Poor preseason

[Madtiger2006]

We should be showing a good display of skill and an exciting game plan which the group has fine tuned over 2 years. We should be advertising our exciting new look club to the supporters who refuse to sign up until finally look like doing something. Signs not looking good so far. We have 1 more preseason game and then Round 1. If we lose Round 1 we could be 0-3 after Round 3. This preseason was supposed to prepare us for Round 1 and help us get 40,000 members. At the moment I'm not sure we'll see either due to the last 2 weeks

 

[CoggaRules]

We should be showing a good display of skill and an exciting game plan which the group has fine tuned over 2 years. We should be advertising our exciting new look club to the supporters who refuse to sign up until finally look like doing something. Signs not looking good so far. We have 1 more preseason game and then Round 1. If we lose Round 1 we could be 0-3 after Round 3. This preseason was supposed to prepare us for Round 1 and help us get 40,000 members. At the moment I'm not sure we'll see either due to the last 2 weeks

Bwaaaahaaaahaaaa....yeah ok...dude you need skill to be able to fine tune skill...thats the point you and others miss and have been missing for the last 4 years.

 

[PHX]

Lol, yeah because every other team has managed to get themselves into tip top shape for the absolute must win that is the NAB Cup and burn themselves out before round 1.

We refine our skills the best we can in readiness for round 1 and that is all.

Your obsession with membership numbers over getting the best performance over the season for the team is a joke.

 

[Madtiger2006]

Bwaaaahaaaahaaaa....yeah ok...dude you need skill to be able to fine tune skill...thats the point you and others miss and have been missing for the last 4 years.

Yeah by not playing mcmahon, hislop and johnson our skill will improve
Will be nice when Cotch comes back

 

[CoggaRules]

Yeah by not playing mcmahon, hislop and johnson our skill will improve
Will be nice when Cotch comes back

interesting dude. Here we have dip sticks like getthefooty, suggesting...but half the side were out and these are part of that half a side.
As for Cotch, if those you suggest had half his skill, then your fine tuned suggestion would hold water. i.e how do you fine tune JON skills?

 

[PHX]

Not true cogga, Hislop and McMahon were in the "half the side out" team last night.

 

[Madtiger2006]

interesting dude. Here we have dip sticks like getthefooty, suggesting...but half the side were out and these are part of that half a side.
As for Cotch, if those you suggest had half his skill, then your fine tuned suggestion would hold water. i.e how do you fine tune JON skills?

how could i forget jon lol.
We should be preparing ourselves. eg Tambling in defence, Mcmahon at Coburg. Don't see the point playing Mcmahon, Hislop, Jon next week. They shouldn't play Round 1 because they are not in our best 22. I still worry about Raines in defence. He's doing well, but I still don't think he's the best person for a back pocket or flank. I really don't trust his skill or decision making under pressure. I was disappointed in our last quarter against the Pies. We could have at least competed .

 

[TigerCleavage]

Lol, yeah because every other team has managed to get themselves into tip top shape for the absolute must win that is the NAB Cup and burn themselves out before round 1.

We refine our skills the best we can in readiness for round 1 and that is all.

Your obsession with membership numbers over getting the best performance over the season for the team is a joke.

Exactly.

 

[SolidTiger]

The pre-season is nothing more than a glorified practice game. Look over the years you see teams like Carlton win the pre-season convincingly and then 'win' the spoon in the real season while other teams who seem to be doing average in the pre-season wins the premiership. You can never tell how a team is travelling by thier pre-season form.

 

[Equus]

We did pretty poor in the pre-season. But who cares? Rather be pumped during the preseason than on the H&A season.

 

[_RT_]

Good Lord, we had 12 of our best 22 missing last night, got spanked as we should and suddenly the sky is falling. I suppose the Lions fans should just give up as well seeing as they lost to spoon favourites Melbourne by 6-7 goals last night as well. If the Blues get spanked by the Cats tonight should they give up too? A perfect example of how little weight NAB Cup games have on a teams H&A season is the Swans, haven't won a NAB game under Roos yet have played finals in every season IIRC, winning a Flag and being runners up along the way. Sit back relax and wait for the real stuff to start, if we're 0-5 then you can start worrying.

 

[tigerdan]

We should be showing a good display of skill and an exciting game plan which the group has fine tuned over 2 years. We should be advertising our exciting new look club to the supporters who refuse to sign up until finally look like doing something. Signs not looking good so far. We have 1 more preseason game and then Round 1. If we lose Round 1 we could be 0-3 after Round 3. This preseason was supposed to prepare us for Round 1 and help us get 40,000 members. At the moment I'm not sure we'll see either due to the last 2 weeks

MT, you make out like the pre season games are the only times the team trains.

The practice games are good to freshen up players and give a few kids a game here and there, and try experienced players in a different spot.

I couldn't care less about winning or losing them and it wont make me not get a membership.

Winning or losing these games makes no difference to the real season.

 

[Madtiger2006]

The pre-season is nothing more than a glorified practice game. Look over the years you see teams like Carlton win the pre-season convincingly and then 'win' the spoon in the real season while other teams who seem to be doing average in the pre-season wins the premiership. You can never tell how a team is travelling by thier pre-season form.

