Game Day North vs Bulldogs. Preseason game 1. Welcome back Maj.

shimaburnsgrieg

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One practice game in feb is enough to think are 3 to 5 years off finals. Cool.

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No - 3 years of inconsistent performances from our senior group, the age of our list, coupled with a bottom 4 skill level across the majority for our list leads me to that conclusion.

You have a different view - based on anything other than the weather?
 
Oct 9, 2003
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Are their Oscars for greatest post match melt thread? I think we have a winner. New coach, new Rawlings, New Majak, Tarryn awesome,
And we still lost by 50 points..
Taylor’s early entry for mark of the year... yet...
They don't pay mark of the year for pre-season games.
 

Passmore

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Agree with those that have said that it's difficult to know exactly how much to take away from this game, despite the fact that 'hand wringing' seems to be the default position that many have taken. As is so often the case, I'd say the truth lies somewhere between the 'we're screwed' and the 'she'll be right, mate' camps.

For starters, IMO the promising showing from the noobs in the side should be right up front in any discussion of last night's game. Great exposure and, for the most part, they performed well and took advantage of the opportunity presented to them. Big plus.

Game time into Maj - tick.

Of all the stuff that sucked about last night's game, obviously it's important to identify which of those things fit into the 'expect improvement in the short term' category, and the things that will take a little longer to sort out. Just in the interests of tempering one's angst and setting realistic expectations for the season ahead.

We were missing key players. Guys that are integral to our structure and overall success as a footy side. That made a significant difference. Structure-wise we were a dog's breakfast. So in the short-term you'd expect to see a much better balanced and better structured side on the park, and the significant improvement that will come with that.

A degree of experimentation being employed in the coaches box that you wouldn't normally see in the real stuff....the fact that we're not about to show all our cards game plan-wise prior to the season proper....these things likewise present as mitigating factors. Western fielded a side that was much closer to their 'best 22' make-up. There's more stuff I could add but no-one will read this post if I crap on for too long. Needless to say, this is not the sort of game to be taken purely at face value.

Also just on a side note, while it's one thing to have some concerns about the team's prospects, writing off individual players after the first pre-season game is a little on the unhinged side. Just saying.

By the same token, I'm not suggesting it's all roses down at Arden Street. The skills are my big concern. I'm fully appreciative of the fact that, after many years of poor skills, things aren't going to change overnight in that respect. However, coming fresh off a pre-season where apparently skill work was something of a focus, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a better level of execution than the amateurish dross we were served up in last night's game. The players and the team in general may have been keeping their powder dry on certain fronts, but they sure as s**t weren't missing targets on purpose. As a few people have said, the challenge for Shawry - in the short term - is to work out a gameplan that addresses and dilutes these shortcomings.

But yeah, generally speaking I wouldn't be getting too overwrought just yet.

Tl;dr?
Don't be so goddamn lazy. (Double meaning alert.)

Please take the time to add further if you could. Reading some decent analysis is a nice alternative to the other dross that fills the thread.
 

kaboom kid

From the River to the Sea, Israel will be free.
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Shaw took over in May, Hall didn't take leave till July. He was playing VFL until then.
Dropped after round 7. Injured his knee in the VFL June 8 2019, a week after Rhyce's first game in charge. On the verge of a comeback in July but stepped back citing mental health reasons. Hardly played any VFL during the Shaw era.
 
Shaw took over in May, Hall didn't take leave till July. He was playing VFL until then.

Except for this:

Dropped after round 7. Injured his knee in the VFL June 8 2019, a week after Rhyce's first game in charge. On the verge of a comeback in July but stepped back citing mental health reasons. Hardly played any VFL during the Shaw era.

Hey, don't let the facts get in the way of your bitchy whining (not you, kk).
 

the flying ham

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No - 3 years of inconsistent performances from our senior group, the age of our list, coupled with a bottom 4 skill level across the majority for our list leads me to that conclusion.

You have a different view - based on anything other than the weather?
Yep, ultra competitive games under a new coach last year, 4 rising stars have me thinking we are primed for a big year.

You must be fun at parties.

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Dropped after round 7, was he??
If you're going to quote someone elses "facts", at least make sure they're accurate. Unless you're ok with not being credible.
The relevant fact is that he played very little VFL after Shaw took over, which refutes your assertion that Shaw wouldn't select him.

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Nutjob

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Dropped after round 7, was he??
If you're going to quote someone elses "facts", at least make sure they're accurate. Unless you're ok with not being credible.

The facts are that Hall played two games under Shaw (after a stint out with mental health) in June and got injured in the second game through the VFL. He played ONE full game under Shaw.
Hall was never going to play under Shaw due to injury.... that’s FACT.
Give the guy a spell ffs. He had a wretched year and deserves the backing to go around again.



