A big part of the game is running hard!
Running when it hurts....its too easy to not run hard to link up or to chase...
We dont run anywhere near hard enough across the board to create options when you compare ius to say a Collingwood or a Hawthjorn.
Too many wait for the ball to come to them!
Walker Simmo Carrots and the yountgsters do do it.
This kind of running that allows you to have opportunities both defensively and offensively.
Lance and Kouta dont/ cant do it.. so others have to work harder to plug the holes.
Also because as the senior players theyre demonstrating a lack of work ethic to the others.


The other problem is because they are passangers and coupling that with Denis' refusal to use the bench in a modern day manner.. the team is out of puff as well as not working with any real intensity.

bondi its good to see you with abit of shit in you!

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I don't think even all the youngsters ran hard on Friday night Synbad. Pretty hard to tell on TV but even those that normally run hard looked to be trailing their opponents at 75% intensity. I'm not saying drop them, I'm not saying take them out the back for a flogging, but quite a few of them were poor.

I can't get my head around Denis' use of the bench. We've struggled to run out games many times this year, why wouldn't we extract every bit of run we can out of the bench? I just can't think of a reason why not.

I think some of our problems can be fixed now, but many of them just need time. In the end we're pretty much building a list from nothing. You can't have a truly competitive list without 25 - 28 year old players leading the way. We're still a few years away from that I think, and no amount of dropping players or changing coaches will change that unfortunately.

I reckon its a big ask to have kids running hard all the tiume.. when senior players doint do it!
And there is a coch who is relentless in "They must learn to play 4 quarters of football"
Denis is a Fossil.
He just doesnt understand modern day football!!!
Stick him in a museum.....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Everyone will probably LOL,but i'd make 1 AW captain,with vc's of Carrots,


and



























SETANTA

Think about it,always gives 110%,has some mongrel,could put to shame many players that have grown up playing the game with his dedication and comittment.

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I see you watching me watching you.

Pagan needs to learn to use the bench properly...

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"Dont count the games, make the games count"

Theres a lot of sense in making leaders of the hardest workers in the team at the momemt.

So in that sense, Walker Carrazo and O'Hailpin are worthy of leadership roles, irsepective of the level of experience they might have or whether they are 'ready' or not.

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My Blue Heaven

denis should not have to take full responsibility as it is a team game.

denis can't kick the ball for the players, he can't tackle the opposition for the players.

Agree...

Swallow was bagged as being a poor kick...
Lewis.. a U18 bully who would go nowhere...too slow
Hurn....another U18 bully who was too slow...

The standout theme with these players is......they could all play straight away...no projects, no remedial skill work etc.....
We have tended to get perhaps too many projects and not enough ready mades........we are always waiting for ours to develop in the Ants while the others mentioned develop in the seniors.

One of my beefs has always been the emphasis placed on draft camp results ahead of players who are natural footballers....I think we have to get a better balance..more footballers and a bit less of the project athlete types.......

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

...and in other news the sky is blue.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Not much for this reason.

" Pagan said Blues captain Lance Whitnall, who had only nine possessions last night, had played under duress. "Lance's knee has been causing issues. He hasn't been able to train for the last five weeks … I just think it's a degenerative knee … he's got a knee joint that's been through a lot of battles." "


If that's the case, why is he playing at all. Let's not blame the player. Let's blame the coach and MC for playing him. And then, of all the dumb things, to play him in defence when the ball comes into the opposition forward line as fast as it did. At worst play him in the forward pocket but really not at all. If he has a degenerative knee you won't get anything at all.

It's his job to get the players playing to the best of their ability physically and mentally, of which he is incapable.

Next time Denis doesn't chase, kicks out on the full, misses a hand pass by a mile, kicks a point from point blank or simply makes a poor decision in traffic come back here and post seriously. That goes for you too Jim.

To win is always a team effort.
To lose we must blame one person?

tomalvin, we all accept that Dennis is the coach.

Ultimately the responsibility of the team's performance falls on him.

Only he has the choice to make changes to improve the team; yet he chooses to play Lance.

It's his responsibility to ensure development of the players; and he's had bloody 5 seasons to to that and failed.

If he doesn't want that responsibility, then he shouldn't be coach. All coaches know this when they take on the job.

He is paid a handsome ransome and has agreed by accepting this payment, that he is willing to cop it when the team fails...... for a few million dollars, wouldn't yo?

If it's too hot in the kitchen, he can @#$%&! off!!

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

He has had a major hand in not addressing the ruck problem through the National Draft for so long.

Surely if you're rebuilding you pick a rookie ruckman early on the piece given the time it takes for them to develop. Only last year did the club bite the bullet and pick a ruckman who will take at least 3 years before we see any results.

Pathetic list management!

The term degenerative to me suggests that it's a permanent, ongoing thing, regardless of rest. If that's the case, then Lance must have serious question marks, because he'd have to manage this over the rest of his career.

i disagree, IF i was a professional footballer I would be doing all I can to get the best out of my ability.
unfortunatly i'm just a park footballer, but when i run out to take the field i expect myself and my 21 team mates to win the game, not the coach.

if I can't get the best out of myself, how could I expect someone else to do so.

i am not trying to absolve pagan of responsibility, but there is only so much a coach can do.

its hard to argue, as our rucks are a real concern.

we had so many area's to address with our playing list, where do you start first?

if it is true that pagan leaves all the draft selections to the recruitng manager then this also needs to be addressed with the recruiting dept.

mott, bryan, deluca, batson, o'hailpin, mclaren, seems the problem was addressed but addressed very poorly.

Hampson and Jacobs are really the only true young ruck talents we have drafted in the National Draft since Mark Porter in 1997 (and even he was a mature age rookie).

Aisake was drafted because he was taller, faster and younger than Setanta - the fact that he is being tried as a ruckman is really only a happy accident.

The names you have highlighted like Mott, Bryan, Deluca McLaren (and you can throw Knobel in that list - thank god Richmond took him and we were forced to take Eddie Betts instead) only go to highlight Pagan's stop gap, short term and finger in the dyke approach to solving our problems.

If we had of bitten the bullet in 2004 and taken someone like Cameron Wood - we would be in a far better position than where we are now.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

And look at where we got each of them - all very late picks, pre-season draftees or Rookies. Nothing against taking a stab at a smokey with a late pick, but when the Club is in need of someone to fill a spot for 10 years you don't keep trying to throw dollar coins in to a well and hoping.

Add to that that half of those blokes are 196cm, like our current NO1 ruckman, and you just have to shake your head.

Not once in Pagan's tenure have we thrown a top draft pick, or traded someone to get another pick, or traded someone good to get a ruckman. Finally this year they picked up Hammer but he'll need 3 years.

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

While I see what you're saying bit it's the first job a coach has is to get the respect of the players parammount in getting the best out of then. If he can't do that he shouldn't be there. The coach isn't a passive observer. If he has respect the you won't performances like that.