Review Half yearly update

[Squizz89]

I know there used to be a poster on this board that would do the half yearly report but I believe that was how players were tracking etc from memory.

So with that in mind, and now that we have reached the bye, I thought a quick review of the first half as a whole is in order.

The good:

• the attack (or forward line), last night aside has been working well, as it should with the amount of talent up forward.
• Neale’s form. Back to Brownlow contention (would move to seriously ugly if he requests a trade at the end of the year).
• Daniher’a form. Before injury he was a legitimate chance of the Coleman and last night proved how much we need him in the team.
• Rayner’s form. Started slow and I was worried about his future, but over the last 4-6 weeks he’s shown what he’s capable of. If his fitness continues to build he has the ability to be in our top 3 players.
• Adams’ form was really good prior to him getting crook. Was in AA form for a while there.
• Kiddy and Starce look locks for the defensive end for the next 10 years hopefully.

The bad:

• lots of experienced players down on form compared to previous years - Lyons, Harris, Zorko, Rich, Gardiner, Robbo etc.
• Hipwood has come back slowly, but willing to cut him a bit of slack after a long lay off.
• Lack of midfield depth. It appears what we are seeing at the moment is really what we are going to get. It appears the only other options in the twos now are Terry and Matho?

The ugly:

• Again back to the midfield and the way teams have been able to get run ons against us in there. It looked like last night we made a conscious effort to avoid that which may have led to the issues between the connection with the forwards;
• Defensive transition. Even with the changes again last night there were still a couple of times where it was just to easy for the Saints (and teams all year) to transfer the ball from D50 to attack.

Looking forward:

• The last few weeks it definitely looked like we were a team in need of a bye. It looked like a few were carrying niggles;
• The older blokes like Zorko and Rich looked sore for a number of weeks now so maybe give them another test later in the year before finals;
• As I said last night we need to get Cam maxed out in the middle as much as we can, even if it’s just the centre bounces. For a so so midfield he offers it something we don’t otherwise have, someone who can break tackles and move the ball forward.
• At 10-3 and largely playing pretty average all year, besides a great game in Sydney, it is certainly a start you’d take if offered. I believe the competition as a whole is pretty average right now, but with that comes an opportunity to strike. We just need to find a way to sneak that second spot as I’d go into any game at the Gabba right now (bar against Melbourne), confident we’d have a reasonable chance of a result in a final against the other teams.
  
  Miss anything? Change anything? To harsh on some?

 

[Nathan Barley]

Pretty simple for me; Have we improved on the last 3 years?

My answer- no. Main issue is the midfield has gone backwards. Mostly the older guys; Zorko, Lyons and Robbo. Rayner and Berry have stepped up but not by enough.

 

[irish]

10 /3 and not played to our best all season to date ! Hippy very slow to get his mojo back , Zorko caring all sorts of injury
Backs loose as a rubber band , mids other than Neale not seen for large portions of games , Daniher holding the forwards when others disappear for half the games

But … we have managed to be in a great position with plenty to get right , don’t win premierships in June so have the bye a rest reshape and work on our faults then drive it home just like the dogs did a few years back !

 

[martinson]

Pretty simple for me; Have we improved on the last 3 years?

My answer- no. Main issue is the midfield has gone backwards. Mostly the older guys; Zorko, Lyons and Robbo. Rayner and Berry have stepped up but not by enough.

Have to agree.

But bringing Daniher in has improved the forward set up. McStay has improved. Hipwood not what he was but have to cut him some slack.

Adams and Coleman have improved the back set up. Andrews tracking below what his best was . Starcevich is getting better all the time. Answerth I'm not so keen on.

No improvement in the ruck and midfield. Given Fort has provided a bit more stability but he's not best 22.

If we want to be in contention this year we either need our part time midfielders to take the next step quickly or bring in someone who will make a difference ,if we have them. That's our achilles heel.

 

[Gadzorks]

Year of two seasons.

Season One we limped, we scraped, we struggled but we set ourselves up for session two. Los of players down on Form and looking tired. Maybe it was more preseason level training than competition season. Finals seemed a long way off and players didn't bring their finals intensity to their game.

