At what point does the heat come on the club?

[Harry Reems]

Some great comments being made here and the problems I see are as follows.

1- Losing Chris Scott, Dean Wallis and Justin Longmuir from our coaching department.

2- Injuries - yes we have more than anyone, but how many are in our best 22?

3- Poor pre-season.

4- The other teams have studied our players and know how to negate them.

If you look at the Eagles last year, they had a poor pre-season with massive injuries to their star players like Kerr, Cox and Glass etc.

They also had injuries to their second tier players like Butler, Shuey and Smith etc.

They sacked assistant coaches Daniel Metropolis and Michael Broadbridge once their season was over and then won the spoon 4 years after winning a flag.

They then focussed on having a good pre-season, getting some form into their aging players and getting their unfit and injured players back on the track in time for the next season.

They won the spoon in a year where all of the top draft picks were going to the Gold Coast.

They took a punt on Jack Darling at pick 26 and it has paid off big time.

It took them 4 years to win a derby and unfortunately they got there yesterday.

Collingwood won the spoon in 1999 and have spent all that time and money since on building to their first flag since 1990.

Their current team has been 5 years in the making.

We won the spoon in 2001 and have been gradually climbing ever since, albeit frustratingly slowly.

My point is that we are in a rebuilding phase (still) and I don't expect too much from us this year. It’s time to start taking some risks as let’s face it…..If we were to make the finals again this year, how would we go against Collingwood and Geelong at the MCG?

 

[prattsta]

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.

Genuine question, why wait until then?

I mean the club doesn't seem to have a problem with it, so they aren't going to change anything, but if they did acknowledge a problem surely they would just hire someone now. It's not like there isn't a heap of talented guys and gals out there looking for an opportunity to get their foot in the door.

 

[Avid_Avenger]

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

You could be right.

Or it could simply be that the shin splints that curtailed his preseason have already come back.

I never got rid of them no matter how many weeks I sat out but playing with them (if they are as bad as mine were) would mean Hill's operating at no more than 80%.

If he is playing sore the smarter option would be having him replace Duffield at half-back as the link and precision kick quarterback. Duffield can't defend anyone anyway and his rebound has been poor this season.

It's time for Harvey to regenerate some of our players by changing things up. Waiting for them to magically renew themselves and halt the stagnation will only result in our slow and agonising slip down the ladder.

No more stop gaps. No more defensive, 'holding on', 'trying not to lose' coaching.

Pav to the forward line - I can't stand to watch another game of him permanent midfield, it's killing me to watch arguably are most dangerous/influential player other than Sandilands being a 'serviceable' average midfielder, and contributing to our flat-footed stoppages. We need to try to win games not simply try not to lose them. The area of the ground that we could most stretch the opposition is the forward line. Let's get dangerous up there and put the pressure back on the opposition.

Give Michie/Mello/Sibo a game and see what they've got. Get rid of the players out of form or who aren't offering enough. Inject some more pace and enthusiasm into the side and create pressure for spots by putting everyone on notice. Try Mayne at half back if necessary. DO SOMETHING other than the same old thing.

 

[theGav56]

I wonder if it is more a case of, we have the resources but not the talent, re: coaching staff

Yes we lost Scott but who do we replace him with at such short notice.

Most assistants are like rookies, in that no one knows their potential until they are in the hot seat. Scott was a beauty, and yes we are missing his influence. But that is not to say another Scott is around the corner, we just have to find him.

I am sure we have finances to cover that dept.

Why do you think that? They may be rookies or the could be like Harvey when he was recruited, or we could chase someone like Daniher, Thompson or the Junk Dog. Could have chased Williams. Sanderson may have been keen after missing the job at Catland. Scott Watters? Plenty of coaches with AFL senior experience currently working as assistants. Before we got him, Harvey would have seemed like an unlikely assistant to be lured to the dockers.

 

[Scham]

The heat should be put on the strength and fitness staff that's for sure.

Not all of our injuries are due to bad luck.

 

[theGav56]

im simply arguing against clay's "we are not uneathing players this year" theory. you cant unearth players if we havent got them. no matter which way you look at it, we have been decimated by injuries to the point where we are relying on kids with little experience, and at that point, up and down performances are always going to happen.

The number of injuries is clearly testing us but....

Mzungu, Faulks, Griffin, Lower, and Anthony were all recruited to play this year if required, not because of their future potential. In addition we did prefer Pitt to the physically ready to play Darling, and while I am pretty sure that Pitt will be a fine player for us from what he has shown, for a club gearing towards finals action now with a weakness in the KPF area it is an interesting decision and deserves to be speculated on (pretty sure most clubs will ask themselves what happened). We also have a rookie list with a couple of blokes in their 3rd season.

 

[The Night Shift]

The heat should be put on the strength and fitness staff that's for sure.

Not all of our injuries are due to bad luck.

You wouldn't think so.

The mid-season review will be interesting down at the club.

 

[Clay Davis]

The heat should be put on the strength and fitness staff that's for sure.

Not all of our injuries are due to bad luck.

The foot injuries we've gathered over the past three years certainly aren't bad luck.

 

[Reginald Perrin]

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.

Give Michie/Mello/Sibo a game and see what they've got. Get rid of the players out of form or who aren't offering enough. Inject some more pace and enthusiasm into the side and create pressure for spots by putting everyone on notice. Try Mayne at half back if necessary. DO SOMETHING other than the same old thing.

Michie is injured. Out for at least 10-12 weeks.

 

[Avid_Avenger]

Michie is injured. Out for at least 10-12 weeks.

10-12? Geez... I'd heard 8. That's Michie gone for the year then in terms of playing AFL.

We're really scraping for players now. If Schammer (shudder) can't get a game in the next few weeks you'd have to wonder why we kept him at all?

 

[Reginald Perrin]

10-12? Geez... I'd heard 8. That's Michie gone for the year then in terms of playing AFL.

Official site says leg in a cast for 6-8. I'm allowing 4 weeks for rehab/training and I think that's being optimistic.

 

[Avid_Avenger]

Official site says leg in a cast for 6-8. I'm allowing 4 weeks for rehab/training and I think that's being optimistic.

Okay yeah, that's what I was thinking too. At best he might debut in round 19. Either way he's realistically off the table until 2012. Another blow to our running depth...

 

[Lach72]

Okay yeah, that's what I was thinking too. At best he might debut in round 19. Either way he's realistically off the table until 2012. Another blow to our running depth...

You can call him a midfielder

 

[Avid_Avenger]

You can call him a midfielder

For what it's worth I think he's shown more in a running role than Pitt has. He would have been less of a passenger IMO.

But he is transitioning to the midfield from HF at WAFL level. Already labelling him a midfielder is more want than reality, which in the end, backs up my point