Stanton for a senior player who is supposedly our core is disgraceful... He gets picked every week because he can gut run four quarters, he adds nothing else what so ever... On top of the fact that he doesnt have any awarness, he is also unaware of his limitations as a footballer... he is probably our slowest player and seems to think he has more time than he really does.. he had the ball with a minute to go in the 4th quarter and had a few switch options if he went long to the opposite back flank quick enough, instead he keeps running across goal, puts himself under pressure and rushes a poor costly kick to the opposition... Most other players would have made that kick count... Cant win a flag with players like Stanton as your core... must develop better mids who can break open games when they are in the balance... Watson is a great ball winner and hand-ball disposer, but we are in desperate need of a clearance player who is the total package... Melksham looks clean and balanced, but still needs to convince when he gets more attention as he gets older and stronger...
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AFLW 2024 - Round 10 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Coaching Staff Past Coach: Matthew Knights - Finally gets his second shot - 5/5
- Thread starter Merv
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Funny!
I thought it was bad kicking and some very ordinary handball.
Yeah, I was pretty angry when I wrote that.
I still think it, but obviously it's only one of many things that cost us. If I'm to be constructive, we also lost the game due to:
- Ruck Hitouts - As much as it hurts, Brogan killed it. Should have put Gumby in there for a bit with Hille and Ryder struggling (in the hitouts, at least). From what I've seen, Gumby'd be one of the best young pinch-hit ruckmen in the game, along with perhaps Tippett.
- Missed goals.
- Inside 50s were a bit low with respect to our good clearance work. Need to be able to turn midfield possession into opportunities for our forwards. Zaka could help with this.
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Apparently if you win the tackles and contested possessions then you have an 85% chance of winning. We slipped into the other 15% on Saturday, which is hard to swallow, but also encouraging that we put ourselves in the right position.
Yeah, we really haven't had a problem winning the ball this year, it's our disposal and accuracy in front of goal that has cost us dearly. Port to their credit kept themselves in the game in the 3rd quarter with their insane accuracy, and they were 15.2 at one stage in the 4th quarter. There is no better example of why taking your chances is so important.
There's something about teams from Adelaide and Etihad.
Bitterly. Even more so that it was our senior players that could have sealed it. Watson gets run down, Winders doesn't take the shot, Monfries misses from 15 metres out, Hille gets destroyed in the ruck....Brogan takes over, Ebert smacks one from outside 50, Motlop marks and goals from outside 50.
Ben the Gooner
Stand by Hird
Spot on, j_om. That's why I'm still ****ed off. We threw away a game which was ours.
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Yeah it hurts. Sort of feels like the Adelaide game last year. Should have nailed both.
If you know a way to get Jnr, Dal Santo & Judd I'm sure that would help but the rest of us know that we have to work with what we have got. Thats what good coaches can do. Knights has not yet shown at any level that he is capable of getting a side to play successful football.
Its not 80's football its called taking the percentage option. Turning the ball over by hand 50m from the opposition goals is far more likely to result in a goal to the opposition than kicking the ball 40-50m away to where most well drilled sides at least have an option. I'm not suggesting we addopt the 80's style of everyone in their starting positions & have a series of contested balls. As I said handball can be a very effective tool BUT we don't utilise it correctly. We handball to stationary targets, we handball back into trouble after making a clearance & we hanball to contest. When going forward we often have a series of handballs which makes it virtually impossible for our forwards to know when to lead. Many of these things you just can't see on the TV but at the games its obvious that our players are confused.
Kong
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Agree with everything james_omahoney's said.
