Autopsy Positives and Negatives vs Essendon

[Eagle got a win]

He's = He is

One way or another bigfooty is going to teach me the English language.

Thanks, I'll get there, might take time but I'll get there.

 

[mad_eagle]

+ve had a prior commitment so I missed the game. Don't have to waste time watching that atrocity now

-ve we've got the late Sunday game this week, at least last time we got touched up we didn't have a whole week to stew over it...

 

[wce4premiership]

One way or another bigfooty is going to teach me the English language.

Thanks, I'll get there, might take time but I'll get there.

All good, just confuses me sometimes when I read it

 

[WCE Wizard]

Positives:
+ JK was more accurate today.
+ Despie his horrid accuracy, I thought Darling competed well
+ Sheed did alright
+ Sheppard was good

Negatives:
- The ******* umpires in the first quarter
- Back six were off today
- Midfield got slaughtered
- I have to suffer another ******* week of reading meltdowns on here

The worry is when our back six are off we get belted, too much reliance them the mids need to be more accountable

 

[RookiePick]

Duggan picks the ball up super clean in traffic. He pretty much cant get a disposal away or break a tackle yet but the good hands are something at least.

I'll keep thinking during the day. I might find another positive or twoto scrape out of the bottom of the barrell.

 

[wce4premiership]

Duggan does limply accept being tackled, not sure what his best option is here. Sheed will try and throw people off him, Priddis tries to get hands free, Shuey has powerful legs, Duggan needs to find what works best for him in training and see if he can make himself a little harder to tackle.

 

[The wily weagle]

Ok, in the light of day, now that i have calmed down a bit, lets first start with some positives:

+I'm a big believer in changing for the better, so i am going to list this as a positive: This is THE week, absolutely, that a big name/senior player MUST be dropped to send a message. No more usual fringe players being rotated out of the side. No more "hes got credits in the bank" excuses from Simpson, this has to happen.
I dont know in terms of precedence if a captain has ever spent a week in the 2's to send a message, but i would be sorely tempted to drop Hurn for his absolute lack of on field leadership (i will get to him shortly). But assuming he stays in the team (and he will), the following have to spend a week in the WAFL:

Redden, and one of:
Priddis
Le Cras
Darling

I'd be putting Le Cras in the crosshairs personally, i dont expect him to kick a bag every week, but the most glaring thing was, his absolute lack of defensive pressure, the guy seems to be allergic to laying a tackle atm.
Priddis has been a loyal servant to the club, but he is struggling badly at present.
Redden is self explanatory, for a guy with designs of playing as a full time mid, 8 possessions is just absolute rubbish. He needs to go back to the WAFL. For a month.


+I am not fan of Masten and yes, he did butcher the ball a bit, but at least he was prepared to put the body in and have a crack, which is more then i can say for some of those other guys

+Poor old Duggan, i love the intent of the kid, he tried. The poor guy is trying to play as a brute, explosive midfielder atm but he neither has the size, strength or explosiveness. I did laugh a few times, but at least the guy had a go.

+Gaff did ok in the second half. I had a chuckle though when the commentary team said "He needs to start winning some of his own ball". The kid is the king of the uncontested, but he was better after half time.


-Hurn/our leadership:

This should cement it in the eyes of anyone who has been watching us over the past few years. Hurn should NOT be our Captain. I have said it before, i will say it again, and i will keep saying it: He is the epitome of a fair weather captain; He's ok when things are going our way, but goes absolutely missing below deck in games like that over the week. No presence, no leading by example, no aggression, no intent, no capacity to marshall the boys. Hell, what ever happened the good old fashioned marching the boys over in front of the cheer squad and revving them up? i would have settled for the at this point. I used to think Shuey, but he has a bad habit of being below par in Victoria himself. More and more, i think Guv is the long term solution.

-Our midfield:

Got absolutely crushed. This could probably warrant its own thread we were so putrid. I can only hope and or assume that at least one of those boys is going to be dropped for next week. Disgraceful.


-Simpson got outcoached again, and the most worrying thing is, he seems utterly devoid of a plan B. What ever happened to playing some tempo footy for a while when the momentum is well against you?

