News John Barker joins Carlton

[Dramoth]

I personally dont think that Barker is of a suitable aptitude to be a coach. I know the old argument that you dont have to be a good player to be a good coach... however, Barker doesnt seem to know how to work on helping developing forwards improve their techniques for kicking, marking and leading to the ball.

I have said a number of times the sorts of things that he should be doing to help Casboult improve his kicking even to the point of getting him to introduce something like Lloyds grass throwing technique to calm his mind a bit.

It's not rocket science as people have pointed out... but if the guy who is trying to teach his charges how to do all the required stuff for a forward doesnt really know how to do it, then his charges are going to get all the wrong techniques.

Sorry J... but Barker was a shit forward when he was playing, he is a shit coach... and he needs to go.

 

[T2B_]

I think he's lucky that Hendo is such a natural. Lachie (and Waite when he's there) do a huge job in straightening us up and getting some semblance of organisation.

But agree, overall Mr. B is a bit of a worry. Be interesting what happens at the end of the year.

 

[slashin_velvet]

I think he's lucky that Hendo is such a natural. Lachie (and Waite when he's there) do a huge job in straightening us up and getting some semblance of organisation.

But agree, overall Mr. B is a bit of a worry. Be interesting what happens at the end of the year.

He's gawn. Mick has already hinted that there will be mass changes to both the list and the coaching group - and he's also made numerous statements about us not capitalising on our opportunities inside 50.

 

[HARKER]

He's gawn. Mick has already hinted that there will be mass changes to both the list and the couching group - and he's also made numerous statements about us not capitalising on our opportunities inside 50.

Yep! Noticed all that and it may not augur well for Barker.

Wonder what Malthouse thinks of Scotland and whether he'd welcome him in as an assistant coach for next year.

 

[slashin_velvet]

Yep! Noticed all that and it may not augur well for Barker.

Wonder what Malthouse thinks of Scotland and whether he'd welcome him in as an assistant coach for next year.

To be honest, the way Scotland is playing at the moment, I wouldnt begrudge giving him another year on the list....he's doing his best to keep it.

Possibly a dual role like GWS players....a playing assistant coach.....and a real mentor for the next generation - Touhy, Graham, Temay etc

 

[HARKER]

To be honest, the way Scotland is playing at the moment, I wouldnt begrudge giving him another year on the list....he's doing his best to keep it.

Possibly a dual role like GWS players....a playing assistant coach.....and a real mentor for the next generation - Touhy, Graham, Temay etc

I really think that this year will be Scotlands last as there is only one way to go from here.
I know he's had his indiscretions but he is a good club-man and a good mentor. The new responsibilities could get something extra out of him.

Tuohy is beyond mentoring. He's his own man now and is syncing up well with his peers.
Menzel, Temay and Graham are also head-strong kids that don't need daddy to hold their hand.
Who knows with the next crop though but it seems to me that our recruiters are looking strongly at the genuinely committed kids now.

 

[slashin_velvet]

Tuohy is beyond mentoring. He's his own man now and is syncing up well with his peers.
Menzel, Temay and Graham are also head-strong kids that don't need daddy to hold their hand.
Who knows with the next crop though but it seems to me that our recruiters are looking strongly at the genuinely committed kids now.

I disagree with this section. Not saying they arent their own people, and arent headstrong....but they arent at the same level as Scotland....yet. There is a big gap between a veteran AFL player, and a player with less than 50 games, and every player on our list could learn at least something from a player like Scotland.

About it being his last year...I tend to agree, but then look at his stat sheet and influence yesterday, and think there may be another year left in him.

 

[HARKER]

I disagree with this section. Not saying they arent their own people, and arent headstrong....but they arent at the same level as Scotland....yet. There is a big gap between a veteran AFL player, and a player with less than 50 games, and every player on our list could learn at least something from a player like Scotland.

About it being his last year...I tend to agree, but then look at his stat sheet and influence yesterday, and think there may be another year left in him.

I'm not suggesting that the aforementioned players haven't a lot to learn but they "get it" quicker than others we had drafted on recent times.
i.e. Bootsma, Watson, Lucas, Garlett and Yarran.

They are also a lot less likely to towed down the wrong path and are not types to be easily influenced.
Did you hear what McKay had to say about Graham and watching Menzel and Temay shows up very professional kids. Wonder why we re-drafted Cachia?

 

[zeeCFC]

Our best goal kickers are those who have no affiliation with him.

 

[Wickzki]

Our best goal kickers are those who have no affiliation with him.

Our best bloody goal kicker is Zach Tuohy.

 

[Dramoth]

One again, how hard is it to develop guys whose natural tendencies are to be forwards?

Why is our forward line still so bloody disfunctional?

Why are we so dependent on guys who were trained elsewhere?

Why are our new tall forwards going ****ing backwards in their skills?

