The Vent Thread

[Haso]

They stuffed up making Lester the sub. He had no impact after coming on and the Lions were too short down back with Yeo having to play on Black. Yeo also didn't have the legs to run out the game. Yeo should've been the sub and Lester should've started.

Lester had the rest a couple of weeks back so it's hard to see the decision as player management.

I'd say that they probably would have taken Yeo off, but Blackie's knee probably demanded the vest.

 

[jackess]

I'd say that they probably would have taken Yeo off, but Blackie's knee probably demanded the vest.

Which is why Yeo should've been the sub. Lester can run out the game and Yeo can't. (saying Yeo can't sounds wrong).

 

[Toffee Lion]

I want to vent that I really really want to see Bartlett and Docherty on the team sheet.



Also Beams.

 

[3KZ is Football]

I will probably have a bit of a vent if we don't pick a side that looks something like the following against West Coast:

B: Pearce Hanley(11), Matt Maguire (36), Josh Drummond (39)
HB: Jared Polec (4), Daniel Merrett (21), Mitch Golby (41)
C: James Hawksley (12), Tom Rockliff (38), Daniel Rich (10)
HF: Rohan Bewick (43), Jonathan Brown (16), Jack Redden (30)
F: Josh Green (6), Bryce Retzlaff (37), Aaron Cornelius (44)
Foll: Billy Longer (5), Dayne Zorko (15), Andrew Raines (29)
Int: Elliot Yeo (26), Ben Hudson (22), Patrick Karnezis (28), (Sub) Ash McGrath
Emerg: , Jed Adcock (7), Ryan Lester (35), Joel Patfull (24)

IN: Polec, Hawksley, Karnezis, Retzlaff, Hudson
OUT: Adcock (omitted), Ryan Lester (omitted), Simon Black (injured??), Patfull (omitted), Polkinghorne (omitted)

Patfull and Polkinghorne are omitted due to poor form and Adcock, Yeo and Lester are omitted as part of my "rotation policy."

 

[Haggis McHaggis]

You're gonna have a vent then 3K. Not a hope in hell that will happen.

 

[3KZ is Football]

You're gonna have a vent then 3K. Not a hope in hell that will happen.

It will just be a little vent Haggis. I guess what I am trying to do is imagine what the side would look like if we were seriously looking at moving into a rebuilding phase.

Have a good one.

 

[Last of the Roys]

THE TEAM

That first half really put me to the verge of losing it.

It was such a ****ing pathetic weak as piss effort and I am so ****ing sick of seeing our team come out and play like that.

I don't get it. You just get this feeling of dread of knowing THAT SHIT is about to happen all over again.

Why the **** couldn't we win a clearance. 14 to 3 in the first quarter - it was bloody embarassing.

I am glad that usual polite applause from Lions fans was drowned out by dozens of fans getting stuck into the boys as they came off at half time - me included. Have some pride, show some aggression I screamed.

The second half is what we wanted to see - I don't mind losing if you bloody well put in.

POLKINGHORNE

Watched him all game - if he doesn't get dropped I will puke. 5 clangers out of 14 disposals, 36% disposal efficiency and many piss poor efforts in contests.

THE UMPIRES

I have seen some crap umpiring in my time, but that first quarter almost took the cake. I just wanted to rip their heads off so badly. It didn't get much better all game.

NORTH SUPPORTERS

I have plenty of time for North Melbourne given it is like a later day Fitzroy but their supporters booing Brown repeatedly on the wing was the height of petulance. It was a disgrace that was fantastically mocked by Lions supporters booing Harvey for no other reason than payback in the third quarter.

 

[patfullfankezz]

I will probably have a bit of a vent if we don't pick a side that looks something like the following against West Coast:

B: Pearce Hanley(11), Matt Maguire (36), Josh Drummond (39)
HB: Jared Polec (4), Daniel Merrett (21), Mitch Golby (41)
C: James Hawksley (12), Tom Rockliff (38), Daniel Rich (10)
HF: Rohan Bewick (43), Jonathan Brown (16), Jack Redden (30)
F: Josh Green (6), Bryce Retzlaff (37), Aaron Cornelius (44)
Foll: Billy Longer (5), Simon Black (20), Andrew Raines (29)
Int: Dayne Zorko (15), Ben Hudson (22), Patrick Karnezis (28), (Sub) Ash McGrath
Emerg: , Jed Adcock (7), Ryan Lester (35), Joel Patfull (24)

IN: Polec, Hawksley, Karnezis, Retzlaff, Hudson
OUT: Adcock (omitted), Ryan Lester (omitted), Elliot Yeo (omitted), Patfull (omitted), Polkinghorne (omitted)

Patfull and Polkinghorne are omitted due to poor form and Adcock, Yeo and Lester are omitted as part of my "rotation policy."

