West v Sturt

Curiously this game against the reigning premier provides us with possibly our best chance for a win this season.
It could also be the only time we play a team below us on the ladder this year. It'd be great to see our endeavour rewarded with a win, and our skills improve with the confidence gained from it.

5 weeks into the 2017 season the 2015 Premiers playing the 2016 Premiers, both yet to record a win, in a game that will get one of them off the bottom of the ladder. Weird.

Thiele wrote:Tv Game

Reserves 12 noon
League 2.40

Silverlock 100th

Fielke's 150th

Sturt are bottom and we are ninth.
Both teams are winless.

Sturt are $1.08
West are $8.00

Are we really that bad.........

Wolfpack, whilst both are win less sturt have put in some very strong performances and have been rather unlucky to lose at least two of thier games whilst we probably should have won one of the early games.. 

I think the odds are a bit over the top but sturt would start as favorites especially given where it is being played.

Westiew to win

Just awful.
Only their second very poor performance this year, but enough to sink the season.

I thought the boys were pretty good today.
The endeavour and attack on the footy was good.
Our skills let us down again today. Some of our kicking was diabolical at times.
Schmidt and Caire were very good.
We will probably win the spoon again this year but I think we will win next week!!!

You cannot win games with out a ruckman . Chol tries but he is way out of his depth . They are better of with a younger player that knows something about basic ruck work.

Having lost 16 of their last 18 games at Unley oval and playing the current premiers Westies would have gone into this game as underdogs. But with the recent announcement regarding Mark Mickan’s condition and the return of captain Chris Schmidt we had plenty to play for.

Despite never taking a backward step and fighting the game out to the last we came up short in perfect conditions for footy. Sturt 11.15 Westies 8.13.

In a game similar to the recent one at Prospect we met a team struggling for form and the result was a scrappy contest full of mistakes – we just happened to make more of them. Our poor skills and ordinary decision making bought us undone at critical times. For example, in the last Q we dominated the first 12 minutes, the ball was in our forward line most of this period but we could only score 3 behinds with a few out on the full. Once again we had our chances but failed to make the grade. We kicked 2.7 in the last Q.

Far too many passengers. There were ten players who between them laid a grand total of 5 tackles (out of 61 for the team!!) We were let down by our big men in particular, in ruck, around the ground and taking a mark in the forward line although Middleton did manage to kick his first goal for the year. Maybe Tyler McPherson deserves a chance in ruck. It would be good to leave Watchman in the fwd line for a while rather than pinch-hitting in ruck. Webb also got through the early game OK.

Carger came in for his first game. Silverlock didn’t play. Peter and J Stevens played in the 2s. Schmidt made a huge difference and it was down to him that we made a contest. So creative with his handball he got more touches in his first game of the season than any other player on the ground. If we could get him and Rankine together it would be a huge plus for the team. Who knows what reason there will be next week for Rankine’s no-show, a table tennis tournament or maybe the AFL Academy lamington drive?

The 2s had another great win and remain on top, undefeated after 5 games. Peter kicked 4. That’s 9 in 2 games and he must play next week in the senior side as we struggle to kick goals – you don’t win too many games kicking only 8 goals. Young Josh Stevens should come in for Green.

Garme aside
I just wanna say congrats Fielks
True clubmann
Always at the clubbbb n will chat to any onr.
A lot of players sneed to see how he interacts with fans
He's a legend

So another tried hard, shocking skills and loss for 2017.
Chol tries but is not league standard especially as the only ruck in the team. We struggled to get it past centre for large portions and usually hit a Sturt player on the chest on the rare occasions we did.
So will we win a game in 2017? I can't see it happening when we lose to ordinary teams like North, Sturt and South, not when we can't kick more than 10 goals in a game. 2 wins since the GF is that new low for SANFL?

I know MM is a great club man who is dealing with a very difficult disease, but when does his coaching come into question?? What has been learnt from 2016 and improved in 2017 because skills are just as bad and it's not worth watching your team lose every week.

Planning for 2018 already ....

loppy19 wrote:...when does his coaching come into question?

