What has happened since the GF. Why? And what is Simo going to do about it?

[TheMightyEagles]

Poor setups around the contest are an issue. We’ll lose the ball and then no one is in a position to tackle the ball carrier. The amount of space given to players like GAJ was criminal. At least part of that should be laid at the feet of the assistant coaches.

I also think the lack of form in our forward line is having a big impact. Last year our efficiency going forward was a strength together with our ability to lock the ball inside our 50m arc. In contrast its almost comical how teams have been strolling out of defence the last few weeks. As all have pointed out Darling is struggling. I hate to say it but JK looks to be on a steep decline - his pace has evaporated. He’s there to give us a couple of goals and a contest, but now he struggles with leads and creating forward pressure. Cripps is out of form. O Allen is getting experience but not bringing heaps to the team just yet.

 

[ziad]

I wonder if Darling is injured. He is a shadow of the player he was. Can't run, can't contest, looks very stiff and heavy. It seems to me that it's more than attitude. He was a real weapon last year and an important component of our success, now he's just a pop gun. I remember he fell flat on his back in one of the early games or the pre-season, he doesn't look right.

Highly likely but we like to ignore realities on BF

 

[kaiserchief13]

Highly likely but we like to ignore realities on BF

Why is he playing then? The team is already too tall. It'd actually help if he was injured

 

[Priddis Is Done]

Geelong exposed our weaknesses tonight and have shown us what level we need to be at, I have always seen them as the team to beat from round 1. Now we can put a plan together to plug this hole in our game plan and look forward to revenge in September.

Not just last night

Smashed for 3/4 against Brisbane

Smashed for 3/4 v Freo

Smashed all game v Port

Smashed all game v Geelong


Maybe we need one more belting to be absolutely certain that change is neeeded. Once identified, I'm sure the changes will only require one mid week meeting.

 

[blakroz13]

For me, it appears we havent had a good quarter since the first quarter against Freo... If it weren't for the 6 or 7 goals in the first quarter, we would have lost that game too. It looks like we are rushing our kicks into the forward line and those kicks are favouring the defenders. Darling looks to be in horrible form at the moment (and not the only one) but would be very tempted to drop him - but to who?

Hoping that we can play ourselves into some form against the Suns this weekend but there are some serious concerns needing to be addressed at the moment.

 

[Magnum27]

I wonder if Darling is injured. He is a shadow of the player he was. Can't run, can't contest, looks very stiff and heavy. It seems to me that it's more than attitude. He was a real weapon last year and an important component of our success, now he's just a pop gun. I remember he fell flat on his back in one of the early games or the pre-season, he doesn't look right.

He has to have something wrong, he got beaten to the contest yesterday at one stage by Harry Taylor who is older than dirt now, and a couple of his chases yesterday were ordinary, he could just not get any speed up, which is something he has plenty of. If he is injured then play someone else for christ sake.

 

[Obeanie1]

We beat GWS who are going pretty well.
We beat Collingwood at the G.
We beat Fremantle who are 4-1 otherwise.

We lost to 3 good teams, two on difficult away trips.

We're struggling but dear god some people are overreacting.

It isnt the losing its how we are losing and the margins.

If people feel this isnt an issue and all is well then you better get used to losing more games.

 

[kranky al]

Rioli will come back and all of a sudden we will be dangerous again - hes the x factor we are lacking atm

 

[greatwhiteshark]

He has to have something wrong, he got beaten to the contest yesterday at one stage by Harry Taylor who is older than dirt now, and a couple of his chases yesterday were ordinary, he could just not get any speed up, which is something he has plenty of. If he is injured then play someone else for christ sake.

What’s wrong is between is ears, he is not working hard enough and his efforts are poor. I don’t think he is injured at all. He is simply just playing like a Prima Donna. Needs a kick up the arse.

 

[eagles rule]

Our Half forwards need to be instructed play in front at all centre bounce-downs to take advantage of Gaff and Hutchy’s quick around the corner kicks ..


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[Trouto]

Well after todays abismal effort alarm bells should be ringing loud and clear.

Simo and the coaches have to seriously pull everything apart and rebuild our structure and plan with the troops we have available bit by bit.

Questions

Why are our mids frequently kicking blind across their bodies to the opposition?

Gaff seems to be doing this 4 kicks in 5. Its because he is playing inside and under pressure I can see that. So we need to address that and fix it. I wqnt to see a rebounding running Gaff gaining meters down a wing and pin pointing passes to a leading forward, not being gang tackled and blindly kicking to the opposition.

Our other mids must stop this low percentage hack kick. Go sideways or defensively long to the boundary.

We didnt do this last year so what has changed?