Why, if Barker is supposed to be any good, is any of this happening?

 

[#BeNavy]

I'm not a Barker fan, but it's the biggest copout to blame him for the forward line at the moment.

At the end of the day, any realistic supporter will know that our forwards (Hendo aside) do not have the work rate that's required for the team to succeed.

The 3 amigos don't work hard enough and are inconsistent, Lucas doesn't impact games enough, Rowe is struggling.

Not only that, the ball use and decision making going forward is ridiculously shit. Why would players constantly kick the ball on the forwards head and never out in front?

 

[Dramoth]

I'm not a Barker fan, but it's the biggest copout to blame him for the forward line at the moment.

At the end of the day, any realistic supporter will know that our forwards (Hendo aside) do not have the work rate that's required for the team to succeed.

The 3 amigos don't work hard enough and are inconsistent, Lucas doesn't impact games enough, Rowe is struggling.

Not only that, the ball use and decision making going forward is ridiculously shit. Why would players constantly kick the ball on the forwards head and never out in front?

Lucas is a winger, Yarran should be playing on the wing. Rowe should be better, but he isnt getting the development work to lift him back up to AFL level, Casboult and Mitchell are going backwards.

Who is to blame for our forwards going backwards then?

Instead of us playing the 3 small forwards, we should be putting Yarran on the wing like I said, we should only really be playing one of Betts and Garlett in our forward line and we should have 2 permanent tall forwards along with a ruck/forward.

We should also be playing Menzel as a medium forward.

But the biggest problem is that our forwards development is being stifled by a second rate coach who was a second rate forward.

Is there any other reason why a couple of tall forwards who should have been starting to force their way into the seniors are struggling now? Shoulder injuries put Mitchell out for most of his first 2 years on the list. Knee injuries did the same to Casboult. But those injuries, while delaying their development the injuries shouldnt have made them into poor players.

 

[#BeNavy]

Lucas is a winger, Yarran should be playing on the wing. Rowe should be better, but he isnt getting the development work to lift him back up to AFL level, Casboult and Mitchell are going backwards.

Who is to blame for our forwards going backwards then?

Instead of us playing the 3 small forwards, we should be putting Yarran on the wing like I said, we should only really be playing one of Betts and Garlett in our forward line and we should have 2 permanent tall forwards along with a ruck/forward.

We should also be playing Menzel as a medium forward.

But the biggest problem is that our forwards development is being stifled by a second rate coach who was a second rate forward.

Is there any other reason why a couple of tall forwards who should have been starting to force their way into the seniors are struggling now? Shoulder injuries put Mitchell out for most of his first 2 years on the list. Knee injuries did the same to Casboult. But those injuries, while delaying their development the injuries shouldnt have made them into poor players.

My point is that it seems a common theme when our forward line is struggling we just blame Barker. Yes, he's responsible for the formation of it and giving advice on where to run etc. But as I said, our delivery into the forward is absolutely shithouse and when the ball comes to ground and the opposition win it, our forwards don't work hard enough to put pressure on the opposition to try and keep the ball parked in our forward line. If you're going to be a good team, you have to be good in this area. We were so good at it in 2011 but since then, our forwards have lost the work-rate and desire to win the ball back. Teams just run the ball out of defense with ease against us.

If they aren't having a good game offensively, then they need to contribute defensively by tackling and putting pressure on the opposition. It's funny how much you can win over the coach's praise if you aren't kicking or setting up goals, but laying tackles and forcing turnovers which lead to goals. I always think of Paul Puopolo as an example. He is a limited footballer and doesn't kick many goals, but he's so good at putting defensive pressure on helping his team keep the ball in the fwd line and hence would be considered an asset to their team.

Our small forwards have talent to burn and kill Puopolo on the basis of talent alone, but work-rate and mindset wise, Puopolo shits on them. Our fwds simply aren't doing it or showing any interest in doing it.

 

[serenityNow]

The blokes stealing a paycheck.

MM knows it, he'll be the first sent packing at seasons end.

 

[BluStreak]

Prior to freo game we were ranked 2nd in the league for scoring from forward pressure so our forwards must have been putting in the hard yards to get that ranking. I agree that our inside 50 entries are generally based on hope rather than pinpoint passing but when the ball hits the dirt our guys go for it.

 

[mediumsizered]

Prior to freo game we were ranked 2nd in the league for scoring from forward pressure so our forwards must have been putting in the hard yards to get that ranking. I agree that our inside 50 entries are generally based on hope rather than pinpoint passing but when the ball hits the dirt our guys go for it.

Our problem, as was the case last season, is not our forward line, but our lack of depth in the midfield. Only on a handful of occasions do we win games when Murphy, Judd or Gibbs don't have good games in the midfield. Our forward line gets poor service from the midfield, something which is regularly the case in the VFL as well. Fev at his best would struggle to kick 50 goals a season playing in our forward line at the moment.

