Where to for the Kangaroos? (Paul Gough Article)

[compass]

There's a much better article about our season at sportal.com.au by Bren O'Brien:

"The Kangaroos delivered some great football in 2005, taking it up to the best sides and beating two of the top four during the year, St Kilda and Sydney, and losing narrowly to the other two, the Eagles and the Crows. They deserved a place in the top eight and were unlucky enough to be matched up against the team with the most scope for improvement in the finals in Port Adelaide. The 87-point defeat came at the end of a long season for the club, which had won its first five matches of the year and eight of 17 after that point.

In the last month of the season, they developed a reputation as slow starters, and while they were able to pull off a couple of great escapes against Port Adelaide and Collingwood, it was a sign that the season was starting to take its toll. Dean Laidley is one of the most under-rated coaches in the competition and his clever use of his playing list has allowed the Roos to match it with the league's best, when many rate their list at the other end of the scale.

There is plenty of talent at Arden St, with the likes of Adam Simpson, Shannon Grant, Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells possessing fine skills, but Laidley has built his game plan around flexibility, using his 22 players cleverly to ensure his team runs out the four quarters. The loss of utility Leigh Colbert will be a big one to cover, but with Glenn Archer in command down back, the Roos' defence will continue to be well organised.

Nathan Thompson's debut season for the club was a bright spot, with the former Hawk contributing 52 goals for the year as well as a club-leading 138 marks. Sav Rocca, set to step out for season number 15, added a useful 43, while Grant kicked 39. The attack has been well-serviced by a midfield which has been bolstered by the run of Jess Sinclair from half-back and the hard work of Daniel Harris in the packs.

All in all, it means the Roos should be a similarly difficult package to deal with in 2006, depending on what they take from Sunday's defeat. Laidley is likely to use the disappointment as a spur to better things, but the players' confidence may suffer with another seven months until they can prove it was just a bad day."

 

[spurs]

Thanks Compass.

That article is much better.

Go Roos 06

 

[Shinboners]

4:50:06 PM Mon 5 September, 2005
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au

However the Kangaroos' finishing position at the end of the home and away season and indeed their win/loss ratio was flattering, helped by a friendly draw.

Okay Paul, considering the easy draw, in your pre-season tips, where did you tip North to finish?

And how many times did you tip us through the season? How many games did North start as favourites?

The Roos finished fifth and won 13 of their 22 games but it is worth remembering that six of those wins came against the bottom three clubs - Collingwood, Hawthorn and Carlton, which all won less than six games for the season.

Carlton in round 1 and they had just won the Wizza Wok. With the Dawks the first time around, I'm sure they had just knocked off the Lions. As for the Pies, well, they've owned us in the past, so I was just happy to beat the bastards.

The Kangas' percentage by season's end, just 99.2, was perhaps a better guide to their overall competitiveness - highlighting that while the club can handle the lower-ranked teams it struggles against classier opposition

Find a stat, build your story around it. It'd be fair to say that the classy opposition are the likes of the Eagles (narrow loss), the Crows (two narrow losses), and the Aints (one win, one loss). Never mind that it was our fellow midtable sides (Geelong and Melbourne) who belted us, and our inability to wipe the floor with crap opposition (hello Carlton, Essendon, and Hawthorn) that hurt our ability to build a good percentage.

And Sunday's elimination final loss also exposed the areas where the Kangas must improve if they are to recapture the glory days under Denis Pagan in the 1990's.

This is principally in the key positions with veterans Saverio Rocca and Nathan Thompson struggling in attack on Sunday when it really counted, while a replacement will have to be found for key defender Leigh Colbert, who announced his retirement. Full-back Shannon Watt continues to look shaky against top quality key forwards.

Except that without the efforts of Thompson and Rocca, we wouldn't have made it to the finals anyway. And we were killed in the midfield - even the AA KP forwards would have struggled if they had to put up with what Thompson and Rocca had to deal with on Sunday.

As for Shannon Watt, how many games has Gough watched? He was our best defender in the second half of the season.

So unless the Roos can develop a new generation of key position players soon, the occasional finals appearance might be the best they can hope for.

Develop a new generation of KPPs? So Gough, what do you think of Laidley's development of Hale, McIntosh, Chad Jones, and Perry? And how do you think that ties in with his recruitment of the likes of Thompson and Brown to hold the fort whilst these kids learn the game?

Geeze Paul, if you're going to get stuck into us, at least make some effort to talk about it in the context of what Laidley is trying to do and what he has to work with.

 

[Shinboners]

There's a much better article about our season at sportal.com.au by Bren O'Brien:

Laidley is likely to use the disappointment as a spur to better things, but the players' confidence may suffer with another seven months until they can prove it was just a bad day."

Actually, that is the one thing that worries me. Laidley said a few weeks ago (after the Aints game) that it was starting to dawn on some players that they were good enough to match it with the best. That loss against Port in the finals may have hurt any belief within the team.

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Shinners, you are an oasis of sanity in a sea of uninformed turbulance. Peace be with you.

 

[Falkroo]

I agree with Gough on all but the key forwards. Sav and Thommo kicked nearly 100 goals between them for the season, with some of the shabbiest disposal ever seen. If our 2 keys were on the end of some of the Port delivery on the weekend, they'd have kicked 5 or 6 each!!!!