Analysis Ball movement analysis | COUNTER ATTACK FAILS

[Michaels]

I have noticed a lot of common comments across multiple platforms after our games, and a lot of it centres around the frustration of why we keep kicking the ball long down the line to a contest.

It's frustrating to watch for sure, but I think we need to understand that the long down the line kick isn't what is being coached and taught to them, that's not our default method of play.

It's happening because we are being denied what we want to do.

I created a video below showing some examples from the Crows game to highlight what I mean.

We have a ways to go in learning and developing that instinct part of the game, other teams are also very good at defending!

 

[Vassp]

its not working. we need to be smarter on drawing the players out and creating pockets/holes

 

[Coach_Required]

We need to look at how Collingwood do it, it was highlighted last week, when the pies kick it, they go slow and are one of the slowest in the comp, however when they handpass, they are the best in the comp in moving it. They have 2 methods. I don't mind kicking down the line but our setups around the contest is amateur compared to how the pies do it.

 

[wegetpumped]

I have noticed a lot of common comments across multiple platforms after our games, and a lot of it centres around the frustration of why we keep kicking the ball long down the line to a contest.

It's frustrating to watch for sure, but I think we need to understand that the long down the line kick isn't what is being coached and taught to them, that's not our default method of play.

It's happening because we are being denied what we want to do.

I created a video below showing some examples from the Crows game to highlight what I mean.

We have a ways to go in learning and developing that instinct part of the game, other teams are also very good at defending!

Adelaide, not that they needed to, but showed how to adjust to different teams and had us running like headless chooks all game till the last quarter when they sort of put the brakes on. they switched it form one side to the other and ran the legs out of our players than switch it to the center when they had 3 blokes loose, and bang, even our good defenders couldn't work out what was happening, they had no time. Our forward structure is a shambles; instead of spreading, you have Lynch going up against Faul lefau getting in the way, so on. You can bomb it forward, but you need the smarts to make it work, which we don't have.

 

[Do the Dew]

I get more frustrated with the kickouts. Seems we always do the 20m sideways chip and then long down the line. If we win that one it's another long down the line.

In contrast, better teams seem to have free ball movement from kickouts to our F50 and then can launch from there. Many times on the weekend and throughout all the games this year teams seemingly just cruise past us to the wing before finally slowing down. But by that stage, they're 1 kick away from an inside 50 and we're defending so deep that it makes it hard to counter if we win it back.

 

[Daka]

We don't go through the corridor enough and we barely look to cut off the switch kick, our forward press/zone defense is not up to standard.

This is coaching in my opinion, or our players are just incapable of doing it, which I don't think is true.

 

[Lord of the Wings]

Our coaches are complete dogshit

 

[Meteoric Rise]

I get more frustrated with the kickouts. Seems we always do the 20m sideways chip and then long down the line. If we win that one it's another long down the line.

In contrast, better teams seem to have free ball movement from kickouts to our F50 and then can launch from there. Many times on the weekend and throughout all the games this year teams seemingly just cruise past us to the wing before finally slowing down. But by that stage, they're 1 kick away from an inside 50 and we're defending so deep that it makes it hard to counter if we win it back.

We are the 7th highest ranked team for scoring from kickins. And we are the 7th best team at preventing scores from kickins. Overall we are ranked 6th best for scores from kickins differential. So we don't seem to be too bad at this, there must be some decent method there within the madness!

We have the 18th best differential at scores from stoppages, so that is a big problem.

And the 17th best differential for scores from turnover, another huge issue.

Scores from defensive half we are 16th best in terms of differential.

Scores from forward half we have the 18th best differential.

Scores from centre bounce we have the 15th best differential.

We are ranked 8th in the AFL for contested marks differential, which may or may not go some way to explaining why we seem to go long to a contest a fair bit.

We are currently sitting 18th for uncontested possession, which probably tells us our synergy is relatively poor, but we might expect that given how seldom our current team has played together compared to opposition teams.

 

[tigs2010]

We are the 7th highest ranked team for scoring from kickins. And we are the 7th best team at preventing scores from kickins. Overall we are ranked 6th best for scores from kickins differential. So we don't seem to be too bad at this, there must be some decent method there within the madness!

