Analysis The Clarkson Rebuild Model - A Reason For Optimism

[Brant]

The 2013-2015 players were an accident of history according to bigfooty

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Lacked talent & were only made to look good by the players around them...














Who also lacked talent?

 

[kazzooka]

Lacked talent & were only made to look good by the players around them...














Who also lacked talent?

Don't forget the 7 defenders that never played on anyone. I've had people tell me that Lake, Hodge, Burgoyne, Gibson, Birchall, and Stratton only looked good because they never play on anyone and are always just loose man.

 

[DannyJ]

Don't forget the 7 defenders that never played on anyone. I've had people tell me that Lake, Hodge, Burgoyne, Gibson, Birchall, and Stratton only looked good because they never play on anyone and are always just loose man.

Nah Lake carried them as we rorted Free Agency by trading for him.

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[Brishawk]

Ok, I know what you are thinking....

1. Why do we struggle to get clean clearances?
2. Why do we always look slow?
3. Why are we failing to run out games?

What if I told you the reason for all three was the same?

I'm going to walk you through a sequence of images which highlight a collection of attributes of our play style that I am going to label 'rabid dog' football.

1. Centre bounce straight after Kelly had kicked a goal following a selwood smother of Sicily's learning kick and then a soccer by Brand that goes straight to Kelly. If I'm the midfield coach I am already wondering what Cousins is doing. If Stanley wins the tap he is going to hit it to 12 o'clock or 3 o'clock based on the starting positions. If McEvoy wins the tap it can really only go to 3 o'clock (9 o'clock from Stanley's perspective). Poppy is already positioned well for to run onto a McEvoy win so long as Cousins down's get in his way or bring Kelly to the football....cousins is running to 9 o'clock....

2. Stanley wins the tap to 12 o'clock and guthrie uses his bigger body to hold off poppy, win the ball and get the footy above his head so it can't be pinned to him. McEvoy goes in to tackle around the waste. Poppy is also trying to tackle around the waste. Seeing everyone else going to tackle, Worpel fights hard to make his way towards Guthrie. Right now Geelong are out numbered 2:1 yet I think its pretty obvious here that all guthrie needs to do is handball to stanley (who has Kelly to his right) and the cats are going to clear the ball. So what is cousins doing? Continuing his run through 9 o'clock. Had McEvoy won the tap this image would be of poppy and cousins running into each other with guthrie using his size to force poppy to ground. Worst case its a ball up but if the ball comes out the hawks have two players out of the play. Back to the actual image, if I'm cousins I going to try and get myself in between guthrie and stanley and hope I can intercept the ball and keep running towards the top of screen and try to find my wingman (Morrison in this case) or a half back.


3. Unfortunately Cousins doesn't read this play quick enough (or at all?) but fortunately the guthrie handball to Stanley falls short. If Stanley is clean he can still get the ball out to Kelly who could still kick it forward. given he has two cats between him and the nearest hawk. If Worpel mangages to get the ball at all then he is likely to only be able to knock it out to Cousins who is not going to be able to pick it up and run off so our best outcome is a quick kick forward so long as Cousins is clean and he doesn't overrun the ball when it spills out. He also doesn't want to get too close to Worpel or else he will be tackled by Stanley even if he is clean. Notice how all four hawthorn players are inside a 2m diameter circle with no Geelong player between them?


4. Stanley wasn't clean but, oh no, Cousins did overrun the ball. Lucky McEvoy is there to pick up the ball. Had Cousins stayed instead of trying for some miracle play and run past the contest he would have picked up the ball and kicked it forward. McEvoy would have protected him from Guthrie and my sequence would end. Instead, Cousins has turned and is going back to the footy. Not for the last time, Worpel is on the ground and out of action. Poppy is anticipating us winning the ball and is about to take off forward.


5. Stanley forces himself past Worpel (who bounces up quickly) and puts McEvoy off so the handball is to Cousins feet. Notice we have 3 hawks within a 2m diameter. Hawthorn players are 3 of the closest four players to the ball. Guthrie and Kelly are essentially staying outside the contest waiting for a team mate to win it or the ball to spill. McEvoy ends up on the ground.


