-
IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
Thomson Dow
- Thread starter fastin bulbous
- Start date
I would usually agree but he was so poor, it’s hard to see it improving. If he does play next week & the performance is the same, I think he’d be finished with us.
You can’t reward him with another game. For a guy that’s been desperate for his opportunity to serve up that effort, says where he’s at. Is just a VFL standard footballer unfortunately.
Not sure why he was even selected
We cleary have been playing one too many slow inside midfielders all year , hence trying to hide cotch up forward.
cotch should have simply replaced Hopper in the midfield and brought in clarke or cumbo to play forward..
We cleary have been playing one too many slow inside midfielders all year , hence trying to hide cotch up forward.
cotch should have simply replaced Hopper in the midfield and brought in clarke or cumbo to play forward..
He was selected because his VFL form has been good. But he just didn't seem to know how to get involved. Don't quite understand it, has he not been coached on how to get involved, was he over-awed by the occasion? I would tend to give him another chance but someone has to tell Dow how to get involved in the game, to show the best he is capable of. He has to be given the tools to do well, the tools to take his chance or fail trying.
DS
DS
Not quite sure what you mean DS. Isn't the idea of how to get involved in the game i.e. win the ball, beat your opponent, etc. something that players develop as they play the game in junior footy? I presume the AFL listed players train together so what's going on in his head? He can play well at VFL level so it's either a lack of desire to be more than a VFL player, or no confidence at the higher level where he is surounded by players he thinks are above his level so he doesn't feel he belongs there. Contrast that mindset to Marlion Pickett in the 2019 GF where he just played footy because he really wanted to play at that level and he believed he was good enough irrespective of who else was on the ground. It seems Dow has reached his level at VFL football and that's fine for him but for RFC it has been a bust as far as expecting him to develop into a regular AFL level player. He does not have the mental tools to go further and I doubt that anyone can give them to him because the desire to extend himself as a footballer is just not there.
Last edited:
A lot of pressure if he felt it was his last chance as people were saying on here - too much pressure to play with any confidence or freedom.
Maybe he is a bit of a ‘thinker’.
Feel for him if only gets 1 game in a row.
Maybe needs to get more scrappy and niggly and try reslly really hard and go for Mansell’s role?
Subbed out in his 1st game of the year, in the 3qtr.
No Good Kids
THERE GOES ANOTHER 1ST ROUNDER
No Good Kids
THERE GOES ANOTHER 1ST ROUNDER
Not sure he attended many centre bounces, which is where I understand he plays most of his VFL. I noticed him on the forward flank at times but wasn't watching him closely enough to be sure where else he lined up.
Thought he would have been Hoppers direct replacement but saw on another thread that Shorty seemed to take on this role. Sounds likes he's an in and under player but we didn't play him much in the guts, which is a bit of a head scratcher.
Thought he would have been Hoppers direct replacement but saw on another thread that Shorty seemed to take on this role. Sounds likes he's an in and under player but we didn't play him much in the guts, which is a bit of a head scratcher.
It would be really interesting to know where he was played.
If not in the guts, it would make it more understandable as to why he had so little impact. As others have said, he was tearing it up in the 2s.
I'd love to see the data on success of slow developers. I don't think it would be pretty. Not many players who haven't debuted by early second season, and be getting a regular game by season 4 would make it.
Our coaches need to re-examine the odd positions that many of our players are being asked to play in and the instructions they are given. Dow, Pickett and Short are examples and our forward entries to packs makes it so easy for defenders to cut off. I see forwards leading but then ignored. An interview in The Age with Essendon's Head of Football, Josh Mahoney is relevant....he explains why they appointed Scott - "...he's a development coach, loves seeing improvement in players, but he's also big on taking responsibility for what happens on field. ...if the players are not doing what we want them to do, then (Scott's philosophy is) the coaches need to get to work, change the way they are teaching and the language they're using. That's refreshing for players to see."
I hope Dimma has taken note.
After the weekends game id rather RCD than Dow. How can you train with a professional football club for 4 years and still not know how to get involved. Its either an indictment on our coaching and development or Dow is another terrible selection.
On the plus side we didnt give up pick 2 like Carlton did for his brother!
Played half forward and attended 25% of the centre bounces, Short (67%) essentially took Hopper's role, albeit to his strengths as a defensive mid moving back. Below is Dow's heat map:
We dropped Sonsie in a very similar example and those bloke has been on the list for years.
Sunken cost. Move on give the minutes to Sonsie.
Learn the lesson, draft pure mids who can kick. How many years have I been saying it?
Dow wasn't impacting games greatly at TAC level. Prefer the Jack Ross junior resume as a template.
5 weeks ? That’s far too long when players like Cumbo are dropped after one game
in his 4th year seen enough not upto standard
One notable exception was Michael Tuck, who played two seasons in the reserves before establishing himself.
He looked good when he first debuted, but seems to have gone backwards. Possibly played out of position on Saturday night but you would hope he would still make the most of his opportunities. Need to persist for another couple of weeks, otherwise what’s the point!
