Analysis Rick's Analysis (The Shinboner)

[Rick18]

Righto, Carlton post is up:

Rock Bottom (defensively): Round 6, 2025 v Carlton

Sometimes it’s hard figuring out where to start for good reasons.

theshinboner.com

I reckon there are four key flaws to the team defence, which is what today's post is about. Two stem from stoppages, two stem from general play, with an associated clip and explanation for all four.

 

[Devington]

I really don't know how you had the willpower to write that up, Rick.

 

[King Corey]

Righto, Carlton post is up:

Rock Bottom (defensively): Round 6, 2025 v Carlton

Sometimes it’s hard figuring out where to start for good reasons.

theshinboner.com

I reckon there are four key flaws to the team defence, which is what today's post is about. Two stem from stoppages, two stem from general play, with an associated clip and explanation for all four.

..But other than that?

 

[Its a Process]

Great write up Rick as usual.

That Haynes dump kick that somehow managed to find Curnow is a tonne of space is inexplicable.

Logue, Corr, Comben, Daniel and L Mac are all senior players on big money and that setup just cannot happen.

It’s unrealistic to have a game plan built on only winning contest. In fact, some of Clarko’s best teams famously didn’t win contest but set up well and pressured and turned the ball back over.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Rick, I shouldn't be surprised that you highlighted the moment I was most angry at. Well done.

At a crucial time in the 2nd quarter & we're locking the ball in our forward 50, the usual defensive dump kick occurs and Curnow is all by himself.

Zone or no zone, surely that's not the time to play it. Every forward must be marked 1 on 1 at least in that situation imo.

Maybe it shouldn't, but for me it begged the question: Coach's directive OR player error? If that question wasn't answered at half time, then I'm genuinely worried for this team right now!

 

[ChopChopDigDig]

Great write up Rick as usual.

That Haynes dump kick that somehow managed to find Curnow is a tonne of space is inexplicable.

Logue, Corr, Comben, Daniel and L Mac are all senior players on big money and that setup just cannot happen.

It’s unrealistic to have a game plan built on only winning contest. In fact, some of Clarko’s best teams famously didn’t win contest but set up well and pressured and turned the ball back over.

I remember that play and was furious at Griff. He didn’t work hard enough to keep up with Curnow or didn’t hold back hard enough to impact the next play.

This is U12 stuff I’m teaching my boy about not getting caught out of position unable to impact the play. Either go or stay, don’t half arse it. Griff, a senior defender half arsed it.

 

[Whippet1]

What was Logue doing in that last passage of play? Looked like a straightforward intercept chest mark yet he misses it completely and gifts Carlton a goal. Jeez

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Righto, Carlton post is up:

Rock Bottom (defensively): Round 6, 2025 v Carlton

Sometimes it’s hard figuring out where to start for good reasons.

theshinboner.com

I reckon there are four key flaws to the team defence, which is what today's post is about. Two stem from stoppages, two stem from general play, with an associated clip and explanation for all four.

Thanks Rick. Dunno how you have it in you to watch a game like that back. It was bad enough watching the game live let alone having a deeper dive into the vision. All of that makes for pretty dire reading.

Leads me to question what the hell is being coached? or are our players simply uncoachable/incapable of playing to a structure? To me it looks as though there is no structure at all, especially in transition or when there is a turnover. Our mids and half forwards half heartedly chase the ass of the opposition without any real desperation to get back and help out the defence.

As you mentioned it’s not one players fault, but as a group our midfield (including our wings) would have to be one of the most unaccountable in the comp. Our players simply don’t fit run to cover off on opposition players especially when there is a turnover. Across the park, repeat defensive efforts are just an about non existent outside of Konstanty and Wardlaw.

I think at times when we lose momentum we can’t continue to try the zone defence that is continually letting us down. We need to shift to a tight man on man structure and have both our wingers play defensive side to clog space.

We can’t go on allowing opposition to easily score 110+ points every single game.

 

[Loose_Cannon]

Leads me to question what the hell is being coached? or are our players simply uncoachable/incapable of playing to a structure? To me it looks as though there is no structure at all, especially in transition or when there is a turnover. Our mids and half forwards half heartedly chase the ass of the opposition without any real desperation to get back and help out the defence.

From the outside looking in (the way outside), it appears the players are often caught "half-way". There is when they are between what they know and what they think they should be doing. This appears to be most evident when they're doing their handball flick arounds and someone invariably does a double-take because someone wasn't where they were supposed to be, and you can see the cogwheels turning as they try to think through it. There are plenty of other instances of course, especially on defence, but this is the most obvious.

You'll hear players talk about this when they get to the other side as "buy in" or "we finally bought in to the system and everything worked".

EDIT: I posted this before reading the blog, and the Griff Logue example is this to a tee - he didn't know whether to commit or not and got caught half-way, which is worse than either.

 

[Rick18]

Alright, Port Adelaide post is up:

Defensive improvements in a unique game: Round 7 v PA

North Melbourne rolled into Adelaide Oval with a new-look backline, changing four of their starting seven.

theshinboner.com

It's a large relief to just be able to post a straight game analysis post after the last few weeks of ... everything. Here's the picture summary instead of me typing out a bunch more words saying what the post is about.

 

[Jimmy's Hot Dogs]

Love the umpire drive by at the end.

At least with the lottery, we were a chance.

On real topic, love your work Rick. It takes a rusted on, one eyed supporter, closer to the real stuff but more importantly, gives me an education of what I should be looking at.

 

[Gasometer]

Alright, Port Adelaide post is up:

Defensive improvements in a unique game: Round 7 v PA

North Melbourne rolled into Adelaide Oval with a new-look backline, changing four of their starting seven.

theshinboner.com

It's a large relief to just be able to post a straight game analysis post after the last few weeks of ... everything. Here's the picture summary instead of me typing out a bunch more words saying what the post is about.

