Eade's mid-season report card

[Dry Rot]

Now in his third season with us and carrying the weight of some expectations after a finals appearance, Eade seems to have avoided any great criticism to date.

How do you rate him so far this season?

[mjp]

Given I am not privy to much he says or does DR, it is difficult to assess.

The selection process has left me baffled at times this year.
- Playing Street, Minson and Darcy together?
- Dropping Ray for one week? What did he learn exactly?
- Ditto McMahon (though Cross/Griffen out played a part here).
- What is Robbins role? I doubt Robbins knows.
- Selection of Williams and Harbrow against Richmond? Where did that come from?
- Harbrow dropped? Why?
- Lynch in against Freo smacked of marketing to me, but the kid played OK.
- What is going on with Power? In - back, forward, out, back, forward, in, out, etc etc.
- Addison's decision making? Not improved from last year.
- Hahn's role? Darcy's role?

The only game day things that have really upset me were the forward structure vs Carlton - just no way we could score given personnel and setup, and the clubs inability to develop a reliable, lock-down defender apart from Dale Morris...has cost us a couple of times.

[Go_Dogs]

I don't think he's used what has been at his disposal as well as last year, and obviously we did a few things a bit differently this year as far as pre-season and with an unprecedented amount of players coming back from ACL's etc., cos a bit of it remains to be seen over the next 12+ weeks. I don't think Eade has been quite as effective as previous years to this stage, but I think come seasons end we'll be better placed to judge his performance this year.

[Mantis]

My biggest gripe this year has been the inability show any improvement against our 'bogey' teams in Sydney, Adelaide and St.Kilda. They all play a similiar style and our game style doesn't seem to hold up against these teams. Eade hasn't really been pro-active in these games and it frustrates me no end that we can continue to employ the same tactics against them. They strangle our half back's and midfield forcing us to kick long to an undersized and often out-numbered forwardline. The ball then repels as our forwards and midfielders dont chase or man-up and our loose/ under-sized defenders are beaten on the lead or in one on one duels often with plenty of space given to the opposing teams to work in. I think that's Eade's biggest challenge, teaching the team/ selecting a side that can compete with these defensive minded teams. We have our odd good days against these teams (Adel rd 21 MCG last yr.), but we are probably something like 1 and 10 with these sides over the past 2 or 3 years.

[Dry Rot]

It's a shame we can't rookie Fanning. I don't think he is AFL standard as a no 1 ruckman but we could struggle with ruck depth given one or two injuries.

Remember K-Mac played second ruck last year (at 190cm too!) against Sydney

I pinched this good post from another thread (my bolding) - is not drafting/recruiting/rookieing another ruckman a bit damning of Eade and Clayton?

Darcy was no certainty to be able to ruck, and we're just as exposed now.

[Bulldog Revolution]

All the posters make some good an interesting points

I dont think the club expected to start the seaon on fire, but perhaps did expect to find our best form 6-8 weeks into the season. Its probably taken a bit longer than that to find, and the jury is still out if we drop off in the second half.

For me I just cant assess this season until the end - if we have turned the corner and produce our best footy in the second half then I will think he was masterful at re-integrating acl victims hahn, darcy and murphy as well as introducing exciting new talent; addison, higgins, lynch, harbrow, williams etc.

But I have been disappointed with our stoppage work, inconsistent intensity and forward set up. Like others I was very frustrated with the St Kilda, Adelaide and Sydney games where teams locked us down and forced us into delivering into the forward line in a way that we dont have the players to capitalise on.

So for me there are positives and negatives but the ending will effect the way I view the start.

[Bulldog Revolution]

MJP you might not agree with what I've posted but I've genuinely considered all your points.



- Playing Street, Minson and Darcy together?


I think the 3 ruckmen was a worthwhile experiment and I think it will be re-considered in the second half - but it will be better to do it when all 3 are actually in form.



- Dropping Ray for one week? What did he learn exactly?
- Ditto McMahon (though Cross/Griffen out played a part here).


The 1 week droppings of Ray and McMahon seems to have re-focused both players. McMahon played like a man posessed in the VFL and was very good against Freo.



