Themanbun's Midfield Minute

[muttley45]

Do we know how many centre bounce attendance's has the combo been Xerri/Wardlaw/Parker/LDU since George returned ?

 

[giantroo]

Do we know how many centre bounce attendance's has the combo been Xerri/Wardlaw/Parker/LDU since George returned ?

 

[King Corey]

View attachment 2298242

'Dafuq was Logueans Run doing at a centre bounce? Running drinks?

 

[Themanbun]

Interesting stat - first possession to clearance.

Overall
North Melbourne is 17th in the league for how frequently our opponent turns a 1st possession into a clearance - at 80.4%. Meaning if we don't get first hands on it, we are the second worst for allowing the opposition to exit with a clearance.

We are the 10th in the league for turning our own first possession into a clearance, at 75.2%.

Port are 13th in the league, at 74.3% for how many first possessions they turn into a clearance. And they are 13th for how often they let their opposition turn a first possession into clearance, at 76.3%.

For reference, we are second in the league for actually getting first possession - basically meaning Xerri gets it to our players a lot, and our players are excellent at gathering the ball. But something in the system means we struggle to turn it into clearance, and we struggle even more at preventing a clearance when we don't get first hands to it.

North Melbourne vs Port
North: 63.8%
Port: 76.2%

Probably backs up the eye test. It felt like we were slightly better than usual defensively at stoppage/bounce, but it also felt like Port were really strong defensively around the clearance and were able to turn our 1st possession into a stoppage or even their own clearance.

How effective are our players at turning first possession into clearance?
Stats from Wheelo below.

Note this stat should be taken with a lot of caution if you're using it to pot certain players - a successful clearance after first possession is often a sign of a system rather than an individual, but our numbers are interesting regardless.

My main takeaway is that as noted elsewhere, we've been sharing the midfield roles around more than previous years.




However, for what it's worth:

Bontempelli (2 matches): 8.5/100% clearance rate
Serong: 9.1/85.9%
Rowell: 8.8/84.9%
Cripps: 7.4/84.6%
Dangerfield: 3.3/83.3%
Butters: 7.8/74.2%

The crazy thing about the Bont is that he's only had 1 hitout gather. (only records from a teammate's hit out to advantage) Meaning this bloke has, 15/16 times, won the ball through it being it dispute or sharking, and cleared it for his team every single time. Insane.

 

[King Corey]

Interesting stat - first possession to clearance.

Overall
North Melbourne is 17th in the league for how frequently our opponent turns a 1st possession into a clearance - at 80.4%. Meaning if we don't get first hands on it, we are the second worst for allowing the opposition to exit with a clearance.

We are the 10th in the league for turning our own first possession into a clearance, at 75.2%.

Port are 13th in the league, at 74.3% for how many first possessions they turn into a clearance. And they are 13th for how often they let their opposition turn a first possession into clearance, at 76.3%.

For reference, we are second in the league for actually getting first possession - basically meaning Xerri gets it to our players a lot, and our players are excellent at gathering the ball. But something in the system means we struggle to turn it into clearance, and we struggle even more at preventing a clearance when we don't get first hands to it.

North Melbourne vs Port
North: 63.8%
Port: 76.2%

Probably backs up the eye test. It felt like we were slightly better than usual defensively at stoppage/bounce, but it also felt like Port were really strong defensively around the clearance and were able to turn our 1st possession into a stoppage or even their own clearance.

How effective are our players at turning first possession into clearance?
Stats from Wheelo below.

Note this stat should be taken with a lot of caution if you're using it to pot certain players - a successful clearance after first possession is often a sign of a system rather than an individual, but our numbers are interesting regardless.

My main takeaway is that as noted elsewhere, we've been sharing the midfield roles around more than previous years.


View attachment 2298635

However, for what it's worth:

Bontempelli (2 matches): 8.5/100% clearance rate
Serong: 9.1/85.9%
Rowell: 8.8/84.9%
Cripps: 7.4/84.6%
Dangerfield: 3.3/83.3%
Butters: 7.8/74.2%

The crazy thing about the Bont is that he's only had 1 hitout gather. (only records from a teammate's hit out to advantage) Meaning this bloke has, 15/16 times, won the ball through it being it dispute or sharking, and cleared it for his team every single time. Insane.

Crazily Cripps gets a Brownlow vote for each Bont clearance.

 

[Passmore]

Themanbun looking forward to this weeks offering

Rick18 he’s starting to make a challenge to yours….

 

[Merlin007]

Themanbun looking forward to this weeks offering

Rick18 he’s starting to make a challenge to yours….

well said, two great analysts, with an established figure in Rick18 and the midfield specialist Themanbun dissecting the stoppages

I was at the ground, and I'm interested in the thoughts of both on why Essendon were able to beat us on the outside in the first quarter, a period that really determined the game.

