I hope this isn't moved to the rant thread, because it's not a rant.
We lost the game tonight because we were out-coached, simple as that. I'm not anti-Ratten or asking for his head because I tend to be a calm, rational person after a loss.
I just want to know can we develop something to turn it around mid-game when the match is not on our terms like tonight and vs Essendon? A Plan B?
To my two points from tonight;
Murphy tagged out of the game from the start. First quarter Judd and Simpson dominate, St. Kilda's plan to cut our outside runners meant Ray goes to shut Simmo down and leave Judd and the game changes from there in to St. Kilda's terms.
We had nothing in the coaches box to either bring these boys back into the game (leaving Murphy in the pocket for a half failed) or a positive move to bring the game back onto our terms.
We dominated the ruck and got smashed in the clearances, this is by far the biggest area of our game this year that has stagnated.
Something needs to be done about our clearance work and fast.
I believe we can turn this around and make the most of a 5-2 start without playing our best football yet. It is going to take some work in the coaches box though!
Stay positive Blues fans, and have faith in our personnel to turn this around before Adelaide next Sunday
Any opinions on how tactically we can turn this around are appreciated, I care little for "Sack Ratten" "Williams has no idea" etc.
I agree the clearance situation is a problem, however even in the Saints game we were winning Inside 50s until I think 3qr time. We had essentially plenty of opportunity to score but could not get our ball inside 50 with any decent delivery. We also missed crucial set shots (see Walker, Russell and Scotland).
I'm not dismissing the crux of this thread but gameplan is irrelevant if the players are unable to maintain highly effective ball use especially when going inside attacking 50.
As for the clearances, while we lost it V Essendon and V St Kilda, I don't think it was in the same manner. Our attack on the footy in the contest on Monday wasn't poor at all unlike the Essendon game. The pressure and inside work of Dal Santo, Heyes and Goddard was excellent and we couldn't spread. When we did have periods of semi-dominance, we turned the ball over and lost momentum.
What I want to see is more intelligent inside play - someone needs to block for Murph or Juddy so they can get involved. Sometimes our mids end up cracking into each other and the ball spills out to an opposition player and a clearance ensures. More teamwork and talk is required in the contest.
When we see this happening then we can talk about plan B.
