Roast The Hack-Kick out of defence

[HairyO]

Holding it doesn't get you pinged for holding the ball, champ. Only when you have "prior"

Not true. Players get pinged all the time. Its why some teams train dropping or throwing the ball away.

Sound familiar?

As for kicking... well, it moves the ball 50m or 60m from goal which is probably better than 15m away from goal.

 

[SC_Power]

Why do players do this all the time? And never seem to learn.

Every time a player tries to clear the ball out of defence quickly without looking, it gets marked by the opposition 90% of the time. In tonight's game, it cost a team the win.

Like, even if you're panicking, you should at least have the sense to kick it along the ground, yet players always seem to love kicking it away in the air. Doesn't make sense to me.

You do increase the chances in congestion of kicking the ball into someone and remaining in the area close to goal.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

You've told us. Per (I assume official Champion Data statistics) 90% of all indiscriminate kicks out of defence are marked by the opposition.

It's pretty simple and basically the same reason people are suggesting putting it out on the fall or knowingly conceding a deliberate out of bounds. If there's no clear option kicking out of defence in that situation, kick it as high and as long as possible and as far away from the corridor as you can. You give your teammates a chance to at least make a contest and even if it's a direct turnover, your defenders are better placed to get themselves set, compared to your 'sensible option' of just kicking it along the ground.

Long is no good. It can still be marked. Even if the hack kick makes it's to 60 metres and beyond direct goal kick range, it almost always is marked by "the wall" and a relatively easy spot up inside 50 subsequently occurs.

It needs to go up. So it cannot be marked and becomes a zero contest until the ball hits the ground, where defensive numbers can again usually overwhelm a scoring opportunity.

 

[the avoca drover]

A champ off!

 

[#23 Hill]

100% about kicking it out on the full. Having to kick a drop punt on that angle, a banana or go around the corner on the left from 40 or even 50 out - it's a tough ask in the wet. Definitely seems counterintuitive, but it would have been the right play considering the circumstances, IMO.

Steele Sidebottom would've had the footy IQ to do that.

 

[Lavender Bushranger]

Under intensely high pressure situations, people aren't always cool and calm, and sometimes make non-optimal decisions.

In other breaking news, the sun rose in the east this morning.

Whilst the OP is correct, in that the hack kick is rarely the best option and rarely has a good result - what you've raised is what separates the good teams from the rest.

There's a reason guys can be composed in their D50 and make the right option against North, but can't against Port or Collingwood.

There's a reason forwards can get lace out delivery against West Coast and kick a bag - but can't get near it against Brisbane because the delivery is atrocious.

It's because the opposition put you under pressure. Good teams force you into doing things like the hack kick, and they set up to exploit it.
Good teams force you to bomb it long into contests in your F50 instead of being composed and lowering your eyes, and they set up accordingly.


So as I said, the OP is right - but I'd be genuinely shocked if coaches are instructing players to hack kick it out of their D50.

It's because the opposition force you into mistakes.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Long is no good. It can still be marked. Even if the hack kick makes it's to 60 metres and beyond direct goal kick range, it almost always is marked by "the wall" and a relatively easy spot up inside 50 subsequently occurs.

It needs to go up. So it cannot be marked and becomes a zero contest until the ball hits the ground, where defensive numbers can again usually overwhelm a scoring opportunity.

In that situation: less than two minutes to go, down by less than a kick, it'd take a pretty dedicated minion to keep their regular place in the wall and similarly any forward 50 player from the side protecting the lead should see the '2' or '1' sign go up, get on their bike and pick up a loose player.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Whilst the OP is correct, in that the hack kick is rarely the best option and rarely has a good result

I'd argue that it often has the desired result - preserving the lead/win - we just tend not to remember the times when the 'get it out of the area' option results in a harmless ball up/throw in and we do remember the ones that get turned over and result in a shot to win the game.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Hack kick goes one extra metre and we’re not having this conversation.

This is where torps are useful.

 

[CrowToon]

Steele Sidebottom would've had the footy IQ to do that.

And even if he didn't, every media outlet would've given him the credit retrospectively.

 

[BigPond101]

Long is no good. It can still be marked. Even if the hack kick makes it's to 60 metres and beyond direct goal kick range, it almost always is marked by "the wall" and a relatively easy spot up inside 50 subsequently occurs.

It needs to go up. So it cannot be marked and becomes a zero contest until the ball hits the ground, where defensive numbers can again usually overwhelm a scoring opportunity.

Insanity. Kicking the ball straight up as high as you can just makes it a chaos ball (trademark Dwayne Russel) when it comes down, it could spill anywhere and now the attacking team has it 20 metres from goal. Assuming there is 2-3 minutes left are you just going to repeat this over and over until it comes unstuck.

