It begins!!!

[Ed D]

of course there is. Being so inaccurate allowed us to perfect our forward press and make the opposition feel even more suffocated, because the ball could be down there for 10 minutes at a time before we finally got one through the big sticks.

Sometimes kicking a goal actually releases pressure on an opposition a bit, as they finally get a crack at a centre clearance where they don't have a 4 Pies swarming at them everytime they go near it!

There is plenty to like about keeping the opposition in a state of panic in their defensive half for most of the game.

True, the team had to learn the press somehow, although when we kicked more goals than points we won every game, and our most dominating plays came when we pressured teams on the scoreboard, like the PF against Geelong. Games like the draw against Melbourne we let them back in because while we dominated play, we never shut them out. We even nearly lost to Adelaide because of poor kicking and that was late in the season.

 

[Thommo 42]

there was also the small matter of winning every clearance in those games because it's not just the press that wins us games, its the fact that we have the best footballers!

 

[Dick Tracy]

It's doable but not something I'd be setting out for, especially as we don't get a bye late in the season. Everything you do has to be about getting the best preparation for finals. So if we had top spot sewn up weeks in advance and didn't take the oppertunity to man manage it'd be disappointing.

Obviously if you're good enough to manage your players workload and win every game so be it, but H&A season is just about getting pole position for finals.

Agree. The serious business is about making a prelim. Til then it's enjoying the journey.