We have the 18th best differential at scores from stoppages, so that is a big problem.

And the 17th best differential for scores from turnover, another huge issue.

Scores from defensive half we are 16th best in terms of differential.

Scores from forward half we have the 18th best differential.

Scores from centre bounce we have the 15th best differential.

We are ranked 8th in the AFL for contested marks, which may or may not go some way to explaining why we seem to go long to a contest a fair bit.

We are currently sitting 18th for uncontested possession, which probably tells us our synergy is relatively poor, but we might expect that given how seldom our current team has played together compared to opposition teams.

We are currently just a bad team and just don't score. How many scores happen from kick ins

I think of the others as needing to be fixed via the draft and experience.

Point 1, 2, 3 & 5 are all midfield related with our lack of skill and composure. Hopefully we've fixed most of that in last years draft.

Point 3 I think we still need a running mate for Banks and more development into him, Brown and Trainor.

Point 4 hopefully we have the players there now with Alger, Campbell, Faull, Armstrong, Hotton, Sims & Lalor and just need to develop the defensive game.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

Other teams are ready for it every time. They just surround the contest, wait for the ball to spill and they’re away. It’s killing us but as it’s the easy option it’ll keep happening until we have the players willing and able to take the game on.

 

[Tiger V]

forward line that is not able to compete in the air and we bomb it long and keep doing it all day FFS

 

[Do the Dew]

We are the 7th highest ranked team for scoring from kickins. And we are the 7th best team at preventing scores from kickins. Overall we are ranked 6th best for scores from kickins differential. So we don't seem to be too bad at this, there must be some decent method there within the madness!

We have the 18th best differential at scores from stoppages, so that is a big problem.

And the 17th best differential for scores from turnover, another huge issue.

Scores from defensive half we are 16th best in terms of differential.

Scores from forward half we have the 18th best differential.

Scores from centre bounce we have the 15th best differential.

We are ranked 8th in the AFL for contested marks, which may or may not go some way to explaining why we seem to go long to a contest a fair bit.

We are currently sitting 18th for uncontested possession, which probably tells us our synergy is relatively poor, but we might expect that given how seldom our current team has played together compared to opposition teams.

I'm starting to sound like a MB collingwood supporter just going on the eyes test and the vibes. Need to get back to my statistical roots.

 

[sregit]

We can each pin point what we see as the problem and show examples of us being forced down the line. Our failure to use the corridor and to protect the corridor is horrendous and slow ball movement now seems ingrained. So what is evident is we are setting up incorrectly and this boils down to coaching or players incapable of following instructions. Yze and crew I think, are interim. We will continue to draft and turn the list over but if we see little to no improvement by the end of 2026, the jungle drums will start to beat and our coaching team will also be turned over. Sadly our senior players seem to be some of the worst offenders of our slow ball movement and need to be instructed to set examples of better faster ball movement. The clock is ticking for these older guys and if they don’t start to buy into a better ball movement. We should move them on ASAP.

 

[RockJobster0312]

Great work Michaels - I thoroughly enjoy your breakdown.

I think that for some there is an unrealistic expectation that you can put in a game plan and the structures that are the integral part of that game plan in one pre-season.

As both Adam Simpson and Chris Fagan have pointed out, it really takes three seasons at least for a new game plan to be fully implemented. It may be longer when a team has so much inexperience.

What we are seeing is probably a bare basic/ dumbed down form of our structures. For a lot of these players it’s like going from basic maths to algebra. It takes steps that you build from one to another. This takes time. You don’t go from being able to do basic addition and subtractions to complex calculus in one summer. McQualter has said the similar about West Coast, Clarkson at North etc. I’ve yet to see a young, rebuilding team be able to play the finished product straight away, and do it consistently both in games and between games.

Structures fall down very quickly when just one player is caught out of position, or respond to slow, or over commits, or under commits. Young players are most susceptible to these errors, and a team full of them it’s almost guaranteed.

