Typical selfish Laird telling the coaches he wouldn't be any good playing midfield.
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AFLW 2024 - Round 2 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
No, that's not true.He was soft at the contest at least twice last night. There has been no improvement in that area of his game.
Take the umpires out of the game in their f50 and the first 10 minutes, we flogged em all night.
Lol, you should do a "/s" for those who don't get the jokeTypical selfish Laird telling the coaches he wouldn't be any good playing midfield.
and I replied with:Nicks my hero?
A coward and being soft are not the sameNo, that's not true.
Rachele goes exactly as he should. Calling him a coward - which is what is meant when calling someone soft - is ridiculous.
If anything, the one obvious time he withdrew from contact and stopped himself from bumping probably saved him a suspension.
He can go and “lead” in the SANFL..Our No 1 goal for the rest of the season is to find a role for Murphy
When people say someone is soft, they're saying that they choose to not do the hard and physically risky team things.A coward and being soft are not the same
So where does the coward come in?When people say someone is soft, they're saying that they choose to not do the hard and physically risky team things.
They're not saying they're outside. They say soft when they mean weak.
I honestly don’t think we’re that far off on the thinking other than the fact you use the phrase “you starry-eyed Nicks-lovers shower on him”.Firstly, I loved the win vs GWS (on the back of that brilliant 7-goal second quarter).
I'm happy they beat the dour, boring Saints.
I loved that they won last night, I loved the footy they played to kick those 9 goals and I really, really loved the comeback for 15 points down to win a close one, for which Nicks has Fog and Keays to thank.
I was ecstatic.
I love when they win well, win hard. I think Fog and Keays are playing the kind of footy we've always wanted from them and I hope like Hell they continue. To win Away like that without Tex or Rankine was exceptional.
Yippee! Hot-diggety, dog-diggety!!
As happy as I am about those wins, I am more unhappy about what's happened this year in total.
John, I know what I saw and heard.
A Crow was interviewed after the game. He (whomever it was, Fog? Keays?) said clearly that Nicks had sent them out at the start of the game to play defensively. He didn't elaborate, but that would account for the 3-goals-down start.
It's bad Coaching. Defensive mindset = "After the opposition gets the ball, we defend".
It's garbage.
After quarter time if you think it was Nicks put them onto the 9-goal spree, you're dreamin'.
It's NOT in Nicks' DNA.
After 1/4 time, I'd say Hombsch, or Hombsch and VB, or Hombsch + VB + Dawson/Keays/Soligo suggested they go all-out attack.
Furthermore, I heard Nicks say in his presser that they often lose those close ones but they've practised ways to counter them (= "I, The Great Nickso, have now shown them how to win those close ones") and I'm calling bullshit.
Essendon had three clear and clean chances to goal in those last 5 minutes.
1) Did Nicks Coach our bloke to give Merritt room to stream out of centre but fluff his delivery?? Some more practice-scenarios are needed, there! Merrett could have bounced at least once and had a shot, or kicked to a teammate about 30m out, but kicked wildly from the 50m line, inexplicably.
2) Did Nicks Coach Draper to miss that easy shot at goal (hit the post). No, that was Draper's own poor execution and serves him right, the flog.
3) Did Nicks Coach that frosty-haired putz to attempt a checkside from 30m out with a teammate free 20m away straight in front? That's right, NO he didn't.
When they play badly Nicks blames the list, or he needs better Assistants, or it's the players' fault (not doing what Nicks wants), or injuries, or Global Warming, or Inflation, or a hangnail or the Stars etc, anything but Nicks' fault, and I call bullshit on that too.
Have you ever heard Nicks take responsibility for a selection that was poor, or a defensive chip-chip, slow game plan that went awry, or say directly that he was accountable for any shit error/decision/loss?
i have not.
When they play well (the second and fourth quarters were outstanding), Nicks wants to soak up the credit which you starry-eyed Nicks-lovers shower on him.
I suspect Dawson took it on himself to go back in the last before he went off dizzy, as he has done often before, as he has license to do by Nicks' own admission. If that was Nicks' initiative, woop, I'm not gonna get excited if he does something he's paid hugely to do.
I gave Nicks credit for moving Keays to the midfield in the fourth. in my original post.
THAT was a good Coach's move, so maybe he's learning... and ... it's about ****ing time!!
Fellas, I am holding Nicks accountable for what he has done this year, not getting all giddy about what he m-i-g-h-t do by the end of the Season.
Let's speculate that the Crows storm home and win their last 5 games (including Geelong @ Great Hash Brown Shithole and Sydney away).
I will be delighted.
I will never be so happy to be so wrong.
Mutineer you disliked this post. I'm really interested to hear your counterpoint.He can go and “lead” in the SANFL..