Our forward set up looks disorganised. Kennedy, Darling and Oscar plus a ruck didnt work and no true 2ndq ruck v Cats aslo failed. Darling is terribly out of form, why?

Id play Brooksby as a forward / ruck and drop either Darling or O Allen. Possibly both and get Waterman back in.

We are getting smashed at the contest. How can this be fixed long term?

Do we bring in M Allen to play inside and Gaff goes outside. Add inside grunt and get back our outside class.

Think Rotham should get games. He is a good size, quick and a great kick.

Schofield in defense is not working to date. I feel for anyone playing defense with how our mids are going abut is it time for Brander to get a definded role down back?

So what has fundamentally changed?

How do we fix it?

totally agree with this, especially Gaff's situation. why the hell is he in the guts? For an AFL footy player he is built slight, he is a totally outside player and should be receiving the third possession from a contest and allowed to run. the amount of times he did the hook-around-the-corner blind bomb had me thinking Priddis was back in the team!
looks like M. Allen had a good game for the seconds, and (i cant believe i am saying this) perhaps we need Nelson to come back in even if it just gives the team a bit of fire!

 

[Trouto]

We beat GWS who are going pretty well.
We beat Collingwood at the G.
We beat Fremantle who are 4-1 otherwise.

We lost to 3 good teams, two on difficult away trips.

We're struggling but dear god some people are overreacting.

its not an over reaction. the players are getting flogged in areas we were dominating last year. fans look at it and worry because nothing seems to be done about it. we see players being played out of position and wonder why.

 

[Doashuey]

To quote a coach from another team that is struggling unexpectedly- Simon Goodwin, "we are easy to play against".
I put this down to a few things, form of key players is one, team balance is another. But really yesterday and last week showed me that our tackling efforts and ability to put pressure on the opposition are below AFL standard. Our complete lack of pressure means the opposition have plenty of good supply into their forwards and can move the ball easily. Our defence is still pretty good but there is only so much they can do when the opposition is getting plenty of time to deliver to open forward lines. If we didnt have the defence we do then we could have been on the end of 80+pt drubbings these past couple of weeks.
The lack of confidence is also astounding, whether it be delivering a simple handball or going for the footy. A few times yesterday I was stunned when the ball would land in between 4 eagles in better position than a single cat yet none of them went to get the ball or put in an arm while the Cat player b-lined the ball, and took it away with minimal pressure. They look so uncertain and dare I say it- scared.

In short- we need to HARDEN THE F^CK UP. Pressure the opposition, the rest will flow and the confidence will return.

 

[Obeanie1]

Poor setups around the contest are an issue. We’ll lose the ball and then no one is in a position to tackle the ball carrier. The amount of space given to players like GAJ was criminal. At least part of that should be laid at the feet of the assistant et.

One blaringly obvious issue we have is being out numbered and out of position when we kick forward. The ball spills in front and we have no one set up to rove the pack. And the opposition seem to have three players perfectly set up.

This relates to what others here have said. Our retain the ball style has been countered. Dont care how long we take to chip the ball forward. Teams just flood back, block space, create a spoil and we are out numbered at the drop of the ball. Then they run and counter attack by hand and speed.

Something needs to change.

 

[Trouto]

It isnt the losing its how we are losing and the margins.

If people feel this isnt an issue and all is well then you better get used to losing more games.

indeed, half of our players out there yesterday (11 players) had LESS possessions than Geelong's lowest possession getter.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

It isnt the losing its how we are losing and the margins.

If people feel this isnt an issue and all is well then you better get used to losing more games.

I don’t think it is structural so much but more simply work ethic and to many of our players leaving it up to others to do the work.
We are averaging over the first 6 rounds 7 or more players who don’t get the ball 10 times in a game, in those same 6 rounds our opposition sides are averaging less than 3 players who don’t get it 10 times or more.

And we are averaging only 6 players a game getting it 20 times or more while our opponents are averaging 9 players 20 or more.

Now stats are not everything of course but it paints a not so pretty tale that we are not working hard enough.

When we do go forward where is Cripps, Petch and Ryan at the fall of the ball? No where to be seen. It is their job to rove the packs and apply the defensive pressure and the 3 of them are non existent for a majority of games.

Totally agree Gaff needs to go to the wing, he is not a great pressure player so he needs space. His kicking is poorer under more pressure and we need to use his strength which is as an outside mid.

I would replace Masten with Ah Chee and give Ah Chee 5-6 games to settle into the role. He is cleaner than Masten, better one on one and is not in development phase so no excuses.

Venables is simply not that good a footballer and has had numerous time to find his feet, don’t think he is up to it.

Waterman and Allen need to play as Key forwards or not play, it is doing them no good at all playing with JK and JD. It makes us too tall and leaves us one down on the ground to rove and apply pressure.

