At what point does the heat come on the club?

[Lach72]

To be fair, not all of them will come on like Fyfe...in such a quick space of time

Barlow was one out of the box. We've not had a midfielder like him...ever...A bloke who ran 5th in the ABC footballer of the year and missed 9 games!

 

[blue shark]

Mcphie played a great tagging role on Judd last year, switch him with Pav or try Maine in the middle,must play a inside mid.
We need to look after Pav, he is close to thirty and is looking like the Titanic.

 

[CamTinley]

The heat comes on i f we lose next week,we should win easily,but within injurys and so many players lacking form,it may be tougher than we think

Who thinks it will be easy? After that effort I wouldn't take anything for granted.

 

[esquilax]

Last year our first half-of-the-season was strong with a couple of unexplainable/ordinary performances toward the end. This year our second half should be stronger.

We picked up where we left off from the last quarter against Richmond in this game.

Like the Richmond game, try naming the four best players for Freo today? Fyfe, Mundy ......

It's not just coaching; it's an uneven playing contribution.

 

[Clay Davis]

To be fair, not all of them will come on like Fyfe...in such a quick space of time

No, but Roberton, Crichton, Bollenhagen, Walters all contributed in some way. Bolly had a great debut, Roberton was a contributor, Walters was superb against Geelong, and Crichton had a couple of reasonable games (as good you could expect from a later pick).

By comparison, that lot have all gone backwards. Some excuse can be made for Bolly, but aside from him, the cupboard looks bare.

Some massive strides were needed. Nothing game breaking or amazing, but at least improvement. Can we say we have seen it?

 

[TheLoris]

I agree about Mora, but again, we can't blame his absence for the lack of performance. He was good but not great for a lot of last year.

Ultimately, it is troubling that our poor performance this year is being blamed on injuries to 2nd/3rd year players. Yes, these players improved us last year, but our improvement came from developing them. We need to develop the next set of players to improve again.

Unfortunately, our development coach now has two roles. Is this an effective use of his abilities?

But what do we do now? Bring in another assistant? What quality guys are available and what message does it send to the existing coaching staff?? Our injuries aren't related to the coaching because we don't have many soft tissue injuries....

For mine, it's make a few changes(ie Palmer, Michie as sub) and hopefully get the win next week, then the next home game we should have Muz/SNOS available but it's putting wallpaper over the cracks to some degree...

 

[downthecorridor]

for the first time ever I recall last year in a handful of games against decent opposition, I KNEW we were going to win, it was just going to be a matter of by how much. This year I'm back in the familiar territory of HOPING we will win which is to my mind a step back.

Having had a few hours to think about it, I think we overachieved in the first five rounds with the cattle we had. I'm not a big fan of making excuses but I do think our players are simply just getting tired and I'm sure they are trying but its difficult to replace class with effort. weariness wont effect our guns so much but the mid/low tier of the 22 will drop off dramatically which is what has happened. we need at least another 4 quality players back to help with the rotations and not expose the lack of quality so much.

bad news is I'm not sure how much more our guys can do until these players get back into the team.

 

[Clay Davis]

But what do we do now? Bring in another assistant? What quality guys are available and what message does it send to the existing coaching staff??

These are fair questions. It's not something that can be fixed immediately, but needs focus in the off season.

I just get the feeling that it was a greater focus three years ago, and was neglected last year.

 

[Sman-21]

I think gameplan/coaches lost has more to do with our results than injuries

Look at eagles, pretty much same players as last year who were terrible an had pathetic skills.
yet this year new gameplan there all playing much better.

Our gameplan has changed an gone in the wrong direction.
we dont have the players to play the new style.
we need to go back to pressuring,outnumbering opposition to contest, an moving ball as quick as possible in attack through the corridor not slowly along the boundary.

Because u outnumber them players get clear disposals making skills look better.
Teams cant cope with pressure causing turnovers, meaning more space an easier to hit targets making skills look better.

Eagles last year had the most pathetic skills yet this year using our old gameplan the same players that looked crap last year now look ok an playing well enough to make finals.

 

[blue shark]

Roberton should of been given a challenge today on Darling, in a few years time he and Silvagni will be our backs.Palmer should of gone head to head with Priddis, show some faith or increase his trade worth.
Good coaches get the best out of players, or play them in positions to get the best out of them.
Harvey needs to stop playing safe, or waiting for players to return, and take the game on.

 

[CoastersFlag No.5]

Clearly the sky has fallen in.
If you lost to Port Adelaide then St Kilda their would be cause for alarm. No Hayden, Barlow, Suban, Morabito and this week Ballantyne. Out of form Johnson and Pitt for example makes a huge difference. To be honest to win as many games as you have with such a massive injury list is impressive. In two weeks time after knocking over Port and Saints this thread will seem like a big overreaction.

 

[Sman-21]

Its driven by clay so ofcourse its a big over reaction.

But there is some merit to it
just not as massive as clay would like to make us all think.

 

[Clay Davis]

Maybe, Sman, but people said it was a big overreaction when I said Pavlich was terrible in the midfield in round 2.

Hell, people said I was overreacting when I said Tarrant would leave Freo as soon as his contract ended (way back in 2006).

 

[TheLoris]

Clearly the sky has fallen in.
If you lost to Port Adelaide then St Kilda their would be cause for alarm. No Hayden, Barlow, Suban, Morabito and this week Ballantyne. Out of form Johnson and Pitt for example makes a huge difference. To be honest to win as many games as you have with such a massive injury list is impressive. In two weeks time after knocking over Port and Saints this thread will seem like a big overreaction.