6. Unfortunately, Cousins does not take the ball cleanly and then overruns it and lets it go behind him. He half goes to ground (briefly). Guthrie wants to stay goal side of cousins (geelong going to the left). Poppy has taken off and gone well past this contest. ITs hard to see how we could get the ball to him. Stanley just keeps ploughing through and you can see his opponent (unsure of the name) has gotten past him. Suddenly, cats are the two closest players to the ball yet they still retain two outside the contest. Selwood is visible at bottom of screen. I can tell you that Henderson also thought the same as poppy and took off but he quickly returns to the defensive side of Selwood in a few moments because if he doesn't the cats would have guthrie and selwood goal side of their opponents AND both outside the contest with Geelong about to pick it up. A clean pickup by Stanley and he really has a couple of options to give it to that could conceivably clear it forward. We have almost no chance of winning the ball cleanly and no one to give it to if we do.


7. Well done Worpel! Forces stanley to ground and saves us from a clean take away. Sadly he has gone to ground again and the ball has come out. Hawthorn players position themselves in between their opponent and the contest. Cousins doesn't see the threat is if the ball comes out towards the bottom of screen he is going to have to get around guthrie and stanley while Selwood waits patiently for the football.


8. The geelong player picks up the ball and exits towards the bottom of the screen. Hendo has to hedge his betts between guthrie getting the ball, the geelong player running clear of the contest and the ball going to Selwood so has to give bellwood too much room. Poppy is back but he doesn't go to kelly or to Selwood so has had no real impact. Once again, Hawks players outnumber cats near the footy but present no real threat unless selwood drops the ball. Worpel is still on the ground and has taken too long to recognise the threat posed by Kelly.


9. Selwood doesn't drop it. Instead he cleanly handballs to Kelly who wheels around and kicks it long forward. Again, we have 4 of the 5 closest players to the ball. For reasons not really clear, kendo and Cousins are running towards Kelly and only as he kicks it do they think about turning towards the backline...


10. The four most left hawks are all goal side of their opponents. You can see towards the bottom of the image close to the giant trainagle is Hardwick. His opponent is Ablett who is well ahead. Hardwick is sucked into the contest because if he doesn't come up we have no way to exit the contest except bang it forward. We looked like we were going to win it at one point so I understand why he took the risk. Kudos to the player almost directly above him, Morrison. Morrison reminded accountable to his man and prevented Kelly from having an easy exit so it forced a long kick. Morrison then runs hard to help out the defence and basically covers for Hardwick. Please notice that to the right of Hardwick is Guthrie and Selwood. McEvoy is goal side of his opponent but literally none of the there hawks mids except morrison are.

Continued next post.

 

[Brishawk]

11. By the time Rohanis kicking for goal guthrie and selwood have reached the fifty arc. Had Mira stuck his tackle on Rohan, the two geelong mids would have been options as the cats would have outnumbered us by two. Notice also that 4 hawthorn players form a loose ring around Rohan and all the cats are outside our players.


This sequence highlights how hard we are working. We chase the ball or the opponent with the ball like rabid dogs. Time and time again in the sequence we out number our opponent on the inside with a huge risk that if it gets out the ball will be taken away quickly. The likely outcome if we win it is that we will have to hack it forward as all out team mates are within 2m of the ball and have opponents on their outside ready to close their space and prevent a clean takeaway. In this sequence there are six times our players go to ground, 4 of them are centre square mids. Geelong have one player go to ground (Stanley). When you are inside and your opponent is outside of you, it doesn't;t take much to nudge you to ground. Meanwhile we have absolutely busted our butts to get the ball while Guthrie barely moved, Kelly barely moved, Selwood didn't move until the handball came out. And as we are so ball focused, like rabid dogs, we allow our opponents to jog forward and get 20m clear of us leaving us out of the contest.