Season Two - I'm expecting a completely different team back after the bye. Rested, focused, determined and playing with clinical precision. They know finals are close, and they will play like every game is a final

 

[rye]

we're 2-2 against other top 8 teams with the losses being on average by only 2 goals. this isnt including the wins over those pushing for the last few spots in the 8 but currently out of it in collingwood and gold coast. with plenty that can be improved we're already holding up against the teams we're likely to see come finals

think the coaching staff showed last night a willingness to shake up who is on ball a bit more. dev rob keeping his spot last few weeks and cam getting more midfield minutes solidifies this for me. finding the right balance with rotations and synergy probably the key to fixing our midfield issues. robbo is cooked and zorko's body is unfortunately starting to catch up with him means we cant rely on those two like we have in the past.

rayner, berry, starce and coleman all pushing hard and improving week on week. love watching their game

if we can build form at the back end of the year no reason we cant win the flag. up to how much some of these guys want it

 

[SizeMatters]

Lions are the most unconvincing 10-3 team in the history of the game.

 

[LIONS08]

Lions are the most unconvincing 10-3 team in the history of the game.

How so? From memory in 2016 I think it was… north were 10-3 and only scrapped into the 8 by percentage… time will tell but I reckon that Norrh team were much more unconvincing..

 

[Elixuh]

10-3 is a good position to attack the remainder of the season. Interesting to see what we tweak in the midfield heading into finals.

As we know too well, finals then a different kettle of fish. And it looks as though we will be one of the more experienced finals sides this year.

 

[Elixuh]

How so? From memory in 2016 I think it was… north were 10-3 and only scrapped into the 8 by percentage… time will tell but I reckon that Norrh team were much more unconvincing..

He’s trolling.

 

[davemc_lions]

Have to agree mids gone backwards.
Backline we improved with Kiddy, Starc and Adams.. Andrews/Dizzy gone backwards
Forwardline Joe added more direction. Hippy still finding his feet and Charlie can be up and down as not top dog
Also add Bailey better then a few years ago

So pluses and minus

 

[Tom14]

Have to agree mids gone backwards.
Backline we improved with Kiddy, Starc and Adams.. Andrews/Dizzy gone backwards
Forwardline Joe added more direction. Hippy still finding his feet and Charlie can be up and down as not top dog
Also add Bailey better then a few years ago

So pluses and minus

I feel pretty comfortable saying Joe is properly back in the top echelon of key forwards based on his output so far. Has basically kicked 3 goals a game when you take out the game he got injured in, and his contested marking is way up on last year.

Provided he stays fit I can't see him kicking only 1 goal across 2 finals again.

 

[martinson]

I feel pretty comfortable saying Joe is properly back in the top echelon of key forwards based on his output so far. Has basically kicked 3 goals a game when you take out the game he got injured in, and his contested marking is way up on last year.

Provided he stays fit I can't see him kicking only 1 goal across 2 finals again.

He seems genuinely happy playing . Which is the key to him. The look of despair all over his face when he did his shoulder a few weeks ago showed that this team and the experience means a lot to him.

Before injuries and the spotlight got on top of him he was unstoppable at times.

I don't think anyone's got to the bottom of Joe yet. It's possible his best years are ahead of him.

 

[Sherrinator]

Rayner and Coleman the most notable improvers. Coleman erases all my stresses as I know that he will make a solid decision.

I like how we played much more defensively in the mids this last game. I’m thinking that we need to run Starcevich through there sooner rather than later though with the drop off of our senior guys.

 

[3KZ is Football]

We do need to lift as a team and individual players need to find form, but I’d rather be 10-3 than 3-10 or anywhere in between.

The really interesting question and one that people may be reluctant to consider at this stage, was posed to me by a friend last night when he asked,”Has Fagan taken you as far as he can?”

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Solid first half of the year. I'll take 10-3 any day of the week.

The fact that we haven't been utterly blown away in any of our games is a good sign. It shows that the gulf between our best and worst has narrowed, although it's felt like we've had to win ugly more often than not this year. Hopefully, that's just us timing our run for the second half of the year.

