Articles

Couttsy’s Considerations - Round 11
By Chris Coutts
2008-06-06

Chris Coutts previews Round 11.

Why, oh why, do I do this to myself? We performed so well against the Hawks that I truly, honestly believed that, when I paid my $22.40 to go to see the Dees take on the Saints, we were a real show of winning the game. And what do I get when I get there? It was another dreadful, possibly inept, performance that shows that, whilst our skills are pretty poor, we’re just not mentally strong enough to be competitive from week to week.

We got slaughtered out of the middle of the ground. That comes back to our ruckmen and midfielders. I thought their ruckmen gave them superior service, and our midfielders who were supposed to be manning up on their opposite number did a completely awful job in trying to do so. Watching Nick Dal Santo pick up clean possession after clean possession from the centre bounce had me ready to scream about halfway through the second quarter.

When Robbo went down, and I could just see our season completely and utterly fall to pieces. We’re now left with absolutely ZERO of our key forwards, and are left with part-timers like Yze, Miller, Bate, Sylvia and maybe Holland having to spend time there. Personally, I’d be happy to see Adem Yze play from the square for the rest of the season. He was a goalkicker when he first came to the Club, and I do remember him kicking 7 or 8 in a game for us at one point when he was played as a leading forward. Sure, he’s not going to be a part of our long-term future, but he can provide some leadership and some nous in a forward line that will be seriously lacking both from now on.

Moving on to our backline. I continue to be more impressed by the performance of both Colin Garland and Matthew Warnock week after week. They’ll still get beaten in contests every now and again, and Garland doesn’t yet seem to have the strength to punch from behind against the biggest forwards in a contested marking situation, but the speed, positioning and understanding of the way the ball moves is suggesting that they both look like they have what it takes to become solid performers in our backline.

However, that brings me to James Frawley. I hate to say this, but Frawley, at this point in time, would probably be better served going back to Sandringham, getting on to a high fat diet and putting some weight on and trying to turn it into muscle. His positioning has been pretty poor the last few weeks, and he gets pushed out of contests far too easily at this point in time. I’ve seen enough to know that they will probably make a solid footballer out of him, but at this point in time, I don’t see any benefit to continuing to play him in a position that clearly he is uncomfortable playing at the moment and having him get beaten (and beaten badly) week in, week out, by footballers that I would deem to be mediocre, at best. I know this sounds harsh, but unless they plan to turn him into an attacking half-back flanker, he’s a Sandringham-quality player at the moment.

Onto this week – one of my favourite match-ups of the season. Melbourne vs. Collingwood, Queens’ Birthday long weekend. Doesn’t seem to matter the ladder positions of either side, it’s always a good game, and in recent history, we’ve had a pretty good record in this game. Unfortunately, I can’t see us pulling one from the proverbial this week. A number of changes to the team this week, with Robbo obviously out, along with Buckley and Bell. Surprised to see Buckley dropped, given he’s one of the few players we have with pace. But on the flipside, the inclusions are Bode, Jamar, Carroll, C Johnson, Morton and Rivers – with Morton slotting straight back onto the wing. The others are all on an extended bench, so no doubt a few to miss out.

But at the end of the day, I can’t see us getting within 10 goals of the Magpies, who have been playing pretty good football this season. They’ve dropped a couple of close ones, and been spanked in a couple of others. But given our form, it’s hard to see us remaining competitive. Hopefully the players will get a lift from the 150th birthday celebrations on the Saturday night – and will come out with that same fire and aggression that we saw against the Hawks. But I’m not holding my breath.

I’m tipping another loss in the vicinity of 10 goals, but can’t see it being much under that margin, unfortunately.

For those who will be there, be loud and proud, and GO DEES!!!