Analysis What has happened since quarter time in Round 17?

[CCurnow3picks]

This I don’t agree with.
It started in Round 17. The injuries only started to kill us in Round 20.

We were also 2nd on the ladder at R20.

Plenty of injuries before then - Weitering, TDK struggling along.

Our team clearly struggled to perform with key players carrying injuries & then going down in numbers.

If our decline was due to coaching, our list profile, our high performance team, etc etc.

How the hell did we get to 2nd on the ladder by R20?

& how did it fall apart so quickly if injuries were not the primary factor?

 

[Stamos]

We were also 2nd on the ladder at R20.

Plenty of injuries before then - Weitering, TDK struggling along.

Our team clearly struggled to perform with key players carrying injuries & then going down in numbers.

If our decline was due to coaching, our list profile, our high performance team, etc etc.

How the hell did we get to 2nd on the ladder by R20?

& how did it fall apart so quickly if injuries were not the primary factor?

Read my post.
We got ahead of ourselves.
The coaches did not plan properly for the absolutely crucial round 17 & 18 games. It’s like they didn’t even look at the fixture.
Those losses killed some confidence, and put us under a lot more pressure.

And then the injuries started to kill us.

 

[CCurnow3picks]

Read my post.
We got ahead of ourselves.
The coaches did not plan properly for the absolutely crucial round 17 & 18 games. It’s like they didn’t even look at the fixture.
Those losses killed some confidence, and put us under a lot more pressure.

And then the injuries started to kill us.

I don’t buy the coaches didn’t plan properly.

How do we know that exactly?

Did they plan well Round Zero to Round 16 - or was that just good luck?

Injuries are the only thing we can see & know as fact - coaches not planing properly is guesswork IMHO.

 

[Y Goat]

I don't agree with your first reason. Clubs knew beforehand.

As to your second, yes, but I think you've missed the bigger point.
We seemed to get ahead of ourselves. Both the coaches with selection and strategy, which then filtered through to the players, who absolutely dropped their bundle against the Giants and the Dogs.

And Hewett was only one part of the selection debacle from rounds 16-19.
From the team that belted Geelong in one of our better team performances in recent memory:

R16 Tiges: Out - TDK sore, Durdin (sub previous week) dropped. In - Pitto (obviously), Cerra (off no 2s games, and a total of 2 games in nearly 3 months) then Hewett sub.
On the surface nothing really wrong here, we win by 10 goals, but it sets the context for:

R17 Giants: Out - Pitto and George dropped. In - TDK (who had just missed sore) and Cottrell (hadn't played in 2 months, no 2s games). Owies sub.
So coming up against Briggs, we drop Pitto who had killed the Giants earlier in the year to play a sore TDK 1 out, and drop Hewett so we can play both Cerra and Cottrell who had hardly played. Appalling selection that was looking ahead rather than grasping just how important that specific game and the next week were to really set up our season. This was exacerbated by the injuries to Charlie and Walsh.

R18 Dogs: Out - Gov (injured), Fantasia (dropped). In - Marchbank (obvious replacement), Pitto. Kennedy sub.
Just diabolical. 2 rucks against English, so not only do we stuff our ruck selection the week before, we double down by getting it wrong again! Plus in the space of 3 games from a brilliant win we chose to move George (completely) and Kennedy (starting) from the team, to be replaced by Cerra and Cottrell with no form.

R19 North: there's 3 forced changes through injury and illness, but we drop Kemp, and Pitto! coming up against Xerri!
We win, but get really banged up, and TDK misses the rest of the season after getting smashed by Xerri.
So across 3 games, we pick the only 1 where you really shouldn't play 2 rucks to play 2 rucks, and leave a sore TDK 1 out for the 2 games where you could play 2 rucks.

5 day break to Port. No TDK and Acres both injured, H sick. 1 of those 3 play we get over the line.

Then we bottle it against the Filth.

Harrowing reading when reminded of all this, in detail (and tend to agree with the sentiment)

This I think is being overlooked or underestimated.

I was hoping the preseason break would be a chance to reset. Some calls like playing Evans, benching Hewett while Cripps rucks are questionable. Let’s hope the MC and coaches can quickly learn from the past.

And it’s getting late already .. (this season) .. about 1-2 weeks to fix IMO

The selection decisions were truly bewildering. Particularly Ruck from R 17, 18 & 19. The complete opposite of what would be expected. Didn't understand it at the time, still don't.

and in the Final, to bring Doc in stone cold off a season out ACL, and also not play Cincotta to tag Zorko.. mindnumbingly bewildering

 

[Stamos]

I don’t buy the coaches didn’t plan properly.

How do we know that exactly?

Did they plan well Round Zero to Round 16 - or was that just good luck?

Injuries are the only thing we can see & know as fact - coaches not planing properly is guesswork IMHO.

They clearly started experimenting with the team.
Look again at the selections in those games!

Experimenting would have been fine if we had banked 2 more wins against finals competitors, but they went too early.

 

[Gavstar]

Harrowing reading when reminded of all this, in detail (and tend to agree with the sentiment)



And it’s getting late already .. (this season) .. about 1-2 weeks to fix IMO



and in the Final, to bring Doc in stone cold off a season out ACL, and also not play Cincotta to tag Zorko.. mindnumbingly bewildering

Subbing out Kennedy

A Crazy Vossy game

 

[katmanblue]

I haven't got the numbers in front of me, but I seem to remember us having a lot of injuries during the run of form that culminated in the massive wins over Geelong and Richmond. Injuries weren't a problem then, so why are they a problem when we lose to the Giants a week later?

My take on that is that the lesser lights can play out of their skin for a couple of games but are unlikely to do it for 6 or 10. Remember Cincotta tagging the life outta some one and kicking goals himself? Was seen as the best tagger in the game and the blokes on the telly were talking about the tagger being back etc. but it didn't last.

Another factor would be increased load on fewer players, that over time wears them down and makes it harder for them to perform consistently over the odds.

Also add in rule changes that seemed to hit Cripps and Walsh particularly hard. Quicker ball ups around the ground making it harder for our slower guys to get a couple of seconds rest between stoppages.

Every little thing adds up and our style just doesn't seem sustainable for long periods.

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