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Opinion Is this rock bottom?

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3/4 time for the past 3 months

Let’s be honest and break it down to real time because “Rounds” dilutes how insipid we are at present.

Three years of insipidness.

My consecutive membership for this stint is 15 years. I only hold on knowing that when the next GF comes around my Level of Membership should be getting me a ticket into the Coaches box on the day.
 
I don't believe that we can simply travel like this until the end of the season. I outlined on another thread, now closed, my issues with getting the ticket onto my phone. Did so eventually with help from Kangarooster and Nylex (thanks guys). However when I get to the game and attempt to go in I find that the ticket isn't there. Seek help and no one can find a solution. I'm then sent to the ticket boxes near gate 7. Its about 10 minutes before the game and each ticket box has about a line of 30 people. Most in the queue were wearing North gear, were they supporters but not members? Again an attendant tries to help but was unsuccessful. I then bought a GA ticket to get in.

I'll contact the Club this week to work out what went wrong. If mine is not an isolated incident then we are in real trouble.
 
Limerick said:
I don't believe that we can simply travel like this until the end of the season. I outlined on another thread, now closed, my issues with getting the ticket onto my phone. Did so eventually with help from Kangarooster and Nylex (thanks guys). However when I get to the game and attempt to go in I find that the ticket isn't there. Seek help and no one can find a solution. I'm then sent to the ticket boxes near gate 7. Its about 10 minutes before the game and each ticket box has about a line of 30 people. Most in the queue were wearing North gear, were they supporters but not members? Again an attendant tries to help but was unsuccessful. I then bought a GA ticket to get in.

I'll contact the Club this week to work out what went wrong. If mine is not an isolated incident then we are in real trouble.
Click to expand...
FFS. And the AFL is spending thousands on surveys to find out why people aren't going to the footy.
 
rm3504 said:
Whenever I see turner and Hayden named I know we still on a slope downwards
Click to expand...
Yes well let’s have a look at those that played for us yesterday .
I’ll list those I think could have decent careers ahead of them . Some of course won’t get named due to their age.
In no particular order …

Powell , Simpkin , Curtis , Larkey , JHF, Perez , LDU, McDonald and Stephenson.
That’s about it yep we’re in a spot of bother .

Oh well
 

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Limerick said:
I don't believe that we can simply travel like this until the end of the season. I outlined on another thread, now closed, my issues with getting the ticket onto my phone. Did so eventually with help from Kangarooster and Nylex (thanks guys). However when I get to the game and attempt to go in I find that the ticket isn't there. Seek help and no one can find a solution. I'm then sent to the ticket boxes near gate 7. Its about 10 minutes before the game and each ticket box has about a line of 30 people. Most in the queue were wearing North gear, were they supporters but not members? Again an attendant tries to help but was unsuccessful. I then bought a GA ticket to get in.

I'll contact the Club this week to work out what went wrong. If mine is not an isolated incident then we are in real trouble.
Click to expand...
Lim, that sounds like a terrible experience at the footy. Disappointed to hear it was so bloody hard and you had to fork out even more $ to get in.
If anyone one from the club is reading this, can you please help this bloke out with the ticketing app and sort out a suitable reimbursement for him
 
Rock bottom for us is losing TT, LDU and JHF over the next two seasons. If that happens, you can pretty much stick a fork in whatever rebuild we have in the works. If McKay were to go in addition to 2 of any of the above, we'd be absolutely finished as a football club for the next 10 years.
 
Nylex said:
Lim, that sounds like a terrible experience at the footy. Disappointed to hear it was so bloody hard and you had to fork out even more $ to get in.
If anyone one from the club is reading this, can you please help this bloke out with the ticketing app and sort out a suitable reimbursement for him
Click to expand...
I’ll contact them tomorrow. The one question that the Club should have is “why would so many north supporters turn up in full gear and buy a ticket”.
 
Nylex said:
Lim, that sounds like a terrible experience at the footy. Disappointed to hear it was so bloody hard and you had to fork out even more $ to get in.
If anyone one from the club is reading this, can you please help this bloke out with the ticketing app and sort out a suitable reimbursement for him
Click to expand...

