Opinion Is this rock bottom?

[Devil Fish]

Is this rock bottom? Great question. Who knows? We've all asked ourselves that question a few times over the last couple of years. I know I have. I see a decade of pain ahead to be brutally honest. The introduction of a Tazzie team will hurt us enormously, particularly if we don't land SERIOUS talent in the next 2 years.

I've followed NMFC closely since the early '80's and this is comfortably the worst list I can recall.

The list has a severe shortage of talent, first and foremost. But then combine that with a lack of leadership, grunt and mongrel, we are no better than Fitzroy of '96 IMO. As a supporter, I now go to games expecting a 5-15 goal loss depending on who we are playing. It's bloody awful.

Anyone who thinks guys like Scott, Mahony, Turner, Xerri, Goater, Powell, Corr, Phillips, Bergman, Comben, Perez, Thomas, Spicer, Edwards, Dawson etc are the answer, is seriously kidding themselves. A couple of these kids may end up being decent B Grade footballers (Goater and Bergman?), Comben may end up being a player if his body allows it. Thomas who knows? But the rest are so limited in terms of actual football talent, it's frightening. Even our co-captains are B Grade footballers. It makes you really wonder whether Rawlings & co. actually have a clue, and yet these are the guys entrusted with getting us out of this hole. That's what concerns me most.
Years of drafting/trading in top blokes, quality people, mid-sized, mid-paced, poorly skilled footballers has finally taken its toll. I dare say Clarko must be wondering WTF he has got himself into.

Another year of watching us hoping we finish last sucks BIG time, but it seems that is our only hope of possibly landing the talent we need.

Is this rock bottom? I bloody hope so, but I wouldn't be betting against another similar thread being posted in 2029.

 

[Devil Fish]

Fitzroy were worse, HEAPS worse in 95/96, I know, I was at the games.

The worst thing that can happen in a period of extended uselessness is that people realise footy doesn't really matter. You lose the rusted on fans. And their kids.

Fitzroys average losing margin in 1996 was 10 goals. We are marginally better than that at the moment, but with 13 games to go, we will give that a nudge. So to say Fitzroy of 95/96 was "HEAPS" worse??? Not so sure.

 

[roo blitz]

Is this rock bottom? Great question. Who knows? We've all asked ourselves that question a few times over the last couple of years. I know I have. I see a decade of pain ahead to be brutally honest. The introduction of a Tazzie team will hurt us enormously, particularly if we don't land SERIOUS talent in the next 2 years.

I've followed NMFC closely since the early '80's and this is comfortably the worst list I can recall.

The list has a severe shortage of talent, first and foremost. But then combine that with a lack of leadership, grunt and mongrel, we are no better than Fitzroy of '96 IMO. As a supporter, I now go to games expecting a 5-15 goal loss depending on who we are playing. It's bloody awful.

Anyone who thinks guys like Scott, Mahony, Turner, Xerri, Goater, Powell, Corr, Phillips, Bergman, Comben, Perez, Thomas, Spicer, Edwards, Dawson etc are the answer, is seriously kidding themselves. A couple of these kids may end up being decent B Grade footballers (Goater and Bergman?), Comben may end up being a player if his body allows it. Thomas who knows? But the rest are so limited in terms of actual football talent, it's frightening. Even our co-captains are B Grade footballers. It makes you really wonder whether Rawlings & co. actually have a clue, and yet these are the guys entrusted with getting us out of this hole. That's what concerns me most.
Years of drafting/trading in top blokes, quality people, mid-sized, mid-paced, poorly skilled footballers has finally taken its toll. I dare say Clarko must be wondering WTF he has got himself into.

Another year of watching us hoping we finish last sucks BIG time, but it seems that is our only hope of possibly landing the talent we need.

Is this rock bottom? I bloody hope so, but I wouldn't be betting against another similar thread being posted in 2029.

You feel exactly the way I feel and think. Great post

 

[travelli]

Fitzroys average losing margin in 1996 was 10 goals. We are marginally better than that at the moment, but with 13 games to go, we will give that a nudge. So to say Fitzroy of 95/96 was "HEAPS" worse??? Not so sure.

I was on the boundary line for the Roys games and heard the players laughing about the absurdity of it all. They knew what was coming.

It's nothing like that with the Roos. We aren't going bankrupt. They know we have a club. Just got to work. It will take years....just to be competitive.

 

[roo blitz]

I think we win a few in the back half of this year.

