Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board

neil wrote:

thompsoc wrote:

Doc63 wrote:Wouldn't be on any other list.

And who is the list manager????
Mr Hine the genius!!!

FFS Blair was a rookie recruit and has played over 100 games for us including a winning GF That means he was a good selection

Having said that his last month has been terrible and should be dropped

that is 80 or so more games than what I would have given him.

neil wrote:

thompsoc wrote:

Doc63 wrote:Wouldn't be on any other list.

And who is the list manager????
Mr Hine the genius!!!

FFS Blair was a rookie recruit and has played over 100 games for us including a winning GF That means he was a good selection

Having said that his last month has been terrible and should be dropped

And a week before the winning GF he has a shot 30 yards out directly in front in the third quarter and misses and at that moment onwards we let St Kilda back into the game and they almost steal it from us. I haven't forgotten after 6 years. Do you really think he would ever get a game at Hawthorn under Clarkson? It's going to get to a point where Buckley is risking his coaching future playing players like Blair. Ask yourself. Who deserves a game between Goodyear and Blair? One has the pace and size to keep up with the modern game of AFL. The other is a plodder.

BucksIsFutureCoach wrote:

neil wrote:

thompsoc wrote: And who is the list manager????
Mr Hine the genius!!!

FFS Blair was a rookie recruit and has played over 100 games for us including a winning GF That means he was a good selection

Having said that his last month has been terrible and should be dropped

And a week before the winning GF he has a shot 30 yards out directly in front in the third quarter and misses and at that moment onwards we let St Kilda back into the game and they almost steal it from us. I haven't forgotten after 6 years. Do you really think he would ever get a game at Hawthorn under Clarkson? It's going to get to a point where Buckley is risking his coaching future playing players like Blair. Ask yourself. Who deserves a game between Goodyear and Blair? One has the pace and size to keep up with the modern game of AFL. The other is a plodder.

Exactly
The modern game has gone way past Blair in the last 5 years.
I keep saying it over and over again.
What the hell does he bring to the table except a couple of salted herrings?

Not just Blair need a lift from most of our Mids. Need more out of Blair, Adams, Greenwood, Crisp, Degoey. Can't leave it up to Sidey, Pendles and Treloar.

BucksIsFutureCoach wrote:

neil wrote:

thompsoc wrote: And who is the list manager????
Mr Hine the genius!!!

FFS Blair was a rookie recruit and has played over 100 games for us including a winning GF That means he was a good selection

Having said that his last month has been terrible and should be dropped

And a week before the winning GF he has a shot 30 yards out directly in front in the third quarter and misses and at that moment onwards we let St Kilda back into the game and they almost steal it from us. I haven't forgotten after 6 years. Do you really think he would ever get a game at Hawthorn under Clarkson? It's going to get to a point where Buckley is risking his coaching future playing players like Blair. Ask yourself. Who deserves a game between Goodyear and Blair? One has the pace and size to keep up with the modern game of AFL. The other is a plodder.

A week before the GF he had played about 12 games of course he will make mistakes

As for Hawthorn ever heard of Puopolo? The two players stats are very similar

He still needs to be dropped

neil wrote:

thompsoc wrote:

Doc63 wrote:Wouldn't be on any other list.

And who is the list manager????
Mr Hine the genius!!!

FFS Blair was a rookie recruit and has played over 100 games for us including a winning GF That means he was a good selection

Having said that his last month has been terrible and should be dropped

If that's the criteria how many players do we have left to select from? Seriously, how many players get a pass mark?

We have some talent on this list, and yet they are all running around like headless chooks. Where was the magic we expected from Varcoe and Sidey? Cloke was pretty good running free, why didn't he do it yesterday?

How the damn hell can high paid professional footballer who have been playing for few years, kick it across goal when there is an opposition player within cooee, we did it twice yesterday. And why can't said players kick it further and stronger than those pissy kicks? Why can't Grundy roost the ball to the square after taking a mark not too far outside 50? In stead of that lovely little low power kick straight to an opposition player with no one around him, shit it was like he aimed for him! It's embarrassing.

This team has no idea of what is expected of them, or how to get out of the shit when the opposition doesn't go along with the messiahs mysterious game plan. It looked awesome at inter club matches, when the opposition went along with it! Have they been told not to think? Have they been told to run towards the player with the ball and tackle him, even though it's obvious to blind freddy by the time they get anywhere near them, they have had time to do the grass toss, centre themselves and kick the ball under no pressure. And when the ball is streaming down the field end to end, Lke you'd expect in a game between the premiers is full swing, and the Essendon seconds, why do they not try man on man, ever? The opposition are getting a training drill, no pressure football.

