News Malthouse Experimenting.

[mattys123]

Strange decision by Mick and the club here, to actually cut back on the interchange rotation numbers that made our midfield so dangerous last season.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...hange-experiment/story-e6frf9jf-1226056345912

COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse has revealed he is deliberately restricting the club's interchange numbers.
The Pies recorded the AFL's highest interchange tally last year, but had just 100 rotations against Geelong on Friday night as part of a high-risk experiment.
"We are purposely pulling it back a bit to experiment, so we are going through a process to eliminate the (rotations) of 130 and bringing it back to 100 to see what the impact is," Malthouse told SEN Radio.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...hange-experiment/story-e6frf9jf-1226056345912

And also, this from Bucks;

Assistant coach Nathan Buckley confirmed again on Friday the Pies' focus was on peaking from Round 15.

We expected what Buckley said to be true, but the experimentation of the interchange numbers seems very strange to me.

 

[MagpieJoel]

Why would they bother?

 

[Zahki]

Dunno whats up with that either. I think everyone knows what the impact of losing a player or two means, just like when we had 4 on the bench there wasn't any need to experiement with being a man or two down. May work out in the long run though, conditioning the players for less interchanges minimalises the impact of injuries.

 

[Thommo 42]

I'd file that under 'excuse for a loss' personally.

However it does make a bit of sense, as it would be good to experiment on how to work rotations with only 2 available and where you would 'rest' players on the field.

Not sure I'd start experimenting against Geelong though.

Strangely though, I felt like we would win for most of the game on friday, despite being outplayed and wasn't even upset when we lost - very strange feeling. Normally I get very angry when we lose!

 

[Number 10]

Malthouse says he is wanting to see the impact of 2 or 3 injuries on game day. Can't blame him for having a 2nd avenue out if we have those 2 or 3 injuries during a final, seems rash but makes sense.

 

[Wooljay]

No problem with him experimenting - just don't do it against Geelong.

 

[Syphoncom]

They got me a Premiership last year. Mick can go around gelding the players if he wants. He knows what has cost him the double before. I have faith.

 

[pillager]

They got me a Premiership last year. Mick can go around gelding the players if he wants. He knows what has cost him the double before. I have faith.

This .

The bigger picture is more important than one round of football.

 

[Scodog10]

David Buttifant would be overseeing this, he is the AFL's sports science guru so there would be a method to the madness. I'd hazard a guess that its to do with adjusting the players loading so that if we get more than one injury in a match at the pointy end of the season the club have already addressed it and will be better equipped at handling it.

I personally would much rather them do this now than get into a position later in the year when our hand is forced. Also the opposition we do it against is irrelevant because if we do it against a lesser side some people will come out and say that we didn't show that team enough respect....

 

[PieNSauce]

David Buttifant would be overseeing this, he is the AFL's sports science guru so there would be a method to the madness. I'd hazard a guess that its to do with adjusting the players loading so that if we get more than one injury in a match at the pointy end of the season the club have already addressed it and will be better equipped at handling it.

I personally would much rather them do this now than get into a position later in the year when our hand is forced. Also the opposition we do it against is irrelevant because if we do it against a lesser side some people will come out and say that we didn't show that team enough respect....

There's probably more than one reason for what they're doing. It might be just a theory but I suspect there's a bit of physiology and a bit of psychology involved in it. The increase in rest later in the season when rotations increase again is likely to have a fairly strong liberating effect on the players giving them some feeling of greater fitness while the early workload is probably going to keep their fitness up as well. The issue about multiple injuries sounds a little less likely to be all that relevant and more in the way of a blind by MM to throw others off the scent IMO. I'm not overly convinced there's a whole lot of science to that policy and I'd nearly dismiss it out of hand.

 

[daics_35]

I actually rekon its a good idea to see how it works, and I like it that we used it against our biggest rival for the flag this year and we only lost by three points. I hope we dont do it against the Crows though or they will beat us.

 

[Quicky]

It seems as though Malthouse was trying to figure out the best way to deal with an injury now that the sub has been introduced. He has previously expressed concern about what happens if two or more injuries occur given there is only one sub and a bench of three. I imagine he was trying to simulate what would happen with the rotations in the event of 2 or more injuries and how we would deal with it. That we did it against Geelong I think would have more to do with the opportunity (Toovey got polaxed) than anything else. I doubt the intention with the experiment was to lose the game.

 

[Ant85]

Why wouldn't we test this against Geelong?

At present, it's most likely we'd meet them in a Grand Final or a Prelim at the very least.

They are the team we need to be preparing for.

Happy for MM to try out whatever he likes.

 

[sr36]

Why wouldn't we test this against Geelong?

At present, it's most likely we'd meet them in a Grand Final or a Prelim at the very least.

They are the team we need to be preparing for.

Happy for MM to try out whatever he likes.

Absolutely. We need a plan B. No point finding out if it works against a team like Brisbane - it will. we need to find out if it works against the good teams.

 

[10571z]

Anyone else noticed that as soon as a player kicks a goal they run straight to the interchange and come back on a few minutes later. Anyone know the theory behind this?!