Looking at the fixture now, I think we win

GWS (Hobart) Rnd 13
Hawthorn (Marvel) Rnd 18
West Coast (Optus) Rnd 20
& either one of the last two games Essendon (Marvel) Rnd 22 or Richmond (MCG) Rnd 23

Just remembered we have 24 rounds this year.
Finish with a win against Gold Coast in the last at Blundstone

Reckon we end up 15th on 7 wins, but finish with 3 wins in our last four games & plenty of momentum going into 2024.

View attachment 1687926

A lot of wishful thinking. I have no where the confidence you have. I cant see where our next win is coming from

 

[marklovesbeer]

A lot of wishful thinking. I have no where the confidence you have. I cant see where our next win is coming from

Next little patch does look quite bleak.

GWS is probably wishful thinking. Kind of hoping Blundstone helps.

 

[hilly]

Essendon will make mince meat of us, turn it up MLB.

On SM-S901E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[marklovesbeer]

Essendon will make mince meat of us, turn it up MLB.

On SM-S901E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[jimandphilbadge]

Fitzroy were worse, HEAPS worse in 95/96, I know, I was at the games.

The worst thing that can happen in a period of extended uselessness is that people realise footy doesn't really matter. You lose the rusted on fans. And their kids.

Yeah, bleak times when we're using the litmus test of "we're not that bad!" to compare our current years to one club that had been that badly shafted they were training on nature strips, and another club so shit the AFL begged Barassi to be the face of their billion dollar northern push.

I was at a bbq Saturday and missed the game, and for the first time in a long time I haven't watched a single bit of replay or highlights. Guess it can only go up from here?

Based on the last few weeks, we will snag a few wins in the back half. We have no depth, get enough of the best 22 on the park at the right time and we'll pinch a couple. That's hope right there

 

[BigRedRoo]

I think that we hit rock bottom last year and are on the way up.
While the Senior team is still struggling, the VFL team was utter rubbish last year as well.
The current VFL team is showing signs of major improvements.
This is a bottom up build and we need the VFL team to improve to underpin the Senior team.
Dispite the poor results we have in the last few weeks showed some signs of improvement.
Ball movement has been better and with purpose.
We really need now to stop getting flogged at ground level.

 

[HTPunter]

It truly does not matter who is coaching or what the “system” is when more than half our players regularly fail to execute basic skills.

Oh you’ve got a great defensive system that prevents transition from d50 to f50 for the other team?? Well how about a turnover on our back 50 to give them an open forward line and forwards streaming in by themselves.
Oh your system has meant we’ve brought the ball to ground? Watch Finlayson step around McKay with terrible tackling technique with ease.
Oh our small forwards are brought in for pressure and skill? Watch 3 undersized (even for their position) smalls get a combined 23 touches 5 tackles and wonder why the other team walked it out.

We can’t lay basic tackles, can’t string disposals together, can’t work the ball forward on the spread. Can’t make the right call on spoil v mark, stay down v compete (I saw Spicer go up at one stage and his direct opponent couldn’t believe his eyes as he got an easy loose ball get).

McDonald, Corr, McKay, Simpkin, Taylor are all some of our biggest culprits of skill errors. Simpkin tries his guts out at least; and so does McDonald (although I’m a lot less forgiving of Luke), but the other 3 are happy with a pay packet. Taylor and McKay tackling technique is terrible.

We get stepped more than any other team in the comp I’d bet. Genuinely acted like Port were Gary Ablett Jnr untacklable on the weekend trying to corral them, only for them to dance around us. If this was Connor Rozee

1

Connor Rozee

Age

26

Ht

185cm

Wt

79kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.6

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.6

5star

MG

189.2

3star

D

12.8

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

5.3

3star

M

2.9

3star

T

2.4

3star

MG

189.2

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

8.4

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

3.4

5star

only I’d get that because he does it to most in the comp, but it was a large proportion of the players doing it.

