Analysis Ricks Analysis (The Shinboner Blog)

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What we should do, short kick, mark. Look QUICKLY for give and room to spare, give off. Another short kick. Give, and DO IT AGAIN! Oddly, we did this a couple of times and scored from it! Ben Brown could move and find room. But he needs support of course.

Quoted for truth.

Came in to say the same thing.

One other thing I saw from last night's game is the use of handballs well in front of running players. This is basic stuff, but we seem to keep handballing where are players are rather than when they should be when they receive the handball.

Hope to see a vast improvement on this stuff this week.
 
All midfield today. There were actually some positives to take out of it - mainly the commitment to play in a slightly different way to Round 1.

But obviously (obviously) still problems. So basically figuring out what was good and whether it's sustainable alongside what was bad and whether it can be fixed quick enough for 2019: https://theshinboner.com/2019/04/01...view-north-melbourne-brisbane-marvel-stadium/
 

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All midfield today. There were actually some positives to take out of it - mainly the commitment to play in a slightly different way to Round 1.

But obviously (obviously) still problems. So basically figuring out what was good and whether it's sustainable alongside what was bad and whether it can be fixed quick enough for 2019: https://theshinboner.com/2019/04/01...view-north-melbourne-brisbane-marvel-stadium/

We're running out of time though. Btron stated he had 4 weeks after Rd 1 and I reckon that's about right. I said at the time we needed to be at parity by Rd 5, that means we need to beat both Hawthorn and Essendon handily which is going to be a big job the way we're traveling at the moment.
 
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We're running out of time though. Btron stated he had 4 weeks after Rd 1 and I reckon that's about right. I said at the time we needed to be at parity by Rd 5, that means we need to beat both Hawthorn and Essendon handily which is going to be a big job the way we're traveling at the moment.
I reckon we are a few structural and personnel tweaks off getting the balance much better. Not sure these will be in place by the end of round 5 though. Nonetheless, good coaches are prepared for all eventualities and it appears that our group have been caught with our dicks in our hands.
 
I reckon we are a few structural and personnel tweaks off getting the balance much better. Not sure these will be in place by the end of round 5 though. Nonetheless, good coaches are prepared for all eventualities and it appears that our group have been caught with our dicks in our hands.

I have no doubt that we’ll come good this year, I think sooner rather than later but it’s all for nothing in 2019 if we aren’t in a position to compete for finals come round 8-9. There’s plenty of good football in this team but it will be a wasted year if we go on a run of wins but just fall short or limp into the finals due to the effort required. Outside of the whole planning for gameplay this year, my biggest frustration is in personnel choice. We’ve known for 3 months that we didn’t have Waite and (my preferred backup forward) Maj available and our plan, apparently, and I can’t even begin to describe how mind boggling I find this, is to basically assume that Mason Wood, a player that has been injured more than not for 5 years and has at best performed cameo roles was going to somehow now become a lynchpin of the attacking transition and bail out. It just seems incredibly optimistic and based on nothing but that optimism to expect Wood to just suddenly overnight provide something that he has never shown an ability to provide. There’s backing you player but this just seems like a massive, massive gamble to me. There should have been a structural plan in place from start of January to identify which of the potential tall players could provide that structure.

Agree with your assessment regarding appendages and this has happened before to us. We tend to sort it out but it feels like in the Scott era (ie. all of the line coaches as well) we have two types of seasons.

1 – We come out all guns blazing and are ahead of other teams only to get worked out as the season goes on and either unable to adapt or unable to stay at a high enough level to stick to what works.

2 – Come out way behind other clubs, react accordingly but expend all out energy getting back on par and just missing or scraping into finals.
 
I have no doubt that we’ll come good this year, I think sooner rather than later but it’s all for nothing in 2019 if we aren’t in a position to compete for finals come round 8-9. There’s plenty of good football in this team but it will be a wasted year if we go on a run of wins but just fall short or limp into the finals due to the effort required. Outside of the whole planning for gameplay this year, my biggest frustration is in personnel choice. We’ve known for 3 months that we didn’t have Waite and (my preferred backup forward) Maj available and our plan, apparently, and I can’t even begin to describe how mind boggling I find this, is to basically assume that Mason Wood, a player that has been injured more than not for 5 years and has at best performed cameo roles was going to somehow now become a lynchpin of the attacking transition and bail out. It just seems incredibly optimistic and based on nothing but that optimism to expect Wood to just suddenly overnight provide something that he has never shown an ability to provide. There’s backing you player but this just seems like a massive, massive gamble to me. There should have been a structural plan in place from start of January to identify which of the potential tall players could provide that structure.

