Strategy 2024 game plan

[Pt Augusta Power]

this game wasn’t as scary as our last two finals.

 

[Nelso]

We are going to have so many goals kicked against us based upon yesterday when West Coast were able to score so many goals over the back.

Our forward press was way too high up the ground and good teams will exploit this much better than West Coast did.

Delivery into our forward line was the same as previous years. Haphazard apart from a few occasions where the ball was kicked to the right spot enabling the forward to run into space.

We are lucky that we have several elite kicks in the team (Farrell, Houston) who can transition the ball from defence to attack.

 

[240volt]

What is obvious is we need more players on our list like Farrell and JHF who can actually kick a ball.
Being saying this for Donkeys years, this is how Hawthorn built a side that was so successful.
After watching this weeks games Sydney stood out with there foot skills and that’s what Collingwood couldn’t match.
We need to get to that level.

 

[Mutha F]

 

[Alberton Proud]

To me it just looked like we were working harder out there and that's really the trademark of Port Adelaide football. As long as we can keep this up and work harder than the opposition, and do it for longer in each game, we should beat most teams.

I see what you did there

 

[Alberton Proud]

Watching the game at home I found myself saying 'Good play', 'Great kick', 'Nice' more than I sat there with my arms crossed

So there's that

 

[PJ Power]

What is obvious is we need more players on our list like Farrell and JHF who can actually kick a ball.
Being saying this for Donkeys years, this is how Hawthorn built a side that was so successful.
After watching this weeks games Sydney stood out with there foot skills and that’s what Collingwood couldn’t match.
We need to get to that level.

I agree. We are strong on the HB line (Farrell, Burton, Houston and when he plays, Williams) and in the centre (JHF, Rozee, Butters). Even Drew is a deceptively good distributor.

Where our kicking skills let us down most are on the wings (Boak, Bergman and Burgoyne) and in our forward line (with the exception of Rioli and Marshall).

 

[longdonkey]

I didn't hate the way we played but you have to remember that we were playing against a bin fire that will lose multiple games by over 100 pts.

 

[PowerBaz]

I agree. We are strong on the HB line (Farrell, Burton, Houston and when he plays, Williams) and in the centre (JHF, Rozee, Butters). Even Drew is a deceptively good distributor.

Where our kicking skills let us down most are on the wings (Boak, Bergman and Burgoyne) and in our forward line (with the exception of Rioli and Marshall).

How many times did we kick to a lead up player.... over his head yesterday. I think back to the Hinkley videos saying 'don't lead'.

Feels like we put a lot of thought into drafting backs to mids, with zero thinking up forward other than moving deck chairs, 'send JHF down there and Rozee'.... feels like it's a weight of numbers game as usual, 400 entries, 50000 points and by shear numbers we will win more than wee lose.

 

[Ported]

Noticed in the crows trial how much more willing we are to kick for goal from beyond 50 through Burton, Farrell and Houston. We're going to see a lot of scoring shots and a lot of behinds!

If they get a lot of success there it'll cause the opposition defense to have to stretch up to pressure the kicker and open up space, maybe? Like a basketball team full of good 3 point shooters

 

[Enviable Tradition]

Noticed in the crows trial how much more willing we are to kick for goal from beyond 50 through Burton, Farrell and Houston. We're going to see a lot of scoring shots and a lot of behinds!

If they get a lot of success there it'll cause the opposition defense to have to stretch up to pressure the kicker and open up space, maybe? Like a basketball team full of good 3 point shooters

Like Dew in 04.

I think it is a bit like 3 point shooting in the NBA. The numbers add up.

Whilst the goal kicking percentage might be slightly down from that distance it is still way higher than the chances of a successful pass AND a successful shot from closer in.

 

[Janus]

Agree with the observations of the OP and following posters.

Several coast to coast plays from kick ins, which we were notoriously bad at. I think I heard we were the lowest scoring team from kick ins last year.

The tall defenders pushed up to create the outer wall of the inside 50 press and on kick ins, so any long kick from D50 could be spoiled or marked. And that allowed Soldo to push forward rather than be solely a kick behind the play ruckman.

The tall defenders also become an attacking option when we moved the ball around the 50m arc looking for different attack angles.

Overall we seemed more dynamic offensively and defensively having three genuinely tall defenders.

If we're going to beat teams like GWS, Sydney (and to a lesser extent, Adelaide), we need to play a style that forces their +1 in defence to be accountable for a key defender/ruck who has pushed up the ground to provide an attacking option before they can begin their wave, because that's how they generate their entire system.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but actually stepping up and into their forward line is the key. Force them onto the back foot and make them defend. Then, even if they can do that, because they are disjointed and their style is broken, our forward pressure should do the rest of the job.

It's why I don't have a problem with any of our defenders having a ping when they get the ball. Am I expecting them to score a goal? If it's Farrell, Houston, Burton or Jones...sure. If it's Zerk-Thatcher, Aliir or Ratugolea, not so much...but the mere fact that they are in a position to score is all that is required.

 

[Port85]

How many times did we kick to a lead up player.... over his head yesterday. I think back to the Hinkley videos saying 'don't lead'.

Feels like we put a lot of thought into drafting backs to mids, with zero thinking up forward other than moving deck chairs, 'send JHF down there and Rozee'.... feels like it's a weight of numbers game as usual, 400 entries, 50000 points and by shear numbers we will win more than wee lose.

