Scott Pendlebury: " Buckley's Balance"

[themulletking]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...ay-ahead-of-pack/story-fn837hkh-1226457705441

always love a good tactics/game plan thread...
apparently, our much talked about game plan has been dubbed " buckleys balance" ..
thoughts?

 

[SnakePlisskin]

I'm yet to see anything that resembles a gameplan.

 

[jathanas]

I'm yet to see anything that resembles a gameplan.

Jokes aside, I wonder how much of that is due to the injuries to key personnel and our need to reinvent the side during the season.

BJ was surely intended to be a key kog in the system, and with Krak, and Ball going down, it threw the team structure out of alignment. That's why we've lacked that polish. I can see that a lot of meticulous planning just went down the gurgler when all those knees (and shoulder) went "POP".

The list of bad things that have happened this year is too long; so all things considered we've done very, very well.

 

[sr36]

Jokes aside, I wonder how much of that is due to the injuries to key personnel and our need to reinvent the side during the season.

BJ was surely intended to be a key kog in the system, and with Krak, and Ball going down, it threw the team structure out of alignment. That's why we've lacked that polish. I can see that a lot of meticulous planning just went down the gurgler when all those knees (and shoulder) went "POP".

The list of bad things that have happened this year is too long; so all things considered we've done very, very well.

Nah. These guys were all long term injured by about round 5. And sure you'd expect us to be a lesser team without their polish, but three months later we are structurally disorganised and seem to have no system of attacking or defending. Surley three months is time enough to adjust plans and structures. Even without the long term injured guys, we've still got a pretty awesome list. I personally think our ladder position flatters us and we've been a middle of the road team who are excellent at winning nail biters.

 

[forwardflanker]

Quote from the article - "That year, we kicked long into our forwards a lot. But after we tied with St Kilda in the Grand Final, in our review on Monday we decided that we needed to be more precise with kicking.

Our problem in the drawn GF was that the Saints backmen were able to read and chop off our long kicks into the forward 50m."

Seems exactly what the problem has been with our forward entries this season.

 

[jathanas]

Nah. These guys were all long term injured by about round 5. And sure you'd expect us to be a lesser team without their polish, but three months later we are structurally disorganised and seem to have no system of attacking or defending. Surley three months is time enough to adjust plans and structures. Even without the long term injured guys, we've still got a pretty awesome list. I personally think our ladder position flatters us and we've been a middle of the road team who are excellent at winning nail biters.

I'd argue that 3 months during the season might not be enough time to work out a new plan that takes advantage of your player's strengths. Especially because the players you're bringing in are young and their strengths are yet to be discovered/proven.

As far as our ladder position goes, that's something I'm quite proud of as a supporter. Winning tight games of football when you're not in the best circumstances speaks highly of the culture and attitude of the club.

I agree that our list is fantastic.

 

[HFF]

I'm yet to see anything that resembles a gameplan.

I'm with this.

We are at round 22 and talent alone has kept us up near the top.

 

[loki04]

Quote from the article - "That year, we kicked long into our forwards a lot. But after we tied with St Kilda in the Grand Final, in our review on Monday we decided that we needed to be more precise with kicking.

Our problem in the drawn GF was that the Saints backmen were able to read and chop off our long kicks into the forward 50m."

Seems exactly what the problem has been with our forward entries this season.

Agree but the forwards not performing also hasn't helped none of them get clear of the defenders to give a strong hard lead.

 

[ipswichpies]

Nah. These guys were all long term injured by about round 5. And sure you'd expect us to be a lesser team without their polish, but three months later we are structurally disorganised and seem to have no system of attacking or defending. Surley three months is time enough to adjust plans and structures. Even without the long term injured guys, we've still got a pretty awesome list. I personally think our ladder position flatters us and we've been a middle of the road team who are excellent at winning nail biters.

WHat you neglect to say as usual is that although our long term injuries were early in the season we have continued to have injuries on a weekly basis how often have we had an unchanged team not very often I would ventured.

It is easy to see that you have a very negative view of Buckley and his coaching but you never acknowledge that whatever could go wrong has and Keeffe was injured in rd 9,we have 5 changes this week and that is about par for us this season.

As for your rubbish about the team being a middle of the road they have done a fantastic job to be where they are and how about acknowledging that,nearly everyone of your posts is a dig at Buckley.

 

[sr36]

As for your rubbish about the team being a middle of the road they have done a fantastic job to be where they are and how about acknowledging that,nearly everyone of your posts is a dig at Buckley.

