The players played for the coach

[Teflon]

This infantile hysteria over Sharman is bat shyte crazy, the kid got on the end of a few goals in his first few games but clearly is way of the pace presently and because we desperately need an extra tall in the forward line some supporters are convinced he should be an automatic selection on that basis because it is somehow best for his development. That's just nuts and Sharman would would have been monstered last night and how is that any good for his development.

With all due respect, I have read few if any suggestions at all making the issue out as you have.

The challenge is the absurdity of the extremes.


Again the answer is in the middle.

Coops finished last year as a promising up and coming forward, no more or less.
Many forumites like myself wanted to see him get the opportunity to build on that.

Not just a one off game… but a run at it that includes patches of time when the team is playing well.

NWM, Windy and other more experienced guys like Butler, Long etc have got and they’ve had the opportunity to play a stinker, stuff up, be exposed and persevere/respond to it.

The game vs Sydney was bad but realistically how much could u expect from him there when the team was beaten from pillar to post comprehensively.

Where I take exception with Coops is that he’s carried the brunt on that performance from many fans here whilst others get the luxury of a do’over.
You amongst many say don’t play him again for ages… clearly way off the pace… yet his performances last year now suddenly count for nothing and his stinker counts most… but others get a better deal.

I’m not ready to call the kid a messiah but I haven’t written him off either.
I merely advocate that he gets the opportunity and perseverance that others have been afforded

Spot on
He may not make it OR he may just show us (and the coach) that he’s better structurally for this forward set up?
Carlton missed goals last night but as Roo said what they had was a very clear fwd set up with 2 genuine key forward s and to 3qtr time had taken 8 marks to our 1
We can’t scrounge miracle goals every week - that’s not a sustainable model
Ratten (if he stays coach) had better address that
Sharman May/May not be part of the answer but at least give the kid a run to find out
As someone else said - how does he learn to play alongside King, Membrey, Ryder et al (and they him) as forward team if he’s in 1 week and out, made the scapegoat the next ?
It’s odd development and soul destroying as well

Every player needs to do something each week to justify selection. If they don’t, then they are clearly in the gun to get omitted. Sharman showed he could jump. That’s all he showed. He couldn’t tackle, chase, compete.

He got some kicks in meaningless games at the end of last season. And I too was seduced. BUT, he was poor pre season apparently. I recall every pre season game, including intra club games he had no impact. In VFL his form hasn’t been extraordinary by any stretch.

He played 2 games in a row and was below average in one game and poor in the other. I personally thought he looked timid tbh.

I agree with much of what you have written about Friday nights win. A very enjoyable night, but loads of deficiencies still apparent. So be it, we take the wins where we can.

I agree Moods but your opening line doesn’t ring true for all does it?? I mean Butler, Billings etc have had multiple games where very little has been shown…and they’ve not been alone.
I don’t think that purely extends to a kid in game 7 holding down a tough forward line role when the ball is coming in woefully
I agree we take what wins we can but my hope is, as Riewoldt suggests, that effort is the benchmark and the game plan improves dramatically.

[Teflon]

Insofar as the concept of players "playing for the coach" is a paramount fundamental of all elite professional team sport, to achieve ultimate success it must always be combined with its twin, "playing for each other, for the team".

The fate of the coach is, all things being equal, going to be decided by the players and there is little doubt that when what is perceived to be a good coach with a reasonably favourable win/loss record is sacked by a club, it emanates following consultations with the team's leadership group, which leads to another (kiss of death) concept "the coach has lost the players".

In 2019/2020 Melbourne supporters were screaming to put Simon Goodwin's scalp on the chopping block, when the team had slumped form playing a PF in 2018 to 17th and 9th respectively. It was generally believed in the football community that Goodwin had lost his players and was lucky to remain as coach for 2021.

Apparently not, because despite all the dire predictions the Demons broke their record 57 year premiership drought last year.

Was it the players or the coach??

It had to be a combination of the the two!

Jack Steele made it crystal clear last week that the players are united in their respect and love for Brett Ratten as their coach.

To me, that is the end of this story.

So those members and supporters who have doubts about Ratten's abilities to get the best out of his players and achieve greater success and want him gone need to understand that they are going to be disappointed because it is more than likely that the club will extend his contact by at least two years.

Yes, I agree that there are times that I, as an innocent bystander, have been frustrated and bewildered by team selections and some of the things happening on the field, and of course the rotten performances against Essendon and Sydney. And it's also true that I have expressed my desire for the club to pursue Alastair Clarkson if he is available because quite obviously the ultimate dream is to have the team coached by the best coach in the past 10 years. Despite that, I have always liked Brett Ratten and consider him quite a good coach.

But I'm also a realist, and see no sense in disagreeing with whatever the club hierarchy decides to do about the 2023 season coaching situation.

Melbourne did more than stick fat with Goodwin though didn’t they? They brought in Choco and out some football support around him - if the Saints don’t want to spend soft cap all on Clarkson then great, spend some $ and get some additional support in the box because 2 more years of bombing the ball into forward 50 will kill King and mean we’ve failed badly to take advantage of his attributes as a club.

Re Steele - all captains come out when coach is under siege abd say that….it’s like the Board saying “we are right behind X as coach”
Doesn’t mean much to be honest abd what do you honestly expect Steele to say….”yeah…not sure about Ratts….ripping bloke but players are confused…”
Not gonna happen.
All that said I like Ratten, would love him to be the one abd that’d be a win for the good guys but right now over the last month when challenged I’ve seen an entire team fall apart, picking and choosing when to give effort and a schizophrenic game plan caught between fast/slow movements that insists on terrible transition into forwards with zero forward structure and bombing into 50 that just gets picked off and rebounded.
He needs to evolve and fast cause even if they sign him he won’t finish year 1 of a new contract if the teams system and effort doesn’t get some consistency.

[Yorkeys]

Ok. Reading all the opinions can I then ask in relation to an objective example,
who/what the heck do the Sun's play for;
has there been a greater waste of sporting resources, even taking the AIS Canberra into account and Paul Pogba and
will Dew be sacked next season, about this time notwithstanding his very recent extension.

[samoht]

I think the players played for Nathan Brown following his pre-game pep talk, as we got off to a great start for once.

[Yorkeys]

Well hush my mouth and tan my hide!

What a great club, great coach