Rotham should be in for an extended period while Barrass is out. Brander either plays KPD or WAFL for now.

For me though it’s all work ethic and you simply can’t carry 7-10 players every game and expect to have success.

Outside of a ruckman I just cannot fathom that an AFL player in an era with so much uncontested footy can’t get his hands on the pill more than 10 times a game.
Actually feel for Simmo at the minute who is backing in these guys and quite simply they are running around picking up a pay cheque and contributing very little.
If you’re not good enough then that’s ok, but when you have poor work ethic and are good enough it’s simply poor character.
Half the group at the minute simply are not contributing and having one good game every 3-4 weeks is not good enough or acceptable from a premiership team.

 

[Chris_6678]

There are a number of factors at play here.

1. The surface rearing its head again.

We are also training at a new venue ( Laithlan) which would be a hard surface as its brand new. Cripps, Barrass & Yeo all had interrupted pre-seasons with foot related injuries from the previous season. Gov, Shuey, Schofield & JK had interrupted pre-season and limited their running somewhat. Willie, Barrass ( A re-occurrence of foot injury) & now Redden all suffering through a lower leg injury. This is a big chunk our A graders in the squad. Regarding the foot injury's i wouldn't be surprised if in the back of their minds they are not putting a 100% in knowing that it could get worse.

2. Addition of A grade players who missed the GF upsetting the balance of the team ( Shep and Gaff)

Shep has slotted in perfectly and is back to his best. Gaff on the other hand is accumulating but struggling to make an impact. For me this is a balance issue that can be tweaked and needs to be sorted now. Gaff was at his best last year when he was playing on a wing and spending most of his time there with some small minutes in the guts. He looks like he is trying to do to much and is all over the shop. He is an A grade wingman and needs to be playing there for as much as possible.

3. Sheed.

Played his best as an inside mid and not as a HFF. I was big on dropping Masten and putting Redden on a wing but Masten was pretty good on the weekend. If Redden is still out for a while it means we can keep playing Sheed in the guts BUT he has to learn to tackle because one thing Redden did well was tackle. One option when Redden comes back is to have Yeo & Shuey rotate into the forward line to allow more minutes for Sheed in the guts.

4. Trying to fit O Allen, Waterman & Brander in.

Both are going to be great for us in the future but trying to fit them in around Darling and JK isn't working. It is good the club is thinking about the future but at the same time it is ruining our structure and also could set back their confidence ( Brander).
So what do we do?
Darling - Needs a rocket and he would be one i would drop to keep Allen in the squad. IF they wont drop Darling then Allen has to go but wouldn't be keeping Darling in the squad for to long if he keeps playing the way he does.
Brander - I would be getting Brander to play as a defender and maybe use him to either be third tall alongside Schofield and Gov or he can replace Schofield.
Waterman - For me he should be replacing Lecra and not Allen. Watermans run up and down the ground was integral last year and is needed this year to allow our FF in JK to stay close to goal.

5. Ruck situation.

Hickey and Vardy just didn't work and i am glad Simmo dropped Vardy. Using Allen as a pinch hitter was pointless , Hickey can definitely ruck on his own. When Nic Nat comes back we will no doubt have to revert to the two ruckman policy.

 

[Obeanie1]

Not sure Ah chee is a winger.

Im 100% certain Gaff is.

Sheed isnt a hff he 100% is an inside mid.

Masten isnt the future and seems caught between his old role and this alledged new defensive role. Play Gaff there FFS.

Get Sheed in the guts where he belongs.

Play Ah chee as a HFF instead of Venners.

Oscar goes back to the WAFL. Brooksby is the mature in form ruck forward, he comes in and stays deep forward.

Brander either plays kp back or plays WAFL.

Rotham gets an extended run. Did nothing wrong and was dropped.

M Allen come in for Masten and plays inside mid instead of Gaff.

Darling? Who knows what is going on there. Running in concrete boots was one comment.

 

[campaigner___]

Whole team is out of touch right now- it's footy. Players need to be played back into form. West Coast vs Collingwood was scary good. Like better than last year good.

Darling ebbs and flows, he'll start clunking em soon. Rioli comes back, Gaff back to the wing, Sheed inside. Masten might have a spell for a new kid- he's done.

West Coast will get some touch back and confidence at home against Gold Coast. Re-set and go for St Kilda at Marvel. All of a sudden WC are back in the 8 with easy games at home to come.

 

[JEagle]

Not panic stations yet, but structurally Gaff needs to be out on the wing. This is where he can maximise his strengths, i.e. gut running and delivery by foot to forwards. Just because he is better inside now than at any point in his career, doesn't mean he should be there.