For the first ten minutes we played man on man, tackled when the ball was still there, even pendles got in on it, and then it was all over. Back to playing catch up footy.

But hey, no, let's blame it on Blair. It's ALL his fault. Shit at least the munchkin is having a crack, more than I can say for some of the others.

Yes Blair is near his use by date, and I applaud the man, he's not much taller than me, he's a premiership player, he is still having a bloody good try of it, and until something turns around, he will still get picked. You may hate his ball use, but he will go into the pack EVERYTIME. Shame there is no one to back him up on the other side of it.

This team is a rabble. Those watching on telly, you don't get too many shots of the whole field. Yesterday and last week, it looked like they had three more players than us. This team should not be a rabble. They had better skills before the season started, have they crumbled under the pressure of bottom 8 teams? If so, why?

And I answer. They have lost faith in their coach. Or he has confused them. Or this Wakko game plan has destroyed their confidence. You can have the best game plan in the world, for instance the forward press of 2010, but it would not have worked without the solid bodies we had. I reckon Buckley wants a team of drilled precision players, which with our current skill level, is funny in its self, he wants a team in his image. You can't have a whole team of one type player. We need a bit of mongrel. A bit of this a bit of that. Gees I hope he's gone before he screws up Treloar, cos man that kid can be a star. Same goes for Moore.

But hey, it's all Blairs fault, delist delist delist, and the Premiership will be ours!

Don't kid yourselves.

^ I am not blaming Blair for the result yesterday but his form is poor
Yes a number of other players are also poor
No getting rid of Blair will not mean a premiership
I said drop him not delist him if he gets his form back in the VFL promote him

Broomhead played well in the VFL and could be his replacement
Sinclair kicked a goal unfortunately has concussion

neil wrote:^ I am not blaming Blair for the result yesterday but his form is poor
Yes a number of other players are also poor
No getting rid of Blair will not mean a premiership
I said drop him not delist him if he gets his form back in the VFL promote him

Broomhead played well in the VFL and could be his replacement
Sinclair kicked a goal unfortunately has concussion

Fair point! Only the first line was directed at you! The rest was my general rant to all and sundry!

I still think their were worse players out there, and I'm not sure he would be the first of the bus if I was choosing. I still think we need some lead by example players out there. Some were knocking Tommy Landon, and yeah a couple of howlers, but gees he gave everything a crack. I should have a look at the stats, I'm guessing we had a few with low numbers who need to explain where they were. I remember one point the kicks tally came up on the screen and the difference was scary. I know we hand pass way too much, but why did they have so many uncontested touches? Because we were always too late to defend, tackled too late, always too far away from their opponent, gees that's basics, you can't get the ball back unless you get in close, (or the other team has a lot of Clanger kicks, like we did yesterday, oh man there was some howlers!)

Well, they would be this season's usual suspects - Blair and Moore 5 kicks, Jesse and Howe 6, Greenwood 7 (although he laid 13 tackles), Crisp 8. Varcoe, Toovey and Fasolo can probably be excused (Varcoe coming back from injury, Toovey because his job is to stop the opponent, not get the ball and Fasolo because he plays in a very low-possession area of the ground).

Langdon will finish near the top of the Copeland again, on his form so far - but he seems to be something of a whipping boy on here. He's been in the top couple of Collingwood players two weeks in a row, so at least that's quietened down a bit.

I remain as ambivalent about Blair as ever - he is a wonderful trier and I take no pleasure in the prospect of him losing his spot in the team but he's barely had a kick in the last two weeks, not scored a goal this season and hasn't been credited with a goal assist. In fact, he hasn't even kicked a point since round 1. Whatever else he brings to the team, that can't be allowed to continue. It would be different if his hard work was creating opportunities for the Didaks, Thomases etc - but there is no-one in the front half of the field who is capable of taking advantage of his hard work, hence that hard work is (quite literally) pointless.

I've been saying it for several seasons - Collingwood doesn't kick enough goals and, because of the decline in genuine forward quality, the team can't kick enough goals. It isn't just about system - the 'Pies had virtually the same number of inside 50s as Melbourne but there is no-one down there capable of making a goal out of a half-chance. That's why a player like Krak was so very valuable when he was on song - he wasn't a target - he was a guy who kicked 35 goals a season when the targets didn't get the ball. Didak, in addition to his many other creative qualities, was similar in that respect. The ability to make something out of absolutely nothing is critical to successful forward play. Process won't (and simply can't) do it. Some players make something out of nothing by getting the ball when, all things considered, they shouldn't. Some players do it by consistently converting difficult chances. We don't have enough players on our list who can do either or both of those things.

