Discussion What Needs Improving On To Beat Pies??

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just thought i would ask on peoples opinions on what needs improvement between now and saturday night:thumbsu:

We were absolutley thumped in the centre clearances,hardly had a clean take away from the middle.Really need Luke Balls grunt in the centre to compliment Lenny amd Dal.Think it might be different against the Pie's just need to take their pressure early and really take it up to them with lots of tackles and pressure around the ball up's !
 

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Put Gram in his best role he's played all season being sweeper from the first bounce and FFS tell him not to be afraid to kick it long. Dal Santo should take some more risks too.

Empty out the forward line so Roo and Kozi actually have some space to lead into with Schnieder and Milne ready to sweep their feet if need be.

Bring in Armitage, Allen, Birss and (hopefully) Ball. Drop X. Clarke, Gwilt, McQualter and Gardiner
 
Dal needs to take the game on, and take some risks. No point picking up cheap possies in the back, and kicking short, slowly and sideways to an unmanned teammate.

Someone to help Hayes clear it in the middle would be handy, so hopefully Ball will be back, though I think it's unlikely unless he's brought back in as a risk. Either way Lyon will be blasted for either not taking the risk when there's everything to play for, or hanged for taking the risk if Ball is back and has a poor game, or get's injured early. If Ball is unavailable, bring in Armitage for one of the Clarke bros. