Mick's Game Plan!

[PiEs_In_ThE_SkY!!! JA PM]

Good luck being a forward in our side is exactly what his game plan says.

Im not going to complain because we have made another preliminary final but our forwards spend most their time in the center of the ground chasing their direct opponent around like a chicken with their head cut off.

All this because we push so many players back and then have no where to kick it when we get it forward of the wing. Poor Cloke has to make his way to half back to get a kick.

In fact since Sav Rocca, only four players have kicked over 50 goals in a seaon and each have only done it on one occasion: Tarrant, Rocca, Medhurst and Anthony.

Our boys like Clokey and Anthony are constantly criticised for their lack of impact but i dont know hey they are able to do that the way we structure our movement and set-up. Thoughts?

 

[chop_me]

you certainly have a point there... with Mick's plan of going around the boundary, we're bound to have more shots from nearer to the boundary (rather than right in front)....

however, it's hard to look good when you're shanking shots from all over the place

 

[Subtemperate]

This year we finished 5th of the points for table.... only 23 points behind the mighty saints.

2008 we were 4th.
2007 11th
2006 we were the highest scoring side...
2005 last
2004 12th
2003 3rd
2002 9th
2001 6th
2000 12th

In fact since 2000 brendon fevola has kicked over 50 goals 6 times.... and has played in one final (unless I am mistaken).

I think all this shows us is it doesn't matter what gameplay you have, it matters how its implemented. If we were good enough to be number one in 2006 with this gameplan, it should be good enough now.

 

[Winthorpe]

I've been pondering this exact issue for most of the season; the fact that our game plan -- effective as it was in getting us to a Preliminary Final -- makes it extremely hard for our forwards.

The flooding often means that by the time they get back into the forward line they've run 100m+ at full tilt, they're out-of-breath and struggling to keep it in there ... or if they remain in the forward line, it's often too crowded for them to lead into space. We seem to take more set shots from hard up against the boundary line than any other team and that makes it pretty difficult.

Watching, in that first final, the regularity with which the Saints midfield hit a leading Riewoldt on the chest -- with Presti unable to do anything -- I got to thinking how infrequently we see our midfield and forwards combine the same way. I always felt that was the main reason Pebs led the competition in contested marks a few years ago; more often than not, it seemed, he had to take pack marks because it was just being bombed in there and there was no real space. (I realise, of course, A. Rocca was never as fast as Riewoldt, so that probably didn't help either).

Anyway, one of my favourite memories from back when Sav and Bucks were in the same team was a game against Adelaide (I think) when Sav kicked ten goals. All night long, Bucks seemed to be drilling these perfect kicks onto the chest of a leading Sav; it was beautiful to watch and worked a charm.

I haven't seen that kind of football for a long, long time. Not from the Pies, anyway.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Malthouse gives our forward line no chance to have an impact.

Why Cloke and Anthony follow their men into defensive 50 I'll never know. We 'flood' the backline, and the opposition STILL tend to find a target in there.

Then if we DO get the ball, there's no one in the forward 50 to kick to.

Yes, Mick's a genius alright.

 

[FlipFoot]

Why Cloke and Anthony follow their men into defensive 50 I'll never know. We 'flood' the backline, and the opposition STILL tend to find a target in there.

Surely you want our players to be accountable? If they didn't follow their men into the defensive 50, they'd allow easy goals and make our back 6 look silly. It's not a problem following our men into the back half, it's our slow chip kicking on the boundary that kills us. We need more direct play, and i really hope we start to see more of it next year.

 

[Quicky]

You definitely have a point but I think the issue has as much to with personnel as the gameplan. Clokes poor form and even poorer goalkicking has robbed us of one of our best KPF's this year. Anthony as good as he has been doesn't really have the physical presence of alot of KPF's. He has been fantastic but by himself has struggled to provide a strong target at times. I think the gameplan is alot to do with Malthouses lack of faith in our forward targets. We really need a forward who is aggressive, can take contested marks and provide a real presence.

I was actually thinking about how we often have a totally empty forward line and create alot of goals from running harder than the opposition after a turnover and getting into the 50 un-opposed. Imagine how good it would be if we left Rusling one out in this scenario, which we have seen alot this year. His speed would make him incredibly hard to stop. Essentially we would only be sacrificing one player up the ground - hoping the oppos mans him up but if not leaving him alone in the forward 50 he could really cause havoc.

 

[thegrach]

If you look back through Malthouse's history, he has not coached many teams with a dominant (Carey-like) forward, just seems to not be the type of player he is interested in or creates a gameplan around.

 

[thegrach]

I only used Carey as an example of a dominant forward. If you can name one who Mick has coached, please let me know.

 

[thegrach]

Comprehension isn't your strong suite, is it? Let me dumb it down for you. MM's coaching style doesn't allow for dominant forwards to play their natural game. Only once has he had a forward under him kick 100+ goals in a season (Sumich in 1991, in 25 games) in 25 years of coaching.

This is not a criticism of him, merely an observation that he builds teams with stong defense and goalkicking midfilders/small forwards, but doesn't seem to have as much reliance on dominant key forwards as a Pagan/Sheedy/Lyon. I think Bomber Thompson is in a similar mould TBH.

 

[nuttinbutapeanut]

Good luck being a forward in our side is exactly what his game plan says.

Im not going to complain because we have made another preliminary final but our forwards spend most their time in the center of the ground chasing their direct opponent around like a chicken with their head cut off.

All this because we push so many players back and then have no where to kick it when we get it forward of the wing. Poor Cloke has to make his way to half back to get a kick.

In fact since Sav Rocca, only four players have kicked over 50 goals in a seaon and each have only done it on one occasion: Tarrant, Rocca, Medhurst and Anthony.

Our boys like Clokey and Anthony are constantly criticised for their lack of impact but i dont know hey they are able to do that the way we structure our movement and set-up. Thoughts?

*facepalm*................