Changes for Rd. 3 vs North Melbourne

[Mr Magoo]

Good post. Sums up the situation very well.

The whole team looked off against the Bombers. So many disposals, even when not under pressure, were off the mark just enough to slow down our movement and allow the opposition to catch up and force a kick to a contest. This was the main cause of the poor performance of our forward line players.

It's going to be very hard this year to make judgements on player performances based on a game or two.

This is what the problem was. Well summed up . The coaching instructions wouldnt have been "kick it long to our small forward line". It would have been I imagine - maintain possession with quick transition to the forward line and use our small forwards speed to effect. When this transition broke down with our poor disposal and the forward line got clogged up, the players resort to a safe option of kicking to a dangerous spot deep in the forward line rather than losing possession across half back and facing a quick rebound by the opposition.

[TheBloods]

I think a few posters on here are way too fickle, too impatient and too harsh on the young talent. Rowbottom is no Bailey Smith but he's a good player who is still developing. McCartin has done superbly as KPF still only 20 years old. We can't expect the world of him, especially in the absence of the senior forwards. The thing that chafes me about the comments is that we lost the game by just 6 points; if we had scored 10 more points - and if Buddy or Naismith had played we may well have done that - we wouldn't be hearing the griping and moaning going on. And it wouldn't mean the other players or coaching was suddenly any better. We don't have to look further back than our last match against Adelaide in Round 1 for a decent case study. We played well early and should have put them away but we didn't, and we let them come back and then just held on long enough to come away narrow winners.... and there was nowhere near the level of angst and misery on these boards. Yet the Crows aren't as good a side as Essendon and our performance in round 2 was at least on a par with our performance in round 1. But you'd never know that from all the carping.

I think the calls to blood young players have to factor in that we already have done that - our team is predominantly made up of young talent. We have to place faith in those that we have picked and give them time to develop. While I would like to give the new draftees a chance it's hard to figure out who to drop because either it's a young player who you want to back in or it's one of our relatively few senior players who you can't afford to lose. In any event, it seems likely that there will be a few injuries this year and plenty of opportunities for fringe players to get a run over the course of the season.

If Ronke comes in, it has to be for Gray. But I'm not expecting Ronke to offer a lot more. He's also young and while he is certainly talented, he has been inconsistent. Gray is a solid player who hasn't shone in the two opportunities he's had so far but it's too soon to write him off.

Yes, I'm being conservative and leaning to the status quo; but there's a fair bit to be said for stability and continuity and sticking fat rather than sending a third of the team through a revolving door every week. Especially when you're a young and developing side.

My two bob.

Good points bloodspirit. For what it's worth, I don't think Rowbottom should be dropped. However I don't think he is the heir apparent to our midfield that he has been touted as.

McCartin I would only drop because he has some deficiencies in his game that he needs to work on, and I'm not sure he's doing that lining up on established stars like Cale Hooker and Robbie Tarrant.

[0918330512]

McCartin I would only drop because he has some deficiencies in his game that he needs to work on, and I'm not sure he's doing that lining up on established stars like Cale Hooker and Robbie Tarrant.

Well he sure as cr@p won’t do it sitting at home when there isn’t even an opposition scratch match for those not getting a game.

[111431]

Does it even matter?

They are either following the game plan which is a failure on the part of the coaches, or they are completely ignoring the coaches instructions.

The latter option isn't a positive for the coaching staff.

Or was the fact we long bombed because we had little space and / or no moving forward targets? The players and coaches are all smart at their job, i'm sure there was no instruction to bomb it into the forward line. The other side wouldn't allow us to do what we wanted. Credit to them

[TheBloods]

Well he sure as cr@p won’t do it sitting at home when there isn’t even an opposition scratch match for those not getting a game.

True, though most weeks there should be a scratch match on. This week is not a good one in general for changes given there is no scratch match on.

[Mountain Man]

and I say again that Norths are not the side to experiment with newbies

[ugg]

In: Fox
Out: Brand (injured)

Emg: McLean, Stoddart, Clarke, Ronke

[MattW]

Fox in for Brand (inj).

Hmmmm.

[TheBloods]

Sigh. Why is it always our big guys who go down at the most inopportune times?

Can see their fwds giving our defenders a headache, and McLean who is listed as an emergency will really be needed i50.

[longmile]

Not feeling great about this week, but watching the highlights fro last years win over the Kangaroos made me feel better. Another great close game from last year: Highlights: North Melbourne v Sydney
Shoulda brought Clarke into the team tho

[i'm-uninformed2]

I think all the commentary on how we entered the forward line and used our small forwards on offense is fairly valid.

For me though the bigger issue last weekend was how easily the Bombers marched it out of defence, and the lack of defensive pressure from those guys.

They seemed to get to the wings without any strife and against most sides that’s a recipe for disaster.

[Markwebbos]

I think all the commentary on how we entered the forward line and used our small forwards on offense is fairly valid.

For me though the bigger issue last weekend was how easily the Bombers marched it out of defence, and the lack of defensive pressure from those guys.

They seemed to get to the wings without any strife and against most sides that’s a recipe for disaster.

I don’t remember that being the case. In the second Q in particular we had them pinned down and they couldn’t get the ball out.