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Jasper
19-09-2010, 10:21 AM
What Happened, Why and Where to from here?

In the cold light of day, we have not met expectations to make or win a Grand Final in 2010. I’ll admit it, I went to the GF in the pre-season and marvelled at what Barry Hall added to our forward line - little did I think then that Barry would become our forward line.

There are a number of reasons for what happened, but boiled down:

1. List management in 01 -03 – It’s commonly believed that having good 25,26 and 27 year old players (so in 2010 that is draftees from 2001- 2004) are the key to winning GFs. We had two of these players in our team last night, the Saints had nine:

a. Two from the 2003 draft (Minson and Cooney) – Saints had four Ray (4), Fisher (55), Dawson (41) and Peake (43) last night, and another on their list, Raph Clarke, played a big role in stopping us getting to the GF last year

b. No-one from the 2001 and 2002 drafts played last night (Cross - rookie and Callan are the only 26/27 year olds on our list) – Saints have five players from these drafts, Del Santo, Montagna, Gram, Goddard and Dempster – enough said

To Eade’s credit, after he took over our list improved markedly after 2003 as we started to grow our own players and the stopgap recruiting practices from the Wallace and Rhode eras was ceased. I won’t list them except for the Koops trade for Pick 19 in 03 - Koops lasted five games, the pick netted Freo Mundy.

Having said that, Ray, Dawson, Dempster and Peake were all traded in by Lyon, Eade hasn't traded in any in this age bracket apart from Callan who is fringe at best. So Eade and the footy department, bears some responsibility for this issue, but really our list was set back significantly way back in 01-03.

2. The increase in the speed and skill of the game – particularly the need for forward line pressure. Stack, Akermanis, Thorne, and Hill’s poor performance up forward meant we persisted with players that were unfit (Higgins, Johnson) or too slow (Hahn).

While our contested ball winning was fantastic, our foot skills have gone backwards. Players such as Cooney, Boyd, Higgins and Ward have the ability but appear to have slipped.

This problem is due to the Football Department’s failure to anticipate the game’s direction and recruit/develop players to meet this need (as well as the individual player’s responsibility)

3. Injury – All clubs have injuries, losing Higgins and Cooney, having Johnson, Morris, Lake, Minson, Ward, Murphy and Williams carrying injuries has cruelled our season. Some of these injuries were impact injuries, which can’t be avoided; some though were illness, strains, sprains and overuse injuries, which can be minimised by quick diagnosis and effective management. Unsure if our medical and training department have been performing well enough. Bad luck as well contributed.


For the future (which I believe has possibilities), this year looms as a critical year for our club as a number of key players retire or are reviewed. The competition will continue to get stronger, so how will we get better with an aging/declining list? Issues to address:


Our list requires some surgery. Our large number of 28 plus players means that we should be looking to address this list imbalance and recruit 1 or 2 capable 26 and under players with speed and skill (the younger the better). We may have to trade someone of note in our plus 28 category to engineer this change given our draft picks are sown up with father son selections

When the above is combined with the fact that Eade is in the last year of a contract having not met expectations this year, that we have a new list manager, and our football manager (Fantasia) has a poor recruiting record – can I suggest that this combination of factors scares the bejesus out of me (but it also creates an opportunity for success with some reasonable risk taking)

Our training and medical department needs to be reviewed to ensure it is best practice

Our conservatism with match selection needs to be looked at, with younger players being given preference to older players. For instance if Hargrave is retained via the veterans list, it should be on a reduced contract and he needs to understand that he may not be first 22 any longer

GVGjr
19-09-2010, 11:41 AM
Great thread Kelvinator. I'll post a reply later today.

stefoid
19-09-2010, 01:37 PM
With rotations the way they are, maybe we need to adjust our training to favour repeat sprints over total endurance, like the pies. I think a lot of teams will be look very hard at what the pies have been doing.

We need to start the preseaon and year with the aim of getting as many games into the likes of jones, roughhead, everitt, hill, reid and addison, stack, hooper. Those guys need to be able to compete for spots in the team based purely on form with senior players.

Senior player returning from injury play back into form in the reserves, just like everybody else.

We need to increase our forward pressure.

We need to focus our training on ball use and decision making under real pressure.

comrade
19-09-2010, 06:50 PM
My first thoughts on 2010 are we just didn't have the right balance; in our selections, and in our game style.

We lack running depth which hamstrung our MC to an extent, but we played with too many forwards all year. Guys like Hahn, Johnson, Higgins, Hall, Hill and Stack were all played at various times. These guys can't move in to the midfield and assist with the rotations. Playing 4 or 5 strict forwards is suicide in the new phase of running football.

Collingwood will win the GF because of their maniacal running ability. They pick the right players and utilise the rotation system which allows them to a) pressure and harrass the opposition and force turnovers and b) outrun the opposition when they win a turnover.

Our biggest wins this year came in games that felt like a non-contact training drill. I could never put my finger on why I wasn't rapt with big 10 goal wins but it was because they were played in a style that wouldn't stand up to finals pressure. Our tackling count throughout the year bordered on embarrassing - more telling was that we were number 1 for not being tackled.

I think this style of play has also been detrimental to our skills. With a game style based around not tackling or being tackled, when we came up against teams hell bent on destroying us physically, we just went to water. When we can't manufacture a pin point kick, we panic and bomb it.

For the coaches out there; how do you train to play a pressure game style and combat one?

It obviously can happen because St Kilda and Collingwood have it nailed.

My final issue is with our fitness staff.

I think they had a shocking year. Players were passed fit who shouldn't have been within a bull's roar of the best 22.

Our fitness program seems to be biased towards endurance conditioning but the Collingwood model proves that powerful sprinting in short bursts, followed by rest is the best way to maintain defensive pressure and outrun opponents going forward.

The fact that we played too many injured guys, combined with an over-focus on endurance running, meant we were behind the 8 ball.

What I hope to see happen:

Match committee

The MC must be overhauled. More input from development coaches, more weight given to different opinions rather than just dominant figures within the Club. All credits to be erased.

Fitness staff

The fitness staff must be challenged and directed to change it's strategy. Davoren comes from an endurance background; is he capable of adapting to a power running program suited to football?

Game style

The game style has to be adapted around two key stats: 1. Tackling. 2. Disposal efficiency. If players aren't prepared to tackle and then use the ball well under pressure they can't be selected. Picking players who continually go against the game plan sends the wrong message and encourages complacency.

Football spending

More spending in the football department. I know the administration loves to see a surplus, but this is a football club first, business entity second. Investing in the football department will return huge investments, more than any penny pinching.

Better coaches, better recruiting networks, more fitness resources must be attained if we're going to take it up a level. Collingwood have suggested their yearly trips to Arizona have allowed them to take the next step. Find the cash to implement the next cutting edge fitness program. Find us an edge.