Coach Sam Mitchell's direction for the club and 2024 news

He's just highlighted some concerns, it's not really talking us down so to speak.
It's not really true though, interim coaches have success because they revert back to what has worked in the past.

With Carlton, Bolton moved all the old guys out of important roles to develop the kids and then the first thing Teague did was put them back in. The wins that interim coaches get are driven by the older statesmen.

Mitchell is getting a lot out of this team while doing mostly the opposite, our wins are really being driven by the kids. Which makes his point about not seeing a long term strategy kind of strange.
 
I interpreted the "interim coach" comment as meaning his style of coaching - very bold, attack first - was similar to what is seen from interim coaches, as opposed to most contracted coaches who go for a slower, more defensive style.

Sam is prepared to take risks and isn't coaching to protect a W/L ledger or avoid any beltings.
I think that’s all he meant. Lloyd has mostly said really good things about Sam this year.

Personally I think it’s all part of Sam’s long term vision to try and teach the younger guys attack first with a view to tie it all back in the next few seasons.
 
Sep 28, 2019
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I think that’s all he meant. Lloyd has mostly said really good things about Sam this year.

Personally I think it’s all part of Sam’s long term vision to try and teach the younger guys attack first with a view to tie it all back in the next few seasons.
I’m not even sure it’s Sam’s goal to teach attack first.

It appears he’s trying to get us to play the way he envisions will win us a flag. We still have a strong defence set up. But we just aren’t protecting it by constantly taking the game on. Even when the game is going against us, how we play seems more important to Sam than the scoreboard.

Our defence looks worse than it is due to our poor midfield and constant attack out of halfback. As we continue to improve ball use and in the midfield our defence will be under less pressure and look better despite nothing having changed defensively.
 
I am still unsure where we are at. Mitchell has the playing an attacking plan. Thats great it builds comradrie and wins and culture and its very attractive and exciting. However it is not sustainable. H e will need to adjust to being more defensive. I know some here will fly off the handle at this but it is not sustainable playing the way we do to win everything. Finals are rarely scoring fests. They are generally won by great defensive structures and intensity. Its always been that way. We concede way too many goals when the opposition get a run on.

Its why i was pretty happy that we started in defence first we still need another gorilla defender besides the hole in the middle of the ground.

Looking forward to the next few years. What Cornes has said is largely accurate. We are still in a so called honeymoon period for me i am going to enjoy this period. There is really no pressure on the players or coaches but it will change over the next few years as coaches start tweaking to play us and stop us as we improve.
 
For those saying that Lloyd didn’t mean much by it and that he’s been positive, only two weeks ago he said that we’re “in for a lot of pain for the rest of this season now, I think they’ll struggle to win too many other games for the rest of this year”.

Lloyd flips and flops and while he generally is quite ok with his observations most weeks he also is prone to saying some pretty dumb s**t.
 
I am still unsure where we are at. Mitchell has the playing an attacking plan. Thats great it builds comradrie and wins and culture and its very attractive and exciting. However it is not sustainable.
That’s old skool thinking from a game that didn’t have the stand rule or the 6/6/6.

I think Sam might be one of those coaches who thinks attack is now the best form of defence.
 

TylerDurden

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I am still unsure where we are at. Mitchell has the playing an attacking plan. Thats great it builds comradrie and wins and culture and its very attractive and exciting. However it is not sustainable. H e will need to adjust to being more defensive. I know some here will fly off the handle at this but it is not sustainable playing the way we do to win everything. Finals are rarely scoring fests. They are generally won by great defensive structures and intensity. Its always been that way. We concede way too many goals when the opposition get a run on.

Its why i was pretty happy that we started in defence first we still need another gorilla defender besides the hole in the middle of the ground.

Looking forward to the next few years. What Cornes has said is largely accurate. We are still in a so called honeymoon period for me i am going to enjoy this period. There is really no pressure on the players or coaches but it will change over the next few years as coaches start tweaking to play us and stop us as we improve.
We are already honing defensive structures. We're just not balancing it as well at present.
Plus, without a ruckman, we're bleeding CB clearances which puts enormous heat on your defence.