A young team means a basic game plan, which flows on to a relative difficulty in being able to adapt it. Two teams have been mentioned here specifically in relation to game plan/ structure etc. Collingwood who are the most experienced team in the competition by a fair way; and the Crows who is now entering their fifth year as the under Matthew Nicks

Matthew Nicks

Age

50

Ht

187cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.6

3star

K

9.4

4star

HB

4.2

3star

M

4.1

4star

T

1.7

4star

G

0.7

4star

No current season stats available

D

6.6

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

2.2

3star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.4

3star

. Both clearly in a better position in both experience and game plan development to adapt; both between games and more importantly, within games.

Case in point is defensively, how we sag off the man on the mark by five or so meters. No other team does that; and in an age where pressure is king it seems counter intuitive. The whole idea is to protect the corridor by giving more time for the team to move itself into position to protect the corridor. This comes at the expense of pressure. How often have we seen teams be able to draw a man and overlap when the ball is in motion against us? The tactic won’t work every time (in fact it doesn’t) but it’s got a higher chance of success than the standard as this point in time.

The forward structure is just as obvious. The amount of time that Lynch is 1 v 3, and when he ain’t it’s 4 v 4 because the likes of Faull and others haven’t spaced away from Lynch is obvious. Yet one of the hardest things for players to understand - as any coach of a team sport will tell you - is spacing. Players are sucked to the ball, or one of the spacing triangle falls down (player, ball, teammate). It’s no surprise that our forward structure looks so poor when the vast majority of players have played less than 20 games (Bauer, LeFau, Sims, Green, Faull, Armstrong, Fawcett, Alger). Even the likes of Campbell (who is by far the best at it) and Mansell (who I don’t think is personally) have only played 30 or so games (Mansell played more but mostly as a back pocket).

I go back to the following quarters: Q3 and Q4 v Carlton. Q3 v Suns. Q1 and Q3 v Giants as showing a glimpse as to what the finished game plan product may look like. It’s there under the surface, but it’s going to take a lot longer than half the year we’ve seen for it to shine through more consistently.

I don’t know if Yze is the answer or is just an interim in our long journey of rebuilding. And there are some things that shit me no end (how slow we are to move the ball; especially on turnover peeves me [I think this is a major factor in the lack of corridor use, first thing teams are taught on defensive transition is to protect the corridor so slow movement = easier for opponents to protect the corridor]) but what I do strongly believe is that Yze needs time (Nicks in his fifth year and Adelaide last year were poor offensively) and that it won’t be linear.

 

[Michaels]

Great work Michaels - I thoroughly enjoy your breakdown.

I think that for some there is an unrealistic expectation that you can put in a game plan and the structures that are the integral part of that game plan in one pre-season.

As both Adam Simpson and Chris Fagan have pointed out, it really takes three seasons at least for a new game plan to be fully implemented. It may be longer when a team has so much inexperience.

What we are seeing is probably a bare basic/ dumbed down form of our structures. For a lot of these players it’s like going from basic maths to algebra. It takes steps that you build from one to another. This takes time. You don’t go from being able to do basic addition and subtractions to complex calculus in one summer. McQualter has said the similar about West Coast, Clarkson at North etc. I’ve yet to see a young, rebuilding team be able to play the finished product straight away, and do it consistently both in games and between games.

Structures fall down very quickly when just one player is caught out of position, or respond to slow, or over commits, or under commits. Young players are most susceptible to these errors, and a team full of them it’s almost guaranteed.

A young team means a basic game plan, which flows on to a relative difficulty in being able to adapt it. Two teams have been mentioned here specifically in relation to game plan/ structure etc. Collingwood who are the most experienced team in the competition by a fair way; and the Crows who is now entering their fifth year as the under Matthew Nicks. Both clearly in a better position in both experience and game plan development to adapt; both between games and more importantly, within games.

Case in point is defensively, how we sag off the man on the mark by five or so meters. No other team does that; and in an age where pressure is king it seems counter intuitive. The whole idea is to protect the corridor by giving more time for the team to move itself into position to protect the corridor. This comes at the expense of pressure. How often have we seen teams be able to draw a man and overlap when the ball is in motion against us? The tactic won’t work every time (in fact it doesn’t) but it’s got a higher chance of success than the standard as this point in time.

