Review Dees v Gold Coast in Sydney: the Marginally Good, the Horrendous and the Up the Clacker

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Noticeably, far less handball, much more kicking and slowing the game down. Players honouring leads rather than the midfield playing ring-a-ring-a-rosey with each other let's all get a possession.

 

[CTHORANGE]

No we didn't go too hard. The gameplan was hideous. There is no way we didn't make some significant adjustments this week and it's the same as it always was.

Even in the first quarter when we were behind you could see this wasn't the same Melbourne we'd seen the previous 3 weeks.

We played some proper football last night, the previous 3 weeks was a complete joke.

Oh yeh definitely, the first 5 minutes it was very clear we wanted to stop and wait and pass the ball around, which was a big signal. Some parts of the game it still fell into the usual panic ball, but some players did stick to this slow the game down and look gameplan throughout, which was a good start. But how fundamental is that? Is it a mere alteration of the pace we want to move the ball, or were other elements of the actual structure tinkered with, I don't know.

But this season everyone is playing so poorly at times that it's hard to compare

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Oh yeh definitely, the first 5 minutes it was very clear we wanted to stop and wait and pass the ball around, which was a big signal. Some parts of the game it still fell into the usual panic ball, but some players did stick to this slow the game down and look gameplan throughout, which was a good start. But how fundamental is that? Is it a mere alteration of the pace we want to move the ball, or were other elements of the actual structure tinkered with, I don't know.

But this season everyone is playing so poorly at times that it's hard to compare

Well Weids inclusion (despite my lack of faith in him) made a massive difference imo. You got to see TMac as a target for hitting up leads up the ground, and down the other end OMac 's inclusion to backline allowed Lever to play far more "freer" ...they were just two structural changes that I thought made a significant difference. Even once TMac had left the field you could still see players attempting to do the same things without him.

Gawn's presence around the ground last night can't be understated either, it's what myself and a few others had been crying out for. When he's playing like that and taking proper contested marks and intercepts grabs rather than the cheapies he was content with the previous week's we are a completely different team.

 

[schmuttt]

Weid would be a star if he could ******* hold his marks

 

[CTHORANGE]

Yeh Weid (or Brown) had to come in, and when Tmac went down he had to step up and he did that, he needs a few games without playing in the ruck at all, and then we can see where is up to. interesting that Lyon referred to him in the coverage as being raw, that's what Ben King is, and any other 1-3 year KPF, but in the fifth year if he is still raw, then he needs to improve rapidly or we will be waiting forever.

When I say structure I was more referring to positioning and zoning and the gameplan. I doubt that's been changed in a week, I think the game plan is the same, but the execution of the game plan has thankfully been slowed down, or is being slowed down.

When I posed the question, i don't actually believe we went too hard, but it was just a thought because one straight kick and we'd be 3-2 for the season, which isn't bad when we're playing like garbage. Suggests something in this putrid setup was working somewhere somehow, even if its just to drag our opponents down to our level.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Noticeably, far less handball, much more kicking and slowing the game down. Players honouring leads rather than the midfield playing ring-a-ring-a-rosey with each other let's all get a possession.

How did we go with our 'red-mist' though?

 

[CTHORANGE]

Well Weids inclusion (despite my lack of faith in him) made a massive difference imo. You got to see TMac as a target for hitting up leads up the ground, and down the other end OMac 's inclusion to backline allowed Lever to play far more "freer" ...they were just two structural changes that I thought made a significant difference. Even once TMac had left the field you could still see players attempting to do the same things without him.

Gawn's presence around the ground last night can't be understated either, it's what myself and a few others had been crying out for. When he's playing like that and taking proper contested marks and intercepts grabs rather than the cheapies he was content with the previous week's we are a completely different team.

