Themanbun's Midfield Minute

[Chadwiko]

• Last quarter, we used Parker and Sheezel a lot more in the midfield instead of Powell/Wardlaw, and suddenly the ball use and structure looked a LOT better.

FWIW Clarko confirmed this part in his presser today, stating about Wardlaw;

"He wasn't finding the footy as much as we'd like in the middle of the ground, so we put Luke Parker in there"

 

[ChopChopDigDig]

FWIW Clarko confirmed this part in his presser today, stating about Wardlaw;

"He wasn't finding the footy as much as we'd like in the middle of the ground, so we put Luke Parker in there"

Was a good move too, Parker was very important in the last

 

[Themanbun]

Getting my ass kicked by man flu at the moment as well. I hopefully can spare time this week.

 

[Chadwiko]

Getting my ass kicked by man flu at the moment as well. I hopefully can spare time this week.

Right there with you, brother.

Shit is ROUGH.

 

[Themanbun]

Right there with you, brother.

Shit is ROUGH.

May you be blessed with many a honey and lemon tea my friend

 

[Themanbun]

Gang, thank you for listening to my mad ramblings for part of the season.

I sincerely apologise for starting something that got people reading and then having to bail. Long story short, life kicked me in the nuts. I'm doing well now (albeit busy), but I wasn't able to put the time into reviewing our matches properly, and any analysis would've been half assed. Got pretty significantly crook and had my brains scrambled.

I hope it all helps people appreciate just how awesome guys like Rick18 and GR are. They just consistently turn out good, committed, considered work week after week.

 

[Pravda Roo]

Thanks for your work themanshake, I was actually part of the support staff at the WACA Eagles back in the 90s and remember Phil Matera tearing up Geelong in the 92 GF with five goals but on reflection he lost Mark BareStow in a contest in the first quarter so lift your game Peter

 

[Themanbun]

North Melbourne vs Poorta - CRAFT

Well, I don't know how often I'll get to do this. But this was fun. Might add some more if I get a chance.

This one is all about craft. It is improving. Lots. LDU the shark is a new phenomenon. Harry Sheezel getting better and better. FOS just does it all naturally.

Apologies how the text goes bold halfway through. Bigfooty glitches out and won't let me change it.

Bounce 1
Image 1 - the set up
First of the game. Important to set the tone for the season. Sheezel sweeping. LDU hit-to. FOS as the Front of Stoppage (he, FOS) blocker. You can tell from the way the rucks have set up that this blue-marked pie is the play zone. The other side of the circle is dead. You can see Sheezel fighting Butters to be able to impact that live zone, should Port get out that way. Good craft already on display there. You can see LDU's opponent is actually betting on a Xerri tap as he's trying to control to LDU's right-hand side.




Image 2
And now as the leap comes up, it's clear the Port ruck is going to win the tap. Which means the ball is definitely going to the circled area, as Xerri's tap zone is now dead.

LDU the shark reads this unfolding and is just steps ahead of everyone else. He immediately gets separation and hits that spot.

Knowing LDU will get the receive running through towards the back end of the Toyota onfield ad, we've two options for an exit. The first will be lateral, to Stephens (blue arrow). The second will be, if Butters bites and tries to influence the contest, via Sheezel (red arrow). My favourite bit of craft comes next.




Images 3 and 4
Butters doesn't bite. He holds Sheezel to cut off that exit. He engages Sheez to stop him pressing forward and getting a release handball from LDU and then running through the top end of the stoppage between Stephens and Xerri. Butters is a smart man and realises that will be a fn disastrous start for Port.

But Sheez immediately worked out what he needed to do.

He uses Butters' force direction and pushes him into the contest, while backpedalling himself.

Image 5
This forces Butters to have to engage LDU. Leaving Sheeze as an option to receive and relieving handball.



Image 6
But LDU shows his craft game has stepped up another level. He feints to Sheezel and then gets the ball out the back to Daniel, who smartly also pushed his man into the contest. And you'll notice Dylan Stephens

15

Dylan Stephens

Age

25

Ht

184cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.0

1star

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.0

1star

let his man take the bait and run defensively. He holds, and is therefore the lateral exit option for Daniel to hit up, which he does.



Bounce 2 - Scores at 22-20, first quarter.
Image 1 - The setup
This stoppage has LDU as the hit-to, Colby at the front of the stoppage as blocker, and Powelly as sweeper. If you know me you know I'm worried about this mix.



Image 2

Unfortunately, as sweeper, Powell follows his man straight into the contest. This leaves the front side (red) of the stoppage wide open. Ugly for us if Port win it.






Image 4 and 5
And somehow Port DO win the ball. And it's Connor fn Rozee charging out the front of the stoppage. But in a pretty amazing turn of events, Colby absolutely throws the jets on and locks him up. He had to leave his man to do it which is not ideal but the front door was left wide open by poor sweeping. Deadset closed a lot of distance very quickly. He forces Rozee to look backward to Colby's man.




