Opinion Sack Hinkley 3 - 2021 is worse than 2020 already

[Byron!!!]

I had us make the 8 and pushing for top 4 with a 10-14 win season - but that was from 22 games.

I have said many times before over many years, that the basic difference between being a top 4 and bottom 4 team is basically 4 players. All Australians or near All Australian contributions from a KPD, a midfielder, a ruckman and a KPF.

We weren't bottom 4 but compare this years form of those 4 players in our squad to their 2019 form.
Jonas - brilliant this year, last year played with injuries and struggled.
Wines - the last 8 weeks has been in career best form after a disastrous 2019.
Lycett - has been excellent this year plus contributions from Ladhams helps in that area
Dixon - came back last year after a dislocated ankle and broken leg a shadow of himself. Now best or 2nd best KPF.

Our forwardline has more firepower - Dixon, Marshall was very good before he broke his hand, Georgiades has come in and Butters has improved out of sight.

SPP has added grunt in the midfield. Rocky has improved. McKenzie has come from nowhere and remember Harlett did an ACL in 2018 and only played 11 games in 2019. He has had a great year and is Jonas' right hand man organising the defence.

SPP not only adding grunt but has improved his disposal/vision too.


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[Byron!!!]

Prior to this season, we've not played good enough, plain and simple. Our failures haven't been a case of unlucky close umpiring calls.

Luck plays a huge role in sport in the short term. Our failure to win the flag I agree with you but failure to make finals a few times has certainly come down to luck.


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[Fizzler]

I do worry that we might fade into oblivion next year if we don’t go all the way this year. North made two prelims and then haven’t done anything since. Heck, even we turned to s**t for a bit after 2014. It’s a bit concerning but I don’t think it’ll happen given our list profile is a bit better now.

 

[Doctor Feel]

I do worry that we might fade into oblivion next year if we don’t go all the way this year. North made two prelims and then haven’t done anything since. Heck, even we turned to sh*t for a bit after 2014. It’s a bit concerning but I don’t think it’ll happen given our list profile is a bit better now.

But we have the Hinkley factor.

 

[Macca19]

I do worry that we might fade into oblivion next year if we don’t go all the way this year. North made two prelims and then haven’t done anything since. Heck, even we turned to sh*t for a bit after 2014. It’s a bit concerning but I don’t think it’ll happen given our list profile is a bit better now.

I guess the difference is that North overachieved those years and didnt have near the quality of youth coming through that we do to hopefully back it up

 

[Janus]

The players we played as fill in key forwards weren't in form either, played like it, and we lost disastrously.

Marshall is not doing anything this year he wasn't doing last year, he's just getting picked this year instead of missing half the games for no reason. It's revisionist horseshit to argue that he was a significantly poorer player last year in terms of effort or performance. He has had some natural development because he's older and has another 15 games under his belt.

The difference is this year, Hinkley has stayed the course with a tall forward setup and allowed his team to grow in the structure. Its personal growth as a coach, which is a credit to him. Imagine, if you will, a coach who didn't take 7 years to learn a lesson about structure.

Oh really now?

Todd Marshall vs Melbourne, 2019 - 10 disposals, 4 marks (0 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 1 inside 50, 0 tackles (0 tackles inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements

Pretty decent game.

Todd Marshall vs Carlton, 2019 - 7 disposals, 2 marks (1 contested, 0 marks inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 0 inside 50s, 3 tackles (3 tackles inside 50), 0 1%ers, 1 score involvement

Gets dropped, and deservedly so. Had zero impact on the game at all. If you keep him in after this performance you are rewarding mediocrity.

Comes back in against the Eagles.

Todd Marshall vs West Coast - 10 disposals, 3 marks (2 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 1 goal, 2 behinds, 0 goal assists, 4 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 2 1%ers, 5 score involvements

Great performance, walk up start for the next week.

Todd Marshall vs North Melbourne - 10 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 1 goal assist, 3 inside 50s, 0 tackles, 3 1%ers, 5 score involvements

Not as good as he was against West Coast - around the level of his Melbourne game.

