Baron Samedi said:
Here is where your logic falls over Coburg:
Leon posited that we are not a skilful team.
I maintain that we are a skilful team, and have been since 2017. It is our defence first system that often paints us in a scrappy light.
You say that since we are missing half of our premiership team, we must therefore be less skilful. Forgive me if you are not saying this. If that’s the case, your argument over “premiership team” semantics is a little pedantic.
But if you ARE suggesting we are currently “unskilled”, then I would throw these new names at you:
Stack
Higgins
Balta
Baker
Bolton
All of these players are highly skilled and would regularly hit passes and hand balls.
To say we are not skilful is ridiculous.
Young? Yes.
Missing our key position champions at the minute? Yes.
To clarify, I don't think a lack of skill is the issue.
But a lack of champions might be.
Rance and Jack, more than anything, are champions. Winners. Head strong warriors who refuse to lose.
You're attributing our lack of scores from inside fifities to tactics, Leon attributed it to skill. I reckon it's the fact that we haven't got our 8 time club leader for goal kicking triple Coleman medallist out there. Who not only converts when he should, but can also turn a scrappy shallow entry into a goal for either himself or the little folk.
In addition, we normally have a bloke in the backline who can repel the unrepelable. He can take a guaranteed opposition goal and turn it into a chance for us to run down the field with it. How often would Rancey turn the entire opposition run on its head, and give us the chance at an on the counter re entry into our forward line for a simple goal? That's gold. Gold.
As skilful as Stack is, he hasn't yet got the Ranceness to do that. Yet.
If it were up to me, I'd be training Balta for it, because he's got that Rance/Jack confidence that leads to eventual indefatigability.
Nank's got a bit of it too.
Thing is, if you wanna win a premiership, you either need to get lucky and play well at the right time (Bulldogs 2016). Or you need a critical mass of Champions that make sure you can still win when you're not (Richmond 2017 to 2018).
We're skilful. But young. And don't yet believe. And that can masquerade as a lack of skill.