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We have ex AFL players as coaches. What do you need a skills coach for?
Chicken or the egg mate

Why do we draft players with horrendous skills when fatigued and under pressure?
 
They really didn't.

They had roughly 7 of their best 22 missing. As did we.

They just have a list that's in better shape than ours, better depth.
They had pretty much a full strength midfield though, and played them the whole game. We were missing 4 best-22 mids and rotated the ones we did have more. Doesn't excuse some of the shitty skills but "the dogs had just as many outs" isn't true in terms of how the game played out.
 
One more thing I will add whilst watching the replay is that we are simply not good enough by hand in close collectively. Being desperate and hard will only count for so much if we are not able to be better around the contest.

And just watched the bit where Durdin and McDonald both ran at the man with the ball and left Shacke free out the back who ended up goaling. ******* amateur hour.
Maj got lost in no man's land on that one too. Could have committed to covering Schache.
 

KiwiRoo

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didn't Carlton win a preseason comp then finished last in the big show ?
and Sydney hardly ever win a pre-season game yet are a perennial top 8 side.

shows how much I care about preseason games..they mean diddly squat apart from getting some miles in the legs and giving the young guys a run round
 
I was really impressed by the Bulldogs, the way they moved the ball on top of their toughness in the contest. I thought we were okay in the first half but dropped away in the second half.

I liked what I saw of Mahoney, Walker, Bonar, Xerri, Taylor and Thomas. I was disappointed in the senior players in JMac, LMac, Goldy, Pittard and Cunners who made so many basic errors.

Zurhaar, Larkey, Garner, Turner, Williams and Dumont were poor.

The execution of skills in general play was astonishingly bad and the worst i have seen for a long time by a North team. Yes only a practice match but one we entered with serious intent but got blown away.

Shaw's disappointment post game says it all really. While a loss is fine in a practice match if good signs are shown and an intent to play a certain way but i saw neither so the next couple of practice matches better show improvement in both areas or we are in trouble for 2020.
 
By the same token, I'm not suggesting it's all roses down at Arden Street. The skills are my big concern. I'm fully appreciative of the fact that, after many years of poor skills, things aren't going to change overnight in that respect. However, coming fresh off a pre-season where apparently skill work was something of a focus, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a better level of execution than the amateurish dross we were served up in last night's game. The players and the team in general may have been keeping their powder dry on certain fronts, but they sure as s**t weren't missing targets on purpose. As a few people have said, the challenge for Shawry - in the short term - is to work out a gameplan that addresses and dilutes these shortcomings.

The only game plan that comes to mind that somewhat takes poor skills out of the equation is Pagan's game plan. Longer kicking to hot spots, fewer posessions and simplified instructions worked well in its day, but it's hard to see how it can work in today's footy. Which makes Shaw's task that much harder. He can instruct long kicking down the line in certain situations, but as we saw at stages last season, it is easy to coach against and good teams eventually adapt to it.

The other question on the topic, is why the heck do we still have poor skills despite knowing about it since the Laidley days, if not earlier? Why haven't we been drafting skillful players, given we've turned over 80% of the list in the past 5 years or so?
 
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scooby1279

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only a practise game but a few concerns, same senior players turning over the footy, kicking into the forward 50 was crap especially compared to bulldogs who had an open forward line and pin point passing. I think the last 2 season pre-season matches have been a good indication of how teams will be during the h&a season, can anyone confirm?
 

Moti

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Biggest concern dwelling on it is just how poor our HB game is likely to be. Will easily cost us games in an era where having a strong rebound game is essential. There really were no changes made to try and introduce some better ball use.
 

Long Live the King

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Feb 24, 2009
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Depends on your perspective...........
short term perspective .....its one game where players are rusty,new coaches, its only a practice match, opposition up and about etc etc........
long term perspective.......the re occurring theme of loose checking and poor skills continues.........
 

kaboom kid

From the River to the Sea, Israel will be free.
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Yep, ultra competitive games under a new coach last year, 4 rising stars have me thinking we are primed for a big year.

You must be fun at parties.

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Apologies. Dropped FOR round 7, rather than AFTER....https://www.google.com/amp/s/coupler.foxsports.com.au/api/v1/article/amp/afl/afl-2019-aaron-hall-becomes-the-latest-north-melbourne-recruit-to-be-dropped/news-story/232823b5b10305a3912187452bf40209
 
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I know he's a fan favourite and all these days but..

Jasper's kickout was not the sort of reckless decision making (or execution) you want from a team leader. There was no reason to make that move at the best of times especially not when it was high odds of swinging the game's momentum.

It was a practice match but you'd want players refining their game sense in all outings. Hopefully he never pulls that stunt in the real stuff.
 
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