Essendon were good enough to switch for space, and with runners moving into it, they were able to move the ball quickly. So credit to them, but those offensive passages followed either contest wins or bad turnovers.

Interested on what you'll have to say around that period in the game

 

[Themanbun]

!!!North Melbourne vs Essendon Post!!!

I've honed in on three centre bounces and two stoppages for this one. All at critical junctures in the game. As you'll see, some senior players come out looking not so crash hot here.

Centre Bounce 1 - First of the Game

If you ever wonder why we start so poorly, wonder no more. We are simply not mentally committed at the start of games. This is the very first centre bounce, and it reflect pretty badly on two blokes in particular. When you get a look at the behind the goals vision, it gets even more damning.

Photo 1 - Set up

Pretty standard setup for the first of the game. Man on man, everyone jostling. LDU is the hit-to in front of Xerri, Powell is the sweeper, and Parker is at the front of the setup.



Photo 2 - LDU receives hit out

LDU receives. While not clean with it, things are still going to plan here, although Powell is starting to creep in too close.




Photo 3 - Sheezel off the back of the square

Sheezel comes bursting through off the back of the square and we are so close to a red hot, ripping clearance for the first of the game. He gets run down however, the ball spills to Merrett who was on Parker at the front of the stoppage, who steams through the corridor and hits an inside 50 to Perkins.




Photo 4 - here's the paddock that Merrett was left with




Photo 5 - Behind the goals - Daniel not working

This is where it gets bad. Everyone here has identified Harry Sheezel as the most dangerous player here. In fact it was obvious a few seconds earlier as he started his run. Except Caleb Daniel

5

Caleb Daniel

Age

29

Ht

171cm

Wt

72kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

19.5

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

CL

1.0

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

9.2

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

. His opponent, Number 8, locks on immediately. Daniel had two options here - run hard for his mates and lay a block to clear Sheezel, which is the arrow pointing up and right. Or try to get an easy wide receive out to the left. You only need to look at photo 3 to see how much separation the Essendon player got on Daniel.

He chose the left and his man ran Sheezel down.




Photo 6 - poor sweeping

At the same time, at the very first centre bounce, Powell has seemingly forgot what a sweeper needs to do. Instead of holding the dangerous corridor space (triangle), he starts, for some unknown reason, tracking into the ball (red arrow). He doesn't lay a block. He doesn't defend the corridor. He just tries to cut in on a receive that everyone else has realised is meant for Sheez. In other words, ball hunting when that is not his role.



Photo 7 - failure to sweep

Red circle is where Powell ends up. You can also see Daniel hanging out the back. Green square is where a sweeper should have been, and that's how Merrett ends up streaming through an open, unguarded corridor.




Centre bounce 2

This one is an easy one to review and is an example of some slick structure holding, and a clearance that works well apart for the LDU scrub kick at the end of it.\

As you can see, Will is the hit-to here, Powell the sweeper.



Will receives the ball, and Powell fought his temptation to rush in and held his ground. You can see the triangles I always speak about here. Will has 3 options here and Essendon don't know how to defend it.

LDU spreads really well and Will dishes off to him for a good clearance.




Stoppage 1

Just to show you I'm not all doom and gloom, this one is an example of some good adjustment on the fly, at a critical point.

Photo 1 - the setup

This is an...interesting...setup. Xerri has WillPhil as the hit-to in front of him, Jy at the forward half of the stoppage making their sweeper accountable. He has Powell AND LDU right next to each other at the defensive side - they are way too close to each other here. Dyl as always is positioned well, hedging his bets while the Essendon left (in front of Daniel) is positioned pretty badly, but clearly trying to split the difference between Stephens and Daniel. Bailey Scott

8

Bailey Scott

Age

25

Ht

186cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

5.8

2star

HB

4.9

4star

M

3.1

3star

T

1.5

3star

CL

0.9

3star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.0

2star

M

2.5

3star

T

1.8

3star

CL

1.3

4star

D

11.8

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

5.8

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.2

3star

CL

0.6

3star

is covering the corridor interior to the stoppage. Not sure what Colby is doing here. All in all, it's obvious we're looking for an exit out the defensive side of the stoppage.

LDU, Powell and Colby are the strange setups here.



Weirdly, after Will fumbles the gather, it actually spills out right to LDU and Powell. Who, with Powell being too close, are looking in trouble.



But Powell adjusts. He seems to have realised at this point and become self-aware, so he immediately rushes to the back of the stoppage to sweep.



And he gets the handball receive from Will, who followed up his work to support LDU. We're out here, except one thing.

Caleb Daniel

5

Caleb Daniel

Age

29

Ht

171cm

Wt

72kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

19.5

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

CL

1.0

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

9.2

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

wanted that receive from Will, despite Powell being the better option. He commits a pretty cardinal sin here. He not only brings his man (number 16) into the stoppage...but he completely turns his back on the play when he doesn't get used as the handball receive and let's his man lock onto Powell instead of laying a block for him.

