Let's talk game plans.

[jonbe54]

We need atleast one person elite and experienced in this role.

Every team does mike, can you name me 18 current AFL players that are elite in this role?

I doubt it.

Given that how do you imagine we will lure one away from their present employment?

 

[mike123]

Every team does mike, can you name me 18 current AFL players that are elite in this role?

I doubt it.

Given that how do you imagine we will lure one away from their present employment?

When you put it that way, we can give up a player in our starting 22 that we have enough depth to cover.

 

[Checkside35]

Was Buckley's use of Sinclair as a small forward designed to teach him how the small defenders go about their jobs? This may have been spoken about in Sinclair threads but I didn't read them. He was next to useless as a forward and the above is the only justification for him holding down a spot back then.

 

[jonbe54]

When you put it that way, we can give up a player in our starting 22 that we have enough depth to cover.

Certainly a reasonable position to take mike, now the next hurdle is interesting.

As you quite rightly point out a player capable of holding elite forwards to losing figures should be a priority in any team - agreed.

Now we identify player X at team Z as the player we need and comb our list for a player we can cover with depth, all good.

NOW explain to me how we entice a team who like us values a brilliant shut down backman of elite grade to release said player for a player we consider, if not surplus to our needs at least expendable?

The very fact that we would release him screams that he is not elite and is unlikely to become so, why should a team who have snared or - much more likely - spent years developing such a jewel of a backman release him to us in an uneven trade and indeed why would they release him at all?

 

[mike123]

Certainly a reasonable position to take mike, now the next hurdle is interesting.

As you quite rightly point out a player capable of holding elite forwards to losing figures should be a priority in any team - agreed.

Now we identify player X at team Z as the player we need and comb our list for a player we can cover with depth, all good.

NOW explain to me how we entice a team who like us values a brilliant shut down backman of elite grade to release said player for a player we consider, if not surplus to our needs at least expendable?

The very fact that we would release him screams that he is not elite and is unlikely to become so, why should a team who have snared or - much more likely - spent years developing such a jewel of a backman release him to us in an uneven trade and indeed why would they release him at all?

We do release got players Heath Shaw, Sharrod Wellingham, Chris Dawes.

 

[mike123]

Was Buckley's use of Sinclair as a small forward designed to teach him how the small defenders go about their jobs? This may have been spoken about in Sinclair threads but I didn't read them. He was next to useless as a forward and the above is the only justification for him holding down a spot back then.

Didn't he debut under Malthouse, he was a small forward then.

 

[jonbe54]

We do release got players Heath Shaw, Sharrod Wellingham, Chris Dawes.

Good players yes, worth their weight in gold and permiership players all but NOT elite, to land an elite stopper backman we would need to sweeten the pot considerably/.

 

[jerry springer]

If we dont do the stupid kick back 50m across the ground which gives the opposition time to set up their defence and rebound we will improve by 3 goals a game

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[mike123]

Good players yes, worth their weight in gold and permiership players all but NOT elite, to land an elite stopper backman we would need to sweeten the pot considerably/.

We could get trade Josh Thomas, a young Midfielder who can find the ball, Every one wants one of those plus we could exchange picks to sweeten the deal. GWS got heath Shaw for Taylor Adams

 

[jonbe54]

If we dont do the stupid kick back 50m across the ground which gives the opposition time to set up their defence and rebound we will improve by 3 goals a game

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Yes maintaining forward momentum and therebyl building the threat from the half back line with quick and decisive forward thrusts is a sure way to destabilize an opponents backline. Hopefully our forward line is better drilled and more decisive in its leading patterns this year as well because doing this 'demands' quick delivery and no pussy footing around.

 

[Checkside35]

Didn't he debut under Malthouse, he was a small forward then.

Yeah he did but Buckley persisted.

 

[Checkside35]

If we dont do the stupid kick back 50m across the ground which gives the opposition time to set up their defence and rebound we will improve by 3 goals a game

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That all depends on what the forwards are doing. I saw a game at the G where the younger players at half forward and deeper where standing around doing pretty much bigger all. The kicker had to go sideways to a free player because there was nothing else on. Happened too often.

 

[jonbe54]

We could get trade Josh Thomas, a young Midfielder who can find the ball, Every one wants one of those plus we could exchange picks to sweeten the deal. GWS got heath Shaw for Taylor Adams

Unsure on Thomas' value outside our club as he wouldn't be well known due to his early injury struggles he is just starting to emerge really, but for arguments sake lets agree to move young Thomas (a Buckley favourite just quietly) on, in theory its a doable trade from our position until you consider the business of trading swaps. Again I have nothing against it in principle or in general but perhaps you are forgetting just how aggressively we have released and traded away players to clear the decks for the next trading period which is universally proclaimed to be bristling with top key position forwards. It pays to remember that we need to get a young beast of a forward NOW so that his development is complete before Cloke starts to decline.

I do like the idea of getting a top line stopper mike I'm just unsure the club would care to be diverted from what seems a dedicated intent to land the best young key position forward available in a strong draft next year.

