News Welcome to Hawthorn: Kade Simpson assistant coach

[Accipiter]

How much of this lays at Simpsons feet though?
I reckon 15%, at best.

We made the list decisions as a collective, Simpson inherited the role and players. Sicily is being asked to play key defender because DGB and Blanck aren’t there yet. Is that Simspons fault?
Our midfield has had numerous periods of games where they are too easily ran through, letting ball fly into the defensive end. Is that Simspons fault?

Our defensive issues are a sum of all parts. Form, midfield defensive running, inexperience, defensive roles. He’s not hit it out of the park by any means, but no area of the ground is really excelling at the moment apart from possibly our stoppage game.

We seem to lack an enforcer type that can free up Sicily to do his thing ... Hoping Blank can develop into that.

 

[cryptor]

We seem to lack an enforcer type that can free up Sicily to do his thing ... Hoping Blank can develop into that.

I agree that another big defender would help Sicily out. But I think Sicily could help himself out a lot by pulling his head in and concentrating on playing football instead of letting his ego takeover and getting into wrestling matches and other stupid altercations with his opponents.

 

[SSSSSS]

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. Our defensive issues stem from our ineptitude to generate good forward entries resulting in shots on goals and to halve poor forward entries to allow the ball to stay locked in. Our defensive cattle isn't bad my any measures, certainly not as bad as we making it look.

Our mids win the clearance and our half backs push up as instructed to provide width (see Impey streaming forward at every centre stoppage) which leaves us completely exposed once we turn the ball over.

We need to either;
A) Generate better forward entries with more depth (we are trying this but end up usually over possessing the ball and turning it over at CHF - we lack quality and composure in our ball use out of the middle)
B) Have stronger aerial presence that can mark the ball or halve contests (we do not have the cattle to do this)
C) Have a stronger ground presence that can trap the ball in to create stoppages (where we are at our strongest) or at least slow the opposition rebound to allow time for our back 6 to set up (we have not done this).

Our forward set ups is very much a half-arsed combination of B and C. Aerial presence is lacking in Lewis and Greene. Our ground presence is lacking with the slow set up of smalls in Wingard, Moore, Breust, CMac. We are both too short and too slow to have an effective forward set up which results in the ball getting kicked over 12 of our players heads at any given time exposing our back 6 (usually a back 3 or 4 with how high we press up) in 1:1 situations where we are extremely weak.

Our back 6 has always been at it's best playing team defense but that relies on time to set up and we are giving our defenders absolutely no time with how quickly the ball is pinging about.

Fix the forward set up. Go tall or go short. No half measures. Richmond won a flag with just Riewoldt and 5 speedy worse versions of Puopolo who ran their socks off every game.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. Our defensive issues stem from our ineptitude to generate good forward entries resulting in shots on goals and to halve poor forward entries to allow the ball to stay locked in. Our defensive cattle isn't bad my any measures, certainly not as bad as we making it look.

Our mids win the clearance and our half backs push up as instructed to provide width (see Impey streaming forward at every centre stoppage) which leaves us completely exposed once we turn the ball over.

We need to either;
A) Generate better forward entries with more depth (we are trying this but end up usually over possessing the ball and turning it over at CHF - we lack quality and composure in our ball use out of the middle)
B) Have stronger aerial presence that can mark the ball or halve contests (we do not have the cattle to do this)
C) Have a stronger ground presence that can trap the ball in to create stoppages (where we are at our strongest) or at least slow the opposition rebound to allow time for our back 6 to set up (we have not done this).

Our forward set ups is very much a half-arsed combination of B and C. Aerial presence is lacking in Lewis and Greene. Our ground presence is lacking with the slow set up of smalls in Wingard, Moore, Breust, CMac. We are both too short and too slow to have an effective forward set up which results in the ball getting kicked over 12 of our players heads at any given time exposing our back 6 (usually a back 3 or 4 with how high we press up) in 1:1 situations where we are extremely weak.

Our back 6 has always been at it's best playing team defense but that relies on time to set up and we are giving our defenders absolutely no time with how quickly the ball is pinging about.

Fix the forward set up. Go tall or go short. No half measures. Richmond won a flag with just Riewoldt and 5 speedy worse versions of Puopolo who ran their socks off every game.

Yes I said the same thing earlier this week.

Our forward line currently is both small and slow which is a terrible combination.

My optimal forward line is two class talls (Buddy and Rough), a couple crafty mid sized forwards (Gunston / Bruest) and then a couple of quick, high pressure small forwards (Cyril / Poppy). That covers all bases.

We currently have one tall, a VFL level mid sized forward, an ageing Bruest and then a bunch of smallish, slowish not sure what their role is type forwards.

It's pretty diabolical to be frank.

 

[Billyc]

Heavy scapegoating to pin much on an assistant coach.

 

[MrPremiership]

Heavy scapegoating to pin much on an assistant coach.

that came in very late

 

[eldorado]

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. Our defensive issues stem from our ineptitude to generate good forward entries resulting in shots on goals and to halve poor forward entries to allow the ball to stay locked in.

yep, it's a whole field defensive problem, not just back six

 

[SSSSSS]

Yes I said the same thing earlier this week.

