lachy
Norm Smith Medallist
Depends on what you are comparing to.
Individual player development, overall yes.
Team development, overall no
Individual player development, overall yes.
Team development, overall no
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AFLW 2024 - Round 10 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Opinion Has the year been a success?
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Something to do with our losing margin average? Because that's certainly tightened up.
Wocka
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- Apr 10, 2013
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..........I'm still on hold.........
Overall we have had a disappointing finish to the year.
I have seen the year as one where we have had terrific contributions from our younger players but overall disappointing from the older brigade and for a variety of reasons.
I feel the disappointing finish is as much due to those younger guys basically now running on empty and consequently not being able to match mature sides like Sydney.
If we go back to 2007, we had a really disappointing finish to the year where we got absolutely flogged over the last 7 rounds, but we then came out and were very good in 2008.
What we have seen is plenty of young players, drafted over the last 4 years, really show that they are the nucleus of a very good fotball team.
I have seen the year as one where we have had terrific contributions from our younger players but overall disappointing from the older brigade and for a variety of reasons.
I feel the disappointing finish is as much due to those younger guys basically now running on empty and consequently not being able to match mature sides like Sydney.
If we go back to 2007, we had a really disappointing finish to the year where we got absolutely flogged over the last 7 rounds, but we then came out and were very good in 2008.
What we have seen is plenty of young players, drafted over the last 4 years, really show that they are the nucleus of a very good fotball team.
Covering on and off field stuff...
- I'm happy with our membership numbers, we've fought like mad to push our brand out west and it will pay out big time in a couple of years. I've been massively disappointed with our attendances (irrespective of the weather - the stadium has a roof, 14,000 against Fremantle is an absolutely horrendous figure and one we should be ashamed of). We have a bigger supporter base than we're given credit for, but it's on the supporters to make that obvious to the wider footballing public. It'll be telling when we pack out Etihad Stadium in 3-4 years.
Oh, and how good is Marcus Bontempelli?! Just to end on a positive note.
Why should we feel ashamed after the chest beating of Collingwood (and others) about their drawing power, and therefore their right to "the big games" they also fell flat on their face when presented with Sunday afternoon opportunities. The reality is that it is necessary to spread games out for broadcating requirements, but the ups and downs of the timetable should be shared more evenly. It is a self-fullfilling exercise to relegate us to so many Sunday afternoon/evening games and then argue that we should not get big game opportunities because we don't "pull the numbers".
threenewpadlocks
Brownlow Medallist
I feel like our season's been cooked since Wallis was injured.
This sums it up well but I would only have a 4 / 10, if we win on the weekend that is 8 wins, same as last year = fail to me
We may have developed our youngsters but there are quite a few, Jones, Talia, Cordy, Higgins, Tutt, Pearce, Howard, Grant, Young who have not progressed at all or gone backwards (based on the Senior games they have earned this year compared to last or output), which has stopped us progressing as a Club and may well delay this "rebuilding phase" another couple of years if this lot also needs to be churned out of the Club this year or next
timtamWB
Resident Biscuit
Fence sitters unite!
I'm really unsure. It's definitely not a failure, but obviously not a complete success, but I'd say it's more of an upside than a downside, 6.5-7/10.
Bontempelli, Macrae, Stringer have all been great. There are a lot of the young guys that are contributing a lot more this year as well such as Hunter, Hrovat, Honeychurch and the like. On the flipside our older guys have not contributed much, with Griffen/Minson being down on form, Boyd not doing much etc.
Crameri and Darley have been much of a muchness as far as recruits go, but Darley has shown a lot of good signs for costing us nothing. Crameri might be leading our goalkicking, but far too often he doesn't do much.
But some of the young guys haven't done so well. Jones has been so inconsistent, Talia and Roberts haven't cracked it for many AFL games (I'm still confident there's a plan behind this though), Tutt's regressed, as have Young and Grant (not entirely his fault). Prudden, Pearce and Smith have been injured, which is a damn shame especially Smith, who looked like he would be close to becoming a real matchwinner.