Todd Marshall vs Collingwood - 10 disposals, 4 marks (2 contested, 2 marks inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 3 tackles, 1 1%er, 4 score involvements

Again, nothing earth shattering about this. But you put it down to him developing

Todd Marshall vs Adelaide - 7 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 3 tackles, 3 1%ers, 2 score involvements

Oh look, it seems as though he's played exactly the same kind of no impact game that saw him get dropped the first time against Carlton. I wonder what happened? Hint: He gets dropped and doesn't get back in the side until Round 20.

It's at this point where a light goes off in his head, and he realises that AFL football isn't going to just be given to him just because he's tall. I consider this the point where the real Todd Marshall stood up. In fact, you could make an argument to say that the game against Adelaide was the last time we saw the crap version of Marshall, and that the last four rounds of 2019 were the preview of what we would get in 2020.

I'm gonna skip the North Melbourne game because that game was s**t.

End of 2019:

R20 - 11 disposals, 6 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 3 goals, 0 behinds, 2 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 0 1%ers, 5 score involvements
R21 - 11 disposals, 2 marks (1 contested, 0 inside 50), 2 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 8 tackles (6 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 7 score involvements
R23 - 12 disposals, 7 marks (1 contested, 4 inside 50), 2 goals, 1 behind, 3 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 0 1%ers, 9 score involvements

2020:

R1 - 10 disposals, 4 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 2 goals, 2 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (2 inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements
R2 - 11 disposals, 6 marks (2 contested, 1 inside 50), 2 goals, 0 behinds, 2 goal assists, 4 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 2 1%ers, 6 score involvements
R3 - 10 disposals, 3 marks (2 contested, 3 inside 50), 1 goal, 2 behinds, 1 goal assist, 0 inside 50s, 3 tackles (1 inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements
R4 - 8 disposals, 5 marks (2 contested, 2 inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 2 inside 50s, 5 tackles (4 inside 50), 0 1%ers, 4 score involvements
R5 - 4 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 4 tackles (2 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 1 score involvement
R6 - 7 disposals, 3 marks (0 contested, 0 inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 1 tackle (1 inside 50), 4 1%ers, 2 score involvements
R7 - 15 disposals, 5 marks (1 contested, 0 inside 50), 0 goals, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 3 inside 50s, 3 tackles (2 inside 50), 4 1%ers, 6 score involvements
R8 - 6 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 1 goal assist, 4 inside 50s, 5 tackles (3 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 3 score involvements

Gets injured.

R14 - 7 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 0 score involvements
R16 - 8 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 0 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 6 1%ers, 3 score involvements
R17 - 10 disposals, 3 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 1 behind, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 4 tackles, 2 1%ers, 5 score involvements

If you can’t see the uptick in his performance from early 2019 to late 2019 and for the bulk of 2020, you’re crazy.

So what you’re really complaining about is the fact that he got dropped after a poor performance against Carlton and Adelaide. But the Todd Marshall of late 2019 and 2020 wouldn’t exist if he wasn’t dropped for those games, because he would have been conditioned in the belief that those types of performances are good enough.

You’re also discounting the fact that having Dixon is better than Marshall trying to do it by himself, like as if we could have played any schmuck in Dixon’s position (Frampton) with Marshall we would have got the same results and we would have got the same results we have this year.

Structure is meaningless without players performing their role.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

Oh really now?

Todd Marshall vs Melbourne, 2019 - 10 disposals, 4 marks (0 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 1 inside 50, 0 tackles (0 tackles inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements

Pretty decent game.

Todd Marshall vs Carlton, 2019 - 7 disposals, 2 marks (1 contested, 0 marks inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 0 inside 50s, 3 tackles (3 tackles inside 50), 0 1%ers, 1 score involvement

Gets dropped, and deservedly so. Had zero impact on the game at all. If you keep him in after this performance you are rewarding mediocrity.

Comes back in against the Eagles.

Todd Marshall vs West Coast - 10 disposals, 3 marks (2 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 1 goal, 2 behinds, 0 goal assists, 4 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 2 1%ers, 5 score involvements

Great performance, walk up start for the next week.

Todd Marshall vs North Melbourne - 10 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 1 goal assist, 3 inside 50s, 0 tackles, 3 1%ers, 5 score involvements

Not as good as he was against West Coast - around the level of his Melbourne game.

