Offseason Changes + Road to the 2021 Premiership

[RookiePick]

The players were tackling except they were really sh*t tackles, either the players broke free or they were able to get the handball out.

Watching Levi Greenwood step out of 3-4 tackles in succession had me groaning in pain.

 

[Chris_6678]

I was thinking the exact same thing. I didn't want to say it out loud cos Petch isn't really in favour at the moment, and for good reason.

You missed Yeo in your setup. I think Yeo takes Reddens spot and Redden gets pushed out of the side.

Also, I'd like to see what MON can bring. His draft package shows exactly why we drafted him. he has speed and good marking. 2X U18 AA, I have no idea why he made it through to the rookie draft. Something amiss there.

On another note, apparently Langdon said "there will be a couple of retirements". Nothing but speculation, but I have had a feeling all morning that Kennedy will announce he is retiring.

He gave an interview on Perth radio saying that he was sombre when he did his ankle in round 18 as he wasn't sure if he had played his last match (paraphrasing), and he went on to talk about decision making and talking to the family and all that.

Means Brander should play up forward and Oscar to continue ruck/forward.

Think it is time for JK to hang the boots up. One of my Fav players but he can at least say he finished having a decent year.

NO way would we be using Allen in a Ruck/Forward if JK isn't there. Allen has shown he can impact up forward and he is like a young JK with the way he plays.

This would be my forward line come 21 if JK hangs the boots up.

Waterman Darling Cripps
Cameron Allen Ryan

2nd ruck: Bailey Williams

Shuey & Kelly HAVE to rotate into the HFF for periods of the game to change up the dynamic.

Brander... Mmm i seriously cant see a spot without making the forward line too tall.

 

[Cuzz09]

Maybe we should go to a mind camp in the Gold Coast and sing the Collingwood song while berating each other and crying

On SM-G925I using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Obeanie1]

We need to ram home how important it is for us to finish top 2.

We can't have lapses like we did in our first hub stay.

So out with the slight mental softness, in with ruthlessness.

Additionally I love Shuey as a player but there seems to be a little be of whinge that has crept into the group (mainly he and Gov). From memory that didn't happen under Hurn. So fixing up that part of the team would benefit as well.

I think our team is right there (obviously). No major personal changes needed.

The fact that we are right there makes the 1st round exit hard to take. Really stresses the importance of the games we let slip during the regular season that cost us that top 2 or 4.

Maybe we should take the group on a camp.

I believe the Crows have some advice on what doesn't work too well!!!

Bugger.....not quick enough!

 

[JohnW]

Maybe we should take the group on a camp.

I believe the Crows have some advice on what doesn't work too well!!!

As i was typing is going to say #nocrows but now I have missed my chance.

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

Maybe we should go to a mind camp in the Gold Coast and sing the Collingwood song while berating each other and crying

On SM-G925I using BigFooty.com mobile app

So when are we re-signing Pyke as an assistant?

 

[RookiePick]

Not sure what the fix is but it feels like apart from the odd purple patch (most notably the 2018 finals run) our midfield has largely underperformed for a fair chunk of the last decade.

No No No! It was all Priddis' fault.

 

[eaglesnutcase]

-I said before the game that the Nelson/Cole/Duggan trio is a weakness.Individually yes but together?.
-Barass worries me.No right foot;struggles against the power forwards and for GODS SAKE hit the body in marking contests.With hurn trending out and Jetta done we sadly lack penetration coming out of defence.Edwards gave us a sneak peek and Brander needs to go back.
-We missed Yo but even with him in we lack consistent grunt in the guts.Yo is a burst player aka dangerfield.Id kill for an Adams.
We rely too much on NN.I think we should look to trade Sheed or Reddan as they are both too slow.
Even tho he deserves it i dont like little blokes being captain and Shuey is too small to be the leader of the pack.He tries too hard and gets too bruised.
-Yes agree we need a second ruckman.Williams is talented and he goes hard.Play him.
-I would like to see JD play more in the goalsquare and OA at CHF.OA is mobile,great hands but most importantly has a great footy IQ.JK could play a roaming half forward role.Hes a long kick but also a good passer left and right and like OA has a great footy IQ.In his twilight years why waste him at FF getting smashed in aerial contests.
-I think the family club thing has come back to bite us on the bum.Weve lost that hard edge.Even the victory over the Saints;great as it was;was won by a handful of individuals.
-Enough said about tackling coaches.Just get one.

 

[Obeanie1]

-I said before the game that the Nelson/Cole/Duggan trio is a weakness. Individually yes but together?.

What?

Those three have improved a hell of a lot this season and they still are.

Duggan should be playing midfield next season. Looks the goods!

Nelson should be our tagger not Ainsworth. Has the size, the pace, the skills and the mongrel in him that Bubba doesn't.

Cole is also hard and quick. Would seriously consider trialing him as a defensive forward if we are short in that department.

 

[06Premiers]

I'd like to see how many times we can fold the club.

