Analysis The Missing Narrative

[LittleG]

There are many ways of coaching and I have great admiration for Bevo but ....

When you come into the team and tell the players they are better than they thought they were & inject confidence into all of them.... you can win a flag with a slightly above average list. But after the flag win & retirements of AA quality defenders & injuries to your senior players, things have come unstuck. The team is no longer as good as it was. The players know it and by knowing that their confidence is no longer at its peak. This is leading to performance well below 2016 levels.

What can your coaching message be when you are rebuilding with a super young team?

They need confidence but by the looks of it, the players don't have it any more. They need a focus on physical development & skill improvement BUT playing at AFL is so demanding on the body, skills sessions become a luxury.

Bevo himself has said they need a narrative.... without it I suspect he has lost the players.

My question is can we help Bevo out and come up with a consistent positive message for the team?

 

[maddog37]

All I read on here is about our fade out and poor form.

I want to know what it was that made us look so good in the first quarter Friday night and is it reasonable to expect that type of play more often and for longer period as the team settles and matures.

 

[NBates]

I think it might help if he didn't look so stressed and was upbeat about where we are actually at now. Team are inconsistent at the mo because of massive change in personnel - am I correct? It's almost like he's stuck in 2016. I love Bevo, don't get me wrong, but he needs to reset his barometer. Or are others at the club putting the pressure on? If not, don't seem so deflated. Stick to the current team's positives and it might flow through the team. Maybe he's fed up with those grand final players who just can't find their mojo now there's more pressure on them to perform on their own merits (without the likes of Matty Boyd, Murphy etc). If those players are really s**t, drop 'em. If they're still finding their feet, adjust your expectations and talk to them about it. Maybe he has and these guys will never be the dogs that fit into another well oiled machine that was the team of 2016.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[gangsta deluxe]

We need an assistant coach shake up, and badly.

We need to ruthlessly identify a good team and bring them in.

 

[Scary_Foot_9]

As soon as everyone (maybe even a few of the players) accepts that we're a different side with several challenges and massive inexperience the better off we will be.

I've been guilty of it at times this year, we need to stop focusing on how things were two years ago, the side has changed so has the game.

A narrative will evolve as the side does. What is important at the moment is to compete as hard and for as long as we can. Don't worry about all the external rubbish, its just ***t trying to peddled by people who either haven't been paying attention at the side we're putting out or have an axe to grind.

 

[Yojimbo]

We need some tyres with grip and comfort.

The trivago girl is kind of hot, and she has cheap rooms.

I think I am missing the narrative or ignoring it to appease my manhood.

 

[joel_billo]

Think next year we might have a better narrative as 2016 will be well behind us after 2 years missing the finals. Can actually see us not winning another game this year with only stkilda and carlton the maybes. So we will have bottomed out well and truly.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Think next year we might have a better narrative as 2016 will be well behind us after 2 years missing the finals. Can actually see us not winning another game this year with only stkilda and carlton the maybes. So we will have bottomed out well and truly.

I've got an idea - "Why not us?"

(where have I heard that lately? )

 

[Mattdougie]

One question answers so much

Why change structure and coaching from 2016 ????? WHY?

 

[bontshow]

We're always best with our backs to the wall. 2016 was the same, lost round 23, half the team out injured, going over to Perth, having to win 4 games. Having to make finals from 4-7 the perfect setting

 

[LittleG]

One question answers so much

Why change structure and coaching from 2016 ????? WHY?

Question:
We are trying to develop a game plan that involves versatile players, therefore, why not rotate our coaches & get them more experience?

Answer:
Because they are not actually able to coach other areas.


Case of head coach thinking he is smarter than he is!

 

[Tommycash]

I'm pretty sure our drop has more to do with personnel issues and other clubs figuring us out over coach moves. Most of the line coaches in 2016 were pretty inexperienced in any event. I would be absolutely shocked if they could make such a significant difference. I would be even more shocked if they could and no one in our club could work it out. Again, what would shock me more, is if that were the reality and not one other club worked out that all they needed to do would be to poach our 2016 line coaches, put them in their lines from that year and be a competitive team.

 

[_Mike_]

One question answers so much

Why change structure and coaching from 2016 ????? WHY?

Ash Hansen.

Told the club in 2016 - I want to start a senior assistant role or Im leaving. Where did this information come from? His younger brother.

The changes were made to accommodate Hansen's promotion at the expense of structure IMO.

 

[Leviticus]

All I read on here is about our fade out and poor form.

I want to know what it was that made us look so good in the first quarter Friday night and is it reasonable to expect that type of play more often and for longer period as the team settles and matures.

And what made us look so good against Esserdon and the Swans (albeit a narrow loss)?

Very simple.

We cut down the retain possession handballing and short passing dramatically.

We kicked the ball long more often, taking our chances on winning contested situations.

We moved the ball forward quickly from marks and frees instead of dwelling on it, going backwards or sideways to no effect or playing ring a ring a rosy handballs in close until hunted down by one or more of the opposition.

Unfortunately, the team has been coached to retain possession at all cost and it is no longer working for us like it did a couple of years ago. We don't like taking chances, we prefer to be cornered than risk giving the ball up to a contested situation.

