Disgraceful

[sabre_ac]

That is all I can say about season 2005....Another disappointment in a long string of seasons of disappointment....
As far as I am concerned we have a list that should be in the top 4 if not at the very least challenging.
Other than Pavlich and a few young guys really what positives was there??

Medhurst,Haselby,Headland,Polak,Schammer and Longmuir all players of immense talent failed to show they are the quality players we expect them to be by now......McPharlin in my opinions best position still remains CHB...but again up for debate.

Josh Carr is either playing a different role that he played at the power or he is a different player, as far as I am concerned the Josh power of 2004 was a far better player than that of 2005.

Heath Black performed above expectations, and has shown his worth, especially considering we traded him for Simmonds (Who is currently on a 5 year contract).

Sandilands made massive leaps forward in his football career, I will be the first to admit I was loosing faith in him. There is no reason why with some extra fitness he cant dominate the ruck CONSISTENTLY.

Other than the positives of some young kids...Sandilands and Pav what else is there??? Another season that begun with the highest of hopes (warranted), but failed to come close....I grow tired of looking to the future....Since "95" that is all I have done.
Conolly failed? Yes
Get rid of him?? Perhaps??
Replace with who?

 

[mick ryan]

Headland? freeloader, lazy, dumb under achiever! and he's got several mates.

 

[Scham]

I think you're being a bit harsh putting Jlo in that list with the others Sabre!

Jlo would be in the top 4 players for season 05.

 

[rgauci]

Don't know about that Scham. JLo has been good. But one would think he should of progressed further. He hasn't proved damaging up forward which has been a disappointment. In the past few weeks he has proved his worth down back though. One of the very few ruckman who look better in defence than attack.

Did anyone expect Sandilands to take the title of number 1 ruckman this year. Though this says more about Sandi's improvement than JLo's year. JLo had a reasonable year but nothing spectacular.

 

[oporto]

That is all I can say about season 2005....Another disappointment in a long string of seasons of disappointment....
As far as I am concerned we have a list that should be in the top 4 if not at the very least challenging.
Other than Pavlich and a few young guys really what positives was there??

Medhurst,Haselby,Headland,Polak,Schammer and Longmuir all players of immense talent failed to show they are the quality players we expect them to be by now......McPharlin in my opinions best position still remains CHB...but again up for debate.

Josh Carr is either playing a different role that he played at the power or he is a different player, as far as I am concerned the Josh power of 2004 was a far better player than that of 2005.

Heath Black performed above expectations, and has shown his worth, especially considering we traded him for Simmonds (Who is currently on a 5 year contract).

Sandilands made massive leaps forward in his football career, I will be the first to admit I was loosing faith in him. There is no reason why with some extra fitness he cant dominate the ruck CONSISTENTLY.

Other than the positives of some young kids...Sandilands and Pav what else is there??? Another season that begun with the highest of hopes (warranted), but failed to come close....I grow tired of looking to the future....Since "95" that is all I have done.
Conolly failed? Yes
Get rid of him?? Perhaps??
Replace with who?

Sabre, I'm dont know what the average docker member expected in 2005 ? You re-sign a non achieving coach (when others were available-jobs for the boys), supposedly toughen your midfield ranks with pacy midfielders (carr & schoey were never quick), persist with out of form non performing players without a stint in the WAFL, persist with a non functioning forward line structure, play injured players and have AFL lightweight assistant coaches (which assistant has potential to become a senior AFL coach?)
Apart from a few imports, sounds like 2004. So why any expectations of change in 2005 ? If improvement was demanded it was never going to happen with "more of the same". Rightly or wrongly, just an observation.

 

[Freo Big Fella]

, persist with a non functioning forward line structure, .

Are you ******ed?

1. Matthew Pavlich 61
2. Jeff Farmer 35
3. Luke McPharlin 34
4. Paul Medhurst 27
5. Des Headland 20


That's hardly a non functioning forward line. Bugger off back to your slum.

 

[Toots Hibbert]

Conolly failed? Yes
Get rid of him?? Perhaps??
Replace with who?

If you say Connolly has failed then your answer to the second question should be an unequivocal Yes!
You could do a lot worse than getting Stan Alves if he was available IMO. Has an excellent football brain and got St Kilda within an ace of getting a flag.

 

[*PAF]

Keep 1 out of Farmer, Medhurst and Headland, and trade the other two to melbourne clubs where they do not want to be.
You'll get good draft picks and not only get rid of a couple of (good but) inconsistent players that you will be able to cover, but also drive the point home to the other players to shape up (consistency wise) or ship out to somewhere else where they would not like to go.
Let's face it, WA players do not like playing interstate so it is a good threat. Farmer and Healand, yeah you can come back home and play for us but unless you do so at an acceptable level you can go back to ... etc

 

[ImperialPurple]

You could do a lot worse than getting Stan Alves if he was available IMO. Has an excellent football brain and got St Kilda within an ace of getting a flag.

You may be right... but it's not going to happen. CC is contracted till 2007. He will get at least one more year. They won't ditch him with 2 years left... and be left with a huge payout and the perception that they are cleaning egg off their faces. He will be here for 2006 - if we have another dismal year of mediocrity and then he may get the chop. But like him or not, he will be the coach for 2006.