 

[The wily weagle]

Duggan does limply accept being tackled, not sure what his best option is here. Sheed will try and throw people off him, Priddis tries to get hands free, Shuey has powerful legs, Duggan needs to find what works best for him in training and see if he can make himself a little harder to tackle.

I just wrote the same thing, he is trying to play as a brute midfielder, but has neither the size, strength or explosiveness to do so. It was kind of funny, but at least he had a go

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Ok, in the light of day, now that i have calmed down a bit, lets first start with some positives:

+I'm a big believer in changing for the better, so i am going to list this as a positive: This is THE week, absolutely, that a big name/senior player MUST be dropped to send a message. No more usual fringe players being rotated out of the side. No more "hes got credits in the bank" excuses from Simpson, this has to happen.
I dont know in terms of precedence if a captain has ever spent a week in the 2's to send a message, but i would be sorely tempted to drop Hurn for his absolute lack of on field leadership (i will get to him shortly). But assuming he stays in the team (and he will), the following have to spend a week in the WAFL:

Redden, and one of:
Priddis
Le Cras
Darling

I'd be putting Le Cras in the crosshairs personally, i dont expect him to kick a bag every week, but the most glaring thing was, his absolute lack of defensive pressure, the guy seems to be allergic to laying a tackle atm.
Priddis has been a loyal servant to the club, but he is struggling badly at present.
Redden is self explanatory, for a guy with designs of playing as a full time mid, 8 possessions is just absolute rubbish. He needs to go back to the WAFL. For a month.


+I am not fan of Masten and yes, he did butcher the ball a bit, but at least he was prepared to put the body in and have a crack, which is more then i can say for some of those other guys

+Poor old Duggan, i love the intent of the kid, he tried. The poor guy is trying to play as a brute, explosive midfielder atm but he neither has the size, strength or explosiveness. I did laugh a few times, but at least the guy had a go.

+Gaff did ok in the second half. I had a chuckle though when the commentary team said "He needs to start winning some of his own ball". The kid is the king of the uncontested, but he was better after half time.


-Hurn/our leadership:

This should cement it in the eyes of anyone who has been watching us over the past few years. Hurn should NOT be our Captain. I have said it before, i will say it again, and i will keep saying it: He is the epitome of a fair weather captain; He's ok when things are going our way, but goes absolutely missing below deck in games like that over the week. No presence, no leading by example, no aggression, no intent, no capacity to marshall the boys. Hell, what ever happened the good old fashioned marching the boys over in front of the cheer squad and revving them up? i would have settled for the at this point. I used to think Shuey, but he has a bad habit of being below par in Victoria himself. More and more, i think Guv is the long term solution.

-Our midfield:

Got absolutely crushed. This could probably warrant its own thread we were so putrid. I can only hope and or assume that at least one of those boys is going to be dropped for next week. Disgraceful.


-Simpson got outcoached again, and the most worrying thing is, he seems utterly devoid of a plan B. What ever happened to playing some tempo footy for a while when the momentum is well against you?

So you are pretty much blaming the forwards and our backs and giving our midfield a pass.

 

[The wily weagle]

So you are pretty much blaming the forwards and our backs and giving our midfield a pass.

Our midfielders dont get a pass at all, i wrote for my negative they were all putrid and at least one of them has to be dropped for next week, possibly 2. Did you actually read what i wrote? I nominated Le Cras to be dropped due to lack of defensive pressure, would you not concur that that was the case on the weekend?

 

[Lucky Luc]

Spent good money flying my family over for this game..sitting 5 rows from the boundry....
I can tell you first hand there was NO leadership and NO structure and definately
NO talk out on the ground.
Yes the boys came together after every goal kicked against them....but i saw lots of hands in the air , confusion.. gesturing ..turning heads and looking down at the grass hands on hips
Body language was no good from the start.
HURN is no leader..he looked non emotional non invested.. as if he wasnt even there
Never did i hear him talk with any authority ...
I also attended the Wesly training run .
They trained exactly how they played
No talk no emotion no real zip
... just lots of laughing stuffing around half arse attempts at kicking at goal...and lots of piss farting around...i counted 16 out there..was told that players with kids where still back in Perth ..why is this ??..
There seems to be no real attempt to address the issues that have plagued this team of its flat track bully tag..

