The Handball

[crow87]

I'm all for the the running, attacking pro-handball type game style, its good to watch when it works and can be a highly effective way to move the ball quickly when done properly, However... We are over using the handball at the moment, everytime we get the the first instinct is to look to handball. Often we handball to someone in a worse position than the player who originally had the ball and he gets tackled, we are put under pressure/turnover/holding the ball. What is going on, its almost like some players are not confident enough to do it themselves and offload the responsibility to someone else. Back yoursleves guys, dont be afraid to make mistakes, handballing is fine but not for the sake of it. We dont want to turn the ball over by balsting it forward to no-one but sometimes we just need to kick the thing, the small no-where handballs we saw frequently today are incredibly frustrating and dont get us anywhere, often we turn it over doing this anyway! Thoughts?

 

[Sellar29]

Completely agree with you. It seemed like we were too predictable and that was the reason we got caught out.

 

[crowman_23]

We over use the handball something shocking. We over do it to the point where we turn it over before we can get a kick in, or by the time we kick it the kick is rushed, wasted and the opposition have time to get back.

We must get back to using the handball to keep the ball moving along. Not as our only option. A handball and quick kick is much more effective.

 

[Kickin_Goals]

Doesn't seem to hurt west coast.
If it is the case that West Coast stand back which from the way we could actually charge through seemed the case, perhaps charging at your opponent and wrong footing him might be a useful idea on occasion.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I think the difference is that West Coast know when to play on, and when to use the handball. We seem to have been instructed to play on at all costs in order to play attacking footy and move the ball quickly. We are encouraged to take risks and to back ourselves and to use our team mates but as has been observed this often means we wind up in more trouble. When it doesn't come off it looks terrible and saps the confidence of the team.

I wish there was just a little bit more scope for our players to weigh up their options before playing on. I don't mean everyone needs to go the MattConnellStutterStep when they get the footy - just a quick glance to check if the bloke you are handballing to is running into a wall of three opposition players.

Often playing on quickly is the best option. Sometimes it is not. So don't do it always.