Attack, take risks is Craig's new order

[Lidge]

You can see why we love Rucci.

It is a huge game tonight, I'm looking forward to it.. I just hope we play a good brand of footy.. I want to be excited! (thanks Jars)

I hear ya.

But our hatred of Caroline Wilson is even greater than yours of Rucci.

 

[birdmanptr]

Playing attacking footy is all well and good IF you have someone up forward to take a mark or even bring the ball to ground i hope mi am wrong but if we play that style tonight it will be a interesting result to say the least.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

There are really only 2 possibilities here.

Either the gameplan has been turned more defensive to counter the kind of caning we received in the 3rd qtr of the Prelim last year...

or

the personnel missing this year are more important than those missing last year.

Last year were losing players for whom we had able replacements .....more mid size

This year it's the talls ....but also our next midfield group have had injuries ...our structure has been much more fragile this season what with the injury to talls and other KPP out of form.

But hey ...we've still been competitive in most games and as a supporter Iam not going to "can" Craig for being competitve.

As I have said many times here .......we moan the demise of hard tough footy in favour of the open no contest style played by some clubs .......hell !! I love our style of footy

Are we saying we're losing because we're not attacking ...or because we're short of key personnel ....personally I favour the latter

 

[Stiffy_18]

here's a "for instance"

Round 10 v Essendon last year we kicked 30 goals with no

Torney
Bock
Hudson
Welsh
Perrie
Hart
Clarke

against Geelong we had no

Burton
Hentschel
Biglands
Perrie
Reilly
Bode

against Essendon we cobbled together a side with argueably a comparable number of injuries to important forward line players. Sure - Essendon were crap last year and Geelong are firing this year - but we were without much of our fwd line last year but still kicked big scores....and there are numerous more examples where it could be argued that our injuries were more severe last year than this.

There are really only 2 possibilities here.

Either the gameplan has been turned more defensive to counter the kind of caning we received in the 3rd qtr of the Prelim last year...

or

the personnel missing this year are more important than those missing last year.

Oh I strongly disagree with the assertion that we were without much of a forward line last year! We had a great mix in the forward line last year. Hentschel and Burton were the 2 X-factors, unpredictable forwards that are genuine match winners. Hentschel kicked 8 goals in that game. Roo was our FF who was in some real form and we had a crumber that would fight for the ball like his life depended on it.

Last year we had a great mix of contrasting, complementing styles in our forwards line. This year we have too much of the same and not enough variation or unpredictability to be match winners. We have too meany weaknesses in our forward line this year.

Roo and Welsh are practically the same types who get in each others way. Porplyzia is no crumber, Bock, Stevens are both leading forwards and there is absolutely no one in that forward line with a bit of unpredictability like Burton and Hentschel. To underestimate the loss of these players is not being understanding of the game.

Get Burton, Hentschel and Bode into that forward line and I can guarantee you it will be raining goals.

At the start of the year we pretty much didn't have a very potent and enough variety in our forward line and two players we could least afford to lose through injury were Burton and Bode because they bring something to that forward line that can't be replaced because we just don't have the replacements for them.

And people bring in his Hawks like they are some hot to trot attacking team into the conversation is just fuuny. 2-3 weeks ago they got bagged for playing the most boring game of football in a long long time. Now people say they kicked a lot of goals last night without their best forward but can they do it consistently without the personell there?! I don't think they can. One game is not big enough sample to form that argument. We can cover for one game, maybe two but covering for a whole season is a hell of a lot harder than a game or two.

People just seriously underestimate what a HUGE loss Hentschel, Bode and Burton have been. They have been irreplacable.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Hey WW - don't get me wrong, I'm not bagging our game-plan, just don't understand it. Hence the . I loved watching our open, free-flowing attack last year, but I also understand we didn't end up winning so perhaps some tweaks needed to be made. Perhaps out of necessity (due to injuries) - but maybe it has manifested into something even the coach wasn't aiming for?

Maybe the young players who come out of the U18 comps with great attacking skills but poor defensive skills are concentrating on the defensive aspects more ....because that may the focus of discusions with the coaching group

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Oh I strongly disagree with the assertion that we were without much of a forward line last year! We had a great mix in the forward line last year. Hentschel and Burton were the 2 X-factors, unpredictable forwards that are genuine match winners. Hentschel kicked 8 goals in that game. Roo was our FF who was in some real form and we had a crumber that would fight for the ball like his life depended on it.
Last year we had a great mix of contrasting, complementing styles in our forwards line. This year we have too much of the same and not enough variation or unpredictability to be match winners. We have too meany weaknesses in our forward line this year.