 

[Eagleboy68]

Oh man I'm sick of hearing posters on here say we have a solid forwardline.

We don't have a solid forwardline. We have Josh Kennedy and that seems to be all you guys can see.

The rest around him is rubbish. Said this a few weeks ago that Hill is the only true crumber and he got dropped. Lecras and Cripps are too slow and the main problem is they don't play their position well. Lecras plays tall which we don't need or better yet if we are going to persist with him then we might aswell replace him with an actual tall. Cripps is always second to the ball hense why he's tackle count is good. Doesn't setup or kick enough or is quick enough for a small pocket.

Darling is a poor key position player. Crap set shot. Drops he's head in marking contest. In my opinion he's been so bad I'd drop him to the wafl and bring in Petrie or anyone for that matter.

Kennedy is the only one in our forwardline that is quality. That's all.

Also hence is spelt hence.

Lol sorry.

 

[Magnum27]

It just shows how mentally weak this team is, the issue of performing in Melbourne and our soft underbelly was raised after the Richmond game when we folded when the heat was on, and how soft we are, we have no player in this team who is prepared to stand up and be counted when it's needed. It starts at the top with captain and feeds all the way through this team.

Fast forward two weeks after that game and after copping it from all and sundry how weak and soft we are and hearing from different players and coaches we are working on it, yet we dish up a worse performance against the Hawks, a team that had consecutive beltings.

Next Melbourne game was yesterday, and once again all talk from players and coaches how it's not an issue , it's about intent, what intent was shown yesterday other than to bend over without a whimper and take it up the rear. Even after half time their was no one interested in showing any fight after such a dismal performance in the first half.

We have 3 more Melbourne games this year, and whilst i will attend, part of me does not want to waste my time watching a bunch of soft utensils prancing around a ground pretending they are footballers.

To win a premiership you need some mongrel in your team, we have none of that.

It is going to take a while before are a serious contender again.

 

[Xsess]

- A bit of play in the third quarter epitomised it for me, a loose ball just out of our 50 tracked by two eagles and a single Bomber. If one of the eagles had laid some body on would have allowed the other to gather and set up a forward 50 from a dangerous position. Instead they BOTH went for the ball and BOTH went to ground!! The bomber- with a simple toe poke in front gets a clean break straight down the hey diddle diddle for a coast to coast goal down the other end. Cracked open about 5 minutes where we'd actually put pressure on (and not forgetting the game was still there to be won at that stage). Dumb. Selfish. Lazy

- This is the second game this year where our defence and forward line have not been able to cover our shitfull midfield. Our defence in particular was absolutely shocking and our forward line failed to put scoreboard pressure on when the games was on the line.

-Barrass has no idea how to play one out with tall forwards. Unless our midfield is forcing hail marys into the backline he's a liability we cant afford (especially as we have two senior KPD's on call as a replacement). One of Schofield or McKenzie to come in.

- Its bad enough wasting a first rounder on Redden, its entirely another thing to keep playing him. Has not played one decent games as you might expect for a recruit bought at such expense. Time to cut our losses.

- Love Priddis but if he's not winning footy at the set pieces then he's a liability. That centre square flogging was unacceptable and much of it belongs to Priddis.

- Simpson telling us his team is average pisses me off. Its been average ever since Barnaba sacked Cousins. Yet our recruiting team seem to think we are in premiership contention and keep trading for senior players who make us worse. Hate to say it but Freo bringing in Hill - hell even taking a punt on Bennell at least demonstrates an appreciation that fast, skilful midfielders are where the game is at.

- This team is in no-where land - too much sheer talent to fall down the table but no midfield or game plan to take the next step

+ I'm at wedding in Bali on Saturday night and will be watching the GWS game at the "Y" Bar on Sunday. At least if we play like that I'll be pissed and there's always the Dwarf Boxing to keep me amused. If its real bad there's always the option of a rub and tug to soothe my nerves on the way home

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Our midfielders dont get a pass at all, i wrote for my negative they were all putrid and at least one of them has to be dropped for next week, possibly 2. Did you actually read what i wrote? I nominated Le Cras to be dropped due to lack of defensive pressure, would you not concur that that was the case on the weekend?