Might be worth having a pinned thread for posters to help those with phone issues on their ticket.


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Love seeing everyone's takes on this, and god I hope this is Rock Bottom.

In my opinion, Leadership is the problem and it’s the result of many events.

The team is obviously struggling in the leadership stake and this is leading to the mini bust-ups, the frustration and the lack of authentic buy-in to the game plan.

Last year much of the momentum and excitement came from the buy-in of Phillips, Lazarro, Powell & Ford to our game plan and where we were headed – they re-singed early and really built some momentum.

Furthermore, they were given opportunities to play and this in turn gave us hope of where we were headed.

That hope accelerated when Cunnington & Dumont returned to the side through the year and we watched the emergence of Simpkin as a leader and observed improvement from LDU, Thomas, McKay and Zurhaar and Larkey improved as the year went on and our form improved.

For all we know we could have potentially the same level of excitement form this year’s draftees however it does seem that Bergman, Goater & Curtis were perhaps shielded a little more from the spotlight than last year’s draftees.

This makes me curious, as they had actually played footy for the 12 months leading into getting drafted as opposed to last year’s crop with the exception of Powell.

When reflecting, the decision to move on Dumont and Atley at this particular point in their careers – professional athletes, good characters and role models, particularly Dumont with his connections off the field, may have been ill advised.

The love affair with Turner has been one that seems to have been passed down since his first year at the club – he is someone who punches well above is weight and that leadership and the example he sets to standards off the field is probably why he continues to play.

It’s stunning how much more value Atley or Dumont might add to this group if they could replicate those off field standards through their value on field through this rebuild.

But clearly the intention was to give some of our younger players more responsibility.

This has been seriously affected by the lack of influence Will Phillips has been able to have over the group. One player can make an enormous difference in a club seemingly bereft of leadership from the top down.

HE was recruited with future leadership in mind and his glandular fever could have had a far bigger impact on the group than anyone could imagine.

His energy around the group and maturity is exactly what is missing with that younger group right now – a calm head amongst growing frustration, along with his clean contested work and fans being able to get excited about what he might provide is a huge hole in where we are at.

Sporadic availability of Anderson, Hall, McKay & obviously Cunnington have an enormous impact on the group. Even the injury to Polec, who can at last play on a wing and provide some offensive run, have severely depleted our depth and left us with little to no selection pressure.

The fact Jackson Archer has been an emergency on five occasions, something reserved to reward young players with standout performances in the VFL, with the way he has performed is testimony to the lack of depth.

The change in the S&C dept could be the reason for the increase in injuries at the club and this is something that really needs to be looked at.

Is it because there has been a significant shift in a regime that has been the same for years, is this part of the process of adjustment, because if it is then that is explainable as to where it is at.

But there are a huge number of events that have conspired to have us where we are right now and the lack of significant player leadership is the first aspect.

The perceived lack of transparency of standards until now – there are countless reports of our 19-22 year olds missing basic training standards – logging weight sessions, recording extras, providing basic data for the S&C team has been pretty discouraging.

With Phillips not there and able to drive standards, Lazarro’s form dipping, Ford’s injury and Powell’s questionable use within the team as a result of Noble’s selection policy mean that group can’t take over and begin driving new standards.

The older group seem to have a disconnect with the Thomas’s, Horne-Francis’s of the world and the mid-tier is where this leadership needs to come from – but there isn’t exactly a high volume of those either. The good players from each draft are unicorns and don’t have their fellow draftees at the same level.

Simpkin, Larkey & Zurhaar, particularly the former two, really do seem to be trying to take some responsibility for the future direction which is great. Unfortunately their roles in the team are almost overwhelming given the roles they are being asked to play. The lack of support for SImpkin & Larkey has been a by product of the injury list and perhaps the lack of finding one KPP player to assist – WTF was Tom Lynch for as he would have been the perfect foil. Still have not heard on explanation on that. Comben & Ford injuries not helping their either though.