Agree with your assessment regarding appendages and this has happened before to us. We tend to sort it out but it feels like in the Scott era (ie. all of the line coaches as well) we have two types of seasons.

1 – We come out all guns blazing and are ahead of other teams only to get worked out as the season goes on and either unable to adapt or unable to stay at a high enough level to stick to what works.

2 – Come out way behind other clubs, react accordingly but expend all out energy getting back on par and just missing or scraping into finals.
100% on all of this.
 
All midfield today. There were actually some positives to take out of it - mainly the commitment to play in a slightly different way to Round 1.

But obviously (obviously) still problems. So basically figuring out what was good and whether it's sustainable alongside what was bad and whether it can be fixed quick enough for 2019: https://theshinboner.com/2019/04/01...view-north-melbourne-brisbane-marvel-stadium/

Absolutely the Mid field

I posted in the GD Thread at the time that every centre bounce felt like it was a roll of the dice

Inevitably the last 8 minutes proved it
 
The sight of Sean Higgins charging out of the middle and falling over his own feet in the first play of the game was an unfortunate omen that played out for practically the whole game. We never seemed to take a breath in the middle. We really should have taken a leaf out of Collingwood’s book and slowed it down until we were ready and structured up to charge forward. The defence seemed to cotton onto it. However, the midfield appeared to be “mental” for the entire game. Higgins was like the “canary in the mine” in that regard. In his four previous seasons at North, I have never seen him trip over his own feet, much less running too far without bouncing.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
The sight of Sean Higgins charging out of the middle and falling over his own feet in the first play of the game was an unfortunate omen that played out for practically the whole game. We never seemed to take a breath in the middle. We really should have taken a leaf out of Collingwood’s book and slowed it down until we were ready and structured up to charge forward. The defence seemed to cotton onto it. However, the midfield appeared to be “mental” for the entire game. Higgins was like the “canary in the mine” in that regard. In his four previous seasons at North, I have never seen him trip over his own feet, much less running too far without bouncing.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

The inability to ice a run on has been a fundamental problem going back years

Slowing down play when momentum swings is just not an option for this team

Truly frustratingly hopeless
 

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Different kind of format to this week's post, I wanted to explain how a game unfolds with the counters from both coaches boxes.

Plus a bit in there on the reaction to Brad Scott's presser, and please don't turn my safe space of a thread into another discussion on whether Brad should be coach: https://theshinboner.com/2019/04/08...h-review-north-melbourne-hawthorn-brad-scott/
WRT poor performing players being named/dropped, the implication is that it would be poor for morale. In my eyes an omission at selection time would produce the same result, right? I'm not for serving up players heads as main course, but it seems you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Would it have the same stigma attached if it was a regular occurrence? How often to entrenched best 22 players get given a confidence boost run in the 2nds around the rest of the league?

I'm not a coach but my line of work requires me and my team to be able to jump in/out of roles and responsibilities frequently for best results for the business, and shifting someone off a busy day to work on the basics has never really been cause for a morale crisis here.

Edit: excellent work as always by the way
 
WRT poor performing players being named/dropped, the implication is that it would be poor for morale. In my eyes an omission at selection time would produce the same result, right? I'm not for serving up players heads as main course, but it seems you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Would it have the same stigma attached if it was a regular occurrence? How often to entrenched best 22 players get given a confidence boost run in the 2nds around the rest of the league?

I'm not a coach but my line of work requires me and my team to be able to jump in/out of roles and responsibilities frequently for best results for the business, and shifting someone off a busy day to work on the basics has never really been cause for a morale crisis here.

Edit: excellent work as always by the way

If a player gets dropped its gonna be as much of a shock/pita etc being dropped as being publicly named in the vfl. Not being in the team is the thing that sucks, not everyone knowing.

Naming a player at a press conference singles them out in front of the whole world for being more s**t than everyone else in the team. It makes them a scapegoat. People were giving Scott s**t for saying Simpkin "did what we want but got some unlucky bounces." But that's a good thing. Its not singling him out in front of the world. As if its him alone that's responsible for the loss.

You should keep that stuff in house.

Everyone might know he's dropped once they see the teamsheet but BFD - its four days later and everyone's looking forward to the next game not shitfully angry and demanding answers immediately after the last one.
 
ferball saved me a post but just wanted to add that this kind of stuff fascinates me, how two people can react to the same thing completely differently.

I think Brad's assessed his playing group as one which is better suited to hear that message privately rather than publicly, which is why we see the press conferences we do. Whether that's right or wrong is up to opinion too I guess.
 
