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

WCfan22

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Midway thru last year we dropped a couple of games and fell off the top of the ladder "oh look the eagles are cooked" ha ha ha premiership.
6 rounds in and we've still got plenty of time to fix these problems I'll be more conserned if this is happening in round 18
 
Jul 26, 2007
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Midway thru last year we dropped a couple of games and fell off the top of the ladder "oh look the eagles are cooked" ha ha ha premiership.
6 rounds in and we've still got plenty of time to fix these problems I'll be more conserned if this is happening in round 18

Yes we have time and 3-3 isnt terrible.

But I'd be concerned if this was still happening in round 10 because if we don't fix it top our will be gone.
 

WCfan22

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Yes we have time and 3-3 isnt terrible.

But I'd be concerned if this was still happening in round 10 because if we don't fix it top our will be gone.
I think we would still have a better than even chance even finishing sixth any lower and i say goodnight to a grandfinal berth
 

Bacchus

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We didnt aggressively chase A graders we aggressively retained two in McGovern and Gaff.

Nic, Sheppard and Gaf didnt play finals and are all A graders.

We chased Kelly but didnt happen.
I understand and agree with what you are saying.
I have been thinking two players that have made a big difference to Geelong are Rohan and Dalhaus. Both more or less finished at their clubs of origin, didn't cost a lot but wow they've really rejuvenated what was a limited forward line, and Gary Ablett of course.
I think Scott has followed the Eagles system and is playing 6 or 7 pure forwards as opposed to stocking up with midfielders. Also introduced some talented first year players to spark up what had become a stale team.
 

DickDunn

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Watching the first quarter of the Cats game. There's a moment where Kennedy pushes up and marks on a half-back flank, dishes to Gaff who sends it up the line and it spills from the pack - only for Kennedy to sprint through and get the loose ball. Serious indictment on our mids who seem far too content to hover on the outside of stoppages to receive rather than trying to win it themselves.

Same thing happened several times up forward with Cripps just hanging off to the side while Kennedy and Darling were double-teamed. Sure you have to find the balance between winning the ball and presenting an option but when you're five goals down it might be time to get your hands dirty.

That said, we actually had a few reasonable forward entries in that first term that where wasted because of poor efforts from our forwards. Darling had several one on ones where he didn't even make a contest and bring the ball to ground, Allen was invisible and Ryan was too often in the wrong spots. The forwards always tend to look bad in a game like that where the opposition dominate possession but Cripps and Darling especially are lucky there's no one really pushing underneath them with Waterman injured
 
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Hopefully it's just the shorter pre-season combined with extended season they had last year. Might not be all cylinders firing for a bit.
Just looking over previous premiership teams since 2005, teams tend to go either 5-2 or 4-3 in the first 7 rounds the year after a flag (4 times for each in the last 13 years), 3 teams have gone 6-1 and only Geelong in 2008 have gone 7-0. Although we've had some shockers, we're pretty much bang on where most other teams are. Get Rioli and Naitanui back and we'll be rolling. Hopefully the next 5 will get us into form and we can hit mid season at 7-4.
 

The_Gambler

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Too much kicking the ball backwards, slow ball movement. The only time we looked dangerous in the first half was moving it through the corridor, but that stopped at half time. Just allows too many numbers to flood back. Lacking anyone to come up and take a mark across halfback/wing and too happy to play a safe territory game of football. Also losing Barrass, we only have McGovern to take a mark in the backline. We have to move Oscar Allen back to substitute, at the expense of Schofield if need be, or Cole as offers very little and Schofield can play small. Obviously a lot of players well down on form, but our game style is causing us to get thumped on transition and quick forward entries.
 

shooshka

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Too much kicking the ball backwards, slow ball movement. The only time we looked dangerous in the first half was moving it through the corridor, but that stopped at half time. Just allows too many numbers to flood back. Lacking anyone to come up and take a mark across halfback/wing and too happy to play a safe territory game of football. Also losing Barrass, we only have McGovern to take a mark in the backline. We have to move Oscar Allen back to substitute, at the expense of Schofield if need be, or Cole as offers very little and Schofield can play small. Obviously a lot of players well down on form, but our game style is causing us to get thumped on transition and quick forward entries.
Agree qith the second part of your argument (mid and small forwards being outworked), although that was improved last night, especially in the first half.

Just watching the game again, in the 2nd qtr we had 15 backwards kicks for the match. Relying on memory, that number was 25 or under half way through the last qtr. My guess would be that most of the following 10 or so were defensive kicks as well, where the first 15 would be mostly for the attacking switch.

The two issues that stood out most to me last night (I'm guessing they are related) was the significant drop in intensity, and the desire to play it safe in the 2nd half (basically stopped looking for or taking any risks).

Mostly that won't be kicking backwards, but there will be quite a few occasions where it is the correct attacking option.

On SM-G930F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

shooshka

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Too much kicking the ball backwards, slow ball movement. The only time we looked dangerous in the first half was moving it through the corridor, but that stopped at half time. Just allows too many numbers to flood back. Lacking anyone to come up and take a mark across halfback/wing and too happy to play a safe territory game of football. Also losing Barrass, we only have McGovern to take a mark in the backline. We have to move Oscar Allen back to substitute, at the expense of Schofield if need be, or Cole as offers very little and Schofield can play small. Obviously a lot of players well down on form, but our game style is causing us to get thumped on transition and quick forward entries.
Agree qith the second part of your argument (mid and small forwards being outworked), although that was improved last night, especially in the first half.

Just watching the game again, in the 2nd qtr we had 15 backwards kicks for the match. Relying on memory, that number was 25 or under half way through the last qtr. My guess would be that most of the following 10 or so were defensive kicks as well, where the first 15 would be mostly for the attacking switch.

