There is a reason it is near impossible to lure guys like Longmire and Clarkson. They are the best and their clubs are loath to let them go.

Interesting I've read and heard a lot of experts lately praising Longmuir. I don't hear similar praise for Tesgue.

Teague is an offense first coach and yet from a scoring perspective we are impotent after half time , tell me that is not a worrying sign.

The general theme I get reading posts is
Where not far off it
Charlie will help
Get Papley or Williams and we will be ok

Folks in terms of making top 4 we are light years away
Light years
Wasn’t Martin meant to give us that run through the middle
Cuningham wasn’t he supposed to provide that
Blah
Blah
Blah

I goal from 42 forward 50 entries
It doesn’t help players can’t kick set shots or trying the hero banana when the drop punt on the run is better % kick
But it’s more than that
The game as a spectacular is shit.
We have too many blokes who don’t take risks.
Safe programming footy
And we don’t retain it well enough in our forward half
It comes down to ability
Eventually the dam wall was going to burst last night

I agree, but we also need to keep adding hardened running players to the list.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Very good post Rhino.

We’ve recruited Cunners, SPS, Fisher, Dow and LOB as midfielders. Minus Dow, they’re all recruited predominantly for their outside games. Cunners, Fisher and Dow have speed which we lack. Cunners, SPS, Fisher and LOB are good ball users which we also lack through the middle. Yet we are refusing to play these guys as midfielders. Cunners and Fisher have been re-purposed as forwards. SPS re-purposed as a defender. Dow has got a couple of runs in the midfield but notice the last two weeks when the going got tough (last quarter) he was moved out to a forward flank. LOB has not played at all this year.

My question is why haven’t these guys been played in the middle? Are they just not good enough to do it or are we afraid to mix up the midfield mix? If these guys aren’t up to it, then it’s a recruiting and development issue. They are all young and should not be written off. But comparative to their draft classes they are falling behind as midfielders. If these guys do have the potential to be quality AFL midfielders, then what are we waiting for? Our midfield is slow and lacks skill so why not try these guys in there. Bring in Cunners next week and play him in a rotation with Fisher where they both play 40% midfield, 40% forward and 20% off the ground. What do we have to lose? We can’t make finals anymore.

After digesting that rubbish I seen last night I now think we have taken a massive step backwards.
And there is only one person to blame (plus the board who got trigger happy appointing him). The Teague train is exactly what it is, one way and no deviation.
1. We are in a worse position win/loss wise this year than we were last year under Teague. COVID is no excuse as we are all in the same boat.
2. The game plan of playing the seniors players over youth development is showing how flawed it is. As the old boys get tired or are having a bad game we get walked over with these 30pt swings and the kids are getting exposed. In the last quarter I seen Dow just jogging between two GWS defenders as they cleared the ball out with ease. If the players had the belief Teague keeps on talking about, this would never happen.
4. What is his plan when Murphy, Curnow, Simpson and Betts all go? FWIW - Curnow is the only one holding his head up at the moment in my opinion.
3. The amount of games we have won is all at the expenses of our youth development. As pointed out, other teams are able to reinvent players, move them around during games and play them to their strengths (Jones was our last). So far Teague has killed, Dow, SPS, O'Brien and possibly Harry (he needs to be dragged and taught how to kick). All high draft picks, wasted and if they go to another team with better systems and put in a position to play at their strengths, they will all make us look stupid.
4. Why the hell is Cripps not being rested, the bloke is cooked and for what - maybe we just scrape into the finals to get flogged by fitter more prepared teams. Personally I rather see the team get better as a whole and not make the finals, over making the finals the way we play now.
5. More forwards will not fix our problems, with 49 entries last night for 8 marks inside 50 resulting in only 5 goals, it's the delivery that's the issue. Teague needs to realise that our engine room is light, inexperienced and dominated by one player. Playing Murphy and Curnow alongside Cripps is not helping anyone, other than the marketing department. Get the kids in there, let them get smashed around, it will only make them tougher. SPS is a rodeo rider FFS, he's grown up getting smashed around.
6. And we all know McGovern is his lovechild, but that shouldn't mean he gets automatic recalls every week, especially when he has virtually no output. What did he have, 8 possessions, no goals, no points, no goal assists, 1 mark inside 50 and 3 turnovers.

For me, I can't stand listening to Teague's pressers anymore, I am sick of the "belief" BS, not playing for 4 quarters and any other excuse he has for not changing things up. If he wants to show he can coach at this level then it'd be in his best interests to start blooding the kids for the rest of the year.
And make some wild changes for the sake of it. Put Harry or McGovern down back, try SPS on HFF rotating in the middle, try Dow on the backline, put Gibbons in the middle permanently, give Owies a chance or Keep TDK playing until the end of the year. I really don't know anymore, just try something other than playing all our senior players and not making any changes during a game.

