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Autopsy 2025 Rd 23 Blues power on to their best performance of the year

Who played well for the Blues in Round 23 vs Port?


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Weitering is an intercept defender, that role is all about decision making, when to play off and when to attach.

Weitering is struggling a bit with the change of game plan, we are going into the middle more and oppositon sides are as well.

When to drop off and when to re-attach. Keeping the ball boundary which has been a focus of us, he hardly has to attach, now things have changed, he's getting it wrong a bit.

You do not want to be 15-20m off you man when the opposition have the ball in hand and are running towards goal. You do not want to be doing then when the ball is in the middle of the ground. Has been caught out a lot getting this wrong this year and he did in this game.
I think you misunderstand what I meant.

I am talking about Weitering not needing to attach. I am talking about Weitering being alone and free to put himself where he knows he can impact the play best.

If you remember, it took Moore around 10 weeks to properly adjust his game to make it work under Fly. He was racking up the disposals, but the role wasn't about raw disposal numbers; it was about stilling opposition entries. Slowing down slow plays to a crawl, being the final obstacle between them and a goal. Enter the Collingwood defensive 50 in the air, and he is who you have to beat.

I'd also like to note that Harris Andrews is not dissimilar here; just, he plays an opponent as well.
Play as lose as you like when we have them out wide, but he has to re-attach when it goes central or they get it on the run.
If you have a plus one behind the ball, why? There's no-one to attach to; we have the numbers covered.

Rance played in the era of congestion and boundary play. Moore has played in the best pressure and defensive team in the game and knows when to reconnect, Stewart much the same deal as Moore.
Hang on.

Both players have and do play as the plus one whenever possible. Treating them as 'always reconnecting' is simply not what is happening on the footy field.

Rance was famous for his lack of accountability, and frankly so is Moore.
You only play that lose role when your team's defence allows you to.
How is this an impediment?

I'm suggesting that this is something we could do. I do not understand why you seem to be of the impression that we wouldn't - if we chose to trial this - shape our defense around doing it properly.
Reading this is currently an issue for Weitering.
Hmmm...

I don't know that this is true so much as he's being deliberately led away from the ball, and he's torn between going with the player leading him off and staying accountable or being in the right position to impact the play. This isn't so much a reading thing as it's a strategy to remove him from our defense, knowing it's him or bust.

You mentioned people forgetting how good Harry and Charlie could be in an earlier post. People have absolutely forgotten how good Weitering is.
Yes play lose, but know when to reconnect and react fast. Those moments for him are when the ball is in the middle and when it looks as if the ball carrier kicking inside 50 may be on the run AND you don't have a congested back 50 to help with. Only play lose when the ball is in the middle when you are double teaming a forward (one each side). We/he are getting it wrong a little.
I mean, exactly. Do that. Put him in the position of double teaming a forward at all times, whenever we can wrangle it. Force them to play short elsewhere on the field to even numbers behind the ball.

This is precisely what I'm suggesting. Simplify the choice for him: either I am by myself and placing myself between the play and the goals intercepting everything, or they have to sacrifice a wing or a flanker to make me accountable.
 
Amazing what can happen when we have Walsh using his legs to take ground and McKay in great form (anyone still wanting him traded after his last few weeks is insane).

The likes of Lord, Cowan, Carroll, O Hollands, HOK, Moir and even Motlop have really shown that we have a solid young group coming through that can drive us forward in 2026 - just need a little more luck on the injury front and an Adelaide like recruiting spree (getting the likes of Cumming, Peatling & Neale-Bullen to play roles).

I would say that signing Cerra to a massive contract extension makes little sense at this point - with Lord's for and Smith in the wings I really don't see where he fits into the 22
 

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Amazing what can happen when we have Walsh using his legs to take ground and McKay in great form (anyone still wanting him traded after his last few weeks is insane).

The likes of Lord, Cowan, Carroll, O Hollands, HOK, Moir and even Motlop have really shown that we have a solid young group coming through that can drive us forward in 2026 - just need a little more luck on the injury front and an Adelaide like recruiting spree (getting the likes of Cumming, Peatling & Neale-Bullen to play roles).

I would say that signing Cerra to a massive contract extension makes little sense at this point - with Lord's for and Smith in the wings I really don't see where he fits into the 22
Crippa and Hewett wont be in the middle forever so having Cerra is more than useful
 
You could say the same about Geelong.
Is their game plan no good either?