Yeah but I'm talking about Round 1. Such an important game and 2 weeks before the game our skills are a mess our game plan is non existent. I just hope we can put everything together and show something decent next week against the Lions. At least show a game plan and good skill. No time for experiments. Experiments should be done over a long period and not just 1 or 2 practice matches. I'd prefer we rest 3 of our better players per week instead of 8 in 1 game. We have to go into round 1 in tune.

 

[Madtiger2006]

MT, you make out like the pre season games are the only times the team trains.

The practice games are good to freshen up players and give a few kids a game here and there, and try experienced players in a different spot.

I couldn't care less about winning or losing them and it wont make me not get a membership.

Winning or losing these games makes no difference to the real season.

It's not about losing, it's about fine tuning the team for Round 1. Resting 8 top players in 1 game won't do that. I'm more interested in consistency and showing some structure in our games. I thought we were awful against the Pies. Game plan was a long way off. I'm more annoyed at how we are handling the preseason games. We have to win Round 1. It's a must win game and I'm just concerned we'll be a few weeks away from our best football at that point. Hope I'm wrong

 

[Barnzy123]

It's not about losing, it's about fine tuning the team for Round 1. Resting 8 top players in 1 game won't do that. I'm more interested in consistency and showing some structure in our games. I thought we were awful against the Pies. Game plan was a long way off. I'm more annoyed at how we are handling the preseason games. We have to win Round 1. It's a must win game and I'm just concerned we'll be a few weeks away from our best football at that point. Hope I'm wrong

I agree, in the preseason you should start out very rusty and try out youngsters then slowly improve and start playing the starting 22 more. We were horrible against Fremantle, horrible against Collingwood and our depth players last night were all horrible with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 which isn't good. We haven't improved as the weeks have gone on, infact we have gotten worse.

The most concerning thing about all of this is we continue to play the exact same stupid game plan over and over and fail everytime. High possession football, do they think football it's called handball? Our players have proved in the past they don't have the greatest skills, it's been a problem for years. Why continue with a gameplan that requires good skills when clearly it's not working. We can win the contested ball, so then just kick it long, none of this bullshit side to side, backwards handball crap. It's clear were trying to copy Hawthorn and Geelong's handball link up out of the backline and through the middle which is all good and well, copy the best right.. but watch them, they rarely stuff it up and make good decisions. We, on the other hand can't execute it and will get chopped to pieces by better sides on our turnovers.

In saying all this preseason means zip and all that matters is round 1 but you would atleast like to see some progress as a supporter. As much as I hate to say it, Carlton are on the improve and I don't think this year they will just be NAB Cup specialists, lose to them and we could very well be 0-3 to start the season with 2 tough games in rounds 2 and 3.

 

[AlexRance]

I agree, in the preseason you should start out very rusty and try out youngsters then slowly improve and start playing the starting 22 more. We were horrible against Fremantle, horrible against Collingwood and our depth players last night were all horrible with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 which isn't good. We haven't improved as the weeks have gone on, infact we have gotten worse.

The most concerning thing about all of this is we continue to play the exact same stupid game plan over and over and fail everytime. High possession football, do they think football is called handball? Our players have proved in the past they don't have the greatest skills, it's been a problem for years. Why continue with a gameplan that requires good skills when clearly it's not working. We can win the contested ball, so then just kick it long, none of this bullshit side to side, backwards handball crap. It's clear were trying to copy Hawthorn and Geelong's handball link up out of the backline and through the middle which is all good and well, copy the best right.. but watch them, they rarely stuff it up and make good decisions. We, on the other hand can't execute it and will get chopped to pieces by better sides on our turnovers.

In saying all this preseason means zip and all that matters is round 1 but you would atleast like to see some progress as a supporter. As much as I hate to say it, Carlton are on the improve and I don't think this year they will just be NAB Cup specialists, lose to them and we could very well be 0-3 to start the season with 2 tough games in rounds 2 and 3.

I agree
We need to change our gameplan a bit but the nab doesnt matter

 

[tigerdan]

It's not about losing, it's about fine tuning the team for Round 1. Resting 8 top players in 1 game won't do that. I'm more interested in consistency and showing some structure in our games. I thought we were awful against the Pies. Game plan was a long way off. I'm more annoyed at how we are handling the preseason games. We have to win Round 1. It's a must win game and I'm just concerned we'll be a few weeks away from our best football at that point. Hope I'm wrong

I would hope that our very last game should be played close to the game plan that we want to use during the season. Prior to that I don't care and if they want to experiment that is fine by me. Remember, we also have day to day training to work on just how we want the gameplan.

Also, getting match fitness is something legitimate to take away from a game that is essentially meaningless.

Get some run in the legs of players that need it, rest the older guys and try a few experiments. If that means you lose a meaningless game, then so what?

 

[astro_toby]

I think that the biggest concern is that our skills haven't looked rusty - they have looked quite familiar - i.e not good enough, shit.

