Autopsy Autopsy vs Geelong - Geelong think so little of us that at one stage their starting midfield was Stanley/Bruhn/Dempsey/Atkins & they won the clearance

[Dan]

I know we’re sh!t on our merits but I reckon some teams left us start off well because we always drop off significantly.

That 1st quarter reminded me of the Noble era.

Clarkson & co have their hands full.

 

[Firebat]

I’m so worried about Sheez, Wardlaw and the other young kids under 23. Please Lord let them develop into the players they were born to be.

This club has no senior leaders and it’s just so obvious and painful to watch. I wish we’d thrown the kitchen sink at Luke Parker

26

Luke Parker

Age

31

Ht

183cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

24.2

5star

K

12.6

5star

HB

11.6

5star

M

3.8

4star

T

5.6

5star

CL

5.8

5star

D

22.1

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

9.9

5star

M

3.9

4star

T

5.0

5star

CL

5.5

5star

D

21.2

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

8.0

5star

CL

5.2

5star

a few years ago.

Gavin Brown couldn’t develop mould in a Thai restaurant toilet, can he please have his position reassessed? Just have so many plodders going around.

 

[DocSholl]

I didn't mind CZ's game tbh. We won a lot more footy around the contest in the second half because of him. We're just not as good enough side to allow ourselves luxury players - he'd be great in a top side.

 

[Kangaroos techno]

We’ve fished up putrid football this year, but far out, I don’t think the players owe an explanation to anyone on this board about what they do in their week off from football. Go all in on what they do on-field, but it’s hardly our business what restaurants they go to

That's fine. If they want to go through the motions on field we'll see how far they get in their off field ventures. Especially when a lot of it is dependent on North members giving a **** and being invested.

Put in and end up a much loved North person forever or just another Jordan Gysberts.

 

[koshari]

That's fine. If they want to go through the motions on field we'll see how far they get in their off field ventures. Especially when a lot of it is dependent on North members giving a * and being invested.

Put in and end up a much loved North person forever or just another Jordan Gysberts.

Strange comparison given jizza was a godees reject. They got the better of that trade as well as peddo went ok at godees.

 

[zoomba23]

True. The low standard of preseason at the club is something Shiels and others have talked about. They all clock in OK but only some work hard, become better runners and some - too many - just don't. They can play but are basically semi-professional with VFL level running capability. And it gets shown up game after game after game - we get outnumbered and outworked. But these guys still get $10,000 to $15,000 appearing in their account each week or $20,000 or $30,000 a fortnight. Amazing really.

Bingo. Never mind the many thrashings we've suffered, even in our wins we've barely gotten the job done thanks to appalling fitness standards. Think back to all (four) of our wins since the start of last year.

Against West Coast WAFL: we barely scrape over the line against a team of fishermen

Against Richmond: they fight back, we come to a standstill and we really only win because of their poor kicking and stupidity

Against West Coast AFL: they fight back late, we're buggered, we rely on a contentious ruck free to ensure the result

Against Freo: they fight back late, we're buggered, we scrape a win by less than a second

Common thread is shithouse fitness. Coming to a standstill as everyone bar a couple runs out of gas. We've legit not had a game in the last two years that we've finished in a stronger and fitter manner than the opposition. Massive, massive issue that you'd hope the coaches are across

 

[amaz199]

Smashed everywhere it counts,
Disposals
Inside 50’s
Contested possessions
Uncontested possessions
Marks inside 50

And obliterated at centre clearance.

They were just far too good

All those stats mostly because we didn't switch on in the first quarter.

It's not good enough. Especially from our 'leaders'. What kind of message are they sending to our young core?

 

[Ischenko]

And doing very little running without the ball.