This is my take on the last 8 weeks
Round 15 -Lost- Convincingly outplayed by Carlton
Round 16 - Win- Convincingly outplayed Geelong
Round 17 -Lost- Thrashed by Hawthorn
Round 18 - Win - Thrashed GWS
Round 19 -Win - Stk - Thriller, could have gone anyway
Round 20 - Win - Syd - Thriller, could have gone anyway
Round 21- Loss - Convincingly outpoayed by North
Round 22 - Loss - Convincingly outplayed by WCE

It's getting towards the business end of the year. That looks like the form line of a middle of the road team. Flogged one team. Had one other convincing win. Won two other thrillers. Were convincingly beaten on four other occasions.

I agree that my recent posting has been very negative towards Buckley. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think that he can coach. I'll try to make this my last dig for a while.

 

[themulletking]

Ok, i just wanna say,
you can't seriously say we don't have a game plan. you can't seriously say we're not trying SOMETHING new.
so why is it that instead of trying to actually figure what our game plan is meant to be, we're filling this thread with pessimistic nonsense? would it not be at least somewhat reassuring to have a vague idea what we're aiming for ? sorry but i don't think we should waste a great opportunity to have an intelligent discussion and have a good guess.

i'm personally of the opinion buck's WANTS adaptability and 2 way running. i think he wants us to be able to say, switch from defending like the st kilda of old, to attacking like geelong, on the fly.. hence the heavy emphasis on the midfield, the way we sometimes range from defending so heavily in the last 5 minutes of the tight games, to slingshotting through the corridor other times ... its the key word, "balance" , that gets me.
its like he wants the hardest defence, but he also wants the hardest attack. does anyone have a better idea?

 

[coldpieswarmbeer]

I don't think 'Buckley's Balance' is the name of the game plan, I think he was just saying Buckley's balanced game plan will hopefully win out (balance as in equal focus on attacking and defence whereas Mick was more defensive minded).

It would be a bit too FIGJAM also for Buckley to brand the gameplan with his own name, ... lol.

 

[Hva sher a]

Ok, i just wanna say,
you can't seriously say we don't have a game plan. you can't seriously say we're not trying SOMETHING new.
so why is it that instead of trying to actually figure what our game plan is meant to be, we're filling this thread with pessimistic nonsense? would it not be at least somewhat reassuring to have a vague idea what we're aiming for ? sorry but i don't think we should waste a great opportunity to have an intelligent discussion and have a good guess.

i'm personally of the opinion buck's WANTS adaptability and 2 way running. i think he wants us to be able to say, switch from defending like the st kilda of old, to attacking like geelong, on the fly.. hence the heavy emphasis on the midfield, the way we sometimes range from defending so heavily in the last 5 minutes of the tight games, to slingshotting through the corridor other times ... its the key word, "balance" , that gets me.
its like he wants the hardest defence, but he also wants the hardest attack. does anyone have a better idea?

I would argue that while we have the plan to counter teams like the Crows, Geelong, Freo and maybe Swans, we can't cope with teams that move the ball at speed either by foot (Carlton at least against us) by foot (Hawks) and by hand (North)

I think luck will play a big part this year - if we can avoid Hawthorn I'd back us against Swannies, Crows and the Eagles (but not at Subi). On the other hand this admits that we have no chance against Hawthorn...sigh

 

[themulletking]

I don't think 'Buckley's Balance' is the name of the game plan, I think he was just saying Buckley's balanced game plan will hopefully win out (balance as in equal focus on attacking and defence whereas Mick was more defensive minded).

It would be a bit too FIGJAM also for Buckley to brand the gameplan with his own name, ... lol.

ahahah yeah that is true..
he was clearly going for a pun like "clarko's cluster".

still, there must be more to it, " play less defensively" is really not something take thats all that long to get your head around i feel like the article implies some kind of complexity, something the player's don't quite get yet.
i'm rather intrigued.

 

[coldpieswarmbeer]

me too. I'm in the camp of not seeing a distinct gameplan though, I'm sure there is one, either we haven't been able to execute or our injuries have thrown it out the window.

I've secretly held a thought through-out the year that Buckley has been relying on the individual brilliance & talent of our players to win games. I've not been able to admit it because I wouldn't want to believe it...

The last two weeks (one of which I've watched live) have certainly done nothing to quell those thoughts though

 

[Beary17]

Didn't read the thread but..... Yawn

 

[eddiebankbalance]

i'm personally of the opinion buck's WANTS adaptability and 2 way running. i think he wants us to be able to say, switch from defending like the st kilda of old, to attacking like geelong, on the fly.. hence the heavy emphasis on the midfield, the way we sometimes range from defending so heavily in the last 5 minutes of the tight games, to slingshotting through the corridor other times ... its the key word, "balance" , that gets me.
its like he wants the hardest defence, but he also wants the hardest attack. does anyone have a better idea?

Is it possible that Bucks is ahead of himself? And that the players need to catch up fitness wise to get the game plan down pat?

