Defence

[Tas]

Currently on the ladder after 10 games played we are in third spot for least points conceded with 758, with the only two ahead of us being Swans at #1 with 697 and Fremantle #2 with 711. Port is #4 behind us on 760, Collingwood #6 with 763 and West Coast #7 with 767.

It is interesting that us up against other defensive teams we have four of the five games.

Will be interesting to see how it pans out in the second half of the season.

 

[Benno_900]

You have a tendency to be negative so I'm just going to assume you're implying we will struggle to beat the worst defensive teams.

 

[Heaps of fun]

In our wins our back 6 have been terrific.

 

[NO_CSG]

Currently on the ladder after 10 games played we are in third spot for least points conceded with 758, with the only two ahead of us being Swans at #1 with 697 and Fremantle #2 with 711. Port is #4 behind us on 760, Collingwood #6 with 763 and West Coast #7 with 767.

It is interesting that us up against other defensive teams we have four of the five games.

Will be interesting to see how it pans out in the second half of the season.

I want to see less land of the giants like against GC, and more run and rebound like we saw against WC.

 

[Tas]

I want to see less land of the giants like against GC, and more run and rebound like we saw against WC.

There hasn't been radical change to the side, the GC side had Grima(injured), Tippett(injured) and McKenzie while the WC side had Swallow, Nahas and Anthony. McDonald was the sub vs GC, Anthony vs WC.

I don't think our balance down back was great with Tippett, Grima, Thompson, Hansen plus Firrito. We got cut up at ground level with Ablett kicking 4, Matera 3 and Bennell 2 which was half of their goals and they got a lot of goals from our errors.

I think the main problem in our backline is while Hansen is very good at the intercept marking he is hit or miss with the one-on-one, and got out-bodied in a marking contest by the midget LeCras. He may be tall but I don't think the coach is too happy to stick him on a tall forward and expect him to win a lot of 50/50 contests.

Tippett and Grima are a lot more accountable and I think in general we did okay against their key forwards. We just got shat on at ground level and we allowed them to get way too much inside 50 ball without much pressure on them delivering the ball.

At the end of the day it comes down to the contribution, against GC at least half the side was disappointing and didn't contribute much, against WC it was a better team effort. We have been struggling to get the consistent intensity and aggression in the midfield unit, the changes we make down back or up forward aren't going to do anything if the midfield do not function properly.

 

[NO_CSG]

Well IMO you can't pressure the ball coming in when you have so many plodders across HB, and once it is in there you cannot run it out with any speed or fluency and apply pressure going the other way.

Our mids were left scrambling all day because we fielded possibly the slowest side I have seen in the last 2 years, against one of the quickest teams in the league.

 

[shinboner magic]

When our mids pressure from the start of games we are hard to score against.

Really think like the OP that we only need three Big body players down back.
Against one of the most dangerous forward lines and we made them look like kids.

Defence is a state of mind---- we need to bring that mindset to gives a chance

 

[Twinkletoes]

Defence the fine line between North Melbourne's pleasure and pain

June 2, 2014 - 5:55PM

Rohan Connolly
Senior AFL writer for The Age

The difference for the Kangaroos has been their defence.

North Melbourne is starting to realise just how fine a line can exist between success and failure. And the Roos’ opponent this weekend, Richmond, knows a bit about it, too.

Right now, the two clubs couldn’t seem further apart. The Kangaroos, after their second successful road trip to Perth in the space of five games, are sitting a game clear in eighth spot and - scheduled to meet just two of the current top eight in the run home - are well placed to be part of September.

That’s where Richmond was supposed to be. But 2014 is rapidly turning into a nightmare. The Tigers are 13th with just three wins, 12 points outside the eight, and facing North, Fremantle and Sydney over the next three weeks, are every chance of being 3-10 with only nine games left to play or, in other words, kaput.

Solid: Lachie Hansen is proving a handy intercept player in North's defence. Photo: Getty Images

But the two sides whose aspirations to climb the ladder have often seen them compared in recent seasons have in one sense trod similar paths, the Roos turning what last year often were heartbreaking losses into victories into 2014. That’s what Richmond did in 2013.

The Tigers started last year coming off a classic “what if” season. In 2012, they’d lost eight games by 19 points or less, three by under a goal. Last season, perhaps driven by that anguish, those narrow defeats became victories in the quest for a first finals appearance since 2001, one ultimately realised.

