Three Things I've Learned - Round 2 Edition

[westdog54]

Once the Round 2 match against North Melbourne is completed, let us know the three things you learned after watching the match.

Be constructive but be honest.

[GVGjr]

Bloody tough day at the office.

1 - We are a mile off on our skill level. Needs to be a focus on recruiting
2 - Crameri while never going to be a a genuine key forward needs more time to show his worth
3 - Griffen back at least one week too early.

[LostDoggy]

1. We still seem to think that in 2014 it is okay to kick high to a contest rather than flat to the advantage of the forward. We desperately need a couple more Robert Murphys.
2. We didn't seem to be talking to each other a lot today.
3. Sometimes we have too many in at the contest and not enough guarding the opposition exit players.

[bulldogtragic]

1. Griffen should not have played. No. No. No. Not played, it's like bush bashing a Rolls Royce on 2 cylinders.
2. Other teams bring on a fresh midfielder as a sub, to exploit the slowdown in the game while we bring on a forward pocket/flanker for 15 minutes. Not sure we've worked this out yet.
3. If I never, ever, ever see a game like this I will be very happy.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

1. Morris is, at rising 31 still our best defender.
2. Based on our current lack of skills coupled with our still obvious lack of a decent tall forward we are at least 2 drafts away from being able to build a capable side.
3. Whilst I am sure Crameri is a decent player, its not immediately apparent to me as to why we needed to get him.He looks to me another Stringer sized mid sized forward. The forward line with Crameri & Stringer seems very non threatening.

[Stevo]

1) Paying a high price for poor list management decision over the last 6 years
2) Need to make the hard call on some marginal talents or reinvent them in other positions
3) Morris is still a gun defender

[lemmon]

1. Crameri and Stringer are two lazy footballers. Lack of work rate was glaring at the ground
2. If Bontempelli can kick, play him
3. Picken took a big step today, was great as a small defender

[Greystache]

1. It's not just skills that are terrible, our decision making is also horrendous.

2. We are a long way short of where I hoped we might be.

3. If we play like that every week it's going to be very difficult to justify giving up a chunk of my weekend to go and watch it.

[Bulldog4life]

1. We have slipped back since the end of last season.

2. Wood & JJ are not in our best 22 and I love Jong's endeavour but his skills are very poor.

3. North's incessant kicking backwards in the last quarter, which seemed liked an eternity, and the rolling packs of players around the ground reinforces to me that our great game is a shadow of what it used to be and is ugly to watch.

[G-Mo77]

1. Our fitness is a long way off. It'll come but a way to go.
2. Forward line still messy.
3. Morris is still King Kong down back.

[AndrewP6]

1. Last week wasn't simply an aberration, we are still pitifully unskilled.
2. Lin Jong wants to play AFL football.
3. Griffen should never have been named.

[G-Mo77]

2. Lin Jong wants to play AFL football.


That's what you've gotta love about him. There are a few out there that take their spot for granted and I'd be happy for them to go and test the free agency market.

[boydogs]

1. Picken can play as a small defender
2. Wallis can tag outside mids
3. Stevens can play forward

[MrMahatma]

1. The squad we played today is poor.
2. I'm such an optimist that I'm hoping things will change and Hrovat, Bonti, Williams, Grant, Talia will all come in soon and things will turn quickly.
3. Wouk use of the sub is a joke.

[bornadog]

1. Wood is only 186 cm yet we think he is KPP
2. We need a CHF as well as CHB
3. We ran out of puff after 3/4 and a half after taking on a team touted as making the finals.

[Remi Moses]

1 never thought I'd say this but Grant's entry into the forward line is needed.
The lack of work rate and smarts from the forwards was telling .
We need better ball users off half back
We need more better users and decision makers and more outside line breakers.

[ratsmac]

1. Norf are no way a top 4 let alone a top 8 side like a lot of people are suggesting.
2. We have a long way to go before challenging the good top 8 teams.
3. Our cheer squad looked fantastic today.

[Remi Moses]

Agree On Norf, the reliance on Harvey for a spark is a bit alarming.
In Melbourne Richmond and Norf have been pumped up to the eyeballs, but really the likes of Port and the Eagles are ahead of them.

