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Just something I realised whilst screwing around with the all time ladder thingy. From 2004-2006 (inclusive) the Saints, unsurprisingly were the highest scoring team by a long way. Averaging a score of 102 in that 3 year period. The closest was West Coast who scored 200 less, from 4 more games!

But something that's a little more surprising, is the fact that we conceeded the third least amount of points. Yeah, even as the most attacking team in the competition, we still managed to hold teams to an average of 83 points per game. Only bettered by Adelaide, and yep, you guessed it, Sydney.

So why must Lyon persist with our ultra defensive and accountable/ing game plan, which revolves around kicking low scores, but keeping the opposition to an even lower score, when even when we had GT as coach we were a very good side defensively?

Source here: http://afl.allthestats.com/statistics/alltime.php?t2=&yrfm=2004&yrto=2006&gnd=0&inat=4

Just something I found particularly interesting, say something, I hate it when I make threads and they just drift off the page with no replies. :p :thumbsu:

And just for the sake of it, since we've had RL as coach, we're 2nd last for scoring (87) and have conceded the 5th least amount of points (90). So, even with RL's hideously defensive game plan, we're conceding more points than we were under GT.
 
In the spirit of keeping comments flowing, I'll add my two cents :thumbsu:

I think it shows that when you play an attacking brand of footy, its the other side that has to worry about you kicking too many goals. They freeze up, don't want to kick to a contest just incase the ball gets transferred down the other end and they get scored upon heavily.

Does that sounds familiar?? :p
 

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You'd think so wouldn't you... :confused:

Assume the other team is flooding back. When they get the ball to their forward line, they only have a couple of options. If the defenders are good, and able to man up ( Good like Max, Goose, Aussie etc ) they can regain possession and rebound it to the forward line, using players like Leigh Fisher, who dosn't have much opposition because the other players are still running down. The flood will make it harder to score but you keep attacking until you brake through.

It gets harder though if they have a forward that none of the defenders can combat effectively. The solution seems to be to use to drop more players back to gang up on them. Using the whole team in defence seems to assume that all of their forwards will beat all of our defenders.

Since the Saints only have a couple of effective goal scorers other teams don't need to flood against us. Just tag Reiwoldt and Kosi.
 
I would think, surely, with targets like Riewoldt and Kozzie, your game plan would involve getting the ball to them quickly. Both those guys will beat their man 1-on-1 far more often than not.

Yep, but also consider that for the first part of the year the ball had been whisked out of our forward line fairly easily, our key forwards usually being double teamed and when it would get marked by our forwards their conversion rate has been pretty woeful.

If you can't have 100% confidence in your forwards to capitilise on all the hard work put in by the players down the field, perhaps that small percentage of doubt might tempt the player with possession to take the "safer", slower, uglier path to goal.

That style just hasn't worked.
 
How many premierships did we win scoring the most and conceding the least? How many grand finals did we play in.

I think some of the thumpings we gave out to the lesser lights flatters that statistic.

How many losses did we kick 100 points in? Not many! We were one dimensional. In fact I think if you looked at 2006 and excluded 2004 and 2005 I'm sure this stat is a load of sh#t!
 
How many losses did we kick 100 points in? Not many! We were one dimensional. In fact I think if you looked at 2006 and excluded 2004 and 2005 I'm sure this stat is a load of sh#t!

The game has evolved even since 2004 you'll find. Sydney was built on a rock solid defense, whilst we were built on a gun forward line. The good sides now have a sound, if not quality back half, quick and pinpoint midfielders who can run all day, and multiple options up forward.

Other sides probably found us out in this period by flooding, which attacking sides now get around by putting constant pressure on the delivery out of the back half after a turnover. We were one dimensional back then, no doubt, but I dunno if we have traded well enough so far to keep up with the times, as well as putting a crap game style on the park each week, that is also now 3 years old.
 
How many premierships did we win scoring the most and conceding the least? How many grand finals did we play in.

I think some of the thumpings we gave out to the lesser lights flatters that statistic.

How many losses did we kick 100 points in? Not many! We were one dimensional. In fact I think if you looked at 2006 and excluded 2004 and 2005 I'm sure this stat is a load of sh#t!