At least we can score. Many sides struggle with that.

Strap in for the ride.
 
That’s old skool thinking from a game that didn’t have the stand rule or the 6/6/6.

I think Sam might be one of those coaches who thinks attack is now the best form of defence.
The 6 6 6 has nothing to do with defending. Attacking from the middle of the ground doesnt mean you will always score and as soon as you have a stoppage you see the game change. Watching every final last year. This lesson is true. The major reason for Melbourne being the powerhouse that it is, is the team defending. When they are on they are hard to transition against. Time will tell i guess. We wont know until we r the finished product and we r not anywhere near that yet
 
We are already honing defensive structures. We're just not balancing it as well at present.
Plus, without a ruckman, we're bleeding CB clearances which puts enormous heat on your defence.

At least we can score. Many sides struggle with that.

Strap in for the ride.
As i said in my post and it is hard to hear for some. We r in a honeymoon period. Things are going to get more difficult before they get better. Enjoy it while u can
 

theiaofseed

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I am still unsure where we are at. Mitchell has the playing an attacking plan. Thats great it builds comradrie and wins and culture and its very attractive and exciting. However it is not sustainable. H e will need to adjust to being more defensive. I know some here will fly off the handle at this but it is not sustainable playing the way we do to win everything. Finals are rarely scoring fests. They are generally won by great defensive structures and intensity. Its always been that way. We concede way too many goals when the opposition get a run on.

Its why i was pretty happy that we started in defence first we still need another gorilla defender besides the hole in the middle of the ground.

Looking forward to the next few years. What Cornes has said is largely accurate. We are still in a so called honeymoon period for me i am going to enjoy this period. There is really no pressure on the players or coaches but it will change over the next few years as coaches start tweaking to play us and stop us as we improve.
I disagree it's much easier to reign in an attacking style than it is to become more attacking without a total change of structure, the more we play this gameplan the more our young players mature they will learn when to attack or when to play defensive. Mitchell isn't directing when to go or when to shutdown this is all apart of the learning curve.

Melbourne have shown what an attacking style can do, no defensive structure would've stopped that third quarter rampage in the GF last year, fast ball movement inhibits the formation of zones and players peeling off.
 
I disagree it's much easier to reign in an attacking style than it is to become more attacking without a total change of structure, the more we play this gameplan the more our young players mature they will learn when to attack or when to play defensive. Mitchell isn't directing when to go or when to shutdown this is all apart of the learning curve.

Melbourne have shown what an attacking style can do, no defensive structure would've stopped that third quarter rampage in the GF last year, fast ball movement inhibits the formation of zones and players peeling off.
Its actually easier to attack than it is to defend. Attacking comes naturally to every player. Melbourne won that premiership on the back of being the best defensive team in the league. I saw them winning it pretty early last year. Their full ground press and defensive method is second to none
 
I disagree it's much easier to reign in an attacking style than it is to become more attacking without a total change of structure, the more we play this gameplan the more our young players mature they will learn when to attack or when to play defensive. Mitchell isn't directing when to go or when to shutdown this is all apart of the learning curve.

Melbourne have shown what an attacking style can do, no defensive structure would've stopped that third quarter rampage in the GF last year, fast ball movement inhibits the formation of zones and players peeling off.
Sorry but the opposite has always been true in modern footy. Build defence first then add the attacking gene. We won four flags with that, and most recent flags have been won by teams built off defensive dna.

I remember Essendon under Knights went all out of attack and were never able to reign it in to balance out with defence. Very fun to watch. As 4P says, there will likely be some pain, but I also trust what Sam is doing. He’s trying something different, and I think there is an underlying long term strategy. It’s just very against the grain…
 
The 6 6 6 has nothing to do with defending. Attacking from the middle of the ground doesnt mean you will always score and as soon as you have a stoppage you see the game change. Watching every final last year. This lesson is true. The major reason for Melbourne being the powerhouse that it is, is the team defending. When they are on they are hard to transition against. Time will tell i guess. We wont know until we r the finished product and we r not anywhere near that yet
But it does have everything to do with defending from centre bounces.

