keogh wrote:
And the lack of leadership on the field
The inability of someone to tag either Heeney or Warner
The lack of any tactics to change Walsh’s role to reduce the effectiveness of Jordan’s tag
Shocking ball movement
Pea hearts everywhere
Face it everyone
Our last year of footy has been putrid in terms of ball movement and leadership
How much more evidence do we need
I'm not quite as doomsday as Keogh. In fact, we rarely are on the same page but I can't argue with some of his points here. When we need our leaders to step up, they don't do it often enough when momentum goes against us.
Good leaders don't just show their mettle when times are good. It's when the tide is against you that they influence outcomes.
There's lots of comments about our bottom 6 and the performance of Evans, White etc. They're rookies. They're on minimum wages. They are not expected to win us games. They are there to supplement the list and to fill a minor role when required or to develop their deficiencies in the VFL. FWIW, I thought Evans was better than a number of higher credentialed players. He played on Blakey who had his lowest possession tally for the year. Evans did a job and did it well. White had a shocker but he has come a long way in a short time.
The fact is Warner and Heeney took the game away from us. It wasn't White or Evans playing on them, And they didn't just have "their moments". They both made solid contributions where our midfielders had plenty of opportunities to limit their outcomes and couldn't/wouldn't do it.
In the first quarter where we had some clearance ascendancy, it wasn't due to our ground level mids. Of our 9 clearances for the quarter, 8 of them came from Pitto and Harry. It's a pattern that our mids drop off too much and it has a severely detrimental impact on our outcomes. Collingwood second half, Adelaide belting, Sydney loss.
I wasn't at the game so I unfortunately can't give a more accurate assessment of the match ups out of screen but clubs are too often using the captains lack of accountability to beat us. The smart teams are realising you don't tag Cripps. You take away our inside/outside conduit (Walsh) and let your best player burn Cripps going the other way.
Heeney went to Cripps in the third quarter and won first possessions. He'd then drift forward and release a half forward to the midfield and do damage ahead of the ball.
In the last quarter we tried to limit Heeney with Hewett but Heeney once again went to Cripps creating a 2 on 1. It left a Sydney mid free so George had to drop off.
Crippa attended 96% of centre bounces Friday and had 1 centre clearance. It's not sustainable. in fact it's piss poor.
When he's being beaten we need to push him forward and give Lord or someone else the opportunity. He needs to be accountable and recognise his deficiencies. Don't wait for the runner to come out and do what's right for the team.
I felt for Cerra and Hewett. They bust their guts both ways for no reward.
We need to change it up more when we're being exposed. Crippa AND the coaches need to recognise he isn't superman.
So I wouldn't drop Evans. He did his job. He made mistakes but our million dollar a year full forward dropped a sitter in the middle of the ground in the last 4 minutes when the game was there to be won. Not to mention spraying a set shot from 30m, into the pie stand. Walsh again coughed up a defensive 50 stoppage goal and had minimal influence. The captain called Harry out from a ruck contest on the wing when Harry was there and proceeded to give away the free kick. Then failed to show any accountability for the game.
The lesser credentialed players are the easy target.
Good teams have good leadership. Being good in 2 phases of the game and totally disregarding the other isn't leadership.
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