Oh camel. You prick

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#DonTheStash

Gotta say, Ive hated our game style the last 3 or so weeks. Way way way too defensive. Been to every game at the G and we just do the same crap...... push too far up the ground and then have no options to kick too when we force a turn-over (something we're getting very good at doing).

No wonder we're the worst in the league for inside 50's and scoring shots.....we don't have anybody to kick too!

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

We started this year with a handball happy style game plan that failed miserably, mainly due to personnel but credit to Bolton for changing things around that at least has us competitive. I don't mind spending this season playing defensive as it will prove to be of future benefit but you are correct, it won't win you many games so I'll be very concerned if at this time next year we're in a similar position.

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“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” ― Richard Feynman

You've just described step 1 of an effective plan.

Step 2 will be improving what we do with the ball after step 1 (bolster midfield).

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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

George Harrison takes a stand.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Can someone explain to me why the mass of coaches can't teach them how to defend and how to attack at the same time ?

I would say it is harder to present up to the ball as a forward then it is to defend. The reasons are pretty obvious.

We have Casboult, who has never been a big goal scorer, and a couple of second year players as our permanent talls up there. We don't have the "cattle"...yet.

Isn't that pretty much the same as every other team?!

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Defence ladder over the past 27 games:

1. Sydney 2031
2. Bulldogs 2055
3. GWS 2145
4. Adelaide 2154
5. Geelong 2168
6. Port 2169
7. Richmond 2335
8. Melbourne 2361
9. StKilda 2370
10. Collingwood 2385
11. Carlton 2424
12. Hawthorn 2462
13. Fremantle 2545
14. West Coast 2611
15. Essendon* 2645
16. Gold Coast 2655
17. North 2658
18. Brisbane 3416

When I next see you you're a dead man.

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Congratulations CK95

There's very little similarity between Ratts game plan and Bolts.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

Patience. We are still hostage to just how bad our bottom 6 is. Sure I'd like us to score more goals, but the defence first is the Hawks blueprint that Bolts knows and understands. Look at how quickly they moved to create a back 6 of young blokes who will hopefully play together for the next 5-8 years. I'm sure that's what was behind the Tuohy trade. Trade out currency knowing the aim is to build a new back 6.

I'm sure there was an interview earlier this year where it was discussed that after the Port game, they went back to a simpler game plan that the kids could understand.

I think what we will start to see over the next year is times in games when they do switch over to a more attacking style. In Bolts I trust.

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Everything before the word "but" is horseshit - J Snow

We still have another clean out and batch of kids to come in next year. Depth and talent takes time to build, as will the results whilst everyone matures.

so BB has built our defense ,his next job is to build strong quick midfield

I am certain BB has a long term strategy and that's why he has an open ended contract.
Had he been given three years as a starter, he's have gone about this much differently.
I hate that we can't kick 100 points to save our lives but I love that we haven't been beaten by 100 points for a very long time when once it was becoming pretty common.
It looks as though we will have a solid back six to select from a group of ten young and senior players (not including Rowe and Simpson for their ages).
The midfield is in dire straits. Apart from Cripps, Fisher and SPS, we haven't really got another five to ten year mid in the group. We have several maybes and the others in Gibbs, Murphy are at the tail end of their careers. Kerridge will stay but the Grahams and co of the next tier are not going to take us up the ladder.
The forward line is a shambles and has two genuine prospects playing at the moment in Charlie and Jack but the rest are fringe players. McKay and Kerr are no certainties.

Back to Bolts and the game plan.

He is developing a plan based on defence because that is our strength at the moment. He promised us a running, attacking, adventurous game this year but we haven't seen it. I think he thought payers like Smedts, Polson, Pickett and Boekhurst might have come on a little faster or better. We rarely run the ball now and one can hear the frustration in the stands when we won't go through the middle even when we have a player running free through the corridor (and it happens).

The long term pain will be worth it if we draft well and trade well and I include Gibbs in that equation of we can get a two for one. If, however, we can't change to a more attacking football we will become just another team like StKilda and Freo under Ross Lyon that thought keeping an opposition team to seventy points was the secret of winning a flag.

BTW, there was nothing wrong with Ratt's game plan. It got us to within a few points of a prelim with cattle no better than the ones we have now.

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

Might want to come up with some ways to move the ball forward and start working on them.

Also might want to work out a way to stop teams that run and attack the pressed up zone

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

watching Brisbane play don't anyone say you can't teach kids to defend AND attack at the same time

Brisbanes team defence is why they are bottom. Front runners galore. At some point they need to improve that, apart from a couple of games, we have the structure covered, now for a better midfield for the attacking side to come.

Yep, they're like St Kilda. When they're winning the ball, they're world beaters while they run ahead of the ball. Take the clearances away from them and you can take the game off them. (Like we did today but we couldn't capitalise)

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Brisbane have got a pretty decent midfield... easier said than done taking the clearances away from them

they defended when they had to in the second half when we challenged... we'd have won if their defence was weak