Pre game postulations: AFL 2021 Rd 7: Carlton vs the Drug Cheats

[kruddler]

I'll see you that question and raise you another.
Who takes responsibility for that?
Is it the recruiting...I notice a few folks are now looking at Silvagni's time at the club a little more critically.

Is it the team selections.
I get that sometimes it's really valuable for a players development to play multiple roles.
You give a forward some time in the backline to develop a defensive side to his game.

But so many of our players seem to be 'playing out of position'.
SPS and Stocker strike me as more mid-field, or in SPS's case a mid/forward.
Kennedy is not a wingman by any stretch, yet seemed to be playing there in his last game.

How many in-game moves have we seen this season to shake things up a bit?
I remember McGovern in the backline for a spell but I think that was when Weitering was injured for a bit.

I struggle to remember too many other in-game moves of significance.
We seem to set up and that's the way it stays.
But I'll stand correcting.

Who takes responsibility? Its a good question, but not an easy answer.

I'll take this back to why i wanted Malthouse to begin with. He knows what it takes to set up a successful club, He knows how it is supposed to run and who does what and where the responsibility lies. Those above him thought they knew better and undermined him. Not sure where they got that self belief from, but i think it is misplaced.

So since then we've seen a whole lot of not much. More of the same.

What are we doing to change it? Who knows.
I think we have improved as a club. There are no blowouts, we can match it with the best. We just need that little bit of extra confidence to push us up over the peak and it should snowball from there.

Teague and the MC need to walk a tight rope. Get wins AND develop kids. As we've seen, those 2 are at odds with eachother.
He's been hamstrung by injuries which means he just picks 22 fit blokes who can handle AFL level footy, and a handful who are can, but are out of form miss out.

Overall, i think the development will improve, now we have a dedicated reserves side. Hopefully we can keep the wolves at bay until that starts to pay off. Hopefully we can get a lot less numbers on the injury list at the same time.

Now, going back to who is at fault for any/all of the above. I don't think it is Silvagni. I think he has brought together a more talented list than we've had in a decade and he's done so with very little poker chips to start. The best thing he did was cover holes.
He started with KPPs. Weitering, Curnow, McKay....then added smaller types SPS, Cuningham, Dow, Obrien, Walsh etc. He had a good mix of talls/smalls as backups. Overall a balanced list.

Since his departure, we've recruited some high end talent (on the back of some more wins) but our list balance has been turned on its head. We have zero backup in the KPD and Ruck department and we have an abundance of half back types. So much so that we can have 4 on the injury list and still a solid defence on paper....with some kids developing as well.

What does that do for your development though? Players are forced to play out of position. You try and reinvent players to cover gaps, rather than play players to their strengths. Confidence takes a hit and development stalls.
Kennedy was played as a wing because we have a lack of wingers on the list. We played LOB early on because we have a lack of wingers on our list. LOB couldn't play the role, Kennedy couldn't play the role. Who can? Setterfield doesn't know if he is a back pocket, an inside mid or a winger. His form has struggled as a result. My boy Newnes can be adequate across a few positions, that being one of them. Murphy is playing there as well and its highlighting the fact he doesn't run both ways.

So.....who is responsible.
1. Lady Luck for injuries.
2. Austin for poor list balance
3. MC for playing players in the wrong positions.

....all of the above IMO.