The Bluerprint

Murphy - 4 contested possessions, 18 uncontested.
This really is not acceptable for a senior player. Basically avoided a lot of contests, asking teammates to get the ball and pass the ball to him so he can have a kick.

Three selective quotes. Not sure they mean much without the context and everything else he said. I think his responses today were all very good.

The reality is he must answer the questions put to him. How would the three of you respond to the actual questions put to Bolton?

1. What went wrong the third quarter?

2. It's been a tough week so you would have been pleased with the first half, what were the positives?

3. You gave them a spray at 3/4 time, did that feel good?

4. How do you coach that going forward, the gap between the good of the first half and the bad of the third quarter?

5. It looks likely you'll get the wooden spoon, how do you feel about that?

I can't believe we lost. I really thought we'd win this week... oh wait no I didn't.

The 7 goal run was shit. No denying that. Problem is these kids go into their shell when a team gets a couple of quick goals because I'm sure they just think he were go again and feel completely overwhelmed and powerless to stop it. That starts to stop as the playing group matures.

I understand the frustration at some of the blokes running around for us. Graham is player 30 something on our list. As is Kerridge. So too the likes of Rowe, O'Shea, Mullet, etc. There are reasons they're getting games. Sure not because Bolton thinks they're the way forward.

Half the side are kids of varying degrees of promise and potential. Some more advanced than others. Then in the middle of all that is about 4 or 5 blokes (maybe) who are at a decent afl level and can perform at the required level consistently. 1 of them has been out for 12 months. 2 are in their twilight. Apart from Cripps we have no one in that zone of reaching their peak this year

So am I disappointed to lose today? Yep. Every loss burns and watching plebs like Graham and Kerridge turn it over and stuff it up ad nauseam is galling. Did I expect something different? Nope. Am I going lose my shit over it? No.

2 more weeks and the season from hell ends. I have to believe this is rock bottom. I keep seeing improvements. They're there each week. You have to sift through a lot of shit to see it. You have to put up with those quarters and sometimes fill games. Its nearly over. Stay the course. Endure. Hope starts again 26th August

The players are not responsive to his motivational or coaching skills. No amount of jargon can cover that up.
You cant have the number of lapses we have if you respect the coach and what he is trying to achieve.
His after match quotes all year have been lame excuses for himself, no one takes him seriously.

Could’ve played Kerr up forward and played Charlie upfield instead of Graham.
Mullets a better player than Kerridge as well.

Who is this host of players you are talking about? Pray that there is half a dozen good afl level mids in that group, if not, well lets just say that things aren't improving in the near future! Just on that, I've been reading on here for years about how underwhelming Gibbs has been over the last decade, I'm guessing right now that Cripps wishes he didn't leave!

Bolton hanging on by a fingernail, pressure mounting, another disaster, 7 goals unanswered, players NFI what to do.

We select two ruck men then replace one with a rover its complete bedlam! What happened to the game plan to go in tall??

Here come the Bolts cliches....wow he is a great teacher

The oracle in action

"Habits are actions that are repeated over and over again. We need to build good habits."
"Our players didn’t concentrate enough."
"the effort indicators were strong"

blah blah blah

The players are not responsive to his motivational or coaching skills. No amount of jargon can cover that up.
You cant have the number of lapses we have if you respect the coach and what he is trying to achieve.
His after match quotes all year have been lame excuses for himself, no one takes him seriously.

So that bake at 3/4 time got no response?

Try again.

"It’s not about how I feel - you don’t challenge players just because I’m emotional and I’m gonna serve into players” - Bolts nailed it. Wise words a few of our supporters could take, lose a bit of the over-hysterical ranting and gain a bit of logic and perspective of where we are at this moment and stop expecting the impossible at this moment in time.

I'm not sure a quarter we got outscored 7 goals to nothing is the right context to be talking about "not expecting the impossible".

I feel that with the skeleton crew we have at the moment at the tail end of a long season consisting of tired young bodies, third rate depth matures and little other options fit and available, it's inevitable that the focus and execution under fatigue won't be consistent. I choose to think of the first half and the final quarter to some extent as more indicative of what we'll show next season with a full fit list and more development into our young players. They are learning, they will continue to learn. Hopefully some supporters learn a thing or two in the off season too.

Fact of life. The majority of things you do in life are learned habits. It’s up to the individual to change them for the better if needed. Coaches or bosses can only do so much.