Second Half

[eb075]

Just having a think about where we are at the moment and curious of others opinions. I confess to being an unabated Sheedy fan but am willing to now admit I can start to see where Knights is going and it's exciting!

Having said that I think we have caught a few teams off guard with our play and them a little short with injuries. So, we have arrived at half way 5/6 with some good and surprising wins and at least 1 "shocker" we should have won (balancing out the unexpected wins).

Ok - problem is, I don't believe we have a "plan B", so as teams are starting to work us out, what will happen in the second half? Adelaide pretty well choked us on Sunday and it won't take Einstein to work that out. We "should" beat Melbourne (but look at the Nth game !!) but I'm not all that confident of beating Carlton and Collingwood second time round. We then have 3 interstate games (and I believe I/S is the last brick in the building a team phase) and return games against StKilda, Bris and Hawthorn and a game against Bulldogs.

So, my question is, a few weeks ago we were very excited BUT if we were to now finish 7/15, have we really done much this year other than to finally get a few we've been waiting for on the park? And remember, I'm basing this on our game-plan rather than players as such. Please also don't misconstrue and abuse me here, I mean this as a constructive analysis not a bash at the team.

 

[AndyLesPaul]

Just one question,

Where were you in all the matches before we versed Adelaide?

Our second halfs are usually fine. Only this week IMO we played with a team that Sheedy would have chosen.
Anyone else agree?

 

[eb075]

Woops, just read "Ridiculous & embarrassing prediction posts/threads" and realise this could look similar - don't mean it to be. Am offering genuine analysis of what I think is flaw in game plan and how they are now "working us out".

 

[eb075]

Just one question,

Where were you in all the matches before we versed Adelaide?

Firstly, where was I? Sitting in the stand at every game. Secondly, I don't mean second half of games, I mean second half of season. Thirdly, I did admit I am coming around to Knights.

Why do so many here have to be so aggressive/abusive if someone "dares" to sound like they may be criticizing something. I would have thought when you are trying to build a team, you need to look at the flaws as well so as to eventually eliminate them.

 

[AndyLesPaul]

Hmm, the one flaw would be if a team plays in a zone, its sort of hard for us to attack.

And I do agree there is a flaw, But i don't believe it is in the second half as you stated?
"Ok - problem is, I don't believe we have a "plan B", so as teams are starting to work us out, what will happen in the second half?"

It is evidently in the first and/or second quarter.

 

[fella1]

He is talking about the second half of the season in general, not the second half of games, and specifically what our approach will be to teams who stop our run by clogging the centre corridor (as North, St. Kilda, Geelong and Adelaide were all able to do).

 

[tubbis]

Hmm, the one flaw would be if a team plays in a zone, its sort of hard for us to attack.

And I do agree there is a flaw, But i don't believe it is in the second half as you stated?
"Ok - problem is, I don't believe we have a "plan B", so as teams are starting to work us out, what will happen in the second half?"

It is evidently in the first and/or second quarter.

He's talking about the second half of the season. I agree with the whole zoning being a problem, but strategically the only ways to defeat the zones IMO:
1. When rebounding, Pinpoint long passes that are beyond the zone. Think Luke Hodge for Hawthorn or Aaron Davey for Melbourne. They're able to be precise with their long passes and cut through zones. Do we have one? Can't think of one off the top of my head, but thats probably because we don't play that style.
2. The style that we play. The quick movement and handball through the zones. However, this requires clinical precision (bordering on perfection) in running through the centre, drawing players and then releasing the ball to the right option at the right time. If it doesn't come off we're hurt on the rebound as we become severly undermanned in our backline.

Theres my two cents.

 

[GmeUP]

I don't think that it's a flaw we are just yet to perfect it. Add to that the fact we are missing Hille, Fletcher, Welsh, Laycock and potentially Hurley from our best 22. The fact our leading goalkicker in that game was forced into the ruck and down in defense and with McVeigh and Prismall we were carrying 2 severely underdone players lacking the fitness to run out a full game the last half fade-out on the weekend could be expected.
I don't see any need to change the gameplan in the last half of the season.