Well, we sure got a hell of a lot closer to one then we are now.

Just throwing it out there man. :thumbsu:
 
How many premierships did we win scoring the most and conceding the least? How many grand finals did we play in.

I think some of the thumpings we gave out to the lesser lights flatters that statistic.

How many losses did we kick 100 points in? Not many! We were one dimensional. In fact I think if you looked at 2006 and excluded 2004 and 2005 I'm sure this stat is a load of sh#t!

Would much rather watch the way we played a few years back than the crap we are playing at the moment.Was at the Gold Coast watching the Roos game and never felt more frustrated with all the backwards kicking and the mistakes we made.Go forward with long kicks and use your strenghts in Roo & Ksoi ? Bet we would kick a goal in a quarter of football then ?:D
 
Would much rather watch the way we played a few years back than the crap we are playing at the moment.Was at the Gold Coast watching the Roos game and never felt more frustrated with all the backwards kicking and the mistakes we made.Go forward with long kicks and use your strenghts in Roo & Ksoi ? Bet we would kick a goal in a quarter of football then ?:D

It comes down to forward pressure. Why kick it long if we are just going to have the ball hit the deck and let the opposition run it out freely? Milne is a culprit here, but our mids aren't as attack minded as they should be, therefore don't get down there to keep the ball in. We get rebounded, and our forward structure gets the blame.

Put guys down there that will provide a contest when the ball hits the ground. Kick it long to our talls. Get mids to push the zone up hard to keep the ball in. It's not rocket science! ;)
 
It comes down to forward pressure. Why kick it long if we are just going to have the ball hit the deck and let the opposition run it out freely? Milne is a culprit here, but our mids aren't as attack minded as they should be, therefore don't get down there to keep the ball in. We get rebounded, and our forward structure gets the blame.

Put guys down there that will provide a contest when the ball hits the ground. Kick it long to our talls. Get mids to push the zone up hard to keep the ball in. It's not rocket science! ;)

2 things to consider.
1) we don't have any talented mid-size forwards (there are heaps of e.g.s at the moment - S. Johnston, B. Johnston, R. Murphy, Corey Jones, O'Keefe, Motlop, Medhurst, Welsh, Burton etc). Once Roo & Kosi are covered the opposition can generally run the ball out easily. (Was good seeing Goddard down there kicking a few goals 2 weeks ago)
2) our mids dont produce that gut-busting running out of defence and through the middle (probably Gram & Harvs excepted). Ball & Hayes provide the grunt and can be excused. Dal, Joey etc need to run harder.
 
Hard nuts... form mirrors the decline of forward pressure ie. Hamill, Guerra and Powell.. also an in form G Train leading the goalkicking..

you can try and distort so many things through stats... others just look at the strategic obvious...
 

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Hard nuts... form mirrors the decline of forward pressure ie. Hamill, Guerra and Powell.. also an in form G Train leading the goalkicking..

you can try and distort so many things through stats... others just look at the strategic obvious...
Which is precisely why Goddard should be used as a mid-forward. He's strong, a great kick and has a great tackle. He's the right hieght too. He is far more valuable winning games for us than being in the backline trying to stop us losing them. For this very reason, Beeg represents the barometer of what style of play Lyon is focussed on.
 
Welcome back, Percy !
 
Yeap, I've been away this last month - lecturing finished up for the semester and I had HEAPS of marking to do. But now I can get back to this.

Missed yus all!!!!!
 
Yeap, I've been away this last month - lecturing finished up for the semester and I had HEAPS of marking to do. But now I can get back to this.

Missed yus all!!!!!

Have you been lecturing on the benefits of moving the ball quickly into the forward line or are you more of a play Goddard up forward man?
 
Nice one... :) Is that an either/or thing? I am pretty sure Beeg should be in the forward line (actually, the more I think about it, he should be there instead of Chuck or even Fergie...). And I think we do need to get the darn ball into the darn 50m darn well faster.
 
Nice one... :) Is that an either/or thing? I am pretty sure Beeg should be in the forward line (actually, the more I think about it, he should be there instead of Chuck or even Fergie...). And I think we do need to get the darn ball into the darn 50m darn well faster.

You are obviously a professor!
 

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