Powell got pressured and from what I recall, scrubbed the kick.



Centre bounce 3 - 4th quarter, game is on

This is one where you will want to look away if you don't want to get upset.

At the setup we have LDU as the sweeper and Powell as the hit-to.

Unfortunately, LDU immediately abandons the sweeper role and storms to the right of the screen. At best this is a set play gone wrong. At worst he's looking to shark Powell's tap. I can't tell you which was which.




LDU misses the ball and Powell is smart here. He wraps around the back and actually gets the receive. Unfortunately, with no sweeper present, he had no option. So he slipped over when handballing and you'll see the result in the next image.




LDU doesn't get the receive - I'm not sure how he thought he was an option here, given he positioned himself behind two Essendon players. But in frustration he just phones it in.



He doesn't even bother to impact number 22 or even the contest up when Essendon were threatening to steam out the front of the bounce into their inside 50, and Stephens comes steaming in to make amends.



It looked like number 12 for Essendon would burst out he front of the stoppage, but Dyl Stephens starts to close him quicker than expected. Unfortunately, LDU doubled down on the non-chase and didn't choose to shut down number 28, slowing to a light jog (after electing not to impact number 22 moments before).Number 28 for Essendon continues his run, is a receive option, and he has yonks to choose an option. Really, really poor work here and our midfield leader just needs to work harder, simple as that.

Luckily, through Comben's good work, we manage to secure a boundary throw in in the defensive 50.



Stoppage 2 - Quarter 4

Look away again if you're easily upset. This stoppage was IMMEDIATELY after the inside 50 from that centre bounce.

Contrary to suggestions of 'scragging' - you'll see that our good mids do a bit of that scragging themselves, as evident in this still. Xerri taps from the throw in to Jy, who is to his right, but the bloke who LDU is pulling the jumper of beats them both to the ball.

Parker is protecting the corridor side.


Jy and LDU both shoot for the same ball. Ideally LDU holds out to the left and lets Jy contest with LDU's man. That way if Jy wins, he has LDU as a front and centre option. If he loses, he wraps up the Essendon bloke. The extra body in this contest adds nothing.



As so happens, they confuse each other and none of them lay and effective tackle. Yes, our two best contested mids just lost a 2 on 1. He handballs out the back - but this stoppage is far from gone yet. The Essendon receiver isn't in a good position to make an inside 50 choice and will 100% be looking to give it away by hand. This is where defensive midfield craft is important - ball hunting players will hone in on number 28 - he has the ball and I want to win it back from him. But LDU needs to lock on to number 22 here, to allow Stephens to lay a block on Merrett.



Unfortunately, he locks onto the bloke with the ball and doesn't impact. Who gives to number 22 and they get the inside 50 pretty easily.



---

Conclusion

Look, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed with our mental application here. We have too many players who either can't understand how stoppages unfold and what you need to do to protect it, or who understand but think that the hero play will mean we don't have to worry about it. We have players who are hit/miss at doing so, such as Powell who did some good work here but also some really poor work. But we can't have blokes >25 years old taking the easy or the self-centred option if we want to win games of footy. Especially given the stage of the game some of these decisions were made in.

Some of these guys are capable of incredible football, but unless they work for each other, it's just not gonna happen for us, IMO.

 

[Themanbun]

well said, two great analysts, with an established figure in Rick18 and the midfield specialist Themanbun dissecting the stoppages

I was at the ground, and I'm interested in the thoughts of both on why Essendon were able to beat us on the outside in the first quarter, a period that really determined the game.

Essendon were good enough to switch for space, and with runners moving into it, they were able to move the ball quickly. So credit to them, but those offensive passages followed either contest wins or bad turnovers.

Interested on what you'll have to say around that period in the game

I didn't see this post before my review but if I get a chance I'll hone in on that period.

 

[Kciza]

!!!North Melbourne vs Essendon Post!!!

I've honed in on three centre bounces and two stoppages for this one. All at critical junctures in the game. As you'll see, some senior players come out looking not so crash hot here.

Centre Bounce 1 - First of the Game

If you ever wonder why we start so poorly, wonder no more. We are simply not mentally committed at the start of games. This is the very first centre bounce, and it reflect pretty badly on two blokes in particular. When you get a look at the behind the goals vision, it gets even more damning.

Photo 1 - Set up

Pretty standard setup for the first of the game. Man on man, everyone jostling. LDU is the hit-to in front of Xerri, Powell is the sweeper, and Parker is at the front of the setup.

View attachment 2303613

Photo 2 - LDU receives hit out

LDU receives. While not clean with it, things are still going to plan here, although Powell is starting to creep in too close.

