Ironbark
Well-Known Member
With 17 games played we have a bit of a remarkable set of stats.
We are pretty hard to beat having only lost 4 games. Equal 3rd best in the league
Draws are insane: 9 of them.
Wins is where we fall down (obviously), with only 4. This is 4th worst in the league
Convert even 3 of those draws to wins and we'd sit in 3rd.
Why?
It's obvious we are back to playing on the fumes of an oily rag in terms of resources (thanks Dick). This was never more evident than in the January window.
We had set up the season as thinly as we could reasonably get in terms of the roster for this season, but arguably we had a competitive team.
There was just enough quality with a core of Doka, Kaltak, Sains, MDP, Tapp, Alfie et al. to support a junior keeper and all the development and youth players we were blooding and relying on.
Then we got backhanded by injury. MDP, Sains & Tapp were massive outs for so long. These were pivotal players we were relying on for the season.
Sains is back, Tapp is not, MDP just starting to return.
Then all the other injuries. We've had so many players out for a month or longer.
In the end we haven't had a steady lineup to bed down, and certainly not enough quality on the park at any one time.
This is one reason for so many draws.
We don't have the skill, focus, or energy to hold out a whole game. We do have the grit to not lose them thankfully.
If Part 1 of the challenge we have is lack of resources hampered by injuries,
then Part 2 is tactics.
I've always believed you design a strategy around the players you have. If Jacko is doing this he is basing it around our full compliment of players which we haven't been close to having all season. I'm not going to overly analyse this section and will leave it to others with a better understanding of the game.
Our goal difference tells a lot of this story, although individual errors have played a large part in our season in defence and attack, made worse by the lack of key players being fit.
Going forward with injured players returning we need to think of these guys as new recruits. We have managed to not lose too much. Now we need to convert these to a few more wins. There is still chance for improvement.
We are borderline not making finals at this rate and lots of 3 point games are essential from here.
My biggest concern, if I'm honest, is that in our current financial position and without further investment or a buyer, then it is a downward spiral to dark times again.
We will likely sell our best at the end of the season (and why would a Doka-type not take a lucrative offer?), our younger/better players are likely to be made offers that aren't insanely big but that we can't compete with too.
Then, with the writing on the wall, would go our coaching staff to greener pastures. It's in the interest of their careers to do so in that situation.
A LOT is going to ride on our financial situation in the near term. Which hurts when we worked SO hard and for SO long to rise from the ashes to greatness again.
The rays of hope are the likes of Eames and others. We have some serious diamonds in the making coming through and it would only take a little quality reqruitment around these to get us purring.
The next phase (6 months) will be impactful - one way or the other.
We are pretty hard to beat having only lost 4 games. Equal 3rd best in the league
Draws are insane: 9 of them.
Wins is where we fall down (obviously), with only 4. This is 4th worst in the league
Convert even 3 of those draws to wins and we'd sit in 3rd.
Why?
It's obvious we are back to playing on the fumes of an oily rag in terms of resources (thanks Dick). This was never more evident than in the January window.
We had set up the season as thinly as we could reasonably get in terms of the roster for this season, but arguably we had a competitive team.
There was just enough quality with a core of Doka, Kaltak, Sains, MDP, Tapp, Alfie et al. to support a junior keeper and all the development and youth players we were blooding and relying on.
Then we got backhanded by injury. MDP, Sains & Tapp were massive outs for so long. These were pivotal players we were relying on for the season.
Sains is back, Tapp is not, MDP just starting to return.
Then all the other injuries. We've had so many players out for a month or longer.
In the end we haven't had a steady lineup to bed down, and certainly not enough quality on the park at any one time.
This is one reason for so many draws.
We don't have the skill, focus, or energy to hold out a whole game. We do have the grit to not lose them thankfully.
If Part 1 of the challenge we have is lack of resources hampered by injuries,
then Part 2 is tactics.
I've always believed you design a strategy around the players you have. If Jacko is doing this he is basing it around our full compliment of players which we haven't been close to having all season. I'm not going to overly analyse this section and will leave it to others with a better understanding of the game.
Our goal difference tells a lot of this story, although individual errors have played a large part in our season in defence and attack, made worse by the lack of key players being fit.
Going forward with injured players returning we need to think of these guys as new recruits. We have managed to not lose too much. Now we need to convert these to a few more wins. There is still chance for improvement.
We are borderline not making finals at this rate and lots of 3 point games are essential from here.
My biggest concern, if I'm honest, is that in our current financial position and without further investment or a buyer, then it is a downward spiral to dark times again.
We will likely sell our best at the end of the season (and why would a Doka-type not take a lucrative offer?), our younger/better players are likely to be made offers that aren't insanely big but that we can't compete with too.
Then, with the writing on the wall, would go our coaching staff to greener pastures. It's in the interest of their careers to do so in that situation.
A LOT is going to ride on our financial situation in the near term. Which hurts when we worked SO hard and for SO long to rise from the ashes to greatness again.
The rays of hope are the likes of Eames and others. We have some serious diamonds in the making coming through and it would only take a little quality reqruitment around these to get us purring.
The next phase (6 months) will be impactful - one way or the other.
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