This is really starting to shit me, its all players up for marking/spoiling contests and nobody stays down, happens in the forward line, backline and midfield. When the ball comes to ground that’s where most of our players are, still trying to get off the ground.

Anyway, was happy with Santy kicking a goal with his first kick, but was it really his first kick? I was sitting in the 2nd level Ponsford stand above the goals and swear Santy had a quick kick in a pack in the goalsquare which went straight into a player during the first qrt….

Lack of run, lack of numbers at the contest, appalling disposal, is what killed us, not indivual players. It was a shockingly poor team effort and one I suspect that Dennis will address during the week.


For what it is worth, I rated Campos game as being a lot 'harder' than Nicks, wonder how come Campo got all bandaged up after a 1st quarter incident.

Our midfield was under pressure all day; kicks just couldn't hit the target. The forward line gets balls kicked at their feet, over their heads. Was it midfield pressure or just poor skills?? I say poor skills, its killing us... How can it be so bad, this is meant to be the top level of football, not the Diamond Valley League.

Maybe Stevens has had enough of doing everything and just taken a page of Campos book???
Campo showed no defensive output neither did any of them... thats why the ball went from our forward line straight into our backline like a rocket.

Kouta is a ball watcher unless the ball is within a 2 meter radius.. it rubs off when the leaders arent treking back...

In my opinion Stevens gave up and became another of our midfielders today.....
Were a ship that hits rocks and we cant steer it clear...

There's a lot of crap on the rest of this site, and without sounding condescending, some of it is just emotional claptrap.

While there is room to be emotional, let's sit down and look at where we went wrong.

1. Midfield Pressure (or lack thereof)

Our midfielders are amongst the worst defensively I've seen. Players in that side could not play one-on-one football. I don't care if Stevens had 30 possessions, I don't care if Camporeale had 32 possessions, half of them were cheap kicks. There was very little defensive pressure applied by these two in particular. Stevens did better and tried to get his own ball but Camporeale, my blood pressure is rising...

2. Team Play

What do I mean? The inability of the team to string bits of play together was very disappointing. Players seemed very selfish, with a few exceptions - namely Simpson, Waite, Lappin, French and Thornton. The midfield was particularly poor, players heard footsteps and succumbed to pressure, even when there were no players around.

3. Half-Forward Line

We lack a CHF and that was glaringly obvious, forward line failed to create a contest at ground level and this was painful to watch. We also kick it to big packs where the Tigers just ran it out in numbers from HB. Why do all our players lead to the same flank/pocket??? This just creates numbers at a contest to our DISADVANTAGE.

That's at least 3 - in that order of disappointment.

I thought the following were disappointing for various reasons:

Houlihan - did not deliver with his usual precision, seemed more flustered than usual, and his awful left foot turnover in the first quarter was really quite poor.

Johnson - did not win the ball at all and caught on the rebound with his pace. Foot disposal was worse today than normal.

Camporeale - chased easy kicks off HB, not damaging enough with his possessions. I don't care if he had 32 possessions, how much damage did they do?

Stevens - Ditto. Though he was less guilty of playing for easy kicks. Desperately needs support.

Koutoufides - defensively is very easily exploited. His man runs off him and he's reluctant to chase. He might win the ball well at the clearances but today he was quite poor, particularly defensively.

Positives

There were a few today, in that our younger players were the ones that stood up to some extent.

Simpson - best game for our club, worked hard all day, ran to create links, provide blocks, went for the ball, but no support - his kick that went astray was because there was no one to kick it to and he was under immense pressure. Where was the support? Selfish play from others, nothing he could do. Hit targets by hand and foot, something very few could do today.

Waite - Tried hard but too much was left to him. Disposal by foot needs to continue to improve.

Thornton - Showed what leadership was about when disgusted at losing contest, made awful clanger but that is rare from Bret.

Lappin - tried hard but again overwhelmed.

We need players who want to make it, Denis could do better than dropping a big name player in order to show that chasing cheap kicks and not playing for the team is unacceptable.

No don't agree there. Even our most skilled players who usually hit targets failed to do so today which I thought was due to the pressure put on them by the tigers.

Simmo might've done well but his opponent was Krakeour who kicked 5

Need someone like Chris Newman to be another back pocket option along with Carrots

Synbad for someone who is so well connected and knowledgable about the game you sure let your biases shine through on occasions. Stevens has a few below par games and it Campos fault

Sunday 24 April 2005:
I actually don't have a huge problem with Kouta and think its important he stays at this stage but not as Captain.

killpies, its about SETTING THE TONE... the tone hasnt been set by the club leaders in the first 6 games. Youd have to say Stevo has slaved his guts out in the midfield prior to that.. defensively.
Well its time for Stevo to be human and follow the tone that has been set.
Thats what happens.. if the club is being run by downhill skiiers thats the tine the indians will follow.. That means we have a band of downhill skiing indians now.

Get rid of Camporeale , Kouta and Whitnall and exchange them with Ball , Ling and Brad Johnston and wed have a much more competitive outfit. .. you cant do it with one or two. (Lappin and Stevens week in week out.. you need a core group.


Setting the tone.... and youll see alot more of this if Koutas interview on 3aw is a reflection on what he thinks.. "Yeah .. you know.. it wasnt a good day blah blah blah"
these guys need to feel alittle hurt. like T Bird gets hurt when he is beaten.. it hurst him more than it hurts us up on the stands..
Who is going to be the one that draws a line in the sand and says ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!????.. well it wont be Kouta Whitnall and Campo.. wanna know why??? Cos they dont believe in it.
You have to believe in where youre going...!!!
Campo and Kouta dont believe they will be part of anything big.
Whitnall doesnt believe in himself...he just doesnt think he will be Pagans Carey at Carlton.. well just be a fit Lance, Lance...

Where do you think were heading with these blokes????

I have some true, accurate & insightful analysis of the game yesterday courtesy of the Herald-Sun. Apparently Setanta had 1 kick, which was goal which we all know. But he somehow managed 2 clangers as well...

Can someone please explain how this would come about?

Protestant editors?

Id love to know why you might think Lance has shown leadership.. Point me to it.
Wiggins???? Well Campo Kouta etc have killed blokes like Wiggins because they dont have a defensive bone in their collective bodies and the ball comes down at a million miles an hour.
Wiggins will stay .. Whitnall wont.. Campo on 1/4 of what he is on right now.. Kouta will see out the last year of his contract and adios... !!!
Harsh reality is there is no apparent captain. Stevens is as good as we have .. but i know T Bird should get it at some stage... he actually urts for the club.
Hard to see a guy hurting next you you and youre still bludging. Thats the worst crime in my opinion.. Wiggo hurts too...
I feel sorry for Wiggo.. dont tar him with the same brush as the ones on 500k plus who do sweet FA. Wiggo goes to bed with his Carlton jumper on and i reckon he did ok yesterday.