Our leaders are soft front running marshmallows.

[Horace]

Actually a pathetic effort at comprehension Horace.

You are right Bigeasy, I don't comprehend your attitude of "I'm not going anymore this year and I am going to reconsider my financial commitment to the club next year." If we all do that then we will be monumentally stuffed.

What I do comprehend though is that we are not as good a team as Geelong. And I comprehend this by quoting the names of their premiership players, Lonergan, Varcoe, Hawkins, Kelly, Taylor, Enright, Johnson, Bartel, Mackie, Stokes, Duncan, Christensen and Selwood, who all played last night. We had just one, being Boomer and he is 36 now. Throw in Motlop who is easily the best of the Motlop's and Caddy, who we would all have loved to have recruited at the beginning of last year and you have a very very capable side, a side which knows how to win when the chips are down.

I also comprehend that terrible period in the second quarter when we were absolutely slaughtered by the umpires. That was when we lost the game and I would defy just about any team, playing against a team of the quality of Geelong to come back from that and win. Probably only two teams this year could have recovered from that playing a Geelong at its best, being Sydney and Hawthorn (I seem to recall we beat both of them this year but hey that's ancient history). On game day on Channel 7 today they highlighted the two indiscretions that Boomer got done for and they asked Nick Maxwell to comment because he is now retired and can't get into trouble for criticising the umpires and his words were "we do not want to see free's given for incidents like that".

I also comprehend that we remain 6th on the ladder, with only a reasonable win by Collingwood today likely to see that position change at the end of this round. This time last year we were 10th on the ladder, albeit with a much better percentage. We have won the same number of games as we did for the full year last year and at long last we have beaten sides above us on the ladder and on the road, games that last year we couldn't win.

But yeah, I suppose you are right, it is all doom and gloom, they are a weak spineless bunch of downhill skiing individuals and we should all give them away and let the club just fold.

(And by the way, downhill skiing is one of the most dangerous and injury prone sports in the world. Those who indulge in it at a serious level are not faint hearted types.)

 

[Arthur Cloke]

Club is not going anywhere with this coach and this leadership group. Once again when the chips were down , noone stood up.

I'm sick of this club's softness so like the club I'm not going anymore this year and will be reassessing my financial contribition while the space cadet is coach

Sayonara. I've had a gutful of this shit.

Yes sir. I've got 9 mates that are hard-core NM fans but 3 of them have now hung up their memberships for the season & put their cube in the rack. I don't blame them, but I agree, it's poor form.

 

[naturally north]

Leadership team photo

 

[utility]

I'm not against Scott at all, but you have to wonder about whether he can take this group any further. They have teased and teased and appear to have plateaued. Maybe without injuries it would be a different story though?
And who else is out there if Scott is not the man?
It's quite a riddle at the moment.

I'm wondering the same thing. It's the step from good to great. He's a good coach, but ain't a great coach. We need a great coach to take the next step. Not completely convinced he has it in him yet to take this group the next step...

BTW I reckon Geelong are a good side but not a great side. They gave us plenty of opportunities to hurt them but we didn't make them pay, and we coughed up so many soft goals.

 

[utility]

I also comprehend that terrible period in the second quarter when we were absolutely slaughtered by the umpires. That was when we lost the game and I would defy just about any team, playing against a team of the quality of Geelong to come back from that and win.

I agree though there was an element of headless chook footy for about 10-15 minutes. We didn't have leaders stand up in that period.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

There was also a period in the third quarter where we got a heap of free kicks in a row and it looked like Geelong were losing their heads. The difference is they had the leadership on the ground to get it back on their terms.

 

[royals1922]

Here is a stat that is of interest.

Using the figures from last week, NM had nearly 2,700 combined games between their 22 players and Geelong had nearly 2,800 combined games between their players.

Leadership

 

[Robertsonroo]

It is within the AFL rules for the captain to 'approach' the umpires to seek clarification on a ruling. I have seen plenty of examples of players talking to umpires as they stop for a break, many times asking why they aren't given a free or telling umpires they were held etc. if they do it without 'malice' this is okay by the AFL.

Why on earth did we not approach the umpires after the siren to enquire why a 50 metre penalty was not paid to Greenwood after he was dumped a clear second after taking a mark on the 50 metre line?