So while it looks like they are faster and fitter because they seem to have more players everywhere, its really because we play a stupid style of football in the centre and over committed numbers to the ball. We probably do this in part because we are terrible at tackling so out of fear of allowing easy takeaways we rush in to help and...allow easy takeaways. This all chews up a mountain of energy while our opponents don't work as hard and have a better chance of hurting us from a stoppage even if we win roughly half of them (which is an improvement on recent weeks). IF you go back to 2016, the bulldogs knocked us off be drawing in the gang tacklers and then throwing it out to a free man. As soon as you commit 2 players to a tackle you cannot let the ball out as your opponent has an extra on the outside. This happened time and time again in this game at stoppages and in general play. We throw numbers at the ball and then even when we win it, all our team mates are too close and we have to dink it back and forth or hack it forward. This absolutely has to change as it is killing us (except against Adelaide. It works great against them).

 

[Davo-27]

11. By the time Rohanis kicking for goal guthrie and selwood have reached the fifty arc. Had Mira stuck his tackle on Rohan, the two geelong mids would have been options as the cats would have outnumbered us by two. Notice also that 4 hawthorn players form a loose ring around Rohan and all the cats are outside our players.
View attachment 660148

This sequence highlights how hard we are working. We chase the ball or the opponent with the ball like rabid dogs. Time and time again in the sequence we out number our opponent on the inside with a huge risk that if it gets out the ball will be taken away quickly. The likely outcome if we win it is that we will have to hack it forward as all out team mates are within 2m of the ball and have opponents on their outside ready to close their space and prevent a clean takeaway. In this sequence there are six times our players go to ground, 4 of them are centre square mids. Geelong have one player go to ground (Stanley). When you are inside and your opponent is outside of you, it doesn't;t take much to nudge you to ground. Meanwhile we have absolutely busted our butts to get the ball while Guthrie barely moved, Kelly barely moved, Selwood didn't move until the handball came out. And as we are so ball focused, like rabid dogs, we allow our opponents to jog forward and get 20m clear of us leaving us out of the contest.

So while it looks like they are faster and fitter because they seem to have more players everywhere, its really because we play a stupid style of football in the centre and over committed numbers to the ball. We probably do this in part because we are terrible at tackling so out of fear of allowing easy takeaways we rush in to help and...allow easy takeaways. This all chews up a mountain of energy while our opponents don't work as hard and have a better chance of hurting us from a stoppage even if we win roughly half of them (which is an improvement on recent weeks). IF you go back to 2016, the bulldogs knocked us off be drawing in the gang tacklers and then throwing it out to a free man. As soon as you commit 2 players to a tackle you cannot let the ball out as your opponent has an extra on the outside. This happened time and time again in this game at stoppages and in general play. We throw numbers at the ball and then even when we win it, all our team mates are too close and we have to dink it back and forth or hack it forward. This absolutely has to change as it is killing us (except against Adelaide. It works great against them).

*defensive tactic* we've had this same tactic (chasing and harassing the ball carrier) for a long time, but when Hodge, Mitchell ect were there they held such a high standard(for tackling) that they demanded the team trust the individual to pressure or lay the tackle, these days our tackling has fallen off and we have too many outside players who are known for poor tackling efforts, in this weeks team we had Smith, Scully, Morrison, Henderson, Impey, Wingard, Nash, Scrimshaw and Breust all outside players and mostly poor tacklers if they lay a meaningful tackle at all in a game.

*attacking tactic* we rely on turn overs for most of our scoring shots, have so for years, and so on the back of poor team work when it comes to tackling and our team defense our attack and turn over for an easy mark in the forw 50 or run into open goal is drying up.

as for clearances we finished +1 in clearances and -11 on tackles

our spread is a problem, we clump up and we dont have a Hodge + other generals telling everyone to spread out and cover flanks and to trust in one another to make the tackle or win the ball ect, we also are playing too many outside players and this means less tackles and less contested possession which can be good if you play a high fitness game plan, which we have had the luxury of in the past with the best fitness trainer in the AFL for over 20 years(14 at the Hawks), but maybe not so much now?.

as for our midfield, i liked the couple of times Wingard was in there, but mostly its Worpel and JOM doing the business, Poppy had a couple good plays as well, Cousins had a poor game, Howe did some tough and defensive things but we could have better players through there, missing Shiels and Mitchell is hurting us.

