Toast Well done MM

[Frankie23]

I just really needed to get this off my chest

I thought this thread was necessary especially due to recent events involving MM. Over the past 4 games it has been obvious that we have been implementing a new game plan, the ‘full-ground press’ or ‘the zone’ as others like to refer to it. Anyway from my vantage point behind the goals, this has been a HUGE success so far, credit where it is due, well done MM and coaching staff.
The full-ground press complements our style perfectly. With teams unable to break through due to our structure and forward pressure we have been able to score from turnovers. This is our gameplan, this is why we don’t play with 5 tall forwards and have adopted a small forward line. This is how we stop powerhouse forwards, by giving them minimal service. Most goals are scored from turnovers, one of the main reasons we lost to St.Kilda is that we scored 0.16 from turnovers!
This leads me into another point, and this really grinds my gears, when you see players not manning up, or just jockeying their opponents, that is what we want! Ignorant supporters will cry out ‘man-up’ yet they do not understand that the whole point of our gameplan is to let teams kick it around in their back half and pressure them into a mistake.
So before you bag MM next, just look at the work he has done with our gameplan. I believe it has all the ingredients for premiership success, well done MM.
Also, what are your opinions on our 'full ground press' if you have noticed it?

 

[Swooop]

I just really needed to get this off my chest



It does seem a different game plan this year and it does seem to be working to our advantage.

Last year, on the balance of probabilities, we would have won one of the four games we've had so far.

So all credit to the masters (and implementers) of this new plan.

Be it MM, or any of his new assistants eg Sir NB.

 

[Optimax]

We were zoning quite a bit late last year as well, it just fell down when davis/didak/pendlebury/swan all went down with form or injury issues

It is a somewhat different zone this year, as we still semi man mark, instead of space marking ala saints and Hawks and we are also more direct this year then last and 08 before it, in short though collingwood zoning isnt an overnight thing its been coming since last year

 

[Thommo 42]

I reckon the gameplan broke down against the Dee's, which is why they broke through so easily. Too many blokes thought it would be easy, and Davey was cutting our press up completely with his pace and pin point kicking.

 

[Kirby]

It seems to me, and I have only seen the Hawks game live as i was on holidays, that we are playing a very similar zone to StKilda. The pressure starts from deep in our forward line. We run to the player of the opposition who has possession and don't allow that easy kick out of defence. It creates pressure right up the line.

I don't think we did it well or successfully against Melbourne, if in fact we tried it as I couldn't tell on tv. We did try it against the Saints but couldn't keep it up. In the end they out StKilda'd us.

Our zoning maybe slightly different than theirs but it is along the same lines.

 

[Axl the great]

My only worry is the taxing nature of the full ground press as you call it.
Should the effort and defensive pressure drop we will be cut to ribbons by good sides, its is still early in the year, players are relatively injury free and still very fresh, what worries me is this style could be our undoing come the end of the year when the grind of a long year sets in.
The Bulldogs have fallen down over the last few years late in the season due to the fact that they play a very taxing style of play which gets harder and harder to sustain every week as the year drags on and players pick up more niggles.
Our best bet is to have a plan b and c and mix it up a bit should cracks start to appear with this new approach.

 

[mdc]

What Kirby said.

In fact, when whathisface went down for the Hawks and there was that 5 minute delay, the exact structure became really clear. In soccer terms, it'd essentially be a 3-3-3-3-3-3 formation, covering a space of about 60 metres lengthwise and ~40m across.

 

[Swooop]

My only worry is the taxing nature of the full ground press as you call it.
Should the effort and defensive pressure drop we will be cut to ribbons by good sides, its is still early in the year, players are relatively injury free and still very fresh, what worries me is this style could be our undoing come the end of the year when the grind of a long year sets in.
The Bulldogs have fallen down over the last few years late in the season due to the fact that they play a very taxing style of play which gets harder and harder to sustain every week as the year drags on and players pick up more niggles.
Our best bet is to have a plan b and c and mix it up a bit should cracks start to appear with this new approach.

Good post Axl

 

[rose jam]

Good post Axl

Not really Bulldogs were terrific in last years finals, they couldn't control Scarlett because they didn't have a key forward otherwise they would have gone to the big dance.

But back to the Pies. Pies have still trained for man verses man which they can switch to at the flick of a finger if we aren't breaking through zones.

 

[The Magnificent Seven]

Our best bet is to have a plan b and c and mix it up a bit should cracks start to appear with this new approach.

We do, though. It involves the boundary line

 

[StillWaiting5689]

Hawk definitely seemed to struggle with it coming out of defence especially after we had just scored a point. I only recall them getting over the top over the zone a few times so it worked really well, it will be interesting to see how it goes against the bombers considering their foot speed and the fact that they beat the saints last year who employ a similar tactic.

 

[cobbly]

This leads me into another point, and this really grinds my gears, when you see players not manning up, or just jockeying their opponents, that is what we want! Ignorant supporters will cry out ‘man-up’ yet they do not understand that the whole point of our gameplan is to let teams kick it around in their back half and pressure them into a mistake.

Thank you! Other supporters have been annoying me so much at the games this year by getting all pissed off when the opposition team gets that short little kick to the pocket from a kick in. and yelling things like man up, when it is clearly a zone and is clearly working! It worked against bulldogs, worked against the saints, and worked against hawthorn. MM should be being praised but instead people are yelling out all sorts of derogatory things because "hes not making them man up." FFS get a clue!

And when we corral players instead of running straight at them its not because players are "soft"! People don't seem to understand that if we run straight at them head on from 5 metres away they will just side step and be away. There are times when you tackle and there are times when you corral them and take the space away from them, eventually forcing a much more difficult kick that often ends in a turnover.

/rant

 

[dima17]

Well said Frankie. 100% Agree!

 

[Axl the great]

Not really Bulldogs were terrific in last years finals, they couldn't control Scarlett because they didn't have a key forward otherwise they would have gone to the big dance.

But back to the Pies. Pies have still trained for man verses man which they can switch to at the flick of a finger if we aren't breaking through zones.

Could have, would have, should have but didnt! the previous years they dropped a heap of games towards the back end of the year, that was my argument.

 

[DaVe86]

There were a couple of other interesting innovations to MM's gameplan against Hawthorn.


One of them involved starting only 16 men from kick ins, and running 2 on once Heath Shaw kicked to himself. He would then bomb it long to loose numbers.


On the other side of the ground, Dale Thomas sat at the end of the zone all alone on the wing. Again, Shaw was able to kick to himself, run 10 metres and boot it long to him.

It was very good planning as Mick obviously analysed the Hawks zone and found where the holes were, and placed his players there.