The "Zone"

[Blue Life]

Those of you who were at the game tonight may have noticed the zone defense Hawthorn had in place when we were bringing the ball forward - this zone made us look pathetic at times. Hawthorn play a floating zone which forces sides wide - the only way to beat this zone is to bring the ball through the corridor or have someone who is willing to take the zone on and break the lines....you may have seen juddy turn the ball over the in third qtr in an attempt to bring the ball up the middle...it took the blues players 2 qtrs to realise the only way to beat the zone is to use the corridor, something Murph did very well on a couple of ocasions.

Simple point is were were really outcoached tonight - the Luke Hodge / Cam Cloke match up was another example of this. Al Clarkson was one of the hawks best.

Also great job by Bower tonight.

 

[djudd]

Those of you who were at the game tonight may have noticed the zone defense Hawthorn had in place when we were bringing the ball forward - this zone made us look pathetic at times. Hawthorn play a floating zone which forces sides wide - the only way to beat this zone is to bring the ball through the corridor or have someone who is willing to take the zone on and break the lines....you may have seen juddy turn the ball over the in third qtr in an attempt to bring the ball up the middle...it took the blues players 2 qtrs to realise the only way to beat the zone is to use the corridor, something Murph did very well on a couple of ocasions.

Simple point is were were really outcoached tonight - the Luke Hodge / Cam Cloke match up was another example of this. Al Clarkson was one of the hawks best.

Great to see someone on here thats knows whats goning on.
Well said you are absolutly spot on.
BTW tila tequila marathon on now on mtv

Also great job by Bower tonight.

Great to see someone on here that knows what there talking about.
Well said your spot on
BTW Tila Tequila marathon on now on mtv

 

[MBIB]

Those of you who were at the game tonight may have noticed the zone defense Hawthorn had in place when we were bringing the ball forward - this zone made us look pathetic at times. Hawthorn play a floating zone which forces sides wide - the only way to beat this zone is to bring the ball through the corridor or have someone who is willing to take the zone on and break the lines....you may have seen juddy turn the ball over the in third qtr in an attempt to bring the ball up the middle...it took the blues players 2 qtrs to realise the only way to beat the zone is to use the corridor, something Murph did very well on a couple of ocasions.

Simple point is were were really outcoached tonight - the Luke Hodge / Cam Cloke match up was another example of this. Al Clarkson was one of the hawks best.

Also great job by Bower tonight.

This was so frustrating, we would short pass and end up pinned against the boundary line or just turn it over.

I can't wait for next year

 

[The Grover]

Yeah I was cursing our lack of knowledge on how to beat this.

We need guys who can kick 50-60 metres & go over the top of the zone.

I reckon Hurley or Ziebell would assist with this next year.

 

[Hawkzzz]

From what I've seen, quick switching of play and long accurate passes down the flanks can hurt us. Teams then switch into the corridor when going fwd 50 and it can make us look pretty ordinary.

So I'm not sure if it will work against a team like the Cats, though we did ok against them recently. That's if we get there....

Unlucky about Fev but boy I've never seen a team more focused on getting the ball to a particular bloke in all my 25 years of footy.... I actually reckon you could have launched a decent fightback if you weren't as Fev conscious. And in my view that would have been a better way to finish off the season. Anyway, you guys are on the up and well done in 08. Definitely finals prospects for 09.

 

[Big Red is back]

The top sides laugh at the zone and if used in the finals will fail but against us it worked a treat as we cannot use the ball properly

 

[DaveyBlues]

Alistair Clarkson has that team drilled incredibly well, better than Geelong in my opinion, but Geelong have an abundence of better individual players who make up a freakish team. Hawks spread so well from stoppages, its unbelievable.

 

[thylacine60]

Alistair Clarkson has that team drilled incredibly well, better than Geelong in my opinion, but Geelong have an abundence of better individual players who make up a freakish team. Hawks spread so well from stoppages, its unbelievable.

Had links of players running at speed in lines all night. They were always one well directed disposal from fast breaking forward while we spent the night handballing in circles in the back pockets. A fair humbling in my opinion.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Lot's of teams fall to "the zone"
You either have to be daring and take it though the middle (Only teams like Geelong, Bulldogs have the talent, skill to pull this off) to beat hawthorn using the zone

I think it absolutly weeds out the players who are on/off with disposal and who are not willing to take chances, good teams do this, while other teams are cut apart (you blokes, collingwood)

or you can do the brisbane thing and play the EXACT same zone as us, which leads to shit football

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Lot's of teams fall to "the zone"
You either have to be daring and take it though the middle (Only teams like Geelong, Bulldogs have the talent, skill to pull this off) to beat hawthorn using the zone

I think it absolutly weeds out the players who are on/off with disposal and who are not willing to take chances, good teams do this, while other teams are cut apart (you blokes, collingwood)

or you can do the brisbane thing and play the EXACT same zone as us, which leads to shit football

I think it also protects very poor defenders also,...shit imagine 1 on 1 all night, Fev would of won the coleman and by some margin.

 

[Upgrayedd]

I think it also protects very poor defenders also,...shit imagine 1 on 1 all night, Fev would of won the coleman and by some margin.

Imagine if Franklin played one on one all season, Fev would of had his 100 and lost the coleman by about 20 goals

 

[blues4flag]

Had links of players running at speed in lines all night. They were always one well directed disposal from fast breaking forward while we spent the night handballing in circles in the back pockets. A fair humbling in my opinion.

Was watching in awe at how well the Hawks used the ball by hand - always have players running in streams and very rarely do they do a poor or unnecessary handball. When they do handball, they tend to go long into space, not a dinky 3 metre handball to a player who's also under pressure. They move the ball beautifully through the middle of the park and set up out of defence as good as any team in the comp.

 

[blues4flag]

Imagine if Franklin played one on one all season, Fev would of had his 100 and lost the coleman by about 20 goals

Imagine if Fev also played one on one all season - he'd have kicked 120 and fallen two short of the Coleman.

 

[Jezza U Beauty]

I hate "the zone". Makes footy look like basketball.

That said, it was effective coaching by Clarko, and it was clear our coaching staff had no real answer (unlike Richmond).

Something to work on for next year.

 

[Captain Judd]

Our two biggest losses this year where against teams that use "The Zone" North killed us and so did Hawthorn! Hopefully Ratts will have an answer for it next year!

 

[Dramoth]

Imagine if Franklin played one on one all season, Fev would of had his 100 and lost the coleman by about 20 goals

Hey...

Shit in one hand, wish in the other and see which one fills up first...

If we still had a couple of a players with the balls and lack of fear of getting suspended (The Hyphen or Williams), Buddy would be in hospital seeing triple before he even got his hands on the ball...

So they miss 4 games next year... but they would have got a nice fat bonus in their pay packet next week

 

[Loramarthalas]

I reckon we could have beaten the zone if we'd had a big fellow to take a mark along the half forward line. We always broke down badly right there and turned it over. We just need someone, J Brown hopefully, or some big bugger to pull in ten marks a game across half forward. Then, combined with better skills that will come with development of our list, we will break down the zone regularly.