If a player gets dropped its gonna be as much of a shock/pita etc being dropped as being publicly named in the vfl. Not being in the team is the thing that sucks, not everyone knowing.

Naming a player at a press conference singles them out in front of the whole world for being more s**t than everyone else in the team. It makes them a scapegoat. People were giving Scott s**t for saying Simpkin "did what we want but got some unlucky bounces." But that's a good thing. Its not singling him out in front of the world. As if its him alone that's responsible for the loss.

You should keep that stuff in house.

Everyone might know he's dropped once they see the teamsheet but BFD - its four days later and everyone's looking forward to the next game not shitfully angry and demanding answers immediately after the last one.

I'm on Ron's side :)
 
I'm on Ron's side :)


That's a private spray imo, even tho the whole world saw it. The coach and players huddle at 3/4 time is a private space in its own way. No one around or outside it matters. I don't mind that, possibly it'd be a bit less insane if it was me. To be honest barassi is losing the effectiveness of his message with the yelling. Sometimes when you're furious its better to be quiet and icily polite.
 
ferball saved me a post but just wanted to add that this kind of stuff fascinates me, how two people can react to the same thing completely differently.

I think Brad's assessed his playing group as one which is better suited to hear that message privately rather than publicly, which is why we see the press conferences we do. Whether that's right or wrong is up to opinion too I guess.

The thing about Brad's press conferences that really shits me is the non player related stuff he has said this year. TBH I hadn't listened to them for a while but have after reading some comments and he is making excuses. I like that he defended Jy, i don't like that he rubbed our faces in losing the second half and giving up a lead.

Again.

By drawing our attention to the little bit that was good and ignoring the large bit that wasn't.

Again.

But back to the public private thing - Surely everyone knows that if you publicly bag a player in the media you are going to lose their respect and the respect of other people.

If you want someone to perform above and beyond the norm for you, put their body (and their public reputation) on the lineand do things that most people won't or can't then you can't publicly criticise them, and you especially can't hang them out to dry to a media member looking for a scalp. I like the way Marc McGowan is asking questions many of us are thinking and rarely see asked but I also like the way Scott stood up to those specific questions and refused to throw his player under the bus.
 
Different kind of format to this week's post, I wanted to explain how a game unfolds with the counters from both coaches boxes.

Plus a bit in there on the reaction to Brad Scott's presser, and please don't turn my safe space of a thread into another discussion on whether Brad should be coach: https://theshinboner.com/2019/04/08...h-review-north-melbourne-hawthorn-brad-scott/
Typically great analysis, mate, but I must admit that I have a far different take on the presser.

I don't think anyone, including McGowan, actually expected him to publicly name players. IMO the reaction to his presser has been inspired by the disdain and glibness (is that a word?) with which he conducted himself when actually challenged. It was just plain arrogance, and it looked like he had it in for McGowan before he even asked the first question with the tone of his response when asked about fan unrest.
 
If a player gets dropped its gonna be as much of a shock/pita etc being dropped as being publicly named in the vfl. Not being in the team is the thing that sucks, not everyone knowing.

Naming a player at a press conference singles them out in front of the whole world for being more s**t than everyone else in the team. It makes them a scapegoat. People were giving Scott s**t for saying Simpkin "did what we want but got some unlucky bounces." But that's a good thing. Its not singling him out in front of the world. As if its him alone that's responsible for the loss.

You should keep that stuff in house.

Everyone might know he's dropped once they see the teamsheet but BFD - its four days later and everyone's looking forward to the next game not shitfully angry and demanding answers immediately after the last one.
I'm not advocating Scott trash the players in a post match at all, it would be very poor form
But the post seems to indicate that being "demoted" to VFL at all is a shameful punishment, and I'm advocating for maybe just acknowledgement that yeah sometimes players get in a bit of a form slump. Obviously I'm not in on the inner workings of the coaching staff but I've closely followed a lot of different sports and coaches and leadership groups. Sometimes it's best for everyone if we face up to someone struggling instead of ignoring it/sweeping it under the rug and staying the course.
 
I'm not advocating Scott trash the players in a post match at all, it would be very poor form
But the post seems to indicate that being "demoted" to VFL at all is a shameful punishment, and I'm advocating for maybe just acknowledgement that yeah sometimes players get in a bit of a form slump. Obviously I'm not in on the inner workings of the coaching staff but I've closely followed a lot of different sports and coaches and leadership groups. Sometimes it's best for everyone if we face up to someone struggling instead of ignoring it/sweeping it under the rug and staying the course.

I totally agree to both points but the last one - I'd be saying that to the player in private.
 

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