We look good untill...

[saintsRrising]

We look good untill we play a team that works hard and pressures.


When that happens our skills drop off, we miss easy goals, we just bomb the ball forward and the running in waves disappears.

I suspect that because GWS like to keep things open that it helped us to play the style we like.

But when teams work hard against us we look awful.

Swans are a team that work hard and so the prognosis for next week is not looking good.

[sainters85]

we can't play against teams that not only work hard, but are quick, spread, and chip the ball around. Like the bombers and swans

[Johnny Member]

The problem is that good teams bring pressure every week.

But, what separates them is that on top of that, they have method to their madness and a solid game plan.


We don't bring pressure every week, which is an issue on its own. But we also don't appear to have a solid game plan.


Meaning, once the balance of pressure tips against us, we simply fall apart.

The game plan it seems, is pretty much just pressure. And when that's beaten or even countered by the opposition, we have nothing else.

We almost seem to score by accident.


The constant 'bomb it in to the hot spot and have Gresham, Lonie or Billings front and centre' works about 4-5 a game if we're lucky. When it works, it looks clean and professional. But due to the blatant predictability of it - it's just not sustainable.

[Devilhead]

Isn't "pressure" everyone's game plan??

This season has shown that you only need to be slightly off on energy and commitment and you will get done

Pressure is the defining no.1 integral factor of all teams game plans to say otherwise is bulls***

[thejiggingsaint]

Essendon didn't look so crash hot a short while ago, surrendering a 29 point, 4th quarter lead to lose against "mighty" Brisbane. The loss against Essendon last Friday was just another twist in this crazy 2017 AFL season.

[Sainternist]

We were very poor on Friday night. It almost looked like fatigue had set in after the Perth trip and the successive 6 day breaks. The Injectors caught us flatfooted and Worsfold had our game plan well figured. A shame Richo didn't have a Plan B in place after that first quarter. It definitely wasn't a true reflection on the team.

[stonecold]

We were very poor on Friday night. It almost looked like fatigue had set in after the Perth trip and the successive 6 day breaks. The Injectors caught us flatfooted and Worsfold had our game plan well figured. A shame Richo didn't have a Plan B in place after that first quarter. It definitely wasn't a true reflection on the team.

You can have Plan B all the way through to Plan Z, makes no difference when players carnt execute, , you are a true football spectator!!!!!!!

[Sainternist]

We were very poor on Friday night. It almost looked like fatigue had set in after the Perth trip and the successive 6 day breaks. The Injectors caught us flatfooted and Worsfold had our game plan well figured. A shame Richo didn't have a Plan B in place after that first quarter. It definitely wasn't a true reflection on the team.

You can have Plan B all the way through to Plan Z, makes no difference when players carnt execute, , you are a true football spectator!!!!!!!

But Plan B wasn't even implemented.

What do you by "true football spectator"? Why the overuse of exclamation marks?

[Johnny Member]

Isn't "pressure" everyone's game plan??

This season has shown that you only need to be slightly off on energy and commitment and you will get done

Pressure is the defining no.1 integral factor of all teams game plans to say otherwise is bulls***

Definitely.

Not suggesting for a second that we don't need to bring pressure every week.


The problem, that when we're matched for pressure, we have nothing else. It seems to me, that such is the inefficiency of our offense, that unless we can dominate the opposition and generate crazy amounts of repeat I50s we get flogged.

You simply cannot have an offensive game plan that is so feeble that it requires 4-5 repeat entries every time you want a goal. It's simply not sustainable. You don't get to dominate the good teams like that.

[spert]

We were very poor on Friday night. It almost looked like fatigue had set in after the Perth trip and the successive 6 day breaks. The Injectors caught us flatfooted and Worsfold had our game plan well figured. A shame Richo didn't have a Plan B in place after that first quarter. It definitely wasn't a true reflection on the team.

You can have Plan B all the way through to Plan Z, makes no difference when players carnt execute, , you are a true football spectator!!!!!!!

So coaches aren't that important? Just throw the plan on the table and wander off? Part of a coach's job is to motivate- identify the mood of players and the team and act accordingly. If the team is playing like poop and has poor skills- then it's over to your coach.

[Devilhead]

Isn't "pressure" everyone's game plan??

This season has shown that you only need to be slightly off on energy and commitment and you will get done

Pressure is the defining no.1 integral factor of all teams game plans to say otherwise is bulls***

Definitely.

Not suggesting for a second that we don't need to bring pressure every week.


