Autopsy Top 3 root causes 2016

[Dave Omsby]

Injuries
Lack of gun midfielders
Lack of a decent ruckman

 

[FPPF]

ONE:
We have a head coach out of his depth and some plods in the box with him.
Ken talks about being courageous, but makes Neade, Toumpas, O'shea, Amon, AhChee and Polec his scapegoats.
Ken did not demand accountability for second year of failure from the senior players, who are sitting on some fat contracts
Remember this baby?

TWO
Ken's decision to revert to the failed strategy of an empty forward set up - the slingshot, run and gun.
We spent pre-season working on a tall forward line set up with Dixon (who couldn't plug a mark free kick or not) Lobbe (absent), Ryder (who betrayed our club and if our President had any courage would have fired his and Monfries asses the minute they rejected our offer in favor of fighting with their Essonscum drug injecting mates) and Schultz (injured), with Butcher re-signed as the break glass in case of emergency but after Dougal did a knee it still wasn't an emergency.
So we started with a high pressing D50 strategy that was meant to keep the ball in OUR F50. But within 3 rounds it was unsurprisingly exposed as an abomination so he chose to reset with anextreme 180 with his forwards pushing up and basically flooding (remember that, apparently the game has moved beyond the opposition flooding, what we have now is teams doing a reverse flood and doing it for the opposition. Like "Leading Teams" and players racing of after they score a goal, it is proof the game has moved into LaLa land) into THEIR F50.
The stats showed very early that we were getting the ball into our F50 but his 1-dimensional kick it on Dixons head where he put his arms out and didn't plug. Sure he deserved a free but after 30 times of not getting one he should have started leading
Ken brought in Howard and at the end of the 3rd quarter vs Bulldogs he does 2 leads and takes 2 good marks, and kicks 1 goal. Ken ended that experiment very quickly and well, enter Q4 and Jake Stringer, and our inability to come back.
He for some reason brought Butcher back in who showed he could lead but he dropped him again.
Schultz leads but only to the boundary line.
Other than that we had no idea what to do or how to score. We have the most disfunctional forward set up and strategy in the competition. Our goals are always kamikaze "whew" stuff.
Neade and Dixon as his go to guys didn't work. Our ball recovery set ups were atrocious, we should have had a player behind Dixon for him to push behind him as well as one in front but we didn't. The opposition knew how to play our set ups and walked it out time after time.
Aaron Young was on All Australian form after Rd 10, then by Rd 12 he was put off half back for some inexplicable reason. There can be no possible reason we did this. Young was wasted by Ken for 3 seasons. Wasted. He is then in AA form and sent into defense where he tried but was wasted
Robbie Gray had some blinders but on the whole he, Boak and Wingard were a massive disappointment for whatever reason
This picture is the entire strategy. If you look closely enough you will see a pixel that is Jake Neade

THREE
There is no 3. We don't deserve to have a three. We knew Westhoff's upside, Eberts disposal limitations, Neade's inconsistency, Boak was in decline, Carlisle was slowing, Hamish didn't have the desire or engine to play as a midfielder, that our fitness magic potion had worn off in 2015, didn't demand consistency from Boak, Wingard, Wines and Gray, and were happy with the occasional good quarter, or good match
We have been overtaken by Melbourne and St Kilda. We were beaten by Fremantle and Carlton
We don't deserve a 3

How the hell did Ryder betray us? What sort of weed cultivated in kitty litter do you smoke..

We picked up Ryder knowing there was the possibility he would be unavailable due to ASAD/WADA and Essendons doping regime.
WE KNEW. We took him anyway because we thought the AFL would grant us top up players because if bans were issued Essendon would need to field a team due to broadcasting contracts for an 18 team competition and top up players would be the only way to achieve that. The AFL didn't give us top up players.

Ryder wanted out of Essendon because he felt he was lied to in a manner which out his health and that of his wife and child at risk and had therefore lost trust and faith in Essendon.

And just in case you don't remember we took Monfries before Essendons dooing regime was know about and before it was known that it was in breach of ASADA & WADA.

Neither player is at fault for us being two men down this season.
The fact they chose to defend them selves together with the rest of the Essendon players shows the murky waters of the whole saga and the unknowns.

 

[Andre]

How the hell did Ryder betray us? What sort of weed cultivated in kitty litter do you smoke.

I'm not for firing Ryder or Monfries, but when push came to shove, both of them sided with their former Essendon teammates, rather than take the clubs advice of cut a deal. If they'd taken a deal and sold everyone else down the river to minimise their sentences they might have gotten 6 months from last October or November. Or even less with some backdating as fully co-operative witnesses.

