Autopsy Gather round my fat hairy ass

[Samsquanch]

Gather Round for us is like getting the chairs in the community hall and gathering them around in a circle for some group therapy.

"Hi my name is MM. I've been a NMFC supporter for 46 years. I understand we had a problem but over the off-season things seemed to get better. Like last year I was hopeful that everything would be OK and for the first few rounds it seemed that it could be. But then, just like last year, we were made to play the Lions at some South Australian shithole and I realise that everything is as bad as it ever was and I've given up hope. Next week we have to go to a Victorian shithole and I just can't cope anymore..."

A northaholic confessional.

scottywiper says hello.

 

[Samsquanch]

lol.

Our start to the season was by design.

Do they still refer to it as a "Fixture" or within the walls of AFL House do they simply call it the "Fix"?

 

[Marstermind]

lol.

Our start to the season was by design.

Yep. But we had to avoid the thrashings. We've won 3 quarters, been beaten at 3/4 time each week and have a % under 60. I hoped for better than 0-4, but expected better than we've seen.

 

[king of the road]

In the wet?

Even in the lighting break they looked better than us.

 

[My Left Foote]

If only we’d drafted McDonald and Cadman I think we would have won yesterday.

 

[Northball]

I’m really not a fan of all the “we’re sick of losing” comments during pre-season followed by the smiles post game.

Feels like a lot of our guys aren’t starving to win and be competitive, they’re just happy to coast and collect their paycheck…

 

[Marstermind]

Even in the lighting break they looked better than us.

We'd have coughed up 2 goals in that time.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

I’m really not a fan of all the “we’re sick of losing” comments during pre-season followed by the smiles post game.

Feels like a lot of our guys aren’t starving to win and be competitive, they’re just happy to coast and collect their paycheck…

The senior players don’t hate losing enough.

And the standards are through the floor.

 

[JGreezy]

Midfield mix of Ldu, Wardlaw, Powell is simply not working. All 3 are quality midfielders, however they do not compliment one another at all. Look at Port Adelaide for example- The trio all compliment one another with a mixture of Extractor, accumulator and outside.

Really need to find a way for Sheezel/Simpkin to get into the midfield to add outside speed and a mix.

Issue is, the current 3 can’t play anywhere else and if we move Sheezel off half back we can’t replace.

We played McKercher in the middle a fair bit yesterday, for this reason.

 

[footy2016]

We played McKercher in the middle a fair bit yesterday, for this reason.

Yes, however if we want to win games then Simpkin or Sheezel is the best option. Let Mckercher play half back like sheezel did last year.

He is a kid who’s played 4 games, isn’t going to make a difference in the middle.

 

[Moti]

Midfield mix of Ldu, Wardlaw, Powell is simply not working. All 3 are quality midfielders, however they do not compliment one another at all. Look at Port Adelaide for example- The trio all compliment one another with a mixture of Extractor, accumulator and outside.

Really need to find a way for Sheezel/Simpkin to get into the midfield to add outside speed and a mix.

Issue is, the current 3 can’t play anywhere else and if we move Sheezel off half back we can’t replace.

Port's big 3 are all hard, fast, powerful, evasive and classy. They have 3 midfield unicorns. We don't have one, George is possibly the closest. We have to rotate more because we just don't have a perfect mix.

 

[Hazey1977]

FWIW I’m as frustrated with our senior blokes as anyone. Lmac, Jy, Corr, Tucker, Cam and Steevo. This lot have to step up and become important contributors, cannot just leave it to the kids.

Here's the thing that needs to be realised and accepted by us all, the players mentioned above do not have the skill, mental aptitude or strength to step up. It is beyond them.

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[hcd199]

We got Freo and West Coast at the start of last year, this year we got Freo again (and fared far worse, although they tell me “Freo are a different team this year, whatever that means); GWS who were touted to be bottom 4 but changed that.
And Brisbane who were on 0 until we made them look like flag favourites.

Yeah, it’s probably up to us. Expecting every other team to lower their standard to worse than ours by crossing our fingers every year is about as likely as finding a confidence shop.

Exactly this - blaming the fixture because the AFL didn't give us a training-wheels start to the season two years running is a mendicant cop-out (let's not forget we had Hawthorn after the two wins as well in 2023). Sure, three prelim finalists in the first four rounds is a rough start, but people understand that and tailor their expectations accordingly - that's why the mood here wasn't unduly downbeat after an okay showing for a young side away to GWS still resulted in a not-particularly-close margin, and why Good Friday was just a frustrating backwards step rather than a total capitulation.

But no reasonable set of expectations justifies the completely uncompetitive performance we saw yesterday, or choking a comfortable lead as quickly as we did at Docklands to a 2023 non-finalist who we defeated last year. And we'll continue to see this sort of rubbish time and again until we show active improvement rather than just the passive hope that playing a bunch of young players together will maybe see something click eventually, perhaps when the AFL smiles on us and gives us a nicer run later in the year.

 

[Hazey1977]

I doubt he’d leave SA.

And it’s not a question of what I’d do.

for the right player who makes our list more structurally sound and has an equivalent output to a ‘gun’ of ours? very few players would be off limits.

The list management mistake we made was trying to build from the midfield out with no spine to speak of.

There will be nothing quick about moving from where we are.

Edit I’ll take this a step further Rory Lobb would make us instantly better.

F*** Tom McDonald who we could have gotten for free would make us look better.

However this would just be getting more s**t trucks in.

Yeah building from the mids out always struck me as strange given 'big men take time.'

