17th Premiership wrote:
I’m hoping this is another very teachable moment for the players, culturally.
We’ve already had a couple this season and it’s pretty much the same message: if you drop the ball even for 5mins, it’s over. If we get ahead of ourselves (and feel it’s ok to drop the intensity, even for a few minutes), it’s over.
I think we have definitely improved since last year. I don’t buy all the rubbish info of the list. Kennedy, Setterfield, SPS, Cunningham all on the fringe have all improved significantly. Weitering is in AA form. The big forwards have all been much better, esp when working well together, although we def need more from each of them for longer. And Martin is a massive recruit as good as pretty much any of the others cited.
But the key ingredient for us is, and has been for a while, intensity.
Even when we had Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Krueger and Fev in full flight we were never really a Premiership challenging team mainly b/c only Judd brought 100% intensity for 100% of the time.
Against the Hawks, we were unrelenting for most of the first quarter but then I suspect we took our foot off the gas ever so slightly, which allowed the Hawks the opportunity to settle and take the initiative which we were never able to recover.
This, more than any specific personnel, is the biggest issue at this point. We are not vying for a Premiership. We are looking to improve so that we are in a position to vie for the flag next year and in the coming 5-6 years.
I believe we will get a big name at the end of the year, if we keep performing at or better than we have (eg Josh Kelly who might get squeezed out of GWS). But it won’t be worth much if we don’t become a bit more like the great champions of our game, eg. J Selwood who would sell their own grandmother just to win a coin toss!
Fantastic post 17th. I agree with it completely.
R1: Did not show up with the required intensity for the first quarter and half. Fell a long way behind. Worked back into it late but the damage was already done. That was teachable moment number one.
R2: Carbon copy of round 1 for the first quarter a half (didn’t show up with the required intensity). Melbourne smacked us around the ball early. Worked back into it but ultimately cost ourselves a win (which we are now ruing) due to the start. Players did not learn from round 1. Teachable moment number 2.
R3: Came out with fantastic intensity and effort against a good time on their home deck. Got the 4 points, despite a flat finish (which I think was less intensity based but more about losing structure and not knowing how to seal the deal). This should have provided the players with the positive affirmation that if you bring the intensity you can beat anyone.
R4: Ditto to round 3. Came out with great intensity and dominated Essendon** in every relevant stat under the sun. Should have won by 3-4 goals but our execution let us down on the night. Still won so should again provide positive affirmation as to the benefits of playing with intensity.
R5: Carbon copy of rounds 1 and 2. Did not show up with any intensity against the Saints. Smacked around the ball early again. Worked back into it but too little, too late. Teachable moment number 3.
R6: Came with 4 quarters of great intensity against the Dogs. Best win I’ve seen in a long time. Should be the benchmark and provide again positive affirmation of what we can achieve when we play with hunger and intensity.
R7: Thought the intensity was there against Port. Lost largely due to some poor execution late and also Port are just a quality side. There’s no shame in losing to better sides if we bring the intensity - I can live with that because then it’s all about execution and talent. We are continuing to improve both of those facets of our game.
R8: Great intensity vs North for a quarter. Second quarter dropped the intensity and let a struggling team back into the game. Had to fight it out in the second half but ultimately got over the line. Teachable moment number 4 - if you drop the intensity you can let even the most out of form team in the competition back into a game.
R9: Great intensity early (absolutely smashed them in the contested ball early). Then completely dropped the intensity for the rest of the game and lost easily (by the end of the game we’d been smashed in overall contested ball). Teachable moment number 5.
I’m hoping this fluctuation and inability to learn from mistakes is just the hallmarks of a team trying to find its way, especially when coming off years of losing. However, we need to start rectifying this issue ASAP because the longer it goes on, the harder it becomes to kick the habit. The message must be drilled in that we play 4 intense quarters per week. Anything less can’t be accepted if we want to be a premiership contender. The contenders generally have a few howlers a year where the intensity isn’t up to standard. We’ve had 4 out of 9 games where a lack of intensity has cost us a win or a chance at winning (Richmond, Melbourne, St Kilda and Hawthorn) and another one where it almost cost us a win against a side on its knees (North).