Our forward line currently is both small and slow which is a terrible combination.

My optimal forward line is two class talls (Buddy and Rough), a couple crafty mid sized forwards (Gunston / Bruest) and then a couple of quick, high pressure small forwards (Cyril / Poppy). That covers all bases.

We currently have one tall, a VFL level mid sized forward, an ageing Bruest and then a bunch of smallish, slowish not sure what their role is type forwards.

It's pretty diabolical to be frank.

Our forward set up last year worked well at the tail-end with Lewis/BigBoy and Gunston/Breust (who didn't look as slow as he does in 2023) with Impey/CMac/Moore.

We haven't found a BigBoy replacement. Ferg is our Gunston replacement but he is a downgrade (no disrespect to Ferg). Brocky has stepped in for Impey but I think we still need a bull in a china shop manic forward pressure player like Impey was late last year.

Think we won maybe 3/6 games going close with the Saints and the Dogs. Got belted by the Tigers but thought it was our best set up.

 

[burner1]

We clearly have some issues up the ground but the defence is hardly humming. Seem to lack cohesion and connection with teammates and our positioning often seems off.

Only Sam Mitchell would have a good view but at least from outside doesn’t feel like Simpson gets completely off the hook. Can’t imagine it will ever be commented on publicly - proof will be in who’s in the coaching group next year.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

Simpson is a young coach, like a young player you'd expect him to improve as he grows with the group. We don't expect debutants to come in and dominate so the same I think applies a little bit to Kade. So if he shows substantial improvement and a good connection with the players you'd expect them to keep him on even if the results aren't always great.

The other factor is that our leaders back there are really young too. Sicily is only in his second month of captaincy. You'd expect him to continue finding a better balance between personal performance and dictating the game vocally. Lots of players have taken a short-term hit to their form when they first become captain, particularly non-midfielders. I expect that will improve by next season and make us look a lot better down there too.

But as others have said I think the drop in form is largely symptomatic of poor pressure up the field and an inability to convert F50 entries. At least if we're getting repeat fwd entries through behinds and stoppages the defence can settle, catch a breath and avoid bad 1-on-1s by structuring up. But when the ball is pinging between the fifties not only are you tired as *, you're constantly running backward to defend space which leads to unfavorable 1-on-1s.

We give up so many points off turnover which shows our poor pressure up-field. I think 90 vs Fremantle. The defenders certainly need to be better, but the fwds and mids are equally to "blame" for our losses

 

[Topiary]

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. Our defensive issues stem from our ineptitude to generate good forward entries resulting in shots on goals and to halve poor forward entries to allow the ball to stay locked in. Our defensive cattle isn't bad my any measures, certainly not as bad as we making it look.

Our mids win the clearance and our half backs push up as instructed to provide width (see Impey streaming forward at every centre stoppage) which leaves us completely exposed once we turn the ball over.

We need to either;
A) Generate better forward entries with more depth (we are trying this but end up usually over possessing the ball and turning it over at CHF - we lack quality and composure in our ball use out of the middle)
B) Have stronger aerial presence that can mark the ball or halve contests (we do not have the cattle to do this)
C) Have a stronger ground presence that can trap the ball in to create stoppages (where we are at our strongest) or at least slow the opposition rebound to allow time for our back 6 to set up (we have not done this).

Our forward set ups is very much a half-arsed combination of B and C. Aerial presence is lacking in Lewis and Greene. Our ground presence is lacking with the slow set up of smalls in Wingard, Moore, Breust, CMac. We are both too short and too slow to have an effective forward set up which results in the ball getting kicked over 12 of our players heads at any given time exposing our back 6 (usually a back 3 or 4 with how high we press up) in 1:1 situations where we are extremely weak.

Our back 6 has always been at it's best playing team defense but that relies on time to set up and we are giving our defenders absolutely no time with how quickly the ball is pinging about.

Fix the forward set up. Go tall or go short. No half measures. Richmond won a flag with just Riewoldt and 5 speedy worse versions of Puopolo who ran their socks off every game.

This so accurate and well said.

 

[The hands of stone]

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. Our defensive issues stem from our ineptitude to generate good forward entries resulting in shots on goals and to halve poor forward entries to allow the ball to stay locked in. Our defensive cattle isn't bad my any measures, certainly not as bad as we making it look.

Our mids win the clearance and our half backs push up as instructed to provide width (see Impey streaming forward at every centre stoppage) which leaves us completely exposed once we turn the ball over.

We need to either;
A) Generate better forward entries with more depth (we are trying this but end up usually over possessing the ball and turning it over at CHF - we lack quality and composure in our ball use out of the middle)
B) Have stronger aerial presence that can mark the ball or halve contests (we do not have the cattle to do this)
C) Have a stronger ground presence that can trap the ball in to create stoppages (where we are at our strongest) or at least slow the opposition rebound to allow time for our back 6 to set up (we have not done this).