 

[Brant]

Brilliant, Brishawk

The other issue with our throwing numbers at the ball & tackling like this is the lack of reward for effort. Holding the ball (or illegal disposal) used to be a thing, but getting one paid these days is as likely as seeing Porkins suspended for an elbow to the back.

Even when our rabid-dog attack plan works, it rarely gets rewarded.

 

[Brishawk]

*defensive tactic* we've had this same tactic (chasing and harassing the ball carrier) for a long time, but when Hodge, Mitchell ect were there they held such a high standard(for tackling) that they demanded the team trust the individual to pressure or lay the tackle, these days our tackling has fallen off and we have too many outside players who are known for poor tackling efforts, in this weeks team we had Smith, Scully, Morrison, Henderson, Impey, Wingard, Nash, Scrimshaw and Breust all outside players and mostly poor tacklers if they lay a meaningful tackle at all in a game.

*attacking tactic* we rely on turn overs for most of our scoring shots, have so for years, and so on the back of poor team work when it comes to tackling and our team defense our attack and turn over for an easy mark in the forw 50 or run into open goal is drying up.

as for clearances we finished +1 in clearances and -11 on tackles

our spread is a problem, we clump up and we dont have a Hodge + other generals telling everyone to spread out and cover flanks and to trust in one another to make the tackle or win the ball ect, we also are playing too many outside players and this means less tackles and less contested possession which can be good if you play a high fitness game plan, which we have had the luxury of in the past with the best fitness trainer in the AFL for over 20 years(14 at the Hawks), but maybe not so much now?.

as for our midfield, i liked the couple of times Wingard was in there, but mostly its Worpel and JOM doing the business, Poppy had a couple good plays as well, Cousins had a poor game, Howe did some tough and defensive things but we could have better players through there, missing Shiels and Mitchell is hurting us.

We did win the clearances by 1 but ours were generally a lower standard of clearance apart from Worpel or omeara being brilliant and bursting away.

The problem I describe above is evident in our general play also. Even where we look to win the ball, we still run to position ourselves next to the person with the ball instead of providing a release option.

1.the ball tumbled forward from a stoppage. Omeara and Worpel have busted their butt from the stoppage. Worpel on the ground after tackling. Omeara wins the ball and hands off to hardwick who looks up and it’s all Geelong in front of him. Brand hasn’t pushed back far enough to be clear of the contest but is still a viable option. Ideally Mira, who is in brand’s vision, would scream at brand for the ball as he pushes back to goal. That would then bring scrimshaw into play and we exit on the far wing.


2. Instead brand gets a call from Worpel and Sicily. The problem is Sicily is facing the wrong way and no one in his field of vision has worked hard enough to give him an option. Again we see a cluster of hawks on the inside surrounded by cats. Instead of calling for the ball from brand Worpel could have provided an option for Sicily. Hardwick could have moved and dragged the cat behind him away from Mira. Mira also is just spectating but a loud voice here and some movement towards space or the goal line probably should be happening right now. Without an other option, Sicily u-turns and attempts a blind clearing kick but it’s smothered by Selwood and ends up going to kelly who kicks a goal.

So we have a 7 on 5 yet can’t find a single free team mate because we arent working as a team for each other. It’s see ball and get ball stuff. Omeara and scrimshaw havent gotten sucked completely into the contest and both end up trying to defend kelly but kelly has the luxury of space as he never had to come into the contest at all because we never had anyone outside it to receive the ball which would pose a threat. In short Geelong can afford to hold their shape as hawthorn’s rabid swarm doesn’t pose any sort of threat that can’t be handled by lessor numbers.

We need to talk and we need to work harder to get free players on the outside of the contest. That will enable us to spread from contests. It’s literally impossible if we all stand within a couple of meters. It’s simply too easy to defend. Even where we have two extra players we can’t clear it.

 

[TBoyleSuperstar]

Great work Brishawk.
At game it was clear as day that we regularly had players at the contest, and Geelong stayed out a lot more, pushing the ball out anyway they could. Once it got out, we were cooked.
We had this problem a lot in 2016 too.
Annoyingly we have more outside run than we’ve probably ever had in smith, Henderson, Scully and Morrison, but rarely win it to get it out to them.
this is where the loss of Mitchell really hurting us. Clean clearance winner against scrappy ones we are getting now.