Sam and other coaches have all said that halting opposition momentum is now harder than ever, and the stand rule makes it even more of an issue with sides who take risks and attack hard.

All sides will still have defensive structure in free-play, but any side that can get maximum hurt from forward forays is going to be very very hard to stop, and we’re already do so with a half-arsed midfield.

23E48E48-D79E-4233-B883-488B59249275.jpeg
 
Sorry but the opposite has always been true in modern footy. Build defence first then add the attacking gene. We won four flags with that, and most recent flags have been won by teams built off defensive dna.

I remember Essendon under Knights went all out of attack and were never able to reign it in to balance out with defence. Very fun to watch. As 4P says, there will likely be some pain, but I also trust what Sam is doing. He’s trying something different, and I think there is an underlying long term strategy. It’s just very against the grain…
You’re talking about football from over 10 years ago. The game has changed completely.

Every club will have defensive structures, like we will and do.
 

theiaofseed

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Its actually easier to attack than it is to defend. Attacking comes naturally to every player. Melbourne won that premiership on the back of being the best defensive team in the league. I saw them winning it pretty early last year. Their full ground press and defensive method is second to none
Question which game plan looks more likely to win a game, Clarkson's 2021 or Mitchell's 2022?
 

Simon Crawshay

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In regards to attack versus defence I would say that unless you have a team with the capacity to kick 100 points on a regular basis you ain't going nowhere in this league.

Sure we might have been better at restricting the opposition at scoring under Clarko the last three years but we turned every game into an unwatchable low scoring slugfest that we would win maybe 1 out of 3 times?

Having a class backline and strong defensive DNA is of course very important but as Melbourne and Richmond have shown the last 5 years it's the teams that can turn on the scoring power and pile on a quick 5 goals in a quarter that are at the top of the food chain these days.
 
Anyways what i say has nothing to do with Sam's abilities as a coach and premiership coach in the future. Yes Sam knows where we are at. He has his own method in getting there. He knows where we need to get to. I have complete confidence we will get there with him driving the ship.
 

theiaofseed

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Sorry but the opposite has always been true in modern footy. Build defence first then add the attacking gene. We won four flags with that, and most recent flags have been won by teams built off defensive dna.

I remember Essendon under Knights went all out of attack and were never able to reign it in to balance out with defence. Very fun to watch. As 4P says, there will likely be some pain, but I also trust what Sam is doing. He’s trying something different, and I think there is an underlying long term strategy. It’s just very against the grain…
Knights was sacked after 3 years with continued improvement for a drug cheating club legend that took the club backwards
 
Question which game plan looks more likely to win a game, Clarkson's 2021 or Mitchell's 2022?

Also which game plan is less likely to make you want to sccop your eye balls out with a desert spoon 🤣 (sorry Clarko)
When did i mention Clarkson. His time was up. Sam was the right choice going forward. We needed a change. You mentioned Richmond and Melbourne two of the best defensive teams in the modern era. Richmond's whole game was to presure the ball carrier into mistakes and score on the counter. They defended first. Anyways we r not Richmond or Melbourne we will need our own defensive method. I think we will leave it there because i can see this is all going to lead back to clarkson
 
The biggest difference with the attacking game plan is we are learning to score again, we have been devoid here the last 4 years to the point it has stifled development, a very welcome change.

More defence will come in time but for now more attack is welcomed
Absolutely agree. We needed a change of method to get the boys invigorated to get them to buy in. The learnings will come over the years we improve. We are shiny new shoes atm. They look great but feel a bit uncomfortable after a long day. They need to be worn in. It will come
 

TylerDurden

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The biggest difference with the attacking game plan is we are learning to score again, we have been devoid here the last 4 years to the point it has stifled development, a very welcome change.

More defence will come in time but for now more attack is welcomed
Totally agree. Although Sam is still strong on defence.

We absolutely lost the ability to score over that 5 year period since 2016.
 
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