Now I could have come in early on this thread, all charged up with emotion and ready to breathe fire but I have cooled my heels for a couple of days and watched the game several times over and now I feel I am in the right frame of mind to spout a constructive opinion on a very disappointing result.
Problem: The most glaring thing I found with many of our players is that we go into contests and lose our feet. There were several occasions where we outnumbered the opposition only to have our advantage spoilt by a couple of our guys in a 3 on 1 situation going to ground or slipping over, giving the opposition a better than even chance. We appear to be charging at the ball as our sole focus when we should be thinking more about the situation, keeping our feet and trusting a team mate to win the ball and dish off to a player in space. We need to instill the minset of a good snooker player in our entire team. You could probably put this issue down to enthusiasm but I'd prefer to think of it as lack of vision.
Solution: I believe this is a coaching issue which can be overcome with an overhaul in our training and mental approach to how we play the game.
Problem: We seem to be doing the same old, same old hand pass to someone who is under more pressure especially when coming out of our backline. Some of our more experienced players are doing this way too often and not setting an example to our younger players. We need to back ourselves and have the presence of mind to run the lines rather than panic when we hear an opposition player breathing down our neck. Lids is the only one atm who appears to be doing this.
Solution: IMO the casue of this is our play on at all costs game plan. We are playing on too many times when we shouldn't!! I don't feel we are really ready or have the players for a run and gun game plan as nobody appears to know what to do once we play on. If you look at the Swans or the Eagles, more often than not when they play on they tend to have a couple of options in mind. If option one gets snuffed out, a team mate will know this and run into space for an uncontested posession, maybe in a less advantageous position than option one, but you get to maintain posession and build for a forward movement. Patience is the key and we have shown we can play this game well when we beat the crows at the dome. We also need better onfield leadership. I was watching Brett Kirk today direct his players all day like a real general. Kane only does this in short bursts and not very often.
Problem: Richo and our forward line. I agree with many here that Schulz is a better forward option than Richo currently. His goal conversion is very high and he does have a great leap and good hands. He does however, need to make a consistent effort over 4 quarters. If he can do this, he will take over Richo's mantle as our first attacking option. Richo is doing too many negative things currently like bad body language when a player doesn't kick to him and continually turning his back after taking a mark even when he knows he isn't kicking accurately. In my playing days if we ever did this we were dragged and roasted by the coach. Our players seem to stop once Richo takes a mark because 1, they know he probably won't kick it to them even if they are in a better position and 2, if he did try to kick it, they know he is pretty ordinary with his disposal when not on the run. He is also getting into a bad habit of complaining about not getting a free kick whilst the ball is still hot. He seems to be too focused on this new hands in the back rule which the umps seem to have really watered down after the first couple of rounds.
Solution: I believe Richo's days in the forward line should come to an end and move him into defence. We can't afford to have a forward KPP who's goal conversion percentage is so poor. When on his game, his forward defensive pressure is actually very good and he runs hard. This proves he could be a good tall defensive option but his standing start disposal would need to improve greatly. Putting Jay Schulz in the backline would be a huge mistake. If Richo wants to stay in the forward line he needs to drastically improve his goal percentage
and convert "hard done by" into "hard at it!!"
All in all I feel that with an improved game plan to suit our current playing list, a better mindset and a couple of positional changes we could be a far more competitive team.
