try something new - give someone a kick up the clacker. Take some risks coaching staff with your moves. Somedays you have to be adventorous and go out of the square. Shades of last years finals swept through my mind again during this game.

Have been saying this for a couple of months now. Our midfield is NOT good enough. Too much is left up to too few and we are severely lacking Roo in there. Our midfield has been **** weak this year. Nothing has changed.

On the make some moves do something line of thought, its NOT going to happen. Despite popular belief Craig is not a great match day coach so he will stick to his pre-game plan no matter what.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Let's look at it objectively without hitting the panic button.

• Fremantle are in club record form.
  
• We went in without Ricciuto, Burton, Biglands and Hart. McLeod, Bock and Welsh were back after weeks out. 8 player turnover. Hardly conducive to team cohesion when facing a team in red-hot form.
  
• Young Maric deputised after he was allowed to play for Port Magpies only yesterday for some unknown reason.
  
• We lost McGregor and Bassett over the course of the game. Combined with Maric being spent before first bounce any chance we had of midfield rotations by the crucial third and fourth quarters was gone.
  
• We played crap and Freo played well, taking nothing away from the Dockers.
  
• End result = 15 point loss.

Yes our current form is of concern, especially when you consider our injury list which looks to have worsened again, but this result was hardly a surprise given the circumstances.

Well said

 

[kirky]

Dyertribe let me say this - it is the GF - it is half time -do we change things or do we let the game meander on.

If its the GF, there is no tomorrow therefore changes would be made.

 

[bigman]

A number of us have been calling for more new blood to be introduced all year.

We have been constantly howled down - but you must always have one eye on the future as well as one eye on the present.


The same can be said for structure. Why not change the structure of the side when it is not working? Why not take some risks here - the coachng group may even find some players who can play in other positions on the field that they had not thought about - as Craigy did with Rutten when he firdt came in to the job.

 

[kirky]

A number of us have been calling for more new blood to be introduced all year.

We have been constantly howled down - but you must always have one eye on the future as well as one eye on the present.

Yes, but now its too late with the finals within 3 weeks. We have blooded three first year players this year - only 8 other sides have blooded more (6 of those are outside the top 8 which is no surprise) - only Melbourne and Fremantle on the top 8 have blooded more!

 

[Stiffy_18]

Yes, but now its too late with the finals within 3 weeks. We have blooded three first year players this year - only 8 other sides have blooded more (6 of those are outside the top 8 which is no surprise) - only Melbourne and Fremantle on the top 8 have blooded more!

I am glad someone pointed this out because if it was up to the select few we would have Pfeiffer, Meesen, Douglas, Maric, Gibson, Vince, Knights, Elliott and Obst playing every week

For a team that has won 15 games to date, is sitting at the top of the table at the end of round 19 with a great percentage, we have done our fair share of "blooding"

 

[kirky]

I am glad someone pointed this out because if it was up to the select few we would have Pfeiffer, Meesen, Douglas, Maric, Gibson, Vince, Knights, Elliott and Obst playing every week

Statistics and figures have always been my forte

Don't blood for blood's sake, I say.

 

[Drummond]

I am glad someone pointed this out because if it was up to the select few we would have Pfeiffer, Meesen, Douglas, Maric, Gibson, Vince, Knights, Elliott and Obst playing every week

For a team that has won 15 games to date, is sitting at the top of the table at the end of round 19 with a great percentage, we have done our fair share of "blooding"

Would be a better option that McGregor at this point in time. I've never been a huge fan but Gibson has been really impressive lately, and should be close to replacing McGregor at CHF. And before anyone points out his stats yesterday, he is an extremely effective player. He makes a contest, he brings the ball to the ground, he is an imposing figure and a nightmare for the defenders. An example: (Credit to HBT on Redlegs forum)

 

[Stiffy_18]

^^^^^^

I rest my case

 

[kirky]

Would be a better option that McGregor at this point in time. I've never been a huge fan but Gibson has been really impressive lately, and should be close to replacing McGregor at CHF. And before anyone points out his stats yesterday, he is an extremely effective player. He makes a contest, he brings the ball to the ground, he is an imposing figure and a nightmare for the defenders. An example: (Credit to HBT on Redlegs forum)

Is that someone giving someone else the finger in the car or is it my imagination?