The clear improvement from Rayner, Daniher and Coleman contrasts with Gardiner, Rich and Lyons falling off a bit. Hopefully, we can get those boys going in the second half of the year.

I didn't watch the Saints game so I wouldn't know but from what I've heard it was a real scrap and seeing the scoreboard suggests to me that our defence is back on track after the past few weeks.

Overall there are some clear areas for improvement but 10-3 means we're in it up to our necks rn and I don't think we've lost many admirers with the losses we've had.

EDIT: 1st place now. Couldn't have asked for a better start to the year

 

[Elixuh]

Top of the table at the end of the halfway mark. Why are we so trash.

 

[Sherrinator]

First at the break lol

 

[Some_guy]

Strange to say we are 10-3 sitting at the top of the ladder, Yet still haven't looked our best. Even in our losses we havent been blown away, So shows even when we arent playing the best we are still toughing it out.

In terms of players, I've really enjoyed watching Rayner in full flight. So strong through the contest and really a point in difference in our midfield. Coleman has really nailed down his spot and just looks so assured for someone who hasnt even played 50 games. Lastly, Big Joe really is fun to watch. Things just happen around him.

So hope the boys can rest and reset and get ready for the second half of the year. Play our cards right and this could be our year

 

[Viceregal]

For a team that seems to be incoherent at times, starts slow, doesn't overkill the opposition when down, crucified by the umpiring fraternity, inconsistent, too old, too slow, lacking in defensive intensity, carrying unworthy players, lousy coaching and just making up the numbers for our inevitable bundling out in September (did I cover it all?) we seem to be tracking well on the ladder ... so I guess the overall the other 17 teams are even worse than our diabolical selves in some combination of those areas.

I do think we are good chance to at least break even with the Bye 'though.

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

We are on top and if the crazies lock us down and end the season we are premiers!!

 

[BangyBangy]

We do need to lift as a team and individual players need to find form, but I’d rather be 10-3 than 3-10 or anywhere in between.

The really interesting question and one that people may be reluctant to consider at this stage, was posed to me by a friend last night when he asked,”Has Fagan taken you as far as he can?”

I have no idea. Nor does anyone. But nothing I have seen screams out at me we need a new head coach.

Was your friend suggesting that we get rid of our head coach while keeping our line coaches & game day tacticians?

 

[3KZ is Football]

I have no idea. Nor does anyone. But nothing I have seen screams out at me we need a new head coach.

Was your friend suggesting that we get rid of our head coach while keeping our line coaches & game day tacticians?

We are on top of the ladder, so hard to do better than that. I would have thought Fagan is the envy of most coaches tonight.

The back half of the season and finals will settle the question I would have thought,

 

[a mayes ing]

Doing fantastic obviously as we are the top team atm. However, would be good to see how many top 8 teams we have played in comparison to the top 5 teams on the ladder. Feels like we have played a lot of teams in the lower reaches of the ladder.

 

[3KZ is Football]

A very wise Collingwood supporter said to me today, “you don’t win Premierships in June”, when I asked him if the lid was off at Collingwood after their win against Melbourne.

This got me thinking. He was right of course, but you can certainly set yourself up to have a serious tilt at the finals if you are well placed mid race and can come storming home, like Cole Diesel in the 1989 Caulfield Cup.

So how are we placed this year compared to where we were in each of our last three Premiership and subsequent Grand Final years? Very well placed it seems.

After Round 13:
2001: 8-5 and 6th on ladder
2002: 10-3 and 2nd on ladder
2003: 9-3 plus a draw and 3rd on ladder
2004: 9-4 and 3rd on ladder
2022: 10-3 and 1st on ladder

From this perspective, this has just about been our most successful first half of the season ever. Factoring in improvement in form and some ‘bug fixes’, we have every reason to be delighted with where we are at. This is especially the case because Fagan is just sitting calmly in the saddle, hasn’t had to ride hands and heels and certainly hasn’t had to resort to the whip.