Autopsy Clearances and the quick kick

[gbatman]

It wasn't that long ago that we we were a hopeless clearance team and were easy pickings for any midfield that wanted it enough to run all over us. Now we're winning the clearances but not capitalising on it at all.

We've gone out of our way to find some big bidied midfielders but by doing so have sacrificed skills and run as we've fixed this problem with "incomplete" players and created other problems.

I thought the Richmond game was a great example of how badly we use it after we get our hands on it at stoppages.

Some teams throw it around with handball and look to get it on the end of a runner but that's just not us. I don't know if that's because we aren't good enough or because it's not in our game plan but we don't clear it cleanly by hand very often.

We tend to be the team that throws it on the boot and gets a quick kick forward which I'm ok with but the quality of those quick kicks is deplorable.

Thursday night was a great example of just how bad we are when we clear the ball. Guys like Robinson, Mclean, Bell and Curnow they get nothing on their 'quick kicks'. Some of Robinson's quick kicks go straight up, Bell's go anywhere and Curnow and Mclean are lucky to get over 30 meters on their kicks out of stoppages. They don't often have the composure to hang onto it and work it out with handball which is fine but if you're going to have the throw it on the boot quickly without looking then it has to be a long kick and it can't be a low kick. These guys are lucky to get 30 meters on these kicks.

Richmond were able to just put numbers back and take uncontested marks one after the other because our quick kicks were too short or they were low and flat or they went to ridiculous areas. Everitt threw one on the boot late in the game and it went 50-60 meters to a dangerous area and we scored off it.

If this is how we are going to clear the ball then we need to get better at and start getting the ball going longer and spending more time in the air. We need to set up better for it and our players need to make more effort to get to it and bring it to ground when it goes down an opposition player's throat.

Either this or we start using handball a lot more though this would require more skills than we appear to have and require more runners than we appear to have in the middle or we start improving the quick clearing kick.

 

[BM123]

We had success with the quick torp a few times last night but I think our handball work around the stoppages need to improve dramatically. We were a bit flat footed as well and I'd like our mids to be moving a bit around the stoppages to get players free once we win the tap out.

 

[FRUMPY]

I think it was murphy after the game saying they werent happy with their first half and in particular kicking it to their +1 in our forward line. So its not by design but a bit panicky. 2nd half showed more composure and adherence to the game plan. It happened alot towards the end of the 1st quarter but i had the feeling mick had put a couple behind the play and was happy not to let them score rather than us scoring.

Gibbs does it alot with little dinky 20m kicks, judd normally handballs it 15 meters to nobody. Murphy normally handballs it rather than kick and shows his class inside. Even if it is a plan then our forwards have to play in front and be ready for it. too many times they are 2nd to the ball on a quick kick.

 

[chunkylover53]

Can't really figure out why MM likes this tactic.

Problem is - we drafted for Rattens game plan, we have quick running players on the outside who can get on the end of handballs. When Judd had no help we got smashed in the midfield and lost clearances.

Now I think we have gone the complete opposite and have too many big bodied mids and slam it on the boot to get it forward - a good plan if we had a monster KPF. But we win the clearances.

Really wouldn't mind a balance of both.

Surely MM would know this plan probably won't take us to the top.

 

[BM123]

All comes back to replacing some of our lesser lights in my opinion.

Hope to replace Mclean and Robinson with younger guys with better disposal.

 

[95blues]

We had success with the quick torp a few times last night but I think our handball work around the stoppages need to improve dramatically. We were a bit flat footed as well and I'd like our mids to be moving a bit around the stoppages to get players free once we win the tap out.

Bingo.

 

[thylacine60]

Show me Geelong and Hawthorn players who regularly throw the ball onto the boot in panic and I'll show you…………..oh never mind……………..

