What is it? Anyone Know?

[CharacterFirst]

5 games in - 5 wins, but I haven't heard anyone sum up the "new" game plan.

Preseason we talked a fair bit about game plans and how ours might change under Scott. I haven't seen any live games yet due to work/family etc, and its so hard to tell on TV.

So my question is, who of you guys seeing live games understands the game plan and can communicate it clearly and succinctly?

It would be great to get a handle on it.

 

[The Casey Cat]

More kick and less handball.

Has a fair bit to do with it anyway.

 

[The rabbi]

I think that the younger players are more prone to kick long. I have noticed that Menzel, Duncan and Guthrie tend to kick long. Maybe they have not been at Geelong long enough to be infected with the "lets go sideways" meme.

 

[SJ]

Kick-handball ratio gone from 1.04 (home and away season) to 1.19 so far this year.

 

[Cataholic]

I think that the younger players are more prone to kick long. I have noticed that Menzel, Duncan and Guthrie tend to kick long. Maybe they have not been at Geelong long enough to be infected with the "lets go sideways" meme.

Well, I'm hoping the tendency to go long has got as much to do with Scott's influence as their natural instincts!

The difference I've noticed this year is our defence looks far tighter and more accountable, and there is less handball with a greater emphasis on moving the ball by foot.

 

[Rustin' Man]

The other change is not always going through the middle, using the wings as well. Noticeable against the Hawks.

 

[David the Cat]

Well, I'm hoping the tendency to go long has got as much to do with Scott's influence as their natural instincts!

The difference I've noticed this year is our defence looks far tighter and more accountable, and there is less handball with a greater emphasis on moving the ball by foot.

Agree with you Cataholic..moving through the zones by foot and much tighter defence...Geelong's defence has been superb so far this season.

PErhaps Scott has also worked on the mental side as well...made them a tighter unit than the one we saw at the end of last season.

People shouldn't underestimate the value of team fabric on performance.

 

[Cataholic]

Agree with you Cataholic..moving through the zones by foot and much tighter defence...Geelong's defence has been superb so far this season.

PErhaps Scott has also worked on the mental side as well...made them a tighter unit than the one we saw at the end of last season.

People shouldn't underestimate the value of team fabric on performance.

and I agree with you!

There's no doubt that Scott has enhanced their self-belief. It is a very determined person by nature, and he would expect nothing less of his players. They have embraced his philosophy, and the team fabric is much stronger for it, playing with a cohesion that is bearing fruit.

 

[James1970]

Agree with you Cataholic..moving through the zones by foot and much tighter defence...Geelong's defence has been superb so far this season.

PErhaps Scott has also worked on the mental side as well...made them a tighter unit than the one we saw at the end of last season.

People shouldn't underestimate the value of team fabric on performance.

So true - just look at the poor ol' Saints. You can't help but feel just a little bit of sympathy for their supporters, especially if you heard their coach on AW being interviewed this arvo (had to be heard to be believed - the guy is in la-la-land). Just shows how supreme the Cats heirarchy played the cards after last season.

 

[hamG]

We are not constantly trying to give the ball to Ablett.

That endless handpassing from the defensive goal square seems to be gone.

 

[Furious_G]

Move the ball forward at all times. First I thought it was just the wet in Sydney that made us do the kick off the ground, punches forward, etc, but we did it a bit against the Hawks as well. Might be something Scott has brought from his Lions days, as they did that a lot. With our midfield and defence, you can afford to have a bit of a yo-yo with the ball, the main thing is to give our forwards as many opportunities as possible. Similar to the Pies gameplan of a point being ok, as it keeps it down the ground. We seem to have a similar mentality this year, just keep it in the forward half and apply pressure.

 

[Wish Wellingtons]

Less risk, more composure.

I think we have added consistency to our game, because of the gameplan, and that means we are pretty much giving the necessary performance every week, with luck less of a factor.

 

[Selective Retention]

There is a saying about doing the same thing over and over again when it's not working = stupidity. That was basically Geelong under Bomber. If plan A didn't work, everyone was going down with the ship.

