Opinion Don Pyke general discussion

[Norwood1878]

Perhaps. The question is why didn't he makes moves to reduce the damage while they had all the running mate the first quarter?

I don't have the answer, but something went on, and I don't think it's Don being unable to respond. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in the box in Q1. Need to watch his press conference - Didn't get a chance as I went straight to the Port v West Coast game at the oval. Can anyone shed any light?

Not much in the presser mate. Just watched it myself. 3 and a half minutes. Fully accepts Crows didn't come to play and North did. He was asked if this was a wake up call and he responded by saying he'd like to think we don't need one but also that we need to respond against the Dees.
I kind of expected that if a side bought good pressure all day and jumped out of the blocks early we'd be in for tough time. I didn't expect a 10.4-0 first quarter and about half way through the 2nd knew it was lights out for the day and said as much on the GD thread, TBH we could've easily lost by another 2-3 goals. Why we didn't or weren't able to stop the bleeding is troubling. North only had to maintain the pressure and keep the score ticking over enough to put to rest any comeback, The deficit was just too much.

 

[GreyCrow]

5.6 in the 2nd didn't help

 

[Mike Smyth]

We were completely shit all day.

All we learned is that everybody has to put in. Half the side was just poo.

This is some through the looking glass type stuff.

there must have been some really woeful umpiring decisions in the numerous finals we have failed in. *2012 of aside

 

[Norwood1878]

5.6 in the 2nd didn't help

North kicked 5.6 in the third.

 

[Great8]

I pity the Dees this week. Yesterday would sting you guys, was just one of those days and I'd think you will come out snarling this week. Still the best side in the comp IMO

 

[Footypie32]

Perhaps it's blind faith in Pyke, perhaps I'm being naive, but the lack on reaction from the coaching box in the first quarter fet like a test issued to the players - ie can you respond and stop the flow of goals from the Kangaroos. Obviously they failed, but Rnd 7 is not a bad time to experiment.

Perhaps not, maybe we were exposed. Either way, fair play to North. They played well and are finally getting some reward. We were crap.

Whatever the result in the upcoming three rounds, the next big test is Geelong away in round 11. Today's game brought its own challenges, important that we perform better at Cat Park than we did today.

The great NBA coach Phil Jackson would famously not call a time out when the opposition had a run on and was scoring heavily, to see if his players could stem the flow and work it out for themselves. Now, he did happen to have some of the greatest players to ever play the game in his teams, but I reckon this is a philosophy Pyke employs too.

If this is the case, it looks like after 3 attempts our players aren't smart enough to initiate the change required.

Another thing that hurt us, and has in the past, but not to this degree, is our kickins always aiming for the right wing. We simply couldn't do this yesterday because of the wind and the Roos understood this and went to the other side. We have to become less predictable with our kickins.

 

[Cap]

Not much in the presser mate. Just watched it myself. 3 and a half minutes. Fully accepts Crows didn't come to play and North did. He was asked if this was a wake up call and he responded by saying he'd like to think we don't need one but also that we need to respond against the Dees.
I kind of expected that if a side bought good pressure all day and jumped out of the blocks early we'd be in for tough time. I didn't expect a 10.4-0 first quarter and about half way through the 2nd knew it was lights out for the day and said as much on the GD thread, TBH we could've easily lost by another 2-3 goals. Why we didn't or weren't able to stop the bleeding is troubling. North only had to maintain the pressure and keep the score ticking over enough to put to rest any comeback, The deficit was just too much.

It's round 6. Honestly I'm pissed off we lost. But happy Pyke didn't show his hand ( if there is more there) for the sake of a couple of % points.

 

[fabs33]

Another thing that hurt us, and has in the past, but not to this degree, is our kickins always aiming for the right wing. We simply couldn't do this yesterday because of the wind and the Roos understood this and went to the other side. We have to become less predictable with our kickins.

I'm always wary of our team playing at unusual grounds in poor weather, particularly Geelong's home ground. The team's with some experience there will know how to work with the conditions, like knowing the effect of the wind on a set shot for example, but visiting sides will find themselves behind the eightball. We didn't adjust at all in that first quarter and it cost us dearly.