Lecras always has had a lack of defensive pressure but it's the midfielders issue for not feeding the forward line. Dropping Lecras won't solve anything.
Dropping Priddis, Masten, redden is what is required.
I am fed up with Priddis and Masten getting numerous possessions and wasting them. Neither of them could hit a barn door by foot 10m in front of them and how they have continued to get games with their skill level is astonishing.
Our midfield needs the kick up the arse, when your midfield goes well it is funny how much better the forwards and backs look.

 

[kranky al]

I just wrote the same thing, he is trying to play as a brute midfielder, but has neither the size, strength or explosiveness to do so. It was kind of funny, but at least he had a go

We said the same of shuey circa collingwood final - he needs to develop his man strength - will come with time.

 

[Agent93]

Dropping Priddis, Masten, redden is what is required.

And replace them with what? Hutchings and two first gamers? Or a homesick winger with a pea-heart?

Hutch for Redden should always be a go. The South Aussie is a traffic cone, so often gets caught watching the play move around him.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

And replace them with what? Hutchings and two first gamers? Or a homesick winger with a pea-heart?

Hutch for Redden should always be a go. The South Aussie is a traffic cone, so often gets caught watching the play move around him.

Nelson and Mutt can both play midfield, whats not worth trying? Wellingham can play midfield.

Vardy, Shuey Mitchell and Nelson as our starting mids. Wellingham and Gaff as our wings. Hutchings can chop out Mitchell, Muttimer can go through there.
We have to get some different faces in there.
But I agree we won't do it. Be same old again next week.

 

[Agent93]

Nelson and Mutt can both play midfield, whats not worth trying?

I was actually assuming both Mutimer (already in the side), and Nelson (probably in for Wellingham via injury or Butler) were in the team. Disregarding midfield rotations, if you're punting Priddis and Masten as well, who do you pick in the team?

 

[Winky]

And replace them with what? Hutchings and two first gamers? Or a homesick winger with a pea-heart?

Hutch for Redden should always be a go. The South Aussie is a traffic cone, so often gets caught watching the play move around him.

I actually don't care who you replace Priddis with. Anyone would be able to chase, spread and tackle (not just grab someone when the ball up happens) better from the midfield and it is impossible to have worse skills. We may get beaten due to lack of experience but at least we will be setting up for the future. (as per Freo at the moment without Dawson, Pearce and Suban). I was watching the Hawks/Collingwood game and noted the commentators counting Tom Mitchell's possessions. They were wrapt that he got 50 never mind that a lot just got held up, went to ground or just resulted in kicks thrown on the boot. At the end, Buckley commented that he may have got 50 possessions but it wasn't hurting them so he just let him go. Remind you of a certain Eagles player?

 

[Matera92]

Spent good money flying my family over for this game..sitting 5 rows from the boundry....
I can tell you first hand there was NO leadership and NO structure and definately
NO talk out on the ground.
Yes the boys came together after every goal kicked against them....but i saw lots of hands in the air , confusion.. gesturing ..turning heads and looking down at the grass hands on hips
Body language was no good from the start.
HURN is no leader..he looked non emotional non invested.. as if he wasnt even there
Never did i hear him talk with any authority ...
I also attended the Wesly training run .
They trained exactly how they played
No talk no emotion no real zip
... just lots of laughing stuffing around half arse attempts at kicking at goal...and lots of piss farting around...i counted 16 out there..was told that players with kids where still back in Perth ..why is this ??..
There seems to be no real attempt to address the issues that have plagued this team of its flat track bully tag..

Should send this to the club.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

I was actually assuming both Mutimer (already in the side), and Nelson (probably in for Wellingham via injury or Butler) were in the team. Disregarding midfield rotations, if you're punting Priddis and Masten as well, who do you pick in the team?

You just have to invest in the future, Partington, Rioli, Venables, Lamb, etc. Schofield can come in also.
Mate I agree with you its hard but at some point we must bite the bullet with this same midfield. NicNat can't cover the cracks, he helps but our midfield is s**t with him there as well just not as bad.
I guess it's hard to know what the clubs direction is, do they see their window open which I think they do or are they looking to the future which I don't think they are.

