AFL Autopsy R8: 5 point loss to the Powa

Remove this Banner Ad

i think durham's been good in patches but compared to 2022/2021 he's been a bit worse with disposal, but i agree with snelling. when he came back in earlier this season he was super effective with his pressure. also agree with setters, no point playing someone like him on the wing when he's been great in the centre, and i know that perko wants to play in the midfield eventually.

what's the go with james stewart? i checked the injury list and he's been "TBC" for a while, feel like when he's on he does well, but my memory is foggy
imagine he's cooked from injury.
By the time he's back, suspect Reid is ready to come in and start his stint a la Zerk of finding his feet at this level.
 
As far as I’m concerned the most I’ll take away from this game was the lack of care those boys showed to Ridley. Did anyone even get into Rioli for that cheap shot. They would have known who did it at HT. Look at Collingwood if a player lays a finger on Daicos they stand up for their team mates.

Our team is full of nice guys who have no mongrel. Pathetic. This club won’t do anything while Dodoro keeps recruiting straight A students from private schools

All the best teams play on the edge. See the unsociable hawks, see the arrogance the Pies show now (see Maynard, see John ******* Noble, see Ginivan), the Tigers dynasty had an air of stench that they knew they were better than anyone else and duly delivered.

We continue to be a nice team, in fact, we're a nice football club who is too afraid to whack someone or hurt someones feelings if it may get us in trouble.

This group feels like they could be a top4 side in due time, the living on the edge will be the make or breaking of us though
 
i think we can be disappointed in results/outcomes, esp. ones that we lose close like this week & last week (both against what'll probably be top 4 sides) and still be content with what happened during the game that's good. we don't want to go the way of early 2010s carlton or current day north/west coke.

This. Next week against Brisbane, if we play well and bring the endevaour I'm not concerned about the resulst. But the week after against Richmond, absolute must win game. That's what I'm looking to.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

It’s alright though we’ll be told our players are still growing into their roles and gaining experience. Like the last 20 years. (Nothing about them collecting their pay check not really giving a crap).

Only person I’ve heard is Redman who said he’s in a rush to chase success and wants it now. This club and GC Suns have been the easiest place for a nice check with no one holding anyone accountable.
 
First game this year I haven't been able to take away a whole heap of positives from our youngsters, in fact, we played a fairly experienced and mature side (25 yrs 8 mths v 26yrs 1 mth).

Did see some glimpses from Weidemann that excites me of the thought of seeing he and Wright operating simultaneously. Draper showing some impressive, yet kamikaze plays.


Something that BrunoV said during the week about Scott that worries me, in his tenure at North he was very set & forget with his mids. Seemingly going that same way now (Parish, Merrett, Stringer with a little bit of Setterfield, Shie etc) which is fine, just get worried the actual idea of improving the best 22 is being avoided in hope of winning games in the now.

Im just keen to see Hobbs, Perkins, Caldwell and even Martin attend more CBA's.
 
First game this year I haven't been able to take away a whole heap of positives from our youngsters, in fact, we played a fairly experienced and mature side (25 yrs 8 mths v 26yrs 1 mth).

Did see some glimpses from Weidemann that excites me of the thought of seeing he and Wright operating simultaneously. Draper showing some impressive, yet kamikaze plays.


Something that BrunoV said during the week about Scott that worries me, in his tenure at North he was very set & forget with his mids. Seemingly going that same way now (Parish, Merrett, Stringer with a little bit of Setterfield, Shie etc) which is fine, just get worried the actual idea of improving the best 22 is being avoided in hope of winning games in the now.

Im just keen to see Hobbs, Perkins, Caldwell and even Martin attend more CBA's.
Couldn’t agree more. Speaking to North fans he doesn’t like giving kids opportunities so they either play VFL or roles like half forward where they can only have limited exposure. He has a 4 year contract so he should not worry about results but developing players. At north they never bottomed out but we’re never genuine premiership chances. Look forward to many 7-12 finishes in the graveyard spot on the ladder. Crap draft picks but never bad enough to bottom out bc senior players are playing midfield.
 
Couldn’t agree more. Speaking to North fans he doesn’t like giving kids opportunities so they either play VFL or roles like half forward where they can only have limited exposure. He has a 4 year contract so he should not worry about results but developing players. At north they never bottomed out but we’re never genuine premiership chances. Look forward to many 7-12 finishes in the graveyard spot on the ladder. Crap draft picks but never bad enough to bottom out bc senior players are playing midfield.

I won't lie, this does worry me, especially when we are the epitome of not bottoming out. North had a genuine desire to not bottom out that cost Scott and North any chance at the ultimate success. The only saving grace I beg, is that because we are so young, he is forced to play the kids.
 
And you can pen in a ten goal belting next week. Reid down with a hammy today in VFL. So no Laverde, Ridley or Reid…
 
First game this year I haven't been able to take away a whole heap of positives from our youngsters, in fact, we played a fairly experienced and mature side (25 yrs 8 mths v 26yrs 1 mth).