Also getting annoyed we regularly fly 3 up, leaving no one down to crumb

 

[Brishawk]

Great work Brishawk.
At game it was clear as day that we regularly had players at the contest, and Geelong stayed out a lot more, pushing the ball out anyway they could. Once it got out, we were cooked.
We had this problem a lot in 2016 too.
Annoyingly we have more outside run than we’ve probably ever had in smith, Henderson, Scully and Morrison, but rarely win it to get it out to them.
this is where the loss of Mitchell really hurting us. Clean clearance winner against scrappy ones we are getting now.

Also getting annoyed we regularly fly 3 up, leaving no one down to crumb

Yes. It is the memory of the final against the dogs that haunts me most. We rush in to gang tackle. Dogs throw the ball out and then their extra on the outside runs away.

 

[Brishawk]

Brilliant, Brishawk

The other issue with our throwing numbers at the ball & tackling like this is the lack of reward for effort. Holding the ball (or illegal disposal) used to be a thing, but getting one paid these days is as likely as seeing Perkins suspended for an elbow to the back.

Even when our rabid-dog attack plan works, it rarely gets rewarded.

Yep. When you immediately hang tackle the player before they have had prior opportunity it gives the umpire an easy out to ball out. If the ball spills it’s an easy out for the umpire to say it was knocked out by the tackle. If you and your opponent are on the ground it’s an easy out for the umpire to call a ball up. If you are on the ground and your opponent keeps his feet, it’s easy for the umpire to penalise you. If you win the ball in tight and are surrounded by team mates, you give up your prior opportunity just getting around them so it’s easy for the umpire to pay holding the ball against you.

 

[KermitJagger]

Yep. When you immediately hang tackle the player before they have had prior opportunity it gives the umpire an easy out to ball out. If the ball spills it’s an easy out for the umpire to say it was knocked out by the tackle. If you and your opponent are on the ground it’s an easy out for the umpire to call a ball up. If you are on the ground and your opponent keeps his feet, it’s easy for the umpire to penalise you. If you win the ball in tight and are surrounded by team mates, you give up your prior opportunity just getting around them so it’s easy for the umpire to pay holding the ball against you.

100% agree with everything you've said in this analysis mate, but for mine it isn't a huge reflection of game plan or what we WANT to be doing, it's a reflection of who we're missing from the line up at present moment.

It was more obvious in that game because a lot of our defensive set up and communication would be from pointing and talking by Stratton and Frawley, both of whom were out. If you want to see a similar thing, have a look at 2017 with our defensive unit with and without Grant Birchall. Night and day.

As for the midfield, this is what is stopping Cousins from being a best 22 mainstay. He plays the ball on its merits but isn't able to juggle accountability for an opponent with attack, meaning he gets caught out of position quite a lot. Again, who we're missing. Shiels and Burgers are both leaders who direct players that were out of the lineup.

I'm just hoping we get some timber back sooner because the loss of leadership is really hurting us across the board.

 

[Chioli]

Strangely enough I look at our draw ahead and the even nature of not just the top of the ladder but also the bottom. Mitchell breaking his leg has made 2019 a development year. I love what Clarko is doing with the youngsters. Yesterday we won the clearances by 1 and generally thought we made a few mistakes that cost us goals both before quarter time and half time.

That being said O'meara and Sicily are serious players. Sicily kept Hawkins to 1.2 and had 25 himself. O'Meara and Worpel were in and under all day. Howe turned it over a bit but contested strongly in the midfield. Scrimshaw didnt have his best day but I think it's important to remember yesterday was his 9th AFL game. Hardwick was solid as always and Impey gives us great pace from the back half. Cousins didnt have a great day yesterday and Morrison was quiet again but both players are very late picks in the draft or rookies and may take more time or may not make it and I think thats okay as well. Scully in game 3 from his come back is only going to get better and old man Henderson is winning our bnf at the moment.

