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No questioning we've been poor, but what do those stats even mean? Firstly, they are based on the AFL player rankings, which we all know are an absolute load of garbage. Secondly, what are the points in time they're comparing? I assume they've taken the ratings as of last week and possibly from the end of 2018.

Not sure it gives us any further insight than what we already know. Players are down on fitness, down on form and confidence and our gameplan is possibly broken. It is a scary trifecta, but thankfully it's only the end of rnd 3. Collingwood went 0-3 to start 2018 and made the GF, we lost 3 in a row part way through 2018 when Kennedy and Darling were injured. Hopefully the Perth hub gives us the circuit breaker we need to string some wins together.

Regardless, the figures are damning and to ignore them would be folly. Many changes are necessary to freshen this team up.
 
Was watching On The Couch tonight and I nearly fell off the couch when they showed these stats.

No wonder we're struggling.

View attachment 897742

We’ve been god awful. What follows is not me trying to justify that, but instead looking forward.

If we’re putting any stock into those ranking points (never really nailed down if I believe they’re a good stat or not), then those trends are so ridiculously out of the norm that it’s almost (cruelly) a good sign at this point. Your team doesn’t just get literally half as good in a few months. Players don’t turn into a one quarter worse version of themselves in the blink of an eye.

If those numbers are meaningful, which is a discussion that needs to be had, then they paint the picture of a team that is due a statistical improvement to the mean in a harsh harsh way.
 

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JK on SEN:

"There’s a few things that have been breaking down in the chain of our style of play, but we’re working on them,” Kennedy told 6PR Breakfast.

“The abilities there; we’ve got the guys who are pretty talented guys, so it’s just a matter getting them on track and doing what they do best.”
 

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I don't blame the media for trying to find talking points, and our recent form invites that type of article, but I don't know that it belongs in the "Insightful Media Coverage" thread either.
I feel like the midfield will gel with time and start to fire, assuming they can all stay on the park. It's the ends of the ground that are more of a worry for me.
 
I don't think Watters has stumbled onto anything here. It's obvious the midfield has been badly towelled up the past 2 weeks.

I think it's more a gelling issue than anything else. No-one is certain who is going to get the footy or what they are going to do once they have it. We seem to circle the contests and then someone ducks in to have a crack. We aren't hunting the footy as a unit and the guys going in are getting crunched in the process.
 
I don't think Watters has stumbled onto anything here. It's obvious the midfield has been badly towelled up the past 2 weeks.

I think it's more a gelling issue than anything else. No-one is certain who is going to get the footy or what they are going to do once they have it. We seem to circle the contests and then someone ducks in to have a crack. We aren't hunting the footy as a unit and the guys going in are getting crunched in the process.
The most fundamental part of the game and they are all ball watching.
 
Dusty's clearances numbers have been falling away since 2017 so I don't really get the use of him as an example but otherwise the article is a bit of captain obvious. Players look to have bought into the TK hype and that he's been given freedom to go to work so they're standing back to watch the TK show.

We can't have 17 roles and one wildcard, so Simmo is going to have to revert to what won us a flag and clearly define roles for everyone, one man out one man in.
 
Does having Nic Nat in the team make our mids lazy?

Don't get me wrong but if it all goes to plan Nic Nat palming the ball straight down our mids throats while on the run is great to watch but the times it doesn't the mids dont dig in to get the hard ball once it hits the deck. In training drills im a 100% sure Nic Would be winning the tap every time to when rucking against his WC opponent.
 

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Does having Nic Nat in the team make our mids lazy?

Don't get me wrong but if it all goes to plan Nic Nat palming the ball straight down our mids throats while on the run is great to watch but the times it doesn't the mids dont dig in to get the hard ball once it hits the deck. In training drills im a 100% sure Nic Would be winning the tap every time to when rucking against his WC opponent.

New training strategy:

Partner our A+ mids with Vardy from now on.

Make them remember what it's like to have to work for it.
 
Titus isn't really mainstream, but I think he's still media and he's nailed it again:

The constant perpetuating of an ‘us against them’ mentality, between Victoria and the ‘Interstate clubs’ as they call them, is what annoys me most about the AFL industry at the moment.

It’s a national competition and it’s better for being so.

Sure, it’s not a fair competition, and never has been. Looking for fairness in the AFL is like looking for love in a nightclub at 3am. It’s not happening and never has.

Do interstate teams get advantages? Yes. Do Victorian teams? Yes.

Do some teams get more advantages that others? Yes.

Do some teams get draft concessions when they probably shouldn’t? Yes.

Is it a hot mess that drives people crazy? Yes.

But it’s like complaining about the tides, they’re going to happen whether you complain or not. It’s never going to change, it’s too complex a system to ever get completely right.

The idea that the non-Victorian teams are somehow getting the most advantages though is ridiculous. Consider this, if you were given an expansion team, where would you set it up?

For me, it would be based in Melbourne and play at the MCG. Straight away you have minimal travel, play a lot of your ‘away’ games at home, and get a great chance of finals being played at your home ground, with the Grand Final a certainty.

You’ll also find player retention at lot easier.

Yet it’s often the richer, stronger clubs based in Melbourne that do the most whinging.

 
If you haven't already, read the whole article mate.He's on a roll today.

Yeah, it was a good one. Although, I still do bear a little grudge because he was taking pot shots at WC, and their hubbing colleagues, about much of a hardship it really was before the season started on his podcast. This article somewhat redeemed him though.

I should also point out (not at you arfadunger) that some of this article is aimed at WC too - we need to drop some of the 'Vic bias!', 'it's a conspiracy!!' too and focus on fighting the big fights.
 

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