Season 2016 and pre season what changes do we need to do as a club to learn from this debacle

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Dave Omsby

Club Legend
Joined
May 18, 2014
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Aldinga, South Australia
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Port Adelaide
#53
I think everything was looking almost too rosy . We were expected to be top 4 this year , everybody said so .
Everyone wanted to be at Port .
Membership sky rocketed .
Everything was feeling great everybody loved us and said we were the blue-print for a young team coming up .
I think we were lulled into a false sense of security and took our eye off what had made us rise - sheer hard work and care for each other as a team .once the season started and the confidence dropped it's just been too hard to get on a roll with all the teams coming at us hard and with plenty of research .
Next year we need to re stock , make a pledge to do whatever it takes and be wary of our mind set the next time we rise up .
 

Papa G

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Apr 13, 2006
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The Bitter End
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#57
Walsh's legacy is massively overstated. He was a big part of Choco's underachieving era. West Coast did bugger all when he was there. As stated above, was it his genius that lead us through that extremely poor patch last year before we pulled our fingers out at the end? and finally, Campo has won a Showdown and beaten the side that beat the flag favourites the week prior, Walsh never did that. Kind of reminds me a bit of the Chaser's Eulogy song.....
 
Joined
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#59
Richo was our biggest loss tactically (more so than Phil) - we need a midfield stoppage genius to replace one of Voss or Carr.
A specialist forward line coach that at least argues to Ken that we need to maintain "some" structure up front.
Need one more grunt/beast midfielder that is ruthless.
Need one true crumbing forward with genuine burst speed and goal sense.
Need a couple of pacy, long kicking , line carrying outside mids (preferably at least one a left footer).
Need to start pre season training NOW so as not to "cook" the guys by trying to cram too much high intensity workload into them over too short a time frame - steady progressive build up.
Ned to play new players in their proper positions, not hang them out to dry on starvation flank/pocket or continually on sub's bench.
Need to rediscover the team ethos and play for each other not for themselves alone.
Need to rediscover the hunger and fire in the belly.
Need to know whether this season was due to over training, emotional melt down after playing on the "red line" for two consecutive seasons, boredom, taking things for granted, self obsession with "media darling" status and commitments, coaches taking eyes off the ball (letting Nicks coach?), etc - possibly it is a combination of all of those, but whatever it the answer is - it needs fixing.
 

ab56452001

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Aug 23, 2009
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salisbury
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Port Adelaide
#60
Keep a lid on things!

I have no doubt the club, from management down to the playing group, got ahead of themselves over the preseason and then once things starting going awry they didn't handle the pressure! This year keep expectations in house and bring back the "never give up" mantra!

Finals in 2013 and 2014 were the result of hard work, toughness and a genuine desire to win and give 100% no matter what. This year we have rarely given 100%, especially when teams have been able to shut us down for extended periods within a match. There has been a notable lack of desire among the playing group this year. The ultimate front runners!

Whether we need to make some tough list management calls is hard to say from the outside but I'd be looking at the player's who seem to go missing when the going gets tough the most often (which this year is 80% of our list!). Bringing in Dixon would also be an excellent addition. But I still think the talent is there and most of our issues this year have been mental!

A review of the leadership group is also needed. I was thinking of criticising Boak for his lack of leadership on the weekend but then had a look at the other official 'leaders' and realised how poorly they have served us this year: Lobbe, Ebert, Jonas, Trengove, Hartlett, Wines. So you have Wines injured, Jonas dropped and four guys who have been significantly down on past form for most of the year! In a season when we needed our 'leaders' to stand up more than ever, these are the guys who have really let us down the most. I'd say Boak, Wines and maybe Trengove are the only one's who could possibly stay on this list next year. No point worrying about the performance of fringe players like Young, Moore, S Gray, etc when you have such a massive leadership void!
Well said
 

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