Mitch Lewis was really good in his 3rd game. He brought the ball to ground and created opportunities for the smalls.

Nash was disappointing again but he's still learning. I think he should be learning at the lower level but I can see why we are playing him as the cupboard is a bit bare so why not throw him in the deep end and maybe he gets to 25 games and it clicks.

Brand was solid in the backline and Mirra wasn't disgraced.

Gunston and Breust didnt have their best days and Smith was better yesterday than he's probably been so far this year.

My point is that we are in transition. The names that are playing well are not premiership stars from 2015 or before. I think we are a chance to have a tough couple of months but the idea of putting a top 7 pick, Tom Mitchell, Maybe Coniglio and a pick 25 into this side when hopefully most of the guys that played yesterday have another 17 games behind them is exciting.

2020 team which I know will still have one or two of Frawley, Puopolo, Rough, Burgoyne, Schoenmakers, Ceglar, Birchall, O'Brien, Schoenamkers but the team below is pretty young. Those 9 players represent some serious spending money for the Hawks to chase another free agent even if we are able to land Coniglio. There are some holes but we are not in for a 5 year rebuild in fact I think we are 2 years into our rebuild right now. The worry in 2017 was we didnt have any kids to play. They are all getting games now and if we can recruit well we will be back playing finals and hopefully winning finals in the next 2 years. I am sure some of these players people will disagree with but its more of a general illustration that we are going okay.

B Scrimshaw (21) Brand (26) Hardwick (23)
HB Stratton (31) Sicily (25) Impey (25)
C Scully (29) Worpel (21) O'meara (26)
HF Breust (29) Gunston (28) Henderson (31)
F Moore Lewis (22) Wingard (27)
R Mcevoy (30) Mitchell (26) Coniglio (26)
I/C Smith (31) Shiels (29) Howe (24) Ross (20)

 

[Brishawk]

100% agree with everything you've said in this analysis mate, but for mine it isn't a huge reflection of game plan or what we WANT to be doing, it's a reflection of who we're missing from the line up at present moment.

It was more obvious in that game because a lot of our defensive set up and communication would be from pointing and talking by Stratton and Frawley, both of whom were out. If you want to see a similar thing, have a look at 2017 with our defensive unit with and without Grant Birchall. Night and day.

As for the midfield, this is what is stopping Cousins from being a best 22 mainstay. He plays the ball on its merits but isn't able to juggle accountability for an opponent with attack, meaning he gets caught out of position quite a lot. Again, who we're missing. Shiels and Burgers are both leaders who direct players that were out of the lineup.

I'm just hoping we get some timber back sooner because the loss of leadership is really hurting us across the board.

I’m hoping Sam Mitchell can get this lot working better together. No doubt inexperience and lack of games together hurts us. I’m sure if Mitchell was playing we would be better at holding our shape as we would know Mitchell can win it on his own.

 

[Gralin]

I’m hoping Sam Mitchell can get this lot working better together. No doubt inexperience and lack of games together hurts us. I’m sure if Mitchell was playing we would be better at holding our shape as we would know Mitchell can win it on his own.

It's the midfield version of all the defenders going up to spoil and getting in each other's way.

The trust isn't there yet

 

[Davo23]

Strangely enough I look at our draw ahead and the even nature of not just the top of the ladder but also the bottom. Mitchell breaking his leg has made 2019 a development year. I love what Clarko is doing with the youngsters. Yesterday we won the clearances by 1 and generally thought we made a few mistakes that cost us goals both before quarter time and half time.

That being said O'meara and Sicily are serious players. Sicily kept Hawkins to 1.2 and had 25 himself. O'Meara and Worpel were in and under all day. Howe turned it over a bit but contested strongly in the midfield. Scrimshaw didnt have his best day but I think it's important to remember yesterday was his 9th AFL game. Hardwick was solid as always and Impey gives us great pace from the back half. Cousins didnt have a great day yesterday and Morrison was quiet again but both players are very late picks in the draft or rookies and may take more time or may not make it and I think thats okay as well. Scully in game 3 from his come back is only going to get better and old man Henderson is winning our bnf at the moment.

