Game Plan & Team (long)

[Lach72]

Clarke has the attitude and also the rucking skills.

kicking is not too bad from what I have seen, either

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

I thought our game plan in the first 4 rounds suffered because we didn't get our hands on the pill -- as per the last 5 years.

I reckon Saturday night showed that if the best players play well then the team follows in its wake. Its not about skills, or speed and all that. Its mental. Pav played a blinder, Mundy followed suit, Roger spent more time around the ball, Luke was hard at it, and sudddenly we look a different side. We got to make Sydney look ordinary.

You could see the game plan had changed a bit from being handball happy to get it on the boot and clear the congestion. But the biggest change was winning the ball.

 

[BeinPurplenGreen]

I am saying Harvey/Bond appear to me to have homed in very hard on a core set of skills and have taken an uncompromising view in making sure we have targeted the Pace, Footy smarts, foot skills (goal kicking & execution), worker attitude.

Hill over Rich is the big one. However we followed up with Ballantyne, Suban over a lot of other players who were around - who would fit the profile of a good footballer but perhaps have suspect delivery by foot, who are not overly quick, football is not a natural game (normally late comers) or they are not goal kickers or they have suspect attitudes (Mitch Robinson by all accounts has a 5c head).

For example Clarke stands out as the exception - I think he has been picked for his height, athleticism and endurance.

The rest of the picks the same theme just kept coming ...Walters, Bucovaz, Ruffles & Hall. Size has not been a focus, ability to kick a goal has been.

I think you're being a bit hard on Clarke - his pace and foot skills are very good for a big fella, and what has really stood out for me is his footy smarts and hard working approach to the game. I reckon he's going to be just as good as Suban, Palmer and Hill - kind of like an MJ but with a more constant focus, aggresive attitude and better judgement and game sense.

Clarke has the attitude and also the rucking skills.
kicking is not too bad from what I have seen, either

Indeed - I think he's as hard working as Palmer and Suban. I'd put him quite a way in front of Walters in terms of work ethic at this stage. Hally and Ruf-ruff are also pretty hard at it, but I reckon Clarke has better judgement and footy nous.

Certainly a big improvement from Greedknock.

 

[theGav56]

I thought our game plan in the first 4 rounds suffered because we didn't get our hands on the pill -- as per the last 5 years.

I reckon Saturday night showed that if the best players play well then the team follows in its wake. Its not about skills, or speed and all that. Its mental. Pav played a blinder, Mundy followed suit, Roger spent more time around the ball, Luke was hard at it, and sudddenly we look a different side. We got to make Sydney look ordinary.

You could see the game plan had changed a bit from being handball happy to get it on the boot and clear the congestion. But the biggest change was winning the ball.

For me I think the game plan was almost as different from the previous 4 weeks as I could imagine; we played on faster, we delivered to the forward line with more assurance, we ran from defence, we did not become locked down in a zone structure requiring pinpoint disposal, we played one on one, we applied much better pressure at stoppages etc.

And there were significant changes to where the players were positioned as well, although of course we had seen some of it before; Thornton as a defensive forward (our forward structure was very different from anything we have seen this year), MJ as a forward/ruck, Pavlich in the middle for much more of the game than in the previous weeks, Tarrant as a defender specifically matched up on Goodes, Hayden as a forward etc. As a collection of changes that is almost open heart surgery to our player positioning from the previous weeks. And the positioning seemed assured and well planned almost as though the coaching staff had looked at Sydney and tried to figure out a game plan to take them on.

It was fantastic to see us win the clearances at last, but I think picking winning the ball as the biggest difference is a bit like saying kicking a higher score than them was the biggest difference.