Are we in tune with the Evolution of the Game

Johnno22

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Thread starter #1
I was reading an article by Melbourne Sports Journalist Jake Niall a few weeks back and he stated the obvious that he believed that Clarkson was the most innovative coach in the AFL and that he was continually adapting to the next trend in football evolution.

Hawks over the last few years have had the foot skills and natural goal kicking capacity to pierce the congestion and defensive mechanisms but the game has changed again over the last couple of seasons and a more offensive approach now seems to be the order of the day. According to another coach offensive is challenging the defence which has dominated football thinking over the last five or so years.

Niall suggests that the next phase separates kicking skills and offensive capability into two distinct areas and are being addressed as such at Hawthorn. The change mid season in Lyons approach at the Dockers would also back up this premise.

The advantage still sits with the Hawks as they seem to continually find the method and personnel to adapt.
Outside speed and the recruiting of mature aged recruits dominate the scene at Hawthorn. Hand picked recruits that meet the skill level, discipline requirements and the nous to effect the changes in game plan from week to week.

Simpson was up to his ears in the on field development of the Hawks structures and strategies and you would hope that the Clarkson philosophies has rubbed off on him. From what I have seen of Simpson he seems to have a definite direction he wants to take the club and there will be casualties along the way but ultimately I believe we will become the contender we want to be.

He seems to have a slow and steady approach and has shied away from the "De Contending" some clubs employ with a trip to the bottom of the ladder and a complete rebuild in favour of completely dissecting the list retraining and hand picking new recruits.

Only time will tell but I believe we are on the right path and in step with the way the game is evolving.
 

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Milenko

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#2
Underrated post IMO

Clearly we need big bodied clearance mids (Lewis/Hodge types), outside speed (Hill/Smith types) and crumbers (Breust/Rioli types)
 

The Dodger

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#3
The advantage still sits with the Hawks as they seem to continually find the method and personnel to adapt.
That is it. Regardless of what is thrown at them they can change and change again. Burgoyne forward, Roughead back, Hale forward, Rioli into the middle, Mitchell to half back, Suckling in the middle, Lewis forward, Breust into the middle.

They all have skills and can play multiple roles. They are hardly ever phased by injury. During the start of this season they were without Hodge, Mitchell, Lake, Gibson to name a few and still won most of their games. They never miss a beat, they are one of those sides you look at and not realise they are missing all of those as they still play a very highly skilled attacking game.

Efficiency is everything. When you get clean ball you have to do something with it and more often than not they do. This is only exacerbated in finals where the pressure goes up (and the umps let everything go) where it is harder to get clean ball. So you can bash your head against a brick wall and control the game for most of the quarter to have Hawthorn boot 5 on you in a couple of minutes domination. This is something that was tough to watch with Worsfold as coach as I believe he was firmly of the view that if you keep smashing your head against a brick wall eventually a brick might come loose.

Lyon is much better than Worsfold for tactics but is still stubborn and I believe it has cost him at crucial moments.
 

Eastern Rangers

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#4
I think Sydney is a step ahead of Hawthorn. Simply because of the ground level coverage their smalls have, just makes them a slightly better one on one side around the ground.

Where as Hawthorn really need to win clearances and retain possession, you can't take as many risks if you're weak one on one. So there is no point in having pace if it's one directional, comes at the expense of a defensive side and the players can't win hard ball.
 
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Byron_Clanger

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#5
We are way behind in terms of the evolution of the game, can thank Worsfold for that, the man who's all for zones on the football field now o_O
 

Reminiscence

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#6
I think the glimpses we saw of Simpson's gameplan showed that he's on the right track.
A heavy emphasis of 'if it's there, take the corridor' and getting the ball into skilled players with excellent disposal.
Players like Gaff, Masten, Hurn who are absolute wonders at getting the ball inside 50 were heavily emphasised during the last few games. As a result our efficiency was sky high compared to the rest of the season with room-service for the forwards. JK feasted on the blood of enemies the last few weeks. If we gave him that kind of service every week, he would of won the coleman.

Looking at it also, I like to take a glass half full approach. The pantry is not empty, it's rather stocked in terms of midfielders up and coming.
- Yeo came in, and we all know what he brought. Our CL% was higher with him in it, the only knock on him being that he doesn't get enough of the ball.
- Gaff showed an improved contested game. Another 3-4 kilos, he'll be slightly stronger and should show further improvement. His gut running is ridiculous and shows his amazing work ethic as he powers from end to end.
- Sheed will be the cherry on the sundae. Poise, the stop-time ability that the top midfielders have, excellent decision making and a knack for getting the ball, should be an absolute star, or at worst a very very solid B grader.
- Shuey has gone HAM the past few weeks. Managed to break the tag. Let's see if he finally takes that final step that we've all been waiting for.

Or else everything goes pear shaped and it turns out we're really Shit. That would suck major donkey gorilla balls.
 

Stereophonic

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#7
- Gaff showed an improved contested game. Another 3-4 kilos, he'll be slightly stronger and should show further improvement. His gut running is delicious and shows his amazing work ethic as he powers from end to end.

Or else everything goes pear shaped and it turns out we're really Shit. That would suck major donkey gorilla balls.
EFA
 

John Dawh

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#8
I don't want this to denigrate into an elephant in the room debate but I'm just not see how the curly headed elephant fits in? The thinking seems to be that because he's such a good extractor that he'll sit on the bottom of a pack and feed the ball out to the outsiders and whizz-bang it's all hunky dory Woosha style. Priddis extract, everyone else receive and then have fast ball movement.

Personally I think our highest possession getter needs to be an elite ball user. A player who can buy himself time to make the right decision as to who to give the ball to and then hit that target seamlessly.

When I look at what Clarkson is doing and what Sydney are doing, I'm just not getting how Priddis fits? Perhaps 4th is all we aspire to?

Ryan O'keefe isn't getting a game for a good reason.
 

John Dawh

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#9
There's some posters on here who know their footy tactically. I want to know their thoughts on how Priddis would fit into Hawthorn or Sydney.

Just give me something. Anything.
 

Dark Sharks

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#10
We are way behind in terms of the evolution of the game, can thank Worsfold for that, the man who's all for zones on the football field now o_O
Sums it up for me.

Simmo has us on the right track, but realizing what an asset a player like Yeo can be.

But Worsfold built this Vanilla midfield, and it's where the game is won. We'll take a few years to catch up from this IMO
 

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