The two issues that stood out most to me last night (I'm guessing they are related) was the significant drop in intensity, and the desire to play it safe in the 2nd half (basically stopped looking for or taking any risks).

Mostly that won't be kicking backwards, but there will be quite a few occasions where it is the correct attacking option.

On SM-G930F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

BlueandGoldforever

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There are two major problems:

1) Lack of pre-season
2) Lack of desire.

With the former point the players had two months starting around the first week of October so the vast majority of players didn’t return until the first week of December.

They then had a three-week break over Christmas. This puts a lot of responsibility on the players to keep fit. Players may come back with good skinfolds but diet can help you achieve that too.

Secondly, a lot of players look like they are pretty content with themselves. There isn’t a lot of hard running, besides the usual suspects, both ways.

While the players will get match fit as the season progresses, a lack of desire can only be imposed by players being dropped and new energetic players coming in.
 

Eagleboy68

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At least we are 4-3 despite not playing well.

Other teams are 1-6 not playing well.
We have a solid platform over the next 4 weeks to get some form and string some wins together before the cavalry arrives.

Positivity ok?
 

kerr87

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Too much kicking the ball backwards, slow ball movement. The only time we looked dangerous in the first half was moving it through the corridor, but that stopped at half time. Just allows too many numbers to flood back. Lacking anyone to come up and take a mark across halfback/wing and too happy to play a safe territory game of football. Also losing Barrass, we only have McGovern to take a mark in the backline. We have to move Oscar Allen back to substitute, at the expense of Schofield if need be, or Cole as offers very little and Schofield can play small. Obviously a lot of players well down on form, but our game style is causing us to get thumped on transition and quick forward entries.

Agree last year we moved the ball quickly - by foot and hand.

When a mark was taken we used to take the game and try play on at most opportunities.

As you mentioned we have been stagnant and slow, not playing on quickly, not doing overlap running or getting into open positions.

Only 7 rounds in, a long way to go and a lot of improvement to come.

Its good that we've been figured out so early as it'll forces the changes now - rather than covering the cracks when Naitanui, Rioli and Barrass eventually come back.

Hoping we really hit our stride in the last third of the season.
 

Yamumluvsbigcox

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If you look at the top 6 on the ladder we have player all of them and won 3 .
No other team in the top 8 have played more in form teams.

Hopefully we bank some easy games before the bye and hit our straps in the latter part of the season.

I just hope our % doesnt come back to bite us
 
Sep 8, 2009
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We need to forget about 2018 now , we are a different team now for whatever reason but this year we need to find a way into the top 6 . Start again forget last season it's too big a task to replicate but it would be great if they could later in the season .
 
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LittleGreekGod

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Dec 24, 2015
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I think naturally it is difficult to back up a Premiership.

Which side does every other club spend most time over the break analysing? The clubs have that many people employed in this field now, it's unbelievable. We came into this season not just hunted, but dissected into little pieces. This is before even mentioning how sides lift to take on the reigning champs.

We're a little stiff with the conditions we've played in. I don't want this to be an excuse, but more an observation. We thrive on clean ball use and the ability to dominate the air and the dewy night games have not suited us at all. We clearly need to become more adaptable.

Naitanui was always going to be missed, but Rioli (and now Barrass) are huge losses. They both would have made us a lot more dangerous in the conditions we've played in thus far and I dare say our record would be sitting better.

The way Simpson has used Gaff (and by extension Sheed) has been disappointing and I hope he 'wakes up' to the way he could use the assets at his disposal a little more effectively. We've also had a young forward line so we shouldn't be surprised when some are inconsistent. I've been disappointed with Kennedy and Darling, though Kennedy gets more of a break because he's often double teamed and didn't have a preseason.

3-3 is okay, especially given the sides we have played and where they sit respectively. It's not panic stations, but hopefully we learn, adapt and come out stronger.
Yes. Not a panic situation.
It’s not just a WCE thing, the more fancied teams of Melbourne, Richmond, Adelaide and Hawthorn are struggling.
Like you said, we are definitely the hunted this season and we need to come to grips with this plus the MC needs to truly access the impact of the new rules on our game plan.
I for one am happy to put my trust in a coaching team that dragged us from a middling side to outright Premiers.
Rather than criticising each and every player, coach and strategy
, I think it only fair to give them the time they need to get the team back on track.
After all I’m sure I would rather our future was in their hands than a bunch of armchair coaches and strategists on Bigfooty.
A game plan is always an evolving thing. There are 17 other coaching teams constantly drilling down on possible weaknesses in our style and structures.
We are the hunted and WCE also have their strategists analysing tactics and tweaking the plan , but it doesn’t happen over night.
 
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Jafa

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As it currently stands - we have played the top 6 teams on the ladder as well as the gold coast. Not sure what that means - just an observation.
 

ziad

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One thing that hasnt changed!! the rules now favour forwards consistently. last year and this year our forwards are held endless without a hint of a free. Are they not presenting strong enough?

Generally the umpiring is avoiding illegal disposal, push in the back etc and holding the ball is a weird interpretation to help with the PR push. However any defender draping an arm across a forward is being penalised - until they play us.
 
Feb 26, 2012
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One thing that hasnt changed!! the rules now favour forwards consistently. last year and this year our forwards are held endless without a hint of a free. Are they not presenting strong enough?

Generally the umpiring is avoiding illegal disposal, push in the back etc and holding the ball is a weird interpretation to help with the PR push. However any defender draping an arm across a forward is being penalised - until they play us.
The rule changes only really benefit forwards straight out of the centre bounce. If you aren’t getting it clean out of the centre then it’s much of the same as years gone by and given our mids suck this year, it makes sense that we haven’t been capitalising on the new rules like we thought we would.
 
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