The leaky faucet: is Hawthorn's defence inside 50 going to get out of control?

[crazywildhorse]

At 3/4 time of this weeks game, Geelong had gone inside 50 only 25 times, but had scored on 18 occasions. It was a similar situation last week where it looked like the Eagles would score every time the ball was inside. The good news is that we can keep them from getting it inside 50 pretty well, and we of course score heavily, but is this where we might see the team come undone?

 

[EIGHTYEIGHTEIGHTYNINE]

Frustrates me no end. They need to strike a better balance between killing the contest and spring boarding counter attack. Need more SPANG!

 

[Boo71]

Is it just me or is our defence better when we pick, for a full game, a small defender in Duryea ?

 

[Blaze Storm]

Not just Defence though, we crumple around the flanks and don't give the defenders time to set up

 

[WWSD]

I wouldn't be reading too much into it. Our back six will lift to another level in the finals.

 

[Dipper]

It's 2008 revisited where we conceded the least inside 50s in the comp but had the highest ratio of goals against from entries into our defensive 50.

I guess as well as keeping the opposition out it's also a way of creating turnovers but it's harem scarem at times.

 

[crazywildhorse]

It's 2008 revisited where we conceded the least inside 50s in the comp but had the highest ratio of goals against from entries into our defensive 50.

I guess as well as keeping the opposition out it's also a way of creating turnovers but it's harem scarem at times.

I assume part of if it is as a result of having our defensive set up further up the ground, in an attempt to lock it inside 50. In 2008 the defence was always around the ball carrier, i.e. further up the ground also. But teams that can get out the back of it are likely to score. Up until now, there has not been an opposition side that has really been able to do it for long enough.

 

[Flukey!]

Cats early on tonight were scoring every time they went in.
But they were running the corridor much better than us as well.

Frawley worries me a bit. He struggles for composure when the heat is on and just doesn't have the time that other other defenders seem to have.

 

[Boo71]

Lake, Frawley, Stratton, Brichall, Gibson..

I'd say one to many talls, but it didn't seem that way when spang was in.

Did the handbags take Gibson and Burger out of the play ?

For the first time ever I'm more worried about the ball on the ground then in the air down back.

 

[Wandering Hawk]

It's typical slingshot where it occasionally comes out from our press. It doesn't win games but it will catch defenders out and make them look poor as they scramble. Yet it doesnt score enough reliably enough to matter, because its a rebound off our attack.

 

[Brant]

I wouldn't be reading too much into it. Our back six will lift to another level in the finals.

About the same time our mids & forwards start burying their opponents with bone-crunching tackles.

Remember 3-ish weeks ago when we decimated 2 of our 3 biggest challengers?

We're good here

 

[Gold Member]

Don't need stats to know this has been a cornerstone of our gamestyle for years....

 

[Hong Kong Hawk]

How they came in to the 50 was the key. The ball came in quickly when it did and they got one on ones. Any team is vulnerable when this happens.

I'd be interested to see the stats in matches where more ball came in, but slower.....I reckon the conversion rate would be a lot less.

Doomsday is a lot of ball in quickly - but no teams can cope with that

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

I hate to say it, but Spangher is needed.

doc is one of my first picked. unlucky atm

 

[cryptor]

Last year we'd set most of our attack up from the back flanks, and when a turnover occurred we'd still have enough players behind the ball to slow teams down to allow our defense time to get back and set up.

This year we're setting up our attack mostly from reoccurring entries by locking it inside 50. This suits our style better as we have amazing forward pressure players and the defenders who push up to create the wall 10-15m outside 50 are mostly excellent kicks who can spot a target or even kick a long goal.

Downside is that if/when teams do break through they will have a great chance to score given our defenders are likely chasing. Teams who are brave and play the corridor will see significant returns.

Hence generally we have many (repeat) inside 50 entries with average inside 50 efficiency while our opposition have few inside 50 entries but quite high efficiency.

Tonight against the Cats I thought they were quite daring running the ball down the middle on turnovers while we at times over used it trying to get that perfect set shot position.

 

[Brant]

I hate to say it, but Spangher is needed.

doc is one of my first picked. unlucky atm

'Needed' is a strong term. Like I really 'need' another beer

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

'Needed' is a strong term. Like I really 'need' another beer

Always!

 

[tige19]

We get scored against to easily for the amount of inside 50s we concede, blind freddy can see that, we are simply that good at keeping the ball in our half it's pretty much enough to keep the opposition at bay. God save us though if we have a game where the inside 50s are split, when that's the case it's good night Irene!

Clarko has our structures so good I'm confident we will hold up.

 

[grumbleguts]

We get scored against to easily for the amount of inside 50s we concede, blind freddy can see that, we are simply that good at keeping the ball in our half it's pretty much enough to keep the opposition at bay. God save us though if we have a game where the inside 50s are split, when that's the case it's good night Irene!

Clarko has our structures so good I'm confident we will hold up.

You mean, like the swans game?

 

[tige19]

You mean, like the swans game?

I mean like, when we play a good side.

 

[Bumpswithagrin]

The leaky faucet? More Americanisms creeping into our game

 

[Cynic]

There is danger signs in how well Geelong & Richmond have managed to isolate our defenders for one on ones.

 

[Brant]

You mean, like the swans game?

I mean like, when we play a good side.

What, like Fremantle or Sydney?

Where are these other 'good sides' & why aren't they in the Top 4?

 

[Prudster]

I think it's almost completely to do with our game style. As mentioned above, we pressure the ball, and try to lock it in our forward line. This is highly effective, but the downside is it means there is less pressure if they do break through our press. As long as the effectiveness of our press and attack outweighs the downside of getting caught out the other side, it doesn't bother me too much.

There is no perfect defence, and if we changed things up, we would probably concede more inside fifties, but have opponents score less efficiently. But we would almost certainly have less inside fifties, and less pressure on their defence. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

 

[Brant]

I think it's almost completely to do with our game style. As mentioned above, we pressure the ball, and try to lock it in our forward line. This is highly effective, but the downside is it means there is less pressure if they do break through our press. As long as the effectiveness of our press and attack outweighs the downside of getting caught out the other side, it doesn't bother me too much.

There is no perfect defence, and if we changed things up, we would probably concede more inside fifties, but have opponents score less efficiently. But we would almost certainly have less inside fifties, and less pressure on their defence. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Nailed it.
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