Preview Round 19, 2022: West Coast v St.Kilda - Optus Stadium, Sunday 24th July, 4:40PM AEST

[phantom13]

Without really wanting to get into the whole "whos fault is it" the reality of a team being in the top 4 in round 11 and then probably missing finals is that is everyones fault and everyone should be under extreme pressure and the way the AFL world works is the buck stops with the coach.

Ratts and his team have their part but they will also be held the most accountable just cause footy media gonna footy media.

 

[Cairnsman]

Without really wanting to get into the whole "whos fault is it" the reality of a team being in the top 4 in round 11 and then probably missing finals is that is everyones fault and everyone should be under extreme pressure and the way the AFL world works is the buck stops with the coach.

Ratts and his team have their part but they will also be held the most accountable just cause footy media gonna footy media.

Absolutely nailed it. The reality is the whole club has to take responsibility for allowing the wheels to fall off within a month of the bye. Just a shame the default position is blame the coach but my eyes tell me the rot is starting out on the ground with poor attitude, lack of energy and care, sooky and complaining attitudes, finger pointing and being confrontational with teammates. Our Captain needs to cop a bit of heat his way becaue he represented all these poor qualities against the Dogs. So yeah go the coach but what accountability does the Captain take.

 

[sauce_head]

Unfortunately Jones must have been told he plays like Joel Selwood going into tackles head first, as soon as he realises he’s not, he might start skirting the packs with the ball & give us more chance.
Who said AFL is played between the ears?

If only our mids were treated like Joel Selwood and our forwards like Tom Hawkins we’d have about 200+ more frees at the stoppage and 200+ less frees for hands in the back. Alas…

 

[sauce_head]

Absolutely nailed it. The reality is the whole club has to take responsibility for allowing the wheels to fall off within a month of the bye. Just a shame the default position is blame the coach but my eyes tell me the rot is starting out on the ground with poor attitude, lack of energy and care, sooky and complaining attitudes, finger pointing and being confrontational with teammates. Our Captain needs to cop a bit of heat his way becaue he represented all these poor qualities against the Dogs. So yeah go the coach but what accountability does the Captain take.

I do wonder how many quarters we actually won prior to the bye. We seemed to blow teams away to get out of trouble rather than construct a four quarter win…

 

[phantom13]

I do wonder how many quarters we actually won prior to the bye. We seemed to blow teams away to get out of trouble rather than construct a four quarter win…

I dont think it matters to the overall discussion point.

Either we werent very good prior and just managed to play 15 minutes of good footy here and there and have now been found out or we were pretty good and have fallen off a cliff.

Either way being top 4 to missing finals after the bye (or possibly just before i cant recall) is uuuuugly.

 

[Cairnsman]

I do wonder how many quarters we actually won prior to the bye. We seemed to blow teams away to get out of trouble rather than construct a four quarter win…

I'm guessing we lost more quarters of footy but still won games through giving effort in one good quarter, it isn't a brand that stacks up in September. Someone got a stat?

 

[AirWinmar]

Out: Jones, Butler, Byrnes, Ryder
In: Ross, Long, Connelly, Campbell

Jones needs a reset
Butler has been very average
Byrnes butchers it way too much
Ryder injured

 

[MickG88]

I'm guessing we lost more quarters of footy but still won games through giving effort in one good quarter, it isn't a brand that stacks up in September. Someone got a stat?

What are you talking about? That was Melbourne's MO. keep in touch for a half and then blow them away in a quarter. Coast for the last quarter.
That literally won them a Grand Final.

 

[Klaatu]

Connelly keeps getting pushed up,he is not playing well enough to bring in we are still a chance to make the 8 so in my book we play our best side available.

 

[Dr Spaceman]

If we play like we've been playing since the bye we'll struggle to win any of the remaining 5 games.

If we play like we were playing before the bye we'd be a chance to win 4 of those 5 games (Cats at Geelong extremely difficult at the best of times).

The big question is why are we playing crap since the bye and whether it is possible for the team to "flick a switch" and start playing like they did before the bye?

Plenty of theories but reality is none of us know what has been going on behind the scenes or behind the players' cranial bones.

If the coach, assistant coaches or players know how to fix it, ie how to get the hunger and selflessness back, now would be a pretty good time to speak up.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

In
Hanners
Bytel
Leo
Anyone else who’s been out through injury or covid.

Out
Don’t care

 

[Saintos The ITK]

I forgot Campbell as an in.

Provides a lot in the ruck and a lot around the ground.
Ready made replacement for Ryders retirement.

 

[CaptainRisky]

Without really wanting to get into the whole "whos fault is it" the reality of a team being in the top 4 in round 11 and then probably missing finals is that is everyones fault and everyone should be under extreme pressure and the way the AFL world works is the buck stops with the coach.

Ratts and his team have their part but they will also be held the most accountable just cause footy media gonna footy media.

Reality is we were never a top 4 team , we may have been ladder wise but quality wise we never were IMO , we had a lot of luck and got teams at the right time

 

[my name was taken]

Wish the danger game joke was still funny, now it's just sad.

 

[phantom13]

Reality is we were never a top 4 team , we may have been ladder wise but quality wise we never were IMO , we had a lot of luck and got teams at the right time

Maybe... reality is we were in the top 4 so whatever way you cut it weve gone from there to missing finals. It looks bad because it is bad.

 

[CaptainRisky]

Absolutely nailed it. The reality is the whole club has to take responsibility for allowing the wheels to fall off within a month of the bye. Just a shame the default position is blame the coach but my eyes tell me the rot is starting out on the ground with poor attitude, lack of energy and care, sooky and complaining attitudes, finger pointing and being confrontational with teammates. Our Captain needs to cop a bit of heat his way becaue he represented all these poor qualities against the Dogs. So yeah go the coach but what accountability does the Captain take.