Yes this is all spot on, on reflection it's as if Goodwin was stacking the team with shorter quicker players because he really wanted them to play so fast. By bringing in those talls to provide balance, it helped others get back to their strengths, and combined with the directive to slow down a bit has hopefully put us on the right track. But still a long long way to go, it could easily turn to total mush again this week.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Yeh Weid (or Brown) had to come in, and when Tmac went down he had to step up and he did that, he needs a few games without playing in the ruck at all, and then we can see where is up to. interesting that Lyon referred to him in the coverage as being raw, that's what Ben King is, and any other 1-3 year KPF, but in the fifth year if he is still raw, then he needs to improve rapidly or we will be waiting forever.

When I say structure I was more referring to positioning and zoning and the gameplan. I doubt that's been changed in a week, I think the game plan is the same, but the execution of the game plan has thankfully been slowed down, or is being slowed down.

When I posed the question, i don't actually believe we went too hard, but it was just a thought because one straight kick and we'd be 3-2 for the season, which isn't bad when we're playing like garbage. Suggests something in this putrid setup was working somewhere somehow, even if its just to drag our opponents down to our level.

Did you notice how open the forward line seemed at times despite us slowing the game down with kicking? How is that possible when we were playing on way more often previously?

I can't detail any diffences cause I'm not watching games with the ability to see the entire ground, but something has defientley changed.

 

[Topkent]

Did you notice how open the forward line seemed at times despite us slowing the game down with kicking? How is that possible when we were playing on way more often previously?

I can't detail any diffences cause I'm not watching games with the ability to see the entire ground, but something has defientley changed.

Maybe LeverPuller can confirm but it looked like we held Weid deeper rather than having him zone up on the wing

 

[CTHORANGE]

Did you notice how open the forward line seemed at times despite us slowing the game down with kicking? How is that possible when we were playing on way more often previously?

I can't detail any diffences cause I'm not watching games with the ability to see the entire ground, but something has defientley changed.

In the Richmond and Geelong games there were open options inside 50 at times, the players just blindly bombed it to 20 metres out almost every time though. I think there is case to say that the forwards were hit up more last night, and they have often been there or on the lead, but were being ignored. Just bombing it to the spare as the first option was surely not part of the gameplan, or at least I hope it wasn't, but who knows with this team.

 

[Ando727]

Weid would be a star if he could ******* hold his marks

Weid can mark, he just needs the confidence. Needs to stabilise his spot in the team, and the marks will be clunked. Given our lack of forward structure and leading, there's no excuse for leaving Weid out of the team - even if he's not playing that well. Hawkins doesn't always set the world on fire either, but you don't see Geelong chopping and changing regarding his place in the side. At least he's a proper tall forward. Get some games into him - I think he has a higher ceiling than Tmac with some confidence and some more muscle on him.

 

[Tulip]

Weid would be a star if he could ******* hold his marks

He can do it when he’s confident. Kicks well, leads well, moves well - the rest is in place. Now everyone - including the supporters - need to actively get around him.

 

[Pedantic]

Can anyone remember who gave Gawn a chop out in the ruck? Strange but I can't for the life of me remember anyone else taking a centre bounce. Weid took a few in the forward 50 but Gawn wasn't off I don't think. Or did Gawn ruck the whole game once TMac was injured?

 

[saj_21]

It’s funny, spectators and players of AFL think to play fast you must play on, handball run and gun which you can do like Richmond but you can also play fast with a kick mark game. Controlling the game by foot allows you continual “fast” movement.

 

[saj_21]

Last week we had 162 kicks to 155 handballs

this week 172 kicks to 106 handballs

 

[newcastlefalcon]

Really improved effort. Still work to do but we were better.
Gawn was massive again.
Viney back to beast mode.
Trac looks like he’ll tear games apart.
Loved Langdon’s outside run. Thought Omac played a good game. His best for a while.
Weideman played well to. Especially after Tmac went off.
And Bennell. Just classy and will get better.
Clarry was better this week to.
Still some work to do but positive signs.