Our forward set ups is very much a half-arsed combination of B and C. Aerial presence is lacking in Lewis and Greene. Our ground presence is lacking with the slow set up of smalls in Wingard, Moore, Breust, CMac. We are both too short and too slow to have an effective forward set up which results in the ball getting kicked over 12 of our players heads at any given time exposing our back 6 (usually a back 3 or 4 with how high we press up) in 1:1 situations where we are extremely weak.

Our back 6 has always been at it's best playing team defense but that relies on time to set up and we are giving our defenders absolutely no time with how quickly the ball is pinging about.

Fix the forward set up. Go tall or go short. No half measures. Richmond won a flag with just Riewoldt and 5 speedy worse versions of Puopolo who ran their socks off every game.

Richmond were able to pull that off due to their game style , they also added Lynch in as FA the next off season .
So it wasnt really going to be a long term viable set up.

I think we have actually indentified the forward issues and have drafted accordingly . It'll just take time for them to come through.

Clearly need someone to ride shotgun with Lewis ( maybe Rama in time is the guy ) . This might be the smoking gun we need to land in FA

100% on the rest . I think our forwardline will be a lot better once other elements of a game improve in consistency .

 

[SSSSSS]

Richmond were able to pull that off due to their game style , they also added Lynch in as FA the next off season .
So it wasnt really going to be a long term viable set up.

I think we have actually indentified the forward issues and have drafted accordingly . It'll just take time for them to come through.

Clearly need someone to ride shotgun with Lewis ( maybe Rama in time is the guy ) . This might be the smoking gun we need to land in FA

100% on the rest . I think our forwardline will be a lot better once other elements of a game improve in consistency .

Once our forward line set up improves we will see dramatic improvements across the board. Suddenly our mids don't have to drive to the forward 50 each time to help lock the ball in and can play more disciplined football, and our back 6 gets to set up their zones and we can work our intercept game back in.

We've clearly had a focus on our mids and small fwds in the last few drafts as it seems we are quite comfortable with our cattle in the defensive end. Morris, Mitchell (ironically both defenders now), Butler, JOS, Bennetts, Saunders etc.

We need a few of these guys to come good in the forward line.

 

[KermitJagger]

Once our forward line set up improves we will see dramatic improvements across the board. Suddenly our mids don't have to drive to the forward 50 each time to help lock the ball in and can play more disciplined football, and our back 6 gets to set up their zones and we can work our intercept game back in.

We've clearly had a focus on our mids and small fwds in the last few drafts as it seems we are quite comfortable with our cattle in the defensive end. Morris, Mitchell (ironically both defenders now), Butler, JOS, Bennetts, Saunders etc.

We need a few of these guys to come good in the forward line.

In fairness, our forward line would be a lot better at keeping it locked in if we didn't go for shallow entries and dinky kicks around the 50m arc. Richmond won 3 flags off the back of turning those sort of turnovers into goals.

 

[SSSSSS]

In fairness, our forward line would be a lot better at keeping it locked in if we didn't go for shallow entries and dinky kicks around the 50m arc. Richmond won 3 flags off the back of turning those sort of turnovers into goals.

Yep. We keep turning it over at CHF handballing to each other to look for the clean Hollywood pass (to an undersized, slow forwardline).

 

[SammyC]

The performance of our back 6 isn't the cause of our problems - its a symptom.

Our pressure generally across the ground was unacceptable on Saturday and in all our big losses this year. We are cracking in at the contest but offer pretty much nothing if we lose it. Tackle count was really low when the whips were cracking saturday and also lack of general pressure intent meant the dockers moved the ball quickly with precise kicks and uncontested marks. This meant their average forward line made our pretty decent on paper backline look mediocre.

Forward pressure in particular was non-existent. They bounced it out straight away. Greene, Brockman, MacDonald, Wingard don't do enough pressure wise.

Then at the midfield source - we win more clearances than we used to win but are we too high stakes attacking? When we lose a clearance, my perception is there is little resistance and our backs are under seige.

 

[HappyHawk_1]

I agree that pressure is an issue.

But I am surprised at the number of people saying ‘nothing to see here’ re. the backline/defensive coaching.

Last year, we had a back line that was our relative strength personnel-wise. I would have argued that our back line was middle-of-the-pack at worst.

This year we have conceded the 2nd-most scores against, only behind the decimated WCE.

Make no mistake, our defensive / ‘without the ball’ system is very poor, and whilst some can be attributed to poor inside 50s, pressure etc., a major change over the offseason was the coaching staff.

Again, not saying the coaching is the main issue, but I think we would be negligent to not strongly review our defensive structures and the system we play without the ball.

P.S. we are technically above the AFL average for pressure acts…

 

[Rowie6]

We seem to lack an enforcer type that can free up Sicily to do his thing ... Hoping Blank can develop into that.

If DGB keeps putting on some size over the next preseason hopefully he can be the enforcer aswell?


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