Going forward, the club needs to not only target mature age inside footballers (not athletes) for the midfield but possibly a few seniors at the end of their careers that come from successful clubs to replace our seniors. i.e. a Hodge like role. Someone who can coach on-field and drive everyone around them to lift their head when other teams are starting to get the run on them. Unfortunately our seniors only know defeat and loss.

Sorry guys............rant over.

A Teague after the match presser reminds me of Mathias Cormann interview
As Barry Cassidy said he is the Chris Tavare of politics

Doesn’t give anything exciting and plain @#$%&! boring

We also lost 6 of those games, with the final losing margin being less than those swings. 6 games where we had the game for 3 quarters, and lost it in 1. Win most of those and you're top 4.

I'd be disappointed if the players aren't shown stats like these. I understand that its all about next week, and growth etc. But the playes need to understand the scale of their lost opportunity.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

Anyone know how often we've outscored an opponent by 19+ in a quarter? At a guess I'd say Q1 vs Hawks and Cats, maybe one of the Qs against GCS or Melbourne... Richmond?

Answering my own question:

Geelong q1
Melbourne q4
Hawthorn q1
Bulldogs q1
Bulldogs q4
North q1

I didn't note the exact margins but most were in the 19-22 range.

Time to dominate a q2 or q3!

Interesting, seeing as we were known for slow starts early on.

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he has to change game plan i hope he does wat fagan from lions did and that is watch every game that they lost by close margins (6/7 games) learn and train in preseason to correct this .

That and recruit on-field leadership.

I like this post

I saw Dow jogging many a time.
That will be to his demise if he doesn't run harder to pressure of to be the connection of the next play.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

It's very concerning.
You have to think, is he not fit enough, is he not playing in a position he wants/knows how too or is he just not interested in playing for the club/coach anymore.
Either way, the net result does not look good for him or us.

Dow has little intensity and not sure you can change this

O’Brien has been disappointing

If your picks 3 & 10 end up being busts, that is a big setback

What is the point of your rebuild if you can’t nail your early picks

SPS is not looking much better as a pick 5

I'm not so sure it's just a picking issue.
In all 3 players they have had considerable drops in both form and/or opportunity (although Dow has been injured) this season. And it's hard to asses form of players in the second division they are currently playing in so I'm leaning more to a lack of opportunity.
Dow in 2018 played 20 games averaging 14.2 disposals, 2.6 clearances and 3.2 tackles per game. Then in 2019 he played 19 games averaging 14.3 disposals, 2.6 clearances and 2.7 tackles per game. This year he has only played 3 games averaging 9 disposals, 1.3 clearances and 1 tackle. A small window but that is a massive drop for a kid who started off so well.
O'Brien in 2018 played 18 games averaging 13.9 disposals, 2.1 rebound 50s and 1.4 tackles. Then in 2019 he played 17 games averaging 12.4 disposals, 1.1 rebound 50s and 1.1 tackles. Yet he still can't get a game in 2020.
SPS in 2017 played 20 games averaging 14 disposals, 2.1 clearances, 4.8 tackles and kicked 10 goals. Then in 2018 he played 22 games averaging 16.1 disposals, 1.3 clearances, 4.3 tackles and kicked 5 goals. Then in 2019 he played 22 games averaging 19.1 disposals, 2.1 clearances, 4.4 tackles and kicked 4 goals. Finally this year he has played 13 games averaging 12.5 disposals, 1 clearance, 2.2 tackles and 0 goals. It's safe to say moving him to the backline has not only killed his development but his confidence also as we all have been witnessing.
I think it's pretty obvious where the issue lies and it's not out on the field.
The part that boggles my mind is that O'Brien was playing well, learning his craft in the backline. Then he is dropped to put SPS in the backline even though he was drafted as a mid/fwd. Then instead of rotating our kids who have already played several years in the middle they are pushed out for our senior players at the end of their careers and everyone is now questioning their skills and ability to make it at AFL level. Yet lazy footballers like McKay and McGovern get the call up every week they are not injured.

WOW

The numbers are jaw dropping.

Ive got to bookmark this.

It can't be the list Just can't. There's so many early draft picks.

Teague needs help.
Coaching panel needs injection from successful regimes.
Now. There's plenty who have been let go coz of Covid 19.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Dow is coming from a fair way back this year thanks to his injuriy set backs and is unlikely to catch up with only 3 games to go.

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I’m going to be a little ruthless here on some players but I feel it needs t9 be said.
I felt Dow was introduced a little too quickly and we didn’t make him earn the spot like others.
Cottrell re-inclusion has me scratching my head. Kid lacks polish and needs to do a fair bit of work to stay on the list, let alone get games in front of say an O’Brien.
I wasn’t a fan of McGovern and he hasn’t done anything to change that. How did we make him earn his spot back this week? After that effort, I expect him to be dropped for the Sydney game. Let’s see if Teague agrees.