Todd Marshall vs Collingwood - 10 disposals, 4 marks (2 contested, 2 marks inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 3 tackles, 1 1%er, 4 score involvements

Again, nothing earth shattering about this. But you put it down to him developing

Todd Marshall vs Adelaide - 7 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 3 tackles, 3 1%ers, 2 score involvements

Oh look, it seems as though he's played exactly the same kind of no impact game that saw him get dropped the first time against Carlton. I wonder what happened? Hint: He gets dropped and doesn't get back in the side until Round 20.

It's at this point where a light goes off in his head, and he realises that AFL football isn't going to just be given to him just because he's tall. I consider this the point where the real Todd Marshall stood up. In fact, you could make an argument to say that the game against Adelaide was the last time we saw the crap version of Marshall, and that the last four rounds of 2019 were the preview of what we would get in 2020.

I'm gonna skip the North Melbourne game because that game was sh*t.

End of 2019:

R20 - 11 disposals, 6 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 3 goals, 0 behinds, 2 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 0 1%ers, 5 score involvements
R21 - 11 disposals, 2 marks (1 contested, 0 inside 50), 2 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 8 tackles (6 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 7 score involvements
R23 - 12 disposals, 7 marks (1 contested, 4 inside 50), 2 goals, 1 behind, 3 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 0 1%ers, 9 score involvements

2020:

R1 - 10 disposals, 4 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 2 goals, 2 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (2 inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements
R2 - 11 disposals, 6 marks (2 contested, 1 inside 50), 2 goals, 0 behinds, 2 goal assists, 4 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 2 1%ers, 6 score involvements
R3 - 10 disposals, 3 marks (2 contested, 3 inside 50), 1 goal, 2 behinds, 1 goal assist, 0 inside 50s, 3 tackles (1 inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements
R4 - 8 disposals, 5 marks (2 contested, 2 inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 2 inside 50s, 5 tackles (4 inside 50), 0 1%ers, 4 score involvements
R5 - 4 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 4 tackles (2 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 1 score involvement
R6 - 7 disposals, 3 marks (0 contested, 0 inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 1 tackle (1 inside 50), 4 1%ers, 2 score involvements
R7 - 15 disposals, 5 marks (1 contested, 0 inside 50), 0 goals, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 3 inside 50s, 3 tackles (2 inside 50), 4 1%ers, 6 score involvements
R8 - 6 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 1 goal assist, 4 inside 50s, 5 tackles (3 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 3 score involvements

Gets injured.

R14 - 7 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 0 score involvements
R16 - 8 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 0 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 6 1%ers, 3 score involvements
R17 - 10 disposals, 3 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 1 behind, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 4 tackles, 2 1%ers, 5 score involvements

If you can’t see the uptick in his performance from early 2019 to late 2019 and for the bulk of 2020, you’re crazy.

So what you’re really complaining about is the fact that he got dropped after a poor performance against Carlton and Adelaide. But the Todd Marshall of late 2019 and 2020 wouldn’t exist if he wasn’t dropped for those games, because he would have been conditioned in the belief that those types of performances are good enough.

You’re also discounting the fact that having Dixon is better than Marshall trying to do it by himself, like as if we could have played any schmuck in Dixon’s position (Frampton) with Marshall we would have got the same results and we would have got the same results we have this year.

Structure is meaningless without players performing their role.

This seems to perfectly illustrate the opposite of your point.

In 2020:
R5 - 4 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 4 tackles (2 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 1 score involvement

R14 - 7 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 0 score involvements

Played round 6. Played round 15.

Why? Because Ken learned not to just drop a high ceiling developing tall just because he had a poor game. I'll bet he spoke to Todd after these games, but kept him in, and our structure held. We ended up winning the following two danger games in rounds 6 and 7 against GWS and Carlton, and smashed the two weak teams we played in rounds 15 & 16.

 

[Marmozet]

I do worry that we might fade into oblivion next year if we don’t go all the way this year. North made two prelims and then haven’t done anything since. Heck, even we turned to sh*t for a bit after 2014. It’s a bit concerning but I don’t think it’ll happen given our list profile is a bit better now.

