and yet we only lost by a couple of kicks with key injuries (ruckman) against the best ruckman in the league and to a top 4 team - wow we must be a rabble.

Kick straight and you would all be talking us up.

Richmond have turned it around though, not too late to jump on board.

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

I didn't ask you for an insiders view.

I asked what YOU THINK.

Clearly you do think he's instructed them to slow it down which is amazing.

My view is that the players aren't capable of carrying out his instructions at the moment.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Our forward structure allowed us to create plenty of chances to score. Waite missed 3 and they were not from deep in the pockets. Henderson got a couple from directly in front. Simpson hit the post from as good as directly in front. Gartlett missed and easy mark leading straight down the middle. Gibbs missed from in front. Thornton got 2 from in front.

All our goals came from our forwards and none from mids.

Freo got us on the rebound all night. It was their gameplan. Let us inside our own fifty where they crowded. Wait for an error/turnover and then bolt. They know we make too many errors in crowded pressure situations and they made sure we paid the price.

Ratts has to weed out those who cant handle the pressure and those that make too many mistakes.

After that purge, there might not be many left!

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

it really astounds me this blame Ratts crap - 7 points in the first 4 were easy and 6 you'd expect to get at the least

but we missed them all - nothing to do with the coach and a lot to do with taking your chances.

Kruiser goes down and then the whole structure is rooted because for a lot of the time we had T-Bird rucking - or do you honestly think this made no difference to the structure of our side?

Barlow kicking 4 killed us last night - other than that I thought the side won the battles - despite the loss of Kruise - except for kicking for goal. Poor kicking is poor football but it is not poor coaching.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

Danny - I am sure you can see that coaching is very reactive.. please tell me where Hendo and Waite could lead other than the pockets due to conjection in our forward 50.. this isn't the players fault!

I agree players are to blame for poor kicking for goal... but as a coach or manager you need to re-jig your game plan when our talls werent taking marks... the decision to isolate our talls came late in the third qtr and the forward line was not so crowded anymore.. why did it take a half a game of football to realise this?

You can't blame the players for poor coaching.

because by about halfway in the third Sandilands was not covering the same amount of space and the side had begun to understand how to use T-bird to be a strength not a weakness - which was good coaching given the loss of Kruise. The second killed us as we really struggled to get over the loss of Kruise and having to ruck T-Bird - even in the last at crucial times we lost ruck contests (often ending in a free to them) which continued to hurt us.

I thought the forward structure actually gave us a heap of opportunities last night - A heap but we missed shots, we fumbled, we over ran the ball etc.

Just as a side note I actually think the structure was also weak because both Waite and Hendo are not stay at home forward. I would have played Hammer (as I said to my brother before the game, I was pissed he was not selected) as a stay at home top of the goal square forward.

Perhaps the 3 amigos worked for a time but will not work forever?

Perhaps we need that 3rd tall?

But on the night I still think the side did very well except for the need to block and protect and ball use.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

Do you think a forward structure is the pattern they all stand in at a ball up? I am not with you on that. Even using that theory cant those in the line lead out of 45o angles and have the last guy go straight up the middle.

If they had nowhere to lead how did they manage so many easy shots at goal.

Freo had a good plan. They pushed back hard and they spread hard when they won the ball. We took em on and beat them in every area accept the bit where we kick it though the big sticks. Those who missed the goals AFL players should kick are the ones who should feel responsible for the loss.

Yep, it was mentioned by a few in the prematch thread that perhaps Hammer might have been a better selection than Tbird seeing as though PB was back with Jamo in defence.

As far as 3 talls up forward, as long as they are mobile and work hard for 4 qtrs presenting and working cohesively into space.
I'd like to see Yarran play more up the ground to utilise his natural skills and footy nous.
While Garlett remains fresh and fit he must stay IMO.

Poor conversion is not the blame of the coach but the players who should be nailing those shots. several games this year we have stuffed the game because of poor conversion and you can look at teams like colling wood re the games they have dropped or should have won (not drawn0 are again due to poor conversion.

