Round 3 Norwood v Sturt Post Match

[heater31]

No excuses regarding personnel. Outplayed in the middle and poor when we went forward.
Lots of room for improvement, not panicked just yet but I despise losing.

I'll be the first one to put it out there - the female umpire can't bounce or keep up with the play.

Umpiring isn't a gender thing, it's about the best available.

Funny thing is she is one of the better decision makers amongst her group, shows up her male counterparts quite often....

[Wedgie]

She's the best umpire I've seen in the last couple of years. Easily better than any of the muppets at Richmond Oval last night.

[fester69]

Agree to disagree. Last year she was going along well in the ressies, two weeks in a row now she's missed some crucial frees, for both sides. She needs to be closer.

[cennals05]

I think she is good. Spoke with Chris Gowans after the game last week and he said she is the best umpire going around at the moment.

[whufc]

Agree to disagree. Last year she was going along well in the ressies, two weeks in a row now she's missed some crucial frees, for both sides. She needs to be closer.

I have rated her pretty highly as a umpire from what I've seen in the ressies and I obviously didnt see last night but tend to agree she had a shocker last week in the Centrals Norwood game making some baffling decisions and non calls both ways

[whufc]

So whats happening at the Parade. Norwood supporters are in the best position to judge. Is it

-new coach, new players taking time to adjust to new changes
-players just simply out of form or being complacent
-simply don't have the cattle now
-inner problems with the selection of an untried coach
-other sides improved both personnel and tactics

One thing I have noticed in the two games I have seen Norwood this year is that they seem to have lost their penetration with their kicking. I don't solely think its due to Warrens influence I just think they have replaced some very good long kicks of the football with some average kickers.

Suckling, Dumont, Zorzi, Pfieffer, Aish, Grigg have all gone and the only substantial in is Allan who certainly doesn't fit in the penetrating kick category despite how good he is.

[JK]

Think you've hit the nail WHUFC. For mine it's the change in midfield dynamic and across the boots footskills.

Bigger bodied mids Zorsi, Suckling, Thomas, Grigg, Dumont were mostly very good disposers of the ball .. As were Pfeiffer and Fuller in particular.

That onball group were also very consistent, rarely playing a bad game.

I have no doubt our current group can improve, but I'd doubt they can improve enough for a 3 peat - plenty of ability there, but we're relying on too many players that have never shown any consistency. Newton, Davis, Dawe, Bartlett, Panos for example are all players that MUST have big years for the club to challenge, but nine have ever show the required level of consistency.

Missed last nights game but heard our effort was good enough, we were just simply beaten by a better team.

[whufc]

Think you've hit the nail WHUFC. For mine it's the change in midfield dynamic and across the boots footskills.

Bigger bodied mids Zorsi, Suckling, Thomas, Grigg, Dumont were mostly very good disposers of the ball .. As were Pfeiffer and Fuller in particular.

That onball group were also very consistent, rarely playing a bad game.

I have no doubt our current group can improve, but I'd doubt they can improve enough for a 3 peat - plenty of ability there, but we're relying on too many players that have never shown any consistency. Newton, Davis, Dawe, Bartlett, Panos for example are all players that MUST have big years for the club to challenge, but nine have ever show the required level of consistency.

Missed last nights game but heard our effort was good enough, we were just simply beaten by a better team.

Great point about the bigger bodies.

One thing with the bigger bodies is if the game starts drifting away from use you had the luxury of throwing the Zorzi, Suckling, Thomas into the middle and really tightening the game up.

It also meant you could beat sides either on the inside or on the outside which was proven with how Norwood over the last couple of years have been just as effective on the small or large ovals and against different styles of opponents.

Obviously as well bigger bodies generally means bigger hits and more tired opposition as the game wears on.

Though anyone who rules Norwood out yet is kidding themselves imho. How many times did we see the Centrals sides in the mid 00's start seasons only average and then be there when it counts.

[Jim05]

Was always going to be tough covering the loss of over half our best side from last year. Depth is a real concern and the lack of the bigger bodies in the midfield is killing us. New coach is also trying to stamp his mark on the club although I hope he doesnt persist with the current style. Still think we can play finals but need our best team out there to do it, still got 5-6 first team players missing and which is hurting us. Cant honestly see us winning the flag but hope we can still be amongst it come finals and you never know. Think we will improve as the season goes on, need the youngsters to develop rapidly

[fester69]

When the finals come around and the team is hopefully close to full strength we will achieve our third Premiership in a row.

Just having some teething problems at the moment.

[Jim05]

Agree to disagree. Last year she was going along well in the ressies, two weeks in a row now she's missed some crucial frees, for both sides. She needs to be closer.

I have rated her pretty highly as a umpire from what I've seen in the ressies and I obviously didnt see last night but tend to agree she had a shocker last week in the Centrals Norwood game making some baffling decisions and non calls both ways

She was really good last year but has been woeful from what ive seen so far this year.
Is usually miles away from the play and on the wrong side so either misses a heap or worse she guesses free kicks. Think she doesnt understand that a 5-10m kick doest count as she paid a number of marks that clearly didnt cover the required distance

[SDK]

The thing that concerns me most is our trademark tackling and pressure on the ball carrier has disappeared from 10 minutes into the second quarter against Centrals.
We also seem to lack confidence, individually and as a team.
We need Evo and Flip back in the forward line and I believe we need to have a project player like a Bower to develop over time as we have only one key forward in Newton who sadly can not kick straight.
We can only improve but we need to take action NOW !
Sturt are a good honest team who used skills better than Norwood did and deserved to win the game.
I think the female umpire is OK she seems to let it go but I have noticed all umpires let the packs develop for too long before a whistle.