Pies4shaw wrote:Well, they would be this season's usual suspects - Blair and Moore 5 kicks, Jesse and Howe 6, Greenwood 7 (although he laid 13 tackles), Crisp 8. Varcoe, Toovey and Fasolo can probably be excused (Varcoe coming back from injury, Toovey because his job is to stop the opponent, not get the ball and Fasolo because he plays in a very low-possession area of the ground).

Langdon will finish near the top of the Copeland again, on his form so far - but he seems to be something of a whipping boy on here. He's been in the top couple of Collingwood players two weeks in a row, so at least that's quietened down a bit.

I remain as ambivalent about Blair as ever - he is a wonderful trier and I take no pleasure in the prospect of him losing his spot in the team but he's barely had a kick in the last two weeks, not scored a goal this season and hasn't been credited with a goal assist. In fact, he hasn't even kicked a point since round 1. Whatever else he brings to the team, that can't be allowed to continue. It would be different if his hard work was creating opportunities for the Didaks, Thomases etc - but there is no-one in the front half of the field who is capable of taking advantage of his hard work, hence that hard work is (quite literally) pointless.

I've been saying it for several seasons - Collingwood doesn't kick enough goals and, because of the decline in genuine forward quality, the team can't kick enough goals. It isn't just about system - the 'Pies had virtually the same number of inside 50s as Melbourne but there is no-one down there capable of making a goal out of a half-chance. That's why a player like Krak was so very valuable when he was on song - he wasn't a target - he was a guy who kicked 35 goals a season when the targets didn't get the ball. Didak, in addition to his many other creative qualities, was similar in that respect. The ability to make something out of absolutely nothing is critical to successful forward play. Process won't (and simply can't) do it. Some players make something out of nothing by getting the ball when, all things considered, they shouldn't. Some players do it by consistently converting difficult chances. We don't have enough players on our list who can do either or both of those things.

I brought up our lack of forward class at 2014's end of season members' forum, asked Bucks directly to his face in front of a packed room. He lost me there and then when he spruiked Goldsack and Blair as pillars of our forward line and completely dismissed my desire to see a forward line made up of actual goal kickers, including those that can create something out of nothing. He actually believes structure and desire creates goals, and nothing else.

^^^ Yes, I think he must - otherwise, why would he have wanted to play (a finished) Lynch or Jesse White as a KPF? You'd think he might have noticed the difference between the 2003 preliminary final team and the team the following week without Rocca.

Class alone on the forward line is not enough - but without enough of it, the rest of the package is meaningless.

As a pretty handy forward myself for 15 years it pains me to see Bucks plonk defenders and mids inside 50 and expect them to instinctively know when to go, where to lead, when to stay down for a front and centre crumb, when to drop off the back of a pack for an easy goal. It's a craft, and for many a naturally born talent. Outside of Elliott and Fasolo, our forward line is as beige as any I can remember in my entire life following the Pies.

neil wrote:^ I am not blaming Blair for the result yesterday but his form is poor
Yes a number of other players are also poor
No getting rid of Blair will not mean a premiership
I said drop him not delist him if he gets his form back in the VFL promote him

Broomhead played well in the VFL and could be his replacement
Sinclair kicked a goal unfortunately has concussion

I thought he should have been dropped after the game last week but he got a reprieve. Was better this week, in fact thought he was one of the catalysts for us getting back into the game when he went into the midfield but I'd still let him have a run in the VFL to find some footy and form. Broomy is the perfect replacement although he doesn't bring the same level of defensive intensity, he can be an offensive weapon and has the happy knack of kicking goals.

Pies4shaw wrote:^^^ Yes, I think he must - otherwise, why would he have wanted to play (a finished) Lynch or Jesse White as a KPF? You'd think he might have noticed the difference between the 2003 preliminary final team and the team the following week without Rocca.

Class alone on the forward line is not enough - but without enough of it, the rest of the package is meaningless.

It's not like they haven't tried recruiting these types, Dick and Ugle for instance, we've even recruited a couple this year in Crocker and Phillips who could develop into the role. But for every Krakouer there are likely a dozen or more who don't make the grade.