Roo and Welsh are practically the same types who get in each others way. Porplyzia is no crumber, Bock, Stevens are both leading forwards and there is absolutely no one in that forward line with a bit of unpredictability like Burton and Hentschel. To underestimate the loss of these players is not being understanding of the game.
Get Burton, Hentschel and Bode into that forward line and I can guarantee you it will be raining goals.

At the start of the year we pretty much didn't have a very potent and enough variety in our forward line and two players we could least afford to lose through injury were Burton and Bode because they bring something to that forward line that can't be replaced because we just don't have the replacements for them.

And people bring in his Hawks like they are some hot to trot attacking team into the conversation is just fuuny. 2-3 weeks ago they got bagged for playing the most boring game of football in a long long time. Now people say they kicked a lot of goals last night without their best forward but can they do it consistently without the personell there?! I don't think they can. One game is not big enough sample to form that argument. We can cover for one game, maybe two but covering for a whole season is a hell of a lot harder than a game or two.

People just seriously underestimate what a HUGE loss Hentschel, Bode and Burton have been. They have been irreplacable.

Completely agree .....and IMO Craig has done a marvellous job in maintaining a competitive and winning attitude capable of winning every week.

For those who claim our gameplan is different .....we were also criticized LAST YEAR for being ultra defensive along with Sydney ......yet we also had games where it was a goal avalanche

 

[Mad Dog]

Last year were losing players for whom we had able replacements .....more mid size

This year it's the talls ....but also our next midfield group have had injuries ...our structure has been much more fragile this season what with the injury to talls and other KPP out of form.

But hey ...we've still been competitive in most games and as a supporter Iam not going to "can" Craig for being competitve.

As I have said many times here .......we moan the demise of hard tough footy in favour of the open no contest style played by some clubs .......hell !! I love our style of footy

Are we saying we're losing because we're not attacking ...or because we're short of key personnel ....personally I favour the latter

you'll never convince me that we've been decimated in 2006 or 2007 to the point of justifying departing from our 2005 / 2006 style.

it's all about

Gameplan
Gameplan
Gameplan

 

[maccas_no1]

Worked very nicely tonight and proved the point that the defensive game plan was not working.

We ran the game out well, we opened up the space and it worked, I never ever want to see that defensive rubbish ever again because it was proven tonight that it is not needed and not the way to win a game off football.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Worked very nicely tonight and proved the point that the defensive game plan was not working.

We ran the game out well, we opened up the space and it worked, I never ever want to see that defensive rubbish ever again because it was proven tonight that it is not needed and not the way to win a game off football.

Our defensive part of the game plan was the same ... but it was our attacking part of the game - play on quickly & get the ball quickly into the forward line to give our forwards at least a 50/50 chance that was the difference.

 

[jenny61_99]

We didn't need to use the tempo footy because we were in control all night. Only time we "slipped" back into it was when all of Kangas players were ahead of the ball and we had nowhere to kick it to. Happened only for a few minutes and ended up in the predictable turn-over and goal scored to them.

 

[maccas_no1]

Our defensive part of the game plan was the same ... but it was our attacking part of the game - play on quickly & get the ball quickly into the forward line to give our forwards at least a 50/50 chance that was the difference.

What I mean by defensive is we werent defenisve around the middle of the ground rather as you say we moved the ball quickly, I dont feel there is a need to be defensive in the middle of the ground. Just make sure you are accountable win the ball and move it forward with purpose...........I would like to see us handball less.....sometimes it pays off other times we are putting players under too much pressure.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

you'll never convince me that we've been decimated in 2006 or 2007 to the point of justifying departing from our 2005 / 2006 style.

You're not convinced that Hentschel, Ricciuto, Bode and Burton is a fair slice of our first choice forward line? Stunning.

it's all about

Gameplan
Gameplan
Gameplan

... and

Personnel to carry it out
Personnel to carry it out
Personnel to carry it out

 

[- PC -]

Personnel to carry it out
Personnel to carry it out
Personnel to carry it out

The point made was that the ball movement should follow the same lines on most attacks.

Player A has the ball who gives to receiver B who gives to kicker C whose job is to kick it into the forward line based on : Forward player A moving left, Forward player B moving right and Forward player C dropping back .

Your argument suggests that you need certain personnel to do this is not quite correct

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

The point made was that the ball movement should follow the same lines on most attacks.

Player A has the ball who gives to receiver B who gives to kicker C whose job is to kick it into the forward line based on : Forward player A moving left, Forward player B moving right and Forward player C dropping back .

