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Game Day vs Crows
- Thread starter Smoking Aces
- Start date
easy said:
Agree the fumbles cost us. Higgins by far the worse offender but some of the others killed our momentum, like Rioli on the wing. Takes clean possession he is away with speed and we go deep into our forward 50.
Cotchin Edwards Lambert and Astbury in I reckon we would have won comfortably.
easy said:
Good to read a positive posting. It is so easy to bag players, suggest a delist, he is useless and a dud, etc., etc.
For mine, any player who pulls on a Richmond jumper gives his all for the club.
In the end, if he or they are just not up to AFL standard then the powers that be at the club will take the appropriate action.
It is everyone's right to have opinions about players, especially on here, but for goodness sake give them some respect for being selected in the first place.
And in the second place remember they try their hearts out to win even if they get beaten on the day or night.
My thoughts for the day.
DavidSSS said:
Agreed with most of the first part of your post, but re the above. I'm critical of Dimma because as head coach it is his philosophy that has got us here. Let's call it "Midget Obsession". As HC he has driven or approved this game plan where we are the 'tiny' team of the AFL. Even our No.1 ruck is a midget who cannot compete against the very best because he is undersized and not even as good an athlete as the likes of Gawn, Grundy and Stanley. Our FL is overflowing with midgets - at least one too many - who when the heat and physical pressure comes on, cannot really impose themselves on the game. What's more, none of them is even a 'deadly' kick that is highly accurate and reliable at snaps or can score from distance - see Castagna, Higgins and Butler. I include Rioli too whose performances are now mostly underwhelming like his stuff-up last night. The likes of Sydanee's Papley or Norf's Zurhaar have really left them for dead in toughness, speed and sharpness around goal.
I exempt Baker who has become the best player of all of them in his 1st year at AFL (although I found his game poor last night). Our former three struggle to ever win much more than 15 Ds max. Higgins might but you can halve that due to his ineffective, dumpy little 'aus-kicks' (can't kick over a jam-tin, specialises in soft, high, floaty lobs). They cannot win enough ball to exert much influence on a match whereas other teams have gone with bigger-bodied, mid-tall, stronger but still fast half-forwards such as (again if I use Norf as an example) - Mason Wood, T.Thomas or Zurhaar (all 189cm +). Our backline is depleted, sure, but it's also aging and we need to find replacements that can compete with these types of player. Are the likes of Garth, Broad and Menadue or even Houli up to it any more? Sid Stack is a small player but he is much better quality in all aspects of the game [ball-winning, kicking, marking, toughness] than the 3 SFs I named above, with the likely exception of DRioli who has gone backwards since '17 (get him 100% right!).
It's the same in the midfield where most teams went for big midfielders in their drafting long ago so we just get beaten up by teams like the Moggies or even Norf with their bigger bodied types. These taller mids they've recruited can compete in the air too around the ground which allows them more outlets to release the pressure from defence as well as being threats drifting forward, so we get dominated in possession differential and aerial marking. KMac is a bigger body; has endurance but is a low possession player who can never break a game open, often fades out in high-pressure games and is not a damaging player offensively.
Yet Dimma has refused to get more games into Chol or Cal Moore (pre-injury) despite good VFL form, preferring to keep recycling these smalls back and forward from the VFL (and perseveres with Higgins no matter how average he is). Other teams woke up to this strategy and started countering from end of '18 well and truly in 2019. It's failng but Dimma still refused to see it and now lacks adequate mids, forwards or backs with the injury crisis. Keeps picking midget teams.
Prestia can find the ball but his disposal is local-park quality; and hopeless around goals where he seems to mentally draw plastic-wrap across the goal-face. Just watch how sloppy and random his ball-drop is; never shows much poise even when clear, only kicks effectively occasionally.
Only Dusty and perhaps Graham of currently fit mids have the size and strength to really compete. Cripps beats our midfield solo. Sure, the club finally woke up and realised so we took Ross who has been a revelation in his first few games, and RCD who will take time. But did we really need Higgins rather than another tall defender or strong, bigger, aggressive mid-forward?
Sick of seeing Richmond teams so undersized, so weak around the contests starting at CBs, and in defence (see Garth last night against Jenkins) and up forward. So thrashed for the essentials - possessions (ball-winning - we don't rate or just have too many players that simply cannot get it), overhead marking, ruck contests and HOTA and at stoppages (Crows got 8+ goals from).
