Having a read about this bloke on another forum, I was thinking how he would be a good replacement as our head coach for 2 years, and 2 years only.
From my observations over the past few years with Terry in charge, amongst many other aspects in the game that we lack, 2 things that really stand out are:
1. Our deplorable lack of pressure all over the ground, which obviously results in us conceeding a big score most weeks and is (obviously) a big factor in us losing games. This is prevalent for a few reasons, but mainly due to our unwillingness to work for each other, shepherd, smothers, etc. Whilst Adelaide don't have the most exciting brand of footy, it's driven in the heads to apply these "1%'s" throughout the game, 100% of the time.
2. Our coaches persisting on playing our guys, especially coaches favourites, ie, Johnson, Tuck, Brown. when not 100% fit or completely out of form. This ends up being a snowball effect, which ultimately:
- deprives a young kid getting a crack in an important rebuilding phase, where dead wood constantly keeps a place in the side undeservedly at the expense of our potential 'future'.
- sends the wrong message out to the playing group, rewarding mediocre performances and ultimately never reaching the heights needed to compete at the highest level required due to complacency, lack of self conditioning, etc.
Craig seems the no.1 coach in the competetion for instilling dicipline, with his side being well drilled defensively, all over the park. With a developing, young squad that we have, now is the time to instill this hard nosed work ethic and 'work for each other' mentality which will set us on the right path for years to come. These young players come to us with skill and good disposal from the TAC comp (until they land at Punt Road :
), therefore with team pressure being applied during games, space and turnovers are created and these 'skilled' players will end up with more time to hit targets when in possession, rather than be hunted and under pressure themselves for the majority of the game due to their team mates ball/player watching.
We are the worst in the competition in these areas buy a mile IMO, and I lay full blame on Wallace for not acknowleding the importance dicipline and pressure has on a side. Northey was our last coach to teach and emphasise the importance of this aspect to the team, and while I acknowledge he had slightly better and mature 'cattle' at the time, the players would give their all, virtually 'dying' for each other on the field, making for true passion and excitement when watching our beloved take the field.
Under Wallace as it stands, there are only a handful of players who have the mindset to work for each other, and these are guys who have it naturally, ie. it's not taught to them by the coach but is simply in their nature. The rest just seem to have a simply and weak mindset in this area, ignoring the 1%'s and new kids coming in will generally learn from within and ultimately end up the same mindset and deficiencies.
I don't think Craig is/will be our saviour but I do think his type of coaching would be good for our squad for a 2 year period, and then bring in a 'visionary' style coach to add the finishing touches, so to speak...players without 'ticker' would soon be found out and shown the door, these skinny runts would given every opportunity to develop their bodies via Craigs athletics background and knowledge and this 'work for each other' mentality would be a pre-requisite - no ifs, buts or maybe's...
Just a thought...
From my observations over the past few years with Terry in charge, amongst many other aspects in the game that we lack, 2 things that really stand out are:
1. Our deplorable lack of pressure all over the ground, which obviously results in us conceeding a big score most weeks and is (obviously) a big factor in us losing games. This is prevalent for a few reasons, but mainly due to our unwillingness to work for each other, shepherd, smothers, etc. Whilst Adelaide don't have the most exciting brand of footy, it's driven in the heads to apply these "1%'s" throughout the game, 100% of the time.
2. Our coaches persisting on playing our guys, especially coaches favourites, ie, Johnson, Tuck, Brown. when not 100% fit or completely out of form. This ends up being a snowball effect, which ultimately:
- deprives a young kid getting a crack in an important rebuilding phase, where dead wood constantly keeps a place in the side undeservedly at the expense of our potential 'future'.
- sends the wrong message out to the playing group, rewarding mediocre performances and ultimately never reaching the heights needed to compete at the highest level required due to complacency, lack of self conditioning, etc.
Craig seems the no.1 coach in the competetion for instilling dicipline, with his side being well drilled defensively, all over the park. With a developing, young squad that we have, now is the time to instill this hard nosed work ethic and 'work for each other' mentality which will set us on the right path for years to come. These young players come to us with skill and good disposal from the TAC comp (until they land at Punt Road :
), therefore with team pressure being applied during games, space and turnovers are created and these 'skilled' players will end up with more time to hit targets when in possession, rather than be hunted and under pressure themselves for the majority of the game due to their team mates ball/player watching.We are the worst in the competition in these areas buy a mile IMO, and I lay full blame on Wallace for not acknowleding the importance dicipline and pressure has on a side. Northey was our last coach to teach and emphasise the importance of this aspect to the team, and while I acknowledge he had slightly better and mature 'cattle' at the time, the players would give their all, virtually 'dying' for each other on the field, making for true passion and excitement when watching our beloved take the field.
Under Wallace as it stands, there are only a handful of players who have the mindset to work for each other, and these are guys who have it naturally, ie. it's not taught to them by the coach but is simply in their nature. The rest just seem to have a simply and weak mindset in this area, ignoring the 1%'s and new kids coming in will generally learn from within and ultimately end up the same mindset and deficiencies.
I don't think Craig is/will be our saviour but I do think his type of coaching would be good for our squad for a 2 year period, and then bring in a 'visionary' style coach to add the finishing touches, so to speak...players without 'ticker' would soon be found out and shown the door, these skinny runts would given every opportunity to develop their bodies via Craigs athletics background and knowledge and this 'work for each other' mentality would be a pre-requisite - no ifs, buts or maybe's...
Just a thought...
