Autopsy vs GWS

Without seeing Collingwood first hand yet, GWS are clear premiership favorites for mine. They can take care of Geelong at the MCG IMHO.
As far as we are concerned, that effort and hardness would have unsettled most teams, but pressure alone isn't enough - you need to get the ball as well and use it. Our delivery into 50 for most part is substandard, which probably needs an offseason with a new coaching setup to fix. I think the cattle is mostly there, but I get the feeling that any weakness we identify and try and fill, will simply expose another one. Given where we seemingly were last year, getting Polec and Pittard (and Hall if he ever got going) should have been enough to address to a large extent, yet we are still seeing the same holes.

That goal review and umpiring in general was absolutely horrible. Not the reason we lost of course.
 
Last edited:
Jun 9, 2001
37,642
145,026
Fogarty Street
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
St Johnstone
How refreshing to hear a coach tell it how it is and keep it to the point instead of trying to sell us snake oil.

There was a little bit if you watch the full presser. Like the first signs in Anakin.

Hopefully just muscle memory from watching the previous bloke do it after losses so often this year.
 

mouncey2franklin

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 16, 2018
8,644
15,438
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Cunners used to go missing too much in games a couple of years ago which was a frustration and meant he was not in the top bracket.

That is not true of last year and definitely not this year.
Fair enough.

This year alone, in 13 matches, he has posted:

21 touches against Adelaide
23 against Sydney
16 against GWS

From a #1 mid who rarely plays outside the centre square, and can't chase the other way, those are poor returns.

But your point seems to be that he goes missing less than in the past, and this I agree with.

The question is, why does he go missing less often? Is it because (usually) other players now attract the tag?
 

FlyHigh18

Arden St Parking Inspector
May 8, 2017
2,555
6,758
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Every single one of those GWS midfielders is a superstar. They dropped a dud like Shiel and simply replaced him with someone better.
The concentration of talent is ridiculous.

What's also ridiculous is ppl saying our midfield is sh$t. Every midfield is s**t compared to that manufactured machine.

I never expected to beat them but we did give it to them hard. That's a win in my book.
Keep playing like that and we shouldn't' be dropping many more games.
 

buttsauce

Club Legend
Feb 18, 2011
1,431
1,837
Inverloch
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Celtics, Vikings
Really annoys me how teams don't try to work to break the tag. I saw anderson try to lay a block once maybe? It's impossible to get a good possession when the bloke is pretty much tackling you before you take possession.

What do they do all week? how can they not work on creating separation from the tagger, No teams seem to have any plan to counteract the tag. They just let the poor player be accosted all game.
 

Heaps of fun

Goatered on the sticks
Sep 13, 2013
23,853
62,248
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Really annoys me how teams don't try to work to break the tag. I saw anderson try to lay a block once maybe? It's impossible to get a good possession when the bloke is pretty much tackling you before you take possession.

What do they do all week? how can they not work on creating separation from the tagger, No teams seem to have any plan to counteract the tag. They just let the poor player be accosted all game.
This is patently untrue.
 
that effort and hardness would have unsettled most teams, but pressure alone isn't enough

It's not but it has to be the basis for every game we play.

For too long the foundation of the style of play has been variable.

It would have unsettled most teams, I wholeheartedly agree. Some would have come out after the break and had no desire for that style of contest.

We were f***ed when we'd put it out there for a half and had only drawn even.

The physicality becomes the not negotiable we build from.

We play like that we're going to be in every game we play. We're likely to get outclassed again, but the rest of this year should be dedicated to bringing the heat everyweek.

Finals are gone so just go out there, be hard at it and smash blokes every chance you get.
 
It's not but it has to be the basis for every game we play.

For too long the foundation of the style of play has been variable.

It would have unsettled most teams, I wholeheartedly agree. Some would have come out after the break and had no desire for that style of contest.

We were f***ed when we'd put it out there for a half and had only drawn even.

The physicality becomes the not negotiable we build from.

We play like that we're going to be in every game we play. We're likely to get outclassed again, but the rest of this year should be dedicated to bringing the heat everyweek.

Finals are gone so just go out there, be hard at it and smash blokes every chance you get.
It's actually our core identity.
 
Oct 4, 2006
15,813
33,667
The hood
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Well, at the risk of being shouted down, im kind of glad we lost.

It puts to bed this misguided attempt at playing finals which just wasn’t going to happen given the ground we have to make up and the tough games we still have to come.

