Autopsy Rd 3 - Lacklustre Blues go down by 24

[1981]

I think this thread is going to be awful, but to be honest, that was a solid result. We're a long way off right now, heading for a wooden spoon, and attacking the whipping boys isn't going to help.

To be honest, our issue is simply we don't have enough good players in their prime.

Our midfield is Cripps, Murphy, Curnow and then... Kennedy, Dow, Fisher, Petrevski-Seton, Cuningham. 5 out of 8 have played less than 20 games, and at this stage, their all 15 possession games (in fact they all had 13-18 today), not 25+. You need more than 3 midfielders to compete at this level, and they are just a year or two off.

So then we have another bad balance issue. We have a choice between players in their prime who have severe limitations, and players who are too young and don't contribute all-round. We get very little from Garlett (3 games) and Polson (3 games), which is ok - you can roll a few guys who aren't quite ready yet. But the older players we have in the team who are there to contribute are also giving us very little. Lamb, Wright, Mullett, Jones, Casboult - we all know they aren't superstars, but they are there as placeholders until the young kids are ready. But it seems each week only 1 of them actually plays that role. Wright was great vs Richmond, totally missing today. Casboult was good today, but not previously. Mullett was solid last week, MIA today.

The only fringe players who just 'do their job' each week for us seem to be Simpson (due to age) and Thomas. That's our problem right now, and we can't win uless we fix this.

But what choices do we have? It's either the inconsistent fringe players, or kids who aren't playing well at VFL level...
Casboult or McKay? Casboult is in his prime, kicked 4 goals, contributes in the ruck... and has his weaknesses.
Lamb, Wright or Silvagni? SOS probably better than Lamb at least for experience.
Mullet or O'Brien/Schumacher? Will happen within weeks.
The only real change that makes sense for next week (injuries aside) is Kerridge in for Polson. I just think we need that extra mid who can go all game, tackle, and get 20+ possessions (even if he does butcher a few of them).

Some big positives from tonight though:
- I thought Murphy was great. Highest rated player on the ground, led the team in possessions, contested possessions and tackles. He's not a bruising mid, should be playing out his gravy years as a wing like Boomer Harvey did, but that's the best we can hope from him
- Weitering was much better, and grew in confidence as the game went on. He got to the right spots all game, and by the end was taking intercept marks. He'll cop flack from idiots who don't know what they are watching, but that's how it goes.
- We started with fantastic intensity, and kept bringing it back after half time. Finished with a huge effort in the last quarter. I think those last 2 goals mean a lot. We ended up with more inside 50s, more scoring shots, and a 4-goal loss, which was probably par.

The negatives:
- Injuries to Marchbank and Kennedy. Two guys who we just can't afford to lose
- Our tackling was sub-par. To have 14 players with 1 tackle or less (and 10 with 0) at 3/4 time was putrid
- We seemed to have no way of stopping that 10 goal run. Maybe Bolts wanted to let them run it out, but I'd like to see more. Cut that to a 6 goal run and the game would have been a lot more interesting at the end...

Great post and agree on nearly all of it.
Only question I have is the captain's body language and form early in the game.

Early in the game, maybe second quarter he had a basic shot on goal from around 30m out on a generous angle and he tried a check side kick and misses. Then moments later fumbled the most basic of handball receives from Fisher about 1m away. These two **** ups robbed us of momentum and an opportunity to stay in the game and were endemic of the errors made last week.

To my eye he doesn't inspire his teammates. Understand he's had to adjust his game but his body language is so uninspiring (granted I'm not on the field). Where is the hardness and pep talk on the ground? Just looks a normal good player as opposed to a leader.

 

[Dadda Dave]

What's the point anymore.. same old shit for the last 15 years

Saint supporters like this .

 

[bucksandcripps]

I mean this in the nicest possible way, but i don't want to see dow play again this year. He looks like the type who needs a year in the two's. Is a huge step from u18s to afl, particularly as a mid in a team light on in that department. He needs to develop. I dislike graham ahd kerridge as much as the next bloke, but one of them needs to come in. They will at least lay a tackle. I hope dow is given every opportunity to become the player we all think/hope he can be, and i believe at the moment that is an the vfl

 

[RudyBlue]

We got outplayed by one of the most mediocre sides going around.

