2013 vs 2014

[TigerLand]

Bit early I know:

But had a good discussion with a mate of mine about last year and whether we tricked the footy public into thinking we were better than what we were. Think the Essendon saga helped a bit, helped that the Eagles had a coach who was off with the fairies for the whole year so we were gifted 2 spots on the ladder so in reality we were probably the 7th best side in the comp.

Factor in the fact that apart from Maric's troublesome groin we weren't hit with any injuries to any major players for longer than 1-2 week peroid. Martin, Cotchin, Rance, Deledio, Jack, Jackson all player 95%-100% of the year.

Fast forward to 2014, take out Deledio, Maric and Rance, Jackson is underdone, take out Matty White and Nahas our 2 fastest players and fail to replace them with any speed, lose Shane Tuck a midfield general and experience, add another year onto Foley, King and Newman putting them into a retirement year and add in some anxiety to our game plan =
is it all that surprising we are 2 wins and 3 losses? Have we over rated ourselves again?

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Bit early I know:

But had a good discussion with a mate of mine about last year and whether we tricked the footy public into thinking we were better than what we were. Think the Essendon saga helped a bit, helped that the Eagles had a coach who was off with the fairies for the whole year so we were gifted 2 spots on the ladder so in reality we were probably the 7th best side in the comp.

Factor in the fact that apart from Maric's troublesome groin we weren't hit with any injuries to any major players for longer than 1-2 week peroid. Martin, Cotchin, Rance, Deledio, Jack, Jackson all player 95%-100% of the year.

Fast forward to 2014, take out Deledio, Maric and Rance, Jackson is underdone, take out Matty White and Nahas our 2 fastest players and fail to replace them with any speed, lose Shane Tuck a midfield general and experience, add another year onto Foley, King and Newman putting them into a retirement year and add in some anxiety to our game plan =
is it all that surprising we are 2 wins and 3 losses? Have we over rated ourselves again?

Yes

[Eat_em_Alive]

Yes to all of those
Also listening to the bombers opposition coach yesterday on SEN, he spoke about tigers as an example and it's not hard to see that the opp have us worked out and a lack of plan B or players that can execute one hurts us as well.

[TigerLand]

Yes to all of those
Also listening to the bombers opposition coach yesterday on SEN, he spoke about tigers as an example and it's not hard to see that the opp have us worked out and a lack of plan B or players that can execute one hurts us as well.

Listened to that as well, was fascinating and seems very good at his job. Said we were good at clearances and scoring from them and switching play. Now we don't do either well cause the game has evolved and we are seeing more numbers around the footy and possession. We obviously havent adjusted. We lost Campbell as oppo analyst? Who is it now?

[Jackstar is back!!!]

Huge difference is this
1/ Opposition clubs have worked us out thus we go into the rubbish of holding onto the ball as there is no player on the over lap or released .therefore players like Grigg and Ellis have poor form
2/. Not one player will run and carry .how many bounces this year ? Wouldn't think many at all
3/. Current game plan is complete rubbish .through the whiteboard down the tip
- the only instruction you need to give the players is when we gain possession .run into space as fast as you can ( preferably forward )
4/ fast transition footy at all costs
End of story !!

[TigerLand]

Pretty spot on Jack.

Watched Coll vs NM. Pies embarrassed North as much as they embarrassed us. Just pressured the ball carrier and NM were spooked. Reckon we are the same with NM, put pressure on our ball use and it will equal a turn over. We were meant to draft good users of the ball and if I recall correctly draft players with leadership potential. Conca was a big pick in regards to research into mental capabilities. Can only assume the money ball players were given a similar test and their mental capabilities were considered when drafted.

Yet the things we still lack in is decision making, skill efficiency and leadership.

The Ess bloke said the game changes every 6-7 weeks as teams work on their weaknesses and improve it and in doing so normally fall away in another area they don't work on as much due to the heavy work on the area they needed work, one of the tricks is to predict where the game is going and be ready for it when it happens. Felt like this is exactly what we have been like for the past 5-6 years. Especially at the end of Wallace era, we drafted athletes as the game turned into a contested game, we drafted contested players as the game changed to an endurance rolling zone and possession football. We draft 'good users' of the ball but they fail to make the correct decisions.

Feels like we are always 1 step behind of where the game is going. Hardwick is trying to get more players to kick goals as the current successful teams do that. I bet we will finally get that right in 2-3 seasons time but by then the game will have changed, new rules brought in and we will have to adjust again.

[Lozza]

Watching Port tonight and their style is how I thought we played last season, they take the game on, play on more times than not. This year we seem to hold the game up continually meaning we have no free players and end up just kicking to a 50/50 contest. Not sure if this because we are not fit and just don't have runners up field or its a set game plan that simply is not working. It's quite clear that a high possession game is just not our forte given our poor disposal efficiency (one of the main differences this year is our disposal efficiency is way down, don't know how it can be explained). Thought against Brisbane we looked much better kicking long to the forward line and applying pressure at the contest.