I think both cases show that we have something to work with.
It's amazing how incerdibly well we match up on them. Even when we were mediocre under Ratten and they were in their glory days we managed to beat them.
 
I think you misunderstand what I meant.

I am talking about Weitering not needing to attach. I am talking about Weitering being alone and free to put himself where he knows he can impact the play best.

If you remember, it took Moore around 10 weeks to properly adjust his game to make it work under Fly. He was racking up the disposals, but the role wasn't about raw disposal numbers; it was about stilling opposition entries. Slowing down slow plays to a crawl, being the final obstacle between them and a goal. Enter the Collingwood defensive 50 in the air, and he is who you have to beat.

I'd also like to note that Harris Andrews is not dissimilar here; just, he plays an opponent as well.

If you have a plus one behind the ball, why? There's no-one to attach to; we have the numbers covered.


Hang on.

Both players have and do play as the plus one whenever possible. Treating them as 'always reconnecting' is simply not what is happening on the footy field.

Rance was famous for his lack of accountability, and frankly so is Moore.

How is this an impediment?

I'm suggesting that this is something we could do. I do not understand why you seem to be of the impression that we wouldn't - if we chose to trial this - shape our defense around doing it properly.

Hmmm...

I don't know that this is true so much as he's being deliberately led away from the ball, and he's torn between going with the player leading him off and staying accountable or being in the right position to impact the play. This isn't so much a reading thing as it's a strategy to remove him from our defense, knowing it's him or bust.

You mentioned people forgetting how good Harry and Charlie could be in an earlier post. People have absolutely forgotten how good Weitering is.

I mean, exactly. Do that. Put him in the position of double teaming a forward at all times, whenever we can wrangle it. Force them to play short elsewhere on the field to even numbers behind the ball.

This is precisely what I'm suggesting. Simplify the choice for him: either I am by myself and placing myself between the play and the goals intercepting everything, or they have to sacrifice a wing or a flanker to make me accountable.

Don't worry about whether we have a plus one or who that is, any well coached side is not going to let Weitering be a lose man, one of the tall forwards are going to have to go to him and make him accountable. There are a few sides who just let intercepting defenders do what they want and roam freely, we have been one of them, Voss' coaching group cost us a number of wins against Collingwood over the years by not having anyone go to Moore and we have done it against other sides as well, allowing May to be lose and go where he likes while we feed him the ball. Weitering will always be accountable for someone, the opposition coach will make sure of that unless they aren't a good coach and yes, there are a few of them getting around, one got sacked just the other day.

If the coaching from the opposition is poor then sure, Weitering goes loose, however Hinkley made him accountable on the weekend and he was off his man when he should not have been.

I know a lot about the intercepting game, done it for years, you need to read the game and pick your moments. When the ball is on the boundary from good team defending, you use the boundary and you can afford to be lose. When you have congestion and teams mates like the winger/s dropping back, you use them and can afford to be lose. Rance played in the era when congestion was king, before the rule changes and he used that really well, his team was also elite at getting back and blocking space inside D50 so he could play lose. Moore plays in the best defensive side in the comp. Collingwood force the oppositon to dump kick and go long but they are also good at forcing the opposition into boundary play so he can do that. The game is slowly evolving where opposition are coming into the middle of the ground more and this is why Moore has been less effective this season.

Because when the ball goes into the middle and the opposition are coming in quick and you don't have numbers back, you have to defend one on one and not be sagging off. Teams have also figured out that Moore has to play on someone so somone is always going to go to him unless the opposition coach is a complete nuffy.

I never said Weitering needs to be connected to his man all the time, he needs to pick his moments better. The last few months we have been playing more aggressive footy, getting numbers forward of the ball more and it means we let the opposition into the middle more and turn it over in the middle more but we are attempting to play modern footy so it's good. Weitering needs to adjust to this, as do a few others like Saad and they have not yet.

The ball is in the middle of the ground, you can't use the boundary line, there are no numbers back to close space, you can't use your team mates, you need to be back shoulder on your man, not 15 meters away hoping for a blind or bad kick to intercept. Some of our defenders are struggling as the way we are playing is less defence orientated, the ball is coming in differently at times and they are picking the wrong moments to sag off. Weitering and Saad are the two who are struggling the most IMO.

