Tempo Footy

[Vader]

Tempo Football has its place in the game. Usually that place involves winding down the clock in the dying minutes of the game. Alternatively, it can be used to deprive the opposition of the ball when they have momentum and are threatening to take the game away from us.

Tonight however....

Knights' goal 1:23 into the final term put us up by 46 points. We had them at our mercy, with our foot on their throat, with us in dire need of a percentage booster. What did we do? Instead of attacking mercilessly, turning the game into a 10-12 goal percentage booster, we opted to play tempo football.

The result of this was inevitable. We deprived ourselves of ANY chance to score for the remainder of the game - kicking just 3 behinds in the last 25 minutes of the quarter. Worse than that, our inevitable skill errors resulted in turnovers and goals to the opposition. They reduced the deficit from 46 points to just 17 by the time the final siren sounded.

I would like to know who the genius was who called for the team to start playing tempo footy so early in the final quarter. Once they've been identified, I want them summarily executed, the body cut up into small pieces, with the pieces buried in an assortment of ant mounds scattered around the state - none of which should be within 200km of Football Park.

 

[bus24]

We're not good enough by foot to play tempo footy.

In fact, only once or twice in 3 or 4 years have I seen us actually keep the football, without turning it over and costing ourselves goals.

 

[Lets Beyblade]

We're not good enough by foot to play tempo footy.

In fact, only once or twice in 3 or 4 years have I seen us actually keep the football, without turning it over and costing ourselves goals.

I think that is a bit rough. We are certainly alot better at this type of football than many other clubs.

Having said that I really hope the club learn from this mistake and never again try to play a defensive game style while up by 46 and not being challenged.

 

[WALL-e]

I was going nuts when they started doing that wind it up signal crap

 

[Go the Guts]

Agreed. Craig invented the tempo thing, but I thought it was nearly banished from our gameplan for the year, and then they started it tonight. Same as you guys, I was spitting chips. That 5 goals we conceded after 3/4 time cost us about 2-3%.

 

[Macjoe]

Agreed. Craig invented the tempo thing, but I thought it was nearly banished from our gameplan for the year, and then they started it tonight. Same as you guys, I was spitting chips. That 5 goals we conceded after 3/4 time cost us about 2-3%.

You are probably right. Richmond were showing spirit, so it might have saved the win, but more likely it cost us percentage.

However, we did win. As Craig has already acknowledged, we will probably need 13 wins to make the finals. 13 because we can't make up the percentage we need to make do with 12. In that case, wins are ALL that matter. Percentage isn't going to do it for us, so percentage doesn't matter.

That's not an opinion. Its a black and white proposition. We either make the 8 (or, most unlikely, the 4) on our win/loss ratio or we don't make it. Percentage is not going to be an issue for us this year, except to keep us out.

 

[afc1991]

Richmond were much better in the last quater but I don't think temp footy had anything to do with it..

I know the ball over the head signal went up, but everyone does that when the op is getting their hands on it more. It's not like we started kicking backwards for an extended time, or wind down the clock.

We went forward several times, but just didnt look like scoring, I dont think we went defnsive.

 

[Moonwatcher]

NC will just say that we need to do it better, sometimes he just has no respect for the opposition.

People may call it Tempo Footy but really it is just getting the players to practice capitulating.

I've never been this upset watching the crows win 6 in a row.

 

[Sir Vlado]

I guess it was unfortunate that we had to resort to tempo football, but Richmond improved in the last quarter to make the final scoreline respectable, so well done to them for that.

 

[chickawah]

Richmond were much better in the last quater but I don't think temp footy had anything to do with it..

I know the ball over the head signal went up, but everyone does that when the op is getting their hands on it more. It's not like we started kicking backwards for an extended time, or wind down the clock.

We went forward several times, but just didnt look like scoring, I dont think we went defnsive.

Yes it is. This post is just plain wrong.

 

[Moonwatcher]

Our percentage was above Brisbanes on a live ladder when we got 46 points up. We do have one more win but that could change after st Kilda/geelong. Percentage does matter

 

[Crow-mo]

Richmond were much better in the last quater but I don't think temp footy had anything to do with it..

I know the ball over the head signal went up, but everyone does that when the op is getting their hands on it more. It's not like we started kicking backwards for an extended time, or wind down the clock.

We went forward several times, but just didnt look like scoring, I dont think we went defnsive.

you may not have realised but we were up and had the momentum at the time.

 

[Vader]

I know the ball over the head signal went up, but everyone does that when the op is getting their hands on it more. It's not like we started kicking backwards for an extended time, or wind down the clock.

Yes, we did.

 

[afc1991]

you may not have realised but we were up and had the momentum at the time.

Well I cant be 100% on my recollections of he game I had a big arvo, so I'll stand corrected. However from what I remember when the ol' hold the ball over the head signal went up we were at half back and had recently been under the pump. Teams dont really do it when they are on fire, and I quite sure we didnt either.