We still lack consistency which is the biggest bugbear of mine. We have patches in every game where we spank the opposition or at the very least beat them, such as the 2nd quarter against North 2 weeks ago, but for the life of us we just can't transfer this over to 4 quarters. Our skills let us down a lot, and there's light years of difference between someone like Hrovat, who (to steal dogwatch's phrase) values possession and always makes sure that every disposal is useful, and someone like Boyd, who's more kick and hope. The good thing is that most of the kids are the ones that have the better disposal, and the majority of the ones that have suspect disposal are the older/middle aged guys.
Footscray has been awesome. Every game we're getting a good crowd, the kids are developing well by being in a successful team and actually being able to develop in set positions rather than being thrown around all over the place. Plus we came 2nd and a good shout to win the flag as well, which will be invaluable to a lot of the guys on our list.
Also Bontempelli.
I'm really unsure. It's definitely not a failure, but obviously not a complete success, but I'd say it's more of an upside than a downside, 6.5-7/10.
Bontempelli, Macrae, Stringer have all been great. There are a lot of the young guys that are contributing a lot more this year as well such as Hunter, Hrovat, Honeychurch and the like. On the flipside our older guys have not contributed much, with Griffen/Minson being down on form, Boyd not doing much etc.
Crameri and Darley have been much of a muchness as far as recruits go, but Darley has shown a lot of good signs for costing us nothing. Crameri might be leading our goalkicking, but far too often he doesn't do much.
But some of the young guys haven't done so well. Jones has been so inconsistent, Talia and Roberts haven't cracked it for many AFL games (I'm still confident there's a plan behind this though), Tutt's regressed, as have Young and Grant (not entirely his fault). Prudden, Pearce and Smith have been injured, which is a damn shame especially Smith, who looked like he would be close to becoming a real matchwinner.
We still lack consistency which is the biggest bugbear of mine. We have patches in every game where we spank the opposition or at the very least beat them, such as the 2nd quarter against North 2 weeks ago, but for the life of us we just can't transfer this over to 4 quarters. Our skills let us down a lot, and there's light years of difference between someone like Hrovat, who (to steal dogwatch's phrase) values possession and always makes sure that every disposal is useful, and someone like Boyd, who's more kick and hope. The good thing is that most of the kids are the ones that have the better disposal, and the majority of the ones that have suspect disposal are the older/middle aged guys.
Footscray has been awesome. Every game we're getting a good crowd, the kids are developing well by being in a successful team and actually being able to develop in set positions rather than being thrown around all over the place. Plus we came 2nd and a good shout to win the flag as well, which will be invaluable to a lot of the guys on our list.
Also Bontempelli.
- Jun 29, 2013
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My god!!!!
Do any of you people wanna buy some land?
It's in the lovely suburb of Chernobyl and I promise it's a developing suburb
Should see a surge in prices by 2314 so get in early and don't believe anything you actually see with your own eyes
Do any of you people wanna buy some land?
It's in the lovely suburb of Chernobyl and I promise it's a developing suburb
Should see a surge in prices by 2314 so get in early and don't believe anything you actually see with your own eyes
Zephiisdaman
Cancelled
I answered failure. At the start of the year if you suggested we wouldn't win as many games as last year you would have been howled down by most posters. We will probably win 8, poor %, and a softer draw than last season was the basis of my call.
Getting games into the kids has been great but overall our performances have not been great. Compared to other clubs our injury list has been fairly light and we have a lot of deadwood on our list. We also have good young cream.
Going forward you can see what the club is trying to achieve but unless we shore up with bigger players we will continue to tread water and show little snippets of form but still under achieve.
Getting games into the kids has been great but overall our performances have not been great. Compared to other clubs our injury list has been fairly light and we have a lot of deadwood on our list. We also have good young cream.
Going forward you can see what the club is trying to achieve but unless we shore up with bigger players we will continue to tread water and show little snippets of form but still under achieve.
threenewpadlocks
Brownlow Medallist
Our percentage is over 3% worse than it was last year.
maddog37
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I'm going with failure overall.
I feel that we lack cohesion as a team and have issues with our fitness.
