This is my opinion.
The comp is so even. You can not just turn up expecting to win.
We have some talented players at our club. The joys of winning each week (like we have for the last 2-3 years)
Is there's less of a chance of actually losing your spot as of the fact the team is winning.
From our 23 that has taken the field in the past few years we have always prided ourselves on having players 10-18 being the core. No superstars but just a solid core group of players.
This year our top 5 players have stood out plem scipionie caino Gordon wooffindin have all been for me the standouts.
But after that there's been a lot of inconsistency from some quality players.
In my opinion sending players who are out of form to the development league is the logical decision. But you have to take other factors into why a certain player may be out of form.
My thoughts on what we should be doing.
1. playing deano 1 out in the 50. He has one of the best leads of the vfl listed players. Yet he never seems to use it as there's no space for him to run into or he has pushed too far up the ground to trouble the scorers.
2. Give the young kids a taste of vfl senior football NOW!
Get 1-2 games into the development boys by the end of the year. Then when all our older statesman retire this year or next they are ready & know what to expect.
3 What we are doing when we don't have the ball.
Locate a opposition player & defend some space. Easy goals have been kicked in the past few weeks from not playing man on man & locating opposition players.
The reality is. We Are not what we were 2 years ago. We have not got the endless supply of mature talent to rely on each week.
The season is far from over but it starts now! The Bendigo I game needs to be the turning point for a run at the finals.
Go Borough!
Loved reading your thoughts CookGalea...
I agree with much of what you have said.
Today I was lucky enough to get down to watch the ressies on what was a glorious day for footy and came away feeling pretty good about our fortunes this and into the coming year.
Yes I do believe that age is catching up with a few of our players and we will probably see a several key players that have been a core part of our side in September action in recent years. They will be hard to cover. But it's not all doom and gloom.
Today I thought Mascitti, O'Farrell, Whelan, the Johnstons were good with several others also impressing.
Regarding the senior side, I think we are looking a little one dimensional this year, with Galea having to deal with 2 or even 3 on 1 situations when the oppsosition get numbers back. Yes that's partly due to the ball not coming in as quickly as it could. But I also see Galea getting forced to lead out wider as well. In 2011, with Rose as a second forward of a similar size, we had two very good lead-up forwards who also were damaging at ground level. I still believe Bonaddio is in our best 22 and his work rate is terrific, but it's a different kind of set-up when we have in the side. I'd prefer him to be playing as a deep forward, with one of our small forwards to work front and centre.
If Mascitti comes into the side, I believe that would also be hard for opposition sides to counter, with Cain and Scipione also dangerous around goals when running forward. As you said CG, I would like to see a bit more of a rotation of ressies players coming into the side. In 2011 I reckon we were just about playing one kid on debut on more than half our games... Maybe in 3/4 of them.
To make a hypocritical statement, I'm not sure if Patrick McMahon is ready to consistently play senior footy. His light frame was an issue against Collingwood. I thought Prowse or Thoolen might have been the better option. That being said, I would play McMahon again against Bendigo. I think he will really benefit from it.
There's enough pace in the two's and I think some of those kids will step up during the season and I still believe we can make an impact in September.
8-15
Bad kicking is bad football.
Deano is a great lead up FF but we`re spooning it up to him.
Northport i think paddy HAS to play each week. Skip is doing a great job and he`s underated i think, i`d almost have him in the top 4 for hitouts but i`d love to see him drift forward while paddy rucks the play. We ARE a one trick pony atm and everyone has figured us out. Can we get shooter out of retirement?
The reason i was thinking Thoolen might be a good second option is that i reckon he can contribute more overall at this stage. Maybe Galea needs to avoid leading into the pockets. Mind you those missed goals early against the pies were running shots from just inside 50 and set shots on better than a 45 degree angle.. Definitely bad kicking is bad footy and hopefully this week is where we turn it around.
This week is a perfect opportunity to be really positive and take the game on. We have have played some good football in patches the past 3 weeks but too many times we have looked stagnant and played stop/start footy. Slow looping handballs have also caused us to turn the ball over often.
Galea on the lead is very hard to stop but when he's continually outnumbered and the ball is sat on his head its easy pray for defenders. I'm looking for more hit up leads and guys marking 30-40m out from goal this week and onwards. And forward pressure has to improve!
I'm still confident we can be a major player in September if we get guys playing more consistant 4 quarter footy. We havnt dropped off that much since 2012 and a couple of narrow losses have put us in a dangerous position.
I'm all for giving younger players a go but they should be made to earn it. They need to knock the door down and play 2,3,4 great games in the 2s before getting a senior game.
There is some very good talent in the 2s and when these players do get an opportunity they need to step up to plate, take their chance and run with it.
Of the development league boys I really like Mascitti as his kicking skills are elite and he hits targets with both feet. Tom O'Sulllian, Heath O'Farrell and Nick Papaleo could also provide plenty of spark. It will be intersting to see who out of Bonaddio, Burstin & Whelan will be looked at for this weeks clash against the Gold.
Watching the reserves today & looking at the big body's playing I thought to myself Geez why did some of the big boys play yesterday because I think that's what we missed.