I’m very interested in your posting about the lazy/half-arsed/semi-professional culture at the club. It’s something I have suspected but with no connection at all beyond watching them play you can only assume…I’d guess the rot set in with Scott, but who knows really how far back exactly it goes? 2020-2022 a complete wipe out, and now we’re really seeing what you’re talking about cos even under a strong footy department it’s the same old same old. They go when it’s their turn but without the ball they really pick and choose…

Guessing the players that do the bare minimum would be both our captains, Zurharr, Ziebell, Corr, Turner, Taylor, Hall…and I might get crucified for saying this but perhaps even Larkey and LDU to an extent?

Surely they want to be better and are sick of being a joke? I do think there is something seriously wrong with our culture. I mean, just look at our results FFS.

 

[koshari]

I’m very interested in your posting about the lazy/half-arsed/semi-professional culture at the club. It’s something I have suspected but with no connection at all beyond watching them play you can only assume…I’d guess the rot set in with Scott, but who knows really how far back exactly it goes? 2020-2022 a complete wipe out, and now we’re really seeing what you’re talking about cos even under a strong footy department it’s the same old same old. They go when it’s their turn but without the ball they really pick and choose…

Guessing the players that do the bare minimum would be both our captains, Zurharr, Ziebell, Corr, Turner, Taylor, Hall…and I might get crucified for saying this but perhaps even Larkey and LDU to an extent?

Surely they want to be better and are sick of being a joke? I do think there is something seriously wrong with our culture. I mean, just look at our results FFS.

Reckon turner would be trying his guts out and put a power of work in the preseason, just a very limited player.

 

[tricknologist]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the player culture is that terrible. One of the biggest issues is that, while other clubs were professionalising, we were content and proud to be a club of battlers. It kinda sorta worked for a while under Scott, but eventually the bottom fell out and we were left with a shit culture not fit for elite sport. As much as people hate it, JHF was right to be pissed off at the club's lack of standards (though his tantrums were totally unacceptable). The challenge for the club now is to figure out who can be reformed and who needs to be shown the door.

 

[JGreezy]

There only are 3 untouchables, ldu, sheez and wardlaw. Maybe souva but he just signed a long term deal.

Ford might not be untouchable but I wouldn't trade him unless its for good value. He's good.

 

[Samsquanch]

Sorry but I thought Zurhaar was horrid again today. Constantly trying to break 10 tackles and kick the miraculous goal rather than the team first dish off to advantage the team. He needs to work out what sort of player he wants to be

Little Luke

 

[gokangas]

The pandemic has killed us - too many players working from home.

 

[chubbspeterson]

I was having a gander on the Cats board game thread and some were furious when the margin was 9 goals in the 3rd quarter. They wanted 100 plus.

Then you have ours where some consider today acceptable.

You wonder if the low standards have not just permeated through the club but now through a good portion of the fan base.

We might be slightly better than last year but we are are basically where we were in second half of 2021 - semi competitive some weeks except this time we aren't even winning games

At the end of the day we are still cemented on 2 f-cking wins and don't know where the next will come from. It's not just bad, it's boring. Only reason we aren't last again (yet) is because there happens to be 1 club who is worse.

I don't think any of us consider the result acceptable, it's more a brutal reality of where we're at and how long it will take to turn it around.
We also need elite talent or top picks that we can turn into 1 or 2 top 15 talents to fast track this thing.
I have some faith that Clarko and Viney won't hesitate to move on from players who aren't up to it.
I see better passages of play than last year, our % is better I believe than last year, we have the worst defence in the comp and we're miles of the top 8 sides right now. But I see some promise in that younger bracket of Powell, Phillips, Wardlaw, Sheezel, Ford, Cooper and Scott.
We have 18-20 players who won't be there in 2-3 years and plenty of those are players who are past it, just happy to be AFL footballers or young players with no elite AFL attributes for the modern game.
Clarko and Viney would be sitting back assessing these guys and I reckon Shiels might be able to provide an insight into the group when he moves into the recruiting space sooner or later about who wants to work and who doesn't. As Clarko said, some will be part of it and some won't.
Clarko will actually be able to be there "hands on" this preseason so I reckon it will be a big one.

