Shepherds, blocks, bumps

[ImperialPurple]

Yes, we looked better for two and a half quarters yesterday. Yes, it feels good to walk out of Subi having watched a win. Yes, it was excellent watching our prized recruit turning on a BoG performance. Yes, it was satisfying seeing Hase bounce back after a quiet game last week. Yes, it was encouraging watching Kiwi kick 4 goals, and Duffield have a good game, and the perennial punching bag Jimmy Walker play such a good game , and Blackie running back into some form.

There was lots to like about yesterday's game.

But there is still something missing. They just don't work hard enough for each other. There just is not enough of the 1% stuff going on. Apart from Tarrant and Luke Webster (and Cookie when he's there - Browne too), there's really no-one who runs hard to a contest to provide a block or a solid bump, and certainly not enough shepherding around contests or when someone is running and being chased by the opposition.

Yesterday, right in front of me I watched Johnson and his Hawks opponent running for the loose ball. Walker was right there also, and instead of either a) trying to win the ball himself, or b) providing a block or shepherding the Hawthorn player out and letting Johnno have a free run at the ball to win it and clear it, Walker just stood off the contest and waited for Johnson to win the ball in a 50/50 situation, so that he could receive the handball. From memory, the hawks player slapped the ball away, it was picked up by Hawthorn and they won possession.

Not good enough on Grandson's part - but he certainly is not alone in that area. Why don't our guys do the 1%ers? The blocks, shepherds, bumps to help out a team-mate?? It's very, very frustrating at times...

 

[Bradesmaen]

I'd like to see the players lay a few more Shepherds. The intensity and helping team mates was ok, but sometimes they don't work together. The time where Hodge held up Johnson in the third quarter was an example of this. Instead of dishing the handpass off with a shepherd, he handpassed into Hodge who then proceeded to win the ball back for the Hawks, while two Freo guys fought with him. One should have layed out Hodge in the side, while the other gathers the ball.

Hopefully CC will get them to work on this at training, or maybe in a briefing, just play a video and stop it before the bump and ask them you are Mr X - what do you do here? Etc, get them thinking about it rather than doing and forgetting. If you don't drill the process into a players brain then it never sticks.

 

[Belnakor]

This happens allllll the time. I've lost count of the amount of times our guys have handballed the ball off and just run alongside. no shephard, and our guy has been put under the pump/run down from behind. Our backs are terrible, Mundy thinks a sherphard is something you do in the paddock, not on the football field. Dessy and Matt Carr are the other chief offenders.

 

[dockers_bengals]

IMO you can include solomon and sandi with Mj,Tarrant and Webster
but yes you have a good point I.P

 

[Memories]

The other issue is going the other way.. when an opponent handballs to his team mate then keeps running to receive it again, our players rarely to never bump this guy, which allows him to receive it.

The solution is to always bump the guy who just handballed it if you're running head on towards him, so that you do two things :-
A) hit him hard, hopefully injuring him at best, at worst making him think twice about doing it again
B) stop him from being another link in the chain

Of course you need to be close to the player after he handballs it, but it's legal to bump them in this way.

 

[dominguez]

Mundy's version of shepherding

 

[summerthebat]

Currently we are 16th in tackles, I think that's something that is going to catch up with us over time. We do need more intensity at every point, especially centre bounces.

It's one of the things I miss most about Farmer, those furious chases he gives keeping the ball in our attack. Pavlich and Tarrant (up until Hawthorn) always sit back like it's not their role to put pressure on the opposition defence when the ball has been turned over, results in quick and easy rebounds!

I don't know...... I just really miss Jeff..........

 

[royalist]

Here's one that gives me the irrits and a lot of players from different clubs are doing it. Being a former junior coach i always taught kids to attack the the ball and at least cause a 50/50. Now i see players waiting for the ball to bounce before they attack it.Once it hits the deck it could go anywhere.

 

[SBI]

Here's one that gives me the irrits and a lot of players from different clubs are doing it. Being a former junior coach i always taught kids to attack the the ball and at least cause a 50/50. Now i see players waiting for the ball to bounce before they attack it.Once it hits the deck it could go anywhere.

Unfortunately that is because the AFL have got to a stage where they won't reward the guy going for the ball, rather reward the one on the outside of the pack.

On the original post, though. Matthew Carr has to be one of the worst culprits, his tackling attempts in I believe the first quarter when there was a chance to cause a turnover where abysmal.

 

[chook2734]

IMO you can include solomon and sandi with Mj,Tarrant and Webster
but yes you have a good point I.P

This is another one of those things that we just never seem to have got quite right in 13 years. Solomon has been a great addition to the 'teamwork' aspect of our game - I sometimes think he'd be happier to make room for someone else to get possession of the ball than to get it himself. It was only the fact that he was prepared to follow his man and work so hard that saw the MRP finally get him against Brisbane. Not many of our other player would have gone for that becuase they would have given up the chase long before. A few people have said there is no room for him in this weeks team, but I'm not sure that we can afford not to include him.

 

[macka6210]

totally agree with some of the comments made was watching the game with fellow fremantle supporters who mentioned that we have a tendancy to hang off contests to allow a player to grab the footbal first before the fremantle player takes any action. What happened to trying to win possesion first or at least trying to make a contest

 

[ImperialPurple]

Currently we are 16th in tackles, I think that's something that is going to catch up with us over time. We do need more intensity at every point, especially centre bounces.

