Opinion Round 14 Changes vs. Brisbane

[pavsbootlace]

34 possessions @ 50% on Thursday!

Compared with 42 @ 95.2% in the derby. Yikes!

 

[DudleyDocker]

Well honestly, it should have happened already. Taberner ain't a champion, but with the number of goals he'd already kicked and a number of weak opponents in the run home, he was on track to kick 20-30 goals for the season, which is a handy output. The question marks hang over Ballantyne and to a less extent Mayne. Mayne is doing better than last year, yet still only kicking around a goal a game. For someone whose life has been made much easier with Taberner in the side and Walters available, that's not enough. And given how often Clarke sits forward he should at least be aiming to kick 15 goals this season.

That said, I think the forward line, while not great, does its best with what is delivered. The problem is getting it inside 50, and that problem is with the midfield. It's winning the clearance battle conclusively, mostly because of the enormous influence of Fyfe, but generating nothing beyond that. Great midfields play like a team, but at the moment it's a one man show where one is carrying the rest.

For me clogged, it seems like we have a deliberate strategy of pumping the ball long into the forward line from the centre clearance at every opportunity, then relying on manic forward pressure to stop it coming back out.

To some extent this worked fine early in the season when the deck was dry, but with most of our forwards slipping and going to ground we have been unable to stop the ball rebounding quickly. I have become really frustrated with seeing Ballas take off like the road runnner and go to ground time after time, but to be honest Pav has been just as bad, and Taberner is not mobile enough to pressure once the ball is on the deck. Throw Hannath / Sandi into the mix and the strategy has virtually zero chance of success.

I would much rather see us find a short lateral target from the centre clearance and at least give time for our press to set and prevent a quick rebound, or some of our midfielders to actually take the game on and break a line. Any rushed kick from our clearances, which are generally in close, is only going to half forward and we just can't lock it in from there. When I see moderately skilled players like Shuey and Gaff breaking from the centre clearance, making 10 - 20 metres then having a shot at goal I just wonder why Fyfe, Mundy, Hill and Pearce are not doing the same thing. I think it must come down to either composuse (and for DP I think that may be true) or team instruction to bang it forward as quickly as possible. If this is a tactic, Ross needs to realize it has been analyzed, dissected and is no longer effective.

We have big strong bodies, I want to see them have the courage take on a tackler and beat him - one beaten tackle often leads to the ground opening up and a spare man being available.

 

[beetz]

34 possessions @ 50% on Thursday!

I've always wondered, do those hurried kicks out of stoppages that don't hit targets but clear the area and move the ball forward count as ineffective? Because he had at least 10 of them.

 

[pavsbootlace]

I've always wondered, do those hurried kicks out of stoppages that don't hit targets but clear the area and move the ball forward count as ineffective? Because he had at least 10 of them.

I think it depends on the target. If I recall correctly...

Short kick to a teammate = effective. Short kick to contest = ineffective. Long kick to contest = effective. Long kick to teammate= effective.

 

[Max Connors]

but if the midfield can be sorted out, the forward line won't be an issue.

I believe that there could be a silver lining here. We are now the hunted, and the opposition strategy of focusing on the player instead of the ball concedes that we have the superior midfield. They are playing 2012-2014 Freo footy against us! That said, they cannot revert to another tactic otherwise they risk us performing like we did in the early games.
The advantage we have is that we can alter our tactics (again). If anyone should know how to beat that game plan it's RTB.
In Ross I trust!

 

[sij1981]

One thing i noticed time and time again in the Pies game was our delivery into 50 is just down right bad last few weeks. In the pies game every time we bomb it into 50 deep infront of goal we never look to the left of right and see the free person at 40-50m arc. We always have a free person there but never use them too Pav centric or get it near goal then let the forwards sort it out and avoid a quick rebound.

Idea is get a high chance of a mark inside 50 not just kick and hope.

 

[StingBitten]

One thing i noticed time and time again in the Pies game was our delivery into 50 is just down right bad last few weeks. In the pies game every time we bomb it into 50 deep infront of goal we never look to the left of right and see the free person at 40-50m arc. We always have a free person there but never use them too Pav centric or get it near goal then let the forwards sort it out and avoid a quick rebound.

Idea is get a high chance of a mark inside 50 not just kick and hope.

Reminds me of what Geelong did to us in 2013 QF.. bomb it big and hope for the best. The second they started doing that I knew we had the game.

 

[couldhavebeen]

One thing i noticed time and time again in the Pies game was our delivery into 50 is just down right bad last few weeks. In the pies game every time we bomb it into 50 deep infront of goal we never look to the left of right and see the free person at 40-50m arc. We always have a free person there but never use them too Pav centric or get it near goal then let the forwards sort it out and avoid a quick rebound.