Image 6 and 7
And to top it off, LDU spots this early. He does something which I've been critical of him for not doing. He puts the hammer down to affect the next receiver for Port, recognising that Colby had just turned the tide of this clearance. He affects a really shitty clearance for Port, who are forced to tumble punt it forward. parker then runs down the Port forward ahead of the play and we get the free kick.





Bounce 3 - Port just kicked a goal in the 4th quarter, 25 points the difference
I picked this one because of how must-win it was. Port had a run on. We are known for being shaky. They throw JHF as the hit-to. Head to head with Sheezel. FOS as sweeper. Colby at the front.



Image 2
The ball goes up and it looks like the Port ruck will win the tap. You'd back JHF against Sheez in a midfield 1:1 test of strength most days I reckon.



Image 3
But Sheezel doesn't use his strength. He uses his brain to soccer tap the ball away from their most dangerous player. Seriously I reckon most people would've missed this beautiful little touch. He knew he could not let JHF win that footy.




Image 4 and 5
The ball moves to space. FOS had crept in as sweeper (similar to Powell earlier), where he would have otherwise had a clean receive from Harry's soccer. But at the least he blocks his opponent out well.

And then Horne-Frances closes Harry down pretty fn quickly and actually gets a hand to his back. But FOS, not satisfied with ruining Connor Rozee

1

Connor Rozee

Age

26

Ht

185cm

Wt

79kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.6

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.6

5star

MG

189.2

3star

D

12.8

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

5.3

3star

M

2.9

3star

T

2.4

3star

MG

189.2

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

8.4

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

3.4

5star

's day, decides to sacrifice himself and lays another block - two in the one clearance. Harry gets the ball out the back and we win a much, much needed clearance.




Conclusion
Super proud of the boys. Especially LDU and Harry whose craft I have been critical of previously. They have worked on a lot and they worked for each other. They used their brains to set up. They used their brains to read the play. And they used their brains the help each other out. And when desperate, they busted out the athleticism to help us defensively.

I am praying that this is a consistent theme and this midfield group goes up another level. From what we saw today, while it wasn't perfect, it is levels above what we saw last year.

I'm a happy man tonight.

 

[Passmore]

Love this from LDU. 24 touches today, in my humble, he was our most impactful. Maturity levels rising. Wad applying some heat to Fabian Jnr without going OTT.

Maturing into a proper leader?

 

[Themanbun]

Love this from LDU. 24 touches today, in my humble, he was our most impactful. Maturity levels rising. Wad applying some heat to Fabian Jnr without going OTT.

Maturing into a proper leader?

Same. Clear BOG for mine and given I'm biased towards Stephens and Parker that's saying something.

He looked a level above everyone on the field yesterday and that's because he's started reading the play much, much better. That half a second he's buying himself with this is giving him the separation he needs to dominate. And he seemed to be reading it and doing the right thing when he wasn't winning the pill.

There's a recurrent theme in this thread - it's the little bits of craft that make the best midfields, not that talent in there. They're starting to show some understanding of that.

 

[Themanbun]

Another note for readers on roles and how it unfolds during the bounce.

Hit-to
If you want to know where the tap will go 99% of the time (if it's not Tim English or Max Gawn

11

Max Gawn

Age

34

Ht

209cm

Wt

110kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.1

4star

K

7.4

3star

HB

6.7

4star

CL

2.8

4star

HO

35.3

5star

D

18.5

4star

K

11.5

4star

HB

7.0

4star

CL

3.5

4star

HO

29.2

5star

D

8.4

3star

K

3.6

2star

HB

4.8

4star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

15.6

5star

rucking) watch the rucks' chests at the start of the bounce, the ball usually gets tapped to the space in front of the chest. There's usually two live hit zones and two dead zones.

Then watch the ruck who looks likely to get first hands to it and you usually narrow it down to one hit zone.

The hit-to mids either instinctively do this or learn it, and it's a combo of who anticipated first who'll win the tap and who has the strength, speed and power and timing to beat the other to the hit zone.

Front blocker vs Sweeper
In most instances they pair against each other. Front of stoppage blocker in front of your ruck and sweeper behind.

Whether you can get out the front door of a clearance usually depends on how well your front of stoppage blocker can stop the opposition sweeper from moving laterally to break your hit-to's run, and how well your ruck can stop your hit-to's opponent from tailing him.

This is in a perfect world. Lots of variations happen though.

 

[Moti]

Powell should not be playing the sweeper role. You need really good lateral movement and that ain't his go. FOS is a great option there.

 

[JUST NORTH]

Another note for readers on roles and how it unfolds during the bounce.

Hit-to
If you want to know where the tap will go 99% of the time (if it's not Tim English or Max Gawn rucking) watch the rucks' chests at the start of the bounce, the ball usually gets tapped to the space in front of the chest. There's usually two live hit zones and two dead zones.

