A glimpse of what's required...

[gbatman]

We raved about our desire for the ball and the way we hunted Geelong earlier this year. Truth be known that's just a bare minimum and the fact it sticks out as probably our best game is an indictment on the club.

It does a bit. Plus we saw in the prelim what happens to Geelong when they come up against that sort of hardness and intensity. No where near it either.

As much as I hate to say it there are just a handful of players on our list who would have not looked out of place in that GF match. A lot may have looked like spectators like Leon Davis did. I recon Judd, Robinson, Simpson, Waite and Maybe Henderson and Ellard. Give us time though as St. Kilda used to be a soft side too.

 

[Bluebear]

a coach. a coach. and a coach.

some of those players where finished a few years ago. Leigh Brown, Maxwell, Zac Clarke for example. But give a team a proper structure and they'll flourish. We can not afford to waste more time.

Immediately?

I tooke Malthouse 7 years to get that team back into a Grand Final. Do you think they just came up with that game plan last year?

The Pies have been building towards this style of play for at least 3 years (remember when they wolloped the Cats in what was the upset of the year a few years back?)

Lyon took over a mature side and still it has taken a couple of years to make the GF last year and this.

We have a young side. It isn't just about getting the right structures, but about teaching the players, and finding the right players who can execute those plans.

We have a few too many "favourites" that we all love, that at the end of the day can't be part of our next flag, but replacing best 22 players doesn't happen overnight.

I look on with interest to see if Ratts continues to play man on man, teaching guys to win a contest, or if we start to see the odd game where we zone off a bit more.

One thing is for sure though.......to win our next flag we need to come up with a plan to beat the Pies. They will be around for a few years yet.

 

[zeeCFC]

good post BB, you look much better in blue than red

 

[thylacine60]

Classic BB, right there. I'm tipping it was part card part sabbatical lay off. Welcome back all the same, fella.

 

[blueboy25]

As much as I hate to say it there are just a handful of players on our list who would have not looked out of place in that GF match. A lot may have looked like spectators like Leon Davis did. I recon Judd, Robinson, Simpson, Waite and Maybe Henderson and Ellard. Give us time though as St. Kilda used to be a soft side too.

Exactly what I thought when I started reading the this thread. We would be lucky to have half a dozen players with that natural intensity and desire for the contest. I would add Kruezer to the list above.

Gibbs should spend the summer watching footage of Goddard and the way he plays. Gibbsy could be anything but I don't see that hunger for a contest at the moment. Maybe it will come in time, maybe it wont.

 

[gbatman]

Yeah Kreuzer would be a bloke who would step up for a GF. I recon I could add Armfield to the list too. It's a shame I can't think of more core players to add to that list of tough players who wouldn't look out of place in a GF. I just hope it happens and out blokes get to that level.

We saw what an average team like Sydney did when they flicked the switch to finals mode against us. They beat us because we didn't step up and play finals footy. Judd did and that's why he stood out. If they were a decent side we would have got belted. They were not better than us, they just stepped up and we didn't. Guys like Gibbs, Grigg, Mclean and Murphy need to pull their fingers out and go up a gear or two if we want make a grand final. We are soft, we have a lot of soft players who just happen to be our core and high profile players like Murphy and Gibbs. Luckily we also have a lot of tough players at our club too and many of those St. Kilda players had the soft tag too but have shaken it. Let's hope the players we have who are soft and lack intensity can develop like their St Kilda counterparts and make Carlton a very high quality unit.

It's amazing how all the Saints players and most of the Collingwood players really stepped up. It was a brutal and physical game. It was an excellent contest and one of the best arguments as to why this is the greatest game on earth.

It also made me realise that we have such a long way to go. Then again I still believe we are where Collingwood were 2 years ago when they were fielding a young side and getting beaten by teams like us and Essendon.


BB, you mentioned about us beating the pies and game plans etc. Well we do play the sort of game to beat them sometimes but not last time we played them. The key is being defencive and being willing to get numbers behind the ball but also running hard in numbers forward. Also to make their good tall defenders like Maxwell, O'Brien etc accountable. Those guys wont take key players so you need 3 tall forwards who will run and be accountable. Waite and Henderson will stop their running defenders and having Warnock and Kreuzer rotation through there will make it hard for them to play off their opposition. This is extra important as kicking long to the forwards is a must.

To beat their zone... Collingwood have numbers on the defencive side of contests at all instances to stop opposition running the ball forward. Collingwood get their "zone" close to the footy to not allow time and to stop forward carry. So bringing the ball out the back is important. knocking the ball forward and making it a contest and winning that contest forward of stoppages is important. You must setup to win heavily contested footy forward of stoppages to break the inclose line and get some forward run. You must kick long forward of center and around center against them and try and use the corridore although that will be hard as they defend it well. My game plan would be to get the big bodies forward of stoppages and to knock it forward to break that inclose line they have and try and win this contest and get some run. The game must be very contested because knocking it forward will work against you if Carlton players are not tight. Guys like McLean and Judd need to be forward of the rucks instead of beside them. This and to sometimes bring it out the back. kicking long to the forwards is also on. When the saints did this things happened. Collingwood's zone is close to the ball on the defencive side so a long kick can be on as players can get one out and it's possible to kick over their zone.

We got beaten by Collingwood because we weren't big enough, strong enough and tought enought but also because we relied too heavily on running and carrying the ball which Collingwood don't allow unless you are willing to break throught at stoppages and win contests forward of the stoppage in the cluster of Collingwood players.

 

[DarkTint]

It's all good with the 15 new players coming to the club I'm sure a couple of them will be up for grand final type footy.

Thursfield, Sphanger and Tarrant dominating down back, Sherman and Brennan giving us some more drive through the middle and then all we have to do is put it out in front of McKinley or Taylor Walker and they'll do the rest.