I'm pretty sure it was "don't lead on a slow play". I'm not certain but the point of a slow play is to see if someone can get through the corridor for either a shirt kick or running handball receive. When that receiver gets the ball, then the forward leads.

I'm no Ken fan but he wouldn't have been saying never lead to the ball lol

 

[Doctor Feel]

I don't think it's worth analyzing this one too much outside of the fact we kicked 40,000 behinds under no scoreboard pressure.

 

[It Just Is]

We are going to have so many goals kicked against us based upon yesterday when West Coast were able to score so many goals over the back.

Our forward press was way too high up the ground and good teams will exploit this much better than West Coast did.

Delivery into our forward line was the same as previous years. Haphazard apart from a few occasions where the ball was kicked to the right spot enabling the forward to run into space.

We are lucky that we have several elite kicks in the team (Farrell, Houston) who can transition the ball from defence to attack.

I was hoping that by bringing in tall defenders we wouldn’t press so aggressively this year. It’s clear, over the preseason and round 1, that hasn’t changed. I hope it does as our defence settles.

West Coast are a bottom team for skills and ball movement so conceding 2.1 from kick ins plus roughly another goal a quarter from the ball getting over the back is a real alarm bell for me.

If a bad team like West Coast is able to somewhat execute a game plan to score against us we will continue to struggle against top 4 teams.

 

[TeeKray]

What is obvious is we need more players on our list like Farrell and JHF who can actually kick a ball.
Being saying this for Donkeys years, this is how Hawthorn built a side that was so successful.
After watching this weeks games Sydney stood out with there foot skills and that’s what Collingwood couldn’t match.
We need to get to that level.

I think overall we're a very good kicking team. It only becomes a problem when they get in front of the big sticks.

 

[240volt]

I think overall we're a very good kicking team. It only becomes a problem when they get in front of the big sticks.

I don’t know, Wines kicking struggles in field play and in front of goals.
Boak is no better at either also,we have some ok kickers but we need more elite like Farrell.
Left footers preferably as they just do it so easy.

 

[afl2004]

Wait til after the showdown then we will know , because we have Melbourne,Collingwood and the crows until then and will 100% know

 

[TeeKray]

I don’t know, Wines kicking struggles in field play and in front of goals.
Boak is no better at either also,we have some ok kickers but we need more elite like Farrell.
Left footers preferably as they just do it so easy.

For such a positive guy you sure have gone negative on this based on a handful of players. Watch most other teams and they have significantly worse kicking skills than we do.

Looking at our squad I'd have Houston and Farrell as elite kickers (as in, top 20 in the comp level) with Williams, Butters, McKenzie, Rozee, Horne-Francis, Burton, Marshall and Rioli all excellent kickers.

The only two guys I cringe when they have the ball are Bergman and Wines. Everyone else I'd rate as average (including Boak).

Obviously this is for field kicking only. Set shot kicking and most of them are awful.

 

[El_Scorcho]

For such a positive guy you sure have gone negative on this based on a handful of players. Watch most other teams and they have significantly worse kicking skills than we do.

Looking at our squad I'd have Houston and Farrell as elite kickers (as in, top 20 in the comp level) with Williams, Butters, McKenzie, Rozee, Horne-Francis, Burton, Marshall and Rioli all excellent kickers.

The only two guys I cringe when they have the ball are Bergman and Wines. Everyone else I'd rate as average (including Boak).

Obviously this is for field kicking only. Set shot kicking and most of them are awful.

Yep.

We don't have bad kicks. We have good kicks in a bad system.

It's much easier to hit a target when you're so well drilled in your system that you know exactly where your options are going to be all the time. We've never had that, especially entering forward 50. We've spent 5 years kicking hospital balls on Dixon's head as a first option.

 

[Capital Power]

Statistically the lock it in approach may yet yield dividends. The last team to make 40 scoring shots and lose was in 1991.

 

[El_Scorcho]

Statistically the lock it in approach may yet yield dividends. The last team to make 40 scoring shots and lose was in 1991.

It does against s**t-to-average teams. Against good teams they find a way out often enough and catch us on the break. It's been the same for so many years, we're the most predictable team in the league.

 

[The Hobo]

I hope we can keep Soldo on the park he made a difference otherwise same old, same old

Even then we actually have some decent depth in Sweet now.

 

[The Hobo]

We are going to have so many goals kicked against us based upon yesterday when West Coast were able to score so many goals over the back.

Our forward press was way too high up the ground and good teams will exploit this much better than West Coast did.

Delivery into our forward line was the same as previous years. Haphazard apart from a few occasions where the ball was kicked to the right spot enabling the forward to run into space.

We are lucky that we have several elite kicks in the team (Farrell, Houston) who can transition the ball from defence to attack.

I thought our defence actually stood up well to a number of contests that we would usually concede a mark to.

Yes, some out the back - however a number were due to dropped marks and individual errors. Jones dropped at least two, Bergman etc. You'd think they will grab those more often than not, and just a little rusty.

Then there was the one where Waterman handballed it in via the Sydney Harbour Bridge.


What concerned me the most was that there was a few occasions that Soldo got beaten really badly and easily - which allowed them the simplest of clearance. Hopefully he can sort that out.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

I was royally pissed when Burton's goal was recalled.

After all the crap they let go the umps pick that moment to get all technical.