The Team did okay considering by Half time we where what 2 goals 12 and 7 points in the first qrt.

Also loosing Kruz in the first qrt hurt us structually having jacobs tag teamed by Sanidalnds (best ruck in the competition) and kepler bradly as back up.

If you heard Sandilands comments he believed it helped freo immensily with kruz going down so they could work over jacobs.

Freo is a much better team do i believe we should have won we should have but kicking 2 goals 12 you will loose more than you win. same happened when we played Brisbane we kicked ourselves out of the game.

must be deflating for the players who get the ball in the fwd 50 fo a chance for a goal to see it pissed up against the wall for a point time and time again.

I agree with Dannyboy this game the player tried hard for little reward.

the games vs Bombers / Hawks / pies / North i was far more pissed off about

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CFC TAC Squad everyone over 25 must be traded sounds like Loguns Run

[quote="dannyboy"]we should have had 4 in the first - we didn't

so blame the coach


we know there main weapon is sandilands

Kruise goes down

so blame the coach


how many were their? Not mpI'ma !@#$%& I guarantee it.

I was actually proud of them (after the first when they missed everything)

It was a game when if it could go wrong it did

3 years ago it would have been a 10 goal loss


but the lads pushed and pushed and pushed

and could have won


and I still don't know how but they did cos they gave it their all

be pissed off by all means

but be proud.

I know I left proud.


that doesn't mean there are not some players I think are not up to it - there are - and yet still we plugged away![/quote


NONSENSE

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If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!

I don't understand this. So you think Ratts tells the players to all gather in the forward 50 so Waite and Hendo have to lead to the pockets?

They lead to the pockets because we were playing along the boundary. That brings up the next question. Do you think Ratten instructs them to play along the boundary or are they doing that because there's no run through the middle of the ground?

Look, the players are down on form and confidence at the moment and when that happens they play safe, they don't run off as much and they kick along the safety of the boundary line so if they stuff it up we can force it over for a throw in.

The coach can give a game plan, but he can't control whether the players follow the structure out on the field.

Some of you make out its like a chess game and the players are set on the field exactly where Ratts wants them when in fact they're human and follow their own decision making process on the field.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Last night was totally different to the north game as we took the game on more

But the similarites with this game and the Brisbane game were there for all to see

We beat them all over the park and lost it on costly turnovers in the forward fifty and they hurt us on the rebound


That surface at Etihad doesn't help I know it is the same for both side but geez the ball kept bouncing away from us last night

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

This is illogical. Clearly, we don't win most KPIs, by definition. The mistake you're making is you don't know what the KPIs are. You know what some PIs are, but you don't know which ones are key.

If we won the key ones, we'd win the game.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!!!

After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F .........
Visit http://fromthemoshpit.com/

BTW I dont think Ratts should be sacked I do think he should be doing better.. I just hope we make the finals as if not then I do want him sacked.. I reckon he will resign anyway.

I am sure i heard somewhere that his last year of his contract was conditional, making finals was one clause.

Arent capable? How long before they will be u reckon?

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

Sorry, should have clarified that more at the time.

They're certainly capable of carrying out his game plan, but at the moment I believe they're down on form and confidence so aren't playing as they should. They're playing safe rather than taking the game on, which is what the game plan is about.

Now if you want to have a go at Ratts, its not about poor game plans and congested forward lines, its about getting the best out of his players and getting them up and playing the style of game he wants them too.

It worked for a month or so when we played good football, but we've gone off the boil. The challenge for Ratts is getting them back on track.

_________________
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

At this point in time I am more concerned about our goal kicking coach than I am about Ratts.

We are kicking like Collingwood :/
Has Brian Taylor been coaching our boys????????

We lost rounds 12 and 13 last year too, the last by 69pts. Is it this time of the year we're into heavy training mode? "Track watchers" may be able to answer that. Might be why so had no spring in their step. While that is the coach there's nothing wrong with that. Have to do it at some stage of the season. It's something rarely taken into account.