I’d rather play Durdin, McKay, Crocker, Ahern, Taylor, Hayden throughout the rest of the year, and finish bottom 4, where you are much more likely to nab a superstar in the draft. Just like GWS skilful players that tore us a new one yesterday

Kelly - pick 2
Coniglio - pick 2
Tarranto - pick 2

We need more midfield stars and they primarily live at the top of the draft.
 

Sideburns Ahern

Team Captain
Apr 6, 2019
371
1,382
AFL Club
North Melbourne
It's actually our core identity.

Without a doubt, the worst cliche' in football commentary these days is the term "brand" which is inevitably applied incorrectly to mean game style. However, "brand" comes to take on its more accurate definition as core identity (as you implied) when it is associated with tough, uncompromising, contested football. In other words, the meat grinder. Bring it.
 

Sideburns Ahern

Team Captain
Apr 6, 2019
371
1,382
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Well, at the risk of being shouted down, im kind of glad we lost.

It puts to bed this misguided attempt at playing finals which just wasn’t going to happen given the ground we have to make up and the tough games we still have to come.

I’d rather play Durdin, McKay, Crocker, Ahern, Taylor, Hayden throughout the rest of the year, and finish bottom 4, where you are much more likely to nab a superstar in the draft. Just like GWS skilful players that tore us a new one yesterday

Kelly - pick 2
Coniglio - pick 2
Tarranto - pick 2

We need more midfield stars and they primarily live at the top of the draft.

They also had Deledio - pick 1
 
They also had Deledio - pick 1
We didn't exactly field a team full of rookie listed plodders either.
We had LDU (pick 4), Cunnington (pick 5), Polec (pick 5), Thomas (pick 8), McDonald (pick 8), Ziebell (pick 9), Simpkin (pick 12), Tarrant (pick 15), Garner (pick 15), Durdin (pick 16), Pittard (pick 16), Atley (pick 17)

And we also had Ahern (pick 7) in the VFL. :rolleyes:
Not to mention Tyson (pick 3), Higgins (pick 11), Jacobs (pick 16) injured, just to underline the list demographic
 
We didn't exactly field a team full of rookie listed plodders either.
We had LDU (pick 4), Cunnington (pick 5), Polec (pick 5), Thomas (pick 8), McDonald (pick 8), Ziebell (pick 9), Simpkin (pick 12), Tarrant (pick 15), Garner (pick 15), Durdin (pick 16), Pittard (pick 16), Atley (pick 17)

And we also had Ahern (pick 7) in the VFL. :rolleyes:
Not to mention Tyson (pick 3), Higgins (pick 11), Jacobs (pick 16) injured, just to underline the list demographic
That's 12 out of 22 being top 20 picks.
Add to that Anderson who was prelisted as a 17 year old and we traded a first round pick for, Brown, Goldy, Wood who would likely command at least a top 20 pick on the open market, that leaves only Williams, Turner, Zurhaar, Dumont, Thompson and Larkey - as non top 20 picks in our 22.
 

BigRedRoo

Club Legend
May 17, 2006
1,508
2,419
Geelong
AFL Club
North Melbourne
To lose by 4 goals to a top team is not to bad.
Really three goals as I still can't see how Brown's goal was called a point?
No finger movement on either camera angle, think the AFL is still getting it wrong.

One 15 minute period where things just came apart and allowed goals against. Still fuming at players like Wood who were spectating in the back when the GWS moved the ball and kicked the goal. Should have used his big body to force a ball up.

Pittard foot skills let him down very badly, the rest of the back 6 did well.

Goldy should have really slammed into mummy a lot more.

Big Red
 
Screenshot_20190617-153415_Chrome.jpg


Gws cleaned up.
 
Spot on.
We bombed it long under their perceived pressure and it worked a treat for Davis and co.
McDonald butchered a fair bit going inside 50 but he had a crack. It was that difference in class that found us wanting.

Yeah, Luke is...well I think he has figured out this defence thing. He's getting pretty decent at it. He's pretty good one on one, and is now getting the handle on how and when to go 3rd man up. Happy with that aspect of his game.

It's just that he attended the SuperGav school of bursting bladders. He's gotta figure that one out before I start using the Sharpie to write his name on the whiteboard.
 
Sep 11, 2014
10,392
20,192
AFL Club
North Melbourne
If Jacobs is fit he is pretty much straight into the team. I watch a bit of the seconds and Hayden would be next in line, but he isn't going to replace Jacobs.

Best 22 by far. One of the most damaging taggers we have ever seen. Plus he was a great midfielder on top of that

Gosh I miss him lol
 
Back