If you want to know what I am talking about, The Port Adelaide Goal kicked in the 3rd Quarter at 9:46. Watch it, watch it again, then watch it again. This is not a one off, it is something I am seeing a lot from our defence. Weitering and Saad in particular. Watch Saad in this footage as well, he is doing the same with with his man, both miles off them in a situation they had to connect, not zone off. You get to see the behind goal footage after the goal and it's bad. Weitering is off his man considerable, which would be fine if he had a loose Carlton player on the other side of his man to work with or if the ball was on the boundary side. The ball was in the middle of the ground and he had no lose team mate to cause a double team. This play works, if there is someone on the other side (boundary) but there was no one there, just space. This should have been a trigger to reconnect with his opponant. This is exactly what I am talking about with Weitering and Saad getting a lot of things wrong this season. I think the reason is that teams are going up the middle more. Port went into the middle from a kickout, you'd hardly see that in the last 10 or 15 years, defenders aren't use to it, they are used to the cushy ride of the ball coming in from the boundary and slower play where they can get team mates back to help out. Weitering was acting like the ball was on the boundary and he had a few loose men to work with and it's not the first time. The game has changed, it's coming in like this a lot more. Some defenders need to re-learn their craft and knowing when to drop off and reconnect is becoming a big deal in the game. This is something Aaron Hamill should be working on like crazy. Situational plays like this should be covered repeatedly.

If this is me as an intercept defender, I am playing off my man, the moment I see the ball go into the middle I am running at full tilt to reconnect. If the ball should go out wide or if I get team mates dropping back in time, that is when I disconnect from my opponant.

Weitering is a very good player, Saad is an AA player too, but if we are going to be getting into more and more games that involved the ball being in the middle of the ground and the ball entering our D50 without lose players back, we are going to need to work on our decision making with our defenders. We have been a heavily defensive team which has focused heavily on keeping the ball on the boundary and keeping the opposition out of the middle and now we are moving away from that. Opposition teams are also trying harder to generate direct fast play as well. We/our defenders have been protected and supported by a defensive brand of footy which we and the competition are moving away from and our defenders are going to have to do some work and make some adjustments.

This is a challenge for our coaches, Aaron Hamill in particular. It comes down to why situational football is important to practice. How we defend and how we react when the opposition have the prime seat with their ball movement V how we defend and how we react when we have control of the opposition ball movement. We have to do a lot of work on this.
 
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Ignorant question time. Voss was talking us up about our pressure on the ball and power around the contest yesterday. But our pressure rating was way down on what was being measured earlier in the year. Why is there a discrepancy between Voss’s observation and what the stats are saying?
Because we had hands on the ball and didn't see much resistance when we didn't have it. Hard to put and maintain ferocious pressure when you're controlling it winning it first and winning it back with your eyes shut.

Sometimes these stats aren't great. I actively don't like being a team with loads of forward 50 tackles. Just means your smalls are constantly second to the ball and your talls aren't taking marks. But yeah. Just how you interpret them which Vossy should have teams helping him with that. Don't actually know what our stats and analytics setups are like
 
Nice to have a win - good to see Lord playing well and showing he can kick the ball bad luck on the concussion. Apart from watching the young kids have a go and get some experience and Walshy actually being to run for the first time this year - there is nothing much to get out of a dead rubber.

The sooner the Club adds 2-3 outside runners that can kick the faster the team gets back to playing finals or better - unfortunately TDK will be a big loss - an extra big bodied mid who is 200cm tall and is good below the knees is always an advantage around contest.

Cowan needs to realise how good he actually is release the Kraken! - Ollie needs to work on his kicking because everything else is fine apart from flaky tackling.

As for Weitering he could do with a second tall, very hard to be in two places at the same time which is why he looks to be caught in the middle a bit lately - Haynes has absolutely killed it on the wing btw he has a bit more space to work with and use his experience and brain - still he is missed in defense when he plays there. Saady has probably lost a meter in leg speed so instead of standing 20 meters off his man - maybe try 10 meters.

Lots to work with in the off season - will be interesting to see if teh CLub can find 1-2 outside runners who can kick - also like seeing Cripps play forward time- since he cant run each way as a mid against the small fast runners now being packed into opposition. HE will need to learn how to land properly if he wants to launch like a proper CHF though.
 
Don't worry about whether we have a plus one or who that is, any well coached side is not going to let Weitering be a lose man, one of the tall forwards are going to have to go to him and make him accountable. There are a few sides who just let intercepting defenders do what they want and roam freely, we have been one of them, Voss' coaching group cost us a number of wins against Collingwood over the years by not having anyone go to Moore and we have done it against other sides as well, allowing May to be lose and go where he likes while we feed him the ball. Weitering will always be accountable for someone, the opposition coach will make sure of that unless they aren't a good coach and yes, there are a few of them getting around, one got sacked just the other day.
Two things:
One: I blatantly said, this is something we do when/if our opponent engages a +1 elsewhere, around the ball or behind the play. Instead of using McGovern or Haynes, use Weitering.