View attachment 2303618


Photo 3 - Sheezel off the back of the square

Sheezel comes bursting through off the back of the square and we are so close to a red hot, ripping clearance for the first of the game. He gets run down however, the ball spills to Merrett who was on Parker at the front of the stoppage, who steams through the corridor and hits an inside 50 to Perkins.

View attachment 2303619


Photo 4 - here's the paddock that Merrett was left with

View attachment 2303620


Photo 5 - Behind the goals - Daniel not working

This is where it gets bad. Everyone here has identified Harry Sheezel as the most dangerous player here. In fact it was obvious a few seconds earlier as he started his run. Except Caleb Daniel. His opponent, Number 8, locks on immediately. Daniel had two options here - run hard for his mates and lay a block to clear Sheezel, which is the arrow pointing up and right. Or try to get an easy wide receive out to the left. You only need to look at photo 3 to see how much separation the Essendon player got on Daniel.

He chose the left and his man ran Sheezel down.

View attachment 2303621


Photo 6 - poor sweeping

At the same time, at the very first centre bounce, Powell has seemingly forgot what a sweeper needs to do. Instead of holding the dangerous corridor space (triangle), he starts, for some unknown reason, tracking into the ball (red arrow). He doesn't lay a block. He doesn't defend the corridor. He just tries to cut in on a receive that everyone else has realised is meant for Sheez. In other words, ball hunting when that is not his role.

View attachment 2303622

Photo 7 - failure to sweep

Red circle is where Powell ends up. You can also see Daniel hanging out the back. Green square is where a sweeper should have been, and that's how Merrett ends up streaming through an open, unguarded corridor.

View attachment 2303625


Centre bounce 2

This one is an easy one to review and is an example of some slick structure holding, and a clearance that works well apart for the LDU scrub kick at the end of it.\

As you can see, Will is the hit-to here, Powell the sweeper.

View attachment 2303644

Will receives the ball, and Powell fought his temptation to rush in and held his ground. You can see the triangles I always speak about here. Will has 3 options here and Essendon don't know how to defend it.

LDU spreads really well and Will dishes off to him for a good clearance.

View attachment 2303645


Stoppage 1

Just to show you I'm not all doom and gloom, this one is an example of some good adjustment on the fly, at a critical point.

Photo 1 - the setup

This is an...interesting...setup. Xerri has WillPhil as the hit-to in front of him, Jy at the forward half of the stoppage making their sweeper accountable. He has Powell AND LDU right next to each other at the defensive side - they are way too close to each other here. Dyl as always is positioned well, hedging his bets while his man to the left (in front of Daniel) is positioned pretty badly. Bailey Scott is covering the corridor interior to the stoppage. Not sure what Colby is doing here. All in all, it's obvious we're looking for an exit out the defensive side of the stoppage.

LDU, Powell and Colby are the strange setups here.

View attachment 2303647

Weirdly, after Will fumbles the gather, it actually spills out right to LDU and Powell. Who, with Powell being too close, are looking in trouble.

View attachment 2303648

But Powell adjusts. He seems to have realised at this point and become self-aware, so he immediately rushes to the back of the stoppage to sweep.

View attachment 2303651

And he gets the handball receive from Will, who followed up his work to support LDU. We're out here, except one thing.

Caleb Daniel wanted that receive from Will, despite Powell being the better option. He commits a pretty cardinal sin here. He not only brings his man (number 16) into the stoppage...but he completely turns his back on the play when he doesn't get used as the handball receive and let's his man lock onto Powell instead of laying a block for him.

Powell got pressured and from what I recall, scrubbed the kick.

View attachment 2303652

Centre bounce 3 - 4th quarter, game is on

This is one where you will want to look away if you don't want to get upset.

At the setup we have LDU as the sweeper and Powell as the hit-to.

Unfortunately, LDU immediately abandons the sweeper role and storms to the right of the screen. At best this is a set play gone wrong. At worst he's looking to shark Powell's tap. I can't tell you which was which.

View attachment 2303664


LDU misses the ball and Powell is smart here. He wraps around the back and actually gets the receive. Unfortunately, with no sweeper present, he had no option. So he slipped over when handballing and you'll see the result in the next image.

View attachment 2303668


LDU doesn't get the receive - I'm not sure how he thought he was an option here, given he positioned himself behind two Essendon players. But in frustration he just phones it in.

View attachment 2303673

He doesn't even bother to impact number 22 or even the contest up when Essendon were threatening to steam out the front of the bounce into their inside 50, and Stephens comes steaming in to make amends.

View attachment 2303674

It looked like number 12 for Essendon would burst out he front of the stoppage, but Dyl Stephens starts to close him quicker than expected. Unfortunately, LDU doubled down on the non-chase and didn't choose to shut down number 28, slowing to a light jog (after electing not to impact number 22 moments before).Number 28 for Essendon continues his run, is a receive option, and he has yonks to choose an option. Really, really poor work here and our midfield leader just needs to work harder, simple as that.