Okay, I know I said tomorrow, but this post gets to me.

Patfull had 100% DE today. Which doesn't mean much as he only had 11 disposals, but he kept his opponent down to 38%.

Given everyone has be whinging and bitching about disposal efficiency (and I'm so annoyed it took me 5 tries to spell efficiency) I doubt dropping Patfull is the answer. Watching that second quarter, there were a few times where North hit him fair on the chest.

I'll be back Tuesday.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Okay, I know I said tomorrow, but this post gets to me.

Sorry Kezz, but 1 kick and 1 handball well into the second quarter is not good enough from an experienced player. If we are entering the so called "rebuilding phase," then Patfull is going to struggle to keep his place in this side in my opinion. Having played all 9 games this year, Patfull is currently ranked 28th on our list for disposals. This is actually an improvement on the last two years, but the difference this year is that he is getting beaten more often and is providing less and less rebound.

For a player who will 28 at the end of the year and who has not been in great form for a while, I wonder how secure his place is at the Lions? The only thing that may work in his favour is the fact that Drummond is a year older and less physically durable.

 

[Sanchez365]

umpires, d swallow, midfield, etc... (amidoingitrite?)

 

[weevil]

Sorry Kezz, but 1 kick and 1 handball well into the second quarter is not good enough from an experienced player. If we are entering the so called "rebuilding phase," then Patfull is going to struggle to keep his place in this side in my opinion. Having played all 9 games this year, Patfull is currently ranked 28th on our list for disposals. This is actually an improvement on the last two years, but the difference this year is that he is getting beaten more often and is providing less and less rebound.

For a player who will 28 at the end of the year and who has not been in great form for a while, I wonder how secure his place is at the Lions? The only thing that may work in his favour is the fact that Drummond is a year older and less physically durable.

Has been very good for us this year. Forget the stats, he does not get many of them. What he does is take his player out of the game. Pay attention to him, he generally makes very few errors. Top 20 in the league for 1%.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I want to vent that I really really want to see Bartlett and Docherty on the team sheet[/SIZE]

I want to vent about people wanting to bring in players who aren't ready yet.

Let them dominate a NEAFL game or two first.

Have patience Generation Y.

 

[Toffee Lion]

Has been very good for us this year. Forget the stats, he does not get many of them. What he does is take his player out of the game. Pay attention to him, he generally makes very few errors. Top 20 in the league for 1%.

Pretty much this.

Patfull isn't much of a stat getter, He is a stopper that will cause forwards turn the ball over and spoil the ball.

Occasionally will be a bit more aggresive and play a bit more attacking off the HB but not much else.

Don't think he is one we can afford to cut.

 

[Toffee Lion]

I want to vent about people wanting to bring in players who aren't ready yet.

Let them dominate a NEAFL game or two first.

Have patience Generation Y.

I don't want to sound like a dick because I understand your view of what I said.

But what I meant is that I'm really anxious to see them play in general.

Not that I'm asking for them to play next week.

Kind of like when you're 8 and want your Chrissy presents on the 1st of December but you really know you have to wait until the 25th.

Hope that clears it up TBD.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Has been very good for us this year. Forget the stats, he does not get many of them. What he does is take his player out of the game. Pay attention to him, he generally makes very few errors. Top 20 in the league for 1%.

Happy to admit that I had missed the 1% contributions. Perhaps I haven't been looking closely enough and my analysis is unduly harsh.

No doubt Kezz will put me straight on Tuesday, but after a quick look at the AFL website and from memory,
this is how Patful's year has looked so far.