- What is Robbins role? I doubt Robbins knows.


Fair point - is he just not doing the defensive stuff that other posters have suggested? I confess I have no idea.



- Selection of Williams and Harbrow against Richmond? Where did that come from?


I think Eade and coaching staff identified a weak opposition team to get there debut games over with against, thinking they would be better for the run. It also sends a message to the senior players that you cant just turn up and go through the motions.



- Harbrow dropped? Why?


Maybe he should have stayed in but he did have some quiet moments, and he does have to perform to get selected. I dont think it hurt him, his development is coming along nicely



- Lynch in against Freo smacked of marketing to me, but the kid played OK.


They did play him preseason which indicated he might get an opportunity this season, and he was very good in the VFL against Geelong so I think the time was right.



- What is going on with Power? In - back, forward, out, back, forward, in, out, etc etc.


Really hard to know whats going on with him and what they have planned



- Addison's decision making? Not improved from last year.


I am Addisons number 1 fan and I know the boy still has a lot to learn. I think they will accept some mistakes as long as his endeavour is at a high level. Ideally he'd be spelled shortly and then brought back when he'd demonstrated the things they need from him. Given the injuries he is likely to stay in particularly because he is so tough.



- Hahn's role? Darcy's role?


I think its been a suck it and see approach - they've tried to give them some game time, get them involved and build their fitness. Both have played very useful cameos and appear to be steadily getting better.

For me the selection issue has been the pipeline tall forward - I would have liked to see someone groomed, even if it was Wight, McDougall, Tiller etc.

At times I think Minson has been unlucky, but his form in last weeks VFL game was very ordinary and he seems to have stopped watching the ball at the centre bounces again

[mjp]

OK. I don't mind most of that (though I still think the 3 ruckman thing was pure folly and disagree with a few other things) - except the part about Ray and McMahon being 'refocussed'.

How can we tell they have been refocussed? They have been back in for 2 and 1 games respectively. If focus was all they needed, then why is the VFL the place to get it? I simply dont understand this...

I guess what you are saying is that the players were dropped to send them a message? But what message? And how does one good performance prove that they have understood the message? It is this second thing that I have the most issue with - when a player is dropped, the first week back is the easy one: they are 'fired up' to 'prove a point' and all of those kind of cliche's. They also have their team-mates etc supporting them - telling them it is a 'good chance to play 4 quarters', 'find some footy', 'run in straight lines' blah blah blah...all in all, their performance in that game more than likely means nothing at all. The other thing about it is they will generally get a few kicks and say 'See, there was nothing wrong with me', and the real reason they had been left out is forgotten.

It is the second week when the reality of their situation hits - 'I am a reserves player' - and there response then is important. Do they:
a/.Sulk
b/.Continue playing in the same manner that led to them being dropped
c/.Chase kicks/goals in a bid to win promotion
d/.Take on board the messages they have been getting and fundamentally adjust their game so that it doesn't happen again - or at least for a long time.

I guess my take on all this is that a one game holiday just smacks (to me) of old-school discipline and I simply dont see the point. Whatever the reasons Jordy/Fez were dropped, I simply cannot see how a single week at Werribee has magically fixed the problem.

[Raw Toast]

Agree with MJP re Ray, but I think Jordy was dropped for disciplinary reasons and don't see how he could have been left out of the team after Cross and Griffen went down. How did you see McMahon's game against Freo Mike? Seemed to be that apart from his kicking clangers he did most of what would've been asked of him.

Probably comes back to DT's point in other threads re our lack of depth in running players. Harbrow's inclusion was necessary for this reason I reckon (I'd called for it the week earlier, just after Grant's operation). His pre-season and Werribee form was v strong, and he'd shown he could do the 1%'ers and offer running spark as well. He was stiff to be dropped both times, but can see why the stronger-bodied Faulkner came in against the Swans.

Williams had almost got a gig in his first season before breaking his leg (he'd been an emergency and Eade said he was about to play). He'd been in good form though it was still a bit of a surprise. Eade said in the Bulldog mag that he wants to blood players which a lot of clubs seem to be doing earlier these days, with a fair bit of success. Lynch had v good form in terms of forward pressure, which was still needed, especially on a ground the size of Darwin.