Luckily, through Comben's good work, we manage to secure a boundary throw in in the defensive 50.

View attachment 2303675

Stoppage 2 - Quarter 4

Look away again if you're easily upset. This stoppage was IMMEDIATELY after the inside 50 from that centre bounce.

Contrary to suggestions of 'scragging' - you'll see that our good mids do a bit of that scragging themselves, as evident in this still. Xerri taps from the throw in to Jy, who is to his right, but the bloke who LDU is pulling the jumper of beats them both to the ball.

Parker is protecting the corridor side.
View attachment 2303682

Jy and LDU both shoot for the same ball. Ideally LDU holds out to the left and lets Jy contest with LDU's man. That way if Jy wins, he has LDU as a front and centre option. If he loses, he wraps up the Essendon bloke. The extra body in this contest adds nothing.

View attachment 2303684

As so happens, they confuse each other and none of them lay and effective tackle. Yes, our two best contested mids just lost a 2 on 1. He handballs out the back - but this stoppage is far from gone yet. The Essendon receiver isn't in a good position to make an inside 50 choice and will 100% be looking to give it away by hand. This is where defensive midfield craft is important - ball hunting players will hone in on number 28 - he has the ball and I want to win it back from him. But LDU needs to lock on to number 22 here, to allow Stephens to lay a block on Merrett.

View attachment 2303687

Unfortunately, he locks onto the bloke with the ball and doesn't impact. Who gives to number 22 and they get the inside 50 pretty easily.

View attachment 2303690

---

Conclusion

Look, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed with our mental application here. We have too many players who either can't understand how stoppages unfold and what you need to do to protect it. We have players who are hit/miss at doing so, such as Powell who did some good work here but also some really poor work. But we can't have blokes >25 years old taking the easy or the self-centred option if we want to win games of footy. Especially given the stage of the game some of these decisions were made in.

Some of these guys are capable of incredible football, but unless they work for each other, it's just not gonna happen for us, IMO.

I know there's been talk (perhaps even by you) that they're mixing up the roles at stoppages this season. Do you think this has been beneficial? Or do you think it may have created some confusion amongst the boys? LDU for mine is just simply not a player that should be acting as a sweeper.

What do other clubs do? Do they mix up the roles a lot as well?

 

[Themanbun]

I know there's been talk (perhaps even by you) that they're mixing up the roles at stoppages this season. Do you think this has been beneficial? Or do you think it may have created some confusion amongst the boys? LDU for mine is just simply not a player that should be acting as a sweeper.

What do other clubs do? Do they mix up the roles a lot as well?

They mix it up at other clubs mate. Bont, Cripps, etc. are all expected to sweep, to lay blocks, etc. LDU ran a really good decoy set play against Port actually. But if you don't mix the roles up you're way too predictable as a unit and it's very easy to counter.

 

[Kciza]

They mix it up at other clubs mate. Bont, Cripps, etc. are all expected to sweep, to lay blocks, etc. LDU ran a really good decoy set play against Port actually. But if you don't mix the roles up you're way too predictable as a unit and it's very easy to counter.

I figured as much. Could it be an experience thing then? Powell for example is in year 5, but really only got the opportunity to play full time mid last year (and even that was only for the first half of the season). I do also wonder if he, LDU and Simpkin were taught these nuances under Shaw and Noble.

Or am I just making excuses and these guys simply don't have the concentration levels to consistently make good decisions and resist their natural ball hunting instincts?

 

[Dingster]

Looking at those deep forwards, they are too close together. The front one needs to push up so they can compete for the North dump kick and create space for Larks if we are clean.

 

[GoRoos2023]

!!!North Melbourne vs Essendon Post!!!

I've honed in on three centre bounces and two stoppages for this one. All at critical junctures in the game. As you'll see, some senior players come out looking not so crash hot here.

Centre Bounce 1 - First of the Game

If you ever wonder why we start so poorly, wonder no more. We are simply not mentally committed at the start of games. This is the very first centre bounce, and it reflect pretty badly on two blokes in particular. When you get a look at the behind the goals vision, it gets even more damning.

Photo 1 - Set up

Pretty standard setup for the first of the game. Man on man, everyone jostling. LDU is the hit-to in front of Xerri, Powell is the sweeper, and Parker is at the front of the setup.

View attachment 2303613

Photo 2 - LDU receives hit out

LDU receives. While not clean with it, things are still going to plan here, although Powell is starting to creep in too close.

View attachment 2303618


Photo 3 - Sheezel off the back of the square

Sheezel comes bursting through off the back of the square and we are so close to a red hot, ripping clearance for the first of the game. He gets run down however, the ball spills to Merrett who was on Parker at the front of the stoppage, who steams through the corridor and hits an inside 50 to Perkins.