Rd 1. Had a good game against Melbourne, beating Jared Rivers and making the best players.
Rd 2. Patfull lowered his colours to Waite who kicked 5 goals in the game against Carlton.
Rd 3. Made the best players in a losing side. Listed opponent Clancee Pearce kicked 3 goals.
Rd 4. Clearly took the points over Tom Lynch.
Rd 5. Not sure who he lined up on against Geelong. AFL website says Tom Hawkins, who kicked 6 goals. I suspect both Maguire and Patfull had a crack at Hawkins that night.
Rd 6. Patfull had a very quiet game against Essendon.
Rd 7. Patfull lined up on Ben Reid and managed 6 disposals in a losing side. That said, Reid didn't do a whole lot either.
Rd 8. Took the points over Jeremy Cameron in our win over GWS
Rd 9. Had a shocking first half, but seemed to nullify Aaron Edwards over the course of the game.

The pattern this year seems to be that Patfull does well against weak sides, but struggles when the opposition is stronger. No surprise there I suppose. Made our best players twice, but had a couple of shockers into the bargain. At this stage, he hasn't taken a big name scalp and where once I might have had some confidence when he lined up on a class opponent like Adam Goodes, I don't have the same confidence at the minute.

In closing, I don't doubt Patfull's courage and endeavour, but wonder if he has already started to taper off as a footballer and will continue to over the next year or so. Then again, I might be being a bit hard on Patfull.

 

[lionroar]

This is what I and a few other MelbLions ppl around aisle 9.

The frustration and anger was so intense in that first qtr, I was ready to sacrifice an expensive alcoholic drink and throw it at a field ump, the next time one got in range.

THE TEAM

That first half really put me to the verge of losing it.

It was such a ****ing pathetic weak as piss effort and I am so ****ing sick of seeing our team come out and play like that.

I don't get it. You just get this feeling of dread of knowing THAT SHIT is about to happen all over again.

Why the **** couldn't we win a clearance. 14 to 3 in the first quarter - it was bloody embarassing.

I am glad that usual polite applause from Lions fans was drowned out by dozens of fans getting stuck into the boys as they came off at half time - me included. Have some pride, show some aggression I screamed.

The second half is what we wanted to see - I don't mind losing if you bloody well put in.

 

[Stocka]

Our handball skills would have to be the worst in the league.

We seem to inevitably:

• Miss targets by handball
• Handball to players under pressue
• Handball to players who appear to be 2m away or less
• Handball to players who are in a worse position than the disposer of the ball
• Put players under pressure with "loose" handballs
• Handball into on-coming opposition players
• Slow the progression of play down with poor handballs

I don't think we "over handball", but just that our handballing skills and decision-making in this aspect of the game is amongst the worst in the league (even though I do actually think that we are beginning to see the team's kicking skills improve from what has been a very low base).

We are also a slow team when it comes to actually disposing of the ball. Slow to either get the ball to foot or give it off by hand. This is a much overlooked aspect of "pace" in the modern game (overlooked by fans who only look at leg-speed).

The fact that we also seem to have few players who are good at one-touch grabbing the ball at stoppages appears to become evident in games in which we get smashed in the clearances.

 

[Swanny10]

Our handball skills would have to be the worst in the league.

We seem to inevitably:

• Miss targets by handball
• Handball to players under pressue
• Handball to players who appear to be 2m away or less
• Handball to players who are in a worse position than the disposer of the ball
• Put players under pressure with "loose" handballs
• Handball into on-coming opposition players
• Slow the progression of play down with poor handballs

Add stone cold dropping of handball receives.

 

[matwt73]

I am generally ok with how we are going. We are clearly streets better than the 'bottom three', and sit in a group (North, Port, Bulldogs, Freo) who will likely not factor in the eight but will win 5- 8 games.

Quite clearly though we are the worst of that group, we need to be winning half the time against those teams and pushing the teams in the eight and occassionally snagging a win. Sunday the scoreboard flattered us, 16 points is not bad, but it is as close as we got and we never looked like winning.

For a side that played so poorly last year I am dissapointed we have not seen more improvement from more players.

Rich, Maguire and Golby are much better than last year. I think Polec is as well though he has drifted out of a few games.

Beams, Lester and Bewick have shown bits at times, but generally I am underwhelmed.

 

[charles202]

I am one of those who think that both Polka and Patful should have a spell in the reserves.

I am quite alarmed at how far backwards Polka has gone this year.

