Coaching Staff Former Coach Ben "Truck" Rutten - Sacked for real this time - 21/8

[CBombers17]

And I am saying the last three coaches have all said we need to be better defensively yet the players have failed to grasp it. Yes coaches do have to make a plan to suit the players but what plan are you making for a list that has been poor defensively for 12 years. A team that is generally labeled as nice and easy to play against ? And a club that has seen its culture slide into comfortable?
Right now we could play a simple game plan that allows us to play easy football but how many more years are we going to play easy football?
Who is the coach that will break that mould?
The way out is not to keep doing what we have been. It is new leaders and new attitudes driven by turn over of list . It is not making a game plan to suit how the current list so we can continue to be mediocre mid range.
Time to break the culture of nice. Time to take those who want to defend with us and leave those who do not behind.

How do you see last nights dumbing down of the gameplan reflects on our direction? Do you think the club made the move to help change the culture of the playing group?

Or is it possible senior leadership at the club were more concerned with stopping more smashings and how they could reflect on them?

 

[brain taylor]

How do you see last nights dumbing down of the gameplan reflects on our direction? Do you think the club made the move to help change the culture of the playing group?

Or is it possible senior leadership at the club were more concerned with stopping more smashings and how they could reflect on them?

i'd imagine that they might be trying to dial back the complexity of the plan so our players can more easily digest it, and maybe they're focusing on getting maximum effort out of the players, and establishing baseline expectations before they start to introduce more intricate aspects of a plan.

 

[ant555]

How do you see last nights dumbing down of the gameplan reflects on our direction? Do you think the club made the move to help change the culture of the playing group?

Or is it possible senior leadership at the club were more concerned with stopping more smashings and how they could reflect on them?

I think it is short sighted but the club is under pressure from the coterie groups for results as usual. I see it as a step backwards but the coach has had limited options to replace players in the side so far so pressure for spots has been minimal.
I guess they can still work on the tackling pressure but it is not ideal.

 

[JayJ20]

And I am saying the last three coaches have all said we need to be better defensively yet the players have failed to grasp it. Yes coaches do have to make a plan to suit the players but what plan are you making for a list that has been poor defensively for 12 years. A team that is generally labeled as nice and easy to play against ? And a club that has seen its culture slide into comfortable?
Right now we could play a simple game plan that allows us to play easy football but how many more years are we going to play easy football?
Who is the coach that will break that mould?
The way out is not to keep doing what we have been. It is new leaders and new attitudes driven by turn over of list . It is not making a game plan to suit how the current list so we can continue to be mediocre mid range.
Time to break the culture of nice. Time to take those who want to defend with us and leave those who do not behind.

To add to this, the second half of 2018 under Woosha was probably the best we've been defensively in a long time. After a bad opening two games in 2019, we reverted back to an attacking gameplan due to public pressure vs Melbourne with little to no defence. Everyone praised Essendon after that game, the players were happy and the rest is history. I'd rather be bad this year and make the necessary list changes to improve our team defence than to revert back to what we know won't work. The alternative is just kicking the can down the road.

 

[CBombers17]

I think it is short sighted but the club is under pressure from the coterie groups for results as usual. I see it as a step backwards but the coach has had limited options to replace players in the side so far so pressure for spots has been minimal.
I guess they can still work on the tackling pressure but it is not ideal.

Pressure for spots may be minimal but making them grind it out for a change would actually have a chance of changing the culture.

This is teaching the youngster players plenty -on how to buck the system at Essendon. The club doesn't have the spine to cop the floggings that come when senior players won't follow the plan.

 

[emblurr]

Definitely a 'you know' person during his press conferences. Counted 54 during his last one and the obligatory 'yeah nah'. That's one 'you know' every 8 seconds.

 

[yodellinhank]

And I am saying the last three coaches have all said we need to be better defensively yet the players have failed to grasp it. Yes coaches do have to make a plan to suit the players but what plan are you making for a list that has been poor defensively for 12 years. A team that is generally labeled as nice and easy to play against ? And a club that has seen its culture slide into comfortable?
Right now we could play a simple game plan that allows us to play easy football but how many more years are we going to play easy football?
Who is the coach that will break that mould?
The way out is not to keep doing what we have been. It is new leaders and new attitudes driven by turn over of list . It is not making a game plan to suit how the current list so we can continue to be mediocre mid range.
Time to break the culture of nice. Time to take those who want to defend with us and leave those who do not behind.

People going on about game plans as if they're some elaborately intricate code that John Nash could put up on a blackboard and spend all season contemplating the complexities. The failings we see, highlighted by the media, failure to hold place in a zone? It's the kind of thing u16 kids have little trouble understanding.

3 Essendon players sucked to the same position on the wing with no opponent threatening to enter that space, when the opposition have possession, isn't a symptom of any strategy. It's just plain arse dumb****ery.

 

[CBombers17]

People going on about game plans as if they're some elaborately intricate code that John Nash could put up on a blackboard and spend all season contemplating the complexities. The failings we see, highlighted by the media, failure to hold place in a zone? It's the kind of thing u16 kids have little trouble understanding.

