Autopsy Disappointing Dogs Go Down To Swans 120-67

[Next Waiting]

Our 2 worst performances of the year coincided with Lachie Hunter's return. Coincidence?

 

[WAbulldog]

Our 2 worst performances of the year coincided with Lachie Hunter's return. Coincidence?

I think NOT!

 

[Claudonious]

Our 2 worst performances of the year coincided with Lachie Hunter's return. Coincidence?

Was thinking the same thing - perhaps there is something going on there. Doesn’t take much to change the fabric of the team and performance falls away.


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[grassman75]

I'm not watching that again either but I did stick it out to the finish on Friday night. They were well past cheering for but I reckon you can always use those depressing last 30-40 minutes of a flogging to analyse what's going on and look at some of the things you might otherwise miss. As I posted earlier a lot of the problems are systemic - to do with coaching and leadership, not so much the shortcomings of individual players, I'm pleased to hear that there is some analysis coming out in the media. Let's hope the quality of the analysis will be such that it can't just be shrugged off as a beat-up.

Anyway here are a few more things I wanted to comment on. Some of it is about players, some about our system (or lack of it).

• Treloar - I was very dubious about the move back especially after a half-hearted looking flap at a ball that Amartey marked in the first quarter. In his defence he was running back while Amartey was running forward but, you know the saying, when it's your turn to go ... Anyway to his credit he applied himself well for pretty much the whole game. It's not the right position for him but he took it on board. I can understand the logic of needing to generate some more run and carry in Daniel's absence but Heeney wasn't the right match up as others have pointed out.
• Hannan - I can't see it with him, even if he is close to being best 22 on this injury-ravaged list. Every time he is in the play it's apparent he has no elite ball-handling, vision, decision-making or evasive skills. If his role is to block for Naughton I can get that, but how does that ability translate to playing him in defence? He seems to have been at his most effective as a quickish, chunky forward flanker who is dangerous if he gets into a bit of space. But really you can say that about a LOT of very ordinary footballers. Space is a scarce commodity in senior footy.
• Ugle-Hagan - coming along OK. We need to persists, even when Bruce comes back. In fact that will be a real opportunity for him. I don't buy this idea of trying him in defence.
• Williams - such a disappointing season. I wouldn't object to him being given a break from senior footy to work on whatever is not working for him. He is not playing up to his talents right now. I'd love to know why. Hoping it's just a bad year and he can bounce back fresh next year.
• Hunter - After a couple of VFL games and a quiet first game back in the seniors I was expecting him to feature strongly on Friday night. He was not the influential player we need right now. I'm hoping he's still readjusting after missing most of the season.
• Naughton - It's painful to watch him struggling with his knee injury. The medicos had better be right that he won't be making it any worse by playing on this season. He is a Coleman medallist in waiting and a key ingredient in any push for a flag over the next 5 years. I'd hate us to ruin his career through medical mismanagement. I was very impressed with how he still managed to have a big impact: kicked 2.2, had 16 possessions, 2 GAs and 2 CMs. He combines rare talent with a terrific attitude and competitiveness.
• Bedendo - I like what I've seen and I think he might make the grade but he's not having the impact we need yet. I'd be happy to put him back in the VFL for a while now that he's had a taste and knows what's required. Either this week or next. McLean would give us more at this stage. (I'm assuming Hannan won't get dropped any time soon).
• Garcia - I love his competitiveness. Just a shame his disposal is poor. If we are seeing a failure to "crack in" as a problem right now then he might be part of the solution. Unfortunately he's not yet very damaging. There's no point playing him away from the action. He is at his best on the inside. I'm not sure how we can make that work right now given the others ahead of him in the queue.
• Richards - one of the bright spots for us in a lacklustre 2022 season. His class is now starting to show more consistently.
• Johannisen - very poor game considering what he's capable of. Bevo needs to take him aside and challenge him to regain his best form, even if he needs the off-season to work on it. Could probably lose a couple of kgs to help regain his zip.

Three men up- what's all this business of three WB players spoiling each other for the mark while the Swans players stay down waiting for the crumbs? There seems to be little understanding between players and no awareness or talk. Do they actually practise this stuff? Do they each understand their role? Have they had this explained to them? Is it a result of injuries and a revolving door of confusing positional changes? Players do become more cohesive when they can play together for an extended period.

Front and Centre - other clubs seemed to have worked out that we aren't taking many intercept marks. More likely we'll be going for the spoil, especially if Gardner is anywhere near the ball drop. So why aren't we parking ourselves where our opponents are, to collect the ball that spills forward?

Tackling - we're OK at swarming over opponents who take possession at the stoppages but we aren't much good at tackling blokes on the burst. I'm not just talking about Blakey who has freakish speed and daring. Too often we laid a hand or two on them but they just shrugged the tackle and got a kick or clean handball. By contrast it seemed that we got wrapped up when we tried the same thing. Not sure if the stats bear that out but it seemed that way when I was watching.

On-field leadership - I've commented on this numerous times and I'm still not seeing it. Yes it's hard to tell from the TV coverage but it's been the same when I've been watching at the ground. Bont sets a good example as a player most of the time but does he ever dish out tough love? Does he ever grab a player by the jumper and say "that's not good enough son"? Did anyone front McComb and tell him he should have been camped in the hole in front of Buddy? Who else is there to impart this sort of message? Who can direct play like Moz used to do? I can see Naughton doing it even at his tender age but probably not Libba, Treloar or Keath. No idea whether Macrae is doing it. Josh Bruce and Taylor Duryea maybe. It's a weakness we haven't discussed much - we have had a really young team for a few years and we have shed all our 200+ game veterans. Apart from a few trades (Bruce, Duryea, Crozier, Treloar) the most experienced players on the list now are the class of 2014 and 2015 but they are mostly nice guys (like Bont), off-beat types (like Libba and Hunter) or introverts (like Macrae). Where are our hard-nosed Matt Boyds, Luke Hodges, Joel Selwoods and Dale Morrises? Mitch Wallis would be handy as a leader but since his broken leg he has struggled to hold a place in the side. Dunkley's a candidate ... if he's committed enough to the cause.

Great summary DW.

Pretty well bang on in all aspects.

It infuriates me when all the defenders go up together - are they afraid they'll be earmarked as the one who didn't go if they don't?

Hannan can go to North. Just like Gardener, I don't see it.

Garcia and Bedendo has a future, it's just not right now. Can see both being like West and taking time to blossom, but they both have it, unlike Butler.

I still think Bevo has plenty going for him, however he does need to listen to others a bit more. I reckon we should be looking to get Noble back to the club in some capacity