Matthews v Ayres...KO decision [Archive]

luthor

13 Sep 2003, 13:22

Clear win by Leigh Matthews over Gary Ayres last night.

Three areas that were crucial:

1. VOSS

First of all, I said all week that I thought Voss shouldn't play at all. However, having made the move to name him, Matthews ploy of bringing him of the bench was clever and astute.

First of all, it allowed some of the sting and pace to go out of the game and secondly it didn't allow Adelaide to "line him up" in the early minutes.

Voss was brilliant. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief at what a player he is....and on one leg.

One of the all-time great Finals performances without a doubt.

2. LUKE POWER off half back.

Got space and freedom and gave us the run we needed from the back half. Ayres seemed to have no answer to this one.

3. LEPPITSCH ON CAREY.

Leppa sacrificed his own running game to sweat on Carey all night and completely took "The King" out of the equation.

Another clear match-up winner for Matthews.

Overall, Leigh pulled the moves and called the shots whilst Ayres seemed to be content to more or less just let things ride.

Matthews has again proven himself on the big stage.

Maybe that's why he's the coach and people like me are just armchair critics.

rchowell

14 Sep 2003, 01:32

Originally posted by luthor
1. VOSS

First of all, I said all week that I thought Voss shouldn't play at all. However, having made the move to name him, Matthews ploy of bringing him of the bench was clever and astute.

First of all, it allowed some of the sting and pace to go out of the game and secondly it didn't allow Adelaide to "line him up" in the early minutes.Spot on. When he came onto the field he was the freshest bloke out there. Having said that, I doubt the Lions can afford the same luxury against Sydney, because they'll probably be 5 goals down, rather than 2.

Originally posted by Maverick
One coach is regular outdoing him but. Malthouse outcoached him last week, and in the GF last year.

1) Flooding defence...Lynch often 1 against 3. Yet we kept bombing the ball into the forward line. Not real clever.Yeah it's a worry. I mean when you've got blokes of the calibre of Lynch and Brown down there I spose you're justified in a way to boot the ball in long. I don't think the problem was the fact that they were being beaten in the air the problem came when the ball hit the ground and there were no crumbers. There was no midfield run and Collingwood were able to rebound particularly easily.

As an aside then what would you do? If the opposition floods the defence do you flood your own defence? The Lions tried that early with Leppitsch and really it came unstuck. Why it worked so well for Collingwood in the 2nd half and not at all for Brisbane is a point worth considering. I remember at one point Stan Alves on the ABC commented that Brisbane basically had an 8 man forward line and Collingwood only had a four man forward line, and obviously having an open forward line with dangerous marking options is a massive plus.

How about flooding the midfield? Setting up the wall perhaps. That way if the ball comes out of the defence it is basically going straight back in again. Just say "we do not want any more than 3 of our little blokes going inside 50 before the ball gets there" - sorta like a self imposed offside rule. That way, those blokes are hitting the pack hard (ideally - helps if you don't have injuries), the forward line stays fairly open, and then all the rest are pushed back between half forward and the wing.

Eventually, something has to give. Collingwood are a fine side who play very well under pressure, but sooner or later the dam wall has got to burst. Defending for long periods of time will take a lot more out of you than attacking for the same time - ask a rugby league player. Can anybody think of a problem with this - i.e. why Leigh Matthews didn't do it or if he did how Collingwood combated it?

Originally posted by Maverick
2) Holding the ball after a mark until a free man found. Lack of discipline by Lions manning up.Yep and it also cost them the game against Sydney. It was insipid. Adelaide tried a similar chip kick down the wing routine on Friday night and most of the time it came unstuck for them, because usually their blokes were all manned up. Why was this? Was it poor execution by Adelaide or were the Lions more switched on? I would hope it was the latter because it means that Sydney are going to have real trouble doing it again next Saturday.

Something to ponder is whether or not Sydney will actually do that again, or whether they will just try to get it in long and quick. Considering their game against Port revolved around quick ball movement they might try that again, or maybe if Paul Roos looks at the way Malthouse coached in the Grand Final last year (as he did for the Port game) then he will be more incline to go back to the short passing method. It certainly seems to be successful because the Lions like to zone off their men. So why does it work for Sydney and why didn't it work for Adelaide? The key to a Brisbane win/loss next Saturday night could be decided by whether they can answer that question in the next 6 days.

Originally posted by Maverick
More thought needed if we meet them again in 2 weeks. Must ensure game played on our terms and not theirs.And the best way to do that is by putting early scoreboard pressure on. We all saw what happened in Round 19 - Brisbane's early ascendancy meant that Collingwood had to react, and they had to go away from their normal game plan because they had to move the ball quickly and try to score goals. Eventually what that meant is that they took lots of shots from difficult angles and the result was kicking 0-6 in the last quarter. Now knowing Sydney they will probably nail at least 2 or 3 of those shots so it will be up to Brisbane to get an early lead and maintain their intensity for the whole game. And that is why I don't think they can afford to start Voss on the bench again, despite his impact as a result of doing that on Friday night.