I can't wait for Paddy and Gus to be back, but they've got a lot of work to do, to show they are Port players, not just playing for Port. They could start by showing some contrition (publicly) when back and getting on PTV and saying they shouldn't have stuck with players from a club that cheats. Essendon needs more public ridicule still.

 

[Smithy7]

2 and a 1/2 minutes into the game Alister Lynch says "2 years in a row Port are 18th (last)
in disposal effeciency off the half back line."
This year we are 1st in clangers. What a stat to win. Maybe we were 1st in clangers last year too.

Ollie Wines holds the record for most clanger kicks in AFL this season .... 54

 

[Byrons Firen]

Ollie Wines holds the record for most clanger kicks in AFL this season .... 54

ouch, well at least he's got our coaches to help him
Look i've got stuck into Ken lately and I hate feeling this way cos he presents well. He wants to succeed like we all do.
KT get a Richo type around Ken and tell Ken to be flexible and listen. We are better than what has been delivered.
Deep down i'm sure Ken knows this.
One of my passions is golf and if you want to play the game well you need a teacher. Books are fine but a teacher is better.

 

[Kingfish73]

I watched the first game of the Adelaide oval yesterday - Port V Cows. Wow, talk about contrast to how we played footy this year. The players looked committed, motivated, hungry and fit. And WE HAD SKILLS. I still cannot believe we have regressed so badly. Players don't loose skills like that without a heavy blame on coaches. It is so obvious. Supporters are split between Ken stay and Ken go. But I really think it starts at top and Ken does not have the skills and experience to get us out of this rut. He clearly had the players feeding out of his hands in 2014 - but now he presents like a leader that has no answers and is drawing upon cliches that are insulting to supporters and have no impact on the players. I hope Thomas has the nous to be a true leader and take control of the situation that quite easily will continue to regress for the next few years unless we have the guts to be true to ourselves!!!!

 

[Portmanteau]

1. Whatsa matter you?
2. Itsa not so bad
3a. Itsa nice-a-place
3b. Ah shuttupyaface

 

[portly]

1. Coach and his/their game plan
2. Fitness department
3. ?? Everything else seems to be related to one or both of the above, including skills and the DARE mindset stuff.

 

[Tibbs]

Watching the game on Saturday it just became clear for me. We have the talent as can be seen from our effort against the Crows with an undermanned squad, but we have a serious problem, and it stems from a mix of our game plan, and training mindset. The team is still living in 2014, and thinking we can just run against any team and we will win. When we have the ball we run well, and moved it through the middle as a pack, but when we dont have the ball we are static. We dont defend, we dont man up, we dont have that manic Sydey-esque desire to win that ball back. The players all stop, and wait for Ollie (or someone else) to get the ball to them so they can run! It was just ridiculous. It resulted in a junior Gold Coast team able to walk the ball through the field EVERY TIME with ease.

PS ... I personally dont think our skills are all that bad! Yes, we can improve, but the bigger issue is we are constantly putting ourselves under pressure, trying to force the game into our game plan when it plainly just isnt working, resulting in hurried execution & turnovers. Absolutely zero plan B.

 

[Adam Marrett23]

1. Coaching
2. Overrated fitness
3. Skills

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[ab56452001]

ouch, well at least he's got our coaches to help him
Look i've got stuck into Ken lately and I hate feeling this way cos he presents well. He wants to succeed like we all do.
KT get a Richo type around Ken and tell Ken to be flexible and listen. We are better than what has been delivered.
Deep down i'm sure Ken knows this.
One of my passions is golf and if you want to play the game well you need a teacher. Books are fine but a teacher is better.

I would of thought that at his age and with his long involvement in coaching he would be the teacher , not the one being tought.

 

[Established1870]

I'm not for firing Ryder or Monfries, but when push came to shove, both of them sided with their former Essendon teammates, rather than take the clubs advice of cut a deal. If they'd taken a deal and sold everyone else down the river to minimise their sentences they might have gotten 6 months from last October or November. Or even less with some backdating as fully co-operative witnesses.

I can't wait for Paddy and Gus to be back, but they've got a lot of work to do, to show they are Port players, not just playing for Port. They could start by showing some contrition (publicly) when back and getting on PTV and saying they shouldn't have stuck with players from a club that cheats. Essendon needs more public ridicule still.

I'm sorry but this whole post is a giant load of AFC. There is so much wrong with this so please stop talking.

 

[Andre]

I'm sorry but this whole post is a giant load of AFC. There is so much wrong with this so please stop talking.

You're happy they chose their old mates over their new club?

 

[FPPF]

I watched the first game of the Adelaide oval yesterday - Port V Cows. Wow, talk about contrast to how we played footy this year. The players looked committed, motivated, hungry and fit. And WE HAD SKILLS. I still cannot believe we have regressed so badly. Players don't loose skills like that without a heavy blame on coaches. It is so obvious. Supporters are split between Ken stay and Ken go. But I really think it starts at top and Ken does not have the skills and experience to get us out of this rut. He clearly had the players feeding out of his hands in 2014 - but now he presents like a leader that has no answers and is drawing upon cliches that are insulting to supporters and have no impact on the players. I hope Thomas has the nous to be a true leader and take control of the situation that quite easily will continue to regress for the next few years unless we have the guts to be true to ourselves!!!!

Or, perhaps the fact we've lost a quality assistant one after the other and replaced them with inadequate replacements might have something to do with it.
The big league isn't like your average suburban amateur league. It requires more then one coach, the coaching is compartmentalised and us been for quite some time.

As a footballing spectator base in general Australia needs to get over the instant reaction of blaming the head coach for al of a teams woes.

The fact is last year our players went backwards. This year was just more of the s**t from last year. One big disappointment and let down on expectations.

People say the game plan is the problem. Maybe. But with whose input did Hinkley come up with the new game plan, or tinker with the one that worked because we "were found out" or whatever nonsense? The people around him in the coaches box?
No Walsh no Richo..
Hibkley is the common denominator in us playing good and us playing bad. The differences are the people around him who have input.

So that's why I don't blame Hinkley.

 

[ab56452001]

You're happy they chose their old mates over their new club?

100% SPOT ON.

 

[Coobk001]

I'm not sure if I can limit it to 3.

1. Player Conditioning/Pre Season Preparation. We hit Round 1 with far too many on the injury list and our problems were only magnified as the season went on. Especially with 2 'suspended' players on our list.

2. Clearances. At the end of round 5 we were ranked the 18th side for clearances. Our clearest and most obvious concern from 2015 wasn't addressed heavily enough in the pre-season and we came out through the pre-season and early rounds showing we had huge issues there. However, kudos to the coaching staff they did identify this issue and by the end of the year we climbed to 9th! A huge mid season turnaround. Imagine if we'd gone to work in the off season how different our start to the year could've been. Importantly though we've laid the foundation for some huge improvement in this area and with the return of Ryder the guys need to not take this for granted and continue to improve in this area. As I said at the start of this year, become a top 4 clearance team and with the way we play our footy we will be a premiership contender.

3. Decision making/Execution of the basics/coaching of both. Something fell over in this area completely. There were just too many times that a player took a mark at half back and looked sideways before even looking forward, then proceeded to basically kick to a contest across ground. That is and always has been a complete no-no. I can't remember the amount of times players didn't take ownership for their shot at goal and instead tried a dinky pass that failed. IF YOU CAN HIT A PINPOINT 40m PASS TO A GUY WHO IS ABOUT TO COP PRESSURE IN THE GOAL SQUARE, THEN YOU CAN KICK THE 41m GOAL. Just own it and don't apologise, but so many of our players are just mentally screwed in front of goal. Also 1 up at a time, hell even 2 is ok at times in defence but not the whole defence going up exposing us at ground level (ie. trusting your teammates). Handballs to stationary targets, repetitive no strategy kick-ins, leaving an opponents spare free at the back of clearances, getting sucked into the contest and allowing opponents to outnumber us on the outside of contests, kicking long to contests but not having players prepared to crumb, total lack of shepherding running players, inability to body line the ground ball...... geez could go on and on.

4. Actual skills. There was no game where this was more evident for me than the Sydney game when the camera showed the behind goal angle and you could see us coming out of defence and a forward would be leading on the wing with 2-3m on his opponent, only for our kick to be spoilt over the boundary. Then when the reverse opportunity arised for Sydney they were able to hit that player on the tit and thus break the zone and open up a quick attack. I know we saw so many examples of incredibly poor kicks, sloppy and lazy handballs among other things like dropped marks and fumbled ground balls, but for me this was just such a basic example of how our skills are clearly that few meters off being good enough to really become a top notch side.


Edit:

5. Our guns failed. Boak, Hartlett, Polec, etc

 

[Holden Hillbilly]

Fitness is not much use if we use the ball poorly and lose possession.

We will be chasing jumpers all game.

Draft, develop and pick players who can kick 40 metres to position.

 

[Forzaport]

You're happy they chose their old mates over their new club?