View attachment 2303619


Photo 4 - here's the paddock that Merrett was left with

View attachment 2303620


Photo 5 - Behind the goals - Daniel not working

This is where it gets bad. Everyone here has identified Harry Sheezel as the most dangerous player here. In fact it was obvious a few seconds earlier as he started his run. Except Caleb Daniel. His opponent, Number 8, locks on immediately. Daniel had two options here - run hard for his mates and lay a block to clear Sheezel, which is the arrow pointing up and right. Or try to get an easy wide receive out to the left. You only need to look at photo 3 to see how much separation the Essendon player got on Daniel.

He chose the left and his man ran Sheezel down.

View attachment 2303621


Photo 6 - poor sweeping

At the same time, at the very first centre bounce, Powell has seemingly forgot what a sweeper needs to do. Instead of holding the dangerous corridor space (triangle), he starts, for some unknown reason, tracking into the ball (red arrow). He doesn't lay a block. He doesn't defend the corridor. He just tries to cut in on a receive that everyone else has realised is meant for Sheez. In other words, ball hunting when that is not his role.

View attachment 2303622

Photo 7 - failure to sweep

Red circle is where Powell ends up. You can also see Daniel hanging out the back. Green square is where a sweeper should have been, and that's how Merrett ends up streaming through an open, unguarded corridor.

View attachment 2303625


Centre bounce 2

This one is an easy one to review and is an example of some slick structure holding, and a clearance that works well apart for the LDU scrub kick at the end of it.\

As you can see, Will is the hit-to here, Powell the sweeper.

View attachment 2303644

Will receives the ball, and Powell fought his temptation to rush in and held his ground. You can see the triangles I always speak about here. Will has 3 options here and Essendon don't know how to defend it.

LDU spreads really well and Will dishes off to him for a good clearance.

View attachment 2303645


Stoppage 1

Just to show you I'm not all doom and gloom, this one is an example of some good adjustment on the fly, at a critical point.

Photo 1 - the setup

This is an...interesting...setup. Xerri has WillPhil as the hit-to in front of him, Jy at the forward half of the stoppage making their sweeper accountable. He has Powell AND LDU right next to each other at the defensive side - they are way too close to each other here. Dyl as always is positioned well, hedging his bets while his man to the left (in front of Daniel) is positioned pretty badly. Bailey Scott is covering the corridor interior to the stoppage. Not sure what Colby is doing here. All in all, it's obvious we're looking for an exit out the defensive side of the stoppage.

LDU, Powell and Colby are the strange setups here.

View attachment 2303647

Weirdly, after Will fumbles the gather, it actually spills out right to LDU and Powell. Who, with Powell being too close, are looking in trouble.

View attachment 2303648

But Powell adjusts. He seems to have realised at this point and become self-aware, so he immediately rushes to the back of the stoppage to sweep.

View attachment 2303651

And he gets the handball receive from Will, who followed up his work to support LDU. We're out here, except one thing.

Caleb Daniel wanted that receive from Will, despite Powell being the better option. He commits a pretty cardinal sin here. He not only brings his man (number 16) into the stoppage...but he completely turns his back on the play when he doesn't get used as the handball receive and let's his man lock onto Powell instead of laying a block for him.

Powell got pressured and from what I recall, scrubbed the kick.

View attachment 2303652

Centre bounce 3 - 4th quarter, game is on

This is one where you will want to look away if you don't want to get upset.

At the setup we have LDU as the sweeper and Powell as the hit-to.

Unfortunately, LDU immediately abandons the sweeper role and storms to the right of the screen. At best this is a set play gone wrong. At worst he's looking to shark Powell's tap. I can't tell you which was which.

View attachment 2303664


LDU misses the ball and Powell is smart here. He wraps around the back and actually gets the receive. Unfortunately, with no sweeper present, he had no option. So he slipped over when handballing and you'll see the result in the next image.

View attachment 2303668


LDU doesn't get the receive - I'm not sure how he thought he was an option here, given he positioned himself behind two Essendon players. But in frustration he just phones it in.

View attachment 2303673

He doesn't even bother to impact number 22 or even the contest up when Essendon were threatening to steam out the front of the bounce into their inside 50, and Stephens comes steaming in to make amends.

View attachment 2303674

It looked like number 12 for Essendon would burst out he front of the stoppage, but Dyl Stephens starts to close him quicker than expected. Unfortunately, LDU doubled down on the non-chase and didn't choose to shut down number 28, slowing to a light jog (after electing not to impact number 22 moments before).Number 28 for Essendon continues his run, is a receive option, and he has yonks to choose an option. Really, really poor work here and our midfield leader just needs to work harder, simple as that.

Luckily, through Comben's good work, we manage to secure a boundary throw in in the defensive 50.