The problem, that when we're matched for pressure, we have nothing else. It seems to me, that such is the inefficiency of our offense, that unless we can dominate the opposition and generate crazy amounts of repeat I50s we get flogged.

You simply cannot have an offensive game plan that is so feeble that it requires 4-5 repeat entries every time you want a goal. It's simply not sustainable. You don't get to dominate the good teams like that.

Then we need to learn to kick straight - the dollies we missed the other night were unforgivable - it is now officially a gaping festering pus-filled wound sitting squarely on the face of the club

Fixing that might go someway towards staying in games when we are struggling to find our best and as we have seen this season fortunes and confidence can change in a blink of an eye

[stkfc1]

Isn't "pressure" everyone's game plan??

This season has shown that you only need to be slightly off on energy and commitment and you will get done

Pressure is the defining no.1 integral factor of all teams game plans to say otherwise is bulls***

Definitely.

Not suggesting for a second that we don't need to bring pressure every week.


The problem, that when we're matched for pressure, we have nothing else. It seems to me, that such is the inefficiency of our offense, that unless we can dominate the opposition and generate crazy amounts of repeat I50s we get flogged.

You simply cannot have an offensive game plan that is so feeble that it requires 4-5 repeat entries every time you want a goal. It's simply not sustainable. You don't get to dominate the good teams like that.

Then we need to learn to kick straight - the dollies we missed the other night were unforgivable - it is now officially a gaping festering pus-filled wound sitting squarely on the face of the club

Fixing that might go someway towards staying in games when we are struggling to find our best and as we have seen this season fortunes and confidence can change in a blink of an eye

It boggles my mind how professional players can miss set shots like we did. Its a problem for the whole comp really but we are one of the worst offenders. It also has a massive physiological effect on the team as miss after miss saps the confidence of everyone. Its been a problem for ages so something clearly isnt working internally which points straight back to the coaches.

[St Chris]

We were very poor on Friday night. It almost looked like fatigue had set in after the Perth trip and the successive 6 day breaks. The Injectors caught us flatfooted and Worsfold had our game plan well figured. A shame Richo didn't have a Plan B in place after that first quarter. It definitely wasn't a true reflection on the team.

You can have Plan B all the way through to Plan Z, makes no difference when players carnt execute, , you are a true football spectator!!!!!!!

But Plan B wasn't even implemented.

What do you by "true football spectator"? Why the overuse of exclamation marks?

Plan B was implemented - we saw Roo move into the midfield, and Carlisle move forward after half time.

We gave up a goal with 14 seconds or something left in the 2nd quarter (Hickey's beautiful palm down from the throw-in straight to Essendon's advantage), then missed 2 easy shots in the first 2 minutes of the third. Turn all of that around our way and we're 10 points down. Instead, we're 6 goals down when McKenna goals 2 mins after Hickey's point.

We couldn't execute our skills - our kicking efficiency hovered around 50% all night, and when you can't kick to a teammate, or thru the goals, you won't win. Simple as that.

I hope we have a pretty light week on the track, despite the temptation to flog the players. The trip to Perth and the long lead in to Maddie's match caught up with us and we suffered for it.

[rodgerfox]

Isn't "pressure" everyone's game plan??

This season has shown that you only need to be slightly off on energy and commitment and you will get done

Pressure is the defining no.1 integral factor of all teams game plans to say otherwise is bulls***

Definitely.

Not suggesting for a second that we don't need to bring pressure every week.


The problem, that when we're matched for pressure, we have nothing else. It seems to me, that such is the inefficiency of our offense, that unless we can dominate the opposition and generate crazy amounts of repeat I50s we get flogged.

You simply cannot have an offensive game plan that is so feeble that it requires 4-5 repeat entries every time you want a goal. It's simply not sustainable. You don't get to dominate the good teams like that.

Then we need to learn to kick straight - the dollies we missed the other night were unforgivable - it is now officially a gaping festering pus-filled wound sitting squarely on the face of the club

Fixing that might go someway towards staying in games when we are struggling to find our best and as we have seen this season fortunes and confidence can change in a blink of an eye

The puss wound has not healed! A year later!

[ace]

We look good untill we play a team that works hard and pressures.


When that happens our skills drop off, we miss easy goals, we just bomb the ball forward and the running in waves disappears.

I suspect that because GWS like to keep things open that it helped us to play the style we like.

But when teams work hard against us we look awful.

Swans are a team that work hard and so the prognosis for next week is not looking good.

We look good until the opposition runs onto the ground.

[Impatient Sainter]

We look good until......the umpire blows the whistle.