Analysis Another bad performance. What's going on?

[Land of the Giants]

I feel a bit uneasy at where things are heading.

There was something about the way we lost yesterday that reminded me of what happened in 2020 when things fell apart.

Have a look at the stats. The Dogs had twenty one more entries i50 for seventeen more scoring shots. That tells you there are serious problems getting the ball forward. Certain players are either under-performing or contributing almost nothing.

But there was more to it than that. It was pretty obvious we all but gave up in the last quarter. That's a team problem.

Whatever happened to "Never Surrender"?

 

[Waspy79]

Very worrying performance. The honeymoon period is over for Kingsley and he now needs to get the talent playing as a team again. What we saw yesterday was reminiscent of the final few years of Cameron.

 

[Colonial]

Absolute rubbish. The last month, besides the Brisbane game, have been woeful.

 

[Battlepants]

It does seems like a team issue and I do wonder about messages that are being given from Kingsley both in the post-match press conferences and to the team after the game. Have a look at this "Inside the Giants" video from the Sydney derby.



The message was pretty much "it's fine guys, we're 6-2, no need to worry". It just seems so blasé to me. From the videos and interviews I've watched it's like they're all depending on this miracle end to the season where we win 10 out of 13 games same as what happened last season. But from the games we've seen lately, it's looking pretty much impossible that that's going to happen. There doesn't seem to be any urgency or drive to actually start winning games now. It's all "we're not the finished product" and "we're building towards September".

But I feel like if they don't find that drive to win some time soon, there's not going to be any games in September for us.

The press conferences are the same thing too. Every week it's the same responses. "We didn't adapt to the conditions", "the other team wanted it more". Okay... and what is being done about those issues? Because it seems like every week our desperation and commitment gets weaker and our ability to adapt to adverse conditions and formulate a plan B is non-existent.

I dunno, we'll see what happens. Maybe Geelong can play us back into form like they did this time last year.

 

[Orange Agent]

Agreed, the press conference's are becoming alarming. It's all about the conditions, the stadium, opposition pressure/our lack of pressure. I think it's quite obvious the game plan isn't working and there is no mention of it. We have started every game well yet continue to get outplayed in second halves. We continue to lose stoppages contests, can't cover opposition spread from stoppages. Our fwd pressure was elite late last year, now the ball just rebounds straight out and we have added 2 more small fwds to the team. I think it's a case of it's much easier to be the hunter than the hunted.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Bit harsh but I think fair assessment of where we currently are - Fix Sports power rankings of teams at this point in the season

11. GWS GIANTS (6-4, 115.5%)
Last week: Ranked 7th, lost to Western Bulldogs by 27 pts

This may seem a severe fall for a team being talked up as a premiership contender just a few weeks ago, but the Giants are seriously pedestrian right now. That margin against the Dogs should have been much larger and the difference between the Giants of the opening six weeks, and the five since, is stark. They’ve gone from 1st to 13th in points scored; 2nd to 10th in scores per inside 50; 1st to 11th in points from turnovers; and 1st to 15th in transitioning from their back half to inside 50. That latter one is the key - it is the orange tsunami totally disappearing. Combine that with their defensive decline we wrote about last week and GWS, right now, is a bang-average team at best. We know they can play much better than this, so maybe it’s just a long lapse, but this is a big enough sample size to start being concerned.

The 13 teams still in AFL’s wild finals chase... as contenders fall like flies: Power Rankings

The 13 teams still in AFL’s wild finals chase... as contenders fall like flies: Power Rankings

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Land of the Giants]

Bit harsh but I think fair assessment of where we currently are - Fix Sports power rankings of teams at this point in the season

11. GWS GIANTS (6-4, 115.5%)
Last week: Ranked 7th, lost to Western Bulldogs by 27 pts

This may seem a severe fall for a team being talked up as a premiership contender just a few weeks ago, but the Giants are seriously pedestrian right now. That margin against the Dogs should have been much larger and the difference between the Giants of the opening six weeks, and the five since, is stark. They’ve gone from 1st to 13th in points scored; 2nd to 10th in scores per inside 50; 1st to 11th in points from turnovers; and 1st to 15th in transitioning from their back half to inside 50. That latter one is the key - it is the orange tsunami totally disappearing. Combine that with their defensive decline we wrote about last week and GWS, right now, is a bang-average team at best. We know they can play much better than this, so maybe it’s just a long lapse, but this is a big enough sample size to start being concerned.

The 13 teams still in AFL’s wild finals chase... as contenders fall like flies: Power Rankings

The 13 teams still in AFL’s wild finals chase... as contenders fall like flies: Power Rankings

www.foxsports.com.au

Seems a pretty fair assessment.

