04-07-2018, 01:16 AM
(04-07-2018, 12:23 AM)shawny link Wrote:x2.
Your Jones description is spot on - was at last nights game and he looked confused when deciding between sticking on his man or leaving to attack a ball he thinks he can kill. I like his desire and efforts but those decisions cost us more goals then it saved last night unfortunately.
Its bloody hard to watch as our back 6 was one strength from the Bolton era and in a flash it seems to have turned to a shambles by what the club says is us trying to be more offensive and we need to get the balance right. Seems like poor coaching if in an attempt to score more you then lose your one strength.
Or is it simply a case of losing Doc which has hurt us more then we imagined?
How about a defence of
DOCHERTY ROWE MACREADIE
WILLIAMSON A SILVAGNI BYRNE
- all unavailable (including coming back in the 2s) last night. One of the consequences is we end up with an unbalanced overly tall and slow backline. Add Weitering struggling for form and Jones being caught in 2 minds constantly- for which I blame the coaches not him - and it adds up to a struggling defence. Mullett so far has been ordinary (not worse than that in my view)but gives a much needed big body. Similar to why it made sense to draft O'Shea and rookie Shaw - we need that experience base and funnily enough opposing teams don't give away too many top liners.
The bigger concern to me is the midfield (admittedly we do have a couple of injuries there and Kennedy and Kreuzer seemed restricted last night) and more so the forward line having zero and I mean zero ability to put pressure on the opponent. We couldn't chase them hard enough to put them under even perceived pressure let alone catch someone and our tackling is putrid. No wonder the defence gets carved up when the ball comes in that easy (on top of its own woes).
FFS find someone ready willing and able to chase and lay a tackle even if they don't give much offensively. The problem is the cupboard seems pretty bare - Kerridge maybe, Nick Graham tries hard, but neither really AFL quality in my mind. Might Shaw be worth a look? I say reward whoever stands up for the 2s - we know we have got the dead wood to drop.