 

[Schopp]

Freo fans i am not having a go at you but these are my thoughts.

IMO
Freo playing list - top 4 talent wise.
Coaching wise - worst in the league.

Its amazing i look at the Crows compared to Freo and i think Freo have more talent. But the Crows have an almost perfect game plan in the sense that the players know exactley where to run a) when their team-mates have the ball; and b) when the opposition have the ball. They are a well drilled team.

Freo look the worst drilled team. Opposition seem to be able to run the ball from defense to the forward line with great ease. Look at the game against the Eagles. Rodney Eade a couple weeks earlier introduced almost a sort of midfield flood down the corridor to shut down the Eagles midfield so that they dont run the ball with ease from half back. Every team since has used this tactic to a great degree of success. Who is the only team that doesnt use a similar tactic and gets absolutely belted- Freo - This is a coaching error.

Last night when Freo got belted in the 3rd qtr Connolly told the players they have won in all areas, the players would know he is speaking crap just to try to boost their spirits - how about an honest appraisal and let the players know what they have to do and where to run.

Why does he persist with J Walker. Continually ********s his pants no composure at all. doesnt give an honest contest, yeh he runs hard and puts in a token tackle but that means nothing when he doesnt attack the ball and has no creativity at all. Remember when Neitz grabbed the bag of his shorts pulled them out and checked to see if there was faecal matter when Walker squibbed a contest.

Medhurst has either gone backwards big time as he has spent more time under Connolly (just like Polak, Headland + J Carr) or can only play full forward, i thought he was brilliant in his 1st season, now he looks confused, he doesnt know when to go for the goal or when to dish of to a team mate. But whatever is happening, given the majority of crap performances in the last 2 yrs surely he should have been dropped by now.
With Dynamite Des, Farmer and Medhurst the forward line looks like a freeloaders haven.

In fact Connolly seems to have this ********y vision of top shelf players who he gives way too much opportunity to and will rarely drop - ie Headland, Walker, Medhurst, Polak, Schofield (who should never have been selected this year, in fact they shouldnt have picked him up in the 1st place). Then someone like Gilmour (who i rate highly) comes in and then gets thrown straight out. Absolutely dominates WAFL and doesnt get rewarded.

IMO Freo could do with Mighty Mick Malthouse he would be the sort of person to turn the club from a rabble and joke to where they should really be given the amazing talent at hand. He probably would run the club into the ground after a few yrs but in the first few years Freo would be a genuine flag contender and no longer resemble a circus. With Connolly i think Freo will remain in limbo.

 

[oporto]

That's hardly a non functioning forward line. Bugger off back to your slum.

Slum hardly. I normally charge for therapy sessions....for you a freebie.....destroy that season ticket to regain some karma.

 

[Toots Hibbert]

You may be right... but it's not going to happen. CC is contracted till 2007. He will get at least one more year. They won't ditch him with 2 years left... and be left with a huge payout and the perception that they are cleaning egg off their faces. He will be here for 2006 - if we have another dismal year of mediocrity and then he may get the chop. But like him or not, he will be the coach for 2006.

You people boast how well you're doing financially. Pay out his contract and get a decent coach. Besides if there was not a performance clause in his contract then your heirarchy is a disgrace.

 

[ImperialPurple]

You people boast how well you're doing financially. Pay out his contract and get a decent coach. Besides if there was not a performance clause in his contract then your heirarchy is a disgrace.

I don't disagree. Just saying what I expect will happen.

 

[dominguez]

It will probably cost us more to keep Connolly than it would to sack him and pay him out. We are looking for a new major sponsor and with the way we are going that may be difficult, particularly with the western force entering the market. It will also be interesting to see how many members we have next year. When you speak to Freo supporters there are definately more people opposed to CC than for him, so this will impact memberships. A lot of people will find it hard to justify forking out their hard earnt on a club without direction.

 

[purp_bling]

Tough but pretty fair Schopp. Like IP says, CC will be there next year. Like it or lump - this is what we've got.

As much as it turns my stomach, I reckon that we'd win a premiership under Mickey Mouse within two years. With our list, we could have three realistic shots at the title under The Evil One within 5 years. Of course, the list would then be completely stuffed - but we'd jump out of this rutt.

 

[kidstyler]

its not the coach people, everyone just over rates our list ans being really good.

when its not. we have a spine but our midfield is CRAP! and in the modern game a midfield is very important. we havent been able to win clearances consistantly for the last 2 years/3 years!

you need to stop jumping on everyones back. seasons over theres nothing we can do. sack CC when we dont even have a major sponser????

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

Schopp's analysis is as good as I've seen from anyone.

The term "well-drilled" is the one I've used myself. One of the few times we have looked "well-drilled" was the Saints game. In other games it just seems to break down too easily.

As for our assistant coaches I don't think it is an issue. We have swapped assistants around and we still can;t win a clearance from a centre bounce. That's a personnel issue.

 

[Exeter]

It will probably cost us more to keep Connolly than it would to sack him and pay him out.

