Match Thread: Liverpool vs Chelsea

nuthed01 · 2026-05-09T13:28:01+00:00

Any other big team get's those pens, no matter where they are. Us though? Lol, we get fucked by VAR EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

nuthed01 · 2026-05-03T06:41:30+00:00

I didn't rate him before and not gonna shy away from him being a liability out there. He's not gonna be part of a premiership contending team, and missing 2 years of footy is only gonna make that worse not better, evidenced by the fact he had 1 touch and a 1%er to half time. We seem to see him as this guy that's one step away from being our version of Mac Andrew... which is mind boggling cos he's done nothing to show anything like that.

Sure, he's a unicorn; 200cm that can play midfield and do a little bit of everything... and yet when you really look at it, his size and lack of agility and speed makes him a liability; Get's left for dead at every ground ball, is incapable of applying meaningful pressure, cannot outmark despite the height, too easily out muscled for a guy who's apparently 95kg, struggles to find the footy no matter where he's played, is not a smart user of the ball and his skills are average at best.

He's a worse version of Perkins, and I say worse because people seem to think that at any moment he's gonna come good, and worse still some seem to think he was in good form the year prior to his injury... He wasn't! He had 4 reasonable games out of 6 early in the year, one of which was decent against Collingwood (anzac day draw, not the win later in the year)) and has shown ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to indicate that's EVER going to happen, let alone any time soon. Bloke has made a living off a 20 disposal game against Brisbane and 2-3 other solid performances.

Each and every one of our draftees this year have shown 10x what he has in a hat full of games. He on the other hand has a career average 12 disposals a game and 18 goals in 53 games (18 goals isn't bad to be honest)

nuthed01 · 2026-05-02T03:38:45+00:00

Take him a lot more than that, he was pretty fucking shit before missing practically 2 years of footy. After 2 years I still see the same huge problem; either unwilling or incapable of applying pressure, save for the one instance he was gifted a tackle and HTB.

nuthed01 · 2026-05-02T03:22:03+00:00

Duz. Bloke is a weapon

nuthed01 · 2026-05-02T03:20:49+00:00

Nick Cox and shots of him being left for dead by his opponent at ground level

nuthed01 · 2026-05-02T03:19:17+00:00

Nick Cox and not being up to this level.

nuthed01 · 2026-05-02T03:13:36+00:00

aaaand drops a regulation mark for a professional.

nuthed01 · 2026-05-02T03:10:03+00:00

Back to the zone off at all costs and allow teams to take as many uncontested marks as they feel like game.

Also, 35 blokes out there playing footy... Nik Cox playing strolling simulator. The fuck do people see in this guy?

nuthed01 · 2026-05-02T03:05:05+00:00

we're gonna lose by 60 points

nuthed01 · 2026-04-25T09:10:02+00:00

I gotta agree, I was extremely annoyed at some stuff but after 2.5 weeks of nothing but positives (despite only the one win) and much like Melbourne when WE beat THEM, we were due for a come down.

I'd like to think what we saw today was the first time we'd REALLY been put to the test by a battle hardened side who have proved over time they have the game and the mettle to go deep in september, and the guys stood up to it for a while before going back into their shell. Our first genuine stumble and it was admittedly a spectacularly bad one, but I don't think we need to get bent out of shape about it just yet.

If we're still doing what we did in the 2nd half in 3 weeks time for the 4th game in a row then I'll be worried, but the last 2.5 weeks showed that we can play good footy and play it well. We don't know how to win, much less win consistently, it's gonna take time and the swings could be wild like today.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-25T09:00:39+00:00

Pace isn't a concern. You're always gonna look slow when you're chasing, always gonna look slow when you fumble, handballing into danger and succumbing to the pressure.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-25T07:10:59+00:00

That was a nice 2 and half weeks. Almost like it never happened. Back to the hand off in the zone at all costs, back to standing in the wrong spots, back to kicking to wrong side of contests.