I feel that we lack cohesion as a team and have issues with our fitness.
lachy
Norm Smith Medallist
I answered no it has not been a successMy god!!!!
Do any of you people wanna buy some land?
It's in the lovely suburb of Chernobyl and I promise it's a developing suburb
Should see a surge in prices by 2314 so get in early and don't believe anything you actually see with your own eyes
Wilfork
Team Captain
- Jan 23, 2013
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No, but I'm loathe to say it's a complete failure. Some players have improved dramatically, but our style of play has been awful. I can't see how we've improved as a cohesive team at all - in fact, we've probably stagnated at best from the last 2 months of 2013.
The big positive is that we very clearly know what our major list deficiencies are going forward and can hopefully target improvement there.
The big positive is that we very clearly know what our major list deficiencies are going forward and can hopefully target improvement there.
I'm cautiously optimistic about next season. I've talked about this before, but the benefit of Bonti/Macrae/Stringer/Hrovat/Roberts/Roughie/Campbell/JJ and other young players (Gee it seems like Libba, Dahl and Wallis have been around a while) having another preseason will be huge. And one after that. And another...Most of the players I've mentioned have either shown glimpses or consistently performed well; think about how much better they can become. And let's not forget, we'll essentially be getting two new players, if all goes well: Minson and Griff. If those two get completely healthy and play like last year, then essentially we'll be getting two AA players back into the team, at least to their AA standard. Add that to the natural progression of the young players.
However it hasn't all been positive, and might not be next season. I do have concerns about some aspects of the coaching; team selection from the perspective outside of those who actually do it has been crazy and inconsistent. The issue of bombing the ball into the fwd50 to a KPF we don't have hasn't been addressed, or players haven't listened if it has. The kick ins have not improved at all in 3 years, or has the 'let's handball to teammates under pressure' mentality. Our goal kicking...Stringer's miss on Sunday sums it up perfectly. We just can't kick for goal. It's ridiculous. Set shots in particular have been awful. We haven't found an effective substitute that will be in the AFL after this season.
Now the coaching this year hasn't been all terrible. Developing Stringer down back was a good move, in hindsight; he's the man we can send to be the loose man in defence, and he does it well. And it didn't take away from his development as a forward. I don't mind dropping Macrae; we don't want the kid getting too arrogant to the point where he ignores defence. Drafting Bontempelli will likely be a pivotal moment in club history. When it comes to game day coaching, particularly in crunch time, we've had mixed results. I can't remember what match it was, but Stringer was moved down back and did some vital things that sealed the win. Moving Liam Jones to the back against Adelaide, however, cost us the game. Testing a player such as Jones, who isn't probably the mentally strongest player around, in defence, for the first time, when a game's on the line...Not a good move. I know he was trying to do what he's been criticised for, which is not taking gambles, but there are some gambles which shouldn't be made.
Ok that'll do for coaching. In terms of players, I think for the most part it's been a good year. We can easily name more than a handful of our young guys who've exceeded expectations. But there has been some disappointing drop offs; Roughie has been horrid, to the point of he's gone from 'cornerstone of our defence for the next ten years' to 'he should be playing ruck/forward'. Fletch and Talia could probably both be playing more AFL, but it's likely that they are very deliberately playing in the VFL together for an extended stint. Dahlhaus has gone backwards. Yes he's collecting more disposals, but that's a given considering he's moved from the fwd50 to the entire ground. But his goal kicking has been shabby, as has his disposals (Accuracy, selling teammates into trouble) and his decision making in general has been bad; playing on when he shouldn't, giving it to team mates when he shouldn't. But players have down seasons. He'll be right. He probably needs to play more as a small forward, and Hrovat needs to play more as a mid.
And lastly...Our lapses. Just what is it? Inexperience, lack of leadership, fitness, mental strength? All of the above? Once our lapses don't become so bad, we will be a very good side. It's an issue that will probably work itself out in time, but if it doesn't, we'll be in big trouble.
Aaaaaand after all that I still voted undecided. It all comes down to personal views; whether the positives outweigh the negatives, how long negatives will take to fix and if they can be fixed with the list we have and the coaches leading it.