Kong
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Told you so.
yaco55
Hall of Famer
stupid comment.
mark thompson selected brent prismall to represent geelong in a final (this was his last match for geelong as he did his knee - ACL). the coach that has led his team to the last 3 grand finals netting 2 premierships has selected prismall in his team! and not just a standard game - selected him in finals football
essendon are 2 wins behind were they should be.
it was always likely we would lose to geelong and we struggle travelling so no surprise losing to eagles. out of collingwood, carlton and hawthorn at the start of the year you'd be happy winning 2/3 of those.
its obviously the losses to freo and port that hurt. to make up for these losses essendon will need to win some matches they were expected to lose.
they can start this week by beating st kilda - they did it last year and without riewoldt the task should be easier. if they can win this week then they are only 1 win behind we're most fans would have predicted/hoped for.
i don't like the excuses and want results as well but is plainly obvious to see that the forwardline has been a work in progress. gumby hadn't played for 2 years, hurley was suspended and these are the two main targets. the good thing is that they have been showing improvement each week.
the midfield was actually quite good in the clearances for most of the game against port. this was pleasing to see and shows that perhaps the midfield is better without welsh? however it was a shame they ran out of legs and made some skill errors late in the game. no doubt knights should be looking into rotation strategies, balance of fitness in the team and be doing some training drills this week to address this.
this week's match against st kilda should be labelled a crunch match which is season defining. i think the club needs all the supporters to get behind the team this week and really cheer them home.
it was always likely we would lose to geelong and we struggle travelling so no surprise losing to eagles. out of collingwood, carlton and hawthorn at the start of the year you'd be happy winning 2/3 of those.
its obviously the losses to freo and port that hurt. to make up for these losses essendon will need to win some matches they were expected to lose.
they can start this week by beating st kilda - they did it last year and without riewoldt the task should be easier. if they can win this week then they are only 1 win behind we're most fans would have predicted/hoped for.
i don't like the excuses and want results as well but is plainly obvious to see that the forwardline has been a work in progress. gumby hadn't played for 2 years, hurley was suspended and these are the two main targets. the good thing is that they have been showing improvement each week.
the midfield was actually quite good in the clearances for most of the game against port. this was pleasing to see and shows that perhaps the midfield is better without welsh? however it was a shame they ran out of legs and made some skill errors late in the game. no doubt knights should be looking into rotation strategies, balance of fitness in the team and be doing some training drills this week to address this.
this week's match against st kilda should be labelled a crunch match which is season defining. i think the club needs all the supporters to get behind the team this week and really cheer them home.
- Possibly the best ruck combo in the league? Cox & Naitanui, Sandilands by himself...
- a forward line that looks absolutely incredible? In time I've no doubt we will, but now... I'd hardly say any of our KPFs: Hurley, Gumby or either resting ruckman are capable of dominating games just yet. Not surprisingly, they aren't.
- the best clearance midfielder in the league? Jobe is probably the best in the league here, but not much support, plenty of better clearance midfields in the league
- and the best key position defenders in the league? Now you're really taking it too far. Geelong (Scarlett, Milburn, Mackie, Taylor), St Kilda (Goddard, Gilbert, Fisher, Dawson), Bulldogs (Hargrave, Lake, Morris, Williams) to name a few. Fletcher's a champion, but Hooker/Pears are both still young. Whilst I think they are better now than most at their age, their bodies have a lot of maturing to do, and whilst they do a sterling job back there, they definitely do not match it with the best KPDs in the league just yet.
You're a little dillusional mate.
If Hille was half the player he was, a) I've been watching the wrong bloke or b) we wouldn't have lost. Cos the big bloke in #19 was coughing up goals every middle contest in the 3rd & last.
Knights' biggest problem - and I'm not sure how much leeway he had - was that he should have shunted Lloyd and Lucas off 3 years ago. We have had a rebuild of the backline, midfield, now we're working on a forward line. End result, we just tread water for 3, 4 years.
Knights' biggest problem - and I'm not sure how much leeway he had - was that he should have shunted Lloyd and Lucas off 3 years ago. We have had a rebuild of the backline, midfield, now we're working on a forward line. End result, we just tread water for 3, 4 years.
Generally, I agree we have overused the handball, and not appropriately at times, but my comment was purely about when we are under extreme pressure. You said we should not be handballing when under pressure, but what else can you do? Throwing it on the boot is not the percentage option if you have no idea what's ahead of you.