Patful has been more than solid this year. However, I see that our best back six has Merrett and McGuire as the key posts and while Joel can fill in as third tall and do an admirable job at shutting down a third tall forward IMO he does not provide enough offensive input required for that role.

This win has hurt me more than any other I can remember in some time, amdired by the fightback.....gutted that we folded when the game was in dispute.

 

[Nick Lions]

THE TEAM

POLKINGHORNE

Watched him all game - if he doesn't get dropped I will puke. 5 clangers out of 14 disposals, 36% disposal efficiency and many piss poor efforts in contests.



NORTH SUPPORTERS

I have plenty of time for North Melbourne given it is like a later day Fitzroy but their supporters booing Brown repeatedly on the wing was the height of petulance. It was a disgrace that was fantastically mocked by Lions supporters booing Harvey for no other reason than payback in the third quarter.

On Polks, we have heard that he's selected because he's a big body that can play inside midfield. Well there's absolutely no point playing physically solid guys if they won't put said body on the line, at least once in a while. If Vossy must use him. Leave him in the forward line as a marking target who can chase defenders around. The amount of obvious changers he had yesterday really got to me, so I'm not surprised to see his clanger count and disposal efficiency, or lack there of.

They only booed because they're jealous, that he usually tears their defenders apart. Pretty poor form from the North supporters really. During the telecast the commentators and myself were wondering why Boomer was being booed. The commentary team came to the conclusion that it was North fans yelling
"Boooo-mer". So that is truly hilarious to find out that it was just payback for the North supporters.

 

[chopperduck]

LOL, i noticed the boos for Harvey and i figured it must have been a square up by the supporters for the Browny boos. Great job to the Victorian supporters!

Polka i think will be a player we will persist with simply because he is good enough to play at that level, he is just woefully out of form. He has had a few niggles this year, so i don't think he is really flying, and personally, i'd like to see him maybe play next week, have the bye off and then come back via the 2nds. Spend 3-4 weeks getting soem touch back and just dominating in the middle. We are a young team, and some of our best 22 players will go through tough times, and i can see why we would persist with them and try play them through these times instead of dropping them, so i can see where the match panel is coming from, he is also fairly diverse, he is a bigger body for our midfield rotations, he can do a run with role, play a leading forward role (still my favoured position for him) and can also do a defensive forward role. I guess it's easy to look at the stats and say he isn't doing enough, but i also think back to when he was a late out a few weeks in a row, and Sheldon was his replacement, probably a guide to the role he is playing in the team, Sheldon never racked up many touches either, playing as a defensive type position.

Polka is one of our more experienced players (which is a reflection on our team) so i dont' mind persisting with him. Personally though, i would give him a break, let him heal up any niggles, and get some confidence smashing some 2nd grade players up for a few weeks, then bring him back in playing on ball, not a defensive position.

 

[Homer Jnr]

I mentioned it in the match thread, but it is something that is sticking with me.... I'd love to see some senior players (other than Brown or Black) take some ownership of this side and drag the side out of the mire when all hell is breaking loose. Goose was the only guy to do that yesterday.

Drummond, McGrath, Patfull and Raines all lifted in the second half, whilst Adcock had a shocker.. Whilst Redden, Rich and Rockliff all lifted in the second half. The first group need to be the guys constantly standing up and making a difference during situations like the first half. The second group need to be starting to join that group. The gulf in experience from group 1 to group 2 can't be ignored.

Polkinghorne is exempt from those groupings, because he is out of form and needs time in the two's to recapture his mojo. It is easy to bash him, but a month in the magoos may be a boot up the backside for a player who has stagnated badly.

 

[chopperduck]

Agree, our defenders in general are doing pretty good. Goose is in good form and is directing traffic well down there with Merrett up forward, but we need some more leadership from the middle. Midfield group seems to be just waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen. Midfielders are the cream of the crop, the run and break open games, win the hard ball, tackle and pressure the other team and run back to clog up space, it's a very demanding job, but you won't win games if your midfield isn't doing the work.

 

[T Factor]

I am in a Fantasy Football league with 22 mates, just had an email asking if I wanted Polks as a mid season trade..

"Trade you Polkinghorne for just about anybody...what a friggen crab"
and he is an Eagles supporter.

I don't think Polks has found his place in the side and is going backwards. His confidence is shot, and so is mine.