3 Essendon players sucked to the same position on the wing with no opponent threatening to enter that space, when the opposition have possession, isn't a symptom of any strategy. It's just plain arse dumbduckery.

Players can come from Ireland learn how to kick an oval shaped ball (and handball and tackle) and all the rules in this sort of time frame. But we can't understand the zone yet. OK.

 

[yodellinhank]

For a second there I thought I'd accidentally evaded the filter Lore

 

[Lore]

For a second there I thought I'd accidentally evaded the filter Lore

Dumbduckery is my new favourite

 

[faible]

People going on about game plans as if they're some elaborately intricate code that John Nash could put up on a blackboard and spend all season contemplating the complexities. The failings we see, highlighted by the media, failure to hold place in a zone? It's the kind of thing u16 kids have little trouble understanding.

3 Essendon players sucked to the same position on the wing with no opponent threatening to enter that space, when the opposition have possession, isn't a symptom of any strategy. It's just plain arse dumbduckery.

Incredibly simplistic analysis.

If complex game plans were so simple to execute under the time, fatigue and pressure at AFL level, then all clubs would have great ones.

That they don't, should probably tell you you're missing something in your analysis.

Yes, players make dumb decisions, no, they're probably not as dumb as they appear to be to you.

 

[yodellinhank]

Incredibly simplistic analysis.

If complex game plans were so simple to execute under the time, fatigue and pressure at AFL level, then all clubs would have great ones.

That they don't, should probably tell you you're missing something in your analysis.

Yes, players make dumb decisions, no, they're probably not as dumb as they appear to be to you.

They aren't complex, it's football.

 

[faible]

They aren't complex, it's football.

Uh huh.

 

[Petrify]

Have a feeling he was stripping the game plan to the simplest form (high pressure) so players could understand and will slowly reintroduce things over the next few weeks.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

I have no issues with letting trucks runs plan run out, whats another 1-2 years of dogshit when we have already had 20. but the fact of the matter is we are going backwards. Quickly.

We are completely uncompetitive in most games we have played this year, which is a stark difference to last year, whats changed between this year and last? We have he same cattle on the park and I assume the same game plan.

 

[Petrify]

We have he same cattle on the park and I assume the same game plan.

Not really, we're missing quite a lot of players right now. A fit Stringer, Langford & Snelling makes a huge difference to our team.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Not really, we're missing quite a lot of players right now. A fit Stringer, Langford & Snelling makes a huge difference to our team.

i very much doubt the introduction of those 3 changes anything where we are at right now.

 

[Beerfish]

i very much doubt the introduction of those 3 changes anything where we are at right now.

Overall probably not but you can't deny those 3 inclusions immediately make us more competitive. Langford going down in the first 5 minutes of round 1 not to be seen again has been a pretty big loss. Bigger than a lot of people realise perhaps.

 

[faible]

i very much doubt the introduction of those 3 changes anything where we are at right now.

They're pretty important structurally.

Snelling and Langford both provide important pieces in the system, knowing where and when to run. Snelling is a great hard-working pressure player at ground level to help defend the transition, Langford provides a reliable marking target that we lack, along with a conduit from defence to forward-line.

Stringer totally changes the dynamic of the midfield and forward-line. At a centre bounce he's the one they need to watch, which releases guys like Parish or Merrett. In the forward-line he's smart so moves a defender away from Wright, as well as offering a strong marketing target in his own right, and providing a dynamism at ground-level we're lacking right now.

 

[Beerfish]

Yeah that too.

 

[yodellinhank]

They're pretty important structurally.

Snelling and Langford both provide important pieces in the system, knowing where and when to run.

Langfordbench.gif

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Overall probably not but you can't deny those 3 inclusions immediately make us more competitive. Langford going down in the first 5 minutes of round 1 not to be seen again has been a pretty big loss. Bigger than a lot of people realise perhaps.

i don't deny they will improve us. i just think it will be miniscule

but i don't believe those 3 will all of a sudden make us competitive to an acceptable level.

Our issues are deeper than personnel

 

[crackers65]

Of course these three will improve us. They are good players, but to me the biggest problem is that Stringer and Langford are always injured in one way or another. Medical/conditioning have let us down again. Same old same old.

 

[faible]

Langfordbench.gif

That is actually an illustration of what happens when players get lost in all the noise of what and where they're meant to be doing.

"I need to run to x position when y happens, but when z is happening do I do x or w?"

It takes time to learn it all, players won't get it 100% right 100% of the time, but the more practice they get, the closer they'll get.

 

[citizen-erased]

That is actually an illustration of what happens when players get lost in all the noise of what and where they're meant to be doing.

"I need to run to x position when y happens, but when z is happening do I do x or w?"

It takes time to learn it all, players won't get it 100% right 100% of the time, but the more practice they get, the closer they'll get.

its about making it come natural. So they aren't thinking it, but it's instinct for them
Hence Truck and his team need time. a false start on phase 2 isn't the end of the world. Just needs a plan B for developing it when A goes out the window or key personnel are missing

no need to throw it out if it's still viable, but park it until it can be re-tried.
With the season lost, there is little to lose by tweaking options and seeing what comes of it