The forward structure is just as obvious. The amount of time that Lynch is 1 v 3, and when he ain’t it’s 4 v 4 because the likes of Faull and others haven’t spaced away from Lynch is obvious. Yet one of the hardest things for players to understand - as any coach of a team sport will tell you - is spacing. Players are sucked to the ball, or one of the spacing triangle falls down (player, ball, teammate). It’s no surprise that our forward structure looks so poor when the vast majority of players have played less than 20 games (Bauer, LeFau, Sims, Green, Faull, Armstrong, Fawcett, Alger). Even the likes of Campbell (who is by far the best at it) and Mansell (who I don’t think is personally) have only played 30 or so games (Mansell played more but mostly as a back pocket).

I go back to the following quarters: Q3 and Q4 v Carlton. Q3 v Suns. Q1 and Q3 v Giants as showing a glimpse as to what the finished game plan product may look like. It’s there under the surface, but it’s going to take a lot longer than half the year we’ve seen for it to shine through more consistently.

I don’t know if Yze is the answer or is just an interim in our long journey of rebuilding. And there are some things that shit me no end (how slow we are to move the ball; especially on turnover peeves me [I think this is a major factor in the lack of corridor use, first thing teams are taught on defensive transition is to protect the corridor so slow movement = easier for opponents to protect the corridor]) but what I do strongly believe is that Yze needs time (Nicks in his fifth year and Adelaide last year were poor offensively) and that it won’t be linear.

the bolded part is exactly what we are seeing in a nutshell, perfect summary.

I would be more alarmed if we are sitting here round 16 2026 seeing and doing the exact same things with no variation however.

 

[Michaels]

Other teams are ready for it every time. They just surround the contest, wait for the ball to spill and they’re away. It’s killing us but as it’s the easy option it’ll keep happening until we have the players willing and able to take the game on.

they just don't have it instinctively built in yet do they.

Whereas Crows players were on auto mode getting into those positions being a lot more experienced at what they are wanting to execute.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

they just don't have it instinctively built in yet do they.

Whereas Crows players were on auto mode getting into those positions being a lot more experienced at what they are wanting to execute.

crows also barely had an injury all year, consistent line-up is a massive bonus as well

 

[Maurice Mitchell]

Yze still expecting Gawn to take a mark.

 

[tigerdan]

I remember 2016 when we played shit like this. Then in the last (or was it second last) game it was obvious that Hardwick went "ok, just do whatever". Suddenly we were attacking the corridor, running fast, and oppo teams had real trouble with us.

I know it's dangerous to kick to the corridor because if the oppo mark it, it's a straight shot at goal but ****, this kick to the pocket thing is like the dark, boring, Malthouse era. No one wants to watch that shit.

 

[RockJobster0312]

I remember 2016 when we played shit like this. Then in the last (or was it second last) game it was obvious that Hardwick went "ok, just do whatever". Suddenly we were attacking the corridor, running fast, and oppo teams had real trouble with us.

I know it's dangerous to kick to the corridor because if the oppo mark it, it's a straight shot at goal but ****, this kick to the pocket thing is like the dark, boring, Malthouse era. No one wants to watch that shit.

Think your memory may be off.

Second last game we lost to the saints by like 10 points and scored less than 50.

Last game we got smashed by Sydney by over 100…

 

[tiger_tough]

Cos we have no one that can run and carry outside of Banks and sometimes Ralphsmith.

 

[sanaya]

they kick it long down the line because they listen to the advice i've been yelling from the stands for decades whenever they take a mark in the defensive half

 

[SunshineBoy]

We don't go through the corridor enough and we barely look to cut off the switch kick, our forward press/zone defense is not up to standard.

This is coaching in my opinion, or our players are just incapable of doing it, which I don't think is true.

Full on its coaching , im of the opinion that they just run laps at training , no simulation work at all

 

[Tigeral]

I'd like to see the stat for the average number of players in our forward line at the time of entry. I'd bet that we are ranked number 1! (Highest number)

 

[tigerdan]

Think your memory may be off.

Second last game we lost to the saints by like 10 points and scored less than 50.

Last game we got smashed by Sydney by over 100…

Three premierships will do that to a guy's memory!