 

[Battlepants]

Bit harsh but I think fair assessment of where we currently are - Fix Sports power rankings of teams at this point in the season

11. GWS GIANTS (6-4, 115.5%)
Last week: Ranked 7th, lost to Western Bulldogs by 27 pts

This may seem a severe fall for a team being talked up as a premiership contender just a few weeks ago, but the Giants are seriously pedestrian right now. That margin against the Dogs should have been much larger and the difference between the Giants of the opening six weeks, and the five since, is stark. They’ve gone from 1st to 13th in points scored; 2nd to 10th in scores per inside 50; 1st to 11th in points from turnovers; and 1st to 15th in transitioning from their back half to inside 50. That latter one is the key - it is the orange tsunami totally disappearing. Combine that with their defensive decline we wrote about last week and GWS, right now, is a bang-average team at best. We know they can play much better than this, so maybe it’s just a long lapse, but this is a big enough sample size to start being concerned.

The 13 teams still in AFL’s wild finals chase... as contenders fall like flies: Power Rankings

The 13 teams still in AFL’s wild finals chase... as contenders fall like flies: Power Rankings

www.foxsports.com.au

Those stats are damning, and really tell the tale of where we're at at the moment.

In the areas that count the most for our gameplan we've gone from a top 2 side, to a 10-15th placed side. And it really feels like it when you watch us play.

I hope we can find a way to turn it around somehow.

 

[Land of the Giants]

Those stats are damning, and really tell the tale of where we're at at the moment.

In the areas that count the most for our gameplan we've gone from a top 2 side, to a 10-15th placed side. And it really feels like it when you watch us play.

I hope we can find a way to turn it around somehow.

The unanswered question is why did it happen.

 

[Giant Pete]

Yep, some of the language from the coach is a bit concerning. ‘We didn’t adapt to the conditions’ is a concern. It’s not that hard.

I reckon we’ve developed bad habits across the club... Our vfl team performs just like our afl team. We aren’t running hard defensively. We are fumbly. Guys like Riccardi and HH are non-competitive too often.

And our midfield gets beaten every week.

Not sure it’s something that will turn around too quickly.

 

[Battlepants]

The unanswered question is why did it happen.

It's not an easy question to answer. I think there's a few different issues at play.

The first is personnel. For the first 5 rounds we had a pretty good run with injury. We weren't lacking any players that couldn't readily be replaced. If anything we were struggling to fit all of our talent into a list of 22. But after round 5 we've been missing key players. Taylor's concussion and Cogs' knee. Then Green's ankle. Toby and Brown's suspensions and now Kelly and Ash's injury. We've been lacking important players in all of the games we've lost and we haven't had the squad continuity that we had up until that point.

Second is coaching. Specifically that opposition coaches have figured out strategies that work to stifle our gameplan. Putting pressure on our half backs and choking off our transition out of D50 seems to be the key to stopping our slingshotting style of attack. And at the moment it's working.

Finally, and what I feel is the most important is confidence and effort. Our players are really feeling the weight of expectation. I think even as a fan I'm feeling this. Last year when we were 3-7 I can honestly say that I was happier than I am now, even though we're 6-4. Last year expectations were low, it was fun just seeing us playing exciting football again and celebrate each win we could get. This year it's miserable because we're expecting to win. I have no doubt this is getting to the players much more than us. Being touted as premiership favourites and the top team to beat, the pressure of expectation would've been huge. Now that we're failing to get wins our heads are dropping and effort is going down accordingly. The good thing about this is, I reckon a good win or two could reignite the spark and have us playing with passion and confidence again.

 

[Land of the Giants]

Yep, some of the language from the coach is a bit concerning. ‘We didn’t adapt to the conditions’ is a concern. It’s not that hard.

I reckon we’ve developed bad habits across the club... Our vfl team performs just like our afl team. We aren’t running hard defensively. We are fumbly. Guys like Riccardi and HH are non-competitive too often.

And our midfield gets beaten every week.

Not sure it’s something that will turn around too quickly.

I wonder if the team lacks confidence in Cadman as a target up front. He's dropped a few sitters lately and it must have an effect.

 

[Powkid]

I feel like we are far worse compared the same time last year. We cannot hit a target this year. Even players like Whitfield and Callaghans disposals are costing goals against us from turnover.

But yes the pressure has dropped significantly, especially from about half way through 2nd qtrs. We were storming g home in 4th qtrs last year, this year we are witches hats. Are the training loads different?
Sure some injuries haven't helped and have progressively got worse each week.

We are at real risk of not playing finals. We need a game vs Richmond to get us into form again.

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