 

[jerry springer]

Which makes foot skills and endurance so important

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[jonbe54]

Which makes foot skills and endurance so important

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Agree jerry, we appear to have been targetting such, albiet with a touch of overkill, though the numbers will be winnowed through attrition and injury. Will be interesting to see who makes the grade.

 

[soreplums]

Was Buckley's use of Sinclair as a small forward designed to teach him how the small defenders go about their jobs? This may have been spoken about in Sinclair threads but I didn't read them. He was next to useless as a forward and the above is the only justification for him holding down a spot back then.

I thought that Sinclair was able to find space and get to the right spots as a small forward. He just couldn't finish off the work which let him down

 

[Checkside35]

I thought that Sinclair was able to find space and get to the right spots as a small forward. He just couldn't finish off the work which let him down

Yep, his decision making and disposal was quite soul crushing for players and fans. Unless he is Trav, you can't persist unless you redefine his role in the side. Even with Trav, imagine what the mids are thinking when he shanks em from 20 out? I sometimes wonder whether he watches the ball on to his boot. I think I saw a pic where his head is up looking at the goals and the ball hasn't made contact with his boot yet. Haha!

 

[HappyRed]

Wouldn't care the slightest if Sinclair was traded, as long as we got something amicable in reply.

 

[jonbe54]

Ahh we appear to have found a new whipping boy.

So when did this change from a discussion of game plans and into a bash Sinclair thread?

Bloody BF, it never changes.

 

[noideaatall]

I thought that Sinclair was able to find space and get to the right spots as a small forward. He just couldn't finish off the work which let him down

Yeah thats how I saw it too, though I missed watching a whole heap of matches. As much as he was frustrating to watch and the weakness glaring, there were some things to like. To switch mid season to a back pocket and, at times, do a decent job was not a bad effort.

Talking game plans, the old long kick around the boundary is out. Given this, I can't see us avoiding a significant change of personnel back there to accomodate whatever new game plan it is we use. I doubt Sinclair will have the foot skills to be a part of our future.

 

[forwardflanker]

Yeah thats how I saw it too, though I missed watching a whole heap of matches. As much as he was frustrating to watch and the weakness glaring, there were some things to like. To switch mid season to a back pocket and, at times, do a decent job was not a bad effort.

Talking game plans, the old long kick around the boundary is out. Given this, I can't see us avoiding a significant change of personnel back there to accomodate whatever new game plan it is we use. I doubt Sinclair will have the foot skills to be a part of our future.

His footskills weren't to bad as a defender and he was very creative with his running and link up work. I think he'll be best 22 next season providing he can stay fit.

 

[MeisterBot]

He doesn't have precision footskills, but his field kicking is underrated, he has the pace to break lines and knows how to use it. His big weakness in the forward line was his finishing. As a defender, my major query on Sinclair was his ability to defend and go 1v1 and he did pretty well in the games he played. Think he and Williams have a good chemistry.

If he could show that he is capable of finding enough of the ball, would play him off the HBF over Armstrong (with Ramsay being my #1 choice if he shows form early in the VFL).

 

[Shaneprice97]

We could get trade Josh Thomas, a young Midfielder who can find the ball, Every one wants one of those plus we could exchange picks to sweeten the deal. GWS got heath Shaw for Taylor Adams

Sorry for the harsh words the other day Mike, wasn't in the best mood. Welcome to bigfooty, i hope i didn't ruin the beginning of your experiences on here! Enjoy.

 

[Chilli Con Incarnate]

In terms of our defense:
We need to play man on man defense against the Hawks. They kick too accurately for our zone to work. We need to back our players to beat them one on one. It's an old tactic but I am unsure how else you could stop their accurate kicking. A properly drilled AFL team should be able to switch from man on man to zone defense when required. That way we could exploit different team's weaknesses.

Something I noticed a lot during the finals series was the Hawks forward momentum in terms of ball usage. At any situation they are not able to collect the ball cleanly, they will kick, tap or punch the ball towards their goals. This happens all over the ground and it works quite effectively. They know their strength is clean football usage so they (for lack of a better term) urge the ball forward when it is in a contested situation until they can get a clean possession. I believe that bucks is trying to implement a similar game plan with our team and it has the potential to work even better from us if we have players like Seedsman, Young or Harry playing on the wings or through the middle. Their pace will allow them to get to a loose ball created by pushing the ball forward. If it sounds dubious, watch a few Hawks replays from later in the year and see how often they will kick the ball off the ground. They used it well against Freo to stop them creating too many stoppages.

We could also benefit from Geelong's strategy of not committing to many men to stoppage contests at ground level. Geelong would only commit one or two players (usually Selwood) to the ground ball and have their other players hovering around the contest waiting to spread or intercept the ball. Imagine committing a premier ball winner like Ball to the ground leaving great users like Swan and Pendlebury waiting to receive ball while our opposition commits more numbers to ground level. We have multiple players that could play the insider role as well as some a grade midfielders that would be able to make the most out of having a little extra space.

 

[mike123]

Sorry for the harsh words the other day Mike, wasn't in the best mood. Welcome to bigfooty, i hope i didn't ruin the beginning of your experiences on here! Enjoy.

Thats okay Everybody has their own opinion.