 

[Tommycash]

And what made us look so good against Esserdon and the Swans (albeit a narrow loss)?

Very simple.

We cut down the retain possession handballing and short passing dramatically.

We kicked the ball long more often, taking our chances on winning contested situations.

We moved the ball forward quickly from marks and frees instead of dwelling on it, going backwards or sideways to no effect or playing ring a ring a rosy handballs in close until hunted down by one or more of the opposition.

Unfortunately, the team has been coached to retain possession at all cost and it is no longer working for us like it did a couple of years ago. We don't like taking chances, we prefer to be cornered than risk giving the ball up to a contested situation.

v Essendon - Kicks 254, Handballs 163
v Sydney - Kicks 235, Handballs 162
v Freo - K 215 H 152
v Collingwood - K 216 H 158
v Melb K 195 H 191

Interesting suggestion. There does seem to be a difference, though not that marked in the Coll and Freo games. I suppose some alternative explanations for those stats are we were working harder to make space and receive kicks, whereas when we slow down and clump around the ball we often need to handball because there isn't any players to kick to. Similarly if players are low on confidence they may elect to handball over kick, they may also play worse and kick worse when they are forced to because they second guess their decision making. Correlation doesn't imply causation and all that.

 

[dogwatch]

And what made us look so good against Esserdon and the Swans (albeit a narrow loss)?

Very simple.

We cut down the retain possession handballing and short passing dramatically.

We kicked the ball long more often, taking our chances on winning contested situations.

We moved the ball forward quickly from marks and frees instead of dwelling on it, going backwards or sideways to no effect or playing ring a ring a rosy handballs in close until hunted down by one or more of the opposition.

Unfortunately, the team has been coached to retain possession at all cost and it is no longer working for us like it did a couple of years ago. We don't like taking chances, we prefer to be cornered than risk giving the ball up to a contested situation.

"Just kick the bloody thing!" is a surprisingly nuanced issue, not just a primal scream that belongs back in the 1960s.

Posters have correctly identified risk taking and a high kick to handball ratio as being symptomatic of winning sides.

Unfortunately it ain't that simple. To execute these aspects of a game plan you also need:

• A good number of players with vision and good decision making
• Players with excellent kicking skills, including when under pressure
• Players who can read the play upfield and make well timed leads and feints
• Players who can at least halve a contested aerial ball in the f50, preferably clunking a few
• Players who can rove the pack when a contested mark spills to ground near goals
• A structure that ensures you will usually have 1-2 players in the f50 when rebounding quickly from defence
• Players who can kick straight from inside the arc, even if it's only from set shots

Clearly we are a mixed bag when it comes to those attributes. In general I think we'd be in the bottom third in the league for most of them.

On the flip side it's symptomatic of losing sides that they concede a lot of goals from turnovers, so if the kick forward is astray (especially if it's a diagonal or centring kick) we can be hurt badly on the rebound. This severe haemorrhaging would no doubt be a big factor in our "retain possession" tactic, even if it's at the cost of rapid ball movement.

Also, you can have a healthy kick to handball ratio but not achieve much if half those kicks are safe short chips across half back. That K:HB stat is not enough on its own.

 

[Leviticus]

"Just kick the bloody thing!" is a surprisingly nuanced issue, not just a primal scream that belongs back in the 1960s.

Posters have correctly identified risk taking and a high kick to handball ratio as being symptomatic of winning sides.

Unfortunately it ain't that simple. To execute these aspects of a game plan you also need:

• A good number of players with vision and good decision making
• Players with excellent kicking skills, including when under pressure
• Players who can read the play upfield and make well timed leads and feints
• Players who can at least halve a contested aerial ball in the f50, preferably clunking a few
• Players who can rove the pack when a contested mark spills to ground near goals
• A structure that ensures you will usually have 1-2 players in the f50 when rebounding quickly from defence
• Players who can kick straight from inside the arc, even if it's only from set shots

Clearly we are a mixed bag when it comes to those attributes. In general I think we'd be in the bottom third in the league for most of them.

On the flip side it's symptomatic of losing sides that they concede a lot of goals from turnovers, so if the kick forward is astray (especially if it's a diagonal or centring kick) we can be hurt badly on the rebound. This severe haemorrhaging would no doubt be a big factor in our "retain possession" tactic, even if it's at the cost of rapid ball movement.

Also, you can have a healthy kick to handball ratio but not achieve much if half those kicks are safe short chips across half back. That K:HB stat is not enough on its own.

Agree, but even so with our form and list deficiencies, when we have adopted a more long kicks less handballs approach we have looked a lot better this season.

 

[goodcop badcop]

Ash Hansen.

Told the club in 2016 - I want to start a senior assistant role or Im leaving. Where did this information come from? His younger brother.

The changes were made to accommodate Hansen's promotion at the expense of structure IMO.

The loss of Graham Lowe at the start of last year has been the bigger issue IMO. Mainly because we promoted a good, experienced development coach in Chris Maple into his role and never replaced him.

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

My question is can we help Bevo out and come up with a consistent positive message for the team?

Make them watch Rocky?