..i disagree, i think he had ideas.. ..just not very good ones..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Matthew Lappin can't be blamed for players absolutely butchering the ball like they did on Friday night. I agree our forward structure can break down at times, but we are one of the top scoring teams in the comp, and we've done that with just the one good key forward (fev).

I think with some games in Yarran, Garlett & Robinson we will improve further. But until we find a second tall forward we will have games where things break down. Kruezer is obviously an option to play more regularly down there when Warnock gains fitness. Setanta has shown signs that he could stand up. But we need to see something on a more consistent basis from these 2.

I think the improvement from last years forward set-up has been clear. Lappin deserves some credit for that. I also think that Kruezer will play more up forward late this year, and in the future, and that will help to prevent things from breaking down as they did on Friday night.

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@cecil_anderson

He started in the forward line, played A LOT of the game in the forward line, and it broke down.

The trump card turned into a chump card.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

He didn't play forward much at all AFAIC.
He needs to be an option for the long kick but wasn't used in that role sufficiently.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Try: they didn't kick to him properly, and he didn't time his marks well enough when they did. He played a considerable amount of time in non-ruck roles, the primary one being up forward. I could be wrong, but I don't think he ventured into a centre bounce until the second half.

We still need him in the ruck until Warnock is up and about. Our clearances were down on the night, even though the stats say it was business as usual. No point having him waiting for a clean kick if it's never going to eventuate.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Clean kick?
I'd be happy with someone who can mark a 50/50 contest in the square. If we have time and space we can hit up the leading option otherwise we need a long option for the pressure kick. Too often we had Fev on the lead and nothing else.

Kruezer could have spent more time there. He didn't spend anywhere near the majority of the game deep forward. Our amount of inside 50s tells us we had the opportunities, just not the ability to utilise them.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I wouldn't call a high bomb much of an opportunity, especially when most of these high bombs were wide of the goal mouth weren't particularly deep.

I recall seeing players like Joseph and Grigg having what looked like a ping from 55 m! Soft, lazy, bullshit football. Grigg has been consistently awful at F50 entries this season, I can't remember a kick of his going further than the 45 m arc of goal in search of a genuine target.

But back to your question: a clean kick in the sense that it provides some opportunity, something nearing a 50/50 contest or better. Kreuzer & Fev stuffed up some opportunities, but then received a lot of absolute pies.

Sure our structure was out further up the ground, but I don't see the point of plonking our starting ruck in the forward line if it stiffles our midfield drive. And I didn't enjoy the hesitation to fall-back to plan A when it was clear any semblance of plan B was a failure on the night.

Hell, we had periods of the game where Kreuzer and Hampson lined up in the hole. That hadn't been done since pre-season, and it showed. Why are we re-introducing tactics from the pre-season if we haven't been developing them in practice?

Anyway, I'm kind of veering away from the point of the thread, but I loathed to see so many players out of position compared to what had been working for us in the preceding rounds. The point of this plan B stuff is to try it when plan A isn't working, otherwise you'd be calling it Plan A. Ratts & staff completely jumped the gun in some bizarre mind-game.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

I think we get back to the problem at Princess Park. We have a young coach but haven't surrounded him with the assistants needed, instead just putting a blue-blooded bloke in.

I find it hard to believe that the two best coaches we could get for the Bullants was Teague and Lappin. Maybe I'm doing them a dis-service but it seems more like jobs for the boys retiring than being lucky and having the best already here.

We have been having Fev-centric issues with the ball coming inside 50 for years, and it still hasn't been fixed. I think we need to give our team (and Ratts) time, but this is not a new issue. Other teams have been able to adjust the style. (Adelaide in a very short time). Further, our forwards don't create space well for each other. We have some talent up there, and with potentially 3 talls (Fev, Kreuzer & Setanta) up there, we need our setup structured properly.

I think we need to hire one or two quality assistant coaches to beef up our department, particularly in the forward line. As I said, maybe Lappin is the man, but i'm not exactly filled with confidence that he is.

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I would like to thank Collingwood for helping me keep faith in my old man. He always told me that 'People are thick'.

Lappin was poor in role with the Bullants, cost us Aisake and almost Setanta. Is just as bad if not worse as the forwards coach. Its high time we stopped amateur hour in appointing coaches. Given Rattens struggles, wonder if any promising new or experienced coaches would want to join the team unless we threw mega bucks.

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Scott, things aren't as happy as they used to be down here at the unemployment office. Joblessness is no longer just for Philosophy majors - useful people are starting to feel the pinch.

Wasn't Crosisca in charge of our forwards later on? WTH did he do wrong?

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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

He wasnt a former Carlton player.

..i know i know, it's crazy talk.. ..but the only person to get Fev working properly with another tall/kpf was the big red, when they played together.. ..just sayin' is all..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Why are we knocking Lappin...aren't we the 3rd or 4th highest scoring team in the comp....must mean he is doing a grand job...

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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

..well, to play along.. ..eyeballs our top 3 goal kickers.. ..fev kicking the bulk, and that's not too far out of whack, but the big difference between him and second leading scorer isn't so juicey, plus as great as Bettsy is, it'd be good to have another tall in the top 3 kickers.. ..3rd highest is a mid that up until this year had the yips..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Subject to availability,my coaching staff for next year would be Nathan Thompson as forward & ruck coach, Shane Wakelin and Brett Montgomery defence, Adam Simpson and Rob Harvey midfield and Damien Hardwick in the Mark Rielly role.

IN - Scott Burns, Laidley, & 1 asst. coach from current Geelong or Hawthorn set up

Out - Lappin, Teague, Monty

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Scott, things aren't as happy as they used to be down here at the unemployment office. Joblessness is no longer just for Philosophy majors - useful people are starting to feel the pinch.