In 2015, the Eagles introduced the Team or Zone Defence or as Gerard Healy called it, the Eagles Web.
In 2016, Western Bulldogs had the handball/throw to excess and focus on speed and the contested game.
In 2017, Richmond again focused on speed but prioritised manic forward pressure.
What will Simpson and his merry men be dreaming up this summer? To answer that, we look at who has come off the list, who has come on the list, who we get coming back from injury and where we will be playing.
12 off the list:
10 on the list:
A new stadium that will be wider but a bit shorter than Subiaco meaning we need to be able to use it wide and we need to spread so that we can use the central corridor for speed and with confidence. That means we will need to improve in endurance, be able to run out 4 quarters and again prioritising using the ball to effect and not turning the thing over.
The recruitment team have had their say. In the draft, they went for speed and endurance as well as clean skills (priority by foot). I guess Ainsworth was prioritised to Constable who lacked speed and endurance and Worpel who can be ugly in disposal and not fast.
I expect the brains trust will be hard at work to come up with a brand of football that will take the club forward.
If we are planning this newer style, we need to be patient as I believe the high number of changes to the list will mean new people learning to play together as well as learning a new strategy. In addition, we have the most number of players yet to play at AFL meaning they are less experienced and need time to settle.
So some early tell signals that I will be watching out for:
1. Who gets prioritised in the pre-season to be included. I expect Ryan and Venables but the rest will be pretty open.
2. Whether the old crew of Le Cras, Masten and Mackenzie get an automatic gig (that crap of back in your players with credits in the bank)
3. Whether the youngsters that get a game are given a block of games or only a sniff (in 2016 I called Nelson the vibrator as he spent the season going in and out at rapid speed)
4. Our structure - will we be fast enough to adapt to smaller forward line oppositions or will we insist on playing with 3 talls indefence
5. How we go about with centre clearances and stoppages so that we will it more often and then get it to advantage. Examples: - (a) Redden and Sheed act more as first ball get, (b) Redden, Ah Chee and Nelson play more the blocking role for Shuey, Venables and our speedier mids, (c) Jetta and Yeo coming off the back of the square and hitting the contest at speed and expecting to be engaged early by the clearance team.
So with that in mind, I will catch up with Keys and Monocle on Wednesday morning and shoot the breeze as we take in the training session.
In 2016, Western Bulldogs had the handball/throw to excess and focus on speed and the contested game.
In 2017, Richmond again focused on speed but prioritised manic forward pressure.
What will Simpson and his merry men be dreaming up this summer? To answer that, we look at who has come off the list, who has come on the list, who we get coming back from injury and where we will be playing.
12 off the list:
- Those lacking speed - Priddis, Mitchell and to a lesser extent Petrie
- Those lacking clean skills - Wellingham
- Those lacking consistency (week to week as well as 4 quarters) - Hill, Lamb
- Those who's were ready to retire/leave for whatever other reason - Giles, Butler, Tunbridge, Snadden, Gorter and Brophy
10 on the list:
- A couple of KPP players that we could not resist and a project rusk: will take some years before ready - Brander, Allen and Olango
- Those with speed - Petruccelle, England and Burrows (plus Watson promoted to be able to play in 2018 as a rookie not cat B)
- Those with skills for the midfield - maybe Allen but realistically being Ah Chee, Ainsworth and Brayshaw
- Someone to kick goals and replace Le Cras - Ryan
A new stadium that will be wider but a bit shorter than Subiaco meaning we need to be able to use it wide and we need to spread so that we can use the central corridor for speed and with confidence. That means we will need to improve in endurance, be able to run out 4 quarters and again prioritising using the ball to effect and not turning the thing over.
The recruitment team have had their say. In the draft, they went for speed and endurance as well as clean skills (priority by foot). I guess Ainsworth was prioritised to Constable who lacked speed and endurance and Worpel who can be ugly in disposal and not fast.
I expect the brains trust will be hard at work to come up with a brand of football that will take the club forward.
If we are planning this newer style, we need to be patient as I believe the high number of changes to the list will mean new people learning to play together as well as learning a new strategy. In addition, we have the most number of players yet to play at AFL meaning they are less experienced and need time to settle.
So some early tell signals that I will be watching out for:
1. Who gets prioritised in the pre-season to be included. I expect Ryan and Venables but the rest will be pretty open.
2. Whether the old crew of Le Cras, Masten and Mackenzie get an automatic gig (that crap of back in your players with credits in the bank)
3. Whether the youngsters that get a game are given a block of games or only a sniff (in 2016 I called Nelson the vibrator as he spent the season going in and out at rapid speed)
4. Our structure - will we be fast enough to adapt to smaller forward line oppositions or will we insist on playing with 3 talls indefence
5. How we go about with centre clearances and stoppages so that we will it more often and then get it to advantage. Examples: - (a) Redden and Sheed act more as first ball get, (b) Redden, Ah Chee and Nelson play more the blocking role for Shuey, Venables and our speedier mids, (c) Jetta and Yeo coming off the back of the square and hitting the contest at speed and expecting to be engaged early by the clearance team.
So with that in mind, I will catch up with Keys and Monocle on Wednesday morning and shoot the breeze as we take in the training session.
