Review Did Scotts throw a black cat through a mirror whilst walking under a ladder?

[astrovic]

Christ.

I don't know how much joy there was in writing it.

Well yeah the content was like eating a shit sandwich, but I still found pleasure in the prose (NTTAWWT).

 

[ferball]

Extremely open to exploitation at the end of a game. Really no different to the basic sub rule once you are into the last quarter.

So make it available till half time.

It never used to matter but the way the game has changed over the years has made every fit player valuable simply thru rotations and managing fatigue for the whole game.

Last year the game was played with only 3 interchange places (one of which could be taken by two players) but an unlimited number of interchanges.

An early injury now means a side is effectively playing with 3 players on the bench but without unlimited rotations to make fatigue management easier. Its a massive disadvantage and if a club the AFL liked had been going thru what we are going thru then it would be a topic of media discussion.

 

[Mav]

I've been thinking about this a bit more and I've come to the conclusion that Scott is The Black Cat!

 

[blackshadow]

It's like we're the red headed step child...

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

The truly great teams deal with such blows.

I feel we aren't bold enough and willing to adapt.

 

[r_boy]

Problem is we can only drop two more games if we are even a chance to make top 4. I think they've blown it


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[hotham]

I certainly feel like the universe is conspiring against us at the moment. The worse thing we can do is feel sorry for ourselves. Players and coaches re charge and be back in 3 wks. Then put in best effort each week and we just never know.

 

[r_boy]

I also feel this club has a victim mentality. There is a lack of composure and emotional maturity. Plus we whine like little girls. I mean we're one of the best sides in the league yet we moan about everything it makes no sense. The effort against the Hawks was so revealing and disappointing it beggars belief.


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[Horace]

Extremely open to exploitation at the end of a game. Really no different to the basic sub rule once you are into the last quarter.

For this reason it should probably just be as cover for a concussed player. By all means have an independent doctor sign off on it as well.

Imagine if in the first quarter against Geelong, we could have brought a midfielder (ideally) into the game in the first quarter to replace Spitta, how that might have influenced the game just a bit. It probably wouldn't have led to us winning, but it might have reduced the margin, which in a competition where percentage also plays a part, it could be crucial.

I would add that if Spitta had been our only injured player at that stage of the game, we might well have got up with having a full 22 players to use through the game.

One of the great problems for our game is that there are too many times that the competition is not conducted on a level playing field. Last night was one such example where our players had just 6 days to recover, off a previous 6 day break and Adelaide had a 12 day break. Hardly fair in my opinion and the loss of a concussed player early in particular is another.

 

[Horace]

I also feel this club has a victim mentality. There is a lack of composure and emotional maturity. Plus we whine like little girls. I mean we're one of the best sides in the league yet we moan about everything it makes no sense. The effort against the Hawks was so revealing and disappointing it beggars belief.


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I disagree. You surely are entitled to be aggrieved if, as was the case last night, we had only 6 days break and Adelaide had 12 days. Take away those sorts of anomalies and there is no reason for a victim mentality.

 

[Johnny99]

It ain’t all doom and gloom but **** me, just when things were looking really promising we get the worst run of luck.

B Tron, I 100% agree with your post.

How we can have so much bad luck in a few weeks...In the many years of following North, I cannot recall another period as negative as the one we are going through....

Losing Higgins, Jacobs, Wright, Wells, Waite, McDonald, Garner, Anderson and Turner......Really hurts.....every team would struggle/cannot cover losses like that.....

A positive, Mason Wood, Dumont and possibly Wagner. We have 3 young lads, we can get excited about.

And last night confirmed that Drew needs to retire at the end of the year...No doubt his heart is still in it....But the body cant do it anymore......It was a crunch game. I would have loved to see Drew clunk a couple of big contested marks and kick some important goals. But sadly, he could not.

The future is Brown and Mason Wood. L Hansen would have more influence up forward than Drew now.

 

[Viper2Jester]

Tl;Dr

Something about injuries, unlucky, and frustrating, not sure.

My thoughts are we've been dealt a great hand!

 

[astrovic]

I also feel this club has a victim mentality. There is a lack of composure and emotional maturity. Plus we whine like little girls. I mean we're one of the best sides in the league yet we moan about everything it makes no sense. The effort against the Hawks was so revealing and disappointing it beggars belief.


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I see it a little differently. We're trying to build ourselves into the best pressure team in the league. It means being "on" 100% of the time, which means playing right at the edge and with a helluva lot of passion and energy. It also means when things go to shit we get pretty narky.

In other words, we're trying to play like Arch.

 

[Dirty_11]

The injuries that concern me are those of Wright, Higgins and Jacobs. Everything has to go right for these guys to get back to their best. They will only have a few weeks to get their conditioning right which not only leaves them open to soft tissue injuries, it makes it difficult to get match fit.

