Preview Round 4, 2021: St.Kilda v West Coast - Marvel Stadium, Saturday 10th April, 4:35PM AEST

Who Wins?

  • Saints

    Votes: 14 14.6%
  • Eagles

    Votes: 82 85.4%

  • Total voters
    96
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I love the AFL journalism...

“Hannebery strained his 'good' calf at training on Tuesday, the opposite side to the calf that had heavily interrupted his pre-season and meant he hadn't returned to the main group since January.”

Just to be clear, his good calf is the one that was not currently injured. It’s on the opposite side of that one confirming what I suspected, that he only has 2 calves.

We need to start thinking outside the square

9HLkmug.jpg
 
Sep 17, 2010
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Yes I am a Leeds fan. As big as a saint. Took my wife to a few games on our honeymoon.

So let me tell you the secret about Bielsa. He isn’t some amazing tactician that’s wins games due to X and o’s.

Everything he does is designed to replicate match scenarios and to deliver what they practice day in and out in a match.

So how does he do that? Firstly, he is a drill sergeant. He routinely does 3 a day sessions over pre season that causes his clubs to install sleep pods in their training complexes or hire hotel rooms for his players as they will be too wrecked to drive all the way home.

His is nicknamed “El Loco” because each session of his was the equivalent to 3 of his colleagues back in Argentina.

At every club he manages, he does a unique training session. At Leeds they call it murderball.

It is high intensity match sim running. If the ball goes out one of his assistants throws a new one in. Players don’t get a breather. They aren’t allowed to jog. You need to perform in this session to get selected in the match day squad.

His training drills are designed to embed behaviour so that players have them ingrained and don’t need to think they just act during matches.

In short, his philosophy is that the harder his team work. The better chance they have of winning as they have pushed themselves to be the utter best they can be.

He believes hard work will get the best out of the individual as long as they buy in. This negates the need to spend millions to buy replacements.

I think after the last few weeks. Our boys could of used bielsa, because a lack of effort as shown on fox footy throughout the week, isn’t about tactics.
The reason I brought him up is because I do know a lot about him and he is the epitome of a system-based coach. He’s probably the most interesting coach in world sport and been a major influence on more famous coaches like Guardiola and many more. I also have a close Argentinian friend that has helped me understand a lot about him and his methods too.

The famous El Loco nickname? That’s not because he’s some drill sergeant that demands running and “hard work” (although he demands his players have a base - very high - level of fitness... but more on why below) more because he’s an absolute perfectionist, is absolutely obsessed with his system and patterns in football etc. My Argentinian friend says the name is more due to him being a cross between a mad Scientist, a football purist and an unforgiving fundamentalist.

He demands a high base level of fitness from his players, he is unequivocal on this and goes to extremes like you mention with airpods. But this is because he is so obsessed and invested in his system, how football must be played, how opposition must be pressed in a certain way etc. that it overrides everything else.

The system he has is designed to feed the workrate of the players, not the other way around. Again, he demands a high fitness level of the players, but this is so they can be foot-soldiers in carrying out his system.

If you know about Bielsa, you’ll remember he hasn’t had success everywhere he has been: he’s been quite hit and miss. This is put down to players not buying into his system, results not coming, no positive reinforcement for the large amount of running they do and then everything falling apart.

How does this relate to the Saints right now? Well, something key to high pressure systems is the necessity to effectively move and possess the ball as coaches like Bielsa know. If you can’t pass and keep the ball in his system (a big reason, besides it scores you goals, is it’s easier to conserve and gain energy when you have the ball and at the same time sap the opposition) he won’t play you.

So, related to the above, unfortunately we are screwed both offensively and defensively with our system at the moment. Offensively, we are missing targets by foot, or kicking long to 50/50s too often, giving the ball back depriving us of both scoring and not giving us a rest. Defensively, due to the new rules, opposition keeping possession and our poor defensive structures, we are not getting turnovers (not only are we not getting turnovers, we’re not even able to stop their ball movement, meaning were conceding way too much). Without turnovers with our game plan, we’re stuffed.

System-wise we need to

1. Tweak our defensive structures so we at least have a chance to pressure skilled teams by foot. We simply must affect turnovers and get some energy and run into our team as we can’t keep chasing tail all game
2. Play a more possession based game. We have to hit short targets that we are missing and stop bombing long to 50/50s. Opposition have been ready for that since the Cats last year.
3. Make good decisions about when and how to pressure. Too often we lose structure.

It might take a few weeks for the above to fall into place but, if we tweak our system and start getting reward for effort, we can still get on a run.
 
Mar 14, 2011
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The reason I brought him up is because I do know a lot about him and he is the epitome of a system-based coach. He’s probably the most interesting coach in world sport and been a major influence on more famous coaches like Guardiola and many more. I also have a close Argentinian friend that has helped me understand a lot about him and his methods too.

The famous El Loco nickname? That’s not because he’s some drill sergeant that demands running and “hard work” (although he demands his players have a base - very high - level of fitness... but more on why below) more because he’s an absolute perfectionist, is absolutely obsessed with his system and patterns in football etc. My Argentinian friend says the name is more due to him being a cross between a mad Scientist, a football purist and an unforgiving fundamentalist.