Did see some glimpses from Weidemann that excites me of the thought of seeing he and Wright operating simultaneously. Draper showing some impressive, yet kamikaze plays.


Something that BrunoV said during the week about Scott that worries me, in his tenure at North he was very set & forget with his mids. Seemingly going that same way now (Parish, Merrett, Stringer with a little bit of Setterfield, Shie etc) which is fine, just get worried the actual idea of improving the best 22 is being avoided in hope of winning games in the now.

Im just keen to see Hobbs, Perkins, Caldwell and even Martin attend more CBA's.

Remember, we wanted Scott, who is a strip it back to basics, floor raising coach that will clearly only take us so far.

We didn’t want Rutten who had grand designs on raising the ceiling and implementing something a little bit more complex, that would take a little bit more time and would involve a little bit more pain.

We are here because we are impatient. We’re here because this is what we want.
 
And you can pen in a ten goal belting next week. Reid down with a hammy today in VFL. So no Laverde, Ridley or Reid…
Can someone more artistic than I recreate that meme where Billy Madison's school bully crosses out his name..

Instead, just cross out Essendon's KPD stocks
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

First game this year I haven't been able to take away a whole heap of positives from our youngsters, in fact, we played a fairly experienced and mature side (25 yrs 8 mths v 26yrs 1 mth).

Did see some glimpses from Weidemann that excites me of the thought of seeing he and Wright operating simultaneously. Draper showing some impressive, yet kamikaze plays.


Something that BrunoV said during the week about Scott that worries me, in his tenure at North he was very set & forget with his mids. Seemingly going that same way now (Parish, Merrett, Stringer with a little bit of Setterfield, Shie etc) which is fine, just get worried the actual idea of improving the best 22 is being avoided in hope of winning games in the now.

Im just keen to see Hobbs, Perkins, Caldwell and even Martin attend more CBA's.
its 8 rds in of tinkering with a side he probably hadn't given a second thought about 7 months ago.

Midfield group still not settled.
Fwd line is missing Wright and i don't think we've had a week where our smalls have stayed the same.
Backline KPs still developing and copping a lot of injuries.
 
tremendous effort to respond and stay in touch when our key defensive lynchpin was crudely taken out of the game.

You can see there is something different in the players this year. Belief, or maybe something a little less wanky?
When you're posts aren't funny retorts you're actually the voice of reason. Go figure.
 
We were bottom 4 last year

We've def. improved under Brad but it's not a quick fix

It's not gonna happen overnight - development year -maybe scrape in the 8

Keep Parish - get another mid and a KPD and next year expectations should be way bigger
This is all very true.
We have been a much better side this year. Our players play a more instinctive style.
We are also very young too.
We weren't lucky at all with Ridley going down like that. But it shows we didn't get blown away either.

Lets see how this team goes with more experience into the younger players, more belief against the bigger teams.
 
Remember, we wanted Scott, who is a strip it back to basics, floor raising coach that will clearly only take us so far.

We didn’t want Rutten who had grand designs on raising the ceiling and implementing something a little bit more complex, that would take a little bit more time and would involve a little bit more pain.

We are here because we are impatient. We’re here because this is what we want.

Rutten was a baby Woosha trying to copy Richmond. Let it go.
 
Rutten was a baby Woosha trying to copy Richmond. Let it go.

There needs to be a level of self awareness regarding what Scott is as a coach because we’ve seen it, so there are really no valid complaints here.

I say there needs to be but I guess you can stick your head in the sand and hope if it makes you feel any better about things. This is the Scott experience, warts and all.
 
Don't understand the negativity.. Port are a top 8 side. We lost our best defender.. and key to our defensive structure early.. and we went down by 5 points.

Of course I'd prefer a win.. but I'll take that. Our club played embarrassing football last year.. at least this year I see some fight. If anything we are too aggressive at the ball carrier.. the amount of 'non' calls for HTB is out of control.

Our midfield was humming in the first quarter and showed that when we get it all together we could be a real powerhouse team. Throw Wright into that forward line in the first quarter and we could be 5-6 goals up.

I like the story of Davey.. I think he will be a player but I don't see what he is adding at the moment.. just not enough output from him. Our small forwards just aren't putting enough pressure on. Would like to see a few changes there.

I'm more excited about this team than I was last year.. I can see a game plan.. I can see what they are trying to execute and I think it is a style that will work. That said.. we need to focus on basic skills for the rest of the season.. amount of handballs that miss simple targets is unacceptable.

Thought Zerk bounced back from a smashing last week to really hold down the fort. Anyone who questioned Laverdes role has surely got their answer now.. Going to be tough next week.. I think Dreamtime is our next really big test and indication of where this group is at.
 
There needs to be a level of self awareness regarding what Scott is as a coach because we’ve seen it, so there are really no valid complaints here.

I say there needs to be but I guess you can stick your head in the sand and hope if it makes you feel any better about things. This is the Scott experience, warts and all.
On the basis that we don’t play enough kids in the midfield after 8 games?

Are we under the impression that Rutten would have brought Setterfield in to play VFL?