Two: Is the fact that someone else will attempt to counter a strategem a reason not to do it?
If the coaching from the opposition is poor then sure, Weitering goes loose, however Hinkley made him accountable on the weekend and he was off his man when he should not have been.

I know a lot about the intercepting game, done it for years, you need to read the game and pick your moments. When the ball is on the boundary from good team defending, you use the boundary and you can afford to be lose. When you have congestion and teams mates like the winger/s dropping back, you use them and can afford to be lose. Rance played in the era when congestion was king, before the rule changes and he used that really well, his team was also elite at getting back and blocking space inside D50 so he could play lose. Moore plays in the best defensive side in the comp. Collingwood force the oppositon to dump kick and go long but they are also good at forcing the opposition into boundary play so he can do that. The game is slowly evolving where opposition are coming into the middle of the ground more and this is why Moore has been less effective this season.
You are still talking about what we do when numbers are even inside defensive 50. Not a single part of this is something I disagree with; this isn't what we're arguing about.
Because when the ball goes into the middle and the opposition are coming in quick and you don't have numbers back, you have to defend one on one and not be sagging off. Teams have also figured out that Moore has to play on someone so somone is always going to go to him unless the opposition coach is a complete nuffy.

I never said Weitering needs to be connected to his man all the time, he needs to pick his moments better. The last few months we have been playing more aggressive footy, getting numbers forward of the ball more and it means we let the opposition into the middle more and turn it over in the middle more but we are attempting to play modern footy so it's good. Weitering needs to adjust to this, as do a few others like Saad and they have not yet.
Sure. Wasn't what we're talking about, but sure.
The ball is in the middle of the ground, you can't use the boundary line, there are no numbers back to close space, you can't use your team mates, you need to be back shoulder on your man, not 15 meters away hoping for a blind or bad kick to intercept. Some of our defenders are struggling as the way we are playing is less defence orientated, the ball is coming in differently at times and they are picking the wrong moments to sag off. Weitering and Saad are the two who are struggling the most IMO.
I'm going to be honest: most teams and most coaches have zero answers to the fast play through the corridor, and don't try to create them. The ball getting into the corridor is a sign systems have broken down.

Creating a system that plans for every single imaginable eventuality is impossible; planning for a response slots into what we're already doing instead of after the system has already broken down makes more sense to me based on the opportunity cost.
If you want to know what I am talking about, The Port Adelaide Goal kicked in the 3rd Quarter at 9:46. Watch it, watch it again, then watch it again. This is not a one off, it is something I am seeing a lot from our defence. Weitering and Saad in particular. Watch Saad in this footage as well, he is doing the same with with his man, both miles off them in a situation they had to connect, not zone off. You get to see the behind goal footage after the goal and it's bad. Weitering is off his man considerable, which would be fine if he had a loose Carlton player on the other side of his man to work with or if the ball was on the boundary side. The ball was in the middle of the ground and he had no lose team mate to cause a double team. This play works, if there is someone on the other side (boundary) but there was no one there, just space. This should have been a trigger to reconnect with his opponant. This is exactly what I am talking about with Weitering and Saad getting a lot of things wrong this season. I think the reason is that teams are going up the middle more. Port went into the middle from a kickout, you'd hardly see that in the last 10 or 15 years, defenders aren't use to it, they are used to the cushy ride of the ball coming in from the boundary and slower play where they can get team mates back to help out. Weitering was acting like the ball was on the boundary and he had a few loose men to work with and it's not the first time. The game has changed, it's coming in like this a lot more. Some defenders need to re-learn their craft and knowing when to drop off and reconnect is becoming a big deal in the game. This is something Aaron Hamill should be working on like crazy. Situational plays like this should be covered repeatedly.