However it hasn't all been positive, and might not be next season. I do have concerns about some aspects of the coaching; team selection from the perspective outside of those who actually do it has been crazy and inconsistent. The issue of bombing the ball into the fwd50 to a KPF we don't have hasn't been addressed, or players haven't listened if it has. The kick ins have not improved at all in 3 years, or has the 'let's handball to teammates under pressure' mentality. Our goal kicking...Stringer's miss on Sunday sums it up perfectly. We just can't kick for goal. It's ridiculous. Set shots in particular have been awful. We haven't found an effective substitute that will be in the AFL after this season.
Now the coaching this year hasn't been all terrible. Developing Stringer down back was a good move, in hindsight; he's the man we can send to be the loose man in defence, and he does it well. And it didn't take away from his development as a forward. I don't mind dropping Macrae; we don't want the kid getting too arrogant to the point where he ignores defence. Drafting Bontempelli will likely be a pivotal moment in club history. When it comes to game day coaching, particularly in crunch time, we've had mixed results. I can't remember what match it was, but Stringer was moved down back and did some vital things that sealed the win. Moving Liam Jones to the back against Adelaide, however, cost us the game. Testing a player such as Jones, who isn't probably the mentally strongest player around, in defence, for the first time, when a game's on the line...Not a good move. I know he was trying to do what he's been criticised for, which is not taking gambles, but there are some gambles which shouldn't be made.
Ok that'll do for coaching. In terms of players, I think for the most part it's been a good year. We can easily name more than a handful of our young guys who've exceeded expectations. But there has been some disappointing drop offs; Roughie has been horrid, to the point of he's gone from 'cornerstone of our defence for the next ten years' to 'he should be playing ruck/forward'. Fletch and Talia could probably both be playing more AFL, but it's likely that they are very deliberately playing in the VFL together for an extended stint. Dahlhaus has gone backwards. Yes he's collecting more disposals, but that's a given considering he's moved from the fwd50 to the entire ground. But his goal kicking has been shabby, as has his disposals (Accuracy, selling teammates into trouble) and his decision making in general has been bad; playing on when he shouldn't, giving it to team mates when he shouldn't. But players have down seasons. He'll be right. He probably needs to play more as a small forward, and Hrovat needs to play more as a mid.
And lastly...Our lapses. Just what is it? Inexperience, lack of leadership, fitness, mental strength? All of the above? Once our lapses don't become so bad, we will be a very good side. It's an issue that will probably work itself out in time, but if it doesn't, we'll be in big trouble.
Aaaaaand after all that I still voted undecided. It all comes down to personal views; whether the positives outweigh the negatives, how long negatives will take to fix and if they can be fixed with the list we have and the coaches leading it.
Wilfork
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- Jan 23, 2013
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This'll probably be worth another thread post-season, but do people think we'll have a chance to play finals next year?
2 years ago, I would've expected 2015 to be our potential return to September, but after this season, my expectations are definitely tempered.
Like I said earlier, you could view that positively in the sense that we need more time to correct our weaknesses, or as a failure in that we have yet another season of mediocrity ahead.
2 years ago, I would've expected 2015 to be our potential return to September, but after this season, my expectations are definitely tempered.
Like I said earlier, you could view that positively in the sense that we need more time to correct our weaknesses, or as a failure in that we have yet another season of mediocrity ahead.
I think this depends on what's done with the list in the off season. Because there's 3 main needs to be addressed: A KPF to clunk marks and kick bags every now and again, and to bring the ball to ground when necessary. A KPD to stop opposition KPF's kicking bags against us like they have for the past 3 years. And a classy mid who can deliver the ball into the forward line effectively. We add those 3 into the current team and I could see us finishing 7th-8th next year. But the chances of us landing all 3 before next season are slim; and if we were to draft these 3 players it adds at least another 3-4 years before we can seriously push for a flag, due to their development, particularly KPP's.
lachy
Norm Smith Medallist
If we can improve 3 more wins we have a50% record. That puts us around though possibly jut out the 8, similar to 2005. It should be our minimum aim for 2015 or you end up in the perpetual development scene like Melbourne
Failure but not a complete failure. We are still at least 3 years away from challenging for the 8 IMO.
