Half Back Pocket
Premiership Player
...to all the peanuts out there baying for blood.
Modern AFL Footy is an intruiging game. Professionalism has dramatically increased the speed, skill and organisation/structures of our game. All clubs now draft, prepare, train, play, recover in similar fashion. The physical side of the game is treated (roughly) the same by all clubs. Any potential advantage/point of difference is desperately sought by all clubs. Now, more than ever, the game is played between the ears, and it is here that our team is severely suffering at the moment. Let me break it down further...
The ball is bounced, and the opposition ruckman wins the tap. Generally, the ball will move towards their goal. Good on-ballers (Judd, Goodes etc) are adept at hitting the ball at pace, it gives them a great platform to move through congestion and/or break a tackle (see Dangerfield in the last Qtr!). This is a hell of a lot easier to do when the ball is travelling towards your goal. Our on-ballers have realised we are losing the tap-outs and are roving to the opposition ruckman. Our players are on the back foot, or doing u-turns if we shark the tap-out. This shows when you look at our clearance stats this year.
...so, opposition win the clearance, immediately are backline is under pressure to stop the forward movment. Generally this is a 6-on-6, or 5-on-5 contest, however, the forward movement of the midfielders will generally have them at the fall of the ball before ours, creating a mis-match. Continual clearances to the opposition tends to create a seige mentality in the backline, meaning they are more likely to play defensive and limiting our run if we win the contest in the back half. A defensive mind-set in the back half often sees midfielders not honoured on the lead around the centre of the ground (it doesn't help that players such as Baker & Blake aren't proficient by foot). Kicking sideways/backwards becomes the norm.
The midfielders lose confidence in the defenders to kick to them, meaning their leads drop off or appear half-hearted. The ball movement becomes static, opposition players drop back into our 50. Everything looks laboured.
(It's no wonder Rooey has had an average start to the year). There looks to be a real lack of confidence in moving the ball quickly through the corridor. We crib around the boundary looking for a risk-free option.
The forwards get disheartened and their intensity drops off...the tackling and chasing that was such a feature of our game is almost non-existent. There is no space to lead into, we are reliant on contested marks for scoring opportunities. When the ball is turned over, the opposition tends to go straight down the corridor and kick long into their forward line (backmen experience the seige mentality again)...and the cycle continues.
It's amazing how confidence can effect a group. Look at the flip-side with Collingwood...they are almost unbeatable atm and they play like it. Every lead is honoured, they work hard for each other in defence and attack. With confidence comes run and spread...you back your teammate to win the ball and use it to advantage.
We need to keep working harder and harder. There have been (limited)signs over the last 2 games that we are getting there. The season is not dead yet, but it is approaching cardiac arrest. If we lose next week I would think its time for some blooding/experimenting for a final tilt in 2012 .
Modern AFL Footy is an intruiging game. Professionalism has dramatically increased the speed, skill and organisation/structures of our game. All clubs now draft, prepare, train, play, recover in similar fashion. The physical side of the game is treated (roughly) the same by all clubs. Any potential advantage/point of difference is desperately sought by all clubs. Now, more than ever, the game is played between the ears, and it is here that our team is severely suffering at the moment. Let me break it down further...
The ball is bounced, and the opposition ruckman wins the tap. Generally, the ball will move towards their goal. Good on-ballers (Judd, Goodes etc) are adept at hitting the ball at pace, it gives them a great platform to move through congestion and/or break a tackle (see Dangerfield in the last Qtr!). This is a hell of a lot easier to do when the ball is travelling towards your goal. Our on-ballers have realised we are losing the tap-outs and are roving to the opposition ruckman. Our players are on the back foot, or doing u-turns if we shark the tap-out. This shows when you look at our clearance stats this year.
...so, opposition win the clearance, immediately are backline is under pressure to stop the forward movment. Generally this is a 6-on-6, or 5-on-5 contest, however, the forward movement of the midfielders will generally have them at the fall of the ball before ours, creating a mis-match. Continual clearances to the opposition tends to create a seige mentality in the backline, meaning they are more likely to play defensive and limiting our run if we win the contest in the back half. A defensive mind-set in the back half often sees midfielders not honoured on the lead around the centre of the ground (it doesn't help that players such as Baker & Blake aren't proficient by foot). Kicking sideways/backwards becomes the norm.
The midfielders lose confidence in the defenders to kick to them, meaning their leads drop off or appear half-hearted. The ball movement becomes static, opposition players drop back into our 50. Everything looks laboured.
(It's no wonder Rooey has had an average start to the year). There looks to be a real lack of confidence in moving the ball quickly through the corridor. We crib around the boundary looking for a risk-free option.
The forwards get disheartened and their intensity drops off...the tackling and chasing that was such a feature of our game is almost non-existent. There is no space to lead into, we are reliant on contested marks for scoring opportunities. When the ball is turned over, the opposition tends to go straight down the corridor and kick long into their forward line (backmen experience the seige mentality again)...and the cycle continues.
It's amazing how confidence can effect a group. Look at the flip-side with Collingwood...they are almost unbeatable atm and they play like it. Every lead is honoured, they work hard for each other in defence and attack. With confidence comes run and spread...you back your teammate to win the ball and use it to advantage.
We need to keep working harder and harder. There have been (limited)signs over the last 2 games that we are getting there. The season is not dead yet, but it is approaching cardiac arrest. If we lose next week I would think its time for some blooding/experimenting for a final tilt in 2012 .