When someone picks up the ball and is to be pounced on immediately or someone receives/intercepts a pass and is hot. Can't stand going to games and have our supporters shouting out to just kick the football, even at the times when there is no choice but to handpass.
i would hate to know the game that you were watching on saturday.
lonergan was on cornes in the first quarter when he got 13 touches, although it wasn't sams fault as the ball kept getting kicked high to him all the time which made it easy for cornes to get.
and at the start of the 3rd quarter our first 3 goals in the 10 mins all came from nlm busting out of the centre square, then cause of mr.rotation policy he comes off the ground and port win the next 4 clearances easily and get 4 goals in the 5 mins he was off the ground.. i suggest you watch a reply of the 3rd quarter.
not just nlm. Hille went into the ruck instead of Ryder also. Soon as the ball hit the ground, regardless of who got the tap, hille was useless, while Ryder put on good pressure and tackles and smothers.
- Jan 12, 2010
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I get pretty confused by some of the players knights puts in at the centre bounces. Sometimes I see Winderlich or Melksham or other small bodied players and it just baffles me. These sorts of guys should be running in from the wings, and have the bigger bodies like Watson, NLM, Hocking in there at the start. It should be mandatory to have at least 2 of those 3 in at every single bounce, and one of Stanton, Lonergan, Prismall in there if all 3 aren't.
I can't wait till Muscles is elevated, will certainly solve a lot of problems - although I bet Knights will play him as a back/forward pocket instead.
Ideally by the end of the year, we should have 3 of Watson, NLM, Marigliani, Hocking or Myers at every single centre bounce, ball up and throw in, and Stanton, Winderlich, Melksham, Dempsey, Dyson waiting at the edges for the handball out.
Jade
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Hille and Ryder are both A-Grade ruckmen under performing. At the top of their respective games it is a fair comment to make.
Yes thats a fair comment. It is incredibly frustrating watching Hurley kick four goals one week and vanish, or Gumby taking massive contested marks - and then watch our midfield share it around by hand and cough it up at the 70m mark.
Also a fair comment, but hence my angst at the coach. Watson is severely lacking in support, so here's a few ideas:
- Try Myers as an inside Mid
- Give Houli a few games
- Rotate Zaka through the middle
- Drop McVeigh
Just ideas obviously, but right or wrong its worth giving it a crack instead of persisting with the same method that has us at 2-5.
My bad, I meant to say best YOUNG KPD in the game.
Maybe, but it appears that 5 years of mediocrity is my tipping point.
5 years of mediocrity is unfair to Knights. He's not responsible for what went before, and I think that points out just how far you've let your angst and emotion tinge any objectivity.
IMHO the years around 04 were all about accepting the failings on our list, and papering over the cracks just to hang around finals. Knights is pushing kids in there to fit what he wants, but they're just not doing the business as of yet. Young backline, young forward line, mid-range midfield = not quite cutting mustard.
There's no way our biggest flaw is winning the hardball, btw. If anything that's a strong point. Using it, the 2nd/3rd link, is the downfall.
IMHO the years around 04 were all about accepting the failings on our list, and papering over the cracks just to hang around finals. Knights is pushing kids in there to fit what he wants, but they're just not doing the business as of yet. Young backline, young forward line, mid-range midfield = not quite cutting mustard.
There's no way our biggest flaw is winning the hardball, btw. If anything that's a strong point. Using it, the 2nd/3rd link, is the downfall.
Rubbish.... Utter rubbish:
1, We are not playing better. We are a shabby rabble for the most part. At least we've maintained a competive effort for the past 2 weeks however we are not playing better.
2, Only bad loss came against Port??? Are you all there? West Coast, disgusting, incipid performance. Collingwood, a more spineless performance than the final last year, Freo, gave up on the contest.
3, Knights has had 2 and a half years in the job so is more than ready to be judged on what HIS team IS producing. I maintain that his gameplan is by AFL standards not there. I also think that it's clear to most that he hasn't been successful in galvanising the group as for the most part, we look like an unorganised mess.
As for another 30 or 40 games... that is a huge gamble for the club to take.
