Brereton gives us a belt.

[berniemccarthy]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...rnes-credentials/story-fni5f986-1226977020271

 

[jacko57]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...rnes-credentials/story-fni5f986-1226977020271

A lot of unpalatable truth in there. But the accusation that Boomer is selfish, will always have a shot at goal instead of passing, is simply wrong. Whether that's Dermot not paying attention, or not letting the facts get in the way of a years-old judgement, hard to say.

 

[year of the roo]

We deserve every clip we get.

That said its a Brereton article, so needless to say, I didn't read it.

 

[Grogg]

I don't rate Brereton much . Never have. Big mouth, lots of words, little substance.

I rate this call though...

Between the all important milestones of 50 to 200 games experience, the Roo’s are beautifully placed with 17 players (the same as Hawthorn).
They also have the most 200 plus game players with five and they are all very good players, or better.

 

[naturally north]

Brad would a freaking big glass of water to swallow that bitter pill.

Hard to argue ignoring the LT swipe. He's the least of our worries.

 

[jacko57]

Brad would a freaking big glass of water to swallow that bitter pill.

Hard to argue ignoring the LT swipe. He's the least of our worries.

As with the diss of Boomer, Dermie's comments are more relevant to the LT of 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[muttley45]

What exactly is the " travail of an inconsistent side " ?

 

[Rooboy 96]

lost all credibility with "An experienced, talented player coming up to 150 games experience. The younger players should look up to him and his talent. Because he has loads of it. But he has a constant propensity to fall over and play dead."

But then it is Brereton so he did not have much to lose to start with.

 

[Rooboy 96]

not that I don't mind the boys getting a bit of a hiding in the press, they deserve it after what has been dished up every second week this year.

 

[Rooboy 96]

I still can not get over we are going in with the same three talls as last week, late change must be on the cards.

 

[Juryduty]

Look the more hard truth articles the players have to read tomorrow the better.
No matter what kind of Human being you are, no one likes to have their pride hurt, especially publicly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zondor]

A lot of unpalatable truth in there. But the accusation that Boomer is selfish, will always have a shot at goal instead of passing, is simply wrong. Whether that's Dermot not paying attention, or not letting the facts get in the way of a years-old judgement, hard to say.

Boomer has every right to go for goal when in scoring distance. I've said this before and I'll say it again that My Number 1 rule as a coach would be if you're within 50 to go for goal. Too often players attempt to pass. We saw the repercussions of that on the weekend. :stern look

 

[Gasometer]

ONE of the great sights of last season was to watch North Melbourne burn it up and speed through the middle of the ground, running the ball from defence to attack.
Equally as great was the level of capitulation that they fell to in the second half of several games.
Giving up healthy half time leads to walk away with yet another disappointing loss.
We had hoped that they would rectify their rookie errors and be a true top four challenger this season.
They’ve stopped the opposition scoring big, but not the unexpected losses.
SUPERCOACH Formguide- The missing link
TEAMS- Mitchell, Morabito set to return
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
COACH Scott keeps faith in battling Kangaroos
This year has yielded some glorious wins against some of the competitions so called heavy weights.
But equally, there have been some inglorious losses as well.
At the end of 2013 an extra injection of polish was sought for the midfield for this season and Nick Dal Santo was identified and contracted.
The Kangaroo’s really only had two players in the midfield with polished foot skills. Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells.
Harvey played as a “high half-forward” and Daniel Wells as the sleek moving midfielder that could take the ball away from stoppages.
Tag one of them out of the game and the other needed to have a “blinder” to compensate.
So Dal Santo was seen as the panacea.