In saying that it was a good plan A and we retain most of that. When it hasn't worked e.g. early against the Swans and Hawks, we have been more direct with the footy and used the wings more rather than the corridor as everyone has mentioned above.

The other thing Scott has done is move the players around more. Wojack forward of centre, Menzel/Stokes in the backline, Mooney around the ground etc.

 

[Craigyboy]

The other change is not always going through the middle, using the wings as well. Noticeable against the Hawks.

Yes, I've noticed this as well. They seem to be playing wider than previous years.

I also think that the GAJ circus having packed up and left town has been a great relief to the players, as has the introduction of a fresh coach with different ideas. There was never anything wrong with Bomber tactically, but he probably felt that he was losing his impact with the group after so many seasons. The core group of senior players appear to have relished the opportunity to move on to a new coach, take up new challenges/responsibilities and show the football world that they can still be a great side.

 

[you pick one]

I've noticed in the forward half the players are taking more responsibility for goal kicking and not trying force the extra short pass or handball that good sides pick off.

 

[CF]

the new gameplan seems to be from my observation:-

more possession football - ie Holding possession and playing more tempo like footy when the press is on instead of just using risky chains of handballs. This is still a work in progress and the boys slip into old habits still.

Using the flanks more when the press is on and only going up the corridor if it opens up.

better structures in the backline has improved our defence. Not allowing all defenders to be sucked up the ground.

Set ups for stoppages have changed a bit as well.

More tactical thinking and planning (not just "Plan A" and damn the rest aka Bomber). A willingness to throw people around when things aren't working. You can seethis in the the way they have used the sub. In what they think will be dour defensive games they have used a defender as sub (namely Milburn), and when they think it will be a battle of the midfield they use runners as a sub.

Finally, a leadership group that leads on the ground all the time and is accountable.

 

[CharacterFirst]

the new gameplan seems to be from my observation:-

more possession football - ie Holding possession and playing more tempo like footy when the press is on instead of just using risky chains of handballs. This is still a work in progress and the boys slip into old habits still.

Using the flanks more when the press is on and only going up the corridor if it opens up.

better structures in the backline has improved our defence. Not allowing all defenders to be sucked up the ground.

Set ups for stoppages have changed a bit as well.

More tactical thinking and planning (not just "Plan A" and damn the rest aka Bomber). A willingness to throw people around when things aren't working. You can seethis in the the way they have used the sub. In what they think will be dour defensive games they have used a defender as sub (namely Milburn), and when they think it will be a battle of the midfield they use runners as a sub.

Finally, a leadership group that leads on the ground all the time and is accountable.

Thanks. That all sounds interesting and you can see bits of it from the telly.

What do you mean when you say the bolded. i hear it a lot, and understand what it is saying, but don't know what it practically looks like and how it differs from past years.

Do you just mean the defenders are staying home more, despite what their direct opponent might do - so they actually stand a player, but if that player heads off up ground, they switch to guarding a space?

 

[topic97]

Yeah definately better backline structures with usually a floating free man - which has been scarlo.

Still moving the ball quick and forward.

One thing I have noticed is a modified forward press. This was most evident against Hawks and Power a few weeks ago.
Instead of doing what most of the other teams are doing and playing man on press in forward lines we seem to have been keeping a band of about 4 players spanning just past HF and letting opposition flood the forward line and letting the ball clear out then hammering it back inside 50.

It seems to be working fairly well as the more the ball enters the 50 the more opportunitys we have for mark and goal - even though its usually to a 2 on 1 contest.

And not matching the flood is allowing geelong to keep scarlo as the loose man back so if they do break the press he is there to double team an opposition player - if they are there.

 

[vinum coupe]

What catman said mostly.

But I think the biggest change is at the stoppages.
There 'finally' seems to be significant emphasis on locking down at ball ups and throws.
Far, far less of moving to position to create play and more concentration on limiting damage that the opposition can do when they win the ball.

I think this tightness around the contest is what is allowing our defence to keep structure.

And when we win the ball at the contest they are trying to eliminate 1m handballs. Which is where the Hawks and Pies are known to get the ball off us.

