Why So Different??

[Lods]

There is a little bit of blind hope going on here. A win was most enjoyable, and a rare thing, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

The club has only really cleared the decks these past months and started to think about building and setting direction. Of course we are on the way up. Couldn't get much lower.

With the state of our list, and our best player retiring we are in poor shape. At least 2 years away from finals for mine, and that is with good decisions being made at the draft and a good head of coaching appointed.

Í don't think we have any idea where we're at.
I certainly don't!
That's why I'm being a little cautious in my own optimism..... but at the same time not feeling as pessimistic about our predicament as I was a few weeks back.

I think we'll learn a lot about our strength in the remainder of the season,
I think we'll learn a little bit about some individuals too.... and as we've already seen a couple of them may surprise us with what they're capable of if given a fair run at game time in suitable roles.

[PassIt2Carrots]

There is a little bit of blind hope going on here. A win was most enjoyable, and a rare thing, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

The club has only really cleared the decks these past months and started to think about building and setting direction. Of course we are on the way up. Couldn't get much lower.

With the state of our list, and our best player retiring we are in poor shape. At least 2 years away from finals for mine, and that is with good decisions being made at the draft and a good head of coaching appointed.

I actually think our list isn't in awful shape. We need another key defender to replace Jamo and a gun small forward.

I would say 2017 would be a very big chance and some hope for next year re finals. Considering we are playing the lower sides twice this year, five more wins is not out of the question. If we can end up with eight wins by year's end with more games into blokes like Crippa and Graham that would be a huge result. With another easy draw and possibly a gun free agency player, finals for 2016 then becomes a real possibility.

As I've said before, change the coach and it can all turn around very quickly. That said we could just as easily get smashed by Gold Coast on Sunday and be back to square one! Each week that goes by will give us a better idea of where we are at.

[ItsOurTime]

There is a little bit of blind hope going on here. A win was most enjoyable, and a rare thing, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

The club has only really cleared the decks these past months and started to think about building and setting direction. Of course we are on the way up. Couldn't get much lower.

With the state of our list, and our best player retiring we are in poor shape. At least 2 years away from finals for mine, and that is with good decisions being made at the draft and a good head of coaching appointed.

Our team is playing aggressive, entertaining football. They are running in waves, hunting in packs. They're rediscovering what they love about the game and it shows.

We have zero expectations on results and personally it's good to just watch the boys enjoying their football and not having to worry about shite performances and slowly getting worse.

We're going in the right direction, first step accomplished.

[Vivian]

Maybe my optimism is saddled with the burden of experience.

It was good to see better footy played certainly, but PA were also quite poor, probably their worst game for the year. Their mistakes were dreadful.

We will learn more about the team as the year wears on, but most of last weekend's side have been on the list for a while and we know what they bring.  Effort is fine, but this is the AFL. Expectations need to be for a premiership, nothing less, and there are only a handful of players we could, in all honesty, pencil in as premiership potentials.

It is going to be a tough few years, and we shouldn't underestimate the enormity of the task ahead. We need the next 2 drafts to be crackers for us and then some, otherwise cripps is going to get smashed, just like murphy did in his first few years.

There is the argument that clubs can turn it around quickly, but recent history suggest this is erroneous. The premiers of recent years have had long periods of improvement driven by sustained and consistent commitment. I hope we have the patience and pragmatism to do the same.

Go blues.

[BlueAvenger]

I think the brains trust will tinker with the game plan when they get 25-30 players doing the basics right.....the players looked mentally damaged from'the Malthouse
era and need a bit of freedom to forget what they have been taught by MM which has proven to be fear of failure and a self survival attitude only.
We are now seeing some teamwork and passion on the field, good players like Henderson who looked in a daze and trance under Malthouse looked excited with the Port win..
A few small steps at a time will see the method improve..you look at a kid like Graham who didnt know where he was in the scheme of things and with a few games in a row
looks comfortable in the seniors and is not just looking on but actually contributing and is the sort of player if you watch him does look for a player rather than bomb it long.
Bombing it long is also a panic manoeuvre from players who fear to take the game on and be creative because they fear making a mistake...another Malthouse legacy that needs eradicating..