I wouldn't put it that way. They chose a strategy that promised much but delivered disaster, it just happened to be the strategy everyone else followed - even Crameri and that other chap (feel bad I forgot his name) who split from the pack and had their own defence.

At this point I just want to move forward. Essendon will be forever tarnished from this episode even if they do have a top 4 capable team in 2017. Everything is tainted until all players have cycled through that list.

 

[FranKenHinckley]

1. Kicking Skills
2. Injuries and suspension to key personnel
3. Losing to Carlton (crisis of confidence)

And an unfortunate draw that had us playing teams that had won the week before, we played 4 games when the team we played had played Brisbane the week before. Melbourne a couple times and Essendon a couple times. I think there was only one game where the team we played, had played a top 4 team the week before. What odds would you get when we played Essendon, Fremantle and Brisbane they had all won the week before. That would have to be a 1000/1 bet.

That's cos we had a s**t easy draw against other bottom 8 clubs with a s**t easy draw

 

[David Puddy]

1. Skills - terrible, coupled with amateur-like decision making at times.

2. Gameplan (mainly forward line structure) - let's leave Jake Neade in the forward line on his own and bomb long balls on top of his head.

3. Soft coaching - guys like Hartlett and Westhoff should have been dropped throughout the year. What kind of message does it send when you're dropping Ah Chee, Neade, O'Shea every 2-3 weeks and then bringing them back in again? Too many senior blokes given free rides for too long. If the Bulldogs can drop Stringer when they're challenging for a top four spot, then I'm sure we can drop senior players who aren't playing well when we're playing for nothing.

 

[FranKenHinckley]

100% SPOT ON.

iircThey didn't even need to sell anyone down the river they could have just taken the ASADA punishment of 6 months off over the offseason they would have come back by around 3 I think. Koch said we would support them and keep them if they took the offer.

But no.

they decided they wanted to protect their reputations and so they sided with the Essendon Football players to contest it to the CAS.

They put EFC first, not us. They were NEVER going to win

Personally I have bigger issues in life so idgaf. I am over alpha personality footballers. And I am over Ken and most of our players.

I went 1/3rd of the players gone and Ken and most of the coaches except basset.

We are ordinary. Ordinary from top to bottom.

If we didn't have a bail out at Adelaide oval and 2 incredible years by wingard and gray we wouldn't even be bay covers

The club is wallpaper from top to bottom

 

[TeeKray]

iircThey didn't even need to sell anyone down the river they could have just taken the ASADA punishment of 6 months off over the offseason they would have come back by around 3 I think. Koch said we would support them and keep them if they took the offer.

But no.

they decided they wanted to protect their reputations and so they sided with the Essendon Football players to contest it to the CAS.

They out EFC first, not us. They were NEVER going to win

1) The notion that there was ever a plea bargain on the table from ASADA that would have enabled them to miss a handful of games is based on nothing but speculation and hearsay. Everyone wants to compare the Essendon situation to the Cronulla situation but they were not even close to the same. Had the Essendon players cut a deal with ASADA, you can be absolutely sure that ASADA would have wanted its pound of flesh.

2) Ryder and Monfries did not side with the Essendon players to contest anything to CAS. WADA contested the AFL tribunal's decision from March 2015 to CAS.

 

[FranKenHinckley]

Accept the deal. Roll over and say wada, it would be backdated to March 31 2015 and be halved to 12 months expire 31-03-2016

They all contested at ONE, and got the full 2 years.

They should have taken the OFFER

ASADA just did not want to be embarrassed.

Essendon were half sold down the river by the AFL who created a terms of reference for their own investigation which was Setup from the beginning to ensure they were NOT found guilty.

That is a fact, I know for a fact

 

[shewho]

1. Clearances
2. Disposal
3. Forward structure

 

[FPPF]

iircThey didn't even need to sell anyone down the river they could have just taken the ASADA punishment of 6 months off over the offseason they would have come back by around 3 I think. Koch said we would support them and keep them if they took the offer.

But no.

they decided they wanted to protect their reputations and so they sided with the Essendon Football players to contest it to the CAS.

They put EFC first, not us. They were NEVER going to win

Personally I have bigger issues in life so idgaf. I am over alpha personality footballers. And I am over Ken and most of our players.

I went 1/3rd of the players gone and Ken and most of the coaches except basset.

We are ordinary. Ordinary from top to bottom.

If we didn't have a bail out at Adelaide oval and 2 incredible years by wingard and gray we wouldn't even be bay covers

The club is wallpaper from top to bottom

The more you post the more you sound like a crow