Selwood and Johnson spent much of last night bitching to the umpires....did it put the umpires 'offside'? We all know the answer to that question!

 

[showusyacunningt]

We're in a state of flux at the moment. We desperately need the ~100 gamers to stand up and take ownership of this team. Goldstein tried to do it last night, but he couldn't sustain it four quarters and you know, he's a ruckman. Sure our senior players are talented, but they've been shown up in crucial moments time and time again. Petrie hasn't been able to grasp the big moments ever, Swallow and Thomas bust their gut but have no vocal presence, Firrito and McMahon are like deer in the headlights when the heat is on, Harvey can be accused of being selfish and lazy defensively, Adams isn't really good at anything anymore, Gibson helps but he's still only played what 40 games, Wells doesn't have the killer instinct, Dal Santo talks and tries, but it's pretty contradictory talking the talk and then putting in a effort like his disaster in the goal square. You look at Geelong's leaders. They had more impact on the game than anything else last night. Our first quarter intensity was starting to become overwhelming and we would've run over most teams, however guys like Johnson took control, slowed the game and then completely changed momentum. The good news is I think we have the leaders on our list, some of them just might not know it yet.

Ziebell has to be made captain next year. He wants to win and he'll bring his mates along with him.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Ziebell captain with McDonald as his deputy.

Make it happen.

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

Everything is awesome!

Repeat.

 

[Whereitallbegan]

We are either a stupid team who can't make well thought decisions when disposing the footy or we are just lazy and cant last four quarters mentally and physically.

definitely a mental issue as far as i am concerned. every game is riddled with poor decision making, it truly is horrid, add that to the massively inconsistent week to week performances and we're left with a group of very talented but brain dead footballers.

 

[conwaynmfc]

To be honest, I don't know how tonight's loss is making you reassess your financial contribution when you still turned up during the Laidley years. If you give up attending, that's far softer than anything this club has served up during the year.

This.

If I posted this thread, you'd all be tearing strips off me as I'm not a well-known figure around here, but seeing as this bloke is, you're all thinking yeah he has a point. Absolute disgrace if serious.

 

[Whereitallbegan]

[/QUOTE](And by the way, downhill skiing is one of the most dangerous and injury prone sports in the world. Those who indulge in it at a serious level are not faint hearted types.)[/QUOTE]
that's true, but ours are more the driving miss daisy downhill types

 

[Gasometer]

Selwood and Johnson spent much of last night bitching to the umpires....

They do this every week.

 

[big_e]

What exactly has Cameron Ling been doing this year that has improved our on-field leadership?

 

[Thewlis Dish]

What exactly has Cameron Ling been doing this year that has improved our on-field leadership?

Well all he can do is give feedback on what he sees. He can't be out on the field when leadership is required.

 

[Ischenko]

We lost the plot when those decisions went against us in the 2nd - some may recall a similar thing happening when we played Hawthorn a few weeks ago... 10 or so minutes is all it takes against a good side.
Also busted a gut in the 1st but let our selves down with our kicking for goal. Busted a gut again in the 3rd but let them get a cheap goal out the back in the last minute that killed any momentum and undid a fair bit of good work.
Cooked by the 4th, as against Carlton and GC, which is worrying.
To a degree this in an incitement on our leaders, but Friday night was just not our night. Frustrating as **** in the context of the season, but it does happen.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

The effort by Dal on the last line, missed toe poke, then tried to smother with his leg instead of tackle was disgraceful. Can Dal kick over 30m? We recruited the biggest front runner in the comp.

I'm not so sure. Yes, they were some pretty embarrassing moments. Though I think the injury troubles we had at the start of the year helped us then work out a more successful balance to our side. Not having Ziebell, Wells and Swallow available meant that Dal Santo was being more in the guts, which produced better results for him and the team. Cunnington also stood up and played his natural positon to a tee. Now that we have Swallow and Ziebell back, not to mention Jacobs as well, all our balance is out of whack.

How does North address the problem? I have no idea. It does seem that with the last 2 years we have had, the players aren't going to be absorbing anymore lessons from these embarrassing losses.

Players who are limited need to be looked at. Players who are surplus to our needs (inside mids) need to be looked at. We have some talent on our list that is either not being utilized correctly or that we are not