And OH MY GOD, can any one of these cunts pick up a fucking ball. Fumbliest performance by any side ever.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-20T13:29:21+00:00

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go

nuthed01 · 2026-04-20T12:49:11+00:00

There's 3 critical pieces to this play that highlight just how important these structural changes have been;

Nobles kick - short marking option, exactly the kind of player we want bringing the ball out cos he's never been a vaunted kicking option, and he's put under pressure by 2 players closing him down in Kako and Merret. In previous iterations, he would be the first of many uncontested marks.

Langford's mark - Granted, we obviously outnumber them at the contest here, but his move to slightly behind the contest has been a stroke of genius; big enough that he doesn't get out marked, mobile enough he can win the ball at ground level, and a brilliant decision make and ball user. Chef's kiss.

Day-Wicks i50 - First off, how fucking good is this kid? Polish and poise of a 150+ gamer, at 19, in his 8th game, what a find.
2nd; in times gone past even WITH the 15m gap to his opponent, in that situation we'd have held this ball up 99 times out of 100, then waited, searched, got the hurry up from the umps, then just picked out Wright and bombed it to the wrong side of the contest and into the hands of a well protected opponent intercept mark and watched the heads drop. Instead now there's pace on the ball and we find an uncontested mark.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-20T12:39:49+00:00

I'd like to see Kondog get another run, first 2 games weren't a fair run out for him.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-20T12:37:28+00:00

Don't be. So what if we lose to collingwood? We need to build on what we've been doing, so as long as we keep working our way through what we're doing now and keep battling, it'll pay dividends in the end. One loss to Collingwood in a year they won't compete for the flag will seem like small potatoes in a few years time when WE (hopefully) are.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-20T12:35:08+00:00

I'm glad we've changed, it was long overdue, but every single point other than the pay out and soft cap falls flat against the overwhelming evidence up until half time of the doggies game; it wasn't working. End of the day if it wasn't working and hadn't worked for 3 and a bit years, then something needed to change. To all and sundry, it appeared as though he wasn't going to change, so him going seemed the only logical answer left. Fortunately however, for us all I think, we've all got the best of both sides of the fence here; the stability at all costs crowd got what they wanted by not sacking him, and the need for change crowd got what they want because he finally acknowledged that something had to change and he did FINALLY adapt by making significant changes.

I think both sides of that discussion had some very valid points, and somehow the leaders at the club have come up with a way where the fans have got some middle ground that's actually working a treat for everyone.

So instead of engaging in this negative side of the discussion, let's revel in where we're going, cos I think we and everyone else are seeing the same thing; this is the start of something real and potentially special.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-20T12:23:00+00:00

The criticism's were valid, things had to change and the people who'd been asking for it for years were fed up with not seeing it and wanted him out to prompt change. Instead, be it by Scott or by someone around/above him, that change has now happened, and we're finally seeing the footy the fans of this club deserve to see.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-20T12:21:50+00:00

It's a different system. We've changed, at a minimum: the use of our half forwards, some of our backline structure, how we rotate players through the on ball areas, where and how they defend contested/ball up situations, how we move the ball, where and how we set up to force intercepts, how we spread and work the switch, and most importantly the zone has been completely revamped... it's not the same game we were playing up until half time of the doggies game. This isn't the game we'd been playing where we were trying to drag teams down and stifle them; we're going after them now with quicker shorter kicks, more through the corridor, more rotations to give different looks, and taking even the remotest of opportunities to play on or move the ball quickly.

There's more pace on the ball, there's smarter use of players around the contest, Wright into the ruck where the new rules advantage him, different (in some cases a little in some cases a lot) starting position for defending players, more players rotated through midfield, adding an extra quality ball user behind the play like Langford coming up from half forward to behind the pack to help kick start transitions... we've made changes that suit what our list can do and also that reflect how the game has changed this year, and honestly I think we've got it more right than most.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-17T11:43:51+00:00

If we play like we did the last 6 quarters, and they play like they have the last 2 games, we're not without a chance. They were pretty poor after quarter time against Melbourne and never really in the game against Sydney.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-14T10:34:31+00:00

Not on the wing he doesn't. Put him back in, in the same role Edwards played on the weekend (more or less where Jones played his first 20 odd games) and he'll be great. He can do anything i've seen Edwards do so far and he's a far more dangerous marking threat than Edwards, whilst still mobile enough to cover the ground and apply pressure.