 

[Delhirunner]

I think we all really need to be remember that all the good sides in the league have match winners in the 25 - 30 year old age bracket. Our problem stems from bringing in junk like polac, pittard, Marley Williams

2

Marley Williams

Age

31

Ht

181cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.7

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.2

3star

T

2.4

4star

MG

276.2

4star

D

12.5

3star

K

8.5

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

MG

195.3

3star

D

13.0

4star

K

9.4

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

3.4

5star

and other horrid players from other clubs as well as zero development from our kids in the background. Anyone expecting every one of our players to turn into superstars is kidding themselves. We need to bide our time and continue to weed out the shit and keep bringing in top talent till we clean up this mess

 

[Harris 10]

Our setup in front and behind the ball in the first half today was absolutely fu….. appalling.

 

[My Left Foote]

Do we have a tackling coach? If so sack them immeadiately.

Sick of us tackling the waist so the player still has their arms free.

Worts tackling team in the comp.

We had a tackling coach, we tried to hang on to him, but he broke free.

 

[franjon]

Hahaha we went out to the only 2 bars Zed and BeerDelux and they were both s**t.

Zed was a bit better but so many legit weirdos.

Zed was born a weirdo.

 

[zoomba23]

I’m very interested in your posting about the lazy/half-arsed/semi-professional culture at the club. It’s something I have suspected but with no connection at all beyond watching them play you can only assume…I’d guess the rot set in with Scott, but who knows really how far back exactly it goes?

We're very good on here at blaming Bard for things. This is one thing we cannot blame him for. We ran out games ok and things generally went ok until his departure, and even after it. We came across as a professional team. His last game, we stole the lead back from the Dogs in the last quarter and made sure of the result beyond a doubt. When Shaw took over, we did ok. There were weaknesses in the team's play but they weren't glaring. Our onfield competence was intact, suggesting that the training standards and club culture also were.

The unravelling started with Shaw's woes during the hub in 2020 and it ****ing snowballed from there. Maybe the onus lies partly on senior players who didn't pick up on the slipping standards and didn't seek to arrest the decline before it had gathered too much momentum. But it has to be one of the most brutal long term declines experienced by any club in this league ever. We're so ****ing lucky this hasn't happened in the 90s or early-mid 2000s. The merger/relocation noise would be reaching fever pitch

 

[Kangaroos techno]

Strange comparison given jizza was a godees reject. They got the better of that trade as well as peddo went ok at godees.

Not really. He's one of the most forgetful players we've had over the past 15 years.

In a sports quiz people would be shocked to know he was a North player. A lot of our current players are going down that same path.

 

[FlyHigh18]

 

[Val Keating]

All those stats mostly because we didn't switch on in the first quarter.

It's not good enough. Especially from our 'leaders'. What kind of message are they sending to our young core?

They had their way with us for the whole game. Our senior players, which mostly play in defence, saved us from a 100 point thrashing

 

[chubbspeterson]

Losing to the premiers by 10 goals is not nearly as bad as Freo having 2 goals to 3 qtr time against Blues, at their home ground.
5 goals kicked for the game. Cats are a premiership side.

 

[Flawed Genius]

Put in and end up a much loved North person forever or just another Jordan Gysberts.

Wash your ****ing mouth out

 

[amaz199]

They had their way with us for the whole game. Our senior players, which mostly play in defence, saved us from a 100 point thrashing

McKay had an impact in reducing the damage but that was it. Maybe Corr did some things but I'm now convinced he can't be relied on with the ball in hand.

Our senior players self inflicted a lot of the damage in the first half with bad turnovers. Sorry VK, they let us down again and were only really saved by the efforts in the middle when the game was dead.

If we take them out and chuck in our young brigade, what do we lose exactly?

I've had enough of losses falling on the same senior 'leaders' that keep stuffing it up. This has been an issue since the *Essendon game and nothing has changed.

They are absolute warriors but the game is going past them and fast. It's time to move on before this club cops more self inflicted damage.