Analysis What is our game plan (2017)

[wicksy]

So I've heard alot of people argue that we don't have a gameplan and given I haven't been to a game live this year, I'm not in a good position to argue however I'm wondering if somebody with a bit of coaching nous can enlighten us on what might be the proposed gameplan - whether we stick to it or not.

My interpretations are as follows:

- we tend to overuse the ball with handball often giving a handball to a player under pressure instead of kicking the thing forward to a contest.

- we always look sideways and backwards when in possession, slowing us down to a crawl and allowing the opposition to set up their defensive structures.

- we seem to push up extremely high when in offense leaving close to 44 players in our front third. The majority of opposition goals are scored when 2 or 3 opposition players sag off their defenders to get goal side of our wall. A decent kick over or through our last line is and always will be a guaranteed goal. I always thought the aim was to congest your defensive zone and keep your forward 50 open but this strategy seems the opposite to what we are implementing. Are we trying to lock the ball in our fwd 50 by getting as many players around the ball? Its no wonder we get so many inside 50s but nothing to show for it.


Is there anything I've missed? I'd love to get a better understanding of what we're attempting to do so that I can judge whether it's the coach or the players at fault.

Ps excuse typos etc... Using auto correct on mobile is never fun!

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

My analysis.

Forward structure:
We setup as a 6 man forward line but the reality is the half forwards is expected to push up onto the wings and sometimes defense to create pressure and out number the opposition to generate turnovers. Only problem is that when we do win the ball, those half forwards are expected to run back to the forward line and present an option.

The problem with this is they don't make it back to the forwardline in time if we move the ball quickly. Hence we seem to kick it often to a marking contest whereby we are outnumbed. Moore (like Cloke in previous seasons) has been double teamed on occasions.

Or the half forwards do make it back in time but that is because of the bullshit small kick sideways/backwards possesion game that Buckley wants to play. Only problem with that it is extremely slow and it places reliance on the forwards knowing how to lead and beating their defenders with speed and smarts. Jamie Elliott and Fasolo can do this. Darcy Moore and Jessie White have the physical attributes (i.e. speed) to also do this but they just don't have the smarts. Jessie White is a dumb footballer and regarding Darcy Moore, I'm convinced no one has bothered to teach him how to lead. He looks clueless at the moment.

And most importantly it places reliance on having a team that can kick the ball effectively to the forwards. Which we clearly can't do as the majority of the team are generally poor kicks of the footy.

Backline structure:
We tend to lineup one on one in the backline so it basically up to the individual battles on the day on whether the structure works or not. Howe has license to leave his opponent to fly for marks and intercept. And generally he is a good decision maker on when to commit and when not to commit. Reid has shown in the past to do this too but this year he has been very conservative and been much more defensive. Bucks wants the small defenders to run off their opponents and create run from half back to jump start attacking thrusts. Only problem is our small defenders are very inexperienced and are often too adventurous and get caught out of position. I think Maynard and Smith are the worst culprits. Ramsay tends to stay back and be a stopper, rather than a creator. Likewise Schade. I think the backline is generally performing OK. If we do lose battles, i think it is talent related rather than structure. Ramsay got exposed on the weekend but you can't be too harsh as he is young and inexperienced. Schade has been good but i fear he is due to get torched soon. Probably by Tom Hawkins due to his size and strength advantage.

Midfield structure:
1st unit (centre): Grundy, Pendlebury, Treloar, Adams
2nd unit (centre): Cox/White, Wells, Sidebottom, Greenwood, Crisp,
1st unit (wings): Sidebottom, Wells
2nd unit (wings): Hoskin-Elliott, Phillips/Aish, Varcoe.
This year i have noticed that the 1st unit centre midfielders have been overworked. Greenwood is spending more time up forward rather in the centre (Buckley has not tagged anyone this year - maybe we will see it on Sunday for the first time if Greenwood goes to Selwood). And with Sidebottom and Wells potentially staying more on the outside rather than inside; then Crisp could be the only one that regularly rotates into the centre bounce. This where we need DeGoey to step up and assist. As a result we need to drop from the team one of the 2nd unit outside wingers. Probably Tom Phillips given Hoskin-Elliott gives us better flexibility to play as a forward on occasions.

 

[wicksy]

Looks like I have the same amount of bigfooty friends as I do in real life...

 

[Lockyer24]

Leave our D50 poorly protected by pushing too far up field and creating a busy and clogged forward half which we can't score in either

We are also overly obsessed with handball slingshots from half back that usually end in turnover

 

[wicksy]

Leave our D50 poorly protected by pushing too far up field and creating a busy and clogged forward half which we can't score in either

We are also overly obsessed with handball slingshots from half back that usually end in turnover

So is this actually by design?
It's ludicrous if it is!!

 

[DaVe86]

Obviously we don't go into games intending to play the way we do. But I think we are also clearly very confused out there with no direction.

If I was to summarise what I think we want to do, I would say that our intention is to move the ball by foot a lot more sharply than we do. I think the game-plan has the MCG in mind and that we want to use the width of the ground. That means switching across half back and really trying to open up the ground.