A year on, it’s North Melbourne’s turn. The Roos last year finished on the end of even more close shaves than the Tigers the season previous, no fewer than 10 games lost by 16 points or less, including five by under a goal. For all the despair, it also meant coach Brad Scott didn’t need to tweak the formula too much to make a substantial difference, and that’s how 2014 is panning out.

Almost perversely, the Roos’ numbers and rankings in a majority of key statistical indicators have actually regressed. But the area in which they have improved most significantly - points conceded - is making an enormous difference to their fortunes.

Indeed, the Kangaroos could be this year’s poster boy for the importance of defence in modern AFL football.

Sunday night’s win over West Coast was the fifth time from 10 games that North has kept its opponent to eight goals or less. Last season, the Roos ranked only eighth for fewest points conceded, giving up an average 87.7 per game. At the moment, they’re ranked third at an average 75.8.

That has been more than enough to offset a forward setup that has been far less productive than in 2013, North’s points scored ranking falling from third to 12th.

In fact, the Roos have dropped an average 21 points a game on last season’s output, Drew Petrie having struggled, and Lindsay Thomas the only forward to average any more than a goal a game.

The back six, led by Scott Thompson, a handy intercept player in Lachie Hansen and the rebound of Nick Dal Santo, is dealing with a lot more inside 50s this season, but repelling them far better. North ranks first for fewest scores and goals conceded per opposition forward entry.

That’s also a tribute to the defensive work of the midfield. And the usual suspects such as Brent Harvey, Jack Ziebell and Ben Cunnington have been supplemented by the continued improvement of Sam Gibson and Levi Greenwood, the latter over the past month ranked equal seventh in the AFL for disposals and 11th for contested possessions.

Contested ball is a great barometer for the Roos in 2014. When they have won, their differential ranking has been plus 14.7 and No.1. In their four losses, it’s slipped to negative 18.8 and 18th, as great a disparity as you can get.

That inconsistency has been North Melbourne’s one bugbear in 2014, now having alternated between winning and losing for the last seven games.

Coach Scott would love nothing more than to end that sequence this week. And against a side perhaps wistfully seeing its own 2013 reflection in the Kangaroos of today, you’d have to fancy its chances of doing so.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...re-and-pain-20140602-zrvdy.html#ixzz33XtARZ2F

RoCo's all over our improvement defensively.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Defence the fine line between North Melbourne's pleasure and pain

June 2, 2014 - 5:55PM

Rohan Connolly
Senior AFL writer for The Age

The difference for the Kangaroos has been their defence.

North Melbourne is starting to realise just how fine a line can exist between success and failure. And the Roos’ opponent this weekend, Richmond, knows a bit about it, too.

Right now, the two clubs couldn’t seem further apart. The Kangaroos, after their second successful road trip to Perth in the space of five games, are sitting a game clear in eighth spot and - scheduled to meet just two of the current top eight in the run home - are well placed to be part of September.

That’s where Richmond was supposed to be. But 2014 is rapidly turning into a nightmare. The Tigers are 13th with just three wins, 12 points outside the eight, and facing North, Fremantle and Sydney over the next three weeks, are every chance of being 3-10 with only nine games left to play or, in other words, kaput.

Solid: Lachie Hansen is proving a handy intercept player in North's defence. Photo: Getty Images

But the two sides whose aspirations to climb the ladder have often seen them compared in recent seasons have in one sense trod similar paths, the Roos turning what last year often were heartbreaking losses into victories into 2014. That’s what Richmond did in 2013.

The Tigers started last year coming off a classic “what if” season. In 2012, they’d lost eight games by 19 points or less, three by under a goal. Last season, perhaps driven by that anguish, those narrow defeats became victories in the quest for a first finals appearance since 2001, one ultimately realised.

A year on, it’s North Melbourne’s turn. The Roos last year finished on the end of even more close shaves than the Tigers the season previous, no fewer than 10 games lost by 16 points or less, including five by under a goal. For all the despair, it also meant coach Brad Scott didn’t need to tweak the formula too much to make a substantial difference, and that’s how 2014 is panning out.

Almost perversely, the Roos’ numbers and rankings in a majority of key statistical indicators have actually regressed. But the area in which they have improved most significantly - points conceded - is making an enormous difference to their fortunes.

Indeed, the Kangaroos could be this year’s poster boy for the importance of defence in modern AFL football.

