Apex36
Hall of Famer
- Mar 26, 2014
- 39,098
- 81,696
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
You know it’s possible to have a 7 man defence without taking a player from the forward line, yeah? Your first two sentences are nonsense.Saying that we always play 5 v 7 basically means that every other side in the comp is also playing a 5 man forward. Otherwise it would be 5 v 6.
So it's not like we are doing anything other teams aren't.
I just don't think it suits us. For a number of reasons
1. We typically use our spare around the ball or off the back of the square. This means we really don't get that much of an outnumber in defence anyway. Our midfield is good enough to go head to head, so I don't see the reason for getting more numbers around the ball
2. We haven't had a line-breaking half back like other teams. So if we allow opposition the spare men, they are likely to be more effective than us. We have guys like Howe, Scharenberg, Langdon, Dunn who are all good peel-off intercept markers...but not a lot of foot-speed.
3. We don't have a hulking Full Forward who can compete or draw the extra defenders to even up the contest at ground level. So defenders just sag off and kill the contest. If for example we get Tom Lynch, he'll draw 2 or 3 in the air, which immediately gets rid of the outnumber at ground level.
If I were coach, I'd be going a 6,6,6 structure. If opposition drop a spare back, I'd still hold the structure because I reckon 6 v 7 isn't that big an advantage anyway. Especially if we Mason Cox can start drawing some opponents. And then we still get an outnumber by 1 in defence.
I'd also be using Varcoe permanently in defence unless Sam Murray can break through. I think Varcoe and Crisp offers some good drive, while Scharenberg and Howe are good intercept marks/ball users.
Then I just back in our mids. We don't need to bolster this area of the ground because it's where all our talent lies. Surely they can win their own footy, even if the opposition are trying to outnumber around stoppages.