I think however some of our players have been frightened by the high turnover rate and have gone into protection mode. They are just kicking long down the line. I also think our forwards aren't working hard enough to provide targets to switch to.

The intention is to also work sides over with our deep midfield and have a lot of rotations through there.

None of it is really coming together though. And with our footskills, we really lack that monster forward target to just kick it to.

 

[Anzacday]

Looks like I have the same amount of bigfooty friends as I do in real life...

I'll be your friend Wicksy

 

[Scribe26]

Pro tip:

I can't speak for everyone, but spelling simple words correctly in your thread title may encourage more people to take what you have to seriously.

 

[Anzacday]

Pro tip:

I can't speak for everyone, but spelling simple words correctly in your thread title may encourage more people to take what you have to seriously.

Fixed.

 

[Leviathan Pie]

Gameplan based on frantic pressure, which isn't sustainable over 4 QRTS of footy, week in, week out.

Also our ploy of trying to outnumber the opposition at the contest is pathetic, we continually get chopped up out the back and nearly always have no forwards in any sort of position when looking to attack.

 

[wicksy]

Fixed.

What was the error? I was on mobile and my fat fingers don't work well after midnight....

 

[peter9789]

What was the error? I was on mobile and my fat fingers don't work well after midnight....

Haha who cares ... we all knew what you meant. Honestly the grammar Nazi's

I'll be your friend Wicksy

 

[wicksy]

Haha who cares ... we all knew what you meant. Honestly the grammar Nazi's

I'll be your friend Wicksy

Yay... two friends!!

I'm usually extremely pedantic when it comes to spelling and grammar so i'm annoyed with myself for letting one slip through. I will continue to blame auto correct though and my sausage like digits.

 

[Anzacday]

Yay... two friends!!

I'm usually extremely pedantic when it comes to spelling and grammar so i'm annoyed with myself for letting one slip through. I will continue to blame auto correct though and my sausage like digits.

You wrote out, instead of our.
No biggy, (unlike your fingers )

 

[wicksy]

Pro tip:

I can't speak for everyone, but spelling simple words correctly in your thread title may encourage more people to take what you have to seriously.

Pro tip:

You don't need a comma after "everyone" and you missed an entire word (2nd last word) which makes your sentence completely illegible.

 

[Anzacday]

Ok wicksy and Scribe26 how about we call a troose.









I know it's truce by the way

 

[Scribe26]

Ok wicksy and Scribe26 how about we call a troose.









I know it's truce by the way

Never. I am now his mortal enemy for life.

 

[wicksy]

Never. I am now his mortal enemy for life.

Then prepare yourself for battle.... but be warned.... I have been training for this day my entire life.

 

[Axl the great]

Pretty much spot on Wicksy and same as what I have been saying all along, I will add that as well as forward 50 entries being wasted due to congestion it really affects our disposal efficiency because you don't have the space to make decisions correctly and the next links in the chain find it hard to get into space so that we can retain the footy.

 

[wicksy]

Pretty much spot on Wicksy and same as what I have been saying all along, I will add that as well as forward 50 entries being wasted due to congestion it really affects our disposal efficiency because you don't have the space to make decisions correctly and the next links in the chain find it hard to get into space so that we can retain the footy.

I'd love to see an entire game played out using a line for the ball location and dots for where our key forwards are upon entry into the fwd line. Would give some great insight on how long the ball fks around between the two arcs prior to getting bombed in to no-one.

 

[KillerMagpies]

Go the shop.
Buy a chocolate cake, with lots of cream.
Go home.
Stand in the kitchen.
Hold it high above your head.
Now, throw it as hard as you can onto the floor. Look at it.
This is what our game plan looks like when you are sitting on the first few rows of the 3rd tier in the AFL Member's at "The G"....

 

[Boogy]

Malthouse's 2010 plan works better than our current work hard and tackle plan!
Our set shots are disastrous!
Every goal takes so much effort.
All the best teams work hard but they have a way of getting quick "cheap" easy goals.
How would it feel being told the answer is to work harder when your already working your arse off!

 

[Leigh Lowther]

Malthouse's 2010 plan works better than our current work hard and tackle plan!
Our set shots are disastrous!
Every goal takes so much effort.
All the best teams work hard but they have a way of getting quick "cheap" easy goals.
How would it feel being told the answer is to work harder when your already working your arse off!

Those 2 bolded points are exactly how I feel. I believe a big reason to our poor performance has been our defensive 50 rebounds where we are simply just too slow getting the ball out of defence by kicking sideways.

In contrast to last night where you see both teams playing fast slingshot footy to not allow their opponents to defensively setup collingwood seem to play a more honorable style of football

We basically gain possession in our defensive half, kick it sideways for a couple minutes to allow the opposition to set up their defence and THEN we execute our plan, and therein lies the problem. This slow style is giving every chance for the opposition to man up, spoil contests, cut off kicks - all the time they need to stop us from scoring. This is why our scoring seems like always such a grind, when we do score we're beating our opponents in the hardest way possible. It doesn't mean its impossible but it does mean it takes a lot harder individual effort from players to actually win these contests and score.