If it worked Ross Lyon would have already created a game plan where the saints get 1 point ahead and then just kick the ball straight up for the next 120 minutes until the game is over

 

[g_TRAIN]

Clearly, the original poster doesn't fully grasp the game's subtleties. However, I must agree that often players might fare better executing a skidding ground ball grubbing kick for clearance, rather than launching a long bomb toward a group of defenders. These defenders, typically aerially adept, are primed for an intercept mark.

 

[Soggy2112]

Watch the last two minutes of the Collingwood vs Adelaide game last week.

With about 1:30 left Hoskin-Elliott (albeit under less pressure), opted to hack kick out of defence, clearing the Adelaide “wall” and into space. The Crows were still in position to win the ball, but it bought Noble time to pressure the ball and prevent a repeat inside 50. The kick was also towards the boundary, meaning Noble had the option to force it out.

Now watch the Martin kick. If he was able to clear Houston (which was clearly his intention), it would’ve been into space, towards the boundary line. It would’ve taken time off the clock, and given the Essendon players up the field a chance to pressure and hopefully get a stoppage.

Now you could argue that given the pressure he was under, the chances of him executing such a kick were low, but there’s also significant risk in his other options.

Stoppages 15m out from goal are incredibly hard to defend, because no matter what option you take there is significant risk attached to it. It’s why teams often deliberately kick to the pocket when going inside 50, knowing it potentially sets up a boundary throw in.

• Take the tackler on and you risk getting caught holding the ball.
• Allow yourself to be tackled and hold it in and you risk getting caught holding the ball.
• Handball under pressure or let the ball spill out, and you risk conceding a snap shot on goal.
• Force the ball out and you risk getting called for insufficient intent.
• Kick clear and you risk getting marked.

This was IMO a skill error, not a poor tactical choice, as other posters have mentioned, all he needed was another 2-3 metres on that kick and he’s saved the game.

 

[Soggy2112]

Worth noting in this discussion that Hogan’s hacked kick out of defence helped win the game for the Giants.

 

[RichLeMonde]

So often one clicks on a thread hoping for a champ-off, and so often one is disappointed. Not this time. Thanks for making my day

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Insanity. Kicking the ball straight up as high as you can just makes it a chaos ball (trademark Dwayne Russel) when it comes down, it could spill anywhere and now the attacking team has it 20 metres from goal. Assuming there is 2-3 minutes left are you just going to repeat this over and over until it comes unstuck.

If it worked Ross Lyon would have already created a game plan where the saints get 1 point ahead and then just kick the ball straight up for the next 120 minutes until the game is over

Nah, it can get punched towards the boundary, or the ground ball can get mobbed by a dozen defenders. Just don't concede a free kick and you should be right.

Nothing worse than scrapping a little floater out of a pack to one of a handful of attackers waiting expectantly just inside their forward 50.

Of course, if you've got time and space to lift the eyes and see space 70 metres out then of course a long bomb is preferable. But that's not the "hack kick" we're discussing here.

 

[hutchy31]

The majority of the players in the comp can’t kick a ball between the two big sticks if they’re 25m in front in perfect conditions. I’d rather celebrate the fact that after the siren a player managed to kick the ball through from over 50m in the wet from a challenging angle.

Hack kicks are annoying, but we see players make poor decisions and then execute poorly by foot all the time. It feels like half the goals my team concede are because some defender with limited ability butchers a kick across half back and allows an easy turnover goal.

 

[Osho]

Under intensely high pressure situations, people aren't always cool and calm, and sometimes make non-optimal decisions.

In other breaking news, the sun rose in the east this morning.

Roar!
Cats did it in 2020 GF. There will be many other examples. Pressure fcks up the best laid plans.

I think goal kicking is where teams can get advantage quickly. I'd bring in teams of psychologists, exorcists, and shamans into clubs to fix this

 

[Testekill]

It is frustrating, Bulldogs have Gardner and Keath who try to hold it and chip the ball laterally but don't have the footskills or game awareness to pull it off. They should either be banging it up the line as far as they can or immediately handballing it to Dale or Daniel who actually can pick their way through the defensive spread.

 

[Juzzk1d]

What else can they do handball into 20 players or just hold it and get pinged for htb ?

As the original poster said, hack kicking along the ground chaos ball style should be done 100% of the time if you don't know where you're kicking to.

 

[owen87]

A champ off!

The champing happened very early on too, just waiting for a turbo.

 

[Beerfish]

Yep. Should have looked for some high contact instead like Weightman, Ginnivan, Butters etc.

 

[MarcusP2]

Ease up there, turbo

The champing happened very early on too, just waiting for a turbo.

You missed it.

 

[Ralll]

They initially mean to bomb it well outside 50 imo, but get pressured as they kick and end up kicking it 20m to oppo.

 

[windyhill]

What about the hack into the forward line ? The hack kick from a centre bounce ? Most games are filled with many hack kicks but commentators pass it off as some sort of rocket science.