Midfield set ups hard to understand and smashed in the clearances. Killed us.

Marie is a plodder and a brachycephalic nuff nuff but he was far superior to our rucks in tap outs to advantage. He did it to us last year as well. Kreuzer and Hammer both had good games in other ways but they are not great tap ruckmen. Marics tap outs and their much better midfield positioning were the main reason we saw wave after wave of ball flying into their forward line straight from the bounce and putting our backs under enormous pressure.

We need Warnock, now convinced. Still not sure how its going to work, but we need first use from the ball up much more often.

Positives. I'm only focusing on positives because it's round1 and other round1 wins have got us nowhere......
Gibbs, Hampson, Jamison = well done! Memo to Ratten - Gibbs should have played midfield!! Sorry Ratts call it as I see it.
Juddy good ordinary footballer.
Need to persist with Casboult. The kid will learn from that.
Lucas & Bootsma did ok. Must stay in the side.
Kruezer great ruck-roving, roving and rucking....
Jamison - welcome back. Great game and put both Riewoldt & then Vickery out!

He had a shocker, let's face it. Four possessions, one mark, one shot at goal (out on the full), five hit outs, three frees against (zero for). It's hard to imagine how he could possibly have done any worse?

Not writing him off or anything and I'd like to think that he'll get better over the next few weeks, but last night he was terrible.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

Well said.

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#DonTheStash

Said similar in the Carlton v Collingwood thread.

I'm convinced Warnock is a ruck weapon.
Kreuzer did really well ruck roving and marking last night whilst Hammer presented really well. Hammer's kicking for goal from set shot needs work..you'd think he'd have a routine after the preseason. He was a better shot at goal when he started his career imo. Can't have a forward who can't kick straight...its a waste of time...Casboult the same...so Kreuzer can spend more time forward when not ruck roving or giving Warnock a breather.

I know its only first round, but after a long bruise free preseason there doesn't seem to be much improvement with anyone.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Simmo HF/C can't kick straight and has a number of shots at goal....wasted opportunities

Casboult FF can't kick straight and has a number of shots at goal....wasted opportunities

Hampson FP can't kick straight and has a number of shots at goal....wasted opportunities

Yarran FP is known as a good kick abut better known for being a show pony and missing a lot of gimme shots at goal....wasted opportunities.

Wasted opportunites are just that... wasted selections in the forwardline. Well you can't have all 4 in the forwardline wasting golden opportunities.

Admitedly some of the foot passing to Hammer in particular and a couple to Casboult were shithouse going over their head...WTF...what do they expect the big men to do?

Simmo has really lost his kicking in the last 3 years...he lacks intensity...doesn't attack the ball and opponent with the ball like he use to do, like Bettsy and Garlett do...he's passed his best imo.
Still worthy of a spot in the 22....SUB perhaps....needs a kick in the pants....just as Yarran does, and he hasn't got age as his excuse.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I reckon it would have been worse if he hadn't given us something in the ruck. It might not reflect in the stats, but I thought he competed quite well when thrown in there. He might have taken a small amount of confidence out of that. I grant you he didn't have a great night.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Had a look at the scoreboard at 3 qtr time and saw we were down 18-34 in the clearances stat... embarrassing

15 clearances in the last and 33-41 by games end.

Not sure what happened there but it (mids) needs to be addressed asap

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“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” ― Richard Feynman

Yes it was Lucas, his hand passing frustrated the %#^% out of me last night. It's like he s playing in junior footy, he gets it then gives off pissy handbills rarely to advantage but rather just to relieve himself of the ball. There was also an instant where a team mate hand balked to him and he wasn't watching the play, led to a turnover and rebound..he did this against Brisbane also...

The coaching of centre bounce positioning is Rob Wiley's responsibility....someone who has been out of the game for a long time.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

I agree we were smashed in the clearances but I disagree about Kruezer and Hampson. Kruezer got his hands to the ball plenty of times and I'm not sure on the hitouts to advantage totals, but Carlton were ahead most of the match.
The problem IMO is our setups. A right handed ruckman usually finds it easiest to hit the ball betwen 9.00 and 12.00 on the clock face. Yet last night and against Brisbane, we are conceding that space. Daniel Rich had a picnic there off our taps and so did the Richmond mids. What's worse, our mids are not only vacating that space, they're positioning themselves on the outside of their opponents to that space. Either they've been instructed to set up defensively or we dont have the structures in place to utilise a winning ruck. Kreuzer got his hands to the ball plenty of times but there was no one there.