 

[SuperSub17]

Does anyone really think Bucks goes and tells the players: "Go and get the ball, get it towards our goals, then kick it through our goals" ? Of course there is some sort of gameplan. It probably just doesn't work against certain sides.

 

[ipswichpies]

This is my take on the last 8 weeks
Round 15 -Lost- Convincingly outplayed by Carlton
Round 16 - Win- Convincingly outplayed Geelong
Round 17 -Lost- Thrashed by Hawthorn
Round 18 - Win - Thrashed GWS
Round 19 -Win - Stk - Thriller, could have gone anyway
Round 20 - Win - Syd - Thriller, could have gone anyway
Round 21- Loss - Convincingly outpoayed by North
Round 22 - Loss - Convincingly outplayed by WCE

It's getting towards the business end of the year. That looks like the form line of a middle of the road team. Flogged one team. Had one other convincing win. Won two other thrillers. Were convincingly beaten on four other occasions.

I agree that my recent posting has been very negative towards Buckley. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think that he can coach. I'll try to make this my last dig for a while.

I wish you would mate Buck,s may be a factor but this is his 1st season and we should cut him some slack plus a whole new coaching line up,if Malthouse had honoured his contract we may not have been in the position we are in now.

We have had a lot of factors come in to play this season and most of them were beyond our control,this season is done and dusted now.

Ps mate I do not have an argument with you just a bit cheesed off with how our season is finishing,all the best.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

There was a key moment last night when I realised our problems have nothing to do with coaching, and the problem is we have dumb dumb dumb players who need a coach that draws everything out with a diagram, and disciplines them with a naughty stick.

Ball was coming in long, high and wide into the West Coast forward line, and for some f**cking insane reason, we had 5 players (possibly 6) all go up against oneWest Coast player, leaving 4 or 5 West Coast players free in the forward line. Natanui ended up with the ball.

You guys, cannot tell me with a straight face that Buckley has instructed our defenders to all go up against one forward in a contest. You just can't.

Our players are actually dullards.

 

[themulletking]

Is it possible that Bucks is ahead of himself? And that the players need to catch up fitness wise to get the game plan down pat?

it is possible, this years arizona was apparently the hardest preseason many of the players had ever done.
very well could of been in anticipation of something.

speshal ed brings up another good point. i would not go as far as saying the players are stupid, but it is quite possible they are used to being micromanaged by a meticulous old man, like soldiers.

 

[coldpieswarmbeer]

There was a key moment last night when I realised our problems have nothing to do with coaching, and the problem is we have dumb dumb dumb players who need a coach that draws everything out with a diagram, and disciplines them with a naughty stick.

Ball was coming in long, high and wide into the West Coast forward line, and for some f**cking insane reason, we had 5 players (possibly 6) all go up against oneWest Coast player, leaving 4 or 5 West Coast players free in the forward line. Natanui ended up with the ball.

You guys, cannot tell me with a straight face that Buckley has instructed our defenders to all go up against one forward in a contest. You just can't.

Our players are actually dullards.

Damn, I remember the exact passage and thinking the same thing. Was surprised the commentators didn't pick up on it because it was incredibly dumb, as you said.

 

[coldpieswarmbeer]

it is possible, this years arizona was apparently the hardest preseason many of the players had ever done.
very well could of been in anticipation of something.

speshal ed brings up another good point. i would not go as far as saying the players are stupid, but it is quite possible they are used to being micromanaged by a meticulous old man, like soldiers.

While I agreed with Speshal Ed that there are some dumb plays, I don't subscribe to the micromanagement theory.

Two examples spring to mind:

- Remember that game we came back and beat Adelaide in the last minute. It might have been the "Right in front of me game". After the game, an article came out that said how Sidebottom approached MM at 3/4 time to tell him about something he noticed and suggest a change in gameplan.
- How many times have we heard that under Malthouse, the players were free to decide on their own when to go on the bench and request to come back in.

I'd say the players were afforded a lot of freedom under Malthouse, especially in the later years.

 

[jonbe54]

Lots of negative posts, understandable with or current parlous position regarding top 4 finish but really a lot of you guys need to get some fr1ggin perspective.

We've had key players out all season, not just for one or two weeks but chunks of games. It's impossible to get match fitness and especially touch with interruptions for just a single player, let alone get a team to gel with constant tinkering with the team balance.

This year has been a dance with the devil, constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul. It's certainly been a baptism of fire for Bux who IMHO has done wonders working with the scraps left over from interrupted pre-seasons and bulk, ongoing injury lists.

 

[loki04]

A point none of you have brought up is usually a new coach drafts players over 3-5 years to fit his game plan, maybe this group doesn't have the skill level needed to execute the style Buckley wants.

There are some very overrated players on our list and we have a lot of "role" players who lack in certain area's of the game but fit that role very well and in the team structure under the "press" style game their weakness' were covered.