Then watch the ruck who looks likely to get first hands to it and you usually narrow it down to one hit zone.

The hit-to mids either instinctively do this or learn it, and it's a combo of who anticipated first who'll win the tap and who has the strength, speed and power and timing to beat the other to the hit zone.

Front blocker vs Sweeper
In most instances they pair against each other. Front of stoppage blocker in front of your ruck and sweeper behind.

Whether you can get out the front door of a clearance usually depends on how well your front of stoppage blocker can stop the opposition sweeper from moving laterally to break your hit-to's run, and how well your ruck can stop your hit-to's opponent from tailing him.

This is in a perfect world. Lots of variations happen though.

Barlow should make this midfield top 3 in comp in next couple of years

 

[tinket]

I love you are explaining the influence of the late comers too - Stephens, Colby, Daniel. It's great stuff

 

[giantroo]

 

[perplexed]

View attachment 2553097

This is looking way better than how we started last year. Hopefully it means that when Wardlaw comes back we run a standard 4 man rotation: LDU, Sheezel, FOS and Wardlaw. The more time these guys spend together the better they'll get and will instinctively understand what their teammates are doing. Brisbane have about 10 players who could capably run through the middle, but they have rotated the same 4 players every week they are available for the last three years. It means when big games are on the line there is no second guessing, everyone knows their role and plays it.

 

[Moti]

This is looking way better than how we started last year. Hopefully it means that when Wardlaw comes back we run a standard 4 man rotation: LDU, Sheezel, FOS and Wardlaw. The more time these guys spend together the better they'll get and will instinctively understand what their teammates are doing. Brisbane have about 10 players who could capably run through the middle, but they have rotated the same 4 players every week they are available for the last three years. It means when big games are on the line there is no second guessing, everyone knows their role and plays it.

Colby is the other one. Just watch games over the weekend and that player that can run at speed at change direction is golden.

 

[andana]

Powell should not be playing

Wardlaw should have his 30% and pick up some % from the others.
Still need a big bodied mid.

 

[roos_tt29]

Colby is the other one. Just watch games over the weekend and that player that can run at speed at change direction is golden.

Watching what Merrett and Gulden can do - that should be his template with the way the game's going.

Heading in the right direction

 

[ChopChopDigDig]

Recon FOS shepherds and blocks more than any on our team - doesn’t get a stat but is so valuable

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Powell should not be playing the sweeper role. You need really good lateral movement and that ain't his go. FOS is a great option there.

Powell said it himself on his mic'd up video last season: "What's the point of holding (back)?"

Well, Themanbun just answered his question.

There was also another situation in the 3rd quarter where there were 2 one on one contests out on the wing. The other Port player was clearly going to mark the ball, but it was 1 on 1's up ahead (we may even had a loose back around D50). Powell takes a huge risk to leave his man & try to intercept. He fails and his man is off to the races on the next receive, which ends up in an easy Port set shot (pretty sure it was a goal).

 

[Only Forwards]

Recon FOS shepherds and blocks more than any on our team - doesn’t get a stat but is so valuable

It’s also leadership.

Do the selfless team things.

Do them even when others aren’t.

Others will do more of the things that are required.

 

[Moti]

Powell said it himself on his mic'd up video last season: "What's the point of holding (back)?"

Well, Themanbun just answered his question.

There was also another situation in the 3rd quarter where there were 2 one on one contests out on the wing. The other Port player was clearly going to mark the ball, but it was 1 on 1's up ahead (we may even had a loose back around D50). Powell takes a huge risk to leave his man & try to intercept. He fails and his man is off to the races on the next receive, which ends up in an easy Port set shot (pretty sure it was a goal).

I watched a few games this weekend and spent some time looking at the clearances in games like DeesvSaints and PiesvCrows, and they have a mix of players staying back and going in (DeesvSaints was just about all going in). I don't think there is a clear advantage as a constant strategy either way, because there are too many variables in our game, and it would probably depend on how good your ruckman is and the players' attributes.

 

[Its a Process]

Conclusion
Super proud of the boys. Especially LDU and Harry whose craft I have been critical of previously. They have worked on a lot and they worked for each other. They used their brains to set up. They used their brains to read the play. And they used their brains the help each other out. And when desperate, they busted out the athleticism to help us defensively.

I am praying that this is a consistent theme and this midfield group goes up another level. From what we saw today, while it wasn't perfect, it is levels above what we saw last year.

I'm a happy man tonight.

The Soccer toe poke clearance looks better and better on a re-watch.

incredible skill/poise at a vital stage of the game.

 

[HugeJohnson1]

Recon FOS shepherds and blocks more than any on our team - doesn’t get a stat but is so valuable

He gets a dap from Clarko post game. That’s better than a stat