Didn't like having Street, Minson and Darcy in the same team but can see the logic of it if Darcy spends all his time up forward. The complete failure of Street and Minson in that game, made it an awful decision and Street still seemed underdone.

Robbins was predicted by many to struggle - has he lost a yard of pace or is the coaching staff responsible for his loss of intensity of the last year or so? I'm more inclined to lay the responsibility with him. I'll speak about Power in my next post as I gone on enough (or probably too much here).

[Bulldog Revolution]

OK. I don't mind most of that (though I still think the 3 ruckman thing was pure folly and disagree with a few other things) - except the part about Ray and McMahon being 'refocussed'.

How can we tell they have been refocussed? They have been back in for 2 and 1 games respectively. If focus was all they needed, then why is the VFL the place to get it? I simply dont understand this...

I guess my take on all this is that a one game holiday just smacks (to me) of old-school discipline and I simply dont see the point. Whatever the reasons Jordy/Fez were dropped, I simply cannot see how a single week at Werribee has magically fixed the problem.

I might be alone in thinking the 3 ruckman thing is worth a go, but I guess I still dream that Darcy can play 3 quarters of a game as a permanent forward - he may never be able to do that again, and I might have to let go of that hope, but I am just keen to have a tall forward option. And I really like the Minson Street combination - its the brute and the giant - its a difficult mix to deal with I think.

Fair call on McMahon and Ray - the way I see it is that most of their problems when they go out of form is because they stop doing all the 1 & 2%ers and instead just run around trying to get kicks, and not doing enough of the other stuff.

Both probably dont have naturally defensive sides to their game - well perhaps its only Jordie that doesn't. I dont think McMahon has any real other problems with his game - I have always rated his abilities very highly but he can float around and not have as much impact as he might, and stop doing the hard stuff. I am hoping being dropped for a week, might help him re-discover his hunger - He has clearly established himself at a senior level now and I definitely think his pride would have been stung.

It might smack of old school discipline, but sometimes players just need a wakeup call, and getting dropped can do just that. And its Eade and cos job to create a sense of urgency in the team, and a need to perform. Ideally they might have had a spell, but with our injuries we didn't really have the option of leaving them out of the team for longer spells.

[Raw Toast]

Now in his third season with us and carrying the weight of some expectations after a finals appearance, Eade seems to have avoided any great criticism to date.

How do you rate him so far this season?

Agree with other posters that a lot depends on the second half of the season.

The first half this year has reminded me of Eade's first season with us. Some good signs, lots of bad habits remaining, fairly conservative coaching (v few surprising match day moves or game-plans), a general sense that we're stuttering and not quite getting somewhere. I get the sense that the style/game-plan has been tweaked a bit and it's yet to click. Hopefully it will soon.

I think we were always going to start slowly but that the injury to Griffen was a fairly big problem. He'd looked like he was going to take the midfield by storm and instead really struggled. Maybe we'd put too many eggs in this basket, because we struggled to adjust in the centre and win enough clearences. And Power, who started off brightly in Griffen's former role down back (roving the packs and providing some link and run), was (probably rightly) displaced by Griffen, and then struggled to get enough of it up forward. I expect Griffen's injury will give Power the chance to consolidate a bit of a spot down back, though Addison's keeping him out atm.

Our whole forward line has struggled a bit, even though the scoring still quite high. Not a surprise with Darcy, Murphy and Hahn coming back, though it seems Eade hasn't wanted Darcy as a permanent forward, and Darcy's last few weeks have vindicated Eade's desire for a bigger role for him.

The team hasn't dealt well with expectations so far, for which Eade has to take some responsibility though I suspect one of the main ways people learn not to get ahead of themselves is by doing it and falling on their face. Four out of our five losses have been games the players didn't work hard enough in, partly I think, because of injuries to key opponents (with the Crows, Saints and Swans) and a quarter or arrogance and bad habits against Carlton cost us.

The key to our game seems to be combining intensity at the contests and running. I don't think this is as simple as it sounds. Getting clearences seemed a focus against the Swans and Carlton and we did, but got smashed by their run. The last two games we've combined these two aspects which is a good sign.