I can't help but think the Hawthorn loss will come back to haunt us. That loss was hard to take and a waste of 4 points.

Another concern is the form of Drew and Goldy. Goldy has dropped away significantly and has to be carrying an injury that has him playing 85% fit unless he has season ending surgery. If we plan on running with this I think Maj needs to play and lesson his load. How do we get Maj in the side without being too tall? This is where it gets difficult.

Drew is having a poor year, looking more and more likely his last. But what he does still do is take the best defender which makes life easier for Brown and Waite when he returns. It is also very unlikely that BS will drop Petrie and whether he should is debatable. Wood plays every week now. He has been teriffic. So it really comes down to Brown or Maj or whether we play the extra tall. If Goldy was 100% fit, Maj misses out, but now I am not so sure.

It is important not to buy into the media doom and gloom. None of these clowns watch and analyse North anywhere near us closely as we do on here. I have pretty much given up watching them or reading any outside comments on the club.

Top 4 is has become a more difficult prospect but we have the opportunity. The ball is in our court. We have a chance to rest up now and have a crack at the back end of the year before another break before the finals. Don't give up on our boys yet.

 

[Hojuman]

" The injuries that concern me are those of Wright, Higgins and Jacobs. Everything has to go right for these guys to get back to their best. They will only have a few weeks to get their conditioning right which not only leaves them open to soft tissue injuries, it makes it difficult to get match fit "


Reckon we can literally write these guys off for the rest of the season. Completely agree with you. CANNOT afford to bring them back after such loooooong lay-offs.
Imagine giving them a limited VFL run and bringing them back for first final ?
Too risky. Gotta get games into boys we have.

( Going back-a-ways but sat next to North race 1976 grand final. Different game, different times but Brent Crosswell ran out with the biggest bandage around his hammie.
My old man virtually conceded then )

 

[D23D]

" The injuries that concern me are those of Wright, Higgins and Jacobs. Everything has to go right for these guys to get back to their best. They will only have a few weeks to get their conditioning right which not only leaves them open to soft tissue injuries, it makes it difficult to get match fit "


Reckon we can literally write these guys off for the rest of the season. Completely agree with you. CANNOT afford to bring them back after such loooooong lay-offs.
Imagine giving them a limited VFL run and bringing them back for first final ?
Too risky. Gotta get games into boys we have.

( Going back-a-ways but sat next to North race 1976 grand final. Different game, different times but Brent Crosswell ran out with the biggest bandage around his hammie.
My old man virtually conceded then )

But if we can get them back in the firsts for the last 3 rounds then they would be ok come finals.
Not sure if the timing works though

 

[Gasometer]

There is that Finals bye at the end of the year but our obligatory last Round resting of half the team.

 

[Orange Peanut]

This is what I see as one of our main problems. McKenzie is a 5th year first rounder and we're only now getting games into him?! Playing guys like FRay and Nahas isn't helping any of the other kids.

Agree to an extent, but I don't think McKenzie is the best example. If anything he showed in his early senior appearances that he was so far behind the level he may never get there. He'd have been a liability to persist with in the ones. He went back, fixed stuff, and is now IMO showing enough signs that we could get a lot of years out of him.
If anything his example justifies the (frustrating) insistence of our selection committee to play older blokes while the youngies are developing.

 

[Dirty_11]

" The injuries that concern me are those of Wright, Higgins and Jacobs. Everything has to go right for these guys to get back to their best. They will only have a few weeks to get their conditioning right which not only leaves them open to soft tissue injuries, it makes it difficult to get match fit "


Reckon we can literally write these guys off for the rest of the season. Completely agree with you. CANNOT afford to bring them back after such loooooong lay-offs.
Imagine giving them a limited VFL run and bringing them back for first final ?
Too risky. Gotta get games into boys we have.

( Going back-a-ways but sat next to North race 1976 grand final. Different game, different times but Brent Crosswell ran out with the biggest bandage around his hammie.
My old man virtually conceded then )

I think Jacobs is the biggest concern being a mid. But all 3 would need at least 2 at senior level before finals, 3 being preferable.

 

[Jimmy's Hot Dogs]

With the sub.
I'm not against it but perhaps the subbed player cannot play for the next week or two at any level. Make the call on them for the current game and have a consequence for the following fortnight.

On topic.
Did Scotts also lose his rabbit foot, four leaf clover and lucky jocks?

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

This is what I see as one of our main problems. McKenzie is a 5th year first rounder and we're only now getting games into him?! Playing guys like FRay and Nahas isn't helping any of the other kids.

Or our future.

Nahas getting a game over Clarke breaks my spirit.