We did.

But we will hit our straps again soon.

 

[PP34]

I was sympathetic until I read that.

Wtf bro, that's not the current objective.

Otherwise, agree.

I’m talking long term dude. If the current objective isn’t to challenge for flags eventually then we’re doing it wrong.

Right now when our younger stars are coming into their prime we’re still going to have an awful midfield in all likelihood.

 

[Crippa#9]

Alarming;
*1 goal between our 4 small forwards tonight; Wright, Polson, Garlett & Lamb.
*Cripps looks like he's injured / sore again. Took a knock to ribs in 1st qtr.
*Kennedy just not finding enough of it.
*Ed Curnow just not having any damaging effect. Can't even tag anymore.
*Weitering still devoid of confidence.
*We don't have the skill level to intiate this quick game plan.
*No running half back flanker with speed.
*Have guys in the 2's that simply cannot put more than one good game together.

List could go on...

 

[AB_Blue]

Cunningham looks really good down back.

Hope he gets more games.

Need him on a wing

 

[Snoozer]

I found a positive , How good was SPS around traffic tonight ? Silk or what .

Thought he was AWOL when the game was on the line.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

 

[The Flying Doormat]

Im goin to say it! bolton will not be the coach that brings us on field success

I got howled down last week for less, but I agree. Someone should be making quiet calls to Bassett and Mattner.

 

[PP34]

We did.

But we will hit our straps again soon.

Will we though?

Where does the improvement come from? It’s not like we’ve got a heap of guns down on form. We’ve just got a genuinely shit football team.

This year is going to be unbearable.

 

[bleednavyblue]

Is it the players or the coaching staff?? Cause at the moment it really seems both dont have a clue

 

[1981]

I mean this in the nicest possible way, but i don't want to see dow play again this year. He looks like the type who needs a year in the two's. Is a huge step from u18s to afl, particularly as a mid in a team light on in that department. He needs to develop. I dislike graham ahd kerridge as much as the next bloke, but one of them needs to come in. They will at least lay a tackle. I hope dow is given every opportunity to become the player we all think/hope he can be, and i believe at the moment that is an the vfl

Disagree.

If he is getting 11-15 touches he is better served in the seniors for his development.

 

[Wickzki]

Are we contending for a premiership in 2018?

Who were you quoting?

No.

 

[Soapy V]

In terms of the rebuild

Charlie continuing to look exciting (29 games)
SPS still suffering from lack of pre season but some classy stuff (22 games)
Fisher starting to look comfortable and has class (19 games)
Cuningham now has 2 very solid games in a row. Ball use and run a stand out (12 games)
Kennedy. Played injured but puts body in. (20 games)
Polson. Played small forward and couple of classy side steps. Like to see him on the ball. His spot (3 games)
Dow. Bit and pieces but starting to win more possessions. Still adjusting to pace. (3 games)
Garlett. Playing forward but more suited up ground. Few nice things. Needs to tackle more (19 games)
Weitering. Grew as game went on. Couple of mistakes and wasn't helped by Jones (44 games)

In this regard lot of positives.

 

[ODNBlue]

Why do I have to find someone else, Jones has lost all feel for the game, over commits to everything got outmarked by Sidebottom. We gave him a 2 year deal off 8 weeks

Sidebottom was not his player in that contest.

 

[Mr_Plow]

I’m talking long term dude. If the current objective isn’t to challenge for flags eventually then we’re doing it wrong.

Right now when our younger stars are coming into their prime we’re still going to have an awful midfield in all likelihood.

That's possible, depending on how their development progresses and whether we can recruit another 3-4 quality mids through the draft. Another 2 this year should be achievable. But it's another long and arduous road, for sure.

We're going to suck until 2020, at least, which is awful to comprehend.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I'm not all gloom and doom here.