LDU only has XErri for company in the senior side and his position in the side has been contentious, Thomas, Taylor, Scott are all at similar games played but none of them seem to scream leadership, Comben, Mahony & Perez are all still trying to find their feet which should not be surprising given Perez and Comben were both taken knowing they had injury issues that required some recovery.

So until last year’s batch, the ability to truly lead has been lacking and I really felt Phillip’s cohort could help with that and that was a huge reason Phillips was chosen.

Unfortunately, it appears there are not too many leaders among the guys selected last year either – JHF is a kid nursing ridiculous expectations and media scrutiny that is completely unwarranted.

He also has made some serious errors that you would not imagine any of last year’s draftees would make from a buy-in perspective. That’s not to say he won’t learn and become a leader, but right now his behaviour is not going any way to driving standards around the place.

Goater, Curtis & Bergman are being handled with kid gloves, so form a recruiting perspective it’s inherent that some leadership to drive standards is the #1 focus – forget position.

These under the radar types we continue to take are generally not rated – that means their mindset is not necessarily elite, not necessarily top of class and we need leadership desperately.

That’s why Roos leaving his post and having his Consultancy company running the Leadership program without him here is a massive fail.

Having Ziebell who can’t play next year, Goldy who has never been a leader and communicator and Sugar as the veterans leading the way was always fraught with danger without the right program in place.

Football life is all above the ears. It’s about preparation, beliefs, and authentic culture that drives standards and behaviours that are better than any other clubs.

Phillips started a handball club at the start of the year the Josh Walker refused to engage in – if anyone could do with some improvement in that space it would be him.

These are the positive signs that we have some leaders there that need to be harnessed and the biggest fail has clearly been the disconnect in creating standards.

That is on the coaching group and these “Leadership Consultants”. That’s where the first change needs to happen and needs to happen quickly.

Noble is not the answer one wouldn’t think, but a quick shift in Leadership standards and buy-in to those is where this starts.

And that starts with the players driving it, the players being empowered and feeling like they belong.

Selection, the game plan, the hope needs to be driven by the coaches. This rebuild talk, this crap about knowing where we are at, about referencing god-awful sides as the markers for our rebuild is rubbish.

Create your own rebuild, your own history. Look at Collingwood, Hawthorn, they aren’t using the most abominable sides in recent memory as their marker.

They are empowering kids to come in, stand up on the big stage and make their own mark. But that’s because they are not walking past standards that are not good enough. They call one another out with respect and do something about it.

The CEO has a lot to answer for here too – as does Sonja.

It’s not acceptable to keep referencing the worst of the worst. Make your own case, build your own story about how this is going to be and have the players drive it. This comes from the football department and the Board.

The Roos thing has been a disaster ever since he left to go to Hawaii. The club was pinning so much on his knowledge of a rebuild, on his experience.

Using his offsiders to drive this is not working and was never going to work.

People forget Peter Jackson drove that change at Melbourne, got Roos to the club, put the support around him.

Could you imagine Peter Jackson spitting out the vitriol that has come from Amarfio’s mouth about being exactly where we want to be sitting 1 win 11 losses and 52%?

There is a Leadership vacuum and when that is addressed, and it could be addressed quite quickly, then the club can turn this around.

But it will take some brave decisions from the Board that may need to be timed accordingly.

The first is to change the Leadership program within ASAP, the second is to find the BEST CEO in the game, the next is to find the BEST available EXPERIENCED Coach because the club doesn’t have the talent within to support a McRae or a Longmuir right now.
 
Really great post Midas. I recommend anybody who scrolled past his essay to give it a read.

In addition, I've thought for a while now that there's a pretty clear generational gap at the club. We have two players between the ages of 25 and 26 on our list, and it serves as a metaphorical divide between the future and the old guard.

In a lot of ways, Jy Simpkin is already captain of that 24 and under group. The work he does mentoring, leading and setting standards for the young players speaks for itself and it's clear that he has the respect of that group. While some on this board may have issues with his disposal or defensive application, it's undeniable that he is the next captain of our footy club.

Simpkin and those younger than him are the future of this football club, and arguably one of David Noble's biggest sins is that he hasn't given them ownership. Young players have been allowed to play, but only as long as they are stout defensively and are able to fit a binary role that takes away their freedom and arguably enjoyment on the footy field.