View attachment 2303675

Stoppage 2 - Quarter 4

Look away again if you're easily upset. This stoppage was IMMEDIATELY after the inside 50 from that centre bounce.

Contrary to suggestions of 'scragging' - you'll see that our good mids do a bit of that scragging themselves, as evident in this still. Xerri taps from the throw in to Jy, who is to his right, but the bloke who LDU is pulling the jumper of beats them both to the ball.

Parker is protecting the corridor side.
View attachment 2303682

Jy and LDU both shoot for the same ball. Ideally LDU holds out to the left and lets Jy contest with LDU's man. That way if Jy wins, he has LDU as a front and centre option. If he loses, he wraps up the Essendon bloke. The extra body in this contest adds nothing.

View attachment 2303684

As so happens, they confuse each other and none of them lay and effective tackle. Yes, our two best contested mids just lost a 2 on 1. He handballs out the back - but this stoppage is far from gone yet. The Essendon receiver isn't in a good position to make an inside 50 choice and will 100% be looking to give it away by hand. This is where defensive midfield craft is important - ball hunting players will hone in on number 28 - he has the ball and I want to win it back from him. But LDU needs to lock on to number 22 here, to allow Stephens to lay a block on Merrett.

View attachment 2303687

Unfortunately, he locks onto the bloke with the ball and doesn't impact. Who gives to number 22 and they get the inside 50 pretty easily.

View attachment 2303690

---

Conclusion

Look, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed with our mental application here. We have too many players who either can't understand how stoppages unfold and what you need to do to protect it, or who understand but think that the hero play will mean we don't have to worry about it. We have players who are hit/miss at doing so, such as Powell who did some good work here but also some really poor work. But we can't have blokes >25 years old taking the easy or the self-centred option if we want to win games of footy. Especially given the stage of the game some of these decisions were made in.

Some of these guys are capable of incredible football, but unless they work for each other, it's just not gonna happen for us, IMO.

You clearly know your football mate great post. I would love to hear you and Rick18 thoughts on this question.

If you had to pick 1 of the below that is most contributing to our teams inability to execute a game plan consistently which one would you pick.

1-The coaching, is this a reflection on Clarko, Adcock, Adams and Clarkes inability to teach these guys a game style or that it is just too complicated?
If we had the coaching panel they have at Collingwood would we be vastly improved.

2-Effort, do you think the coaches are presenting a pretty standard gameplan and probably coaching well but this group just lacks focus, determination, heart?

3-Youth, are we just young and this sort of behaviour inconsistency is to be unexpected.

I understand it’s gonna be some of both, but from what you can see does the blame more lay with the players or the coaches?

 

[Moti]

They mix it up at other clubs mate. Bont, Cripps, etc. are all expected to sweep, to lay blocks, etc. LDU ran a really good decoy set play against Port actually. But if you don't mix the roles up you're way too predictable as a unit and it's very easy to counter.

Unfortunately, we lack the speed and agility to provide decent flexibility there. The sweeper role is both attacking and defensive, so requires a commitment either way at the stoppage but the more athletic players can switch faster than the likes of Parker or Powell who just don't have the athletic profile.

 

[Moti]

I figured as much. Could it be an experience thing then? Powell for example is in year 5, but really only got the opportunity to play full time mid last year (and even that was only for the first half of the season). I do also wonder if he, LDU and Simpkin were taught these nuances under Shaw and Noble.

Or am I just making excuses and these guys simply don't have the concentration levels to consistently make good decisions and resist their natural ball hunting instincts?

I think it is all of the above. Most teams have their 4th rounder or rookie selection in their mix who just want to impact the game. Most of our guys are 1st rounders and are used to being ball winners. They have to be taught how to be effective at these roles and based on the entire ground, our coaching doesn't seem to be overly effective. Then there is the lack of power in most of our mids, with the exception of LDU and Wardlaw.

 

[Passmore]

North mids trying to hold shape…

 

[Themanbun]

I figured as much. Could it be an experience thing then? Powell for example is in year 5, but really only got the opportunity to play full time mid last year (and even that was only for the first half of the season). I do also wonder if he, LDU and Simpkin were taught these nuances under Shaw and Noble.

Or am I just making excuses and these guys simply don't have the concentration levels to consistently make good decisions and resist their natural ball hunting instincts?

I think they are aware of the basics and it's not too hard to get down pat. Some of these guys however, were the midfield stud at junior level. You can't run tags there, and typically they structure a midfield at that level in a way that lets the stud ball hunt, so they're never facing any consequences for breaking midfield structures. But you need to leave your ego at the door when you hit AFL level, and that's what separates the Bonts, Cripps, Merretts, Serongs, etc. from the B graders.

So, IMO it's a mental concentration/application thing and that is applying your brain hard enough, for long enough, to compete at AFL level. You could see after that first clearance that Powell was trying to do the right thing for example, even if he caught himself doing the wrong thing. But it's been a consistent theme that he's just hit/miss at doing what his role demands of him.