Your argument suggests that you need certain personnel to do this is not quite correct

Quality forwards present well, provide an option, read the play well, straighten up a team's ball movement and attract/demand the ball.

 

[Mad Dog]

You're not convinced that Hentschel, Ricciuto, Bode and Burton is a fair slice of our first choice forward line? Stunning.

no - what is stunning is your continued chronic struggle with grasping a point.

sure - some personnel will get the job done better than others.....but what is unnecessary is to throw the gameplan out with the injury list.

If you don't believe me - source a transcript of NC's press conference after the game where he admits (essentially) he should have showed a little more faith.

 

[AAMI]

it's all about

Gameplan
Gameplan
Gameplan

and

State of Mind
State of Mind
State of Mind


Keep up the positive thinking and the Crows will give this flag a shake

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

sure - some personnel will get the job done better than others.....but what is unnecessary is to throw the gameplan out with the injury list.

I don't think there has been any major changes to our game plan this season, beyond some minor tinkering. Do you think that NC wanted us to score less this season? Was his plan to decrease our emphasis on attacking football? Yes, we have scored less this season but I don't believe for a second that it has been part of our planning. I think the games we have struggled in have been due to form and available personnel, nothing more.

If you don't believe me - source a transcript of NC's press conference after the game where he admits (essentially) he should have showed a little more faith.

That's not what I've heard. What I have gathered from Neil Craig's press conferences is that we have been down on our skill level and execution for a couple of weeks. Neil described himself as being in charge of 'quality control' and that there would be an increased focus on our skill and execution under pressure at training. He took responsibility for the standards slipping in this area. He said that when the skill level was down the players would lose confidence, would go into their shell, start hesitating and look for the 'perfect' play all the time and not be prepared to take risks. Hence less quick ball movement and attacking football.

He summarised by saying that whilst the defensive side of our game was at an acceptbale standard, the attacking side wasn't (for the reasons listed above) and we would have to improve in this area. He did not say that our game plan was too defensive. Rather that that particular part of our game plan had fallen away and that steps were being taken to address it.

Lastly, I don't think the Kangaroos game can be used as evidence that we have successfully employed a more attacking brand of football. We absolutely own the Kangaroos and have not lost against them for years. Also we were never behind/under pressure at any stage in the game so never had to use the chipping sideways tempo football to change the flow. If we see the direct, long kicking, higher scoring style against West Coast and Hawthorn in our next two games then we can draw the conclusion that our skills and attacking football have improved.

 

[jenny61_99]

I don't think there has been any major changes to our game plan this season, beyond some minor tinkering. Do you think that NC wanted us to score less this season? Was his plan to decrease our emphasis on attacking football? Yes, we have scored less this season but I don't believe for a second that it has been part of our planning. I think the games we have struggled in have been due to form and available personnel, nothing more.


That's not what I've heard. What I have gathered from Neil Craig's press conferences is that we have been down on our skill level and execution for a couple of weeks. Neil described himself as being in charge of 'quality control' and that there would be an increased focus on our skill and execution under pressure at training. He took responsibility for the standards slipping in this area. He said that when the skill level was down the players would lose confidence, would go into their shell, start hesitating and look for the 'perfect' play all the time and not be prepared to take risks. Hence less quick ball movement and attacking football.

He summarised by saying that whilst the defensive side of our game was at an acceptbale standard, the attacking side wasn't (for the reasons listed above) and we would have to improve in this area. He did not say that our game plan was too defensive. Rather that that particular part of our game plan had fallen away and that steps were being taken to address it.

Lastly, I don't think the Kangaroos game can be used as evidence that we have successfully employed a more attacking brand of football. We absolutely own the Kangaroos and have not lost against them for years. Also we were never behind/under pressure at any stage in the game so never had to use the chipping sideways tempo football to change the flow. If we see the direct, long kicking, higher scoring style against West Coast and Hawthorn in our next two games then we can draw the conclusion that our skills and attacking football have improved.

Good post!

 

[Vader]

Lastly, I don't think the Kangaroos game can be used as evidence that we have successfully employed a more attacking brand of football. We absolutely own the Kangaroos and have not lost against them for years.

Funny how things go round in circles.

Our '98 Grand Final victory was the first time we'd beaten North in ages, following 5 consecutive losses (we also lost the next 3 consecutive games against them as well).

As it stands, we haven't lost to them since Craig took over as coach (though we lost the last two against them under Ayres).

The record now stands at 14 wins each.