Mitch Lewis was really good in his 3rd game. He brought the ball to ground and created opportunities for the smalls.

Nash was disappointing again but he's still learning. I think he should be learning at the lower level but I can see why we are playing him as the cupboard is a bit bare so why not throw him in the deep end and maybe he gets to 25 games and it clicks.

Brand was solid in the backline and Mirra wasn't disgraced.

Gunston and Breust didnt have their best days and Smith was better yesterday than he's probably been so far this year.

My point is that we are in transition. The names that are playing well are not premiership stars from 2015 or before. I think we are a chance to have a tough couple of months but the idea of putting a top 7 pick, Tom Mitchell, Maybe Coniglio and a pick 25 into this side when hopefully most of the guys that played yesterday have another 17 games behind them is exciting.

2020 team which I know will still have one or two of Frawley, Puopolo, Rough, Burgoyne, Schoenmakers, Ceglar, Birchall, O'Brien, Schoenamkers but the team below is pretty young. Those 9 players represent some serious spending money for the Hawks to chase another free agent even if we are able to land Coniglio. There are some holes but we are not in for a 5 year rebuild in fact I think we are 2 years into our rebuild right now. The worry in 2017 was we didnt have any kids to play. They are all getting games now and if we can recruit well we will be back playing finals and hopefully winning finals in the next 2 years. I am sure some of these players people will disagree with but its more of a general illustration that we are going okay.

B Scrimshaw (21) Brand (26) Hardwick (23)
HB Stratton (31) Sicily (25) Impey (25)
C Scully (29) Worpel (21) O'meara (26)
HF Breust (29) Gunston (28) Henderson (31)
F Moore Lewis (22) Wingard (27)
R Mcevoy (30) Mitchell (26) Coniglio (26)
I/C Smith (31) Shiels (29) Howe (24) Ross (20)

You make some pretty good points.
The point about losing Tom Mitchell is pretty pertinent: when your Number 1 midfielder and clearance player goes down before the season starts then other, less experienced players have to step up very quickly, and that is pretty difficult.

This is exacerbated when you lose other experienced midfielders.

When you look at our game style, I don't think you get the full picture by looking at a few examples. I've seen David King pick out a few highlights to show why team X is so bad, when he could have easily analysed them more carefully. The point is that our game has many, many random moments, caused by the bounce of the ball. This happens in many situation:

1. The umpire bouncing it in the centre;
2. Multiple players flying for marks;
3. The ball bouncing loose in open play.

You can set up to try allow for these situations, but each time it depends on how the ball comes down. For example, you can have your player dearly in the lead to collect a loose ball, when it bounces the wrong way and the opponent takes it.

You can argue that, if the ball bounces the right way, our set up is perfect, but footy is never that simple.

.

 

[Brishawk]

You make some pretty good points.
The point about losing Tom Mitchell is pretty pertinent: when your Number 1 midfielder and clearance player goes down before the season starts then other, less experienced players have to step up very quickly, and that is pretty difficult.

This is exacerbated when you lose other experienced midfielders.

When you look at our game style, I don't think you get the full picture by looking at a few examples. I've seen David King pick out a few highlights to show why team X is so bad, when he could have easily analysed them more carefully. The point is that our game has many, many random moments, caused by the bounce of the ball. This happens in many situation:

1. The umpire bouncing it in the centre;
2. Multiple players flying for marks;
3. The ball bouncing loose in open play.

You can set up to try allow for these situations, but each time it depends on how the ball comes down. For example, you can have your player dearly in the lead to collect a loose ball, when it bounces the wrong way and the opponent takes it.

You can argue that, if the ball bounces the right way, our set up is perfect, but footy is never that simple.

.

You need to setup to give yourself the best chance of winning the clearance and/or negating the the oppositions clearance. What I’m suggesting is we are doing neither and it’s not just the bounce of the ball. This pattern was consistent through the match and wasn’t just a feature of stoppages. We get sucked in too close to the ball and can’t easily clear it.

 

[MrPremiership]

Brilliant Bris.

 

[crazywildhorse]

Great read, I’m not sure how to be optimistic about Clarkson persisting with this game plan though...