 

[HFF]

Mick and his team can do whatever they think is necessary in order to give us the best possible chance of going back-to-back.

 

[Scodog10]

There's probably more than one reason for what they're doing. It might be just a theory but I suspect there's a bit of physiology and a bit of psychology involved in it. The increase in rest later in the season when rotations increase again is likely to have a fairly strong liberating effect on the players giving them some feeling of greater fitness while the early workload is probably going to keep their fitness up as well. The issue about multiple injuries sounds a little less likely to be all that relevant and more in the way of a blind by MM to throw others off the scent IMO. I'm not overly convinced there's a whole lot of science to that policy and I'd nearly dismiss it out of hand.

Agree with what you said except that last little bit because their can be an awful lot of science to back that up!

The club can test any number of things caused by less rotations such as lactate levels, sugar levels, oxygen levels and all sorts of things post match. If we do it now we can effectively tailor individual recovery programs to best suit the players and have them in place for when it really matters.

For instance imagine if we lose two players in a Preliminary final and we haven't perfected a method for coping with the extra loading of players throughout the season. Players haven't had to cope with this level of rotations since 2007 so you could just imagine the anomalies that have occurred so far in recovery. The last thing we want is to be facing unknowns, in terms of recovery, during GF week. At least if we go down this path now we'll have measures in place to deal with the situation if it arises again, even if it does take a few weeks to get the formula right.

 

[PieNSauce]

Agree with what you said except that last little bit because their can be an awful lot of science to back that up!

The club can test any number of things caused by less rotations such as lactate levels, sugar levels, oxygen levels and all sorts of things post match. If we do it now we can effectively tailor individual recovery programs to best suit the players and have them in place for when it really matters.

For instance imagine if we lose two players in a Preliminary final and we haven't perfected a method for coping with the extra loading of players throughout the season. Players haven't had to cope with this level of rotations since 2007 so you could just imagine the anomalies that have occurred so far in recovery. The last thing we want is to be facing unknowns, in terms of recovery, during GF week. At least if we go down this path now we'll have measures in place to deal with the situation if it arises again, even if it does take a few weeks to get the formula right.

While I don't disagree with most of that I tend to think it's unlikely that you would do it against a team like Geelong if it was solely for that reason which is pretty much the point I was trying to make.

 

[Frankie23]

This is good to see, and I don't mind the drop in form if it is going to be beneficial later down the track.

Imagine going a man down in a Grand Final, we need to prepare for all situations, this will hold us in good sted for the rest of the year.

 

[Collingwood 4 eternity]

Anyone else noticed that as soon as a player kicks a goal they run straight to the interchange and come back on a few minutes later. Anyone know the theory behind this?!

Because after a goal for either team is scored , it creates a 30 second window where a team can interchange 1 or more players without being one match up short , as it would be if the interchange were to happen during play instead.

Also most clubs have a set period of time that each player can stay on the ground , if they are close to that time when the player kicks a goal , then they come off.

 

[mocamagic]

I don't like it. Whilst we are still handily placed at 6-1, it's not as if we've sewn up a top four place. We should be doing everything possible to win each game. Injuries or loss of form might see a slump at some stage and we may rue this approach.
Even if the club insists this is the way to go they should keep the tactic in-house. It just makes us look like we are getting ahead of ourselves.

 

[Scodog10]

While I don't disagree with most of that I tend to think it's unlikely that you would do it against a team like Geelong if it was solely for that reason which is pretty much the point I was trying to make.

http://www.news.com.au/nick-maxwell-set-to-go-for-carlton-blockbuster/story-e6frf9jf-1226034003217

Buttifant's comments in that article are of particular interest. Phase 1 was pre-season, phase 2 would've been right up to the Bulldogs game, phase 3 has just started and will run until the 2nd bye (round 13) and the 4th and final phase begins in round 14 (coincidentally Buckley came out today and said we want to be cherry ripe by round 15).

This reduction of rotations seems to be a tool that'll be used throughout the 3rd phase and I just think it's more coincidence that we happened to play Geelong at the beginning of phase 3 than anything else. But there could be a slight psychological edge to it I just think it's minimal though!

 

[larrikan]

Does anyone here know the mechanics of how the interchange works?
It seems the runner rarely tells a player to come off these days. So does the player know the time he has to come off? Forwards seem to come off a lot after they kick a goal. Is the midfield rotation so specific that players look up at the clock and interchange.
How does it work?

oh and as for the "experiment"...I think the important part of the interview was the wear and tear on players this year and ways of combating it. Or mind games from the club saying wait until you see how good we will be after round 15..lol

 

[Markfs]

i think its also important to keep opposition teams believing that you're the best team in the competition. How many times did Geelong win because the opposition choked? Heaps of times. Hawthorn in 1980s used to win from impossible situations because the opposition choked...and I can remember it happening heaps of the times to the Pies. The time for experimenting will come when the situation arises.

Having said that I dont like it, I'll support the coach in anything he thinks is needed

 

[Kirby]

I'd like to add into this discussion that I'm very reliably informed that the club in it's planning had factored in at leat one, and possibly 2 losses, before our first bye last week. We went through that phase undefeated of course, which is very pleasing!