 

[BluStreak]

Our problem, as was the case last season, is not our forward line, but our lack of depth in the midfield. Only on a handful of occasions do we win games when Murphy, Judd or Gibbs don't have good games in the midfield. Our forward line gets poor service from the midfield, something which is regularly the case in the VFL as well. Fev at his best would struggle to kick 50 goals a season playing in our forward line at the moment.

Agreed.

 

[HARKER]

The blokes stealing a paycheck.
MM knows it, he'll be the first sent packing at seasons end.

He may well be but it's not his fault he's still here when others were moved on.

I don't know how good Barker is as a coach but I saw the way he played with his kids on Sunday.
I choose to shut my mouth in relation to Barker from here on in and if he's not good enough as a coach then so be it, but he sure makes for a hell of a loving parent.
I was impressed.

 

[serenityNow]

Our problem, as was the case last season, is not our forward line, but our lack of depth in the midfield. Only on a handful of occasions do we win games when Murphy, Judd or Gibbs don't have good games in the midfield. Our forward line gets poor service from the midfield, something which is regularly the case in the VFL as well. Fev at his best would struggle to kick 50 goals a season playing in our forward line at the moment.

Having 3 small forwards who don't go through the middle isn't helping.

 

[BlueTongue]

Our problem, as was the case last season, is not our forward line, but our lack of depth in the midfield. Only on a handful of occasions do we win games when Murphy, Judd or Gibbs don't have good games in the midfield. Our forward line gets poor service from the midfield, something which is regularly the case in the VFL as well. Fev at his best would struggle to kick 50 goals a season playing in our forward line at the moment.

Totally Agree. Not enough Mids with decent disposal now, as we have moved a few of them into the backline.

I'm not a Barker fan, but it's the biggest copout to blame him for the forward line at the moment.

At the end of the day, any realistic supporter will know that our forwards (Hendo aside) do not have the work rate that's required for the team to succeed.

The 3 amigos don't work hard enough and are inconsistent, Lucas doesn't impact games enough, Rowe is struggling.

Not only that, the ball use and decision making going forward is ridiculously shit. Why would players constantly kick the ball on the forwards head and never out in front?

As Above - Common theme here...

Prior to freo game we were ranked 2nd in the league for scoring from forward pressure so our forwards must have been putting in the hard yards to get that ranking. I agree that our inside 50 entries are generally based on hope rather than pinpoint passing but when the ball hits the dirt our guys go for it.

Bingo! A combination of poor footskills and panicked disposal. Murph is our only Mid with the footskills and decision making, yet he seem's to be copping it for being a poor leader...

Conclusion - We have way too many McClean, Carrazzo, Curnow, Ellard, Joseph, in and under/tagger types with plenty of guts but no disposal skills, Cachia at least can spot up players, and is worth working with. I like them all individually, but not when we stack our midfield with them. Should be playing no more than two of them match day. Get Bell & Graham into the side ASAP IMHO!

 

[BM123]

Totally Agree. Not enough Mids with decent disposal now, as we have moved a few of them into the backline.

As Above - Common theme here...

Bingo! A combination of poor footskills and panicked disposal. Murph is our only Mid with the footskills and decision making, yet he seem's to be copping it for being a poor leader...

Conclusion - We have way too many McClean, Carrazzo, Curnow, Ellard, Joseph, in and under/tagger types with plenty of guts but no disposal skills, Cachia at least can spot up players, and is worth working with. I like them all individually, but not when we stack our midfield with them. Should be playing no more than two of them match day. Get Bell & Graham into the side ASAP IMHO!

Simpson, Gibbs and Walker qualify too but they are been used to plug holes down back.

 

[BlueTongue]

Simpson, Gibbs and Walker qualify too but they are been used to plug holes down back.

Yep, these are the ones I was referring to as well as Scotto

 

[BM123]

Yep, these are the ones I was referring to as well as Scotto

Seems like we have holes in pretty much every part of the ground except in the ruck department.

 

[Dramoth]

I think that a centre line of Lucas, Gibbs and Yarran would alleviate some of our issues with delivery into the forward line. Lucas when he gets a bit of space is a very good deliverer of the ball and would be up there I think. We all know how good Yarran and Gibbs can be when they have just enough time to look up and spot up a target.

We just need to get games into Lucas and Gibbs into the centre and Yarran some motivation and we would have a damned good centre line there.

However, even the best delivery in the world is pointless if the guys you are kicking to are running predictable patterns when on the lead. This is one of the areas where Barker is falling down. He is teaching them how to run straight lines. There is no tricks being taught. Because Barker doesnt know any decent tricks... he was a one trick pony as a forward when he was playing and he is still a one trick pony now.