Our halves have come under a lot of criticism from a lot of you 1eyed members inparticularly kk.
Imo most of this critism is misguided as the team as a whole have been very lacklustre the past 2 games. Any halves combination is going to struggle playing behind a beaten pack none the lease an unexpereinced halves combination like ours.
Neither Morts or kk are natural organising playmakers they both thrive of second thase play and are both tremandous support players. The problem for D.A is he is trying to manufacture Morts into an organising playmaker and this is going to take time and whilst this is happening it is putting extreme amounts of pressure on both players to produce and while both are getting away from their natural game they are making wrong decisions.
Having some inside infomation i know for a fact that DA's people skills are extremely poor, he abuses players in an extreme level in front of other players, now for some players this may work but for young inexperienced players this could erode what ever little confidence they have, hence one week they try things the next they go back into their shell because of the abuse they copped.
How helpful is it for our halves when they do the things that Joey Johns is teaching them only to be yelled at by DA " what the fuck is that crap".
I know some of you will never support KK and will continue to death ride him just so you can say" i told you he was no good" But have a think about what we are asking of our 2 young halves and ask yourself, Are we expecting too much too early?
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If Mortimer or Keatingdon't have the skills to play first grade then they shouldn't be in first grade (not necessarily saying keating doesn't) . They should be in the reggies developing their skills.
I still maintain that this is the reason why we should be wary in bringing more Junior players up. If juniors are blooded at a time when the team is not playing confidently and are subjected to significant and demoralising losses.... it does nothing for their confidence, it does nothing to build them up and they only move further into their shells.
The players need to know they have the support of the coach, the club and it supporters before things start getting better. From what I am reading today.... it seems like this problem is more than just a lack of confidence. :-( :-(
How many players have Parra lost to other clubs and live to regret their loss.
I am fully with you on the pressure these guys must be under and your insight into DA's people skills could well be a contributing factor for them to try and play safe and not expand their game.
However if this coaching style is a fact then I would say that it is very counter productive.