Game styles

[im rick james dog]

I am very happy with the game plan Knights has implemented this year, however i think if we are to play finals in the next few years we must also be capable of playing a much more physical and defensive game style.

As Geelong showed last year the best offense is a good defence, there rebounding from defence and hard running through the lines is what set them apart last year.

I understand they are alot more matured team then we currently are but our game against them 2 weeks ago showed that all attack and no accountability is attractive to watch but will not stand up in big matches.

I also understand this year is a year to fully understand the new gameplan and implementing too many changes too early might be detremental to their development.

What do u guys think?

 

[Bombers42]

As knights said, this year and even the next are years of devolopment. At the moment he is just seeing what his team is like on the attack. In the geelong match he did this throughout the whole game. While this was beneficial for the players in they got a reality check of where they are at i think some defense woudnt have gone astray. I presume that as we develop knights will slowly implement a defensive game in however, supporters this year must know that we are trialing things and a few thrashing is to be expected.

 

[Big Blow Hard]

We are young. The bigger bodies will come. Unfortunately it takes longer to get bigger ans stronger. Have patience, roll with the punches.

Like the above post said. their will be thrashings, and their will be upsets.

Lets just hang on, and enjoy the ride!

 

[im rick james dog]

I understand both your points but shouldnt your game plan be based around defence rather than offence. Look at the bulldogs and carlton, both very attacking teams with little defencive pressure (bulldogs have improved dramtically but in 2005-2006 they were all out attack) have had little success whereas teams based around defence ie. adelaide, sydney, west coast and geelong have been successful recently.

I tend to believe it is easier to develop an offensive game after you have established a strong defence, maybe its the basketballer in me but i think its harder to implement discipline and defence into attacking teams.

Once again i understand were young, inexperienced and light and will get our fair share of beatings however a more defensive mindset will be advantageous in the future.

 

[Big Blow Hard]

We have a solid defence. Would you rather us resort to flooding or the style of defensive football that Sydney for example plays. No way to that ugky stoppage type football.

 

[bomberstomake8]

I understand both your points but shouldnt your game plan be based around defence rather than offence. Look at the bulldogs and carlton, both very attacking teams with little defencive pressure (bulldogs have improved dramtically but in 2005-2006 they were all out attack) have had little success whereas teams based around defence ie. adelaide, sydney, west coast and geelong have been successful recently.

I tend to believe it is easier to develop an offensive game after you have established a strong defence, maybe its the basketballer in me but i think its harder to implement discipline and defence into attacking teams.

Once again i understand were young, inexperienced and light and will get our fair share of beatings however a more defensive mindset will be advantageous in the future.

we already have a good defence though. in my opinion the last few weeks have shown that... if you saw the way the ball was coming into our defensive 50 against geelong any normal defence would have conceded way more goals, our defence held there forward line to pretty much ,nothing, gamble kicked a few roving goals, mooney was pantsed by ryder and hawkins didnt do much at all, same with steve johnson..

our backline is more then solid, our midfeilds accountability needs to lift thats all,.. and that will come as we get more used to our gameplan... knights has implemented a game plan which is defensive in some aspects, we just havent executed that part of our game plan well yet and knights knows it he said afte rthe weekened our defensive side was very poor and we will work through it during the week.. so hopefully we will see a very agressive tackline team on the weekend

 

[im rick james dog]

Im not just talking about our defensive 50, more the midfielders ability to push back and be accountable. I have been impressed with RYder and Michael so far this year.

 

[B-Bomber]

I understand what you're saying im rick james dog. I agree also to a point -- ultimately we would want the team to be able to adapt their game style to the situation. That is, all out attack when we're losing and therefore need to take a high risk/high reward approach (or we're going to lose anyways) and a more defensive style for when we have a reasonable lead, there is a bit of time left on the clock and the opponent is coming at us hard. That doesn't mean try to hold the ball untill the timer runs down, that just means tightening up on defense across the entire ground, putting extra men behind the ball, stopping the opposition from scoring, while stealing an extra goal or two to seal the deal.

However! Before we can go into secondary game styles, we need our team to get the first choice style, that is the one that suits our list the most (frantic all out attack) down to a point where it works like clockwork. That's what Knighta is doing this year (or what it seems like). Get this game plan down then move on.

 

[spudregal]

What all the successfull teams of this decade have had in common is there hardness, both at the man and the footy.

We have been soft for far too long. Our toughest players, Mark Johnson and Soliman are now gone and we are trying to pay based on pace.

The boys will end up getting smashed by the better teams and won't rate for years to come. Bring on the big big bodies Bombers, not these skinny runners!

 

[monty1104]

Ive been thinking of a gmae plan that might help us, which kind of goes with our plan of speed.

We should play in pairs. When we attack, never have a player running by themselves, always have a player running near them. In defense, always cover for your teammates. I know it sounds rudimentary, but if they make it a major point, it will make a huge difference.

An example of what I mean is when Lovett kicked the goal from the boundary. He had Watson running with him and they were able to use each other to help manufacture the goal.

The way I would like to see it work is almost as if they were tagging one another to an extent. The coach gives players assignments - stick with this player for the entire game. When one comes off, so does the other. Its something Ive never really seen happen, so I think it would be interesting to see. One thing it would help improve is the running of the ball. If players know they have support, they will be more confident running the ball. We need to run the ball, so I cant see a reason why this approach would hurt us.

 

[spudregal]

I agree, I just worry about our disposal. Some of our boys (we all know who they are) turn the ball over far too easily.

I like the idea of them having support. If Knights is reading this, I'd like to see this happen this week.