There is a core senior structure, and the young players are more or less instructed to not get in the way.

Last year was enjoyable to fans as it had signs of Lazzaro kicking running goals, Phillips kicking snaps from the pocket, Stephenson rushing down the wing, Thomas putting on an absolute show and Powell amazing us with his skills. Apart from Phillips, who has missed the year so far due to illness, all of those players have been dropped at various times this year.

David Noble clearly has a lot of time for currently limited defensive players like Jackson Archer, Jack Mahony, Kyron Hayden, Lachie Young, but has not given the same nurturing to their attacking counterparts. Young players in the side with some attacking flair, such as Curtis Taylor, Bailey Scott, and Flynn Perez, have all had defensive mindsets coached into them. At VFL level, Goater was potentially a Fyfe like inside midfielder, or attacking rebounding defender, yet they have him playing close to goal in an almost pure defensive role.

To me, this isn't empowering players. This is limiting them in order to achieve arbitrary KPIs placed on Noble in a lost season. The young culture that was built last year is being intentionally destroyed, as David Noble is not ready to accept the onfield mistakes that come with it. If you are a young player, how could you not be frustrated?

If the right decision is made and David Noble is fired tomorrow, then a new coach needs to come in and give the future of this roobuild the freedom to make mistakes and more importantly the freedom to develop their natural games.
 
Mixed Results said:
Really great post Midas. I recommend anybody who scrolled past his essay to give it a read.

In addition, I've thought for a while now that there's a pretty clear generational gap at the club. We have two players between the ages of 25 and 26 on our list, and it serves as a metaphorical divide between the future and the old guard.

In a lot of ways, Jy Simpkin is already captain of that 24 and under group. The work he does mentoring, leading and setting standards for the young players speaks for itself and it's clear that he has the respect of that group. While some on this board may have issues with his disposal or defensive application, it's undeniable that he is the next captain of our footy club.

Simpkin and those younger than him are the future of this football club, and arguably one of David Noble's biggest sins is that he hasn't given them ownership. Young players have been allowed to play, but only as long as they are stout defensively and are able to fit a binary role that takes away their freedom and arguably enjoyment on the footy field.

There is a core senior structure, and the young players are more or less instructed to not get in the way.

Last year was enjoyable to fans as it had signs of Lazzaro kicking running goals, Phillips kicking snaps from the pocket, Stephenson rushing down the wing, Thomas putting on an absolute show and Powell amazing us with his skills. Apart from Phillips, who has missed the year so far due to illness, all of those players have been dropped at various times this year.

David Noble clearly has a lot of time for currently limited defensive players like Jackson Archer, Jack Mahony, Kyron Hayden, Lachie Young, but has not given the same nurturing to their attacking counterparts. Young players in the side with some attacking flair, such as Curtis Taylor, Bailey Scott, and Flynn Perez, have all had defensive mindsets coached into them. At VFL level, Goater was potentially a Fyfe like inside midfielder, or attacking rebounding defender, yet they have him playing close to goal in an almost pure defensive role.

To me, this isn't empowering players. This is limiting them in order to achieve arbitrary KPIs placed on Noble in a lost season. The young culture that was built last year is being intentionally destroyed, as David Noble is not ready to accept the onfield mistakes that come with it. If you are a young player, how could you not be frustrated?

If the right decision is made and David Noble is fired tomorrow, then a new coach needs to come in and give the future of this roobuild the freedom to make mistakes and more importantly the freedom to develop their natural games.
Click to expand...
There's something off with the development of our younger players and that needs to be addressed. They need to be given the freedom to develop. When Noble should go is an altogether different question. The problem is it needs to be done within the confines of a very clear path forward. I'm not sure that exists at the moment so the Board will likely run with Better the Devil you know.
 
Mixed Results

"At VFL level, Goater was potentially a Fyfe like inside midfielder, or attacking rebounding defender, yet they have him playing close to goal in an almost pure defensive role".

Yes that is 100% true and factual and why he hasn't played as yet. He isn't defending to the level required. Call me old fashioned but I'd have thought having the ball is best way forward.