The kids have come on quickly but the vets have fallen off just as fast.
We still have a really bad spine. The guys we hoped would develop haven't come on. They've also never really had the right set up to have a decent crack at it which is disappointing.
The match committee have made some seriously baffling decisions all year. The team balance still isn't right.
Guys performing well have been dropped for no reason. Tutt comes to mind. Guys performing badly have been promoted for no reason.
Our overall skill level is still a massive concern.
All in all we haven't been good.
The kids have come on quickly but the vets have fallen off just as fast.
We still have a really bad spine. The guys we hoped would develop haven't come on. They've also never really had the right set up to have a decent crack at it which is disappointing.
The match committee have made some seriously baffling decisions all year. The team balance still isn't right.
Guys performing well have been dropped for no reason. Tutt comes to mind. Guys performing badly have been promoted for no reason.
Our overall skill level is still a massive concern.
All in all we haven't been good.
- Jun 29, 2013
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NO
Not even close in nearly every aspect
Not even close in nearly every aspect
As a team its been a huge fail
As for a handful of kids yep they went forward because they weigh more, they're older, been in the system longer
Did the people who put the team on the park improve - hardly, rubbish selections and no discernible gameplan
Overall lack of leadership off the field coupled with a weak performance from the older guys on it made for a poor year-
even though it was the 3rd full year of this coaching grp
Grade D
Ps i wouldn't be penciling in a win this weekend
As for a handful of kids yep they went forward because they weigh more, they're older, been in the system longer
Did the people who put the team on the park improve - hardly, rubbish selections and no discernible gameplan
Overall lack of leadership off the field coupled with a weak performance from the older guys on it made for a poor year-
even though it was the 3rd full year of this coaching grp
Grade D
Ps i wouldn't be penciling in a win this weekend
- Apr 15, 2014
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Some factors i've taken into consideration:
1. The VFL team has been successful regardless of their finals campaign outcome. PASS
2. The development of our first and second year players has been successful. PASS
3. Everything else has just been disappointing (not playing 4 quarters anywhere near enough even for a young side, individual performances from certain players who have had their chances, team selections, skills across the board have not improved, particularly field kicking and goal kicking from set shots- would like to see the stats on this if anyone has them) FAIL- numerous times
The only memories I will take from this year is beating Richmond early in the season, the Collingwood game and seeing some highlights of the kids, particularly Stringer, Macrae and Bonts.
4. We couldn't string more than 2 wins together with a favourable draw. FAIL
Overall: more FAIL than SUCCESS
I'd give it a fail in terms of measurable results for 2014, but i'm hoping there are some measurable results in 2015 that may shed some light and help us better understand what happened this year. In other words I'm thinking or at the very least hoping it's short term pain for long term gain.
1. The VFL team has been successful regardless of their finals campaign outcome. PASS
2. The development of our first and second year players has been successful. PASS
3. Everything else has just been disappointing (not playing 4 quarters anywhere near enough even for a young side, individual performances from certain players who have had their chances, team selections, skills across the board have not improved, particularly field kicking and goal kicking from set shots- would like to see the stats on this if anyone has them) FAIL- numerous times
The only memories I will take from this year is beating Richmond early in the season, the Collingwood game and seeing some highlights of the kids, particularly Stringer, Macrae and Bonts.
4. We couldn't string more than 2 wins together with a favourable draw. FAIL
Overall: more FAIL than SUCCESS
I'd give it a fail in terms of measurable results for 2014, but i'm hoping there are some measurable results in 2015 that may shed some light and help us better understand what happened this year. In other words I'm thinking or at the very least hoping it's short term pain for long term gain.
- Jun 29, 2013
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Just a point
Stop counting the VFL teams success to date as a positive for the AFL teams year.
They are seperate entities more than they are a collective during the season
So it's grasping at straws using them
Stop counting the VFL teams success to date as a positive for the AFL teams year.
They are seperate entities more than they are a collective during the season
So it's grasping at straws using them
- Apr 15, 2014
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I'll do what I like thank you very much, just like you do!
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