 

[The Chad and I]

It's all about ball movement.
Clarkson keeps repeating it.

We need a better midfield and more direct/incisive rebound from D50 - someone like Guerra, or the guy coming back... after the bye!

 

[KermitJagger]

I’m hoping Sam Mitchell can get this lot working better together. No doubt inexperience and lack of games together hurts us. I’m sure if Mitchell was playing we would be better at holding our shape as we would know Mitchell can win it on his own.

Spot on. To be fair, we haven't been the best performing midfield in the competition, but if you take losses in to consideration we're holding our shape admirably well. This is something we should be able to do without Mitchell too, but I doubt the club would have been preparing for losing Burgoyne and Shiels on top of our already considerable outs.

It's not for me to rag on players typically, but in this game it was obvious that though Cousins is a good production footballer, he just doesn't excel in a 3 dimensional sport. He runs in relatively straight lines, doesn't have the best of instincts and only knows forward.

O'Meara and Worpel are already instinctually that type of player, but they can do other things and overcome it because they're better footballers than Cousins. We really need a player who will get the ball and be able to put it to best position, which is something that Mitchell's injury has taken away from us and unfortunately something Shiels and Burgoyne are both able to do.

It's a positive for me that we haven't embarrassed ourselves yet. There are a lot of teams this year that have had embarrassing losses, but we've managed to keep ours relatively tight despite the loss of timber which is a positive. We have the fight, and once we have a more stable team we'll be in with a shot against anyone.

It's the midfield version of all the defenders going up to spoil and getting in each other's way.

The trust isn't there yet

Or forwards all going up for the same mark and leaving no one to crumb, or the opposite.

Something we're doing a bit of on all lines at the moment. With the quality we have, as soon as these yips get sorted out and our team has a bit more stability, we should be damaging across the board.

 

[Mitchell54]

We need a better midfield and more direct/incisive rebound from D50 - someone like Guerra, or the guy coming back... after the bye!

Supposedly setting a deadline in Birchall sets you up for dissapointment

 

[Brishawk]

Great read, I’m not sure how to be optimistic about Clarkson persisting with this game plan though...

I think it’s part inexperience, part lack of games together as a group (not knowing how each other play) and part confidence in your team mates. All three are related of course. We all want to help the team win and we all throw ourselves into the contest. We all want to be an option to receive the ball. But we are all doing the same thing. Not enough cool heads trusting our team mates and being an outlet. It’s fixable and I don’t think it is the game plan to have all our numbers committed to the ball.

 

[Brishawk]

Spot on. To be fair, we haven't been the best performing midfield in the competition, but if you take losses in to consideration we're holding our shape admirably well. This is something we should be able to do without Mitchell too, but I doubt the club would have been preparing for losing Burgoyne and Shiels on top of our already considerable outs.

It's not for me to rag on players typically, but in this game it was obvious that though Cousins is a good production footballer, he just doesn't excel in a 3 dimensional sport. He runs in relatively straight lines, doesn't have the best of instincts and only knows forward.

O'Meara and Worpel are already instinctually that type of player, but they can do other things and overcome it because they're better footballers than Cousins. We really need a player who will get the ball and be able to put it to best position, which is something that Mitchell's injury has taken away from us and unfortunately something Shiels and Burgoyne are both able to do.

It's a positive for me that we haven't embarrassed ourselves yet. There are a lot of teams this year that have had embarrassing losses, but we've managed to keep ours relatively tight despite the loss of timber which is a positive. We have the fight, and once we have a more stable team we'll be in with a shot against anyone.



Or forwards all going up for the same mark and leaving no one to crumb, or the opposite.

Something we're doing a bit of on all lines at the moment. With the quality we have, as soon as these yips get sorted out and our team has a bit more stability, we should be damaging across the board.

What we do really well despite our inexperience is zone defence. We force the long kick regularly. We don’t concede a lot of goals from structured play. Just need to refine our play in broken play and stoppages. It’s all fixable.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

What I've noticed:
Teams are going long to the wing, then running into 50. This reduces the impact Sicily has intercepting.
Love him to the wing, and I think he becomes more effective