View attachment 2296513

Rick the reason for those shots is because they look pretty on Ultra HD 2000 inch TVs

 

[Rick18]

Good lord it's 3:35am as I start typing this. Thank god I work Friday nights and don't have to wake up before midday.

Anyway, on that note, the Essendon post is up:

Cautious optimism: Round 8, 2025 v Essendon

Of course losing a game by three points isn’t something to celebrate. However...

theshinboner.com

It's probably an overly cheery post after just losing a game by three points. But the third quarter had me sitting up and paying attention because it was the first time I'd seen things work on both sides of the ball at the same time this year.

To get there we use the first half as a contrast and also context for what happens when things aren't working.

Merlin007 to reply to your tag in the other thread, this covers part of it but more around the general space area instead of the stoppage stuff which is Themanbun's specialty.

Makeshift Park to reply to your tag in the other thread, the adjustments mentioned in the post cover part of your question - for this game specifically - on why it turned around.

krakouers to reply to your tag in the other thread ... I feel bad because I ran out of time to get to it, but there are four or five other things in the same basket I'm hoping to get to at some point on Friday.

 

[krakouers]

krakouers to reply to your tag in the other thread ... I feel bad because I ran out of time to get to it, but there are four or five other things in the same basket I'm hoping to get to at some point on Friday.

As usual, always appreciate all your work mate, all good if it wasn't looked at...

was looking at what options Daniels had with a kick in and how the players were set up to receive, they had a camera shot behind the goals which showed who was moving & positioning etc... think you had shown that (our setup to receive kick ins) previously but thought id get your thoughts on it...

 

[Themanbun]

Great post, Rick. Agreed this is the first time I've seen a proper defensive system start to come together.

Just a little shout out to LMac in that Hardeman to Larkey clip. Instead of considering himself out of the contest like four blokes around him, he laid a block on the bloke pursuing Hardeman that gave him the space he needed.

 

[ChopChopDigDig]

Rick, would love your take on our first half defense setup. Felt like the bombers were getting it out over the back I50 so easily, while our half backs were sucked too high, playing 10m in front of their men with no spare inside D50.

Noticed a lot of ball watching from our defenders and not enough man coverage. Seemed like a high scoring shot to I50 ratio for them in the first quarter especially.

 

[Rick18]

Righto, Brisbane post is up:

Could have, should have … not quite: Round 9, 2025 v Brisbane

A nine-point loss. Arguably could have won. A three-point loss. Arguably should have won. A draw. Definitely should have won.

theshinboner.com

This was a tough one to capture, because I'm convinced there were a million things going on that reverse angle ultra zoom 3000 deprived us of seeing. So there are some more stats than normal, along with how Xerri's second half dominance manifested, and then a bit about what happened in the last minute.

 

[Better Loosen Up]

I feel like Stephens shepherding for Konstanty could have been a third option in that play at the end

 

[Whippet1]

Excellent write up. I’m not as hard on Konstanty as he would have been putting Stephens on his wrong leg with a handball. Split second decision I know but maybe a shepherd from Stephens was the play?

 

[Friday Night Lights]

Rick potting camera angles again brings to mind my most hated one. The set shot snap from a tight angle where after the ball leaves the boot they immediately cut to a shot of the goal posts from virtually side on as the ball sails through the sky with the viewer given absolutely zero hope of distinguishing if the ball has gone through for a goal, behind or into the car park.

 

[north_lad]

Righto, Brisbane post is up:

Could have, should have … not quite: Round 9, 2025 v Brisbane

A nine-point loss. Arguably could have won. A three-point loss. Arguably should have won. A draw. Definitely should have won.

theshinboner.com

This was a tough one to capture, because I'm convinced there were a million things going on that reverse angle ultra zoom 3000 deprived us of seeing. So there are some more stats than normal, along with how Xerri's second half dominance manifested, and then a bit about what happened in the last minute.

I get about 300x times more frustrated watching on TV because

• the commentary
• the production is soooooooooo bad

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Rick potting camera angles again brings to mind my most hated one. The set shot snap from a tight angle.

I get about 300x times more frustrated watching on TV because the production is soooooooooo bad

This was a tough one to capture, because I'm convinced there were a million things going on that reverse angle ultra zoom 3000 deprived us of seeing.

You 3 are choosing to ignore some excellent camera work from Sunday's telecast:

Ball up on the back flank, and we see...

A few 6s being hit in pyjama cricket!

 

[north_lad]

You 3 are choosing to ignore some excellent camera work from Sunday's telecast:

Ball up on the back flank, and we see...

A few 6s being hit in pyjama cricket!

my girlfriend turned around at that point and was like "wait a minute this isn't even the same sport!"

 

[Rick18]

Okay, Richmond post is up:

Reward for effort: Round 10, 2025 v Richmond

It was a brutally contested game on Sunday at the MCG.

theshinboner.com

Lots of words here, post is in the jumping around from section to section format because there were distinctly different things to touch on.

There's a bit about the personnel tweaks, the game flow (I am seeing stoppages and tackles every time I close my eyes), Pink, McKercher, and then a general view on the last few minutes.

 

[Rick18]

Collingwood post is up:

Facing the standard setters: Round 11, 2025 v Collingwood

The story of the night was how a different North Melbourne plan unfolded while Collingwood searched to find answers...

theshinboner.com

This is about the worst sell of a piece of all time, but I thought it was a really straight forward game. North came in with a very distinct and different plan, executed it very well for a half, parts of it carried over into the third, but by the fourth Collingwood had figured out how to break it down and North had absolutely zero answers. Which is either understandable or unforgivable depending on your point of view; maybe a little bit of both.