I maintain that if we don’t win the flag this year, 2021 will be just like 2015.

 

[Janus]

This seems to perfectly illustrate the opposite of your point.

In 2020:
R5 - 4 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 4 tackles (2 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 1 score involvement

R14 - 7 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 0 score involvements

Played round 6. Played round 15.

Why? Because Ken learned not to just drop a high ceiling developing tall just because he had a poor game. I'll bet he spoke to Todd after these games, but kept him in, and our structure held. We ended up winning the following two danger games in rounds 6 and 7 against GWS and Carlton, and smashed the two weak teams we played in rounds 15 & 16.

There’s a huge difference between dropping a player who has an extremely poor game in a normal season after not exactly setting the world on fire on the scoreboard in the previous few games...and keeping the faith with a player who is returning from injury in a season where it’s impossible to train properly and who was averaging a goal per game before he got injured.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

There’s a huge difference between dropping a player who has an extremely poor game in a normal season after not exactly setting the world on fire on the scoreboard in the previous few games...and keeping the faith with a player who is returning from injury in a season where it’s impossible to train properly and who was averaging a goal per game before he got injured.

But he wasn't returning from injury in round 5 2020. He had had 4 games prior, a full pre-season, and went out there and had 4 touches.

Ken backed him in and played him in round 6 anyway. It's exciting stuff and shows clear improvement from the coaches, the selection panel and is part of the reason why we're getting a minimum of two home finals.

 

[Janus]

But he wasn't returning from injury in round 5 2020. He had had 4 games prior, a full pre-season, and went out there and had 4 touches.

Ken backed him in and played him in round 6 anyway. It's exciting stuff and shows clear improvement from the coaches, the selection panel and is part of the reason why we're getting a minimum of two home finals.

R5 was against Brisbane. None of our forwards really fired in that game because our midfield didn’t turn up to deliver them the ball.

 

[Fizzler]

I maintain that if we don’t win the flag this year, 2021 will be just like 2015.

I certainly hope not, but given it’s already happened before it’s a bit worrying (and traumatic LOL). I wonder how the Tigers would be going now if they’d lost in 2017. I know the Crows certainly would’ve papered over the cracks if they’d won and not bottomed out this bad if at all.

 

[Us against the rest]

Wow, I miss Jay Schulz. Could never question his courage, marking or kicking.

Send Dixon & Marshall hear, bad kicking is bad football and our inaccuracy may cost us a final or GF. This is one glaring fact that worries me and boy, I would hate to go out because of missed opportunities.

Jay Schulz Kicking Academy | Elite Kicking Training Program

jayschulz.com.au

 

[jakey]

If Ken wins the flag, he should lope down the stairs with a cadre of little people and a John Butcher mask on his face, get up on stage and bellow 'bigfooty, you were wrong!'. It's the true pt adelaide tradition.

 

[Duck Farmer]

Oh really now?

Todd Marshall vs Melbourne, 2019 - 10 disposals, 4 marks (0 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 1 inside 50, 0 tackles (0 tackles inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements

Pretty decent game.

Todd Marshall vs Carlton, 2019 - 7 disposals, 2 marks (1 contested, 0 marks inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 0 inside 50s, 3 tackles (3 tackles inside 50), 0 1%ers, 1 score involvement

Gets dropped, and deservedly so. Had zero impact on the game at all. If you keep him in after this performance you are rewarding mediocrity.

Comes back in against the Eagles.

Todd Marshall vs West Coast - 10 disposals, 3 marks (2 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 1 goal, 2 behinds, 0 goal assists, 4 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 2 1%ers, 5 score involvements

Great performance, walk up start for the next week.

Todd Marshall vs North Melbourne - 10 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 mark inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 1 goal assist, 3 inside 50s, 0 tackles, 3 1%ers, 5 score involvements

Not as good as he was against West Coast - around the level of his Melbourne game.

Todd Marshall vs Collingwood - 10 disposals, 4 marks (2 contested, 2 marks inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 3 tackles, 1 1%er, 4 score involvements

Again, nothing earth shattering about this. But you put it down to him developing

Todd Marshall vs Adelaide - 7 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 3 tackles, 3 1%ers, 2 score involvements

Oh look, it seems as though he's played exactly the same kind of no impact game that saw him get dropped the first time against Carlton. I wonder what happened? Hint: He gets dropped and doesn't get back in the side until Round 20.