Kangaroo Nick Dal Santo bursts clear of Magpie Brodie Grundy. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
Also natural progression was expected, given the demographic of the group.
Between the all important milestones of 50 to 200 games experience, the Roo’s are beautifully placed with 17 players (the same as Hawthorn).
They also have the most 200 plus game players with five and they are all very good players, or better.
So with an extra year of experience, many expected that the travails of an inconsistent group would be something of the past.
On pure statistical data, North Melbourne is primed for an assault on the top four so what is the hold up?
A more thorough look seems to point at a lot of little reasons for the dramatic inconsistency this season.
Firstly, it would seem that most of the Roos’ tall forwards are immature and incapable of mentally staying in the game for the game’s entirety.
They simply do not mark the ball inside their own 50. They are ranked 16th.
Drew Petrie is anything but immature. A wonderful player he is and has been, but in his twilight, he seems to have been chartered with the role of riding shotgun for his more agile and spritely teammates.
He should at this stage of his career be an on-field teacher and second or third string role player. But because of circumstance, he is now needed for so much more. He is still their No. 1.
Unfortunately, even though Petrie now runs fairly straight lines to the drop of the football and doesn’t move the same way he did three or four years ago, he is still better than his younger charges. They haven’t learnt how to impact in the same manner that he does.
Having inconsistent key forwards is a recipe for disaster in this current footballing climate. It places so much pressure on an overburdened backline. Especially if you don’t mark the ball.

Kangaroo Drew Petrie reacts to kicking a behind at training. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: News Corp Australia
The biggest sleight that I can see with the Kangaroos though is that there is an existence among several players that they play on their terms.
A couple of years ago I described Brent Harvey as selfish. For everyone bar one North Melbourne person, I may as well have shot Bambi. But that person was the Kanga’s greatest ever, Wayne Carey.
What makes us great is also our Achilles heel.
And Harvey’s single-minded desire to be a great, his selfish attitude to want every ball in his area has made him a modern day great.
No dispute with that whatsoever. And nothing wrong with that attitude either. I thought my old teammate Leigh Matthews had that same attitude also. But it comes with a price.
It is reflected in an attitude that he will take on the onus when it is there.
It is reflected in actions such as taking the shot at goal himself instead of giving the ball to a better placed teammate. Something my ex — premiership teammates would give a verbal flogging to.
It is reflected in the tracking of tapes in review.
And that see’s him always run at break neck speed towards his own goals, but saving very little in the tank if the ball is turned over.
And therefore he can only go at about 80% the other way when the opposition has the ball.
Anything short of pure intent to run down and catch is an action that is mimicked by younger, impressionable players when they see a legend do it.
Nick Dal Santo, the new recruit, has had some excellent games and some awful ones also this season.
His usage of the ball has as always been very good.
But he has chosen when and where he will restrict the opposition. Nick has never been a good defensive midfielder, but sometimes you’ve just got to do what you don’t like, for the good of the team.

North Melbourne players dejected after heavy loss to Adelaide. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
The young midfield is tough and willing to tackle. I like that.
But when the ball clears from them, they don’t have the necessary foot speed to be defensive once the opposition gets the ball in motion. Those with speed predominantly like going the other way.
And those who like the physical aspect of tackling aren’t able to chase the opposition down. In fact the North midfield allows their opposition a kicking efficiency of almost 70%. Only three other teams allow worse and they are all near the bottom. A further adjunct to this is that the Roo’s get routinely outscored from stoppages.
I put the question to you the reader, which North Melbourne midfielders would walk straight into the Sydney Swans or Fremantle midfields?
Those teams demand a certain standard. And North Melbourne only supply that standard when it suits them.
There is no doubt that plenty of the Roos midfielders would make it easily on ability.
But how many would go straight in to either of those teams if hypothetically they somehow got a clearance this weekend. And they had to display the non-negotiable attitude that those two teams demand. And that standard is player driven.
Maybe Ben Cunnington because of his hard nose approach to winning the ball?
Which raises another issue.
North sit 10th on the ladder for contested possession — 12th over the past month. And they are only 9th for tackling pressure — 11th for the past month.
No team with the combination of those numbers in those areas is going to challenge the top four.
Then there is the case of Lindsay Thomas.