Boekhorst is a player who will benefit from Barkers attacking take the game on philosophy IMO and who will add some creative running and look to bring teammates into play rather than just bomb it long..just needs some senior games and to be told its ok to make a mistake and we wont drop you if you do....

EB1, stop making so much sense, its bad for morale  ;D
1 Obviously more attack through the corridor
2 Hawthorn style hardness at the man and the aggot
3 Zone defence has once again been employed.
4 Much more attacking and attractive game style
5 Transition from defence into attack has been better imo
6 Confidence up
7 Freedom to play footy as they can all play footy if they are drafted onto an AFL list imo
8 Forward press i've noticed also
9 the last 3 games have been so much more enjoyable than the last 3 years  :o
10 Definitely looks akin to the way we played under Ratts, wish he would come back as a senior assistant at the very least
11 The Tractor has made a big difference as he is an extra mid, please god don't let the human bollard Warnock back next year. Harsh i know, sorry 206 
12 Murph playing the best footy ive seen him play for a few years
13 Gibbs suspended for hardness  :o dont love that he's gonna miss or that Gray was stretchered off but love the hardness of a widely touted 'Vanilla' footballer
14 Bell having a career best season
15 CRIPPS



P.s Has anyone seen or posted Cripps first 12 games statistics compared to Judds, J. Selwoods and Fyfe's first 12? early doors  i know but wowee its hard for one to not pee a little bit with excitment

[dodge]

Malthouse identified it on SEN on Friday - have a game plan that suits the players, which must include allowing them to play footy.

I would think that is what you want to do - coach to your team strengths.  Easier to improve strengths as that is where people are happy and confident, rather than working hard on weaknesses,  which people don't enjoy at the expense of their strengths.

Pity he couldn't adapt to his own view.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Malthouse identified it on SEN on Friday - have a game plan that suits the players, which must include allowing them to play footy.

I would think that is what you want to do - coach to your team strengths.  Easier to improve strengths as that is where people are happy and confident, rather than working hard on weaknesses,  which people don't enjoy at the expense of their strengths.

Pity he couldn't adapt to his own view.

See this has me confused, Mick wanted a game plan that demanded precision kicking around the boundary initially to protect the corridor but we never had the list to deliver that style..after a couple of kicks we just would turn the ball over. Running the ball down the middle can bite you when you when you turn it over but its the shortest way home when you dont have great footskills and draws forwards to the footy.
If he knew we needed a gameplan that suited the players why did he persist for a while with one that didnt....???

[PassIt2Carrots]

I just switch the TV/radio to another channel whenever I hear Mick is coming on. JUst a shight talker, was never a great media performer anyway.

[kruddler]

See this has me confused, Mick wanted a game plan that demanded precision kicking around the boundary initially to protect the corridor but we never had the list to deliver that style..after a couple of kicks we just would turn the ball over. Running the ball down the middle can bite you when you when you turn it over but its the shortest way home when you dont have great footskills and draws forwards to the footy.
If he knew we needed a gameplan that suited the players why did he persist for a while with one that didnt....???

That is incorrect.

The point of going around the boundary line was IF you can't make a precision kick, you'll get it to a 50-50 contest in which the defender will most likely knock it over the boundary line, then you start again with a throw in, but further into your territory.

In short, it was about territory and suited our lack of kicking skills to go around the boundary. If we turned it over there it was less likely to hurt us!

[PaulP]

That is incorrect.

The point of going around the boundary line was IF you can't make a precision kick, you'll get it to a 50-50 contest in which the defender will most likely knock it over the boundary line, then you start again with a throw in, but further into your territory.

In short, it was about territory and suited our lack of kicking skills to go around the boundary. If we turned it over there it was less likely to hurt us!

Watching many of the games on TV lately, there are many teams that go around the boundary. It is the safe option, but it would have the most chance of success if you have strong contested marks at the end of each kick, which minimizes the chance of the ball going OOB, which I would have thought is more a plan B. If it does go OOB, you need a good, strong ruck and follower combination to capitalize. If you are weak in the stoppages, then it doesn't work as well.


I've always believed that contested marking and accurate kicking for goal are the two most valuable assets in AFL footy. If you have a reasonable number of players with these skills, you can beat anyone.