Acceptance - we are now a middling side

[tony_montana]

Well the poster that wants Nank out bc he’s no good gets his wish, let’s see how we go in the ruck without him for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Great opportunity for Ryan and Miller though!

 

[mrposhman]

Well the poster that wants Nank out bc he’s no good gets his wish, let’s see how we go in the ruck without him for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Great opportunity for Ryan and Miller though!

Maybe Biggie too.

 

[eZyT]

BTW, to all those negative nellies. Where were people actually expecting us to be after say 6 rounds? 6-0, 0-6?

Personally, I was going to be happy if we were around middle of the ledger (3-3 would be fine). Tough start to the year, we always seem to start seasons slowly.

If we beat the Swans next week, we will be 2-1-2 after 5 games and pretty much right on middle of the ledger. Even if we lose to Melbourne the week after, we are basically still in that middle of the ledger scenario.

Thats it,

Were half a game out of 5th,

And Focus on Footy are crunching the numbers

 

[Carter]

Current injury list demands innovative fixes.

Midfield without Nank or Soldo.

Forwards without Lynch.

Tactics without the comfort of familiar warriors.

The positive side to all this is we might just get a team with a much higher ceiling than the bland, one-paced team we saw in Round 1.

 

[DavidSSS]

I think you are selling us a bit short. We have been masters of our downfall for much of the season so far.

Carlton - Agree with what you say
Collingwood - Generally agree with what you say, we were outplayed and they performed a lot better than us that day
Dogs - I don't really agree. We did play well for about 20 minutes and we were smashed in clearances BUT in terms of overall play, we were well in the game, the difference in Inside 50's was largely as a result of our poor play rather than their good. Whilst they smashed us at stoppage I don't think they really created a great advantage out of it, a lot were bombs in our D50 and bar a few umpire howlers, we dealt with that well all night. If our disposal had been better throughout the game, I'm firmly of the belief that we win on Saturday.

The good thing about most of what has gone wrong for us, is its fixable. We have the right players to make clearances work for us, but probably have the wrong mix at times.

In our heyday, we had a nice mix, our go to clearance team was Dusty (power), Cotch (defensive side) and Meatball (see ball gets ball). I feel our mix at the moment is very one dimensional in that Meatball, Taranto and Hopper all perform similar roles at the centre bounce. We need to mix that up, and thats where Dusty and Shai need to come in more, and we need 1 of them (I like Taranto doing it) playing that sweeper role at the back of the stoppage. We have enough quality to have better matchups when opposition have their 2nd string centre bounce team in there, we just need a better mix.

The other thing is around decision making and execution. Against Carlton we lost due to execution in our forward half, as I've said before, Jack was burnt at least 3 times by kicks into F50 from some of our best kicks (Graham, Short and Dusty) and we have struggled with disposal from our back half against both Collingwood and the Dogs and much of that was due to poor decision making as opposed to not having the skills. Bakes went from being superb against Collingwood to costing us a number of goals, not due to poor skills, he was still so clean at the contest he just chose the wrong option. We hesitated and took 2nd options a lot on Saturday, we just need to be reminded to play on instinct (what made us so good through the premiership years) and looking and taking the 1st option.

Agree with a lot of what you say but I would definitely put more emphasis on bad decision making than bad execution. Not just bad passes but also players calling for a pass while standing still. This is AFL level, you can't be that static or you open yourself up to intercepts and you certainly shouldn't be passing to an outnumber unless the player receiving the ball has a little bit of space.

As for the setup in the middle, I can understand the idea behind having all 3 of Tarranto, Hopper and Prestia in there at once but it is unbalanced. Need to be circulating the extractors in the middle and look to have at least one player in there who's role is to get it forward to one of our players. We also need to sort out how better to spread and get clean possessions.

I don't think I sold us short, we were closer than we deserved to be against both Footscray and Collingwood, and I don't think that was a fluke, it reflects we need to get a few things right and we can be competitive.

DS

 

[Tigers of Old]

Think you need to change the thread title Carts to hobbling side.

 

[craig]

With all the injuries we are A Vanishing Side

 

[Scoop]

What a couple of days. Its play the kids time short term. Play Banks & Bauer this week. Ruck Miller & Balta.

Medium term, just got to try and get to finals, thats still the goal. Get everyone fit and firing then.

Longer term, I’d let Broad walk to WCE, get Fridge to Adelaide, shop Vlastuin, shop my boy Shorty. Do all this regardless of how the year goes. Get picks inside 40. Try and bundle up back into the first round.

 

[TigerForce]

What a couple of days. Its play the kids time short term. Play Banks & Bauer this week. Ruck Miller & Balta.

Medium term, just got to try and get to finals, thats still the goal. Get everyone fit and firing then.

Longer term, I’d let Broad walk to WCE, get Fridge to Adelaide, shop Vlastuin, shop my boy Shorty. Do all this regardless of how the year goes. Get picks inside 40. Try and bundle up back into the first round.

Hmm...

 

[Brodders17]

I reckon our list management should get credit that we can still put out talls Balta, Grimes, Young, Jack, Miller and Ryan despite missing our top2 rucks, 3 key defenders, the best key forward in the games and Biggie.

 

[tigertime2]

look at the positive we only need 4 more injuries to have a full side of 18 missing...that has to be a record!

