How do we fix our defence?

[muttley45]

Our back 6 is the least of our worries - it’s extremely lazy analysis to blame our defenders when we concede a truly heinous amount of inside 50s each game.

There’s no better example of the impact of fast, repeat entries inside 50 than Wil Dawsons game on the weekend.

When the ball came in slower, like a long kick down the line, he was able to spoil really well and not get beaten 1v1 despite it being his first game as an 18yo kid who looks like he’d blow over in the wind.

However, when the bombers marched the ball out of the middle, he looked lost and beaten by Peter Wright. Our defenders, contrary to popular belief, are fine when we put in an AFL standard shift further up the ground. It’s no surprise that Aidan Corr looked good on the weekend for the most part.

If you have elite mids who run both ways, talented forwards who bring pressure both through hitting the scoreboard and tackling/pressure acts, then you can basically plug 6 standard defenders in and you will be fine.

Sydney kept Carlton with CURNOW and MCKAY, 2 Coleman medalists, to 65points. The key defenders for the swans? Melican and Aaron Francis Elite Talent in your back 6 is not a requirement to stop teams scoring. It’s the only area of the ground you can get away with it. We just need our mids and forwards to learn how to defend transition and it will turn.

(FWIW, Comben and Dawson are both talented)

Think i rate Aaron Francis the same as you

 

[Lavy_Panther]

Our biggest issue is defence on the back of turnover.

Causes:

• Very poor turnovers in dangerous parts of the ground (corridor, d50)
• Very poor turnovers in dangerous phases of the game (when we're running forward of the ball)
• Setup to defend turnover (outside of the above... do we set the ground up so if/when we cough it up we still have structure behind the ball?)
• Work rate in transition. Every single game this season we have had a slower average speed running in defence vs attack, whereas every single one of our opponents is faster in defence vs attack. That is an attitude/work rate issue.

Obviously, key personnel is an issue, but it's not just that.

 

[Shinboner1]

More players who actively look for a tackle.

 

[shintemaster]

Our back 6 is the least of our worries - it’s extremely lazy analysis to blame our defenders when we concede a truly heinous amount of inside 50s each game.

There’s no better example of the impact of fast, repeat entries inside 50 than Wil Dawsons game on the weekend.

When the ball came in slower, like a long kick down the line, he was able to spoil really well and not get beaten 1v1 despite it being his first game as an 18yo kid who looks like he’d blow over in the wind.

However, when the bombers marched the ball out of the middle, he looked lost and beaten by Peter Wright. Our defenders, contrary to popular belief, are fine when we put in an AFL standard shift further up the ground. It’s no surprise that Aidan Corr looked good on the weekend for the most part.

If you have elite mids who run both ways, talented forwards who bring pressure both through hitting the scoreboard and tackling/pressure acts, then you can basically plug 6 standard defenders in and you will be fine.

Sydney kept Carlton with CURNOW and MCKAY, 2 Coleman medalists, to 65points. The key defenders for the swans? Melican and Aaron Francis Elite Talent in your back 6 is not a requirement to stop teams scoring. It’s the only area of the ground you can get away with it. We just need our mids and forwards to learn how to defend transition and it will turn.

(FWIW, Comben and Dawson are both talented)

Not sure about least of our worries but I agree, they've performed above my expectations this year. We lack forward pressure - hugely - and we turn over the ball a lot moving towards our attacking 50. I'm willing to concede that we may have made it harder on ourselves trying to protect our defenders this year (I don't know, just a possibility). We have huge forward line pressure issues, part of the reason I'd like Comben back there ASAP as he provides pressure in a way even our smaller players don't.

 

[BigRedRoo]

Spelling and grammar are different.

true but "Spelling Obergruppenführer" doesn't have the same ring to it.

 

[BigRedRoo]

Not sure about least of our worries but I agree, they've performed above my expectations this year. We lack forward pressure - hugely - and we turn over the ball a lot moving towards our attacking 50. I'm willing to concede that we may have made it harder on ourselves trying to protect our defenders this year (I don't know, just a possibility). We have huge forward line pressure issues, part of the reason I'd like Comben back there ASAP as he provides pressure in a way even our smaller players don't.

I think its up to he Mids to provide pressure on the ball carrier to lower the quantity and quality of opposition entries into the back 50.

We need these guys to pick up their defensive Running.

 

[The Law]

Errr to allow that to happen, then we need like 5 small pressure fwd.

Starting at 2 would be nice. Most teams got the memo in 2016. Our fax must be broken still.

 

[ferball]

I think its up to he Mids to provide pressure on the ball carrier to lower the quantity and quality of opposition entries into the back 50.

We need these guys to pick up their defensive Running.

Mids and forwards.

 

[Psi-Roos]

Not having 3/4 of them injured would be a good start.

 

[ChairmanZia]

Starting at 2 would be nice. Most teams got the memo in 2016. Our fax must be broken still.

I can see harvey and drury are already on the list there are the two.

If the coach and the development teams are good enough, the two will be pretty good.

Get another key fwd going then our fwd mix will be pretty good.

 

[Sphynx]

Our back 6 is the least of our worries - it’s extremely lazy analysis to blame our defenders when we concede a truly heinous amount of inside 50s each game.

