Our Captain - down on form?

[WhyPhilWhy?]

Thinking this a few weeks ago...

Were you though?

[Gerry Cooper]

Sure drop Darcy but dont expect to win any games when you do. Moore has a hard job this year. Murphy's retirement wasn't expected and Its left a big gap which Moore is being called on to fill as well as play his own game. I think that has affected his form but so has the relatively sketchy form of the backs around him. Quaynor has only recently found a bit of form and Noble is up and down and still has the deficiencies he always had when it comes to actually defending and shutting down opponents. I also feel we are generally better with Markov in the team as he is more accountable than Noble. Dean is developing well and Howe, though playing well is showing his age - his kicking clearances drop short of their targets noticeably these days.

I wouldn't be surprised if the workload he carries down back and his captaincy duties are taking a bit of a toll on Darcy. He looks kind of tired at the moment and the bye may be just what he needs.

[Mr Miyagi]

Shit thread

[warburton lad]

I don't like the premise of this thread.

Here is my view of our premium (2024) back six

B: Howe Frampton Markov
HB: Quaynor. Moore. Maynard

seventh defender is Hoskin -Elliott
Sub is Noble

There is a heavy 'emotional' load that Moore carries every week:
* son of an AFL superstar and a guy that lost or drew the five Grand Finals he played.
* Captain of the biggest Club in the land
* leader (these past few months) of a very young and inexperienced team
* best defender in the Club with Maynard.

Yes, there are technical aspects of his game that need to be tightened up (when to go, when to defend closer) but these can be addressed.

Last weekend, he had to soldier the load of tall defender without Frampton (forward) and Howe (forward) at various times. This was against a rampant North Melbourne team.

I do not mention the absence of Murphy due to his premature retirement- but this is another burden on the fabric of the back six.

Opposition scouts are clearly asking their teams to play through Moore; not because Moore is a 'dud' but, because they wish to negate/nullify his attacking bursts.

We play a team defence and Moore was let down to a degree by the 'Pies failure to dominate clearance as we had against Melbourne (Dees scored 51 points- total; when all elements of our team defence were in synch.

I look forward to Moore returning to form against Gold Coast Suns.

Sometimes in life, all that is required is a pressure-relief period of time to refocus and reset.

I expect Moore to be back to his brilliant best very soon.

Floreat Pica.

[piffdog]

The title of the thread is a bit strong - but to the eye doesnt look to have dominated the same as he did last year.

WL I agree with a lot of your synopsis, but I dont really accept that he may be finding it tough because he has to carry the burden of having a famous dad or captain the biggest club. These things were also true last year. Young team though - yes, revolving door down back next to him - yes.

I expect with a few more senior players returning, and the team being potentially more settled and building momentum (unlike round 0-2) he might be able to build into the back half of the year. And wouldnt that be another layer to the team if he can.

[stui magpie]

While Moore has been down on form this seasooon, for whatever reason, calling him The Weakest Link in the team is an utterly ridiculous statement.

Would we be a better team without him playing?

Answer is clearly No.

[RudeBoy]

Move Frampton back to full back, alongside Howe, with Moore at CHB.

Then leave them there for the remainder of the year. Our defence desperately needs stability.

[warburton lad]

^ This 100%

[lazzadesilva]

Just an irrational thought and dumb as do-gshit title. Utterly stupid wank.

[inxs88]

I see you've carried on with this bizarre obsession. He might be a bit down, but 80% of it is our midfield absences on top of an already thin list. You don't panic and change a winning formula and defensive structure just because things are tough, and you don't talk down your current premiership captain, FFS. You stick by him and let him and Fly work it out. He might need a bit of a break, but instead is taking one for the good of the team and ironically warrants praise for doing so.

From those who wanted to get rid of Jordy, to those who couldn't sleep because Ginni was ten times better than Schultz, to those who were marvelling how much better the 28-year-old Bontempelli is than the 21-year-old Nick (two coaches votes in a dominant midfield with Nick tagged and scragged without help), to those who who cower before the claim that we only win because the umpires favour us, rather than bad calls balancing out over time, to our captain now being the worst player on the list, some fans must find it amazing we win any games at all.

What next? We put Caro's photo on the wall and write to the AFL demanding Bruzzy be jailed for a one-percenter on the unfortunate but high-risk Brayshaw?

Talk about an over-reaction. Just called what we are all seeing and that is our Captain is the weakest link in defence this season and needs to rectify it. No hyperbole unlike yourself.

[Gerry Cooper]

...Opposition scouts are clearly asking their teams to play through Moore; not because Moore is a 'dud' but, because they wish to negate/nullify his attacking bursts....

WL This is similar to something I was going to put in my earlier post but left out for brevity. Watching a few games this year, it looks like coaches are putting more thought into negating team's intercepting attacking key defender than previous seasons. Either by playing through them more often, or like we did in the grand final (Did McRae start this trend? I dont know), playing a defensive forward on them, or double teaming them in contests. In previous years intercepting play makers have had the game on their terms a lot more than they do this season. Darcy is subject to that pressure like other key interceptors are.

Also I could count on one hand I think the number of intercepting marks Quaynor and the other backs outside of Frampton, have taken this season. It was good to see Dean potting a couple last weekend. Darcy is being asked to carry a lot at the moment and calls to drop him are just senseless I feel.

Also my settled ideal back line up is the same as yours. Frampton needs to be anchored in defence as we are robbing Peter to pay Paul when I dont think we needed to do that so much.

[Said by Zed]

Moore has a hard job this year. Murphy's retirement wasn't expected and Its left a big gap which Moore is being called on to fill as well as play his own game. I think that has affected his form but so has the relatively sketchy form of the backs around him. Quaynor has only recently found a bit of form and Noble is up and down and still has the deficiencies he always had when it comes to actually defending and shutting down opponents. I also feel we are generally better with Markov in the team as he is more accountable than Noble.

This ^. Oh, captain, my captain! I wouldn’t have any other player in the comp…bar none! Yes he’s a bit down on the stellar level of last year but he’s had to put in so much more this season and still lead us to equal second on the ladder with arguably the worst injury list for over 20 years…ffs the boot studder was next in line to debut. Harris Andrews, Weitering, McGovern, Collins and May have had it relatively easy in comparison and their form is also up and down. So yeah he f@#ks up every now and then but he does so much work to support others it’s forgivable…I’d have him before any of the above any day of the week and twice on Sundays!!! Go Pies!!!!

[stui magpie]

Talk about an over-reaction. Just called what we are all seeing and that is our Captain is the weakest link in defence this season and needs to rectify it. No hyperbole unlike yourself.[/quote]

If Moore is the weakest link in our defence then the answer is to drop him for ................? Do you really think our defence would be better without him?

Idiotic premise or very poor choice of words.

[woodys_world69]

of course his first all australian year was his best.
you will have to remind yourselves in that year he was dominating 1 on 1 contests.. i saw him do some amazing things on the gabba during covid, and you appreciate his work far more at the ground then on TV.

stats wise this year has been very similiar to career average.

whats happend to Q? he was a 1 on 1 beast last year. both of them have leaned out this year. hopefully 2nd half of the season will see a different result

[inxs88]

The hardest thing for a sycophant to do is criticise or accept criticism. I love our captain, loved his Dad until he defected however as it stands, he is down on form, skill execution and decision making amidst not impacting the game to the standard he is capable of. Think otherwise but it's there for all to see. Again, move Frampton back and let Darcy run amok.