Oh well.
 

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Mav said:
Not yet. When CZ, TT, TG, JS and JHF all ask to be traded at the end of the year, then we’ve hit rock bottom.
Click to expand...
I’d happily trade JS, there won’t be any interest though. I’d consider trading CZ if the return was good enough. TT has another year we can repair that, with a new coach
 

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Le Grille said:
I’d happily trade JS, there won’t be any interest though. I’d consider trading CZ if the return was good enough. TT has another year we can repair that, with a new coach
Click to expand...
Which JS?
 
Le Grille said:
Yeah is this opinion or fact?
Click to expand...
It's fact. I've now heard some player managers of SA draftees aren't taking calls from North until they know what is happening with both players and coaches.
 
Midas said:
Love seeing everyone's takes on this, and god I hope this is Rock Bottom.

In my opinion, Leadership is the problem and it’s the result of many events.

The team is obviously struggling in the leadership stake and this is leading to the mini bust-ups, the frustration and the lack of authentic buy-in to the game plan.

Last year much of the momentum and excitement came from the buy-in of Phillips, Lazarro, Powell & Ford to our game plan and where we were headed – they re-singed early and really built some momentum.

Furthermore, they were given opportunities to play and this in turn gave us hope of where we were headed.

That hope accelerated when Cunnington & Dumont returned to the side through the year and we watched the emergence of Simpkin as a leader and observed improvement from LDU, Thomas, McKay and Zurhaar and Larkey improved as the year went on and our form improved.

For all we know we could have potentially the same level of excitement form this year’s draftees however it does seem that Bergman, Goater & Curtis were perhaps shielded a little more from the spotlight than last year’s draftees.

This makes me curious, as they had actually played footy for the 12 months leading into getting drafted as opposed to last year’s crop with the exception of Powell.

When reflecting, the decision to move on Dumont and Atley at this particular point in their careers – professional athletes, good characters and role models, particularly Dumont with his connections off the field, may have been ill advised.

The love affair with Turner has been one that seems to have been passed down since his first year at the club – he is someone who punches well above is weight and that leadership and the example he sets to standards off the field is probably why he continues to play.

It’s stunning how much more value Atley or Dumont might add to this group if they could replicate those off field standards through their value on field through this rebuild.

But clearly the intention was to give some of our younger players more responsibility.

This has been seriously affected by the lack of influence Will Phillips has been able to have over the group. One player can make an enormous difference in a club seemingly bereft of leadership from the top down.

HE was recruited with future leadership in mind and his glandular fever could have had a far bigger impact on the group than anyone could imagine.

His energy around the group and maturity is exactly what is missing with that younger group right now – a calm head amongst growing frustration, along with his clean contested work and fans being able to get excited about what he might provide is a huge hole in where we are at.

Sporadic availability of Anderson, Hall, McKay & obviously Cunnington have an enormous impact on the group. Even the injury to Polec, who can at last play on a wing and provide some offensive run, have severely depleted our depth and left us with little to no selection pressure.

The fact Jackson Archer has been an emergency on five occasions, something reserved to reward young players with standout performances in the VFL, with the way he has performed is testimony to the lack of depth.

The change in the S&C dept could be the reason for the increase in injuries at the club and this is something that really needs to be looked at.

Is it because there has been a significant shift in a regime that has been the same for years, is this part of the process of adjustment, because if it is then that is explainable as to where it is at.

But there are a huge number of events that have conspired to have us where we are right now and the lack of significant player leadership is the first aspect.

The perceived lack of transparency of standards until now – there are countless reports of our 19-22 year olds missing basic training standards – logging weight sessions, recording extras, providing basic data for the S&C team has been pretty discouraging.

With Phillips not there and able to drive standards, Lazarro’s form dipping, Ford’s injury and Powell’s questionable use within the team as a result of Noble’s selection policy mean that group can’t take over and begin driving new standards.

The older group seem to have a disconnect with the Thomas’s, Horne-Francis’s of the world and the mid-tier is where this leadership needs to come from – but there isn’t exactly a high volume of those either. The good players from each draft are unicorns and don’t have their fellow draftees at the same level.

