The Monday Expert - Round 6 Western Bulldogs vs West Coast Eagles
(I’m back from business overseas where AFL is nothing but a curious foreign oddity and news is limited to internet cafes and wifi hotspots. But I’m back, not that there is much to be excited about in the Eagles’ nest.)
One and five.
Didn’t pick that coming. On top of that Kerr is gawn for three. Hunter is out for 6-8 with a knee and Hurn is out for 6-8 with a leg break. Coming off a third ten goal hiding in five. The other two losses coming at home against teams 14th and 12th.
Ripper.
There is no doubt about one thing, positives have been pretty scant in season 2008 thus far.
I like the look of some of the kids. Masten has shown some good signs; I reckon tackles are an underrated measure in today’s game and if it weren’t for the rest of the game, 9 of them from an 18 y.o. midfielder would have me standing on my couch singing the Hallelujah chorus. The new forward triumvirate of McKinley, Kennedy and Chad Jones looked positive. Ebert will be alright and I reckon Schofield can play.
Apart from that, and the nods to Kerr and perhaps one or two others, you bin the rest of our performance as far as I’m concerned. And that goes for the previous 5 rounds as well (even though I saw nothing of the Port game, I can close my eyes and imagine).
After the Freo game I thought at least we looked ok defensively. I thought if Glassy gets himself right, we at least have something to work with. We’ve subsequently been allowed in over 100 points each week since, and on Saturday the Dogs had notched over 80 points before the break.
If that weren’t bad enough we’ve now lost two back six for the next two months. If a good defence is the means for at least being competitive we’ve in it and in it deep.
I could go on about our problems in the middle and our problems in attack but I need something to write about for the rest of the season. The point is simple, we face a challenge unlike anything else since the dark ages of the Judge reign. Which gets us to our coaches.
If ever we needed some innovation, it’s now. Woosha for all his achievements is by nature a conservative coach. We’ve seen it time and again - he is not prone to making bold moves either in planning or on game day. Rightly or wrongly (and it’s netted us a fair run in the last 6 seasons) that is how the man coaches.
Unfortunately we need something else right now. We need reinvention. We need players to attack the game with a new mindset and break out of the old thinking about their roles because those roles no longer apply in this team. We need to find some fresh spark and some vigour within the playing group to take on the massive challenge that is in front of us.
We’re no longer making the running guys. We’ve got to make the running and start to make good about this lot of Eagles being a new breed.
Apr 29th 2008
Good to have you back. I was getting worried for a while there…
With Hunter out, Lynch has to go back to his old spot at CHB. My memory recalls that he was more than serviceable there in tandem with Glass, and lord knows our backline is going to be up against it this year. Give the new forward line crew a chance to establish themselves - Le Cras (when fit) McKinley, Kennedy and C.Jones et.al. I can’t see how that’s going to happen with Lynch in the mix, up forward.
Absolutely spot on about the conservative coaching ways of Woosha. We’re still handballing and fart-arseing around the flanks when Geelong look to move the ball to the corridor every time.
It’s going to be a long year.
Apr 30th 2008
Missed your commentary, good you’re back.
I watched alot of the game against the Bulldogs and the commentators said multiple times that there is alot to like, referring to the forward trio you have mentioned. However they conceded some ground by saying ‘but not this year.’
Injuries are a killer and it seems every team goes through their rough trot at some stage.
Would you call this a ‘rebuilding phase’, a bit of a buz word these days? Or is it just injuries that haven’t helped the team move on post Judd/ Cousins?
Kerr seems frustrated with his new mantle as No 1 driving force in the midfield.
May 1st 2008
Thanks for the comments guys. NN - Lynch at CHB really depends on the match-ups IMO. I think he’s great value up the ground and right now offers us way more as a back-up to Coxy (who can go forward or back) than Seaby who is simply too limited in his mobility. We are more multi=dimensional with him not being nailed to the goal square though - no question.
I think going up the guts more would no doubt give our forwards a much great chance of having an impact on the game for sure. Whether we can execute is the question, but it’s the same question is we handball ourselves around the flanks as well.
Tim - Woosha says you never RE-build, you simply keep on building. I guess the problem comes when what you’ve built on is removed (eg a dominant midfield). In which case we are rebuilding! I reckon we have a better team than how we are performing - we just need some re-invention of who is doing what and fast. But I don’t expect anything significant to happen for a while yet - too many rookies needing to perform major roles I’m afraid.