The midfield we’ve run with the last 2 weeks is basically the same centre bounce team we had in the first 8 rounds of 2022 under Rutten.

More Setterfield, less McGrath.

Only other difference is they’re all 12 months older and hopefully a bit smarter
 
First game this year I haven't been able to take away a whole heap of positives from our youngsters, in fact, we played a fairly experienced and mature side (25 yrs 8 mths v 26yrs 1 mth).

Did see some glimpses from Weidemann that excites me of the thought of seeing he and Wright operating simultaneously. Draper showing some impressive, yet kamikaze plays.


Something that BrunoV said during the week about Scott that worries me, in his tenure at North he was very set & forget with his mids. Seemingly going that same way now (Parish, Merrett, Stringer with a little bit of Setterfield, Shie etc) which is fine, just get worried the actual idea of improving the best 22 is being avoided in hope of winning games in the now.

Im just keen to see Hobbs, Perkins, Caldwell and even Martin attend more CBA's.
Caldwell had his run earlier in the year

Hobbs and Perkins have attended cbas in the last 2 weeks

If you cant see the influence Stringer has in there on the 5 qtrs of footy then your not watching close enough

Imo the discussion nees to be had about Perkins learning the craft at VFL level at some stage, been saying this for a while. He needs 6 weeks there onball soon

He hasnt taken his opportnuites there when at AFL level
 
First game this year I haven't been able to take away a whole heap of positives from our youngsters, in fact, we played a fairly experienced and mature side (25 yrs 8 mths v 26yrs 1 mth).

Did see some glimpses from Weidemann that excites me of the thought of seeing he and Wright operating simultaneously. Draper showing some impressive, yet kamikaze plays.


Something that BrunoV said during the week about Scott that worries me, in his tenure at North he was very set & forget with his mids. Seemingly going that same way now (Parish, Merrett, Stringer with a little bit of Setterfield, Shie etc) which is fine, just get worried the actual idea of improving the best 22 is being avoided in hope of winning games in the now.

Im just keen to see Hobbs, Perkins, Caldwell and even Martin attend more CBA's.


While I raised it, I'm not genuinely worried about it right now because I see history repeating. I'm just conscious that they burned a lot of potential/high picks because it looked to me like he couldn't let go. It's something to be mindful of.

I'm not seeing a lot he could realistically have done to this point in time. Hobbs started with an injury. He looks now to be in the side and I doubt it could have been a quarter sooner. Perkins was awful in the middle in the practice matches so he's just not ready for it. Setterfield got a gig immediately and now his minutes have tailed off because Stringer has been so damaging in the centre. Tsatas is injured.

He's pretty clearly trying to get Reid into the side. Cox is injured. Davey has been playing despite doing very little.

You can see the positivity he has brought with him. I think it's because stick only works, or at least works best, with carrot. Players have to trust/like/respect the coach to embrace the stick regardless of the presence of the carrot. So you can't burn down the established order straight away or you do it with extreme caution at the right time and place. There is a pretty strong argument to be made that Essendon was too weak and disjointed an institution for that approach (much as I would like to have seen it done).

Draper's ability to dominate also creates a bit of a problem because it inflates the ability of the midfield mix. While it was irrelevant last week as the Cats went to town while the game was in dispute, a pretty pathetic midfield display was made to look good by Draper serving the ball up against a guy who looks to me barely to be a VFL ruckman and another guys he's at least 11cm taller than.

The issue is trying to fit 6 into 4. By this, I mean the actual midfielders in the team: Merrett, Setterfield, Shiel, Parish, Caldwell and Hobbs. In reality we need the dynamism of Shiel and grit of Setterfield in that first rotation. Caldwell bring a dynamic between those 2. It doesn't fit without Stringer.

I don't how we can be younger or why we would want to be anywhere else on the ground.

Brad has alluded to the difficulty in trying to teach when the side is winning. I don't expect wholesale change next week but at this rate we ought to see some pretty substantial change by the bye.

We were rubbish for 2.5 quarters today and you can't rely on much after quarter time last week. I'd hate to think we're looking at the same mix in 4 weeks with performances of this quality.
 
Last edited:
Caldwell is fine as a starting forward who plays high

Hobbs is also fine forward for now, and they are introducing him to cbas. They were pretty quick to chuck him in there vs Geelong last week

We dont have forwards performing well enough over these guys even though its there more natural position right now as a forward

2MP - Injured
H.Jones - Injured/out of form
Menzie - Out of form/Although i like what he adds to the side
Davey - Out of form. Probably needs a wk off
Snelling - Dropped due to form/should replace Davey though

Ill keep banging on about it, but at some point we need to see what a 3rd year top 8 pick, picked as a midfielder can be there in the VFL and how it can translate to AFL level. This is not only because Stringer is getting on and were small inside, Setters maybe can only take us so far, but also for list management and so they know with trades and 2 top 30 picks what we need to be targetting

Were young
Phillips could easily be replaced by H.Jones/Bryan right now
Heppell for Durham
Tippa for Menzie/Snelling

And the result really wouldnt change
 
Last edited:

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top