I'm totally over the obsession with midgets.
leon said:
Dimma has admitted previously that it came about because we had to make do with what we had. Previously we were 8th, 5th, 8th and 7th tallest. The last three seasons we've been 18th.
Right now we're putting on the park what we have, and still some want Bolton and Aarts added to the mix. Agree that it's not working as well as it might and think some adjustment is required, especially forward when setting up in front of a player with the ball in space. But that's probably selling short what Riewoldt adds to the forward chemistry.
E
easy_tiger
Guest
easy said:
And if Soldo doesn't play, the Reserves have no ruckman tomorrow. We're fresh out of big people.
E
easy_tiger
Guest
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Is criminal jones bung too?
Jesus.
we redefined the game 2 years too early
Everyone knows where the game was lost, but just saying we have injuries isn’t the answer either.
Is Nakas going to solved our ruck issues?
Is Ross the difference in the middle?
Defensively we are weak, will we make a play for a tall defender?
I cannot see Jack, Nakas and Ross returning in time for us to make a play for September.
Is Nakas going to solved our ruck issues?
Is Ross the difference in the middle?
Defensively we are weak, will we make a play for a tall defender?
I cannot see Jack, Nakas and Ross returning in time for us to make a play for September.
lukeanddad said:
And why is Rioli playing? He's not right or seriously under done but getting off the hook. Might be more a selection thing but still.
zippadeee said:
No injuries isn't the answer but it is a valid excuse. How many teams can cover the loss of their 4 top leadership players and a host of other important top 22 players? You can't lose your 3 primary best key position players and cover it. We have to be realistic and look to next year now as players coming back from long term injuries will take a while to find their form again.
Happy enough with our work rate n effort against the Crowbaits. Took the game right up to them with a very inexperienced n injury ravaged team. Bloody disappointed in our failure to execute properly at times, especially early in the last qtr when we should have been hammering some nails into the coffin for them.
Was expecting to get flogged on their home deck so the close game all night was a bonus. Time for the boys to get away from footy for a few days, refresh n have some fun and hopefully after the break we start to get some maturity and experience back into the team to help spread the load a bit on match day.
Was expecting to get flogged on their home deck so the close game all night was a bonus. Time for the boys to get away from footy for a few days, refresh n have some fun and hopefully after the break we start to get some maturity and experience back into the team to help spread the load a bit on match day.
Leon, you make some very good points. I would agree we need to tweak the game plan and I would agree we certainly need some more height and bigger bodies. But the fundamental is that the game plan we have won us a flag. The minute you get a flag you get dissected and we need to adjust, but not throw the whole lot out. I think we also need to adjust in terms of the personnel, part of dissecting our game has been the opposition realising that they can nullify it with larger/taller/stronger players and even adopt some of what we do with their own players - here we lose out on height but also we do need to improve disposal skills.
In conclusion, I still reckon the basic system works, what we need is, unfortunately, a fair list of things: injured players back (which solves some of this although I agree Nank, for all his heroics, is probably not a first ruck given some of the others going around these days), some more tall players and improvement in disposal skills. How you do this without losing some of the advantages of our small players is difficult.
I would also say that there is clearly some recognition of this at the club, we did recruit a big second forward in Lynch, we took the opportunity to grab Pickett who is a large bodied inside mid. The list has deficiencies and plugging gaps with our salary cap limitations isn't going to be easy, although again the club did let a few go this year because we need to change things.
DS
In conclusion, I still reckon the basic system works, what we need is, unfortunately, a fair list of things: injured players back (which solves some of this although I agree Nank, for all his heroics, is probably not a first ruck given some of the others going around these days), some more tall players and improvement in disposal skills. How you do this without losing some of the advantages of our small players is difficult.
I would also say that there is clearly some recognition of this at the club, we did recruit a big second forward in Lynch, we took the opportunity to grab Pickett who is a large bodied inside mid. The list has deficiencies and plugging gaps with our salary cap limitations isn't going to be easy, although again the club did let a few go this year because we need to change things.
DS
E
easy_tiger
Guest
artball said:
A difference in august/September will be pretty good.
he'd be doing a full aerobic preseason now and be the freshest player in the game in August.
I have us finishing 4th (9:1) - 6th (7:3)
with INS: Riewoldt, Lambert, Edwards, Cotchin, Nank, ross, short?, Pickett
this horror injury run will cast off the Groucho Marx disguise and become a very overt blessing.
we will be the freshest side in the 8 by a mile and clubs will be tanking to avoid us in the finals.