 

[eb075]

Yes I am definitely talking about the 2nd half of the SEASON. The question no one has addressed though is this: the game plan we are learning must be VERY precise otherwise the better teams will choke us until we make a mistake and then we are vulnerable. I think we caught some teams by surprise early, but they have now had a chance to think about us. We have 3 interstate games plus return games against top 4 teams (potentially). The Car/Col/Haw wins were great but ? injuries (theirs) and surprise factor=IF we were to now finish 7/15, how would you rate the season-disappointing; good that at least we got players back; mediocre. What??

 

[tubbis]

Yes I am definitely talking about the 2nd half of the SEASON. The question no one has addressed though is this: the game plan we are learning must be VERY precise otherwise the better teams will choke us until we make a mistake and then we are vulnerable. I think we caught some teams by surprise early, but they have now had a chance to think about us. We have 3 interstate games plus return games against top 4 teams (potentially). The Car/Col/Haw wins were great but ? injuries (theirs) and surprise factor=IF we were to now finish 7/15, how would you rate the season-disappointing; good that at least we got players back; mediocre. What??

IF we finish with a record of 7-15, then that would be very disappointing. As cliched as it may sound, I would still hold hope for the future as we do have a young, developing list. Moreover, we've had a terrible run with injury these past few years. I mean last year we had what 24-25 players to pick a playing team of 22 from? This year's injury list isn't looking too flash either.
Assuming they work out a tactic to try and stop us, if we execute our gameplan perfectly, it is very hard to stop (its a factor in explaining Geelong's success IMO).

 

[B-Bomber]

We would need to have some injury run in the second half of the year for 7-15 to be acceptable *Touch wood*.

I'd be happy as long as we exceed our 8 wins last year and go 10-12 (though there would be a certain level of pain in that we would have come so close to finals but no cigar).

You need to consider that this year the team has been mostly kids where as last year we still had contributions from quite a few senior players.

 

[m8rix]

Is it just me? I thought Bombers deviated from the direct tactics towards the end of the game. There were a number of plays going down the wings.

Going forward in the second half of the season I don't think there should be a plan B. I think the game plan we are adopting is a good one. We are still a bit away from perfecting it, but the more we persist the better we will get.

Having a "Plan B" means you need the players to be drilled for it. Seriously why waste time doing that?

 

[tubbis]

Is it just me? I thought Bombers deviated from the direct tactics towards the end of the game. There were a number of plays going down the wings.

Going forward in the second half of the season I don't think there should be a plan B. I think the game plan we are adopting is a good one. We are still a bit away from perfecting it, but the more we persist the better we will get.

Having a "Plan B" means you need the players to be drilled for it. Seriously why waste time doing that?

We deviated from the run and carry through the corridor because there was a massive 18 man flood up the ground and we didn't have the confidence to execute the plan. We did try on the occasion, but on screen it looked like the Crows were EVERYWHERE, so I'd hate to imagine what the predicament looked like for the players.

Oh.. and in regards to having a "Plan B", well.. watch last years Grand Final. Geelong didn't have a Plan B.

 

[Childish Gambino]

Is it just me? I thought Bombers deviated from the direct tactics towards the end of the game. There were a number of plays going down the wings.

Going forward in the second half of the season I don't think there should be a plan B. I think the game plan we are adopting is a good one. We are still a bit away from perfecting it, but the more we persist the better we will get.

Having a "Plan B" means you need the players to be drilled for it. Seriously why waste time doing that?

Not having a "plan B" is what got us killed against Geelong, a game in which we were barely competitive.

I agree with the OP, we don't have a "plan B" and teams will/have worked us out. We have lost the surprise factor from our games.

I think 7/15 will be a huge disappointment this year and really unacceptable. We at least should match our record from last year and we should even better it, even though we have had a poor run with injuries I think towards the end of last year was a lot worse.

 

[daffo]

It would be a real shocker if we only won two more games for the year. We do have a tough run home but I expect us to win at least one interstate game, wins against Melb and Carl would be the starting ground.

 

[m8rix]

Oh.. and in regards to having a "Plan B", well.. watch last years Grand Final. Geelong didn't have a Plan B.

My point is, if Geelong had a "Plan B" would they have made it to the GF? They are such a well drilled side and that is because they have a plan and they stick to it 100%. If they invested only 70% into their core game plan and were distracted by investing 30% into a "Plan B" I simply ask the question that will the -30% investment have a negative impact on their core game plan which is hard to stop by any team on any day?