Analysis The last 2 weeks

[ant555]

I spoke a bit about how i thought our leaders where lacking when it came to doing the team stuff in the previous 6 or 7 weeks and now i have to say thank god they have seen the light. From what i have heard the leaders where told before the Geelong they can shortly expect to be playing in the VFL if the do not start playing their role in the game plan and continue to run their own race and it seems to be working.

There is no doubt that when they play to this level they can challenge most sides. Think Chappy summed it up best after the game by saying you just have to get in and tackle or whatever to get into the game and stop worrying about you lot and what you are copping.
As reported there has been a bit of open discussion about what needs to happen in recent weeks and it is good to see as a team they have been man enough to take on board what others have thought about there game.
Dempsey has been one case. It is good to be flashy and outside but in a team it is better to tackle and block and then run when it it your turn.
Colyer is another, although not a leader he has been told his poor defensive running would not cut it. The last 3 weeks since being given a chance he has been good. Not one of our best on the list but making a difference with his run both ways.
Stanton was great as captain on the weekend, no running behind waving his arms like a seagul looking for cheap stats and more running to position , picking blokes up when he had to and putting on a few blocks.
Zaka was another, less cheap stuff and more team efforts.
Even Fletch had to lift a few areas in his game which he did after some comment on his future which was more a veiled swipe to him to play the team game and stick to the game plan or you will not be a lock.

I counted more blocks in the first half on Sunday than we had for a 2 or 3 week period between round 5 and 14. The leaders and experienced blokes have taken in on and the young guys have followed it up.
Good to see those in charge are not going let the so called experienced guys rule the roost and do what they want.

We are a good side but the difference between good sides (those who finish 6th to 10th) and the best sides is the ability to bring your team game and stick to the game plan most weeks. It rarely happens 100% but the good sides do bring it 80% of the time. That is our challenge. We know what our bench mark is. The chance is here for us to make a stand and win all of our remaining games and enter the finals in form. Lets hope they can continue to bring the level of team game they had produced on the field in the last few weeks. It is still a big challenge for them and it could come unstuck as early as this week but they now know what they have to do.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

Occam still points me squarely at ASADA. Performances have consistently reflected developments over the past two seasons.

 

[Mercurial89]

Thanks for the insight ant555 . Are you able to elaborate on who drove these home truths?
Was it the playing group? Leadership group? Bomber or more a mix?
They have been talking about being a lot more honest with each other. Id be interested in who is driving it.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

The performance on the week end remind me of what Geelong did to other teams in their prime.

 

[ant555]

Thanks for the insight ant555 . Are you able to elaborate on who drove these home truths?
Was it the playing group? Leadership group? Bomber or more a mix?
They have been talking about being a lot more honest with each other. Id be interested in who is driving it.

Coach initiated but in the end player driven.

 

[Pweter]

If we want to become a good side the sort of play from the last fortnight has to become our baseline.

At the end of the day it comes back to the champion team vs team of champions thing. It puts trust in your team mates where you know that they will make a sacrifice in their game for you so when it's your turn you do likewise.

 

[BrunoV]

The threat/challenge to the leaders does not surprise me at all.

Think that a big part of our improvement through the middle also has to do with the change in personnel (creating a better balanced midfield) and the ability of guys like Heppell, Myers and Colyer to rise to the occasion.

Have to say, though, that if Stanton has improved defensively it is because he is now positioned in defence as opposed to any change in attitude or improvement. Think that he has been covered by the master classes being run off half back by Dempsey, Winderlich and Baguley in the last few weeks.

 

[ant555]

The threat/challenge to the leaders does not surprise me at all.

Think that a big part of our improvement through the middle also has to do with the change in personnel the ability of guys like Heppell, Myers and Colyer to rise to the occasion.

Have to say, thoguh, that if Stanton has improved defensively it is because he is now positioned in defence as opposed to any change in attitude or improvement. Think that he has been covered by the master classes being run off half back by Dempsey, Winderlich and Baguley in the last few weeks.

The fact that he put on a few blocks shows the attitude has changed. The challenge was put to him that if he wanted to captain the side when others
where out then he had to stop his old habits. He will never be a defensive star but his roll over defense and mind set to do a few team things other than simply running has been different in the last 3 weeks.
The part i liked the most was at one stage when the tall defenders where up the ground he was prepared to stick with White and cover him until they
came back. Happened a couple of times which was not in his old nature where he would have zoned off them a lot simply trying to look like he had them covered rather than a man on man match up.

 

[Jam123]

Occam still points me squarely at ASADA. Performances have consistently reflected developments over the past two seasons.

I think that it is beyond this now. When they collectively have the mentality to lift, they do it. See second half of Hawthorn and Geelong.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen players stand up, especially our young brigade. I wonder how much of that is to do with Goddard? I saw him get frustrated in the box on Sunday.

 

[BrunoV]

The fact that he put on a few blocks shows the attitude has changed. The challenge was put to him that if he wanted to captain the side when others
where out then he had to stop his old habits. He will never be a defensive star but his roll over defense and mind set to do a few team things other than simply running has been different in the last 3 weeks.
The part i liked the most was at one stage when the tall defenders where up the ground he was prepared to stick with White and cover him until they
came back. Happened a couple of times which was not in his old nature where he would have zoned off them a lot simply trying to look like he had them covered rather than a man on man match up.

I do remember that now that you mention it (where Winderlich came across the front deep in the pocket in front of the Northern Stand).

I still remember him getting caught up the ground a lot. I'd much rather Dempsey or Winderlich playing off their men as they will hurt the opposition much more consistently.

 

[keepzitreal]

As good as Stants was I still get nervous when he has the ball. Makes great plays but prone to stuffing up on the regular...

 

[Smokin]

for various reasons, Im really looking forward to how we setup this sunday against a 'lesser' team - the likes of which we have had brain lapses far too often.

On top of the clear tackling/team work based improvement - there have been the tweaks of game plan which have helped a lot.

The extra back - seems to work MUCH better for most teams rather than at the contest. We were pretty stubborn with this in the first half of the year, the extra was always at the contest, and teams would have an extra back against us and we just struggled to get by it.

The extra back has also coincided with us (can go hand it hand) holding that defensive line back - it probably snuck up too high in parts against Geelong - but the idea seems to be now to hold the defensive line back, with the help of an extra, to stop teams scoring easily on the rebound or a turnover from a non-retention in our forward line etc. Winderlich can really get to the right areas quickly, which has also really helped. He was just utterly fantastic against Port being there live.

Against Footscray - I really hope not only does our attitude remain, but we dont get sucked up the ground and the structure of the past few weeks holds true.

We cant have brain fades against these types of teams like we have.