Lindsay Thomas plays an important role in the Kangaroos’ forward line. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: News Corp Australia
An experienced, talented player coming up to 150 games experience. The younger players should look up to him and his talent. Because he has loads of it. But he has a constant propensity to fall over and play dead.
Maybe sometimes he does get a whack, but I just can’t tell anymore. This is not the type of leadership that a first or second year player needs to see and learn from.
The Roos have stiffened their ability to hold back the opposition scoring heavily against them this season.
But I would be more concerned with the fact that much lesser teams have shown the ability to kick a winning score against them instead
Especially before the Roos tune in and switch on. And they do switch on, but sometimes too late.
Because in contrast to last season, they are nearly impossible to score against in the last quarter. That therefore illustrates that fitness is not an issue.
It is hard to see the absolute true leaders that will stand up for North in desperate times, organise their teammates and put a halt to the likes of Brisbane’s 2nd quarter last weekend.
Fremantle’s Ryan Crowley conceded only six possessions in the match to Pearce Hanley a fortnight ago. But whoever from North Melbourne had responsibility for him in last Saturday nights second quarter, gifted him over a dozen possessions and almost 500 metres gained.
The delegation of responsibility was deplorable. And the reticence to show leadership and stop Hanley was equally as bad.
Petrie would stand up and lead, but he is far too deep in the forward line and away from the problem area.
Scotty Thompson shows wonderful leadership and dedication to the job at hand. But in all honesty, the junk mail that the midfield allows to land on Thompson’s doorstep is awful.
If we know the feisty Brad Scott, he will not like what he reads here and rightly so. He will defend his players and that is to be expected. But if he is insulted and so too are his players, then let it be so.
Because being a champion person or a champion player does not mean that you are exonerated from some of football’s harsh realities………

 

[trooroo4life]

Only thing wrong i have with that piece, is the accusation that Boomer is selfish. The rest of the article has merrit, and i hope the players do take offence to it and lift to prove him wrong.

Dal Santo ecspecialy wont take too kindly to being labelled lazy. Will know he needs to bounce back.

 

[justroyal]

Good read.
Does he feel that black and other forwards need to start presenting better or they get over looked in comparison to when petries around?

 

[Gasometer]

Pleased to see Rev. Carey gets a mention.

 

[The Big H]

Very accurate article-Although the swipe at Boomer is off the mark.

 

[Gasometer]

Good read.
Does he feel that black and other forwards need to start presenting better or they get over looked in comparison to when petries around?

I think he doesn't know Blacks or Browns or Daws or Curries or Nahas names.

 

[scooby1279]

North sit 10th on the ladder for contested possession — 12th over the past month. And they are only 9th for tackling pressure — 11th for the past month.

No team with the combination of those numbers in those areas is going to challenge the top four.


Those stats are pathetic....

 

[Gasometer]

Very accurate article-Although the swipe at Boomer is off the mark.

Come on Rev. Carey agreed with him. Must be right.

 

[Gasometer]

Brereton cant lose on this one.

Win, he gets a mention is the post match.

Lose, he gets to say he was 'right'.

Chill out...if its media street that's getting us up we may as well look at 2015 now.

 

[LeFtBehinD]

Who cares about the Boomer swipe. 99% of that article is the truth, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting 8th.

The man is a douche but he knows football greater than most.

 

[Engimal]

It is reflected in actions such as taking the shot at goal himself instead of giving the ball to a better placed teammate. Something my ex — premiership teammates would give a verbal flogging to.

It is reflected in the tracking of tapes in review.

And that see’s him always run at break neck speed towards his own goals, but saving very little in the tank if the ball is turned over.

I'd say 9/10, Boomer kicks the goal, gets a goal assist or at least gains a shitload of metres. That's nothing to criticise. Aside from that, the article is pretty hard to argue against.

 

[Roosurgence]

Surprised he had time to write this? Must have cut into his time on Tinder?

But pretty hard to argue with most of it, except the rubbish about LT.

 

[lukegags]

I hate Dermie!! He actually drives me nuts with his 'special' comments on TV, but I reckon he nailed it with this. Pretty spot on.

Boomer is selfish, but I don't think that is a bad thing. He is an offensive weapon.

Took a big swipe at Brad Scott IMO. I hope BS reads it...