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[the_cleaner]

west coast are more competitive then us atm. they lost to the same team a year ago by 170 points and now trail by a goal. while good old north lost to the lions by 75 points last year and this year we only lost by 70 points to the lions

 

[Caracas]

At the end of the day, our major issues right now relate to our lack of cohesion. Nothing will change results-wise until we sort that out. That, my friends, is Clarko’s job.

 

[Spud11]

west coast are more competitive then us atm. they lost to the same team a year ago by 170 points and now trail by a goal. while good old north lost to the lions by 75 points last year and this year we only lost by 70 points to the lions

West Coast look good hey.

We’d be 15 goals down saying “yeh but oi nah bro inhales vape but Sydney is different this year cuz”

 

[rm3504]

I tell you what,

No expectations going into yesterday and all the faith is gone.

At least there were a few mates we could get around and have a beverage with.

And big shout out to sheez’s parents. I stopped Lana as she was getting some food and had a quick chat, bloody lovely human and they love the club - she gave me one of her badges of Harry which was a lovely touch.

The old man stood next to me at the urinal and said keep the faith. 2 years he reckons.

west coast are more competitive then us atm. they lost to the same team a year ago by 170 points and now trail by a goal. while good old north lost to the lions by 75 points last year and this year we only lost by 70 points to the lions

It’s official we stink
West coast are more competive than us
No matter how many we cull each year we stink just as much the year after
nothing stinks more than our recruitment of other clubs players and our joint captains

 

[franjon]

Clarkson isn’t the issue. We are probably a quality assistant or two short. He attempted to bandaid over the gaping issues in the backline with young skills and speed… senior players are just awful.

Yep, I think this, partly, sums it up. There have been some, "issues" in the past and he has been given the task of rectifying them. I don't think we're an assistant short, we're just expecting too much too soon. Anyone who watched his press conference when he first walked in the door would know that he said it isn't going to be a quick fix. Anyone assuming that is going to be disappointed. It's going to take time. We've had a lot of garbage in the last few years and he's trying to right it. Like some people I'm a bit perplexed by some of the positional moves but I have faith in Clarkson.

 

[franjon]

I’m starting to feel a bit better now.

Watching Essendon getting done by almost as much as us.

And they’re only playing Port

The only down side is Kane Cornes-Francis actually played a pretty good game.

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

Gather Round for us is like getting the chairs in the community hall and gathering them around in a circle for some group therapy.

"Hi my name is MM. I've been a NMFC supporter for 46 years. I understand we had a problem but over the off-season things seemed to get better. Like last year I was hopeful that everything would be OK and for the first few rounds it seemed that it could be. But then, just like last year, we were made to play the Lions at some South Australian shithole and I realise that everything is as bad as it ever was and I've given up hope. Next week we have to go to a Victorian shithole and I just can't cope anymore..."

I just put on some random footy highlights before (check out the Back to the Brew/RooPub thread for why) and my dog got up and walked out of the room. Poor fella, being just 2 yrs old he has only known me muttering and cursing at the TV when the footy is on. When he hears the umpire's whistle he instantly leaves, generally giving me a dirty look on the way out.

​

 

[DrZaius]

Exactly this - blaming the fixture because the AFL didn't give us a training-wheels start to the season two years running is a mendicant cop-out (let's not forget we had Hawthorn after the two wins as well in 2023). Sure, three prelim finalists in the first four rounds is a rough start, but people understand that and tailor their expectations accordingly - that's why the mood here wasn't unduly downbeat after an okay showing for a young side away to GWS still resulted in a not-particularly-close margin, and why Good Friday was just a frustrating backwards step rather than a total capitulation.

But no reasonable set of expectations justifies the completely uncompetitive performance we saw yesterday, or choking a comfortable lead as quickly as we did at Docklands to a 2023 non-finalist who we defeated last year. And we'll continue to see this sort of rubbish time and again until we show active improvement rather than just the passive hope that playing a bunch of young players together will maybe see something click eventually, perhaps when the AFL smiles on us and gives us a nicer run later in the year.

100% this. You are able to articulate my own thoughts far more eloquently than I am able.

 

[Mcarcherey]

I'd appreciate if Clarko just went screw it and blooded more youngsters.

That way they can coach themselves moreso than let 'experienced' idiots boss them around into mediocrity.

Surely this is a joke? Can't get any younger ffs

On Pixel 6 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

Exactly this - blaming the fixture because the AFL didn't give us a training-wheels start to the season two years running is a mendicant cop-out (let's not forget we had Hawthorn after the two wins as well in 2023). Sure, three prelim finalists in the first four rounds is a rough start, but people understand that and tailor their expectations accordingly - that's why the mood here wasn't unduly downbeat after an okay showing for a young side away to GWS still resulted in a not-particularly-close margin, and why Good Friday was just a frustrating backwards step rather than a total capitulation.

But no reasonable set of expectations justifies the completely uncompetitive performance we saw yesterday, or choking a comfortable lead as quickly as we did at Docklands to a 2023 non-finalist who we defeated last year. And we'll continue to see this sort of rubbish time and again until we show active improvement rather than just the passive hope that playing a bunch of young players together will maybe see something click eventually, perhaps when the AFL smiles on us and gives us a nicer run later in the year.

Agree with your points here. Also, solid use of the word 'mendicant'. Gets used as rarely as our theme song after a game in recent years.

 

[Cyber_punk]

I’m really not a fan of all the “we’re sick of losing” comments during pre-season followed by the smiles post game.

Feels like a lot of our guys aren’t starving to win and be competitive, they’re just happy to coast and collect their paycheck…

Part of this goes back to the Scott days imo. It's a culture that gets passed on.

Lots of these guys know they have contracts locked in for 2-5 years so no huge consequences to coasting by