It's at this point where a light goes off in his head, and he realises that AFL football isn't going to just be given to him just because he's tall. I consider this the point where the real Todd Marshall stood up. In fact, you could make an argument to say that the game against Adelaide was the last time we saw the crap version of Marshall, and that the last four rounds of 2019 were the preview of what we would get in 2020.

I'm gonna skip the North Melbourne game because that game was sh*t.

End of 2019:

R20 - 11 disposals, 6 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 3 goals, 0 behinds, 2 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 0 1%ers, 5 score involvements
R21 - 11 disposals, 2 marks (1 contested, 0 inside 50), 2 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 8 tackles (6 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 7 score involvements
R23 - 12 disposals, 7 marks (1 contested, 4 inside 50), 2 goals, 1 behind, 3 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 0 1%ers, 9 score involvements

2020:

R1 - 10 disposals, 4 marks (0 contested, 2 inside 50), 2 goals, 2 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (2 inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements
R2 - 11 disposals, 6 marks (2 contested, 1 inside 50), 2 goals, 0 behinds, 2 goal assists, 4 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 2 1%ers, 6 score involvements
R3 - 10 disposals, 3 marks (2 contested, 3 inside 50), 1 goal, 2 behinds, 1 goal assist, 0 inside 50s, 3 tackles (1 inside 50), 1 1%er, 5 score involvements
R4 - 8 disposals, 5 marks (2 contested, 2 inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 2 inside 50s, 5 tackles (4 inside 50), 0 1%ers, 4 score involvements
R5 - 4 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 4 tackles (2 inside 50), 2 1%ers, 1 score involvement
R6 - 7 disposals, 3 marks (0 contested, 0 inside 50), 1 goal, 1 behind, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 1 tackle (1 inside 50), 4 1%ers, 2 score involvements
R7 - 15 disposals, 5 marks (1 contested, 0 inside 50), 0 goals, 1 behind, 1 goal assist, 3 inside 50s, 3 tackles (2 inside 50), 4 1%ers, 6 score involvements
R8 - 6 disposals, 2 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 1 goal, 0 behinds, 1 goal assist, 4 inside 50s, 5 tackles (3 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 3 score involvements

Gets injured.

R14 - 7 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 1 inside 50, 2 tackles (1 inside 50), 3 1%ers, 0 score involvements
R16 - 8 disposals, 1 mark (0 contested, 0 inside 50), 0 goals, 0 behinds, 0 goal assists, 2 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 6 1%ers, 3 score involvements
R17 - 10 disposals, 3 marks (0 contested, 1 inside 50), 0 goals, 1 behind, 0 goal assists, 3 inside 50s, 4 tackles, 2 1%ers, 5 score involvements

If you can’t see the uptick in his performance from early 2019 to late 2019 and for the bulk of 2020, you’re crazy.

So what you’re really complaining about is the fact that he got dropped after a poor performance against Carlton and Adelaide. But the Todd Marshall of late 2019 and 2020 wouldn’t exist if he wasn’t dropped for those games, because he would have been conditioned in the belief that those types of performances are good enough.

You’re also discounting the fact that having Dixon is better than Marshall trying to do it by himself, like as if we could have played any schmuck in Dixon’s position (Frampton) with Marshall we would have got the same results and we would have got the same results we have this year.

Structure is meaningless without players performing their role.

I typed "describe cognitive dissonance" into GPT-3 and it generated something similar to this.

 

[Steve Dore]

I accept that Todd Marshall is no Sam Gray.

 

[El_Scorcho]

R5 was against Brisbane. None of our forwards really fired in that game because our midfield didn’t turn up to deliver them the ball.

I don't want to alarm you Janus, but our midfield didn't turn up plenty of times in 2019 as well, so much so that we finished 10th. In 2020 we're 1st and the midfield is one of the better units in the league.

EskimoPAFC has answered it perfectly. He's had poor games this year and been backed in. The first time that has happened in the Hinkley era for a developing forward. It's the actual improvement in coaching that most of this board has been screaming for for half a decade. Commitment to structure. Value placed on making the forward line more effective Recognition that simply getting bulk I50s isn't enough without a plan to score from them.