That clearance where LDU completely breaks his sweeper position and tried to shark the tap, and then just elects not to shut down Essendon's outlets when he doesn't win the ball lend me towards a not so generous interpretation.

Compare that to Horne-Francis last week who, when we were getting a run on, doubled up his efforts and laid two tackles in 5-10 seconds to shut down our outlets and prevent an exit out the front, and you can see why we struggle to defend stoppages if we don't win the ball compared to other sides.

Realistically though, who is gonna drop our 'best' players for not holding shape? They won't face any repercussions for this stuff so the coaches are kind of coaching with one arm behind their back so to speak.

Simpkin is generally pretty good at his role at a bounce or stoppage.

 

[Themanbun]

You clearly know your football mate great post. I would love to hear you and Rick18 thoughts on this question.

If you had to pick 1 of the below that is most contributing to our teams inability to execute a game plan consistently which one would you pick.

1-The coaching, is this a reflection on Clarko, Adcock, Adams and Clarkes inability to teach these guys a game style or that it is just too complicated?
If we had the coaching panel they have at Collingwood would we be vastly improved.

2-Effort, do you think the coaches are presenting a pretty standard gameplan and probably coaching well but this group just lacks focus, determination, heart?

3-Youth, are we just young and this sort of behaviour inconsistency is to be unexpected.

I understand it’s gonna be some of both, but from what you can see does the blame more lay with the players or the coaches?

For midfield structure particularly, unfortunately I think it leans most heavily toward 2. Now Sheezel is out, we don't run a very young midfield tbh.

LDU is 25, Jy 26, Parker 32, Powell 23, Phillips 23, Wardlaw 21 (who doesn't make as many mistakes as the others anyway).

Transition stuff may lean more toward 1 and 3, but stoppage/midfield structure stuff is mostly on mental application, putting your ego at the door, fighting your instincts and doing what's best for your mates as a unit.

 

[perplexed]

I don't understand why we use Jy so little at centre bounces, especially when George is out. He is our captain, seems to be the best at organising our stoppages, and plays with aggression. But we were three goals down by the time he finally went in there. He should be setting standards at the opening bounce.

 

[Kciza]

I don't understand why we use Jy so little at centre bounces, especially when George is out. He is our captain, seems to be the best at organising our stoppages, and plays with aggression. But we were three goals down by the time he finally went in there. He should be setting standards at the opening bounce.

I think his ball use hurts him, especially because LDU uses it quite poorly from clearance as well. They've obviously been trying to give Powell, and to a lesser extent Phillips, opportunities to develop.

But I do think we're hitting a point now where they just need to go back to the best mix in there. I'm starting to think it's just not going to happen for Powell, and we're better off running primarily with LDU, Parker, Simpkin and Wardlaw. O'Sullivan, McKercher, Urquhart and potentially Duursma can start to be complimentary rotation pieces in there as they develop.

 

[zoomba23]

Not really related to this thread TMB, but I saw your post on the Dogs' board about Bont's influence, and it was basically the first comment in his player thread since their flag. That's unfathomable. Where the **** do they discuss their players on there, or are they too busy huffing ethanol

 

[archereleven]

Not really related to this thread TMB, but I saw your post on the Dogs' board about Bont's influence, and it was basically the first comment in his player thread since their flag. That's unfathomable. Where the **** do they discuss their players on there, or are they too busy huffing ethanol

There's not much to comment on when he's the best player in the game...

Post #808 -

Bont is back from injury

Post #809 -

Yep, Marcus was his usual self after a long lay-off -32d, 11i50s, 9 tck, 3 goals and 3 assists.

Post #810 -

Yeah, he was pretty good

Post #811 -

He has another gear though, but we have too many quality mids

 

[zoomba23]

There's not much to comment on when he's the best player in the game...

Post #808 -

Bont is back from injury

Post #809 -

Yep, Marcus was his usual self after a long lay-off -32d, 11i50s, 9 tck, 3 goals and 3 assists.

Post #810 -

Yeah, he was pretty good

Post #811 -

He has another gear though, but we have too many quality mids

Yeah, but if we had him, it'd go something like:

'**** he's good'

'Missed him today'

'I wonder what his Mum does for a living'

'Dim sims are demonstrably better when steamed'

'Butcher Bailey could learn a thing or two from him'


And this cycle would continue for two entire threads and 678 pages in total.

We're blessed on this board.

 

[Themanbun]

Not really related to this thread TMB, but I saw your post on the Dogs' board about Bont's influence, and it was basically the first comment in his player thread since their flag. That's unfathomable. Where the **** do they discuss their players on there, or are they too busy huffing ethanol

I genuinely felt like I'd wandered into the twilight zone trying to find the appropriate place to post it.