He demands a high base level of fitness from his players, he is unequivocal on this and goes to extremes like you mention with airpods. But this is because he is so obsessed and invested in his system, how football must be played, how opposition must be pressed in a certain way etc. that it overrides everything else.

The system he has is designed to feed the workrate of the players, not the other way around. Again, he demands a high fitness level of the players, but this is so they can be foot-soldiers in carrying out his system.

If you know about Bielsa, you’ll remember he hasn’t had success everywhere he has been: he’s been quite hit and miss. This is put down to players not buying into his system, results not coming, no positive reinforcement for the large amount of running they do and then everything falling apart.

How does this relate to the Saints right now? Well, something key to high pressure systems is the necessity to effectively move and possess the ball as coaches like Bielsa know. If you can’t pass and keep the ball in his system (a big reason, besides it scores you goals, is it’s easier to conserve and gain energy when you have the ball and at the same time sap the opposition) he won’t play you.

So, related to the above, unfortunately we are screwed both offensively and defensively with our system at the moment. Offensively, we are missing targets by foot, or kicking long to 50/50s too often, giving the ball back depriving us of both scoring and not giving us a rest. Defensively, due to the new rules, opposition keeping possession and our poor defensive structures, we are not getting turnovers (not only are we not getting turnovers, we’re not even able to stop their ball movement, meaning were conceding way too much). Without turnovers with our game plan, we’re stuffed.

System-wise we need to

1. Tweak our defensive structures so we at least have a chance to pressure skilled teams by foot. We simply must affect turnovers and get some energy and run into our team as we can’t keep chasing tail all game
2. Play a more possession based game. We have to hit short targets that we are missing and stop bombing long to 50/50s. Opposition have been ready for that since the Cats last year.
3. Make good decisions about when and how to pressure. Too often we lose structure.

It might take a few weeks for the above to fall into place but, if we tweak our system and start getting reward for effort, we can still get on a run.
There is a lot of inaccuracies in what you have posted mate.

 

Roddy Grant

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Jan 24, 2020
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It’s been a big 24 hours.

Appears Hanners & Geary have played their last game for the club.

Marshall returns which is massive.

Butler had a ‘pre-Sandy’ haircut.

The club has reached 50k member for the first time, most want their money back.

Eagles by 120...

Last years membership is looking way better value for money.
 
Sep 17, 2010
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Perhaps one thing we've failed to realize is that although we have acquired Ratts, Rath and Roughey, it's still Clarko that was the brains behind them all.
Yeah, could be a lot in that.

If you haven’t already, it was really interesting to compare the way we dealt with Essendon after half time compared with the Hawks in round 1.

We were both in the same situation: the Bombers had gotten a jump on us.

Clarko and the Hawks started playing fire with fire and cut the Bombers up with shorter footskills and keeping possession with short kicks at angles. Us? We tried to change things up but are massive ball-butchers and seem incapable of keeping possession.

The response from the Hawks after being overrun by the Bombers compared to ours was pretty telling in my opinion. The less-rated Hawks were capable of changing gears and hitting targets and won the game. We tried to change gears, constantly missed targets that put us under immense pressure and lost the game by a bigger margin. Yet we blame effort on here.... go figure - I just pray the coaches don’t buy into that. Our problems start and end with executing offensively and defensively.
 

LiterallyNobody

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Jul 26, 2006
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Would I be right in assuming that we try get rid of the ball as soon as we get it rather than holding on to it? That’s one thing we can look at changing surely.
 
What's this about gears and hanners??

Cooked?


Gears set for surgey & 2-3 weeks
Hanners 4 weeks with low grade calf strain

Aka, already injured and reinjured in rehab just differently.
 

LiterallyNobody

Cancelled due to poster being a Campaigner
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With Ratten playing players in the wrong position lately. Could we see Marshall set for a stint on the half back flank!?
Play Hunter Clark in the ruck.
 

kernelT

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Aug 15, 2010
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Watching the Swans vs Bombers, we gotta get Battle, Members and King leading a hell of lot.
Also apparent that big Hick would be the handiest player right now of all the players we've let go.

At 30 YO, he would be a handy ruckman on the list with Ryder probably retiring this year.
 

LiterallyNobody

Cancelled due to poster being a Campaigner
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Also apparent that big Hick would be the handiest player right now of all the players we've let go.

At 30 YO, he would be a handy ruckman on the list with Ryder probably retiring this year.
I remember when we got rid of him I just didn’t understand why. Then longer and whoever the other one was got injured and we had to use Marshall as our number one ruck...
 
Jan 10, 2011
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Yep, he also mentioned the 2010 Hawks being 1-6 because they hadn’t evolved their game plan with competition: fixed it and won their next 7 or something along those lines.

I don’t usually enjoy Jordan Lewis much but he was pretty good last night on our situation.

Roughy didn’t really give away much and was a bit cryptic: said at the start they don’t really know why the slump is happening, then alluded to the shorter quarters..... I think he was trying to say something without saying something and playing cards close to his chest.
Of course you do because you want it to be game plan. I’m pretty sure our coach has said it was effort. Anyone wanting it to be game plan will be waiting for weeks to come good. Surely every saints supporter wants it be effort
 
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