Other than that, let's see what we should've seen on Sat night, Duggan full time mid.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Duggan to become Shuey’s sole VC.

 

[woosha24]

Watching Levi Greenwood step out of 3-4 tackles in succession had me groaning in pain.

Pick any halfway-decent player and apply the same groan. When it comes to tackling we have spaghetti baby arms. You just know that when some oppo player steps inside with the ball he isnt gonna get tackled.

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

I'd like to see how many times we can fold the club.

Other than that, let's see what we should've seen on Sat night, Duggan full time mid.

I still don't know how Duggan disappeared in the 2nd half though. Was he being tagged or just ran out of gas?
He had a huge 1st half.

 

[06Premiers]

Oh also let's learn to go back to our flat tracking best please.
Two years in a row we've missed top 4 on %

 

[Karim Abdul Yeo]

Make top 2 or its a fold.If we are playing for a flag unfortunately its top 2 or bust. Good luck making top 2 every year. Simmo can also stop acting like a junior coach every time he is asked about ladder position. Every time he is asked he responds with: " our priority is to make the 8 first and then we worry about the rest". Incorrect buddy! your team was one of the favourites preseason. If you think making the 8 will cut it, you gotta another thing coming. Your priority from round 1 should be top 2 at worst top 4. Plain simple. anything outside that is considered a failure for this current Eagles team. I've had it with this Mr nice guy. Too nice is as annoying as too harsh. Simmo has no killer instinct as a coach, end of 3rd qrtr Buckley is reving up the boys, meantime, Eagles huddle is apparently calm and collected. Even watching Schoey's retirement speech he had a little go at Simmo. Goes to show you what happens when you try to be liked by everyone. Authority can go out the door with it.

 

[Grahame]

Those three have improved a hell of a lot this season and they still are.
Duggan should be playing midfield next season. Looks the goods!
Nelson should be our tagger not Ainsworth. Has the size, the pace, the skills and the mongrel in him that Bubba doesn't.
Cole is also hard and quick. Would seriously consider trialing him as a defensive forward if we are short in that department.

Agree with eaglesnutcase that together are too similar on the backline. Also agree they have all improved (esp Duggan) and are all first 22 - but as you suggest they can't all be on in the backline. With Hurn, Jetta, Schoey and Shep we had a diversity of backs that could be shuffled to suit pretty much any forward line. But with these three, and with the demise of Jetta and Hurn, we would have a more vanilla backline if played together.

 

[eaglesnutcase]

What?

Those three have improved a hell of a lot this season and they still are.

Duggan should be playing midfield next season. Looks the goods!

Nelson should be our tagger not Ainsworth. Has the size, the pace, the skills and the mongrel in him that Bubba doesn't.

Cole is also hard and quick. Would seriously consider trialing him as a defensive forward if we are short in that department.

As i said;individually yes! Cole sells himself into trouble a lot and lacks kicking penetration,Nelson has improved a lot' but mongrel doesnt cancel talent.Hes got a good left foot but rarely uses it.Lacks kicking penetration,Has much better candy than Cole but never uses it.Duggan has improved a lot and is starting to look before he blazes away.Theres a case for each of them but together?? MMM

 

[Grahame]

One other issue for me is the height of the side. We used to successfully play with 'only' six talls (2F, 2B, 2rucks). With OA and Waterman we have eight. Then if Brander and Rotham come into the picture it's ten. Playing lots of talls might be good for a one-dimensional 'mark and kick' team but if there are too many talls that are not agile, clever and good below their knees then it leaves us vulnerable to 'chaos ball' teams. Then the old 'Eagles web' gets so easily breached that it becomes meaningless.

I am not suggesting the extra talls are not worthy of a place (and OA/JW are definitely first 22) but does the extra height leave us vulnerable to chaos ball teams? I'm not sure that Brander and Rotham at present are sufficiently good contested marks, and so far they don't seem to be 150 game players. Would we be better suited trading for a couple of extra medium sized players? Look at JK, JD, TB, Gov, OA and JW - they are all better than average contested marks which is why we can play kick and mark. But we've got to ask why are we getting found out by chaos ball teams?

Of course it would help having Rioli/Cameron/Jones available but it still doesn't overcome the problem that the more talls you have in the forward half the less chance you have of locking it in - aka 'the web'. We may have been a very accurate team this year but maybe that is because when our system works the ball comes in to a good position and we score. If it's a goal great but if it isn't ... whoosh ... it's gone. In previous years it would be held longer in the forward line, we might get a point or even two, but often we'd eventually get the goal.

 

[Chris_6678]

I would be bringing in Kane from WWE to be our midfield coach.