[LostDoggy]

1. North's brand of ‘tough’ football, ie playing dirty and sitting on blokes heads/backs is sickening to watch. Yes, their speed is good, they certainly are fantastic at running forward, but they have to be the most pathetic, soft little pretenders I've seen yet. Shits me that we couldn't topple these guys. They won't make the eight.
2. Something weird is going on behind the scenes with Talia. Why didn't he play?
3. Where is our fitness? It's Round Freaking 2! I expected more after last week.

[G-Mo77]

3. Where is our fitness? It's Round Freaking 2! I expected more after last week.

Match fitness is hard to reach, throw in a trip to Perth last week and some of our boys were really blowing up. I expected them to grind us down eventually.

Some costly errors mid way through that last quarter (Murphy, JJ) killed all the hard work. You could see how deflated players were after both those incidents and the flood gates opened up. That's not fitness though, that's mental.

Our fitness is still a long way off. I'm confident it will come.

[Bulldog Joe]

Koby Stevens is a trier but his awareness and vision is appalling
JJ is way off the mark at present.
We need to play another tall defender.

[Mantis]

1. We took 2 or 3 big steps forward in the last 6 or 7 rounds of 2013.. We have taken the same back in the past 2 weeks.

2. Our ball use & decision making doesn't befit professional athletes.

3. North love dishing out cheap shots.. But can you expect anything else with a master of this at the helm?

[Daughter of the West]

1. Our basic skills are scarily bad. Especially something as fundamental as taking a set shot at got.

2. We dropped our heads after JJ missed, which is really disappointing. I thought we were still in it (albeit a way off it) until then.

3. The marketing department is improving, sending out text messages to thank members for attending. I thought it was quite nice. And the cheer squad was excellent too. I love those yellow arrows pointing to the point posts for opposition kicks at goal.

[comrade]

1. Talia MUST come back next week. Watching Easton Wood struggle against Aaron Black was excruciating. Even Picko was forced to take Petrie at one stage. Rubbish.

2. Our vision coming off half back kills us. At one stage, a simple 40 metre kick would have released us into attack but we kept our vision low and dribbled a 'risk free' kick 10 metres sideways which actually put us under more pressure. This happened again and again. Is it instruction or player error?

3. Libba has yet to hit his straps. A couple of disposal errors, some missed tackles. We need him fit and firing when our skipper is so far off the ball, health wise.

[Maddog37]

1. Jong looks like he might be ok to me. It was noticeable yesterday that he has extra speed compared to our other mids and he is one of the few that actually looks to move the ball forward rather than handball backwards.

2. My brain is still hurting from watching AFL grade footballers play with zero flair and natural instinct for so much of the game. It looked like every player had to think twice about what they did with the ball which made for slow, disjointed crap. We played to not lose rather than play to win.

3. I love Dale Morris.

[Axe Man]

2. Our vision coming off half back kills us. At one stage, a simple 40 metre kick would have released us into attack but we kept our vision low and dribbled a 'risk free' kick 10 metres sideways which actually put us under more pressure. This happened again and again. Is it instruction or player error?



2. My brain is still hurting from watching AFL grade footballers play with zero flair and natural instinct for so much of the game. It looked like every player had to think twice about what they did with the ball which made for slow, disjointed crap. We played to not lose rather than play to win.

I agree wholeheartedly with these sentiments. Of course there are times to play slow and safe football, like when the opposition has a run on, but we played almost the entire game in that fashion. I would much prefer that we take a few risks and for them to come unstuck than move the ball in such a slow predictable manner. There are only a couple of teams in the league we can beat playing in that fashion. I would rather play a brand of footy that at least gives us a chance to beat some of the better teams, even if it means risking a loss to a Melbourne or St Kilda.

[craigsahibee]

1. We took 2 or 3 big steps forward in the last 6 or 7 rounds of 2013.. We have taken the same back in the past 2 weeks.

2. Our ball use & decision making doesn't befit professional athletes.

3. North love dishing out cheap shots.. But can you expect anything else with a master of this at the helm?

^^This

[LostDoggy]

1. L Hunter has been a real positive
2. We need to persist with Jones
3. For a highly rated kick when we drafted him Stringer's kicking has become a worry (and his lack of capacity to run has become a liability)