Autopsy 'Tis but a scratch - injury time -v- Bulldogs

May 2, 2017
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Geez the difference in the marking strength of Lobb and Naughton is stark, which is annoying because we know Lobb *can* clunk them like that when he's on.

If Lobb could mark like Naughton he too would have the opportunity to kick 1.5 every game.
I don't know if it was Lobb and/or the kickers but he was not in the right position for the vast majority of those marking attempts yesterday. Running underneath or sat on his head.
 

wild side

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There was one kick from Cox, after he sold candy.
Ran down the wing and sailed it straight over Lobb's head to no-one.
The kicking is still an issue, it keeps us away from really being AFL quality
 

Yeti

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They are not setting us back either. We basically got him for free after losing both our wingers. He is serviceable most games, occasionally ordinary and occasionally great. Acres may not be a premiership winger (although his best is easily good enough to be), but if you have angst to get out, he is so far from where I would target.

Curse whatever the cause/s of our injuries. I would put them as 75% of our problems with big ticket trades (Hogan and Lobb) combining 20% and someone like Acres occupying maybe 0.01%.

I disagree, if the club believes we are not winning a flag in the next 5 years then there is opportunity to develop other players with higher upside than Acres.

I agree that a lot of our problems come back to how we spend our draft capital but bringing in players like Acres is not helping.
 
Mar 18, 2012
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I must be watching a different game to some here because Acres was awful, as usual. There is no upside to his game.

Everything he does is half hearted. He is soft in the contest and gets stepped around every time. If he does do something good to get the ball, he torches it with his disposal. Throwing him into the ruck did nothing, he was jumping eyes closed expecting contact.

He’s the most net-negative player I’ve seen play for the Dockers.
 

malpaso

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Tabs/Lobb/Treacy on the park and we are so much more dangerous inside 50.

I'm still amazed how easy it is for opposition defenders to double and triple team where we've kicked the ball. Are the other forwards too bunched and bringing their defender to the area? Are the kickers choosing the wrong target?
 
Sep 30, 2005
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It is a hill I have chosen to die on.

And as I said in the game day thread, that will be his one good game that he sucks people back in with until next week when he goes back to 10 touches and shirking the contest.

Can't believe we are playing him in the ruck like he did at St Kilda. It's great.

darcy was off. We needed to leave Treacy where he was. I don’t mind it
 

estibador

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Jesus Bont gets some soft frees. Walters legit hits him hip to hip contesting a ground ball and he gets the free for taking the legs.
 
Mar 18, 2012
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On more positive notes, Darcy was fantastic again and the shining light of the season IMO. He is going to be unstoppable one day, already his influence on games is huge. A bit more chemistry between him and the mids is an area to improve though. Hopefully he’s not out for long.


Treacy looks the goods. Everything crossed we can get him a good injury free run at it.
Brayshaw and Henry’s goals were awesome. Henry looks like he will make it which is a huge plus.
 

meesy

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Something that annoys me when watching other teams is when a player is lining up for goal 50 out and they don't look confident there is usually a decent defender running past for the receive (Daniel Rich, Jayden Short and Trent Rivers spring to mind) who usually slot it. We have long kickers in defense like Ryan and Wilson but are never in the area whatsoever. Why don't we do this considering how allergic some blokes are of the goals?
 
Mar 18, 2012
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The injuries are crushing because it’s not just about player X being out for Y weeks.

The best teams have years of chemistry built up from their core group. So the effect of Young, Chapman, Sturt and every other young player who has missed stints is felt cumulatively. The lack of cohesion is what has really set us back years, and likely years to come.
 
Apr 26, 2011
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I must be watching a different game to some here because Acres was awful, as usual. There is no upside to his game.

Everything he does is half hearted. He is soft in the contest and gets stepped around every time. If he does do something good to get the ball, he torches it with his disposal. Throwing him into the ruck did nothing, he was jumping eyes closed expecting contact.

He’s the most net-negative player I’ve seen play for the Dockers.
He is playing better than hill this year. Which means St Kilda are more Dockery than us. 😜
 

tonygeeks

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Tabs/Lobb/Treacy on the park and we are so much more dangerous inside 50.

I'm still amazed how easy it is for opposition defenders to double and triple team where we've kicked the ball. Are the other forwards too bunched and bringing their defender to the area? Are the kickers choosing the wrong target?

JLo was right in his presser , you have to change the angles of your entries by switching the point of attack

5-6 times the player running fwd with the ball should have eased up and looked to hit a player lose in the middle but just got locked onto the leading fwd and run ourselves into positions the kick can only go to 1 place


Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com
 

estibador

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I don't know if it was Lobb and/or the kickers but he was not in the right position for the vast majority of those marking attempts yesterday. Running underneath or sat on his head.

Yeah bit of both, but I've just got up to the point in the 2nd qtr where Henry kicks it and it goes over Lobb's head.

On the telecast it looks like Henry has kicked it 5m over Lobb's head but that was down my end and I can tell you Lobb kept running under it long after it was obvious he needed to prop and time his leap better.
 
