So now lets see where we're really at.

[Gak Attack]

So we had the toughest first four rounds of any team and lets be honest, having 2 points from those four games is more than any expert would of given us and probably a lot of Tigers fans as well.

Now we start to play teams who we are a chance to beat and some we really should beat. We really need to start games better, we have shown in patches we can put goals on teams quick and against the lesser teams if we can do it from the start we can put them away early.

Some things I would now like to see:
- More than one good quarter a game obviously
- Something consistent from guys who have been in the system a few years like White, Connors, Edwards and Morton and if not don't reward it and drop them instead of handing blokes like Edwards a game each week after bad performances.
- Get back to controlling the contested possessions like we often did last year, it's the main reason teams win games now.
- More hardness as the ball.. it pains me to see Tuck not playing when we have a few 'soft' blokes looking for the easy option.

Really need to come out now and win next week, we have showed enough that we could do it and should aim to have 4 wins by middle of the season, we have shown enough that we should be beating teams like North, Brisbane, GC and Port.

Thoughts from others?

 

[cairo tiger]

long way of, 2nd last place this year- we can beat some teams- and just cant match it with the big boys

 

[turtle27]

Big few rounds coming up, North at ES, Lions at the G, then Freo at the G. These are the sort of games we should be aiming to win, and if we win all three of those, and then we're 3-3-1.

 

[scarecrow2k1]

MUST win 2 of 3

 

[sante]

I was going to make a similar thread. Our season starts next week. Realistically, when the fixture came out, we all knew we would be 0-4. We are on a draw at least and even though we have been smashed at times, we have played some of the best teams.

The next 2 games should be wins and I'd be disappointed with losses. We are playing alright, just not up to it against the best which is fair enough.

 

[partycorolla]

So we had the toughest first four rounds of any team and lets be honest, having 2 points from those four games is more than any expert would of given us and probably a lot of Tigers fans as well.

Now we start to play teams who we are a chance to beat and some we really should beat. We really need to start games better, we have shown in patches we can put goals on teams quick and against the lesser teams if we can do it from the start we can put them away early.

Some things I would now like to see:
- More than one good quarter a game obviously
- Something consistent from guys who have been in the system a few years like White, Connors, Edwards and Morton and if not don't reward it and drop them instead of handing blokes like Edwards a game each week after bad performances.
- Get back to controlling the contested possessions like we often did last year, it's the main reason teams win games now.
- More hardness as the ball.. it pains me to see Tuck not playing when we have a few 'soft' blokes looking for the easy option.

Really need to come out now and win next week, we have showed enough that we could do it and should aim to have 4 wins by middle of the season, we have shown enough that we should be beating teams like North, Brisbane, GC and Port.

Thoughts from others?

Yeah I started a thread last week on basically the same point of view. I agree with you, the next few weeks will give us a heads up on where we have or have not improved.....

 

[theflea]

the quicker we can get derickx in the better. graham is the biggest spud of all time

 

[docko911]

It just pisses me off we get the good teams early when it matters and shit teams later. Saying that this young group looks more resilient than in the past and hopefully they can go into the match against North with some real confidence. Last years game against them really didn't indicate much as we were missing a few players and Cotch disappeared after he got reported.

I think we are in a position where if we hold our heads high and continue to work hard we can push every team we play for the remainder of the season.

 

[Bazzar]

the quicker we can get derickx in the better. graham is the biggest spud of all time

You have NFI

 

[docko911]

You have NFI

Graham is our best ruckman. Just needs to work on hitouts to advantage but then sometimes that can be the midfielders not getting there.

 

[Infamy]

Graham is our best ruckman. Just needs to work on hitouts to advantage but then sometimes that can be the midfielders not getting there.

Collingwood were clearly roving to Graham's taps for much of the game

 

[Toadvine]

We really need to get a win against North next week. They'll be coming back off a trip to Perth and we'll have an extra days rest on them. We have got to capitalize.

They slaughtered us in the rain last year so I'll be happy to watch the game under the roof at the G.

edit - I mean at the dome

 

[tunksy]

We really need to get a win against North next week. They'll be coming back off a trip to Perth and we'll have an extra days rest on them. We have got to capitalize.

They slaughtered us in the rain last year so I'll be happy to watch the game under the roof at the G.

this. from what we've seen. we have actually improved on last year.

 

[Turmoil]

We really need to get a win against North next week. They'll be coming back off a trip to Perth and we'll have an extra days rest on them. We have got to capitalize.

They slaughtered us in the rain last year so I'll be happy to watch the game under the roof at the G.

The G has a roof, wow that must of gone up quick

Couldnt agree more though and will be there to cheer em on.

 

[Toadvine]

The G has a roof, wow that must of gone up quick

Couldnt agree more though and will be there to cheer em on.

I blame alcohol.


Edit - Don't tell him I said that.

 

[Madtiger2006]

Big few rounds coming up, North at ES, Lions at the G, then Freo at the G. These are the sort of games we should be aiming to win, and if we win all three of those, and then we're 3-3-1.

and hopefully a percentage of 100

 

[turtle27]

and hopefully a percentage of 100

Given we have 154 point differential, that's going to be difficult. I'd settle for getting back to about 80-85%.