Our recruiting MUST prioritise players who do the basics well, and have standard athleticism. It’s all well and good for guys of Turners ilk to try hard, but if you don’t have breakneck speed, insane ball winning ability, some height, or some Boomer Harvey strength:height ratio you quickly become up against it. We currently have 4 that fit the build. With the exception of Caleb Daniel

5

Caleb Daniel

Age

29

Ht

171cm

Wt

72kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

19.5

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

CL

1.0

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

9.2

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

, most other players in that mould sit at 178+ (Miers, Bailey etc).
For the basics, we require kicking, hand balling and tackling technique. You don’t need to hit the target EVERY time, or be a Daicos/Dawson who picks off difficult targets, but be able to understand the concept of push back hard off the mark, and then take your steps as you kick and don’t lean back on it. I genuinely fear Atley is our kicking coach the way so many of our players miskick a 20m chip because they lazily flatfoot it

 

[r00boy96]

litmus test

Curtis Taylor: A what?

 

[Elite Master]

2022
2020
2023
2021

In order from the worst it got, retrospectively. What a dark, dark age for the club.

Remember the days of medicore, mostly mid table finishes where we were neither good nor bad from 2001-2019? Yeah those days seem golden compared to this dark age from 2020-2023.

 

[leighlee13]

Remember the days of medicore, mostly mid table finishes where we were neither good nor bad from 2001-2019? Yeah those days seem golden compared to this dark age from 2020-2023.

Unfortunately you don't appreciate what you have until it is gone

 

[shinboner spiggs]

What’s the worst performance we’ve had over this glory stretch?

The contenders for me are:
Gold Coast 2020- complete non effort against a crap side
Good Friday vs dogs 2021 yikes
Gold Coast 2022 - the 2nd quarter being the worst I’ve ever seen from us
Brisbane 2022- would love to know what Noble said
Melbourne 2023 had a symbiotic resemblance to the demons 10 years prior.

This was a difficult task.

Edit- HM to Freo 22 (24 points in a game).

 

[Engimal v3]

What’s the worst performance we’ve had over this glory stretch?

The contenders for me are:
Gold Coast 2020- complete non effort against a crap side
Good Friday vs dogs 2021 yikes
Gold Coast 2022 - the 2nd quarter being the worst I’ve ever seen from us
Brisbane 2022- would love to know what Noble said
Melbourne 2023 had a symbiotic resemblance to the demons 10 years prior.

This was a difficult task.

Edit- HM to Freo 22 (24 points in a game).

We had an absolute thumping from the Bulldogs one day

 

[Hojuman]

What’s the worst performance we’ve had over this glory stretch?

The contenders for me are:
Gold Coast 2020- complete non effort against a crap side
Good Friday vs dogs 2021 yikes
Gold Coast 2022 - the 2nd quarter being the worst I’ve ever seen from us
Brisbane 2022- would love to know what Noble said
Melbourne 2023 had a symbiotic resemblance to the demons 10 years prior.

This was a difficult task.

Edit- HM to Freo 22 (24 points in a game).

What year was the 1 goal effort at Govt. Built Stadium ?

 

[Cyber_punk]

What year was the 1 goal effort at Govt. Built Stadium ?

2019

 

[DesertRoo]

We had an absolute thumping from the Bulldogs one day

it was that covid seated Good Friday game, terrible, I was in a bay ground level with a bunch of bulldog fans.
Was a strange atmosphere, not much banter. I think people were generally happy to just be back at the footy.

 

[Hojuman]

2020

Ah yes, the good ol' days CP

 

[Engimal v3]

it was that covid seated Good Friday game, terrible, I was in a bay ground level with a bunch of bulldog fans.
Was a strange atmosphere, not much banter. I think people were generally happy to just be back at the footy.

God we've been shit for a long time now haha

 

[Cyber_punk]

Another year of watching us hoping we finish last sucks BIG time, but it seems that is our only hope of possibly landing the talent we need.

3 Spoons in a row, no thank you.

Not even Melbourne, Carlton, GC or GWS did that during their down periods. We'd be on a whole new level of shit as a club all on our own.

 

[Ashley B]

3 Spoons in a row, no thank you.

Not even Melbourne, Carlton, GC or GWS did that during their down periods. We'd be on a whole new level of s**t as a club all on our own.

And yet still no extra pick unlike Pies, Blues, Dees and maybe even the Hawks.

 

[Colby Cheer Squad]

it was that covid seated Good Friday game, terrible, I was in a bay ground level with a bunch of bulldog fans.
Was a strange atmosphere, not much banter. I think people were generally happy to just be back at the footy.

In hindsight, what the actual heck was with that period of time when they forced us into ticketed seating but not our reserved seats. Because Covid. Or something.

 

[franjon]

See you all at the Sydney game!

On SM-S901E using BigFooty.com mobile app

Followed by the bar, and then the emergency room.