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I have left this thread untill the next day so that i have had time to calm down, and in the clear light of day make sure my thoughts are clear.
basically the first two rounds of this year have presented in my opinion an 80-20% split of negative to positive news for me as a dockers supporter. and i find myself asking the question, are we just overrated, or are we underachievers? i will start with the negatives.
1. players who we have rated in the past, who will not step up when required, i am looking at the following: Brett Peake, David Mundy, Michael Johnson, Chris Tarrant, Ryan Crowley, Matt Carr, aaron sandilands. all of these players have had big wraps on them, it has become abundantly clear that they are not going to be the players we can rely on to step up and take us forward, the two i am most disappointed in are Johnson and Sandilands, they have promised so much and just go missing when we really need them.
2. Injuries.... or lack there of, this is a disappointing aspect because, while im stoked that we havent had any, we also dont have any excuses. hasleby is a big loss, but we have been without a fit hasleby for the last three seasons.
3. Skills, i honestly thought that we could improve our skills, but they really havent changed at all, we have the worst skills in the afl, and what is most alarming for me is that its hard to teach old dogs new tricks. just look at mcmanus, he has been training hard and playing for 15 years, and his skills havent improved one bit. so therefore how can we expect schammer, peake, matt carr, chris tarrant and co to improve? deep down i think everyone knows that they wont.... so what good are they? if you get the ball twenty times and give it up ten times that could be five goals, thats not a great attribute to our team.
4. lack of intensity. i heard something interesting yesterday and im not sure how true it is, but the rumour is, is that the club has had to convince brett peake to play, that he doesnt have the passion to play and that half way through the preseason he told harvs that he was quitting! i havent seen him show anything this year and it would explain a few things. Michael johnson, david mundy, matt carr and chris tarrant have also shown no urgency or heart in their play. NOT GOOD ENOUGH! as i am typing thisi am watching geelong smash the bombers, every geelong player is committed to success, they are disciplined, and they work for their team mates, and even essendon look like they are giving their all, they have just been faced with playing a better team. can anyone reading this say that the dockers have shown that at all this year?
5. Poor descision making. some players like paul hasleby, james hird etc are just natural footballers, they know where to run, when to kick, handball, tackle etc...... we have too many stupid footballers. adam campbell is not a footballer. chris tarrant is not a footballer and the list goes on, that is a problem, and how do you solve it? it goes back to fundamentals and if players cant make the correct decisions then it just goes straight back down the other end for goals. and half the time our defence is crucified by our midfielders and forwards making stupid decisions, especially when you consider that every other team in the AFL has the skills to kick the ball 30 meters to the advantage of their key forwards.
Positives
1. Young Players getting a gig. i was stoked with the debuts of palmer nad mayne, and i though ibbotson, while making some mistakes showed some promise. and with foster coming back from injuries, warnock almost back, and with hinkley showing promise along with obrien, i think that we do have a bright future, but it is going to have to come at the expense of players who consider themselves safe in the team. i think harvey will do the right thing and give them a go too.
2. Headland, i have been one of the biggest des headland baggers of the lot of us. but he has shown that he wants to play, and that he can play well without great team mates, last year and this year to date have been good for des.
3. we cant have had a worse start. well we could have been melbourne, but i really reckon that it has been a bad a start as we could have had. meaning that we can only improve, which is a positive in its own right.
I think that we have the right coaching mix. they demand respect, but lets face it, we may have expected too much. we have pavlich in our forwardline and little else. our midfield is pedestrian, but we have some good young kids to come in. with warnock hopefully tasking over from sandilands in the next year or so. and our backline is serviceable, with grover hayden and mcpharlin being the cornerstone.
so all is not lost, i just hope harvs and the coaching staff have the balls to make the tough decisions on the bludgers and underperformers like peake, michael johnson, mundy and matt carr.
basically the first two rounds of this year have presented in my opinion an 80-20% split of negative to positive news for me as a dockers supporter. and i find myself asking the question, are we just overrated, or are we underachievers? i will start with the negatives.
1. players who we have rated in the past, who will not step up when required, i am looking at the following: Brett Peake, David Mundy, Michael Johnson, Chris Tarrant, Ryan Crowley, Matt Carr, aaron sandilands. all of these players have had big wraps on them, it has become abundantly clear that they are not going to be the players we can rely on to step up and take us forward, the two i am most disappointed in are Johnson and Sandilands, they have promised so much and just go missing when we really need them.
2. Injuries.... or lack there of, this is a disappointing aspect because, while im stoked that we havent had any, we also dont have any excuses. hasleby is a big loss, but we have been without a fit hasleby for the last three seasons.
3. Skills, i honestly thought that we could improve our skills, but they really havent changed at all, we have the worst skills in the afl, and what is most alarming for me is that its hard to teach old dogs new tricks. just look at mcmanus, he has been training hard and playing for 15 years, and his skills havent improved one bit. so therefore how can we expect schammer, peake, matt carr, chris tarrant and co to improve? deep down i think everyone knows that they wont.... so what good are they? if you get the ball twenty times and give it up ten times that could be five goals, thats not a great attribute to our team.
4. lack of intensity. i heard something interesting yesterday and im not sure how true it is, but the rumour is, is that the club has had to convince brett peake to play, that he doesnt have the passion to play and that half way through the preseason he told harvs that he was quitting! i havent seen him show anything this year and it would explain a few things. Michael johnson, david mundy, matt carr and chris tarrant have also shown no urgency or heart in their play. NOT GOOD ENOUGH! as i am typing thisi am watching geelong smash the bombers, every geelong player is committed to success, they are disciplined, and they work for their team mates, and even essendon look like they are giving their all, they have just been faced with playing a better team. can anyone reading this say that the dockers have shown that at all this year?
5. Poor descision making. some players like paul hasleby, james hird etc are just natural footballers, they know where to run, when to kick, handball, tackle etc...... we have too many stupid footballers. adam campbell is not a footballer. chris tarrant is not a footballer and the list goes on, that is a problem, and how do you solve it? it goes back to fundamentals and if players cant make the correct decisions then it just goes straight back down the other end for goals. and half the time our defence is crucified by our midfielders and forwards making stupid decisions, especially when you consider that every other team in the AFL has the skills to kick the ball 30 meters to the advantage of their key forwards.
Positives
1. Young Players getting a gig. i was stoked with the debuts of palmer nad mayne, and i though ibbotson, while making some mistakes showed some promise. and with foster coming back from injuries, warnock almost back, and with hinkley showing promise along with obrien, i think that we do have a bright future, but it is going to have to come at the expense of players who consider themselves safe in the team. i think harvey will do the right thing and give them a go too.
2. Headland, i have been one of the biggest des headland baggers of the lot of us. but he has shown that he wants to play, and that he can play well without great team mates, last year and this year to date have been good for des.
3. we cant have had a worse start. well we could have been melbourne, but i really reckon that it has been a bad a start as we could have had. meaning that we can only improve, which is a positive in its own right.
I think that we have the right coaching mix. they demand respect, but lets face it, we may have expected too much. we have pavlich in our forwardline and little else. our midfield is pedestrian, but we have some good young kids to come in. with warnock hopefully tasking over from sandilands in the next year or so. and our backline is serviceable, with grover hayden and mcpharlin being the cornerstone.
so all is not lost, i just hope harvs and the coaching staff have the balls to make the tough decisions on the bludgers and underperformers like peake, michael johnson, mundy and matt carr.