Idea is get a high chance of a mark inside 50 not just kick and hope.

What I am noticing more is that Pav is positioning him self further away from the goals and going into the middle for bounce downs .
This is fine at the stoppage but then we have no tall targets in the forward 50 so the mids are kicking the ball for the HFF into space for the small forwards to run onto it BUT 90% of the time it goes to the opposition and we are defending straight away .

At the start of the season Pav was playing close to the goal mouth and either marking the ball or bringing it down for the crumbers to score .
We were more direct and scoring heavily against opposing teams .

 

[blue shark]

I believe the problem is mostly to do with the quality of our entries. As Anchorite said, oppo teams are choosing to pressure our insiders rather than win the tap. As a result, we are not getting any clean possession in the midfield and are relying on too many hacked kicks forward from congestion. Which puts undue pressure n our forwards to convert from poor entries. We are conceding more clean, unpressured clearances then we are getting ourselves over the past few weeks whereas at the beginning of the year, we were waltzing it out of the middle As an example, Lachie Neale's disposal efficiency was over 90% up to about round 6 or 7 and he is now sitting at 76.5%. That is a hell of a fall from grace.

It's a stark contrast from the first 8 rounds. I remember Nathan Buckley saying a month ago that no one had worked out how to counteract our ball movement. Well, now it seems everyone has worked it out.

It wouldn't hurt to restructure our forward line, or play more attacking forwards, but if the midfield can be sorted out, the forward line won't be an issue.

The eagles midfield are now using handball rather than the quick kick forward, breaking through congestion. Our mids are too much
inside, and we dont spread quick enough.
If we can block, Sheppard for each other and get the pill into Hills hands, but D Pearce needs to be another option, and
better delivery, the goals will come.
Sandi also needs to mix up the taps, hits to space, making it harder to read the set plays.

 

[armpit]

Surely we can kick some goals somehow. Come on pav. Come on ballantyne and son son. Come on mainey and mundy and fyfe. Come on lachie and the rest of you's kids. What about a goal.

 

[hotchips81]

What I am noticing more is that Pav is positioning him self further away from the goals and going into the middle for bounce downs .
This is fine at the stoppage but then we have no tall targets in the forward 50 so the mids are kicking the ball for the HFF into space for the small forwards to run onto it BUT 90% of the time it goes to the opposition and we are defending straight away .

At the start of the season Pav was playing close to the goal mouth and either marking the ball or bringing it down for the crumbers to score .
We were more direct and scoring heavily against opposing teams .

What I've noticed in both the Richmond game and the Pies is that the opposition has started with a loose player stationed about 55m out from our goal. At the centre bounce, the opposition team makes sure that we don't get any clearances forward of the ruck contest, that is we our clearances are pressured kicks coming from the defensive side of the ruck contest. These hurried clearance kicks are typically up and unders which travel about 40 odd meters (ie straight down the throat of the loose defender). At times, we've tried to take the clearance kick wide and our forwards are running that way before the ball comes off the boot.

All this might be reason for Pav playing higher at the ball ups, ie make sure we get make that up and under kick a contest. It will be interesting to see if we decide at some point to man that player up.

 

[PowerToThePurpl]

I think Fremantle need to not only win but absolutely smash Brisbane to regain some confidence which we'll need come round 15 and percentage which will be important by the end of the season. Hoping Pav and Ballantyne to kick a bag each.

IN: Mzungu, Taberner, Clarke
OUT: Sheridan, Suban(?), Hannath

These probably won't be the changes but just what I'd like to see. I think T train has had his run but having him, Crozier, and Sutcliffe all playing should be tinkered with, but Sutcliffe has shown that he has ability from last season and I believe Crozier has great potential. Besides a great running goal against North, Tommy hasn't shown much and should make way for Mzungu. I also wouldn't mind seeing a debutant coming in such as Weller or Blakely.

 

[malpaso]

I would love someone to explain to me how Suban gets games ahead of Mzungu. I have to keep believing that RTB is storing up Mzungu for the pointy end of the season.

 

[jedi mind tricks]

I just can't believe there are still people talking down Bradley Hill in the thread. He's one of the best outside mids in the game and Freo would give their metaphorical left nut to have him back here.

I would.

 

[FD2646]

I have been thinking about a fwd line consisting of:

Walters, Pav, Ballas
Mayne, Clarke/Tabs, Duffy

I think this set-up gives us a good mixture of talls, smalls, medium size players, pressure and goal kicking potential. Am I dreaming or does this structure (at least on paper) look far more potent than the fwd line we had vs Collingwood?