[Eat_em_Alive]

Lozza, was listening to crunch time on SEN today with Robbo, Dermie and co.
When discussing the tigers they mentioned how the game plan had changed and Dermie said its possible that Hardwick realised after last season our game style would probably not hold up in finals so has adjusted the plan to a more contested type bringing in players like Thomas among other changes and its not working yet (obviously).

[TigerMonk]

Injuries + underdone players & a injections of new players who need to learn the game plan at game pace is 1 step forward in blooding the stock & 3 steps back in team balance, workrate & fitness. When you see the new players standing out. Thats when you know the players have not jelled together & the game looks very sloppy to those watching. You could play all the injured big name players & expect results like the 1st semi final.

l will except the sloppy play & blood new players than play under done injured players like Vickery, Maric, Newman, Deledio, Rance, King, Conca, Rewoldt, & a few others. We must except the standard at present. Which can be a benefit for us at the other end of the season. The club learnt a hard lesson last season. Carrying players into a final with injuries dont work in todays game of fast & furious football.

l see progress being made with the new players & thats all that matters to me when we get injuries that we will have players who can come in & play their role with confidence & little nerves. 

[the claw]

is it all that surprising we are where we are. in a word NNNOOOOOOO.

[Tigeritis™©®]

New coach. New hopes

Five year plan implemented.

After 3 years the heads begin to grow.
Players think they are better than they are, the coaches start to agree, the footy department head overpays them reinforcing their egos.
Delusional supporters (see BJ) help this by making the players cult figures before they have even proven themselves (see Plapp).

Maxing out of the salary cap even before finals are achieved.

Top ups and recycling of players to push for just a finals berth. 

Coach gets a three year extension as he's made the team "competitive".

After another 2 years of decent rollercoaster performances and the odd win against the eventual premiers the heads swell even bigger. Supporters are in a frenzy of over excitement, wetting their pants at the thought of playing a final.

A possible final is achieved and heads swell so big the players and staff have trouble driving their cars to training. The coaching staff agrees we are so good now we should just walk into the top four and call off training altogether.

The coach gets a two year extension on his extension.
Overpaid players and ordinary players get regular games because they have been their through the "bad times."

The club has a disappointing year but will blame injuries and team continuity.
More top up players and recycled players are recruited because the salary cap is at breaking point & the club thinks the bad year is just an aberration and are comparing themselves to successful clubs that have had similar seasons but have turned it around. 

Another 2 years pass and the club finally realised that they've made a mistake and aren't as good as they thought. The coach panics and tries to deflect and blame others (see Wallet).

The club sacks the coach.

A new coach arrives with new hope.

The cycle of SKATA.

[Chuck17]

Injuries

[YellowandBlackBlood]

New coach. New hopes

Five year plan implemented.

After 3 years the heads begin to grow.
Players think they are better than they are, the coaches start to agree, the footy department head overpays them reinforcing their egos.
Delusional supporters (see BJ) help this by making the players cult figures before they have even proven themselves (see Plapp).

Maxing out of the salary cap even before finals are achieved.

Top ups and recycling of players to push for just a finals berth. 

Coach gets a three year extension as he's made the team "competitive".

After another 2 years of decent rollercoaster performances and the odd win against the eventual premiers the heads swell even bigger. Supporters are in a frenzy of over excitement, wetting their pants at the thought of playing a final.

A possible final is achieved and heads swell so big the players and staff have trouble driving their cars to training. The coaching staff agrees we are so good now we should just walk into the top four and call off training altogether.

The coach gets a two year extension on his extension.
Overpaid players and ordinary players get regular games because they have been their through the "bad times."

The club has a disappointing year but will blame injuries and team continuity.
More top up players and recycled players are recruited because the salary cap is at breaking point & the club thinks the bad year is just an aberration and are comparing themselves to successful clubs that have had similar seasons but have turned it around. 

Another 2 years pass and the club finally realised that they've made a mistake and aren't as good as they thought. The coach panics and tries to deflect and blame others (see Wallet).

The club sacks the coach.

A new coach arrives with new hope.

The cycle of SKATA.

You may be correct but I will reserve such harsh judgment till a few more games have been played. A season is a marathon and not a sprint.  There are many more twists and turns thay may unfold. Until then,  the club has my full support and that includes the coach.

[tony_montana]

complacency - we have a history of getting too easily content with ourselves at the first signs of improvement

[Stripes]

The game has now evolved to a scrum around stoppages with teams not allowing any outside players any room. Collingwood has moved two players out of their forward line and moved the additional numbers down to their backline with great success. They now have two players behind the ball - Maxwell as the floater and Sidebottom as the next link in the chain. They crowd the contest and pressure the ball carrier so they bomb it in long to their numerically superior laden backline then rush it out.

Conversely, we have lost all our run out of defense with teams manning up on Houli, Grigg & Ellis plus with Rance and Lids out who usually offer additional run out of the backline.