8&4 would have been a v good result by this stage, given our situation. 7&5 is ok to good, but only if we continue to improve (at least that's how I see it).

[dog town]

I think Eade as a coach sits just outside the best 4 or 5 in the comp at this stage and whether he goes up or down in that ranking depends alot on what he does with us in probably the next 24 months.

Do we think some of the strange selection issues particularly the ones involving the young players have come about as a result of Eade still trying to build this side? I think he is trying to build the side on the run if you like without having too much decline in our performance. It is clear he is quite keen to pump games into guys like Williams, Addison, Lynch and Harbrow and maybe that has meant that not only have they played some games before they had the runs on the board but also some established players have been in and out. I have no doubt he is sort of renovating the side at the moment even though he still has high hopes for us this year.

In regards to Robbins I dont want to sound like a broken record but the stats speak for themselves. He has had 8 tackles for the year and only 7 1%ers. 4 of those tackles came in his last game against Carlton so hopefully the penny is starting to drop. He cannot be a one dimensional player and the reason he was able to do so well for a period was because he added another dimension to his game through his defensive pressure. Think back to round 13 against the saints in 2005 and you will remember a player who didn't just put in token efforts when he chased but chased relentlessly and as if his spot in the team depended upon it. I think Eade has been ruthless with him because he wants that Robbins back. In that game he also put on a fantastic dive smother to set up Smith for a goal. I hope like hell we get that Robbins back.

I am also frustrated with our inability to break down the game plans of 3 teams in particular. As others have mentioned we have not been able to combat the midfield press/fllood of the crows and the saints nor have we been able to combat the unique game style of the swans. I put alot of this down to attitude and also failure to execute. I have heard Eade 3 times now state after games against these sides that the players did not follow instructions. He told them to kick over the midfield line even if it meant kicking to 1 on 2 or 2 on 3 and not to try to run and draw through the midfield but we try to play our normal way get closed down and then burnt on the rebound. Whether this comes about because our lack of personnel or for some other reason I am not sure. We just haven't been pro active enough against these teams. I dont think we came to the saints and crows games ready to be in a battle. I think the swans game was a disaster all round. The style of game went completely the way the swans wanted and Eade was beaten pretty badly in the box I thought but when we are not prepared to run (thats both to attack and defend) I am not sure how much blame can go to Eade. We actually matched them for contested possessions and clearances.

[mjp]

I have heard Eade 3 times now state after games against these sides that the players did not follow instructions. He told them to kick over the midfield line even if it meant kicking to 1 on 2 or 2 on 3 and not to try to run and draw through the midfield but we try to play our normal way get closed down and then burnt on the rebound. Whether this comes about because our lack of personnel or for some other reason I am not sure.

It comes about because you cant teach a team to play one way for 9-months, then say to them - 'By the way, this week we are going to forget all that stuff and start doing something different...'

It doesn't work. When pressure is on, players will revert to what they have been practising at training, to the game-style that has been rammed down their throat. I am sorry to say it, but expecting the entire team to change game style against a top side when placed under pressure, is setting them up to fail.

[dog town]

It comes about because you cant teach a team to play one way for 9-months, then say to them - 'By the way, this week we are going to forget all that stuff and start doing something different...'

It doesn't work. When pressure is on, players will revert to what they have been practising at training, to the game-style that has been rammed down their throat. I am sorry to say it, but expecting the entire team to change game style against a top side when placed under pressure, is setting them up to fail. Yeah I suppose it depends on how big the changes are. I think the style of play problems are secondary to the fact that we didn't come to play against some of these sides. The crows were fanatical at the contest when we played them and we wanted to do just enough and no more. When we beat the crows in late 2006 we got our hands dirty and just decided to beat them at their own game. If we are prepared to work our arses off then I think how we go about the rest of the game is only a minor issue.

[mjp]

Agree - and that is why the 'Didn't follow instructions' comment pertaining to the game style annoys me. We were beat because we lacked run and refused to pressure the opposition - not because we wouldn't kick over the lines to a contest...