Bluebody
The Strategist
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2007
- Messages
- 4,413
- Reaction score
- 2,778
In the last 2 games, something bizarre has happened. The Sharks and Knights seemed to self implode in key moments of the game to allow us to get away with the win.
To be clear, our energy and determination to stay in the game for 80 minutes have allowed us to take advantage of 2 gifts from the footy gods. It is hard to explain the farcical mistakes these teams have made, that allowed us to get out of jail and pull upset victories.
Something shifted in our team. Our inexperience was a heavy burden on our ability to execute. Our energy levels won us games, but it is difficult to rely on high energy against quality sides. I believe that our super low confidence was consistently killing our execution and this was happening even in the last 2 games we have won.
However, I want to believe a turning point has occurred. A combination of improved attitude and opposition teams tripping over their laces has given us the confidence to go into games with a lot more belief in our ability to compete for 80 mins and win.
We deserved a break. We deserved refs given us 50/50 calls as well. It all happened in the last 2 games. It is bizarre. I really think it must be the footy gods saying, ok, its time to let the dogs out of hell. LOL
Our passing behind players remains a sore point for me. It doubles our error rate, kills our momentum and the players get frustrated with each other. I expect Pay will highlight this habit because it was a clear weakness that repeated what seemed like 4 - 5 times. One thing I know about passing is that you get much more latitude floating the pass in front than you do behind. The player can speed up, their hands can reach out quite a bit. But asking a player to suddenly slow their momentum and move their hands behind them while their momentum is in the forward motion is so much harder and kills the attacking play dead in its tracks.
I am of the view that teams are not going to be complacent with us anymore and we may be up for harder games. We are no longer the easy beats. Footy gods are not likely to give us a gravy train. So while we may continue to lose much more than we win, I think our team has now hit a new level of self-belief that is going to accelerate the rebuild phase for the rest of the season.
We were in a dark rut for a while there and I hope we string another 2 games where we compete for 80 mins with a lower error rate. If we do, we may well find ourselves building a momentum we have been waiting for over 2 seasons. We are the least experienced team in the comp with an inexperienced coach, but I am seeing Dog DNA starting to show up.
The formula I am seeing: High Energy + High Belief + Low Error Rate + Removed losing stigma = A team that will build more quality experience in fewer games! I don't believe time makes you better, I believe what you do in time does. Hence, a better attitude, more self-belief and the grit and determination to stay focused - all this will make your pathway to success happen much faster. Fuck the long-term rebuild - that is a lazy and losing attitude when you make that the excuse. We can bounce back like we did in 2009.
This post may come back to haunt me - but I sure hope it doesn't!
To be clear, our energy and determination to stay in the game for 80 minutes have allowed us to take advantage of 2 gifts from the footy gods. It is hard to explain the farcical mistakes these teams have made, that allowed us to get out of jail and pull upset victories.
Something shifted in our team. Our inexperience was a heavy burden on our ability to execute. Our energy levels won us games, but it is difficult to rely on high energy against quality sides. I believe that our super low confidence was consistently killing our execution and this was happening even in the last 2 games we have won.
However, I want to believe a turning point has occurred. A combination of improved attitude and opposition teams tripping over their laces has given us the confidence to go into games with a lot more belief in our ability to compete for 80 mins and win.
We deserved a break. We deserved refs given us 50/50 calls as well. It all happened in the last 2 games. It is bizarre. I really think it must be the footy gods saying, ok, its time to let the dogs out of hell. LOL
Our passing behind players remains a sore point for me. It doubles our error rate, kills our momentum and the players get frustrated with each other. I expect Pay will highlight this habit because it was a clear weakness that repeated what seemed like 4 - 5 times. One thing I know about passing is that you get much more latitude floating the pass in front than you do behind. The player can speed up, their hands can reach out quite a bit. But asking a player to suddenly slow their momentum and move their hands behind them while their momentum is in the forward motion is so much harder and kills the attacking play dead in its tracks.
I am of the view that teams are not going to be complacent with us anymore and we may be up for harder games. We are no longer the easy beats. Footy gods are not likely to give us a gravy train. So while we may continue to lose much more than we win, I think our team has now hit a new level of self-belief that is going to accelerate the rebuild phase for the rest of the season.
We were in a dark rut for a while there and I hope we string another 2 games where we compete for 80 mins with a lower error rate. If we do, we may well find ourselves building a momentum we have been waiting for over 2 seasons. We are the least experienced team in the comp with an inexperienced coach, but I am seeing Dog DNA starting to show up.
The formula I am seeing: High Energy + High Belief + Low Error Rate + Removed losing stigma = A team that will build more quality experience in fewer games! I don't believe time makes you better, I believe what you do in time does. Hence, a better attitude, more self-belief and the grit and determination to stay focused - all this will make your pathway to success happen much faster. Fuck the long-term rebuild - that is a lazy and losing attitude when you make that the excuse. We can bounce back like we did in 2009.
This post may come back to haunt me - but I sure hope it doesn't!
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