Day of Reflection

[ROYAL EAGLE]

Now that we aren't so emotional after yesterdays loss where do you think we should be headed this season.

I have gone the gambit of both ways.

After leaving the dressing rooms yesterday very depressed.

I was thinking along the lines of keep Hansen and Butler and Staker and Masten in the side and Bring back Fletcher and Stenglein into the team.

That would mean we would probaly lose to Melbounre next week.

They would end up getting 5 wins and we can finish last and gets picks 1&2 and 18.

Pick up ourselves with number 1 Butcher a true key foward we need and scully at 2 for a great midfielder and set our side up for the future.

Then I swayed back the other way we bring in JK this week he stars CHF kicks 4 or 5 goals we pants Melbounre.

And this starts a great run of form we pinch a few away games make the eight and play finals.

Today reality set in and I think we are somewhere in between.

I think JK will be good so us long term but never be a superstar CHF that kick swags of goals.

I think we need to keep developing and playing around with our structures, until we find the right mix.

That means will will still get thrashed occasionly but home games we will be very competive.

Persist with guys who aren't doing much but havn't played alot of games and hope they start to turn it around like Butler and Masten.

God I would love Butcher though imagine having a reliable foward like pav or roughead in our side.

Anyway there my thoughts after a day of reflection.

 

[The Passenger]

we took a really big step back in our development yesterday.

the brisbane game sucked, but the fact of the matter is at the gabba we just switched of for 15 minutes and let the game go.

yesterday was ****ed. for an entire second half we just let a team get on top of us. there was very very few periods of the second half we were on top, maybe the about 10 minutes during the last term which resulted in 4 or 5 behinds and then fremantle went forward and kicked a goal straight away.

i don't like the thought of just bringing all the youngsters in. i've said it a million times before but we don't wanna do a carlton, st kilda or western bulldogs and spend ages down the bottom, load up on draft picks then have a crack. that has not proven to be a succesful formula for winning flags. up until hawks and to a lesser extent geelong, every premiership team since adelaide has spent minimal time in the bottom half the competition before winning the flag.

we do, however, have to get rid of hansen and staker. we just can't keep affording to play them. hansen is just plain crap now, and staker, despite all his talent, is just too frustrating and it would just be easier to cut him and forget about it. we might get something at the trade table for staker (maybe we won't) but either way, i hope he becomes a good footballer, but i don't want him to be our problem any more. it's just too frustrating for the team.

hurn had another great step in his development. he's just such a good kick of the football. he's got every kick in the book - long kick, short kick, kicking at goals, long bombs at goals. IMO he's in the best 10 all round kicks in the competition. i'd love if there was a stat for which play has the highest % of their kicks result in a team mate marking the ball. if he wasn't in the top handful of the competition i'd be very suprised.

obviously we're going in the right direction but the second half yesterday was just a big step backwards. the first half our intensity was great but our skills were so shit. which is so unusual because for the most part i've been happy with our skills this year (this is taking into consideration how young the team is). but yesterday was diabocal and that's why we hadn't put them away at half time.

hopefully we can just forget about it and keep the forward progress we'd seen in rounds 1,2,4 and 5.

 

[Forrest Gimp]

Screw the picks, I want to see some heart. You don't need a brilliant, skilful team to instil some mental toughness. I don't want to see players pick up bad habits that will hold back the team in the years ahead...

 

[lewigie]

I want 4 quarters of effort, that's what I want.

 

[The Passenger]

Screw the picks, I want to see some heart. You don't need a brilliant, skilful team to instil some mental toughness. I don't want to see players pick up bad habits that will hold back the team in the years ahead...

too right.

so many people have said just cut the older guys throw in all the youngsters and get them experience. but that's just going to result in probably 13 or 14 beltings over the last 16 rounds. i don't really think that's the experience you want to give them.

whilst embers, hunts, stinger and bones are struggling we can't just completely cut them and brand them as "done". these guys still can and do contribute to the team. it's all about getting the balance right between being a competitive outfit that can win 8 or 9 games this season and giving the younger guys some experience.

getting a losing mentality in a team takes a long long time to get out regardless of how many talented guys you pick up. st kilda after years of rebuilding and threatening are probably for the first time genuine premiership threats. carlton still aren't, and neither are the bulldogs or fremantle. richmond still can't make the finals. these are all teams that have spent ages at the bottom, picked up **** knows who many top 5 draftee's and have absolutely nothing to show for it.

if i was to be honest as well, i'm still not 100% sold on st kilda because they've shown stints like this before (albeit this is the best 5 week period i've seen them produce since 1997) and i'm also very sceptical that carlton will becomes genuine premiership contendors with the group they have.

hawthorn, and to a lesser extent geelong, was the first team in a long time to win a premiership after spending considerable time in the bottom 8.

 

[Cuzz09]

I want 4 quarters of effort, that's what I want.

Thats the main thing.

After watching the Port, Doggies and even the Hawks game you know these guys can run out games and can play better than the sickening tripe they showed in the 2nd half.

I dunno.. maybe the poor kicking before half time (where we could've buried them) played on their heads too much then they just couldnt buy a goal?

 

[Eagles 4 Mine]

who needs a day of reflection that is why we are the way we are so bloody soft and skill less and no bloody heart.