06-18-2021, 12:37 PM
(06-18-2021, 09:51 AM)PaulP link Wrote:It goes without saying that a team near the bottom for most of the last 20 years will have defensive issues, but the character and tone of the current situation seems different to me. Whatever grumps our players had with game plans / personalities of DP, MM and Bolts, the issues were deeper than structural IMO in those times. To my eyes, CFC June 2019 is pretty much the same as CFC June 2021, and whatever defensive issues we have now are principally structural in nature, and no one seems to be able overcome them. If our players still can't execute Teague's rather basic game plan after 2 1/2 seasons.....................
It's not that the players can't execute the game plan, it's more that the players are lacking a basic understanding of positioning to guard territory and nullify opponents. Newman's spectacular and dangerous attempt to mark in our last game is a prime example. Rather than ball watching and flying with the flight, he should have been focused on stopping his opponent getting the ball.
And it's not just at the defensive end! Power's comments about having to teach Cuningham his starting positions is an indictment of our player development and all coaches in the Bolts/Teague era. Similarly, our haphazard forward fifty entries and key forward leading patterns that are as calculated as the last steps of a headless chook are not failures to execute a game plan, they're failures of development, coaching and on field leadership. In my previous post, I wondered about how good Weiters would be if he played for Richmond. How good would Harry be if he played for Melbourne?
“Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don’t you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don’t you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?” Oddball