When his ability to coach under-ranks the ability of the team to execute instructions. Currently, thats clearly not the case.

ccrump wrote:Garme aside
I just wanna say congrats Fielks
True clubmann
Always at the clubbbb n will chat to any onr.
A lot of players sneed to see how he interacts with fans
He's a legend

Couldn't agree more ccrump. My special needs son loves to attend home games with me because he likes to interact with the players. He likes to stand behind the interchange bench and encourage the players. Even when Fielks is sucking in the big ones he'll give Sean the thumbs up, and always acknowledges him. We have photos with Aaron after the grand final win as well. Good on you Aaron. Congratulations on being a great role model. Also congratulations on reaching 150 games, another solid performance - 19 possessions and 9 tackles.
Hugh Haysman and Tait Silverlock have also taken the time to chat with Sean as well. The coach has also spoken with Sean and provided him with advice on how he might break into the team. Fantastic stuff.
Win, lose or draw we are proud members of the WAFC

Re: Chol Majok
Unfortunately, it was evident yesterday that his limitation for ruck reached a decisive conclusion, as he hasn't appeared to develop that position at senior level during these last few games.
He has had a stint in the backlines with some success. Around the ground (and in ruck), his good positional play is undermined by hesitation, most likely due to a lack of confidence from only playing the game for a few years.
He is undoubtedly directly replaced by Webb, but I'm wondering whether his speed, dexterity and cleverness might be tried in another position, as it would be sad to see him out of the team.

So if the coach is not responsible for consecutive seasons of diabolical basic skill execution, who the hell is? Let me guess, nobody because it's all going great and we are on track to turn it around.. The willingness to pretend all is well when it clearly isn't has to be a massive part of what is wrong with the culture at Richmond.

I don't know you loppy but I can tell you are a smart man and not a happy clapper. Finally some sensible posts and assessments being made.

I have just been re reading the Needs for 2017 thread and in 8 months absolutely nothing has changed. A complete overhaul is needed.

Re Chol Majok
An excellent assessment Luke. A lot of time and effort has been put into Chol. With finals out of the equation, it is the ideal time to experiment a little. I agree, playing a defensive role might suit him more. His closing speed and reach might be a real asset back in defence. There are still plenty of games left for Chol to be tried in another role, one he might excel in. A defensive role would probably allow him more space to work in. Confidence comes from being successful. This is unlikely to happen while he remains in the ruck.

Cheers Brodlach, been there through the good times and unfortunately the bad majority of times. call it as I see it, just seems to be a lot of excuses all the time. Hope to be wrong, but can't see where the positive changes are coming from under the current set up.

Injuries to Wilson,Porps,Silverlock, Agostino and the non availability of Rankine (yet again) has hurt us however I don't believe with all our squad available that we would play finals anyway.

We are so DEFICENT in so many areas.
1. We have no genuine ruckman.
2. We have no genuine Key Forward who can take a mark and kick a goal
3. We lack 2 genuine tough inside Mids.
4. We lack Genuine Key Position Players.

I understand Recruiting has become increasingly difficult, however if we are to become a COMPETITIVE SIDE we need to be Identifing our NEEDS now and ensuring these type of players are signed next year otherwise I fear a number of Wooden Spoons are heading our way.

Secondly by being UNCOMPETITIVE our Financial Position will not improve as losing impacts the clubs attendances and therefore our revenue.

It would be safe to say we will have a new coach next year unless our results improve dramatically.

Isn't Chol 27 years old (thought I would check the website but couldn't find any player profiles). If so he isn't the future. Get McPhereson a game as the is younger and more like the future. Might not be ready but what have we to lose?

Of all the comments of late on this thread Lachlan makes the most sense.
Whenever we go through a bad period out comes the "sack the coach" brigade. Be it Weed,Collins or Mickan and a lot before them.
Mickan is a proven premiership coach,fact. End of story. If anyone doesn't believe that go and have a look at the 2015 grand final photos.
What we lack,as Lachlan points out is a couple of key forwards,a ruckman and a better run with injuries for once. I would pose the question however if so many trial games is such a good idea?
Would Bart Cummings have won any Melbourne cups running donkeys? Would Peter Brock won a Bathurst race in a stock standard Holden? Of course not.
Going on how our seconds are going we have a handful of 1st graders and plenty of good reserve grade footballers. Some may develop into 1st graders who knows.
But we have to find or develop some good players to be successful.
Nothing else will do it. JC could not produce a premiership out of the present list.