 

[TheProwler]

Graham is our best ruckman. Just needs to work on hitouts to advantage but then sometimes that can be the midfielders not getting there.

Unfortunately this is true. Graham as hard as he tries is never going to make an AFL ruck, especially now with the 3&1 sub rule. A ruck now has to not only tap the ball to advantage but have a massive tank and be able to more simple things such as present at half back for our kick outs, mark & kick.

Gus doesnt very often tap us the ball, its 50/50 if we take it away ro the opp. A guy of his size should put the fear into the defense when he moves forward for a spell but alas quite the opposite he is a one trick pony and dreadfull at getting the pill at ground level.


Credit where its due though I recall him receiving the pill last night in the third and did a 270 and surprised the hell out of the pie forward. I nearly choked on a mouthfull of nectar but it was clearly his highlight of the night.


Considering how good our midfield is developing as I have said on numerous other threads we need to open the checkbook at seasons end and buy a ruck if we want to go the next step


As for seeing where we are really at, clearly we have showed that we can beat anyteam on the day but at present its just a quarter or two a game. We dominated that third last night and you could see the surprised looks on the opposition. They were able to regroup at 3 qtr time and after the first goal broke our backs and the floodgates opened.

 

[Gak Attack]

Unfortunately this is true. Graham as hard as he tries is never going to make an AFL ruck, especially now with the 3&1 sub rule. A ruck now has to not only tap the ball to advantage but have a massive tank and be able to more simple things such as present at half back for our kick outs, mark & kick.

Gus doesnt very often tap us the ball, its 50/50 if we take it away ro the opp. A guy of his size should put the fear into the defense when he moves forward for a spell but alas quite the opposite he is a one trick pony and dreadfull at getting the pill at ground level.


Credit where its due though I recall him receiving the pill last night in the third and did a 270 and surprised the hell out of the pie forward. I nearly choked on a mouthfull of nectar but it was clearly his highlight of the night.


Considering how good our midfield is developing as I have said on numerous other threads we need to open the checkbook at seasons end and buy a ruck if we want to go the next step


As for seeing where we are really at, clearly we have showed that we can beat anyteam on the day but at present its just a quarter or two a game. We dominated that third last night and you could see the surprised looks on the opposition. They were able to regroup at 3 qtr time and after the first goal broke our backs and the floodgates opened.

Who is the ruck coach? Really with the amount of taps he wins that goes straight to opposition you would think it is of high importance to be working on it. He can be frustrating at times but he does win a lot of taps, if more were used to advantage we couldn't really complain. I still think he is the best we have.

 

[Madison]

I like Graham, but the more I watch him the more I am convinced he will never be the handy player I was hoping he would be.

He's just not a smart footballer. Makes silly, silly mistakes. Doesn't show enough intensity and just doesn't impose himself. He doesn't just not impose himself for a guy of his size, he just doesn't impose himself at all.

If he had a bit of that mongrel in him that Leigh Brown has, I think he would be alright. But he doesn't have it and doesn't look to be developing it.

 

[Bruce Monteath]

To be honest, there is no better indicator of where we're at than last night.

You measure yourself against the benchmark. We're a fair way back.

 

[turtle27]

To be honest, there is no better indicator of where we're at than last night.

You measure yourself against the benchmark. We're a fair way back.

We are, no doubt about that, but it's the bottom 6-10 players that are costing us - Nahas, White, Kingy (love him, but he won't be there once we start winning consistently I feel), Connors, Edwards etc. Once we have kids like Dea, Nason, etc come through and replace these guys, we'll close the gap. The top 6 or so, are quality - Cotch, Jack, Dusty, Conca, Lids, and happy to throw Batch in there, he's a beauty.

 

[TJTIGER]

I like Graham, but the more I watch him the more I am convinced he will never be the handy player I was hoping he would be.

He's just not a smart footballer. Makes silly, silly mistakes. Doesn't show enough intensity and just doesn't impose himself. He doesn't just not impose himself for a guy of his size, he just doesn't impose himself at all.

If he had a bit of that mongrel in him that Leigh Brown has, I think he would be alright. But he doesn't have it and doesn't look to be developing it.

I like him too. At this stage though I think it's a confidence thing wth Gus. We've all seen him take marks, kick goals, tackle, tap ruck. He seems to have most of the pieces of the jigsaw but like alot of our young team it's putting all together consistently. That's the next challenge for the team & coaches.

 

[Reckoner Tiger]

3-1-3

0-3-75

GO TIGES

...hehe.

 

[juss]

I think we can snag a few wins in the next month, in fact I'm not ruling out us being 3-1-3 after round 7.

However, no one expected us to win any of the first four, and we didn't. Now we have some winnable games, some teams we are expected to be highly competitive/better than. IMO this is just as big a test as the first four games. Now there is some pressure on to perform, to get some wins. Sure we're not good enough to beat the top teams. But are we good enough to beat teams we should? Big month, and interesting month coming up.