Analysis Pluck the Hawks...

[Grandstan]

I don't think it has. We have gradually transitioned from a high tackling team to a low tackling team. The game is evolving and I think Ross is moving with the trend.

2013 we were 6th in the league for tackles
2104 we were 10th
This year we are 12th

This season, Hawthorn are 15th, Eagles are 16th and Hawthorn are 17th.

Of the "high tackle count" teams, only Sydney is having a good year, and that is being generous to them.

Yes, there is definitely a shift since 2013 in total tackles, when the top four sides on the ladder also had the most tackles.
But if you look at tackle differential, you get a different story.

2012 we were 7th in the league
2013 we were 18th
2014 we were 14th
This year we are 16th

So, from this perspective, you could argue there is no concerted change this year and our tackle count differential under Lyon has simply reflected our general performance.
It's clear that the tackle differential doesn't correlate with the ladder in the same way as, say possessions do, probably because teams like Melbourne, Brisbane and Carlton have low differentials on the back of poor general pressure. But given this year West Coast is 18th on the tackle differential, along with us being 16th (while Sydney are 1st in the league) it does indicate something.

 

[rodney hoo]

While I've been very confident of Freo chances all year and still think we are right in it, IMO we ain't going to win it with our kicking skills, while we have some very good uses of the ball with out mentioning names we also have some that aren't that good. Steady as she goes and by our top two spot plus hunger and RTB game plan on who ever we play will get us through.

 

[Spirit Level]

When we beat them last year we were very physical, I remember Fyfe smashing Lewis and Croz giving it to Burgoyne as just a few examples.

I think showing them physicality and that you're up for the fight goes a long way to beating them.

 

[Bojangles17]

Don't get me wrong, I think Hardwick is running the show there but they have certainly been better since Williams has been back from that cancer he got over. He seems to have a bit to say as well when the players running on and off. Don't see Hardwick on the phone in the box much either.
Yes Steven Hill is one our top five players, yet gets unnecessary rubbished by supporters at times.

Williams is our senior development coach , works closely with under 23s and revs the boys up as they come on and off , he s not a line coach. He s been a great addition to the RFC in the few years we ve had him

 

[awaremind]

Very very harsh, at start year everyone was saying how good he was.

This is true then as the heat turned up he melted like butter. I dunno do you think his effort is acceptable ? I'd love him if he played to his potential every week.

 

[eastfreo75]

Hawks play a seven man backline and then zone off and when they have the ball they kill teams with their kicking.

Richmond didn't kick the ball long to the Hawks defense.

We tend to kick a lot of long bombs in the forward.

To beat the Hawks, we need to either play a seven man forward and don't allow Hawks to play keepy offs or we need to hit up leads or run the ball.

 

[Grandstan]

Hawks play a seven man backline and then zone off and when they have the ball they kill teams with their kicking.

Richmond didn't kick the ball long to the Hawks defense.

We tend to kick a lot of long bombs in the forward.

To beat the Hawks, we need to either play a seven man forward and don't allow Hawks to play keepy offs or we need to hit up leads or run the ball.

There must be more to it though, as we've avoided the long kicks when necessary before. Remember against Adelaide, last year I think, when we won with only about 35 inside 50s cos we held it up in the midfield.

 

[PurpleReign]

The other thing I found vey interesting was the way richmond generated intercept marks and turnovers in the third quarter.

The hawks are so dangerous going forward normally, the way this part of their game fell down in the second half was noteworthy. More than just a few wayward passes were made by a team that has made possession and accurate disposal their trademark.

I can't really tell from televised game footage how richmond were setting up in the midfield on the defensive transition, but whatever was going on, it really generated a lot of turnovers. -IIRC, according to afl.com the tigers scored half their goals from midfield intercept marking - that's a significant stat and I'm interested to know how they engineered it.

Anyone got any thoughts on this front? Did the tigers simply get into Hawthorn's heads and screw with their confidence, or was there some midfield-positioning voodoo going on?

There were a couple of critical wayward kicks by the Hawks late in the 3rd qtr which led to Richmond goals. Actually the kicks weren't wayward they were just closed down really quickly by the Tiges 18 man defence approach that Buckley mentioned on AFL 360 on Monday. The Tigers were able to maintain their own zone with good discipline and the Hawks, like every other team in the comp, were fallible to it. Now that I've watched the 3rd qtr again (curse the WAFL byes) I did notice that when Richmond were defending the ball in their D50 they were able to handball through the congestion and then find a target by foot well outside the fifty.
When we defend in our D50 we tend to clog it up with numbers behind the ball and then don't have a target for the release kick. The Tigers forwards didn't press up hard like we do and maintained good structure up through the midfield even when the ball was deep in their defence. But as you say Gekko, it's a bit hard to tell what's going on when you're not at the game.

 

[Bojangles17]

Hawks play a seven man backline and then zone off and when they have the ball they kill teams with their kicking.

Richmond didn't kick the ball long to the Hawks defense.

We tend to kick a lot of long bombs in the forward.

To beat the Hawks, we need to either play a seven man forward and don't allow Hawks to play keepy offs or we need to hit up leads or run the ball.

I thought we played very similar to when we beat you guys at subi. Controlled the ball, totally. Had something like 50 more marks that underlines how we shared it around before going forward and their forwards with maybe gunston the exception were beaten all ends up

 

[eastfreo75]

I thought we played very similar to when we beat you guys at subi. Controlled the ball, totally. Had something like 50 more marks that underlines how we shared it around before going forward and their forwards with maybe gunston the exception were beaten all ends up

Offensively you guys played the same but defensively you play a spare player behind the ball against Freo and against the Hawks more man to man.

 

[darkshines]

Good to see Hartung get owned after his floggish antics the week prior. Gee they're smug