Cripps, C Curnow, Marchbank, Kreuzer are guns. Doc too and he will join them next year. SPS is coming along nicely. Fisher will become a prime mover, kid is silk. More positive about Cuningham now too.

It is a fairly solid core going forward, without factoring in Weitering finding his feet again and what Dow might become.

Sure, the results aren't coming as much as our preseason suggested they might but looking at the experience factor, we probably shouldn't be surprised.

We do need a change of leadership however but it won't happen until next year.

 

[1981]

Is it the players or the coaching staff?? Cause at the moment it really seems both dont have a clue

Leadership

Not just character but experience

But for me character is important.

Lead the way when the chips are down. Show some balls.

We lack that badly. Our captain racks them up but does he inspire??

 

[Snoozer]

Looks like we've found a nice small-medium defender.

Excellent work in traffic, great pace and agility, and a more than decent field kick.

He looks good, but IMO he moves into the midfield in the short term. We are so appallingly undermanned in that part of the ground.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

 

[MileHigh]

I needed to believe the Richmond game we lost because we were down a man for 3 quarters and had a ruckman back out there that shouldnt have. I needed to believe last weeks effort was a once off and you can win a game without a legit ruckman. I thought we were better. We arent. Not after tonight. Cripps lost his cool tonight a few times and rightfully so. This is unacceptable.

 

[berisha]

Questions should start to be asked about whether Bolton is the right man for the job. Gone backwards since round 10 last year.

Tonight - awful, insipid, putrid etc. Barely any fight when the Pies started to gain momentum. Showed up again by another bottom 8 team. We must be odds-on favorites for the spoon now. This whole charade is getting really old.

Cripps, Curnow, Levi, Fisher, Simpson, and to a lesser extent Murphy and Kreuzer did well tonight.

Weitering needs to go back to the VFL. He's a liability at the moment. Bolton can't drop JSOS for poor form and persist with Weitering. If he says selection is based on form, prove it.

Dow not ready just yet, battled hard but needs to go back and sharpen his toolset (goal kicking for one).

Polson, Lamb and Mullet are clearly not up to it and we have more than adequate replacements. Stop rewarding mediocrity. I stand by my claim last year that Nick Graham brings more to the table than Lamb.

Jones is lucky Marchbank is hurt. But he's been poor this year.

Kangaroos will probably thump us next week. Waite to kick 7 on Jones.

 

[btdg]

Great post and agree on nearly all of it.
Only question I have is the captain's body language and form early in the game.

Early in the game, maybe second quarter he had a basic shot on goal from around 30m out on a generous angle and he tried a check side kick and misses. Then moments later fumbled the most basic of handball receives from Fisher about 1m away. These two **** ups robbed us of momentum and an opportunity to stay in the game and were endemic of the errors made last week.

To my eye he doesn't inspire his teammates. Understand he's had to adjust his game but his body language is so uninspiring (granted I'm not on the field). Where is the hardness and pep talk on the ground? Just looks a normal good player as opposed to a leader.

Do we judge him on body language, or performance? He was bloody good tonight. Remember, he has two other mids in his team who are aged over 20 for support.

He isn't a hard, pep talk type of leader, and he never will be. Maybe he shouldn't have been captain, and isn't the bloke we need. But the players and coachign staff keep picking him for that role so he must be providing leadership of some sort? Maybe they just want someone who leads by example - and tonight, he certainly did that...

 

[reubsblues]

Pagan (super coach), Ratts, Malthouse (super coach), Barker (caretaker), Bolton (untested Clarko prodigy).......who is next?

We 100% reverted to last years game style. The slick moving offensive style of game did not exist. Is the coach capable of giving a spray?. It seems he's happy with the whole "Things are never as bad as it seems", mentality

Typical teaching method and not actually coaching

 

[M_I_G]

We 100% reverted to last years game style. The slick moving offensive style of game did not exist. Is the coach capable of giving a spray?. It seems he's happy with the whole "Things are never as bad as it seems", mentality

waiting for that presser

 

[ForYouBlue]

Burnt. Out.