2018 Rd 23: Post Game Passion: Carlton vs Adelaide

[PaulP]

The zone was pretty far from solid in 2016 and 2017. If one player, Docherty, missing is all it takes for your defensive structure to fall apart then its a fair indicator that the system isn't particularly robust.

For whatever reason, it doesn't work. The coaches (not just Bolton but all of them) should have seen this already and adapted. But they haven't. It isn't just the backline with Daisy and Simmo though, the zone is a team defence - which is failing because as a team the playing group isn't implementing it.

So yes, that is the job of the coaches (again, not just Bolton). When one of two players continually get things wrong you can blame them. But when an entire playing group isn't running hard you have to look at the coaches. When disposal and skills are woeful across the board, you have to ask what the coaches are doing at training to develop them properly. And finally, when the opposition works out your game plan and thrashes you like this on a number of occasions, you have to question why we stuck with the same game plan each time.

How many coaches do we have to burn before the penny drops ? We've had rookie coaches, experienced coaches, soft coaches, tough old school coaches, yet we are where we are.

We don't have the depth to cover the loss of someone like Doc. Same goes for Cripps. And yet this is the coaches fault ?

Tha coach doesn't just inherit a list. He inherits an entire club, an entire culture. And turning around a culture like ours is a massive club wide undertaking. I'm not suggesting Bolton is blameless,  not am I suggesting he's beyond criticism.