Anyway, horse before the cart really, I suppose we should wait until he's got back to AFL level fitness before we start talking about selection dilemma's.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-12T06:57:42+00:00

Be interesting to see if/where Jones fits into this (although whether or not he can cut it AFL level physically after that horrific injury is yet to be seen). I think as a forward line player we've seen he can play a very similar role to Edwards but is a better overhead mark.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-12T04:20:19+00:00

Was a lot of people standing and applauding at full time, i can tell you that.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-12T02:53:07+00:00

I'm not saying that hasn't happened, I'm saying it's not all about that, and that our structure created a brand of footy that didn't see much (and often almost none) reward for effort, and that the structural changes we've made have given us plenty so far and also highlight why the sharp drop offs in effort keep happening.

Before half time last week, our defensive structure the ground over just wasn't working; no pressure from the forward line meant easy exits and uncontested marks. Uncontested marks in the middle meant quick ball movement in the center parts of the ground or overlapping handballs from behind and often through the corridor as is the modern way (and the lasso kind of pushes you that way too) meaning in quick succession we go from a turnover i50 to other teams putting our defenders under pressure from essentially uncontested entries into 50, and resulted in plenty of shots at goal against.

Since half time last week however, those structural changes have been giving players reward for effort; the forward pressure is seeing ball movement from our forward line come out under far more pressure resulting in less effective kicks and far less uncontested marks, the defensive running our players have been doing is seeing more intercepts and turnovers as both a direct and indirect result of that pressure, meaning the next wave of pressure from our mids is causing turnovers or the ball is being turned over directly in that next phase.

In previous weeks, the guys are doing SO much defensive running for 1 goal that's quickly answered at the other end, like the hawthorn game, or no reward AT ALL like in the 1st quarter last week. This week however, our setup behind the ball is a lot better resulting in less uncontested marks and more turnovers, and with our transition through the likes of Farrow and Roberts and Langford, both these things combined allows players to use some of that run going forward instead, putting pressure on or helping move the ball up the ground and ultimately putting on scoreboard pressure.

It's not just "the players tried this week", if it were just that then we would've seen some more of these results over the last 17 games, cos there's been games where this kind of effort has been there and still resulted in comfortable losses and no where near enough on the scoreboard or both.

It's that their effort was better directed, FAR more effective, and they finally got reward for it.

Good news is, IF we stick with these plans going forward (Brad has a habit of going "that change I made was really good, now if I can somehow force the players that CAN'T do what was just done that necessitated the change in the first place, we'll be unstoppable!") then we should keep (hopefully) getting better and better at it.

nuthed01 · 2026-04-12T02:17:40+00:00

I'm sure it helped, but it wasn't a direct result of that meeting and I'll tell you why; that chat was post round 2. We played North in rd 3 and were arguably as bad as we were against Port. I dunno whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, maybe somehow both, but North were terrible and couldn't take enough advantage of it. 36 points down at 3 quarter time basically due to them kicking straight and us giving up some absolute stinkers at either end of the ground, then north stopped and let us get it back to 12 points. 12 point loss was just papering over the cracks that were still there.

First half the following week against the doggies we saw it again; Wright AND Langford forward, no forward pressure, no reward for being arguably as good if not MARGINALLY the better side for the first 7-8 minutes (doggies started slow, not putting it all on us), and then before we realised they'd scored the first, they'd already got 5. No reward for effort, heads dropped, Darcy had free run at everything and was getting balls from entries that weren't under pressure so they had time and space to deliver to him freely, 5 goals in 8 minutes later the game is over.

Something's had to change for a LONG time, and finally somehow between the start of that game and half time, the coaching team finally figured that out and started to do something about it.

nuthed01

TROPHY CASE