Blue Sombrero wrote:
So what are you saying? I am saying that this list is nowhere near as bad as some are saying
The list is almost as good as the 2010-2012 list that was only just good enough to get into the finals twice in that time and win 1 game. And again in 2013. If Anrew Walker had ben paid that free they would have played in the prelim and won. Once you are in the GF, anything can and does happen.
And when Judd (AKA Cripps) retired we dropped back down to the bottom and forced a full list rebuild due to the lack of talent. We had a shit coach and a shit game plan. We have more talent now than then and hopefully a better coach
Well that's a scary thought. That's what Richmond said in the lead up to 2017
Unfortunately, I personally don't share your optimism on some of those player comparisons.That's OK. We all look at things differently and that's why it's fun coming on here where people like yourself argue a solid case instad of attacking the poster. And to be frank, that game style we had with the 'mosquito' fleet. Could not be produced with this team, there are too many slow players Armfield, Yarran and Garlett were the only genuine speedsters in that lot. Eddie was quick but stayed at home. You only need a couple to break the lines like Simmo, who is one paced but has a tank and the guts to take the game on, SPS or Fisher who are pretty quick in a straight line The ball can do the rest.and players that lack the basic fundamentals. Like hitting a target. Teams hit targets when they are in the clear. Even Richmond collapsed under the pressure in Rd 1 after getting off to a flier. We lost that game after winning 3/4 of it.
Out of interest. How many players in our team would you feel comfortable that if the ball was in their hands they would either hit a target, kick a goal or do something special to change the game? I would feel pretty uncomfortable that they would all do it 100% of the time, which might be your expectation. Look at Richmond's disposal stats in the first quarter against the next three quarters. Teams make mistakes under physical and scoreboard pressure. When we were outscoring them, we made fewer mistakes and they made more. In the first when they blitzed us, they made fewer and we made more. Let me say that I am comfortable all our players can operate at a level of efficiency in the 70-80% range at some stage of the season. They won't always do it every week but we don't need them to all do it all the time. Even Cripps had three shite weeks in a row last year by his standards.
They are all fair points.
And I don't expect our players to hit targets 100% of the time (unless you only average 5 disposals a game). But when the game is in the balance or we are starting to get run over, we severely lack enough players who can rise to the pressure and get their jobs done. We have seen this week in and week out over the last umpteenth years but more noticeable the last 2 years, no matter how talented they were drafted to be. And our midfield has been the blatantly obvious area that requires improvement. The connection from half back to actually hitting a target in the forward 50 and the defensive pressure when the ball is rebounded out of our forward 50 is our weakest parts of the game IMO. And not far behind is our clearances to players in space and if we want to be compared to Richmond then the rushing of players through the centre to apply the offensive forward pressure and rushing back defensively to create turnovers is some what non existent as a whole.
Again, IMO I believe this is because of two things:
1. Lack of skill to hit targets, especially when the rush is on (probably the biggest way we get caught out is on the turnover through the middle followed by bombing into the forward 50 rather than working the ball around until they can hit a target).
2. Having the players in the middle that have that true burst speed to tackle and apply pressure and creativity/vision when they have the ball to hit players in the forward 50 (like Richmond do).
For the round 1 game I think we did well to hold them back and we appeared to have control of the game at stages (to little advantage though). But apart from a quick burst for about 5min at the start of the 4th, we were never really a chance of winning. And I walked away from that one feeling like we have not progressed at all to be honest. Especially because they would've been about a month behind us in their working loads due to finals. The two stats from that game that back my points are tackles and disposal efficiency, both areas we always lack and where we got smashed again.
And I also get we are still a young team and we haven't got the Richmond, Collingwood and GWS midfield players that are always doing freakish things to the advantage of the team. Like tapping to advantage and having players knowing where teammates are so they can blindly hit targets. But when are we going to see signs of this kind of play starting to build with these players. Although this type of footy takes time to develop, have we go the right players that can do this. Cripps, Walsh, Martin and SPS can (even though I'd like to see Martin at half forward and SPS at half back), but for me everyone else in the middle has question marks above their heads and are a long way behind them.