If this is me as an intercept defender, I am playing off my man, the moment I see the ball go into the middle I am running at full tilt to reconnect. If the ball should go out wide or if I get team mates dropping back in time, that is when I disconnect from my opponant.
I'll have a look tonight and get back to you.
Weitering is a very good player, Saad is an AA player too, but if we are going to be getting into more and more games that involved the ball being in the middle of the ground and the ball entering our D50 without lose players back, we are going to need to work on our decision making with our defenders. We have been a heavily defensive team which has focused heavily on keeping the ball on the boundary and keeping the opposition out of the middle and now we are moving away from that. Opposition teams are also trying harder to generate direct fast play as well. We/our defenders have been protected and supported by a defensive brand of footy which we and the competition are moving away from and our defenders are going to have to do some work and make some adjustments.

This is a challenge for our coaches, Aaron Hamill in particular. It comes down to why situational football is important to practice. How we defend and how we react when the opposition have the prime seat with their ball movement V how we defend and how we react when we have control of the opposition ball movement. We have to do a lot of work on this.
We'll see, I guess.
 

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Two things:
One: I blatantly said, this is something we do when/if our opponent engages a +1 elsewhere, around the ball or behind the play. Instead of using McGovern or Haynes, use Weitering.

Two: Is the fact that someone else will attempt to counter a strategem a reason not to do it?

You are still talking about what we do when numbers are even inside defensive 50. Not a single part of this is something I disagree with; this isn't what we're arguing about.

Sure. Wasn't what we're talking about, but sure.

I'm going to be honest: most teams and most coaches have zero answers to the fast play through the corridor, and don't try to create them. The ball getting into the corridor is a sign systems have broken down.

Creating a system that plans for every single imaginable eventuality is impossible; planning for a response slots into what we're already doing instead of after the system has already broken down makes more sense to me based on the opportunity cost.

I'll have a look tonight and get back to you.

We'll see, I guess.
From what I am seeing, we do look to try and use Weitering, but that requires Haynes and/or McGovern get back to allow him to drop off.

It's not always something which will happen but when it does it works well.

I loved Haynes on a wing, he was excellent at it but it allows him to get lose and be the free man in defence if we can slow them down enough. This is something I have been hoping we would try with Kemp for years but that never happened. I think Soapy V was big on this as well.

I was thinking you were green lighting Weitering being free all the time and never being accountable. I am all for him being the main player we free up, he's the best intercept mark we have in defence.

I think while we have multiple ruck options in the team as we do currently we should also be demanding more hard running from the ruck to get back into defence which it looks as if we were doing at times.

No coach has answers for fast direct play but I can say one thing, it generates a real old school footy scenario and when it happens defenders have to scramble and reconnect with their opponants. A few simple rules should be, if the ball is in the middle connect. When it goes out wide, setup with lose defenders, Weitering drops off for example. When it looks as if a player may be able to carry the ball forward and get on the run, re-attach. It comes down to reading the situation better and being less robotic and systematic.

I love seeing teams go into the middle of the ground more, it chaotic and it really breaks down zones and generates one on ones and space for forwards. There are a lot of defenders in the game who really have not had to deal with that but as the game changes, they are now.
 
Are we rating solely on goals kicked rather an goals created?

If you have watched Motlop the last couple of weeks and been unhappy then you aren't watching with an open mind.

Rate it on whatever stat you want. Our small forwards will rank.
  1. Williams
  2. Evans
  3. Fogarty
  4. Motlop
  5. Durdin
  6. White
We are top heavy list wise with small forwards. If we can attract a class small forward this year. I can see Fogarty Motlop, Durdin & White being pushed out or playing VFL.
 
Rate it on whatever stat you want. Our small forwards will rank.
  1. Williams
  2. Evans
  3. Fogarty
  4. Motlop
  5. Durdin
  6. White
We are top heavy list wise with small forwards. If we can attract a class small forward this year. I can see Fogarty Motlop, Durdin & White being pushed out or playing VFL.
So Fogarty (26) who has managed 11.11 (including 2 misses from the top of the goal square a critical times last week) from his 20 games this year rates above Motlop (21) who has 16.18 from 22 games - based on what - his 1 extra possession a game - the 0.1 extra tackle, the 0.9 fewer clearances or the 0.3 more score involvements?

Fogarty has no upside and Motlop is only going to get better.

As for Evans (about to turn 24) has played 2 good games in a row, so lets not too ahead of ourselves, but again he was drafted in 2019 - he has been in the system for 2 years longer than Motlop for the same output.
 

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Coaches' Votes

10 - Harry McKay (CARL)
8 - Sam Walsh (CARL)
6 - George Hewett (CARL)
3 - Zac Williams (CARL)
2 - Patrick Cripps (CARL)
1 - Francis Evans (CARL)
 

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