 

[free at last]

I have been thinking about a fwd line consisting of:

Walters, Pav, Ballas
Mayne, Clarke/Tabs, Duffy

I think this set-up gives us a good mixture of talls, smalls, medium size players, pressure and goal kicking potential. Am I dreaming or does this structure (at least on paper) look far more potent than the fwd line we had vs Collingwood?

Hopefully we get to see a front six against the tiges consisting of:

Clarke PAV ballas
Walters tabs mayne

The likes of Walters,tabs and Clarke will prefer the wider expanses of the 'MCG ' IMO.

 

[Mezz]

I've just finished watching League Teams on Fox and they have Michael Johnson named at CHB and Barry Hall even mentioned his name. And it was definitely the Dockers v Lions match.

Has anyone seen something similar or am I going totally insane?

Maybe LT made a mistake and just guessed

Just watched it again on IQ and M Johnson is definitely listed.

 

[free at last]

I've just finished watching League Teams on Fox and they have Michael Johnson named at CHB and Barry Hall even mentioned his name. And it was definitely the Dockers v Lions match.

Has anyone seen something similar or am I going totally insane?

Maybe LT made a mistake and just guessed

Just watched it again on IQ and M Johnson is definitely listed.

I'm afraid your going insane!

 

[Taylor]

They take a punt on best team when the side isn't named yet.

 

[Mezz]

They take a punt on best team when the side isn't named yet.

Ah, so totally took a punt on naming a player who isn't due back for a number of weeks yet.

Yes, that makes sense.

 

[AAACockburn]

I've just finished watching League Teams on Fox and they have Michael Johnson named at CHB and Barry Hall even mentioned his name. And it was definitely the Dockers v Lions match.

Has anyone seen something similar or am I going totally insane?

Maybe LT made a mistake and just guessed

Just watched it again on IQ and M Johnson is definitely listed.

McJohsnlane?

 

[Taylor]

Ah, so totally took a punt on naming a player who isn't due back for a number of weeks yet.

Yes, that makes sense.

Footy fans want former footballers reading stuff out instead of knowledgeable non footballers.

You can't have your cake and eat it too, Dermy got to it first.

 

[BettercallSaul]

Ah, so totally took a punt on naming a player who isn't due back for a number of weeks yet.

Yes, that makes sense.

There also had Stefan Martin in for Brissie and he is suspended.

 

[Alfonz]

I said it earlier in the thread, but against Brisbane I wouldn't mind experimenting with a forward line containing all of Walters, Ballantyne, Crozier and Duffy. Put them all down there and see how it works. Maybe it won't work, might be one too many ... but worth exploring.

I'm not sure Ross wants to play Duffy unless he gets his tackle count up. But what have we got to lose against say Brisbane? We need to find some creative types who can find the goals.

 

[PapaJ]

What I've noticed in both the Richmond game and the Pies is that the opposition has started with a loose player stationed about 55m out from our goal. At the centre bounce, the opposition team makes sure that we don't get any clearances forward of the ruck contest, that is we our clearances are pressured kicks coming from the defensive side of the ruck contest. These hurried clearance kicks are typically up and unders which travel about 40 odd meters (ie straight down the throat of the loose defender). At times, we've tried to take the clearance kick wide and our forwards are running that way before the ball comes off the boot.

All this might be reason for Pav playing higher at the ball ups, ie make sure we get make that up and under kick a contest. It will be interesting to see if we decide at some point to man that player up.

That's a key part of what's going on. Spare man in defence is common enough, but no doubt that Richmond and Coll made sure their spare was very high up, or even pulling a player that would often sit on the wing to behind the square, knowing that they will more likely concede the stoppage but then out-number us at the next contest.

I think RTB is quite clear that the ball needs to leave the contested play quickly once possession is secured. He's said it a number of times that against the better teams, you can't handball your way out into space, they're too good at shutting it down. He prefers the quick bomb into 'advantageous space' or contested 1-on-1 being the aim, than trying to get it out clean and tidy but find yourself turning it over under pressure. The issue is that, even under that pressure, we still need to make better decisions - hard, but it's what RTB wants from what I can tell. And to your point hotchips, the other thing is that when teams set up with those extra's behind the square, I think we are very much instructed to go wide fwds are pulling to that outlet. It's not an accident, it's really the only way to play a high pressure game with spares blocking the middle of the ground. Most teams do it if they're in situations like ours and want to control the game. But it's frustrating because though we might dominate centre bounces or stoppages in the middle parts of the ground, it doesn't translate into nice easy inside 50's. But if the opposition structure that way, you've got to play to the terms of the game.