 

[eaglesnutcase]

Geez, where do you start ?Lets start at the top..
Eagles Hierachy...Thought we were in premiership mode.Lose our best player and bring in Mitchell and Petrie and weve improved enough from last year to be in premiership mode?? Seriously??A GF loss Two GF replay losses and a elimination loss at home doesnt tell you something??How many times do you need to be punched in the face to realise your hurting?
Coach....Now saying we are an average side.Lots of us were saying that preseason and were poopooed.Why can so many couch bunnies see the bleedin' obvious but an AFL coach cant.THREE years Simmo,three F###ing years weve relied on the same plodding midfield.Injuries to Duggan and Sheed havnt helped but we should have tried as many youngsters as possible.
Assistant Coaches...No aggro there!
Captain....Nice corporate citizen.
Gaff...didnt get out of second gear.One dimensional.
Shuey...Preseason i thought he was a good Brownlow roughie.Mate you need to hit the contest a whole lot harder.Physically your the complete package.Ticker? not sure.
Mitchell...a good cameo addition.He is NOT the Messiah!!
Masten...Trying but seriously his decision making is dreadful
Priddis...Now we get to the heart of the matter.Great servant,tries his guts out,terrific tackler.Woeful kick, woeful decision maker,should be duking it out with Hutchings for a game.Shouldnt be a top two midfielder in the modern game.Hard to ease out a Brownlow medallist but it should have been done before now
Yeo...Got everything yet disappears for big periods in big games
Sheed...Had a reasonable dip and is one mid who is really improving this season.Needs to lift his attack on the aerial contest
Sheppherd..tries hard.not the worst around.
Lecras...Slow,looking for the easy kick at the back,lazy time to go.
Duggan...Looks slow and needs to be moving at the contest not standing still with hands on hips.Could give a lot of more experienced teammates lessons on how to lay a tackle.Needs to be given more responsibility.
Mcinnes... not the worst out there.does good things with ball in hand
Mcgovern...the most talented player in our team.Just dont feel the need to rush things ALL the time sonny.Making a few cockups lately.
Darling...Give him his due, he played quite well from limited opportunities.Has lifted lately [ yes i was one of those calling for his head ].Would love to see him cream somebody in a tackle or contest.Very talented but hasnt got a nasty bone in his body.
Butler..Mr Slow.time to go.
Mutimer..Had a dip.Well worth persevering with.
Wellingham...Needs to be at 90% + every week.Getting close to his use by date.
Vardy...Talented for a big bloke, but seems to be a Hurn clone.Mr Niceguy.
Barass...Looks to have bulked up too much and lost a yard of pace.i have often posted about his lack of physicality in the contest.He reads the ball in the air as well as anybody but trying to outmark the Pattons and Danihers of this world is not easy.He needs to smash into the body a lot more.As a backman you shouldnt be looking to mark so much as looking to stop your opponent from marking.
Redden..was starting to show a bit but looks terribly slow.
Cripps..Drops his head.If you go on stats alone this guy is a forward superman.Aaahh the reality of things.
Kennedy...What you see is what you get.Worth a Judd or two.The sooner we ditch Hill,Lecras and Cripps and get Rioli,Watson Karpany etc at his feet the better off we will be.

When the media is breathlessly saying "Petrie will be back soon" i think that sums it up.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

...i counted 16 out there..was told that players with kids where still back in Perth ..why is this ??..

Saw this on the news and it pissed me off big time. Unless a player has a partner on the brink of giving birth they should be bloody well travelling with the group.

 

[Coasters7]

P

Probably not but you would think the coach had significant say. That was only part of the point I was making tho

I understand that, but it just makes me think. The way things are run seems to crowded and run by to many people. Recruiting for example. It's all good and well to have guys in other states, but why does a Victorian based recruiter get the final say when we are a WA club.

That's only one example but it makes me feel like that's how everything is run. By people that think they know what they're doing rather than experienced people that actually know. It's their job so clearly they're going to know more than me, but some of the things they do..