Its one of life’s great mysteries that this absolute fraud of a footballer is still being given game after game at the top level..
How many wasted games that could’ve been given to a younger player with more talent and nouse..
Shit like this is what stunts the development and growth of your youth.
Mutineer you disliked this post. I'm really interested to hear your counterpoint.
No, that's not true.
Rachele goes exactly as he should. Calling him a coward - which is what is meant when calling someone soft - is ridiculous.
If anything, the one obvious time he withdrew from contact and stopped himself from bumping probably saved him a suspension.
ThisMutineer you disliked this post. I'm really interested to hear your counterpoint.
No current season stats available
This
"absolute fraud of a footballer"
Yet he's 99.99% better than almost everyone on Big Footy and without a doubt that particular poster..
Go read some of his Ben Keays references.
Draper was this round's Owies.By the way, on the 'we're totally making progress in the rebuild because we're learning how to win close games!' school of thought: I don't buy it.
Essendon had easy chances at the end, should have won, didn't take them. Carlton fluffed the match winner.
The difference between those games and Collingwood is that Collingwood don't miss those. We're making the same mistakes.
John, mate, you've taken what I said far too seriously. I was being facetious.I honestly don’t think we’re that far off on the thinking other than the fact you use the phrase “you starry-eyed Nicks-lovers shower on him”.
A “starry-eyed-Nicks lover” to me is a supporter that doesn’t see the bad in the coach. I believe this kind of supporter doesn’t exist on here but a mere figment of the echo chamber’s fantasies. If such a supporter does exist, wins OR losses, they’d sing praises of Nicks on a perpetual daily basis. I don’t do that, and I don’t see anyone here do that.
I'd have to watch the player interview again; 2 days have passed and I'm old.Now Nicks might have told them to be “defensive-minded”, which would be hardly anything shocking, but this doesn’t equate to him saying “just defend boys!” A 9-goal spree of course you need some talent in the players, but you can’t bypass the coach’s involvement in setting up the structures to allow such a spree to happen.
Intensity, yesI’m not arguing with your general sentiments because I’m also gutted that we’re not closer to the top 8 than we are now, just the thing I want to point out is that Nicks had a good coach’s game the other night and that the team played at the right kind of intensity.
2 more scoring shots, mate, is no big deal. 3 or 4 would have been rushed.You can’t focus on all the other components of the game and ignore the fact we had more scoring shots and the umpires were favouring the other team. Not to mention no key forwards in Tex and Rankine, and Thilthorpe is only in his second game back.
OK, ok, the CoachES had a decent game due to changes forced upon them, REactively. They filled gaps and plugged holes well.We played well, and it’s ok to say the coach had a decent game.
I do, trueIt’s also ok to hate our season,
but don’t conflate the season highlights and the individual game highlights.
Great Post!Good: my American partner knows nothing about footy but half watches the games with me. Her favorite player is Keays because she thinks he's performing in a musical while everyone else is playing sport. She also likes Fog because he has 'the biggest dump truck I've ever seen on a human'. Having both of them blitz made for a fun watch.
He'll be a Club Champion and AA in 2-3 years.Max playing a like a 10 year veteran in his 2nd year, especially in the closing stages. Reminds me of Ben Hart so much. Looks like he'll fill out a bit more and play up the ground though.
Yes.Hinge's kick to Fog. Football as art.
Good enough to be promoted next week? We might need him in in the Ones.Bonus good: watched the SANFL highlights and Toby Murray looks like a player.
Agree totally.Bad: Seeing the wasted opportunity in this season; our best football is as good as anyone's but with our inconsistency, we're a 6th-10th side. Thing is, 2-14 on the ladder are 6-10 sides. Carlton must be the weakest 2nd place side we've seen at this stage of a season, average teams like Port and Essendon are right in it for top 4. Seems crazy to talk about flags when we're bottom 5 but whichever of 11 teams that hit form over the next 8 weeks are a shot. Any of them will fancy their chances against a young Swans side at the G on grand final day. A couple more very attainable wins early this year and we'd be in that mix.
Yes, it's sad about Butts.Ugly: Huge sigh of relief with Murray but Butts likely season over. Those lisfrancs can be career threatening when they reoccur. He's still young and an important part of our team, the best tall we have at stopping the opposition. Hoping he gets back and can have a decent career.
The best thing for me is winning that without Butts and Murray for over a half, without Tex or Rankine and without Dawson for most of the last quarter. That is ****ing huge for this club moving forward knowing it can be done without some key players.
Spoil sportLet's get back on topic. Great win by the Crows. Ben Keays BOG easily. If he didn't kick the goal chances, are he help create it.