Still there's a lesson to be learnt from yesterday that applies anywhere you play, don't try to force the gameplan on the weather.

 

[DD#23]

It's round 6. Honestly I'm pissed off we lost. But happy Pyke didn't show his hand ( if there is more there) for the sake of a couple of % points.

I said the same thing last year after we played Geelong the first time...

 

[skoobydoo]

There are some huge postives however.

The main one is Scott will stay as coach. Which means North will continue to struggle.

Yeah but not with us. Didn't someone post that we have only beaten them 4 times since 2002?

 

[Southerntakeover]

God, you know you've got it sweet when fans are trying to spin a 64-0 quarter as a coaching masterstroke.

I'm sure he was teaching the players a lesson / holding in his secret strategy (isnt that what we said about the two cats games last year, no secret plan when it counted).

 

[Thylacinus]

I am a Pyke fan, but he was out coached yesterday and had no answers tactically just as the players could not respond.

 

[Combathorse]

I am a Pyke fan, but he was out coached yesterday and had no answers tactically just as the players could not respond.

I wonder if it was just to far gone, we broke even for the rest of the game so something changed but the players were not there to play in the first quarter. I wonder if it can be put on Pyke or the players have just been drinking their own bathwater and got a big shock yesterday.

 

[Big Crow]

The great NBA coach Phil Jackson would famously not call a time out when the opposition had a run on and was scoring heavily, to see if his players could stem the flow and work it out for themselves. Now, he did happen to have some of the greatest players to ever play the game in his teams, but I reckon this is a philosophy Pyke employs too.

If this is the case, it looks like after 3 attempts our players aren't smart enough to initiate the change required.

Another thing that hurt us, and has in the past, but not to this degree, is our kickins always aiming for the right wing. We simply couldn't do this yesterday because of the wind and the Roos understood this and went to the other side. We have to become less predictable with our kickins.

If that's the case then it's an indictment on the on field leaders. Unable to call time outs, coaches rely on them to make adjustments during the quarters. There is a limit to the influence they can have with a message from a runner. Not sure it would be a case of smarts for our players, maybe experience and the ability to make calls on the run in order to influence structures and tactics.

It's a high standard, but the best teams do this well. Think Hodge, Mitchell and Lewis of the recently dominant Hawks. This is where our guys have to get to.

Anyway, I'm running off down a rabbit hole on the basis of a few observations and more than a couple of assumptions, but that's how it seems from the outside.

 

[Ramify]

God, you know you've got it sweet when fans are trying to spin a 64-0 quarter as a coaching masterstroke.

I'm sure he was teaching the players a lesson / holding in his secret strategy (isnt that what we said about the two cats games last year, no secret plan when it counted).

He could have put 4 players behind the ball and all that would have happened is to have 8 blokes going up for and missing the same spoil rather than 4.

People have to just accept that this happens to all teams. Well not so much a 10goal to zip quarter, but that they as a collective don't rock up to games. I would honestly prefer this scenario than coughing up an 8 goal lead.

 

[Ramify]

I am a Pyke fan, but he was out coached yesterday and had no answers tactically just as the players could not respond.

What moves would you suggest to remedy such an insipid performance?

 

[Big Crow]

God, you know you've got it sweet when fans are trying to spin a 64-0 quarter as a coaching masterstroke.

I'm sure he was teaching the players a lesson / holding in his secret strategy (isnt that what we said about the two cats games last year, no secret plan when it counted).

Haha Don certainly has a few credits in the bank, and seems to be getting more than the benefit of the doubt from supporters. 6-1 and top of the ladder probably helps too.

For the record, I don't necessarily think it was part of some grand master plan or bigger picture thinking, per se. To me it looked more like the coaching box backed the playing group to respond with minimal interference from off the ground. Part of that may be an element of learning experience for a young side, or it may be an overestimation of the player's ability to take charge and adapt by themselves. Whatever the case, it obviously didn't work!