It's one of the things I miss most about Farmer, those furious chases he gives keeping the ball in our attack. Pavlich and Tarrant (up until Hawthorn) always sit back like it's not their role to put pressure on the opposition defence when the ball has been turned over, results in quick and easy rebounds!

I don't know...... I just really miss Jeff..........

Disagree completely that Taz just started this last game... Don't know who you've been watching, but he has been great in that area.

It was Tazza's awesome bump that allowed Des to kick goal of the week last week.

 

[summerthebat]

Disagree completely that Taz just started this last game... Don't know who you've been watching, but he has been great in that area.

It was Tazza's awesome bump that allowed Des to kick goal of the week last week.

I am really only commenting on him at home games where I get to watch him off the ball, and in the first few games I honestly got the impression he just didn't care. I don't know whether it was a fitness thing, but he was not chasing has hard as other players around him.

Though this has improved round by round, so I am pretty sure it's a thing of the past, no big deal!

 

[milo]

Mundy's version of shepherding

You get the feeling Mundy thinks this caper is always going to be easy. His slacking off (he's no orphan, looking at you M Carr) is part of the reason we're 13th or whatever it is.

Lift your game Mundy.

 

[Kenny_01]

You get the feeling Mundy thinks this caper is always going to be easy. His slacking off (he's no orphan, looking at you M Carr) is part of the reason we're 13th or whatever it is.

Lift your game Mundy.

Everyone seems to be really critical of Mundy. I didn't see the first 2 games this season due to being overseas, but since I've been back, he has been good I've thought. In fact, before this week, he had received votes in our BF POTY thing in 3 over the previous 4 weeks. I acknowlede sometimes he looks a bit sluggish and could do more 1%'s but is there something else I am missing?

 

[Jetau]

A lot of people were bagging Mundy on Sundy. 'Go back to the WAFL' etc. Same tosser said the same thing to Hayden.

Thing about Mundy, he looks so lax that when things go wrong, he looks like he doesn't care. Also he's no good in a one-on-one marking contest. But I'm still a fan.

 

[shibz_1989]

He turned it over a few times. I noticed one time when he did he was trying not to laugh

 

[Lach72]

You get sick of screaming to the guys that when they have a two on one, it would be really nice if the 'one' got knocked arse over head.

They look to receive the handball instead of doing the hard stuff.

 

[Dr Ralph Dagg]

This happens allllll the time. I've lost count of the amount of times our guys have handballed the ball off and just run alongside. no shephard, and our guy has been put under the pump/run down from behind. Our backs are terrible, Mundy thinks a sherphard is something you do in the paddock, not on the football field. Dessy and Matt Carr are the other chief offenders.

Is there anything Dessy is not guilty of? I suggest you start with the pearler of a shepherd that Dessy ran 60m to lay for Medhurst to kick the winning goal in the round 22 derby of 2003. MY recollection is he always used to be in the top 10 for 1%ers.

And didn't Matty Carr get suspended recently for laying a shepherd that went high?

My serial culprits for non-shepherding are Mundy, daylight, then Pavlich, Walker, Johnson, occasionally Hayden.

As for being 16th in tackles, if someone has access to decent stats I'd suggest we're not going that well on all stats that involve close in work -- contested possessions, clearances, hit outs to advantage etc. Even contested marks which used to be our real strength must be down I reckon.

 

[Belnakor]

Is there anything Dessy is not guilty of? I suggest you start with the pearler of a shepherd that Dessy ran 60m to lay for Medhurst to kick the winning goal in the round 22 derby of 2003. MY recollection is he always used to be in the top 10 for 1%ers.

And didn't Matty Carr get suspended recently for laying a shepherd that went high?

My serial culprits for non-shepherding are Mundy, daylight, then Pavlich, Walker, Johnson, occasionally Hayden.

If you have to go back to 2003 to find the last time Dessy shepherded your scraping the barrell dude I watch Dessy off the ball at the game alot. Hes rarely there shepherding, though guys like Mundy are obviously way worse.

Matty Carr rarely, if ever shepherds. He did get suspended, probably because his technique is so poor because he does it once in a blue moon. Pav and Walker are pretty bad too, but Pav would probably argue he is there to kick goals

 

[Roost]

When we started coming back against the Hawks, the physical pressure was much better - It was bloody great to see! Havent seen a lot of that this year.

I agree with the lack of shepherds comments already here. A little bit more physicality, and some sharper skills/better decisions and we are right back in it

 

[estibador]

My serial culprits for non-shepherding are Mundy, daylight, then Pavlich, Walker, Johnson, occasionally Hayden.

I've always thought Hayden is pretty good at laying bumps when required. I can think of a few good ones he's put on this year. Pav really does need to lift his workrate off the ball though. He's the captain and he should be setting the example to the rest of the team.

I watch a lot of other teams and I'd have to say we are definitely one of the worst when it comes to not shepharding for our players. I hate to use them as a positive example so I won't, but shepharding seems to be second nature for another certain team I see a lot of and their ball carriers always end up with time and space as a result.

CC needs to drill it into our boys till it becomes an automatic response. We were ok during our run last year but this year it just seems to be symptomatic of our general lack of cohesive team play.