 

[95blues]

I think it was murphy after the game saying they werent happy with their first half and in particular kicking it to their +1 in our forward line. So its not by design but a bit panicky. 2nd half showed more composure and adherence to the game plan. It happened alot towards the end of the 1st quarter but i had the feeling mick had put a couple behind the play and was happy not to let them score rather than us scoring.

Gibbs does it alot with little dinky 20m kicks, judd normally handballs it 15 meters to nobody. Murphy normally handballs it rather than kick and shows his class inside. Even if it is a plan then our forwards have to play in front and be ready for it. too many times they are 2nd to the ball on a quick kick.

It always baffles me why people say that.

Throughout his career he has always done it, and I'd say 7 out of 10 times it always lands in front of a running team mate.

The problem at Carlton is there is so little actual team work or communication going on around the stoppages that there is generally nobody there. Every team we play has a guy or two standing outside for the release handpass... but our guys just mob the footy and try to force it on the boot ASAP.

I remember the days when we used to see some beautiful handball chains out of the middle leading to a controlled and accurate forward 50 entry.

Sigh.

 

[BM123]

Show me Geelong and Hawthorn players who regularly throw the ball onto the boot in panic and I'll show you…………..oh never mind……………..

Varcoe when he is pissing himself ?

 

[pepalenko]

I miss Greg Williams

 

[BM123]

I think it was murphy after the game saying they werent happy with their first half and in particular kicking it to their +1 in our forward line. So its not by design but a bit panicky. 2nd half showed more composure and adherence to the game plan. It happened alot towards the end of the 1st quarter but i had the feeling mick had put a couple behind the play and was happy not to let them score rather than us scoring.

Gibbs does it alot with little dinky 20m kicks, judd normally handballs it 15 meters to nobody. Murphy normally handballs it rather than kick and shows his class inside. Even if it is a plan then our forwards have to play in front and be ready for it. too many times they are 2nd to the ball on a quick kick.

45% of Judd's clearances led to scoring shots last year. Not too many better at making something out of nothing with his clearance work.

 

[thylacine60]

I miss Greg Williams

I am Greg Williams. And so are my wife.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

When we play our +1 around the stoppages it just makes no sense to quickly and blindly bomb the ball forward to a position where the opposition have there +1 advantage.

Surely it ain't that hard to work out that at a stoppage if we have a 6 vs 5 advantage we need to use that advantage by releasing each other instead of kicking it blindly to a 1 against 2 or 2 against 3 situation.

 

[gbatman]

I think the problem is who is getting the ball in close Robbo & Bell (tend to throw it on the boot but not get the distance often enough for it to be useful) and Mclean (slow to get rid of it and often caught and can't kick over a jam tin). Elimination final last year it was Gibbs who often got his hands free and was composed, often it's Judd who does use it well in close, Carrazzo is one of our better players in close too, never panics, often choses to handball and does so successfully.

Again, no problem throwing the ball on the boot out of a clearance but the quality of those kicks is terrible. It simply needs to go longer. We do also need a CHF which we haven't had until Wait got a run there later in the Richmond game. The lack of effort of our players forward of the ball to force a contest and stop an opposition player from marking is terrible.

Game plans are much of a muchness it doesn't matter what you're doing as long as you're doing it well and we are not.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I miss Greg Williams

Still suspended over the umpire thing I take it. Starting to think he might not make it back.

 

[Faz 2000]

Our team lacks poise. As a unit, we make poor, panicky decisions from the last line of defense (quick hack up the middle) to the attacking goalsquare (see Garlett's cowardly, primary-school goal kicking attempts). And yes, definitely in the middle. Judd is the player he is because he wins contested ball, takes the pressure, and still does something creative with the ball. His clearance handballing is vastly underrated and a superb skill. We really have nobody else who can really deliver whilst taking the heat.

 

[goreds]

All comes back to replacing some of our lesser lights in my opinion.

Hope to replace Mclean and Robinson with younger guys with better disposal.

This...

If the kids play well in the 2's they will get a shot next week...!