Nice work, it's nowhere near panic stations, We should win at least one of the next 2 and be in a good position. Our season is on track despite what happened today.

We need a lift in intensity tho, thats where we lost the game today.....which is very disappointing. But WC were very good and deserved their win...........you're still a bunch of c hunts tho!!

 

[IAMJUNGLEMUFFIN]

Worthy opponents?? Weren't they both botton 4 last year? We have some problems, in the telecast they were saying we the worst in the league for scoring from kickouts.....that must be poor coaching as thats when you can set up plays....

No big heat just yet, but we've certainly had a kick up the arse and need to revisit our gameplan.

We were bottom 4, the season before we finished 6th? Just because a team was shit last year, doesn't mean they are now. If Memory serves (xD) Richmond were something like 75% w/l at the back end of last year, but theyre shit?

Watch Richmond and you will see they're quite a good young team.

Yeah, we have problems, perhaps from kickouts. Hey, why the **** should we look at the guy kicking the ball, when we can blame the coach. Huh? What? I'd love to get into a scrap about how shit Duffy is, but sadly, this isn't the place.

 

[TheLoris]

We were bottom 4, the season before we finished 6th? Just because a team was shit last year, doesn't mean they are now. If Memory serves (xD) Richmond were something like 75% w/l at the back end of last year, but theyre shit?

Watch Richmond and you will see they're quite a good young team.

Yeah, we have problems, perhaps from kickouts. Hey, why the **** should we look at the guy kicking the ball, when we can blame the coach. Huh? What? I'd love to get into a scrap about how shit Duffy is, but sadly, this isn't the place.

Richmond are a good side because they have planty of run which is where they exposed us last week.

Think you're missing the point, it's not who kicks the ball............it's the setup he's kicking to. Duffman has been ordinary this year but his kicking hasn't been the main problam.

 

[sabre_ac]

I think we underestimate just how reliant we were on Barlow last year, the guy single handed lifted the club to the finals.

I realize that Sandilands is the most important player in our side but it was Barlow that shifted the way clubs approached us and his impact freed up the likes of Hill and Pavlich.

It's also unfortuante the the "Connolly era" players like Ibbotson/MJ/Crowley/Schammer have never really stepped up. Those years have continued to haunt us.

 

[Alfonz]

I always thought losing Morabito was a bigger blow than many thought. Not groundbreaking thought on my behalf, but losing a player with his athleticism and speed was always going to cause big problems, especially when we are a side who need more pace in the midfield.

People keep going on about needing to draft talls, which is justified, but our midfield still doesn't have the depth required. Mundy and Fyfe are guns, Pavlich shouldn't be playing there, and Hill needs more support. That is it, in terms of genuine quality onballers that we can get out there. It isn't nearly enough. If Palmer magically returns to form, then Barlow and Morabito come back, it makes a world of difference.

Also, I think a self-perpetuating attitude can filter down through the ranks as far as the injuries are concerned. Overall, it almost seems like the whole side knows that they can/will be better with 6-7 inclusions ... but it almost breeds a mentality that merely surviving (and even losing) in the meantime is acceptable. Even if this is a sub-conscious attitude, sometimes it can be hard to control the mind. Especially when the club's attitude to the bye was that it was a welcome relief as there were lots of sore/injured players.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

Its driven by clay so ofcourse its a big over reaction.

But there is some merit to it
just not as massive as clay would like to make us all think.

you have said it a lot better than what i have tried to. i acknowledge that it is concerning, but no where near as bad as what some are saying. and as prodinator said, in a few weeks time we will be looking back on this thread with embarrassment.

 

[malpaso]

Players like Hill, Ballas, Mayne, De Boer, Suban, Broughton, etc all seemed to go to another level last year and because of that we improved.

This year, all those players have at best remained the same.

Hill - playing injured
Ballantyne - missed the derby
Mayne - limited preseason
De Boer - limited preseason
Suban - injured
Broughton - coming back from injury

That combined with all injuries means we are severely hampered at the moment for any sense of continuity during training let alone game time. I think we are having one of those years (again) that we just get no luck on the fitness side..

 

[Lach72]

With thes injuries, or possible injuries, I'd rather get them dealt with now personally.
If that means getting beaten by Port this week, so be it.
We're 4/3. After a heavy travel schedule. We have a really difficult run home.
We need all players fit.
If Faulks is ok after the weekend, MJ out.
Hill not right? Bring in Mellington.
Michie has been playing reasonable football.

If Mzungu is ok Broughton out. Get them fit for when we really need them.

 

[Clay Davis]

Mayne had a limited preseason?

Broughton's injury was a miss one game kind of thing. Not really something that should hamper him.

De Boer was injured in the early part of last year as well. When did Hill start playing injured?

 

[rhinowce]

Mayne had a limited preseason?

Broughton's injury was a miss one game kind of thing. Not really something that should hamper him.

De Boer was injured in the early part of last year as well. When did Hill start playing injured?

I reckon ever since he coped a whack on his knee playing adelaide.

 

[Clay Davis]

I reckon ever since he coped a whack on his knee playing adelaide.

Aah, yes. I think that was against North. Swallow or Anthony rammed his knee with their head.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

at the end of the day there is no excuses for that kind of a performance. and im sure heads will role because of it. i just wish for once we could go a season without having easily the worst injury list in the league