 

[Janus]

I don't want to alarm you Janus, but our midfield didn't turn up plenty of times in 2019 as well, so much so that we finished 10th. In 2020 we're 1st and the midfield is one of the better units in the league.

EskimoPAFC has answered it perfectly. He's had poor games this year and been backed in. The first time that has happened in the Hinkley era for a developing forward. It's the actual improvement in coaching that most of this board has been screaming for for half a decade. Commitment to structure. Value placed on making the forward line more effective Recognition that simply getting bulk I50s isn't enough without a plan to score from them.

We finished 3rd for clearances, 1st for centre clearances, 1st for contested possessions and 4th for uncontested possessions in 2019.

Guess what we are this year? 1st for clearances, 3rd for centre clearances, 1st for contested possessions and 4th for uncontested possessions. Almost exactly the same.

 

[Coobk001]

Luck plays a huge role in sport in the short term. Our failure to win the flag I agree with you but failure to make finals a few times has certainly come down to luck.


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Would you therefore say that if we've been unlucky for 5 years, that we may have also gotten very lucky this year? Maybe it balanced out.

5 years is a fair enough trend line to say it wasn't luck. On the other hand 1 good year after a trend of 5 bad years, may actually be luck.

Theres no doubt this uncertainty is what drives the lack of confidence amongst the supporter base. We have performed really well and consistently. We have gotten results this year, but we've still been thrashed, not just beaten, but smashed by Geelong and Brisbane, which fills us with that trepidation.

Let's see how the finals go. 1 win = PF, thatd be a good result. 2 wins = GF and a sensationalperformance. 3 wins = a flag and he gets all the credit he deserves and probably more than the 1 year extension.

But if we only get that 1 win, or none in finals this year, and we don't come out and back up our good year next year then it is fair to say that this year was 'luck'.

 

[70sDinosaur]

Under the present finals system, finishing in the top two and failing to reach the grand final should not be construed as anything other than a failure.

 

[Coobk001]

I don't want to alarm you Janus, but our midfield didn't turn up plenty of times in 2019 as well, so much so that we finished 10th. In 2020 we're 1st and the midfield is one of the better units in the league.

Yeah this part isn't quite correct. Last year we were statistically dominant. We were great in the middle except against quality, just like this year. Only difference is this year we've managed to kick more scores from all that dominance.

When people talk about us having changed heaps i disagree, the only real change in our whole game is that we've scored more, its created more scoreboard pressure and hence delivered results.

Our team defence remains as good this year as last, our midfield is basically the same, and our defence when the game isn't on our terms gets exposed just as easily. In reality its the forward line ie. Charlie and maybe the KPF structure thats made the difference.

 

[PA88]

Luck plays a huge role in sport in the short term. Our failure to win the flag I agree with you but failure to make finals a few times has certainly come down to luck.


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We didn't miss finals because of luck but because we didn't consistently play good football.

 

[Contested Marx]

So for those who had us below the 8, what is the reason we’re top of the ladder with one minor round game to play?

Don't know what it is, but it's certainly not Ken

 

[Harlott]

Yeah this part isn't quite correct. Last year we were statistically dominant. We were great in the middle except against quality, just like this year. Only difference is this year we've managed to kick more scores from all that dominance.

When people talk about us having changed heaps i disagree, the only real change in our whole game is that we've scored more, its created more scoreboard pressure and hence delivered results.

Our team defence remains as good this year as last, our midfield is basically the same, and our defence when the game isn't on our terms gets exposed just as easily. In reality its the forward line ie. Charlie and maybe the KPF structure thats made the difference.

I would say our midfield has definitely improved formwise and as a unit and the improvement has been generated from there.

 

[Harlott]

We finished 3rd for clearances, 1st for centre clearances, 1st for contested possessions and 4th for uncontested possessions in 2019.

Guess what we are this year? 1st for clearances, 3rd for centre clearances, 1st for contested possessions and 4th for uncontested possessions. Almost exactly the same.

Those stats aren’t worth much when you compare how our midfield group both individually and as a unit are operating this year.