 

[No1Suspect]

Our team lacks poise. As a unit, we make poor, panicky decisions from the last line of defense (quick hack up the middle) to the attacking goalsquare (see Garlett's cowardly, primary-school goal kicking attempts). And yes, definitely in the middle. Judd is the player he is because he wins contested ball, takes the pressure, and still does something creative with the ball. His clearance handballing is vastly underrated and a superb skill. We really have nobody else who can really deliver whilst taking the heat.

That cripps kid ticks a few of those boxes, just wish he was a few years older and the gap between Judd and himself wasn't quite as big, hopefully he is following his every move at training around the stoppages!

 

[ShanDog]

I agree with a lot of what has already been said.

If we want to go with the quick kicks out of clearances that's fine, but how about we actually set up so the opposition isn't alone 35m forward of the contest every time?

Would rather see us work it out by hand but this requires even more of our players. They all need to run and move around the stoppages with the mindset of receiving the ball and running it out. Requires a LOT of cohesion and skill in close to give quick hands or pick up loose balls cleanly. Not sure if we have the cattle for that until some key guys come back like Judd and Carrazzo. Bell doesn't have the polish yet, McLean is out of sorts and Robbo... well who knows what he will do with it when he grabs it...

 

[ODNBlue]

Anyone watching the Hawthorn/Essendon* game last night would know that when the pressure ramped up, Hawthorn was throwing the ball onto the boot from inside the pack (and inside the 50) only to find their opposition camped on Half Forward. This is what happens under pressure. And to all teams. The real question is whether Robbo et al. are always under pressure or is it just perceived.

Either way, this happens to even the best of clubs.

 

[BlueTongue]

It always baffles me why people say that.

Throughout his career he has always done it, and I'd say 7 out of 10 times it always lands in front of a running team mate.

The problem at Carlton is there is so little actual team work or communication going on around the stoppages that there is generally nobody there. Every team we play has a guy or two standing outside for the release handpass... but our guys just mob the footy and try to force it on the boot ASAP.

I remember the days when we used to see some beautiful handball chains out of the middle leading to a controlled and accurate forward 50 entry.

Sigh.

Spot-on. Sooo many times we see two or three just waiting for it to come to them when they could have gone and got it themselves. Add that to the uncertainty of where to deliver it when they have the ball... Whatever happened to shepherding & running it down in packs?

 

[Beer n Skittles]

Our team lacks poise. As a unit, we make poor, panicky decisions from the last line of defense (quick hack up the middle) to the attacking goalsquare (see Garlett's cowardly, primary-school goal kicking attempts). And yes, definitely in the middle. Judd is the player he is because he wins contested ball, takes the pressure, and still does something creative with the ball. His clearance handballing is vastly underrated and a superb skill. We really have nobody else who can really deliver whilst taking the heat.

Annoying thing is Carlton were excellent at mopping up and rebounding from defence last year. Now Simmo is doing a different job while also spending time in the midfield, and Walker being suspended doesn't help.

 

[gbatman]

Hawks/Essendon game last night was good to compare it to. It was very high pressure and both teams were still using handball a lot more than us. When they threw it on the boot they were better set up for it up the ground and they got far more purchase on their kicks than we do. Every stoppage we need to be setup X amount of distance up the field from it which we aren't doing overly well and we need to put the pressure on our players to kick the ball the required distance so it's not going down the lose man's throat all the time.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Hawks/Essendon game last night was good to compare it to. It was very high pressure and both teams were still using handball a lot more than us. When they threw it on the boot they were better set up for it up the ground and they got far more purchase on their kicks than we do. Every stoppage we need to be setup X amount of distance up the field from it which we aren't doing overly well and we need to put the pressure on our players to kick the ball the required distance so it's not going down the lose man's throat all the time.

Probably avoided kicking it with their shins and ankles....

 

[LanceRomance]

This...

If the kids play well in the 2's they will get a shot next week...!

why was Mclean so unhappy?