 

[Big Crow]

He could have put 4 players behind the ball and all that would have happened is to have 8 blokes going up for and missing the same spoil rather than 4.

People have to just accept that this happens to all teams. Well not so much a 10goal to zip quarter, but that they as a collective don't rock up to games. I would honestly prefer this scenario than coughing up an 8 goal lead.

Yep, it happens to all sides. The players are human, they turned up flat and had the mother of all bad days. North showed up totally switched on and deserved the rewards.

What a first quarter like that in an away game does is force the club to really examine all aspects of game day preparation. From timing of flights, accomodation, meals, scheduling of arrivals at the ground and the warmup - everything should get a serious review. Can do some of these things better? 64-0 suggests we can!

 

[hippyhippy]

Simple solution ... never play in the hole that is tasmania again.

 

[Ramify]

Yep, it happens to all sides. The players are human, they turned up flat and had the mother of all bad days. North showed up totally switched on and deserved the rewards.

What a first quarter like that in an away game does is force the club to really examine all aspects of game day preparation. From timing of flights, accomodation, meals, scheduling of arrivals at the ground and the warmup - everything should get a serious review. Can do some of these things better? 64-0 suggests we can!

Ive noticed over the past 3 seasons that we dont fare very well when we have lots of talk about multiple sore players etc comming out of the club during the week.

Self fulfilling prophecy perhaps.

 

[Big Crow]

Simple solution ... never play in the hole that is tasmania again.

We have to be better than that. Unfortunately we play in a competition slanted towards Victorian sides and we are far from the league's darlings.

This means more often than not we're going to have to do it the hard way. There will be trips to windy Tassie, freezing Geelong, and a couple to Perth (including round 23). We'll travel every second week, usually play most top 6 sides more than once, if we do make the finals we'll get reamed by the umpires vs the Hawks. Then we could overcome all this and finish top, make the Grand Final, and end up playing "away" to any Victorian side that finished between 2nd and 8th.

What I'm getting at is that to win the flag is bloody tough for any side. For us it's even tougher and we have to be even better. Yesterday was a good reminder of how even the competition is and the effort required to get the job done every week even against lower placed opposition, let alone come September against the best. The lid is back on.

 

[Big Crow]

Ive noticed over the past 3 seasons that we dont fare very well when we have lots of talk about multiple sore players etc comming out of the club during the week.

Self fulfilling prophecy perhaps.

Not unique to our club, but I reckon it gives the players an out, and with that there is a risk of losing a mental edge. AFL football is such a physically demanding sport, being a mixture of out-muscling your opponent, dishing out and receiving big hits, and elite running. It takes a lot.

Even a small change in attitude, which can come if the playing group starts to believe the hype or as you say they believe they're playing sore, can be so damaging. Yesterday smacked of this, our defensive running for example looked like a fun run out there with blokes jogging around everywhere.

 

[Footypie32]

God, you know you've got it sweet when fans are trying to spin a 64-0 quarter as a coaching masterstroke.

I'm sure he was teaching the players a lesson / holding in his secret strategy (isnt that what we said about the two cats games last year, no secret plan when it counted).

Who has said anything about a masterstroke? We're simply trying to understand Pyke's reasoning behind doing nothing. If he was trying to teach them a lesson, then the lesson was a failure. Everybody recognises that.

 

[Thylacinus]

I wonder if it was just to far gone, we broke even for the rest of the game so something changed but the players were not there to play in the first quarter. I wonder if it can be put on Pyke or the players have just been drinking their own bathwater and got a big shock yesterday.

I hope it was just that, but even after quater time the Roo's outplayed us. They had at times a loose man across half back and we just kicked to him or allowed him to add pressure. Pyke and the players were out-done. We had no answer to Scott. That is the reality no matter how much anyone wants to sugar coat it. The wake up call is not just to the playing group, but also to the coaching staff and I would say especially to the team selectors. It starts and ends with them...Why Milera was dropped is just beyond me...but they need a far wider conversation than just that!

 

[Roovolution]

Simple solution ... never play in the hole that is tasmania again.

Even Del Santo was having a crack about the ground and in particular the wind down there.