Sunday night’s win over West Coast was the fifth time from 10 games that North has kept its opponent to eight goals or less. Last season, the Roos ranked only eighth for fewest points conceded, giving up an average 87.7 per game. At the moment, they’re ranked third at an average 75.8.

That has been more than enough to offset a forward setup that has been far less productive than in 2013, North’s points scored ranking falling from third to 12th.

In fact, the Roos have dropped an average 21 points a game on last season’s output, Drew Petrie having struggled, and Lindsay Thomas the only forward to average any more than a goal a game.

The back six, led by Scott Thompson, a handy intercept player in Lachie Hansen and the rebound of Nick Dal Santo, is dealing with a lot more inside 50s this season, but repelling them far better. North ranks first for fewest scores and goals conceded per opposition forward entry.

That’s also a tribute to the defensive work of the midfield. And the usual suspects such as Brent Harvey, Jack Ziebell and Ben Cunnington have been supplemented by the continued improvement of Sam Gibson and Levi Greenwood, the latter over the past month ranked equal seventh in the AFL for disposals and 11th for contested possessions.

Contested ball is a great barometer for the Roos in 2014. When they have won, their differential ranking has been plus 14.7 and No.1. In their four losses, it’s slipped to negative 18.8 and 18th, as great a disparity as you can get.

That inconsistency has been North Melbourne’s one bugbear in 2014, now having alternated between winning and losing for the last seven games.

Coach Scott would love nothing more than to end that sequence this week. And against a side perhaps wistfully seeing its own 2013 reflection in the Kangaroos of today, you’d have to fancy its chances of doing so.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...re-and-pain-20140602-zrvdy.html#ixzz33XtARZ2F

RoCo's all over our improvement defensively.

Good article Toes, thanks for posting.

I found this bit the most interesting:

Contested ball is a great barometer for the Roos in 2014. When they have won, their differential ranking has been plus 14.7 and No.1. In their four losses, it’s slipped to negative 18.8 and 18th, as great a disparity as you can get.

Huge discrepancy. When we go bad in the contested work our defensive set up still holds up well enough but obviously they are under much more pressure, so kudos to the set up and the work put in there. When the contested ball is up we win, so combine the two and, well, wow.

 

[NO_CSG]

Good article Toes, thanks for posting.

I found this bit the most interesting:

Huge discrepancy. When we go bad in the contested work our defensive set up still holds up well enough but obviously they are under much more pressure, so kudos to the set up and the work put in there. When the contested ball is up we win, so combine the two and, well, wow.

You would think applying pressure and contested ball is simply a matter of work rate, but there have been times this year where you can see the guys are busting a gut, but just can't lay a finger on the opposition.

I am not completely sold on our setups just yet.

The center square clearance situation is still an abomination at times.

 

[NO_CSG]

Just to add to it as well, I heard RC on Sen and he pointed out that the teams which have hurt us badly have been those prepared to chip it around (or those who are good at it).

 

[GarnerSmash]

Just to add to it as well, I heard RC on Sen and he pointed out that the teams which have hurt us badly have been those prepared to chip it around (or those who are good at it).

The response to that is to pack the defensive half and smash em on the turnover. Unfortunately we have not been confident enough to do that too much. We get the turnover and then look to play safe, as per the * game.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Aaron Black is averaging over a goal a game as well.

 

[Event Horizon]

The response to that is to pack the defensive half and smash em on the turnover. Unfortunately we have not been confident enough to do that too much. We get the turnover and then look to play safe, as per the * game.

I also heard RC on SEN last night, and he did say that we seem to struggle against precise teams and do well against long kicking teams. Which would imply we'd struggle against Hawthorn.

I wouldn't read too much into it. The simple fact is, if our midfield brings intensity and workrate, we beat almost anybody. If they don't, we lose to almost anybody. Simple as that.

 

[Tas]

I also heard RC on SEN last night, and he did say that we seem to struggle against precise teams and do well against long kicking teams. Which would imply we'd struggle against Hawthorn.

I wouldn't read too much into it. The simple fact is, if our midfield brings intensity and workrate, we beat almost anybody. If they don't, we lose to almost anybody. Simple as that.

Anyone can hit targets if you sag off and give them time to hit up loose options in space. If you make them dispose of the ball in a hurry and everyone is manned up you rush your kicks and you bang it long more in hope than by system, even Hawthorn.