As I live in Queensland and refuse to deal with Fox (customer service being a foreign concept to them), this was the first Melbourne game I have seen live this season.
Agree that Gawn was dominant against a ruck who has been playing really well.
Was impressed with the Viney grunt.
I couldn't believe how Petracca butchered so many of his possessions - 30% kicking efficiency.
Not sure about Langdons' delivery but he had plenty of company.
Oscar Mac I thought showed enough to stay in the side. That meant that Lever and his ugly moustache played well.
Weideman has to play for the rest of the year, he will not get better in scratch matches.
So pleased to see Bennell start to show what he can do.
Oliver got a lot of the ball but butchered too much. I thought at one stage he must be carrying a leg injury.
Don't know what's happened to Brayshaw, just glimpses of what he can do.
May is playing the way he played at the Coast - non thinking football. His kicks were so predictable.
Melksham was missing.
Overall I hope this is the start of improvement.

 

[markm106]

Yes this is all spot on, on reflection it's as if Goodwin was stacking the team with shorter quicker players because he really wanted them to play so fast. By bringing in those talls to provide balance, it helped others get back to their strengths, and combined with the directive to slow down a bit has hopefully put us on the right track. But still a long long way to go, it could easily turn to total mush again this week.

Spot on. Goodwin went too cute with selection. Tried to outsmart everyone. I guess he have something a go. And thankfully pulled back on it when it clearly didn’t work.

 

[dazzledavey36]

Can anyone remember who gave Gawn a chop out in the ruck? Strange but I can't for the life of me remember anyone else taking a centre bounce. Weid took a few in the forward 50 but Gawn wasn't off I don't think. Or did Gawn ruck the whole game once TMac was injured?

I read a stat where it was something along the lines that Gawn rucked 98% of the game and only rested on the bench for a only 5 minutes od the game.

Absolute power workhorse is our Max.

 

[LeverPuller]

Maybe LeverPuller can confirm but it looked like we held Weid deeper rather than having him zone up on the wing

We did and he held his spot down there even when TMac went down. Was often the deepest forward.

The setup with TMac roaming and Weid deep actually looked really good. TMac was almost playing like Cloke used to with the big runs down the wing.

 

[stEdy]

Gawn was moving really well, wasn't he?

When Gold Coast won a free kick late in the centre, he was the first to start sprinting back, almost outrunning all of our mids.

Him and Viney provided pretty good leadership all night I thought

 

[Bluelegs]

Gawn was moving really well, wasn't he?

When Gold Coast won a free kick late in the centre, he was the first to start sprinting back, almost outrunning all of our mids.

Him and Viney provided pretty good leadership all night I thought

Definitely a game where the senior players showed the way.

 

[CTHORANGE]

We did and he held his spot down there even when TMac went down. Was often the deepest forward.

The setup with TMac roaming and Weid deep actually looked really good. TMac was almost playing like Cloke used to with the big runs down the wing.

Yeh and I reckon it was Fritsch who was playing that deepest forward role in the first few rounds, and because he isn't a key forward he was just being hung out to dry, Weideman there makes so much more sense, lets hope we stick with it. If Tmac doesn't get up this week I hope they bring Brown in to cover Tmac's role.

 

[stEdy]

Fritsch is a gun but he will play so much better if he can roam around and get the 3rd/4th best defender instead of being anchored deep in the forward 50 with the best defender on him and our mids kicking it on his head.

Just need Weidy to keep up the effort and keep flying at everything and bringing the ball to ground and our forward structure looks 5x better

 

[markm106]

Another observation from Saturday. Gold Coast kicked about 4 goals out of their arses. Some real flukey ones. Sure there is skill involved but you don’t kick all of those every week.

 

[CTHORANGE]

Another observation from Saturday. Gold Coast kicked about 4 goals out of their arses. Some real flukey ones. Sure there is skill involved but you don’t kick all of those every week.

They sure did, well for Rankine it might actually not be flukey, but the Ellis goals and the weller goal, yeh pretty flukey. But they also missed some basic set shots right in front of goals, felt like it evened out