There’s no better example of the impact of fast, repeat entries inside 50 than Wil Dawsons game on the weekend.

When the ball came in slower, like a long kick down the line, he was able to spoil really well and not get beaten 1v1 despite it being his first game as an 18yo kid who looks like he’d blow over in the wind.

However, when the bombers marched the ball out of the middle, he looked lost and beaten by Peter Wright. Our defenders, contrary to popular belief, are fine when we put in an AFL standard shift further up the ground. It’s no surprise that Aidan Corr looked good on the weekend for the most part.

If you have elite mids who run both ways, talented forwards who bring pressure both through hitting the scoreboard and tackling/pressure acts, then you can basically plug 6 standard defenders in and you will be fine.

Sydney kept Carlton with CURNOW and MCKAY, 2 Coleman medalists, to 65points. The key defenders for the swans? Melican and Aaron Francis Elite Talent in your back 6 is not a requirement to stop teams scoring. It’s the only area of the ground you can get away with it. We just need our mids and forwards to learn how to defend transition and it will turn.

(FWIW, Comben and Dawson are both talented)

Amen.

I’ll preface it by saying the current defensive structure and game plan is also playing a major part in the sides defensive problems. It’s not just purely the midfielders. Opposition ball movement is almost completely uncontested 90% of the time.

2 way mids don’t leave and cause opposition wingman 60m in space alone on a wing and they don’t cause the defenders to end up outnumbered in their own defensive 50 trying to defend an open opposition forward line with acres of space.

Our turnovers are only turbo charging these problems.

Clarko’s ultra high defensive line is for the tip tbh.

 

[The Law]

I can see harvey and drury are already on the list there are the two.

If the coach and the development teams are good enough, the two will be pretty good.

Get another key fwd going then our fwd mix will be pretty good.

scraping the barrel there. Not the type of small forwards I had in mind. Both will be lucky to be on the list at the end of the year. Harvey has been unlucky with injuries but he's a marking forward that's quite slow. Drury is basically a non-playable character that got stiffed in the height department. He exists but is moderate at every characteristic.

 

[Lavy_Panther]

Our biggest issue is defence on the back of turnover.

Causes:

• Very poor turnovers in dangerous parts of the ground (corridor, d50)
• Very poor turnovers in dangerous phases of the game (when we're running forward of the ball)
• Setup to defend turnover (outside of the above... do we set the ground up so if/when we cough it up we still have structure behind the ball?)
• Work rate in transition. Every single game this season we have had a slower average speed running in defence vs attack, whereas every single one of our opponents is faster in defence vs attack. That is an attitude/work rate issue.

Obviously, key personnel is an issue, but it's not just that.

Just digging this up in the wake of that abomination vs Sydney. Want to see something damning?

Top 5 average speed in defence for the game:


Top 5 average speed in attack:




We’re downhill skiers and always have been.

 

[shintemaster]

Just digging this up in the wake of that abomination vs Sydney. Want to see something damning?

Top 5 average speed in defence for the game:
View attachment 2273829

Top 5 average speed in attack:

View attachment 2273830


We’re downhill skiers and always have been.

This is why we look good when we smash the clearances - all that running one way works real well when you win so much of the ball.

 

[Madas]

2 tips for the OP
Get rid of Tucker and Logue
They’ve been Dockered

 

[amaz199]

We look a million dollars when we're winning clearances and the opposition are shitting themselves everywhere.

When Sydney absorbed that and just kept pushing through, the same underlying issues became more apparent. We are nowhere near good enough and what hurt more was Sydney were missing key players. We had no excuses.

 

[Lavy_Panther]

After every game I look at the Telstra Tracker stats on the AFL app. It shows who worked hard, both in defence and attack.

I’m pleased to report that the game against Brisbane was the first time since I’ve been looking at the tracker that North Melbourne’s avg speed in defence was HIGHER than attack. For reference, that is standard for the majority of teams, but I had never seen it with us.

Maybe the penny has finally dropped and we are actually buying into team defence?

If we back it up this weekend I will officially say we’ve turned a corner.

 

[hilly]

After every game I look at the Telstra Tracker stats on the AFL app. It shows who worked hard, both in defence and attack.

I’m pleased to report that the game against Brisbane was the first time since I’ve been looking at the tracker that North Melbourne’s avg speed in defence was HIGHER than attack. For reference, that is standard for the majority of teams, but I had never seen it with us.

Maybe the penny has finally dropped and we are actually buying into team defence?

If we back it up this weekend I will officially say we’ve turned a corner.

I believe this was the case for, you guessed it, the win against Melbourne.

 

[kanga kanga kanga]

back 6 starts to look good with pink, comben, corr, archer, hardeman and goater


maybe sheez or daniel instead of corr

 

[kool kangas]

back 6 starts to look good with pink, comben, corr, archer, hardeman and goater


maybe sheez or daniel instead of corr

l'll wait to see more of Goater before making him in our best 6 .

Pink, Comben, Whitlock, Archer, Hardeman and Sheezel....

Goater to be on the interchange,,,

 

[kanga kanga kanga]

l'll wait to see more of Goater before making him in our best 6 .

Pink, Comben, Whitlock, Archer, Hardeman and Sheezel....

Goater to be on the interchange,,,

whitlock this year?