Sheed is a better inside player and starting and keeping him inside uses his strenghts, i.e. ability to slow the game down and release cleanly by hand and get the contested ball. It also hides his weaknesses in lack of leg speed.

They do this and we can stop seeing Gaff kick 30m snap every second kick w a player hanfing off him.

 

[West Coast 06]

This would be a fair statement if we had lost to the giants and Collingwood , but the manner in which we defeated them suggests that this problem didn't start at the beginning of the year, more that we have succumbed to it over the last few weeks.

So if the Brissie game is an aberration, and we have gone steadily backwards as the year goes on, maybe the ground has got something to do with it? Maybe players are playing sore? Maybe the whole ground is too hard is not an excuse?

Even last year the club was saying the ground was too hard and the players are sore. Horse backed that up saying his players were very sore after Sydney played here. Buddy didn’t train for weeks reportedly.

 

[Milenko]

There are a number of factors at play here.

1. The surface rearing its head again.

We are also training at a new venue ( Laithlan) which would be a hard surface as its brand new. Cripps, Barrass & Yeo all had interrupted pre-seasons with foot related injuries from the previous season. Gov, Shuey, Schofield & JK had interrupted pre-season and limited their running somewhat. Willie, Barrass ( A re-occurrence of foot injury) & now Redden all suffering through a lower leg injury. This is a big chunk our A graders in the squad. Regarding the foot injury's i wouldn't be surprised if in the back of their minds they are not putting a 100% in knowing that it could get worse.

2. Addition of A grade players who missed the GF upsetting the balance of the team ( Shep and Gaff)

Shep has slotted in perfectly and is back to his best. Gaff on the other hand is accumulating but struggling to make an impact. For me this is a balance issue that can be tweaked and needs to be sorted now. Gaff was at his best last year when he was playing on a wing and spending most of his time there with some small minutes in the guts. He looks like he is trying to do to much and is all over the shop. He is an A grade wingman and needs to be playing there for as much as possible.

3. Sheed.

Played his best as an inside mid and not as a HFF. I was big on dropping Masten and putting Redden on a wing but Masten was pretty good on the weekend. If Redden is still out for a while it means we can keep playing Sheed in the guts BUT he has to learn to tackle because one thing Redden did well was tackle. One option when Redden comes back is to have Yeo & Shuey rotate into the forward line to allow more minutes for Sheed in the guts.

4. Trying to fit O Allen, Waterman & Brander in.

Both are going to be great for us in the future but trying to fit them in around Darling and JK isn't working. It is good the club is thinking about the future but at the same time it is ruining our structure and also could set back their confidence ( Brander).
So what do we do?
Darling - Needs a rocket and he would be one i would drop to keep Allen in the squad. IF they wont drop Darling then Allen has to go but wouldn't be keeping Darling in the squad for to long if he keeps playing the way he does.
Brander - I would be getting Brander to play as a defender and maybe use him to either be third tall alongside Schofield and Gov or he can replace Schofield.
Waterman - For me he should be replacing Lecra and not Allen. Watermans run up and down the ground was integral last year and is needed this year to allow our FF in JK to stay close to goal.

5. Ruck situation.

Hickey and Vardy just didn't work and i am glad Simmo dropped Vardy. Using Allen as a pinch hitter was pointless , Hickey can definitely ruck on his own. When Nic Nat comes back we will no doubt have to revert to the two ruckman policy.

You and I think alike. And we both have a Potato Head for our avatar.

 

[Obeanie1]

Poor setups around the contest are an issue. We’ll lose the ball and then no one is in a position to tackle the ball carrier. The amount of space given to players like GAJ was criminal. At least part of that should be laid at the feet of the assistant coaches.

I also think the lack of form in our forward line is having a big impact. Last year our efficiency going forward was a strength together with our ability to lock the ball inside our 50m arc. In contrast its almost comical how teams have been strolling out of defence the last few weeks. As all have pointed out Darling is struggling. I hate to say it but JK looks to be on a steep decline - his pace has evaporated. He’s there to give us a couple of goals and a contest, but now he struggles with leads and creating forward pressure. Cripps is out of form. O Allen is getting experience but not bringing heaps to the team just yet.

JK is providing more than Darling ATM. Much more.

 

[Figure09]

Also Because no one is there to throw Gatorade at them

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[eagles rule]

So if the Brissie game is an aberration, and we have gone steadily backwards as the year goes on, maybe the ground has got something to do with it? Maybe players are playing sore? Maybe the whole ground is too hard is not an excuse?

Even last year the club was saying the ground was too hard and the players are sore. Horse backed that up saying his players were very sore after Sydney played here. Buddy didn’t train for weeks reportedly.

Are we only training 1 day a week at Optus when there is a home game.??

Otherwise it’s either Subi or Lathlain ovals..


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