 

[StonesThrow]

I was blaming the runner at the time.

 

[Coopers]

I was going nuts when they started doing that wind it up signal crap

I reckon, if you're talking about when symes gave the signal, that he was signalling the end of the possesion football tactics.

They'd already been doing it for a few minutes, and there was 8ish minutes left, we were up by 30 points still, game in the bag.

I reckon they tempo footey'd it for a bit, to ensure the win, and then attempted to score a few more goals. And flubbed it from half back about 5 times in a row, leading to 3 more richmond goals.

 

[Smoooothy]

this year is reminding me of 2002/2003, when we were beating teams pretty consistently, but we lacked the killer punch to really put away a side.

i think in that period we won something like 25-26 games, and i can only think of 1 10 goal plus victory, but we had plenty in the region of 5-10 goals when we really should have won by more. i know it doesn't have much to do with tempo footy, but it's just an observation i've made so far..

 

[cmndstab]

Normally I don't have a huge problem with it and appreciate that it can milk time and slow the momentum of a side - and I think our defence works well enough to pull it off for a while... but tonight was just ridiculous. There was 10 minutes to go and we were 8 goals up with all the moment. I don't understand why it happened tonight. Did anyone hear Craig's presser? Was he asked about it?

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I hate tempo footy. To play football for any period of time without trying to score is like farting in the face of the footy gods. Malcolm would never have allowed it.

What really annoys me is when it is used as a tactic during the game. I can stomach the last minute or two of the final quarter when you are hanging on to a slender lead. But as a stalling tactic during the body of the game... boo

Are we so arrogant that we believe we can turn attacking, fast-flowing, positive football on and off like a tap? No team is that good. What usually happens is that you take your foot off the gas and then get in a rut, unable to get yourself out of it.

 

[beartoo]

I thought we started tempo at about the 9 minute to go mark, and I too was amazed. We had them at our mercy and we backed off. We have done that often over the years. It was disappointing not to come away with a big % booster last night when it was there for the taking.

 

[Vader]

Normally I don't have a huge problem with it and appreciate that it can milk time and slow the momentum of a side - and I think our defence works well enough to pull it off for a while... but tonight was just ridiculous. There was 10 minutes to go and we were 8 goals up with all the moment. I don't understand why it happened tonight. Did anyone hear Craig's presser? Was he asked about it?

This is exactly what we did last night - milked time and slowed the momentum of a side. Only problem is that it was OUR momentum which got slowed.

We handed the momentum to the opposition. They didn't take it of their own volition, we willfully handed it to them. I was (and remain) angry at this decision. Tempo footy has a time & place, but last night was the wrong time and the wrong place. Dumb decision and it may well cost us at the end of the season if our position in the 8 is determined by percentage.

 

[Crow-mo]

and lets be honest, it wasn't *that* far away from costing us the game.

 

[frednerk33]

This is exactly what we did last night - milked time and slowed the momentum of a side. Only problem is that it was OUR momentum which got slowed.

We handed the momentum to the opposition. They didn't take it of their own volition, we willfully handed it to them. I was (and remain) angry at this decision. Tempo footy has a time & place, but last night was the wrong time and the wrong place. Dumb decision and it may well cost us at the end of the season if our position in the 8 is determined by percentage.

An accurate analysis, Vader. I'm not angry though, it's a learning experience and we got away with it. I wonder if Craigy has more faith in the player skills to execute that tempo play than I do though, we seem to have lost with it a number of times over a couple of years.

Top 8 ? It's a development year for us and everyone knows it and acknowledged it from the start; having said that I'd be thrilled to bits if we got near a final this year. Watching the Saints-Geelong game today I'd reckon we'd be 119 point canon fodder in a GF.

 

[Vader]

Top 8 ? It's a development year for us and everyone knows it and acknowledged it from the start; having said that I'd be thrilled to bits if we got near a final this year. Watching the Saints-Geelong game today I'd reckon we'd be 119 point canon fodder in a GF.

Just to clarify my comment about the finals.

I don't expect it to be the difference between making the 8 and not making the 8. I think the gap between the haves and the have nots is widening and we should now make the finals.

However, percentage (or the lack thereof) will be vital in deciding where we finish in the top 8 - it could well be the difference between 6th & 7th, effectively deciding a home vs away final.

 

[jenny61_99]

The players apparently have been given the right to use this tactic if they feel momentum slipping. From memory, it was Johncock that made the signal last night in that last quarter. I can see that it can be useful at the right time, but I agree it was used far too early last night. As I said in my Good Bad and Ugly write up, the team had discussed Richmond's ability to play in purple patches and put on 5+ goals in a hurry. The use of the slowing tactic was clearly an attempt to stop that from happening (which failed miserably). I believe that by focussing on this strength of Richmond's in their pre-game analysis and possible solutions to stop it, they probably turned it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.