Very true

And the price for keeping him might just be a flag.

 

[dominguez]

its not the coach people, everyone just over rates our list ans being really good.

when its not. we have a spine but our midfield is CRAP! and in the modern game a midfield is very important. we havent been able to win clearances consistantly for the last 2 years/3 years!

you need to stop jumping on everyones back. seasons over theres nothing we can do. sack CC when we dont even have a major sponser????

Our list isn't over rated. We are poorly coached and Connolly has allowed the players into a comfort zone where the odd good performance is acceptable. Have a look at the players that took us to 14 wins 2 years ago. Because of the age of those players 3/4 of the list should have improved since '03, but in reality only a few have.

The following current players were on our senior list in 2003-
Bell
Browne
Carr
Cook
Crowley
Farmer
Grover
Hadrill
Haines
Hasleby
Hayden
Headland
Longmuir
McManus
McPharlin
Medhurst
Parker
Pavlich
Polak
Sandilands
Schammer
Siegert
Thornton
Walker
Woods.

I would say 7 of those have clearly improved (McPharlin Pavlich Sandilands Longmuir Crowley Grover and Thornton). The other 18 have either not improved or gone backwards. Everyone on that list has shown at some stage that they have the ability, but most should be entering their prime and be quality AFL footballers.

A quality experienced coach would make it easier to attract a major sponsor than the current situation. A poor start to next season under Connolly could get very messy and a lot of companys would be reticent to be linked with that possibility.

 

[Exeter]

its not the coach people,

Actually it is (in the main).

 

[theGav56]

If you want to judge on the list from 2003, then he is doing well.

The following current players were on our senior list in 2003-
Bell not improved and don't expect him to
Browne injured
Carr injured, static
Cook improved
Crowley big improvement
Farmer improved; had his best season
Grover big improvement. from maybe delist last year, to best 22
Hadrill injured
Haines injured
Hasleby injured
Hayden injured
Headland not improved
Longmuir static
McManus don't expect to improve
McPharlin improved
Medhurst not improved
Parker don't expect to improve
Pavlich improved
Polak not improved
Sandilands big improvement
Schammer injured and improved
Siegert static
Thornton improved
Walker injured/static
Woods. static, not improved

 

[raffrox]

We do have one of the slowest midfields and we play our home games on one of the biggest grounds. Its that simple. Cook, Carrx2, Bell, Hase are all slow by AFL standards. Thats almost our entire midfield.

And lets keep some perspective... We were one win away from a home final. Not a great season but we aren't the lone rangers there. Please tell me Port didn't underachieve this year (or except last year) the last 5 years?

 

[wishbone]

its not the coach people, everyone just over rates our list ans being really good.

when its not. we have a spine but our midfield is CRAP! and in the modern game a midfield is very important. we havent been able to win clearances consistantly for the last 2 years/3 years!

you need to stop jumping on everyones back. seasons over theres nothing we can do. sack CC when we dont even have a major sponser????

When you have a poor list you can tell without a shadow of a doubt. You have players with at least comparable, more often than not exemplary, skills/attributes/fitness, yet you come up short. Schopp made a good point with Adelaide. When you know exactly what you need to do, and the coaching staff give you instructions that will get the most out of your attributes, you beat higher skilled, poorly instructed sides. It's obvious even in juniour football. It's the reason why we lost so many damn finals.

Please tell me Port didn't underachieve this year (or except last year) the last 5 years?

Without a doubt, but there's a difference between underachieving after finishing minor premiers 2 years in a row and falling a game short of the grand final twice, and not making the eight.

 

[Rob]

its not the coach people, everyone just over rates our list ans being really good.

when its not. we have a spine but our midfield is CRAP! and in the modern game a midfield is very important. we havent been able to win clearances consistantly for the last 2 years/3 years!

And whose fault is that? We get 2/3rds of the taps yet get smashed in the clearances. Why? Guys like Hase, Bell and Josh Carr are naturally in and under players. Yet play like outside running midfielders. Why?
We lack passion, desperation, commitment and most importantly, lack hardness at the ball. We get bundled out of contests as if we're the weight of a teddy bear. Medhurst has got legs like tree trunks, yet is uncompetitive in 1 on 1 contests. McPharlin is the best CHB in the league, but hasn't played there since about round 10.

Very very few players play like their lives depend on it. And by very very few, I mean 2 - Cook and Bell. The rest are playing for themselves and their paychecks. And that is the fault of the coaching staff for making life way too comfortable.

 

[masai]

Very very few players play like their lives depend on it. And by very very few, I mean 2 - Cook and Bell. The rest are playing for themselves and their paychecks. And that is the fault of the coaching staff for making life way too comfortable.

Yep the comfort zone, how do we combat it?.

Interesting that over the past 2 seasons players like JLo, Sandilands, Grover, Headland and McManus (lesser extent) have been dropped to the WAFL. After their dumping they have really hit the ball hard at the WAFL and rebounded better than ever at AFL level. The medicine worked.

Keep the squad on its toes, drop an out of form player to the WAFL and see if they respond. I want to see a bunch of angry ants squabbling over places.