We all know Ross is a very, very good coach. Is he the best coach in the league this year - probably not but hes in the top 5. Same with our team. What we do know is his game plan, if executed at 100% effort and buy in will get you into the top four most years - this has been proven over the last decade or so. What is also proven is that it only fails against the very best at their very best. Unfortunately you most often come up against that exact scenario in an elim prelim or GF.
We haven't changed a bit in years. Our great victory against Sydney at home in the prelim 2013, have a look at the inaccuracy in that first quarter. It came home to bite a week later in the GF. Have a look at our great victory over the Eagles in the first derby this year. I think they outscored us after quarter time. Our wins papered over the cracks. Our first half of the year when apparently we were slaughtering everybody, actually we weren't. We were being beaten for more than half of every game. We all just hoped we were "resting". I never believed it. Our game plan takes too much out of us. We scored one goal in the first half of the 2013 GF. We got beaten by 72 points last time away against the Hawks. The signs are everywhere.
Roly has to change his game plan. We have a negative, safety first mentality. We rarely kick to one on one and trust our player to just win it. We never trust our backs to win one on one. We never turn blindly into the corridor as a first instinct. How many times do you see our guys under pressure automatically turn backwards or go for the safety switch. He always insists on having Johnno or Ibbo as the sweeper. The mids all have to go back and help, in fact pav and the forwards have to go back and help. This is the reason there is no one forward to kick to when we ever get it and we rarely sling shot it forward.
Hey no one want to be like the Bulldogs all attack and no brains. Roly has the brains bit, just please lets add some daring and spice.
Theres a reason we are fourteenth or something for scoring from turnovers and Toast and Hawks are # 1 and 2.
For those of you who watch Fox Sports they have the quadrant thingo which shows basically where you sit in regards to points for and against. The upper left quadrant is where 12 of the last 14 premiers have come from. You have to score about 100 points a game and keep opposition to about 70 to sit in this quadrant. We do the 70 bit but not the scoring. There are only two teams in the upper left quadrant. Hawks and Eagles.
Roly is a good coach. No way should we get rid of him. Our first half season wins almost forced us to stay the course with the game plan we had. This loss now, coming off the straight sets exit last year and the 2013 GF first half where we scored ONE GOAL, surely has to be the straw that broke the camels back and will allow Roly the freedom to change us in to a free flowing attacking machine.
Just imagine Hill, Walters being left off the leash. Look at how good those crabs Masten, shuey and gaff look now they are actually running forward through the corridor. Our blokes are just as good.