Or disposal and decision making so far are developing incredibly slow. we may be a young side, but other young sides which are "meant" to be at the same level (or below) of our development - are devloping two fold quicker.

Hawthorn, Carlton's skill levels look to be improving much much faster. Port Adelaide,Essendon even seem to be developing quicker than we ever have (although they are still behind us, but not by as much as we all would like to think). Collingwood are blitzing us in terms of development also, considering our selections over the past 6 years compared to theirs - thats just not good enough.

a case of same old same old so far - still very early days, but these guys would want to learn how to kick and handball properly come round 1

Based on Pre season form, i would say we would be coming in 12th

 

[jko'neal]

I agree it has been an ordinary start to the pre-season, and the skill level looks off the mark. I think the guys have really only put together 2 or 3 good qtrs during the NAB cup games overall but there are not too many other teams setting the world on fire IMO. Collingwood and Carlton have busted themselves so far without rotating the players we have. Geelong are going to look good all the time due to the fact they are the highest skilled side in the comp, and have great depth. And to be honest, the rest of the sides I've seen play apart from the Hawks, have been well off the mark just like us. Looking to next week, the best side available should be picked and trials for young guys and resting senior players is over. If they get rolled and look ordinary next week, then I think we can be more than a bit concerned.

 

[Madtiger2006]

We've gotta stop using Mcmahon in defence. Get him playing for Coburg as a depth player. The first 3 smaller defenders I'd use is Newman, Polo and Tambling. Gotta play Tambling in a spot where he would be most useful. He has the speed, smarts and skill to be our back pocket. Mcguane can be the other pocket, while Moore and Newman can take the flanks. Thursty is full back and CHB can be taken by one of rance, Schultz, Polak, and Post while Polo and Raines(if he proves to be good enough) can be used as rotations from midfield to defence. We gotta get rid of the turnover players from defence. Get the back 6 settled into a skillfull, tight defence who are in tune with each other. I'm glad Johnson is out for a while because he slows the team down. Drop Hislop to Coburg and hope he can prove himself. Richo and White on the wings. Looks like Schultz will be at FF, since Hughes is injured. Schultz tends to play alot better up forward without Richo in the way. Get the team right before Round 1

 

[_RT_]

B: Raines Moore Thursfield
HB: Newman McGuane McMahon
C: Deledio Jackson Richo
HF: Morton Reiwoldt Cousins
F: Brown Schulz Tambling
R: Simmonds Tuck Foley
I: Graham White Polo Thomson
E: Bowden Edwards Hislop

THought it would be an interesting excercise to post what many believe could be the make up of the round 1 side. Those in bold were rested from last nights 40 point loss to the Saints. Raines effectively played only half a game as well. Thats 15 players missing. So I can't understand why there are so many posters jumping up and down suggesting that the season is shot already.

Sure the game was scrappy last night, but there are a few things that should be remembered. 1) The Saints had 19 of their best 22 playing last night. 2) The Saints play a very negative rolling zone which most of our players would have never seen before. Which would explain our guys being confused when it came to working out how to break through the zone. 3) We still managed to kick 9 goals for the night against this zone. Not too bad if you ask me, espcially when you consider that last week the Dogs only managed 5.5 for the game and they are supposedly a much better side than we are.

So instead of focusing on the fake negatives that a crappy NAB Challenge game throw up, focus on the fact that so far this pre season we haven't put our best 22 on the field, nor have we played more than 1 good quarter of footy in a game and have had a number of stars sitting in second gear while they wait for the real season to begin.

 

[PHX]

horrible against Collingwood

You must have missed the first 3 quarters where straight goal kicking would have had us 4-5 goals up at 3QT. That last quarter was all thanks to Collingwood superior fitness peaking early.

 

[Barnzy123]

You must have missed the first 3 quarters where straight goal kicking would have had us 4-5 goals up at 3QT. That last quarter was all thanks to Collingwood superior fitness peaking early.

Bad goalkicking is bad football. We were decent for 2 quarters at most and then the rest was horrible, bad game plan that the players can't execute and alot of turnovers. 11 goals from Collingwood from turnovers infact. You can say they may be peaking in their fitness earlier than us which may be true but give me a bunch of fat and unfit blokes who can execute skills to an acceptable AFL level over ones who can't so they handball it sideways and kick backwards then turn it over. Sorry if the truth hurts PHX but facts are we need to improve tenfold to make the 8. About 14 of the 16 teams can make the 8 this year, thats how even it is.

 

[PHX]

There were bad aspects, as you list, but it wasn't horrible play altogether until the last quarter.

 

[Bojangles17]

We should be showing a good display of skill and an exciting game plan which the group has fine tuned over 2 years. We should be advertising our exciting new look club to the supporters who refuse to sign up until finally look like doing something. Signs not looking good so far. We have 1 more preseason game and then Round 1. If we lose Round 1 we could be 0-3 after Round 3. This preseason was supposed to prepare us for Round 1 and help us get 40,000 members. At the moment I'm not sure we'll see either due to the last 2 weeks

cmon MT I expect better than that partner, how do you reckon we would have gone 2 shy of our best side against the saints less 10 of their R1 starting lineup...think youd find result would be same