Apr 26, 2011
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The injuries are crushing because it’s not just about player X being out for Y weeks.

The best teams have years of chemistry built up from their core group. So the effect of Young, Chapman, Sturt and every other young player who has missed stints is felt cumulatively. The lack of cohesion is what has really set us back years, and likely years to come.
So true. The lack of cohesion, stunting of individual growth , lack of confidence for fear of getting injured again, even fitness when coming back from long term injuries..all adds up to the mess we are in.
 

estibador

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JLo was right in his presser , you have to change the angles of your entries by switching the point of attack

This is why I find it interesting when people say JLo sounds clueless/uninspiring/whatever in his pressers.

To me he's very good at analysing and articulating exactly what has gone wrong from a technical perspective compared to some coaches. Whether that translates to him being able to get the team doing it in future remains to be seen of course.
 
Sep 30, 2005
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This is why I find it interesting when people say JLo sounds clueless/uninspiring/whatever in his pressers.

To me he's very good at analysing and articulating exactly what has gone wrong from a technical perspective compared to some coaches. Whether that translates to him being able to get the team doing it in future remains to be seen of course.

bur he’s not “inspiring”
 
May 2, 2017
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I disagree, if the club believes we are not winning a flag in the next 5 years then there is opportunity to develop other players with higher upside than Acres.

I agree that a lot of our problems come back to how we spend our draft capital but bringing in players like Acres is not helping.
Which young player has the tank to play wing? I'd say none of them.

He's not holding anyone back because there is nobody. Maybe Freddy next year.
 

malpaso

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Which young player has the tank to play wing? I'd say none of them.

He's not holding anyone back because there is nobody. Maybe Freddy next year.
Giro does but been injured and seems yet to get back to where he was. Agree on Freddy and I think Tucker should be a winger.
 

estibador

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Tucker I still think should be inside.

I do too because he's one of our few mids who can kick goals, but people keep putting up stats about the guys he's playing on lately barely touching the ball.

If he can keep doing that it would be nice, but I dunno, he still doesn't strike me as a defender who could clamp down on those really dangerous forwards who take matches away from you.
 

Yeti

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Giro is no better than Acres.

Tucker I still think should be inside.

My point is that brining in Acres who is below average at his position and being played almost every week means we didn't bring in someone else who COULD have been better and guys like Crowden, Giro, Tucker or Frederick don't get the opportunity to play in that position.

Acres is the same player for us as he was at St Kilda, he wasn't good there and all he is doing here is being a road block for others to get opportunity.
 

wakojako

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My point is that brining in Acres who is below average at his position and being played almost every week means we didn't bring in someone else who COULD have been better and guys like Crowden, Giro, Tucker or Frederick don't get the opportunity to play in that position.

Acres is the same player for us as he was at St Kilda, he wasn't good there and all he is doing here is being a road block for others to get opportunity.
Jeez Giro and Frederick are unavailable. Tucker is needed in defence. Acres is playing his role helping out in defence, with ruck duties and using his body around the contests. I think he is building nicely and was one of our better players yesterday so give him a break.
 
May 2, 2017
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I do too because he's one of our few mids who can kick goals, but people keep putting up stats about the guys he's playing on lately barely touching the ball.

If he can keep doing that it would be nice, but I dunno, he still doesn't strike me as a defender who could clamp down on those really dangerous forwards who take matches away from you.
Not sure about prior games but JJ is averaging about 6 touches this year, so I am not ready to pump Tucker over that. Also think the last thing we need to do long term (short term is fine) is turn goal kicking mids into defenders.
My point is that brining in Acres who is below average at his position and being played almost every week means we didn't bring in someone else who COULD have been better and guys like Crowden, Giro, Tucker or Frederick don't get the opportunity to play in that position.

Acres is the same player for us as he was at St Kilda, he wasn't good there and all he is doing here is being a road block for others to get opportunity.
For me to agree, I'd have to agree that any of those players are in the position to develop as a winger.

Freddy I don't think is ready but will be in time.
Crowden I think is too short
Tucker I think should be inside
Giro is down to personal preference but it would depend on what you value. Dude works his ass off and has a nice sidestep but is a worse kick, is also small and hence doesn't have the ability to take tackles or apply any physicality. I'd say he could become a good accumulator like Gaff but without the safe kick. If you want to develop that, then sure Acres is holding him back. I think their individual limitations are much of a muchness and Acres has a much higher ceiling than Giro.
 

Yeti

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Jeez Giro and Frederick are unavailable. Tucker is needed in defence. Acres is playing his role helping out in defence, with ruck duties and using his body around the contests. I think he is building nicely and was one of our better players yesterday so give him a break.

Which brings us back full circle to Acres not being the biggest issue at the club.
- Availability
- Development (which can be tracked to availability)
- Recruitment
- Drafting

The club is a mess at the moment but Acres is not good and while he may not be a big part of the problem he is in my opinion is a net negative. One good game every 8 weeks is a terrible precedence.
 
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