If you look at the Hawks game you will see two big patches of time where the Hawks are running all over us. And it's obvious that the defensive pressure at the stoppages is below par.

Twice in that game we were able to change back and we got on top again.

 

[kellykellykelly]

I think we're definitely using a much 'tighter' press, or zone, than we ever have.

Finally opposition teams are needing to second guess coming out of defense and kicking to contests on the wings, rather then just walking it out.

Every week that we play with the press the boys will get more comfortable with it and more efficient, which it'll need to be if we are to beat Collingwood.

 

[CF]

But I think the biggest change is at the stoppages.
There 'finally' seems to be significant emphasis on locking down at ball ups and throws.
Far, far less of moving to position to create play and more concentration on limiting damage that the opposition can do when they win the ball.

I think this tightness around the contest is what is allowing our defence to keep structure.

And when we win the ball at the contest they are trying to eliminate 1m handballs. Which is where the Hawks and Pies are known to get the ball off us.

I agree the stoppages are much more defensive rather than trying to handball out to running player to create an offensive push up the corridor. They are more happy to lock the ball down and wait for the right opportunity rather than attack at all costs.

The defensive structure seems to be around having an extra man in defense namely Scarlo.

Another tactic I have seen them use is kick outs to the wing/flanks then up the wing and transfer play into the corridor to create a burst forward to goal.

Geelong have always used a defensive zone on opposition kick outs often involving all 18 players. I am not sure I am seeing a forward press so much in the Geelong game style but maybe I just need to watch it closer

Our gameplan is much more interesting these days. It seems they have created changes that allow game day tweaks which is impressive.

The players still lapse into the old style but that is to be expected as the changes are still new. But it seems to be a nice balance between defense and attack which should hold us in good stead.

 

[Partridge]

I've noticed in the forward half the players are taking more responsibility for goal kicking and not trying force the extra short pass or handball that good sides pick off.

I hadn't thought about that, but now you mention definitely. Which is a great sign. Love the fact that both Menzel and Duncan and very, very comfortably at taking responsibility kicking for goal. More often than not they're nailing their shots too which helps.

 

[Badtemperedbadger]

I think we're definitely using a much 'tighter' press, or zone, than we ever have.

Finally opposition teams are needing to second guess coming out of defense and kicking to contests on the wings, rather then just walking it out.

Every week that we play with the press the boys will get more comfortable with it and more efficient, which it'll need to be if we are to beat Collingwood.

I think defensively this is the most notable change up, we are definitely pushing our forwards and mids (to some extent ) deeper into the oppositions forward half when they have the ball. Yet similar to Collingwood we are keeping one or two outriders out wide if needed.

We also appear to be prepared to take shots at goal more often rather than at times trying to set up easy goals, sometimes putting the ball in a dangerous position and trusting our forawrds to apply enough pressuer to create a scoring opportunity.

Lastly but to me most significantly something which has only been touched on by the media is our fitness level.

I suspect with such a good team (great really) we may have relied on our talent in previous years to get us over the line. While i am sure this was not a deliberate ploy it came about as we have had extended years sinec 2007 and our fitness staff and probably coaches were wary of over doing the pre season training.

Chriss Scott has bitten the bullet and really pushed us hard so we are as fit if not fitter than i can remember, this is allowing us to get to more contests, help teammates, and create run and opportunities when going forward.

While starting slowly this year, we have managed to run out games very strongly having won all our last quarters so far.

 

[vinum coupe]

Another tactic I have seen them use is kick outs to the wing/flanks then up the wing and transfer play into the corridor to create a burst forward to goal.

This will be the glaring change in 2 weeks I think.
We could not get it out of the backline against the pies last year. And from talking to my pie mates they told me every team struggled to get it out against them.

It's been said before that scott with lauded for the way he changed the Freo movement out of defence.
Let's hop what he has changed works against the pies. If it does then that's another box ticked on finding a way to knock them off.

 

[Archangel]

Chris Scott; "If you see Gary Ablett, don't kick it to him, SMASH HIM!"