Review Round 2, 2015 - North Melbourne vs Brisbane Lions

[TaylorMade]

I think it was North's zoning. They shut down the switch and we had no answer for it.

Ta! Was really difficult to watch. That short kick to the pocket followed by the long bomb. You just knew North were getting the ball back once we went for that long kick.

Close doing his knee probably didn't help!

 

[Skoob]

Hey all, on the weekend I noticed a lot less of the transition from 1 wing to other which was quite frequent last year and even the pre season/ rd1.

Instead we went a lot of long balls onto the wing which wasn't very effective as we just fed it to North's dominant talls.

Would this have been a directive to play this style as Etihad with smaller wings?

Or was it the smaller ground and Norths zoning forcing that style of play?

Noticed it too, to the point it was driving me mad.

My neighbours probably think I have some sort of electric sex toy, the number of times I screamed "SWITCH THE ****ING THING!!!!"

 

[Skoob]

Ta! Was really difficult to watch. That short kick to the pocket followed by the long bomb. You just knew North were getting the ball back once we went for that long kick.

Close doing his knee probably didn't help!

Not convinced the zoning thing was the main cause. Certainly there were times we couldn't switch because of opposition, but boy, the number of times we ignored open players in preference for a contest...

 

[Judge]

Ta! Was really difficult to watch. That short kick to the pocket followed by the long bomb. You just knew North were getting the ball back once we went for that long kick.

Close doing his knee probably didn't help!

Having absolutely no run/overlap from behind the mark, or movement up the ground, made things even worse and more predictable for North.

That's what really shits me about the way we're playing at the moment, you don't need size, skill or experience (even allowing for the accretive fitness benefit of multiple pre-seasons) to make a serious attempt at pressuring the ball carrier, tackling or running to provide options in attack.

It will be interesting to see how our guys respond to the obvious spray they would have copped from Leppa, Zorko's condemnation etc. If they can't at least have a dip against Richmond at home they're not fit to be league footballers regardless of age or size.

 

[TaylorMade]

Not convinced the zoning thing was the main cause. Certainly there were times we couldn't switch because of opposition, but boy, the number of times we ignored open players in preference for a contest...

Given how poor our disposal has been I'm wondering if players were preferring the long kick wide to play safe & avoid a shanked disposal that gave North the ball in the middle of the ground.

Having absolutely no run/overlap from behind the mark, or movement up the ground, made things even worse and more predictable for North.

That's what really shits me about the way we're playing at the moment, you don't need size, skill or experience (even allowing for the accretive fitness benefit of multiple pre-seasons) to make a serious attempt at pressuring the ball carrier, tackling or running to provide options in attack.

It will be interesting to see how our guys respond to the obvious spray they would have copped from Leppa, Zorko's condemnation etc. If they can't at least have a dip against Richmond at home they're not fit to be league footballers regardless of age or size.

Let's hope they respond with a lot more intensity. Richmond will be pretty fired up after their loss to the dogs.

 

[Tas]

Sorry about that pain, know how shit it feels (copped it last week).

Going on the road for a young group is one of the hardest things to do well, I would expect a better performance this week against the Tigers.

 

[lionshine]

Sorry about that pain, know how shit it feels (copped it last week).

Going on the road for a young group is one of the hardest things to do well, I would expect a better performance this week against the Tigers.

Thanks mate

 

[Schache It Off]

Sorry about that pain, know how shit it feels (copped it last week).

Going on the road for a young group is one of the hardest things to do well, I would expect a better performance this week against the Tigers.

Would hope so, I would feel worse been beaten by the Scum Tigers

 

[POBT]

Having absolutely no run/overlap from behind the mark, or movement up the ground, made things even worse and more predictable for North.

That's what really shits me about the way we're playing at the moment, you don't need size, skill or experience (even allowing for the accretive fitness benefit of multiple pre-seasons) to make a serious attempt at pressuring the ball carrier, tackling or running to provide options in attack.

It will be interesting to see how our guys respond to the obvious spray they would have copped from Leppa, Zorko's condemnation etc. If they can't at least have a dip against Richmond at home they're not fit to be league footballers regardless of age or size.

Yup. Last week was the worst of our boys. Didn't tackle. Didn't spread. Didn't work back. Didn't get forward. Didn't put their heads over it every time. Didn't attempt to be physical.

And, just quietly, a lack of age or size counts for nothing when the newest bloke in the team showed the most ticker.

If this is an attitudinal thing, then something is remarkably amiss at the club. However, if this was a one off, then let's see a desperate, hungry and physical 22 play this Sat night.

 

[Skoob]

Yup. Last week was the worst of our boys. Didn't tackle. Didn't spread. Didn't work back. Didn't get forward. Didn't put their heads over it every time. Didn't attempt to be physical.

And, just quietly, a lack of age or size counts for nothing when the newest bloke in the team showed the most ticker.

If this is an attitudinal thing, then something is remarkably amiss at the club. However, if this was a one off, then let's see a desperate, hungry and physical 22 play this Sat night.

I wonder just how inspirational Rocky is to these guys, and whether they took a real confidence blow with him out (and Merrett, for that matter). Hopefully they had lost the game in their minds, before the first bounce. At least then they are a chance to pick themselves up.

 

[Balony_pony16]

Hey all, on the weekend I noticed a lot less of the transition from 1 wing to other which was quite frequent last year and even the pre season/ rd1.

Instead we went a lot of long balls onto the wing which wasn't very effective as we just fed it to North's dominant talls.

Would this have been a directive to play this style as Etihad with smaller wings?

Or was it the smaller ground and Norths zoning forcing that style of play?

I was at the game and most the game from our play was made on the interchange side... The far side always had heaps of space but we failed to use it with no switch plays... A big thing was to zero effort for guys to work hard to make a first option to get the switch happening... we were just so lazy and most players werent hungry for the ball