Have we improved?

[PatientMental]

We haven't improved were it counts the most.

 

[Gray Day]

I'm right behind this article sans the point saying we have not improved at all. I don't hate Rucci for maintaining his sense of realism. I'm sure he wants to see the club succeed as much as any of us.

Mystifying selections and gameday coaching are a big concern also. If we lose to Richmond this week the board will need to take a serious look at Primus. It is not right that the points made in the article are holding weight again in 2012.

Tired of seeing losses.

 

[BennyPower]

Of course we have improved.

Look who we have played so far this year and look at the results. (4 of the current top 6 and we beat one of them)

There were plenty of time watching this year where I thought "here we go again....here comes the dropped heads and the blow out results of 2011" but so far they have been able to rally and stay in the contests to their credit.

Barring a few brain farts in each game we could have got over the line in a few of them and we are talking all current top 8 teams.

Over the next 5-6 weeks we have plenty of winnable games against sides that are on par or round the same mark as us.

If we were in the same draw as the crows we would probably be the ones at 4-1 but the crows will lose a hell of a lot more than they will win in the next 5-6 weeks too proving they are only a middle of the road club once again.

This weekend Port by 2 goals

 

[FishingRick04]

I think we should stop referencing to the Crows because I don't really care about them anyway. I couldn't even tell you their ladder position plus our improvement doesn't come from comparing their draw or players.

 

[Macca19]

In school terms we've gone from getting Fs in every subject + being suspended twice for smoking behind the sport sheds to getting D+'s and C-'s. An improvement, but still a long way to go

 

[Macca19]

I think we should stop referencing to the Crows because I don't really care about them anyway. I couldn't even tell you their ladder position plus our improvement doesn't come from comparing their draw or players.

Agree. There is way way way too much Crow talk on this board. I am a culprit of this as well but we should be concentrating on us, not them.

 

[Andre]

Certainly a crock of an article. Gross simplifications and half-truths abound.

Have we improved? Unequivocally.
Have we improved enough? Not by a long shot.

Now the question Rooch SHOULD have asked. Have we improved as much as we should have, given how shit we were? That's where it gets interesting. With only an extra hours effort he could have written an article that simultaneously appealed to the Cow masses, by highlighting how far off the pace we still are and how mystifying structures and selections have been, yet still acknowledge how improved the attitude has been.

Weak journalist is weak.

 

[b0ydman]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that I am happy with our results to date this year, I don't think anyone is.

But to try and twist statistics to suggest that we have made no improvement - well that's clearly not what the rest of the comp thinks, or the rest of the media Aust-wide- just Rooch in his pandering to the majority Crows readership in this town.

And as such, I now have lost what respect I have for the guy because he's taken the easy way out - something that incidentally he thinks we've done as a club.

It's like his plastering of us when Chappy came out with the "ticker" comment. So when we don't shirk away from the issues, he blasts us. And when we did shirk away from the issues such as denial of 2007 GF on the club psyche, he blasts us.

As far as I am concerned, go play with your Crows mates, Rooch, in an effort to be liked. And you'll find out, like Port Adelaide did with the "Port Power not Port Adelaide" marketing phase, that you are defined by your history in this state regardless of the marketing, and it's better to embrace that and be true to that and become hated/respected, rather than embarrass yourself trying to be friends.

i wish what you wrote was the truth

sigh

its not

struth. hasn't anyone noticed we don't even tackle anymore? we "corral"

I'll agree we've lost by less, and been more resilient, but if we measure it over the game, and tally them up, its not good

you can be 18th on 1 stat, but not all

just accept it

seriously, those posts on page 2, at the bottom, its triple face palm stuff. denial.

just wake up. we've won what, 7 games under primus in 35 or something? we're 1 and 5 but people are saying its a Crowvertisier plot? oh good grief i thought i was an tragic port fan?

sigh

PAFC to me is like the 9/11 being an inside job thinkg

once you accept it, the whole world of reality immediately opens up to you and you see so much more for what it really is

go the kull

 

[pstew2dstew]

Sitting 1 and 4 I don't care what the stats say until that improves the team hasn't .

 

[*PAF]

Have we improved?

Improved is a relative term, just like better, worse etc.
The answer will depend on what is being compared. People that want to come up with a yes answer will easily find comparisons to suit them as will those that will prefer to come up with negative answers.

At the moment we cannot compare anything to anything in the past as we are changing the structure and the way we go about doing things.
Under Williams we were great if not the best at implementing attacking style football. In 2007 that style got us to a grand final that in reality we had no right to be in. Big kudos to Mark Williams, he was a great coach. However, once the game changed and teams learned to counter that style we got left behind with a list primed for what could be termed an obsolete game plan.

Primus is now trying to change that game plan and also has a secondary issue in reconstructing our aging list. Yes it was an aging list when he took over it.

Now the only way we can determine if we have improved or not is by knowing what we are trying to implement and also knowing which players are able to follow instructions. These are the details that we have no idea about.
All we know is that the forward line is being restructured and some aspects seem to be working whilst some are not. Is it the crumbers that are failing (Ebert, Gray, Wingard and everyone that has been rotated through there), is it the KPPs that are not going to the right spots, going for marks rather than bringing the ball down to where the crumbers should be, or is it the midfielders not kicking to where the forwards have been instructed to run. Again these are details that we do not know.

The same applies to both the midfield and backline

The only thing we do know is that the endeavour seems to have gone up a notch or two as we are not rolling over as soon as the going gets tough. We are not good enough yet to win but we have certainly stopped rolling over.

