Defense

[johnthegardener]

Just been watching the replay of last week and I noticed that, unlike last year, whenever there was a ball up or throw in close to the Geelong goal one of our defenders would drop back into the square.

Great to see. It was very noticeable last year that this never happened and over the season quite a few goals were dribbled through against us.

 

[Boppo]

Defence. Colour is spelt with a u just in case.

 

[holy diver]

Defence. Just saying..

But yes, the defence is looking better in our only game of the season. Let's hope it hold's out against Syndey.

 

[basashi]

But an ellipsis has 3 full stops. Just Saying...

And can you really start a sentence with "but?"

 

[greatgatsby]

My, Easter does bring out the pedantry in us!

Defense is OK if you're American. And, yes, you can start a sentence with 'But' (or 'And').

Good observation. I put it down to the fact we now have a coach who takes defenc(s)e seriously.

 

[holy diver]

But an ellipsis has 3 full stops. Just Saying...

Inappropriate use of a capital letter. Just saying...

 

[Moo]

We looked composed down back.

Our defense has always looked pretty solid, it has been the release and tranzition into attack that has been the issue.

Sydney will be another test today.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Some tourists were holidaying overseas and encountered an emergency in a local village.

A lady, who was related to the person in the medical emergency was screaming to the crowd milling around the accident scene, " is there anyone here who speaks English " ?

" This is a critical situation, anybody speak English here " ?

A woman in the crowd moved forward and said , seriously , " I don't speak English but I speak American ; they may understand me " .

They're a sharp lot those yanks. I hope anyone reading this doesn't take offense. (no smilie to insert )

 

[rgauci]

I think our defence is pretty brittle. It has been average or below average since Tarrant left and Roger Hayden retired. At it's very best a few years ago:

Hayden Tarrant Silvagni
Broughton McPharlin Ibbotson
Int: Duffield

That backline which started 2010 was water tight. Today's defence is not nearly as good. If you look at today's backline it is considerably weaker:

McPhee Dawson Johnson
Duffield McPharlin Ibbotson
Int: Suban

Back in 2010, Tarrant, McPharlin and Roger Hayden's form was AA for part of the year. History will show that none of the aforementioned made AA, but given a whole year at their best they would have been strongly considered. Looking at our 2012 group, I can only see McPharlin ever being considered for AA selection.

We are 2 top line defenders away from a tight defence that can compete for a flag. Ross Lyon's team defence may bridge the gap and put us in the vicinity, but we need some players on the list to improve significantly for the defence to be seen as a forte.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

The Freo defence named above isn't exactly cast in stone.

We have Broughton, Suban and Stephen Hill along with Johnson sweeping across half back who all compliment our defence.

Add to that the sense of purpose that was evident last week, and the 2010 defensive structure which looks good on paper, doesn't look too flash by comparison;.... also tarrant missed more games than he played.
It looks good on paper but the reality is, it isn't valid.

 

[rgauci]

Still believe our defensive structure is up to scratch? Doesn't help when the defensive coach leaves the club a week before the season starts.