Why was he the wrong match-up when he caned Lucas the last time they played?

Whitnall plays 'Off his man'.........something that can get alot of players in trouble but he does quite well.

Garry REALLY knew how to utilise this (and admitedly i think some other coaches out there have figured out ways to benifit from this too) and gave Lucas space to lead into, knowing dam well that Whitnall would not and just could not keep up.

Thornton can find the ball just as much as Lance, but can keep up with Lucas with his leads.
(Lucas is a good leading forwrd. It's his kicking that let's him down.)

The switch was made and Thornton destroyed him and eventually forced him out of the game. Lucas tried pushing up the ground a bit but still couldn't get into it.

Thornton knew when to leave his man, and when to stay with him.

Not saying that Thornton is a better defender than Lance............just saying that Lance has some suitable matchups that will work, and some that will not.

Lance on Pavlich next week is one of those situations where i don't think it will work.
(But in all honesty, Thornton might not work either!)

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

It was wet that day. I still didn't think Lucas would beat him that bad but it was clear half way through the first he was giving Lance the run around. The move should have been made before quarter time.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

I am not arguing that Lance should've been moved off him when he started to get on top of Lance but rather arguing against the comment of "it should've been done from the start". You cannot blame Denis for starting Whitnall on Lucas at all given he did such a wonderful job on him last time.

Lucas is a confidence player ... beat him a few times early and you are well on the way to shutting him down. Pagan should have made the switch after his 2nd goal instead of leaving the poor physical matchup with a confident Lucas the whole half.

It seemed to me the vast majority of Essendon* scores came from Blues turnovers, often from terrible clangers or careless handball. The same issue which has plagued the team for a number of seasons. My own opinion remains, in that the team appears to suffer from lack of belief and confidence, as evidenced by the poor skills and decisions being made by players who have in the past demonstrated much better capabilities in this area.

Some symptoms: when in possession of the ball, good options are often ignored. Players hold the ball up looking for better options rather than moving the ball quickly. Upfield, the players are mostly static. Fevola is the prime target looked for, even when in a clear 4 on 1. Players on the wings and flanks often fail to even glance for options in the centre, even though I have observed this being emphasised at times at training. Shepherding in the main is token rather than a concerted effort. Players fall asleep when the opposition line up from just outside 50m, content to stay in a simple zone.

These issues need to be addressed effectively by the coaching staff.

You'll all right. Ok to start Lance but should have been more aware and moved him whne Lucas got on top. Lance plays a risky game by zoning off. Sets up alot for us but there's the chance by doing that he can get caught the other way too as has happened a few times this season. Generally though, been very good. I'd like Setanta to fill eventually CHB so we can use Lance in roles that are more suitable to him.

We have a winner with this post. Couldn't agree more. Our younger players have definitely kicked on but we continue to go backwards as a team. Each year we win less games, way less than the 10 we won 2 years ago, with a worse team. And this year looks like being worst of all the last 4 years win/loss wise. Why?

I think its all part of rebuilding...two steps back and one step forward for now...the result wasnt that important so I wouldnt be getting too down about it....it was about Setanta, Simpson, Eddie and the rest of the young blokes making some progress which is what occured.
If Essendon* had a full team no doubt they they would have cleaned us up, they will also catch us in the race to rebuild if we dont keep developing players and slip back into our old ways of looking for short term gains by not sticking to the youth policy.....just have to keep the faith and hope the coach and MC do the same....

_________________
"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Yeah.....................i'm the same!

Each year we stay the same whilst other teams go beyond us. Look back to 2003/2004 seasons.

The crappiest teams in the leauge without a doubt were:-

Carlton
Bulldogs
Richmond
Hawthorn

Now fast forward to 2006 and Bulldogs & Richmond are finals bound with Hawthorn showing vast improvment.

Can you spot the difference?

Why have they developed but we haven't?

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

I don't want to say this, because I will be accused of making excuses, but


the difference?

the 2002-2003 draft, perhaps?!

_________________
And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

This is actually the first year we can use the draft picks as an excuse. The players we missed out on are now starting to establish themselves. Ironic now the AFL are helping us out financially that we are starting to feel the pinch of those lost draft picks.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

I Don't believe so at all. In fact, i think it's time we stopped blaming the draft penalties! Sure, they hurt us. But when you look at it, we got Kade Simpson from the 2002 draft. In retrospect, he could have easilly gone Top 10!

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

My point was that they put us realistically a year behind the teams that you mentioned.

I don't like referring to the penalties either, but it's undeniable that they did hurt, and in the condition we were in at the end of 02, they cut deeper than how they may have at any other club at the time.

Case in point: Apply the same penalties to Essendon* after this year, and see how long it takes them to recover.

_________________
And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

do you think we are a year behind Hawthorn , Richmond and the Bulldogs

I would have thought at least 2

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

One year, two....either/or really.....

My point remains the same though.

At least you get what I was getting at at least.

_________________
And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

I would say the draft penalties set us back a year
Pagans restructuring at the end of 2003 and the 2004 season set us back another year

And Sticks Kernahan set us back a further 3 years by talking Collins into signing Pagan again

So all up I d say we are 5 years behind where we should be

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

I do understand where your coming from KK...........but what i'm more upset about is the fact that The Bulldogs / Richmond / Hawthorn had a team of rejects a few years back.

Those same 'Rejects' are now some of the best in the business.

Why is that?

Why, all of a sudden, are these players so well respected?
Why have the turned a corner and now have better skills?
Why are they more confident running out on the field?

The draft gave these teams a couple of quality kids who are probably 'JUST' starting to show their true worth, but a couple of kids is not resposible for turning and entire team of duds into great players!

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

The Bulldogs were hardly a team of rejects. They were all highly skilled youngsters coached by possibly the worst senior coach the AFL has seen in Pete Rohde (Tim Watson would be close to the worst as well).

Our young kids are starting to show a bit - there's some light at the end of this tunnel. More patience is required.

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

Nicely put, Deano.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Yes but Eade now has them playing as a team thats the difference.

Before he arrived the group of senoir players used to just kick it to one another

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