Simpkin, Larkey & Zurhaar, particularly the former two, really do seem to be trying to take some responsibility for the future direction which is great. Unfortunately their roles in the team are almost overwhelming given the roles they are being asked to play. The lack of support for SImpkin & Larkey has been a by product of the injury list and perhaps the lack of finding one KPP player to assist – WTF was Tom Lynch for as he would have been the perfect foil. Still have not heard on explanation on that. Comben & Ford injuries not helping their either though.

LDU only has XErri for company in the senior side and his position in the side has been contentious, Thomas, Taylor, Scott are all at similar games played but none of them seem to scream leadership, Comben, Mahony & Perez are all still trying to find their feet which should not be surprising given Perez and Comben were both taken knowing they had injury issues that required some recovery.

So until last year’s batch, the ability to truly lead has been lacking and I really felt Phillip’s cohort could help with that and that was a huge reason Phillips was chosen.

Unfortunately, it appears there are not too many leaders among the guys selected last year either – JHF is a kid nursing ridiculous expectations and media scrutiny that is completely unwarranted.

He also has made some serious errors that you would not imagine any of last year’s draftees would make from a buy-in perspective. That’s not to say he won’t learn and become a leader, but right now his behaviour is not going any way to driving standards around the place.

Goater, Curtis & Bergman are being handled with kid gloves, so form a recruiting perspective it’s inherent that some leadership to drive standards is the #1 focus – forget position.

These under the radar types we continue to take are generally not rated – that means their mindset is not necessarily elite, not necessarily top of class and we need leadership desperately.

That’s why Roos leaving his post and having his Consultancy company running the Leadership program without him here is a massive fail.

Having Ziebell who can’t play next year, Goldy who has never been a leader and communicator and Sugar as the veterans leading the way was always fraught with danger without the right program in place.

Football life is all above the ears. It’s about preparation, beliefs, and authentic culture that drives standards and behaviours that are better than any other clubs.

Phillips started a handball club at the start of the year the Josh Walker refused to engage in – if anyone could do with some improvement in that space it would be him.

These are the positive signs that we have some leaders there that need to be harnessed and the biggest fail has clearly been the disconnect in creating standards.

That is on the coaching group and these “Leadership Consultants”. That’s where the first change needs to happen and needs to happen quickly.

Noble is not the answer one wouldn’t think, but a quick shift in Leadership standards and buy-in to those is where this starts.

And that starts with the players driving it, the players being empowered and feeling like they belong.

Selection, the game plan, the hope needs to be driven by the coaches. This rebuild talk, this crap about knowing where we are at, about referencing god-awful sides as the markers for our rebuild is rubbish.

Create your own rebuild, your own history. Look at Collingwood, Hawthorn, they aren’t using the most abominable sides in recent memory as their marker.

They are empowering kids to come in, stand up on the big stage and make their own mark. But that’s because they are not walking past standards that are not good enough. They call one another out with respect and do something about it.

The CEO has a lot to answer for here too – as does Sonja.

It’s not acceptable to keep referencing the worst of the worst. Make your own case, build your own story about how this is going to be and have the players drive it. This comes from the football department and the Board.

The Roos thing has been a disaster ever since he left to go to Hawaii. The club was pinning so much on his knowledge of a rebuild, on his experience.

Using his offsiders to drive this is not working and was never going to work.

People forget Peter Jackson drove that change at Melbourne, got Roos to the club, put the support around him.

Could you imagine Peter Jackson spitting out the vitriol that has come from Amarfio’s mouth about being exactly where we want to be sitting 1 win 11 losses and 52%?

There is a Leadership vacuum and when that is addressed, and it could be addressed quite quickly, then the club can turn this around.

But it will take some brave decisions from the Board that may need to be timed accordingly.

The first is to change the Leadership program within ASAP, the second is to find the BEST CEO in the game, the next is to find the BEST available EXPERIENCED Coach because the club doesn’t have the talent within to support a McRae or a Longmuir right now.
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Opinion Is this rock bottom?

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