IMO we can be looked at as kids that started special tutoring/mentoring classes. It takes time before they can be assessed.

What I would like to see this year is simply to win games we are expected to win plus one or two that we are not. A yardstick that could be used would be how we perform compared to market odds. Market odds are a good indicator of what is expected.

Is there a way of finding out the odds (plus the line odds) for the games from last year as well as the games from this year?


Against Richmond we are expected to lose, just.

Head To Head Line Points Start
Port Adelaide 2.12 (+5.5) 1.90
Richmond 1.72 (-5.5) 1.90

 

[El_Scorcho]

We're now 3-4 goals away from wins instead of 15, but if we keep losing games we'll lose confidence and those 15 goal losses will come.

Beating Richmond is crucial. Our losses so far have been disappointing because we've been in winning positions, but they've still come against seasoned teams who know how to win.

We need to absolutely put Richmond to the sword. We need to win comfortably. We need the sting to be out of the game at half time and we need to go on to an ~8 goal win.

If we struggle or lose against Richmond, we haven't improved, and we're on course for more big losses.

If we beat them comfortably, we might just gain the confidence to close out a game next time we're in a game against a good team at 3 qtr time.

What happens from now will show whether our losses getting closer is the result of a better preseason or actual improvement.

 

[PowerForGood]

It's the topic of conversation as i drove to footy today, I rang the station and asked Rooch via switchboard to consider the arguments in this email. Not near a radio, anyone know whether he ignored it as expected?

 

[Schulzenfest]

In school terms we've gone from getting Fs in every subject + being suspended twice for smoking behind the sport sheds

matthewbroadbent.jpg

 

[PowerKat]

I think we should stop referencing to the Crows because I don't really care about them anyway. I couldn't even tell you their ladder position plus our improvement doesn't come from comparing their draw or players.

Yet you have a thread devoted to a player comparison

In school terms we've gone from getting Fs in every subject + being suspended twice for smoking behind the sport sheds to getting D+'s and C-'s. An improvement, but still a long way to go

never got F's but the rest...

So- there's hope!

Anyhoo - there's little doubt we've improved, but some key areas where we haven't and progress a little slower than needed. I fear we are in danger of not maintaining the small gains made deep into the season, let alone building further.

 

[PJ Power]

We're now 3-4 goals away from wins instead of 15, but if we keep losing games we'll lose confidence and those 15 goal losses will come.

Beating Richmond is crucial. Our losses so far have been disappointing because we've been in winning positions, but they've still come against seasoned teams who know how to win.

We need to absolutely put Richmond to the sword. We need to win comfortably. We need the sting to be out of the game at half time and we need to go on to an ~8 goal win.

If we struggle or lose against Richmond, we haven't improved, and we're on course for more big losses.

If we beat them comfortably, we might just gain the confidence to close out a game next time we're in a game against a good team at 3 qtr time.

What happens from now will show whether our losses getting closer is the result of a better preseason or actual improvement.

That's what makes this week so criticial.

If we can win and win quite well (2-3 goals will suffice for me), it will be more meritorious because we do have a depleted side. Schulz, Wingard, Gray are pretty important to our forward structure and potency.

We really need big games from Boak and Hartlett today. That is my non-negotiable for this week.

 

[b0ydman]

been threaded elsewhere but should be put in here too
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/midfield-mess-is-powers-tragedy/story-e6freco3-1226347637598

says it all

 

[Hartletts Heroes]

Lot was made over the win against the saints.. but ask yourself this question first have saint kilda improved?

 

[Natman]

I thought that we had - obviously wrong.

 

[El_Scorcho]

Sure haven't

 

[finbarr]

That was as bad as anything I've seen over the last 5 years.

 

[PJ Power]

That was as bad as anything I've seen over the last 5 years.

Just so predictable though. We all called it after showdown. Watch us have consecutive insipid 7-12 goal losses over the next six weeks. Then we'll pull one out of the hat before losing another 5 in a row to end the season.

Did we create a single flow on passage of play from a kickout today? So bloody timid. So sad.

 

[Hodges2Francou]

That was as bad as anything I've seen over the last 5 years.

But we havent lost by 150 points yet herp

 

[Schulzenfest]

I see the 'play B grade footy against A grade teams, C grade footy against B grade teams and F grade footy against C grade teams' policy hasn't changed. Clearly we only beat St. Kilda because we thought they were a B-grade team on the basis of last year when they're actually a C-grade one.

 

[PowerForGood]

But in Round 6 last year, we lost to North by 60 points, so by Rooch's comparative stats, we have improved....


Seriously though, I apologise for the initial post - we've gone nowhere since Round 10 2010 obviously....

I'd like someone to explain the 3rd quarters however.
Played 6, Won 5, Lost 1, scored 25.12.162, conceded 13.19.97, percentage 167.01

 

[Enviable Tradition]

But in Round 6 last year, we lost to North by 60 points, so by Rooch's comparative stats, we have improved....


Seriously though, I apologise for the initial post - we've gone nowhere since Round 10 2010 obviously....

I'd like someone to explain the 3rd quarters however.
Played 6, Won 5, Lost 1, scored 25.12.162, conceded 13.19.97, percentage 167.01

Simple. We are to mentally fragile to put in when the game is actually on the line. When it looks like all is lost (the 3rd) we actually start trying and come back. When we get within range (3/4 time) we shit ourselves again and chuck in the towell.