The last few years we've had a winning midfield. This year we are terrible. Changing ruckmen wont help. Changing strategies will.
I love Robert Wiley and I suspect he'll be great value at the club as Micks lieutenant but to have him as midfield coach is stupidity. The bloke hasnt played for 30 years and hasnt coached at the elite level for a decade yet we expect him to coach our midfield?
@#$%&! crazy.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

They were rusty and second guessing. That's what happens when players are trying to execute something that's not instinctive. Forget the MM game plan. Apart from some boundary hugging, gameplans are based around contested, ferocious appetite for the football, tackling pressure, spread and execution.
Mick's greatest strength is to get players to believe in him, believe in themselves and believe in the team credo.
It takes time!
Observations
Lucas - Stays in, trying hard and improving
Bootsma - See Lucas
Yarran - Needs some re-teaching but could be anything under MM, not just a rebounding defender. Once he starts to 'get it', he could be the next Andrew Macleod
Hammer - Dangerous with his marking (this has definitely improved). Must persevere with. Needs more work just to be an average ruck option....oh, and kicking not the best either
Casboult - Yeah he had a quiet one, so did Riewoldt, Carazzo, Simpson, etc. he wasn't alone
Walker - seems to have been given Yarran's old role last night. Maybe the two can swap during a game. when one goes forward/mid, the other goes back/mid and vice versa
Hendo - Would like to see him up forward on the odd occasion just for unpredictability

The fact that MM has played some players out of their normal, comfortable positions is a bonus for us long term.

Keep the faith
Remember that the Tiges were primed for this one. They had more to lose I believe....and they almost did

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If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!

Our tap outs weren't extensively to the advantage of our mids.

Kruizer is more of a genuine around the ground ruck rover ( combination). He s not a tap ruckman.

Warnock should be starting ruck

If we can saw Casboult and Watto in half..swap torso and legs.... wed have a guy that can play and a guy who should be in the stands
instead we have 2 half footballers...

I think its time to usher those two off site and get some surgeons who have done siamese twin ops to see what can be done...

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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"I had to eat"

No one is biting your head off. It annoys me when people get precious about having their opinion challenged. Isn't the idea of a discussion forum that others are allowed to challenge your opinion.

You admitted yourself your opinion is flawed because you're not privy to the same information.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Brad Greene.???

The responsibility of the coaches is Sticks... we missed on everyone we chased because of the lack of coin.....
We have certainly been cheapos....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Green is a midfield development coach.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Look last night further highlighted how far we have to go.

Defence wins flags and the brand of football our guys have been taught over past 6 years is offensive dribble

Mick has a gigantic task and no doubt we may have to go significantly backwards before we go forwards

In mick we trust

Think I'm going to deadset @#$%&! spew if I have to read another comment based on this "best 22" myth or "so and so isn't in our best 22/why are they in our best 22", even more so if its followed up with a comment about No Waite, No Carlton.

Your best 22 doesn't, nor should it win you games (note games, not a game) of footy throughout a season.

Throughout the year, you'll beat teams who are rebuilding/expansion sides/shit, on quality alone, and maybe take advantage of an interstate team with a shit travelling record. Let's say 5-6 wins on that basis.

The remaining 16 weeks are determined on which side has a list balanced well enough to cover player 1 through to 22 on this mythical best 22 from the start of the year, and better than the opposition has done on the day. Same reason why Hawthorn continue on their merry way when Buddy goes missing for a third of the year with a "hamstring", or Roughead does his achilles, or no tall defender not named Ryan Schoenmakers. Why Sydney can make Mitch Morton a premiership hero, rather than that softcock from Richmond they'd rather not play.

Let's pretend that a best 22, let alone a universally agreed one exists for a minute. What is the point of playing it in round 1?

Our chances of winning a flag in the next 2-3 years don't rely on Juddy or Murphy winning a Brownlow, it's when Aaron Joseph or Dylan Buckley come in to the side when they're out, and whilst may not have the same impact, the team structure, game plan and consistency don't go out the window, and we still play to a similar standard.

Wasn't worried by last night by the end of it. Fitness levels were better than I expected. Their worst quarter was worse than our worst. Forward entries were predictable but solid and almost reliable.

Pretty confident for Collingwood next week and the rest of the year.

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BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

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