 

[DickDunn]

Make top 2 or its a fold.If we are playing for a flag unfortunately its top 2 or bust. Good luck making top 2 every year. Simmo can also stop acting like a junior coach every time he is asked about ladder position. Every time he is asked he responds with: " our priority is to make the 8 first and then we worry about the rest". Incorrect buddy! your team was one of the favourites preseason. If you think making the 8 will cut it, you gotta another thing coming. Your priority from round 1 should be top 2 at worst top 4. Plain simple. anything outside that is considered a failure for this current Eagles team. I've had it with this Mr nice guy. Too nice is as annoying as too harsh. Simmo has no killer instinct as a coach, end of 3rd qrtr Buckley is reving up the boys, meantime, Eagles huddle is apparently calm and collected. Even watching Schoey's retirement speech he had a little go at Simmo. Goes to show you what happens when you try to be liked by everyone. Authority can go out the door with it.

Nothing wrong with gameday melts but this level of stupidity two days after the game should really be a reportable offence

 

[greatwhiteshark]

I was actually thinking about this. How we don't trade players out and replace them with players traded in.

Is this actually a good way to build a list with players building stronger bonds etc? Is it part of our list plan?

Remember we are way out West and a large proportion of players looking to move don't want the WA travel factor, so opportunity to trade in is not like a club over East.

You suggest trading players out with currency who don't quite fit perfectly our needs. Sheed is the obvious example. Except we traded out of the top 10 to get two picks, with pick 11 the one we used on Sheed. Sheed and Redden shouldn't play in the same side? Well Redden isn't getting any younger, does Adelaide need a bigger body and experience to help rebuild? I see us moving Redden on before Sheed. But we need midfield depth so that doesn't help does it.

What about a Barrass trade? He would hold good currency and he and Gov are very similar in being intercepting KP defenders. Dogs are looking far and wide for a KP intercept defender. Not sure if Barrass likes the idea of being moved on.

Replace Barrass with either Brander or Edwards as the lock down tall defender. Edwards takes the Mason Cox monsters and Brander takes the lighter, quicker leading forwards.

So no, pushing decent players out the door to land quality players we need just isn't the Eagles style.

Being successful doesn't help the trade out argument. If we weren't as successful maybe we would be more ruthless!

All good points mate. No magic formula as you know.
A game plan change though is a must have, not radical but certainly transition from back to forward must be done quicker. That's on Simmo and I think he knows it needs a tweek.

 

[Obeanie1]

One other issue for me is the height of the side. We used to successfully play with 'only' six talls (2F, 2B, 2rucks). With OA and Waterman we have eight. Then if Brander and Rotham come into the picture it's ten. Playing lots of talls might be good for a one-dimensional 'mark and kick' team but if there are too many talls that are not agile, clever and good below their knees then it leaves us vulnerable to 'chaos ball' teams. Then the old 'Eagles web' gets so easily breached that it becomes meaningless.

I am not suggesting the extra talls are not worthy of a place (and OA/JW are definitely first 22) but does the extra height leave us vulnerable to chaos ball teams? I'm not sure that Brander and Rotham at present are sufficiently good contested marks, and so far they don't seem to be 150 game players. Would we be better suited trading for a couple of extra medium sized players? Look at JK, JD, TB, Gov, OA and JW - they are all better than average contested marks which is why we can play kick and mark. But we've got to ask why are we getting found out by chaos ball teams?

Of course it would help having Rioli/Cameron/Jones available but it still doesn't overcome the problem that the more talls you have in the forward half the less chance you have of locking it in - aka 'the web'. We may have been a very accurate team this year but maybe that is because when our system works the ball comes in to a good position and we score. If it's a goal great but if it isn't ... whoosh ... it's gone. In previous years it would be held longer in the forward line, we might get a point or even two, but often we'd eventually get the goal.

Its back to the future.

I've lost count how many times we make the error of going too tall and we get killed when the ball hits the ground or we can't get our system working.

Then we all talk about it on here and then 3-4 weeks later guess what, we pick a smaller more agile running team and we play better.

It seems to be a lesson we need to learn again every f@#*@ing year!!

 

[MIKE85]

Hopefully we get a slightly more favourable draw next year, having finished 7th at seasons end. If it’s a full season, we should be getting only Port Richmond and Brisbane once, with all them being due to come over here and play us. I know it should be anytime, anywhere etc, but getting the good teams at home, and easier away games will help greatly. Hopefully it’s only Pies twice as the top 6 double up.

 

[DanWCE]

Hopefully we get a slightly more favourable draw next year, having finished 7th at seasons end. If it’s a full season, we should be getting only Port Richmond and Brisbane once, with all them being due to come over here and play us. I know it should be anytime, anywhere etc, but getting the good teams at home, and easier away games will help greatly. Hopefully it’s only Pies twice as the top 6 double up.

Will get GC as our away game early on, and we will lose. Also pencil in our annual early season Brisbane away game in slippery conditions.

And then we're back to Tassie!

 

[MIKE85]

Thumbs down cause I don’t like the sound of that, not cause I disagree. We know they’ll shaft us somehow, but I’m hoping that we’ve done our time in Brisbane the last few years, and it’s time they came over here.