Steele at times had the biggest sooky face on i have seen in a long time , not a good example

 

[Klaatu]

If we play like we've been playing since the bye we'll struggle to win any of the remaining 5 games.

If we play like we were playing before the bye we'd be a chance to win 4 of those 5 games (Cats at Geelong extremely difficult at the best of times).

The big question is why are we playing crap since the bye and whether it is possible for the team to "flick a switch" and start playing like they did before the bye?

Plenty of theories but reality is none of us know what has been going on behind the scenes or behind the players' cranial bones.

If the coach, assistant coaches or players know how to fix it, ie how to get the hunger and selflessness back, now would be a pretty good time to speak up.

Just on the last 2 losses, they can be turned around our first 1/2 against Freo looked really good mentally turned off at the break, against the Dogs we were off early but in hindsight we hit the post 3 time in the 3rd & kicked 4-5 in the last Q in total 5-10 if reversed 10-5 things look different.

 

[gringo2011]

Have you considered that the 2nd and 3rd year players haven't played much because they are all extremely average with huge flaws rather than it being due to Ratts not wanting to play kids.

How is playing NWM and Windy the majority of the season - with a small cameo from Owens before injury hit - not playing the kids or any different than what every other club does?

Have a look at how many play the kids. We don't have anywhere near as many in development because we sold off the future for the now.

The really horrifying thing is sides like GC, Freo and Sydney have huge internal growth to come as their kids develop further and they are well entrenched in the 8. We are struggling to make the 8 and we just don't have the same volume of quality kids coming on in the side.

If this side isn't good enough now we are unlikely to have a massive burst of improvement because of it. King, Coffield and Clark are probably the guys on the cusp of turning into guns and if they don't we have a huge gap between them and Owens, Nas and Windy etc.

 

[gringo2011]

Without really wanting to get into the whole "whos fault is it" the reality of a team being in the top 4 in round 11 and then probably missing finals is that is everyones fault and everyone should be under extreme pressure and the way the AFL world works is the buck stops with the coach.

Ratts and his team have their part but they will also be held the most accountable just cause footy media gonna footy media.

There is something NQR if the players and coaching staff seem to not be on the same page. You can sack the coach, you can't sack the side or you get to where North are at. Incredibly we are no better performed than them since the bye. He blames the players in the media often and they look like they don't believe in his game plan IMO.

I can't see how they resolve this unless they get a couple of huge wins and get on a bit of a positive roll. The whole place looks a bit toxic from the outside. Performance wavers but it doesn't generally collapse unless there is some issues festering.

 

[Cairnsman]

Steele at times had the biggest sooky face on i have seen in a long time , not a good example

I just hope he's holding himself accountable. Needs to put his hand up and acknowledge the rot has started at the captains level out on the ground. The media will clearly go down the coach attack path but my eyes tell me his attitude is concerning for a captain. He's got a to improve his greatest weaknesses which is his shyness and niceness. Needs to be more assertive and vocal in an animated way that shows energy and intensity.

 

[Diehard Saint]

They just got killed by Hawthorn who are very average.

In Melbourne.
We all know about the home ground /umps advantage the Eagles get there.

 

[gringo2011]

Reality is we were never a top 4 team , we may have been ladder wise but quality wise we never were IMO , we had a lot of luck and got teams at the right time

This is crazy talk, we aren't the same side as Richo had, this is our senior experienced core that has won against good sides. We look like Carlton last year where individual performance looks good but the parts don't work together. They aren't woking as a team at all. The forward line looks the most dysfunctional area and it looks like straight coaching issues. Transition is still messy as well but a big part of that is forward structure.

Carlton fans were scared to cut David Teague because he was actually a lot better than the last couple of coaches but they have been vindicated on moving him on. I think if they'd got a better coach in earlier they might have had less mental demons from years of failure. They still look a bit fragile when the heat goes on them to me.

 

[phantom13]

There is something NQR if the players and coaching staff seem to not be on the same page. You can sack the coach, you can't sack the side or you get to where North are at. Incredibly we are no better performed than them since the bye. He blames the players in the media often and they look like they don't believe in his game plan IMO.

I can't see how they resolve this unless they get a couple of huge wins and get on a bit of a positive roll. The whole place looks a bit toxic from the outside. Performance wavers but it doesn't generally collapse unless there is some issues festering.

I completely agree fwiw. Just think the “it’s not the coaches fault” brigade are missing rhe point, the whole joint is cooked if you miss finals from 4 at the halfway point.

 

[gringo2011]

Just on the last 2 losses, they can be turned around our first 1/2 against Freo looked really good mentally turned off at the break, against the Dogs we were off early but in hindsight we hit the post 3 time in the 3rd & kicked 4-5 in the last Q in total 5-10 if reversed 10-5 things look different.

We really only looked in it in the final quarter against the Dogs, I actually thought the score line flattered us. They played with one tall back and no Caleb Daniel and we were not able to penetrate their defence with any deliberate movement. Our skills looked diabolical and it was like we were trying to give them the ball.

 

[CaptainRisky]

This is crazy talk, we aren't the same side as Richo had, this is our senior experienced core that has won against good sides. We look like Carlton last year where individual performance looks good but the parts don't work together. They aren't woking as a team at all. The forward line looks the most dysfunctional area and it looks like straight coaching issues. Transition is still messy as well but a big part of that is forward structure.

Carlton fans were scared to cut David Teague because he was actually a lot better than the last couple of coaches but they have been vindicated on moving him on. I think if they'd got a better coach in earlier they might have had less mental demons from years of failure. They still look a bit fragile when the heat goes on them to me.

Crazy talk coming from you Mr