 

[T-Shirt Tommy]

Longer term, I’d let Broad walk to WCE, get Fridge to Adelaide, shop Vlastuin, shop my boy Shorty. Do all this regardless of how the year goes. Get picks inside 40. Try and bundle up back into the first round.

We trade all those players, we are basically announcing that we are rebuilding from scratch.

 

[angle ankle]

Well the poster that wants Nank out bc he’s no good gets his wish, let’s see how we go in the ruck without him for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Great opportunity for Ryan and Miller though!

hey i resemble that guy.
i just want it clear i think nank has been enormous for the club with the heart of a lion.
i cant believe the punishment his body has absorbed.
but whats the point of a megadollar midfield if the game plan isnt to give them the best oppurtunity.?

 

[Scoop]

We trade all those players, we are basically announcing that we are rebuilding from scratch.

Far from it.

Two back flankers, a wing and a change mid. You won’t get deals done for all of them but you might get two done. If Broad goes, keep Vlastuin. We drafted Banks and Brown as back flankers. Maybe Banks can do the Short role. Maybe Steely Green can do 75% of the Graham role. You’ve got to do something yo change the list build. You can’t keep everyone.

Trade while there’s value. Short at the Dogs, Pies or Cats would kill it. Same with Vlastuin at Essendon, Swans or Dees.

 

[Smoking Aces]

What a couple of days. Its play the kids time short term. Play Banks & Bauer this week. Ruck Miller & Balta.

Medium term, just got to try and get to finals, thats still the goal. Get everyone fit and firing then.

Longer term, I’d let Broad walk to WCE, get Fridge to Adelaide, shop Vlastuin, shop my boy Shorty. Do all this regardless of how the year goes. Get picks inside 40. Try and bundle up back into the first round.

Anyway you spin it that’s a rebuild.

 

[tigerdell]

Far from it.

Two back flankers, a wing and a change mid. You won’t get deals done for all of them but you might get two done. If Broad goes, keep Vlastuin. We drafted Banks and Brown as back flankers. Maybe Banks can do the Short role. Maybe Steely Green can do 75% of the Graham role. You’ve got to do something yo change the list build. You can’t keep everyone.

Trade while there’s value. Short at the Dogs, Pies or Cats would kill it. Same with Vlastuin at Essendon, Swans or Dees.

Is there a problem with putting Green, Banks, Brown in the best 22?
Especially in our starting lineup when we would also have Young, Gibcus, Ralphsmith, Sonsie, Cumberland, Ryan, Clarke.
(i'd have MRJ In too)

Thats the 2024 side without the 4 youve traded, plus those covering retirements.
Its a hefty hit of experience.
Talented but very underweight.

Young Gibcus Grimes
Rioli Balta Baker
Kmac Taranto Pickett
Clarke Ryan Bolton
Cumbo Lynch Martin
Nank/Soldo Hopper Prestia
Sonsie Ralphsmith Green Banks Brown emerg MRJ

 

[Razorgang2]

What a couple of days. Its play the kids time short term. Play Banks & Bauer this week. Ruck Miller & Balta.

Medium term, just got to try and get to finals, thats still the goal. Get everyone fit and firing then.

Longer term, I’d let Broad walk to WCE, get Fridge to Adelaide, shop Vlastuin, shop my boy Shorty. Do all this regardless of how the year goes. Get picks inside 40. Try and bundle up back into the first round.

WTF, you can get off the meds right now Scoops. Oh, I know your taking the p!ss.

 

[momentai]

What a couple of days. Its play the kids time short term. Play Banks & Bauer this week. Ruck Miller & Balta.

Medium term, just got to try and get to finals, thats still the goal. Get everyone fit and firing then.

Longer term, I’d let Broad walk to WCE, get Fridge to Adelaide, shop Vlastuin, shop my boy Shorty. Do all this regardless of how the year goes. Get picks inside 40. Try and bundle up back into the first round.

If we can't make top 4 history suggests we are done in terms of being around for the GF. And that is exactly where we are.
Important now to focus on getting games into our younger players. This has already started.
One further change with the loss of Nankervis sees Brauer getting his chance.

In Bauer Miller and Riewoldt
Out Graham Lynch and Nankervis

B Young Balta Grimes Capt,
HB Baker Vlastuin Rioli D Vice Capt,
C McIntosh Pickett Clarke
HF Sonsie Cumberland Mansell
F Bauer Ryan Bolton
R Miller Martin Taranto
I/C Cotchin Hopper Prestia Ralphsmith
Miller and Ryan to ruck. Sub Jack and for the reasons provided earlier this afternoon, I'd expect him to come flying into the action during the 3 qr..
Travelling Emergency Dow.

 

[Scoop]

Anyway you spin it that’s a rebuild.

If your not brave enough to back what you would still have minus one flanker, one winger and a mid who is 15-22 in your side then we are in worse shape than you think. Would bring in picks and tidy up your cap as well. Can’t just sit around and wait. So losing one of Broad/Vlastuin, Short and Graham is a rebuild?

 

[Jonesracing82]

What a couple of days. Its play the kids time short term. Play Banks & Bauer this week. Ruck Miller & Balta.

Medium term, just got to try and get to finals, thats still the goal. Get everyone fit and firing then.

Longer term, I’d let Broad walk to WCE, get Fridge to Adelaide, shop Vlastuin, shop my boy Shorty. Do all this regardless of how the year goes. Get picks inside 40. Try and bundle up back into the first round.

We do that & we'll end up like Norf & Dawks. hard pass!