- May 1, 2016
- 29,084
- 56,713
- AFL Club
- Carlton
- Moderator
- #551
First things first.
I feel like over the last few weeks, we've come up with what I'm going to call succession plans for mainstay players. If Doc goes down, Fisher can step straight into his role; he doesn't have the defensive chops, but to an extent we're not using Docherty in that way anymore anyway. Doc is playing at present as a behind the play receiver through midfield and a handball receive from a mark/free kick with a dash and 50m kick either down the line or two a target, seeking penetration as opposed to accuracy. If any of the midfield battery goes down, Dow comes in with a marginally different emphasis on what he does (if it's Cerra, he plays as a receiver; if it's Kennedy, he goes inside and gets himself before dishing off by hand to the free player or receives off Cripps or Hewitt; if it's Hewitt, he goes in and dishes off by hand almost exclusively); if Gov goes down, Marchbank comes in.
This kind of reduction in roles for individuals in the 23 is super interesting. Cripps doesn't need to pick the ball up and dash away and kick inside 50 and take a mark and kick the goal; Hewitt or Dow can pick the ball up in congestion, handpass out to Dow or Docherty or Fisher or Cottrell or Kennedy or Walsh, who kicks to Owies or Motlop or Harry or Charlie or Martin. Weitering does not need to mark everything; Kemp, Gov/Marchbank are capable enough at intercept plays. Saad isn't the only outlet run out of back half; Acres not the only winger capable of attacking play. It's a team game from us, and this bears out through the stats; instead of the multiple 30+ disposal getters we had last year, this season the mids are spreading the load and it's the Newmans of the world getting their 30. It means that each role is distilled to the essential components within it; Cripps gets and gives, and leaves the breaking lines to those with the legspeed and step. Doc doesn't have to be the hero; he gives it to Cotts in range of goal, Weitering behind the ball, Cerra through midfield, and lets his unselfishness be that necessary component for his game.
What this means though is that if the back pocket role does not need the extra 6 effective disposals a game - most of which are handballs - that you get from Fisher over Boyd, Fish isn't getting picked once Boyd is considered ready to go.
For all that Fisher has been good, he's still finding ways to turn the ball over or place his teammates under pressure. The same can be said of Marchbank, who keeps going to ground when he needs to keep his feet and finds a way to do the precise opposite thing he should be doing in the moment; sometimes, it'll result in him taking a mark he shouldn't have gotten, but an awful lot it'll result in him getting outmarked at present.
While I appreciate that Voss isn't going to do it, he needs to move on from Ed Curnow. Ed makes dumb mistakes; yesterday, from a position of space after getting on the end of a Dow clearance, Ed receives the ball moving through the defensive side of the wing. He has a player closing on him, and an option available by hand all of 10m in front of him; what does Ed do? He throws it on the boot, snapping wildly downfield for... a GC player to mark.
We're only 5 points up, and he's snapping blindly through the corridor.
Winning with clear criticisms is probably a good thing; it shows that the level of expectation is changing. But I am a little concerned that we're flirting with form at the moment, because our avenues to goal are still too Charlie centric. While it works all good, but at some point an opposition's going to get a hold of him and we aren't going to be able to confine a side to 60 points on GF day.
I feel like over the last few weeks, we've come up with what I'm going to call succession plans for mainstay players. If Doc goes down, Fisher can step straight into his role; he doesn't have the defensive chops, but to an extent we're not using Docherty in that way anymore anyway. Doc is playing at present as a behind the play receiver through midfield and a handball receive from a mark/free kick with a dash and 50m kick either down the line or two a target, seeking penetration as opposed to accuracy. If any of the midfield battery goes down, Dow comes in with a marginally different emphasis on what he does (if it's Cerra, he plays as a receiver; if it's Kennedy, he goes inside and gets himself before dishing off by hand to the free player or receives off Cripps or Hewitt; if it's Hewitt, he goes in and dishes off by hand almost exclusively); if Gov goes down, Marchbank comes in.
This kind of reduction in roles for individuals in the 23 is super interesting. Cripps doesn't need to pick the ball up and dash away and kick inside 50 and take a mark and kick the goal; Hewitt or Dow can pick the ball up in congestion, handpass out to Dow or Docherty or Fisher or Cottrell or Kennedy or Walsh, who kicks to Owies or Motlop or Harry or Charlie or Martin. Weitering does not need to mark everything; Kemp, Gov/Marchbank are capable enough at intercept plays. Saad isn't the only outlet run out of back half; Acres not the only winger capable of attacking play. It's a team game from us, and this bears out through the stats; instead of the multiple 30+ disposal getters we had last year, this season the mids are spreading the load and it's the Newmans of the world getting their 30. It means that each role is distilled to the essential components within it; Cripps gets and gives, and leaves the breaking lines to those with the legspeed and step. Doc doesn't have to be the hero; he gives it to Cotts in range of goal, Weitering behind the ball, Cerra through midfield, and lets his unselfishness be that necessary component for his game.
What this means though is that if the back pocket role does not need the extra 6 effective disposals a game - most of which are handballs - that you get from Fisher over Boyd, Fish isn't getting picked once Boyd is considered ready to go.
For all that Fisher has been good, he's still finding ways to turn the ball over or place his teammates under pressure. The same can be said of Marchbank, who keeps going to ground when he needs to keep his feet and finds a way to do the precise opposite thing he should be doing in the moment; sometimes, it'll result in him taking a mark he shouldn't have gotten, but an awful lot it'll result in him getting outmarked at present.
While I appreciate that Voss isn't going to do it, he needs to move on from Ed Curnow. Ed makes dumb mistakes; yesterday, from a position of space after getting on the end of a Dow clearance, Ed receives the ball moving through the defensive side of the wing. He has a player closing on him, and an option available by hand all of 10m in front of him; what does Ed do? He throws it on the boot, snapping wildly downfield for... a GC player to mark.
We're only 5 points up, and he's snapping blindly through the corridor.
Winning with clear criticisms is probably a good thing; it shows that the level of expectation is changing. But I am a little concerned that we're flirting with form at the moment, because our avenues to goal are still too Charlie centric. While it works all good, but at some point an opposition's going to get a hold of him and we aren't going to be able to confine a side to 60 points on GF day.
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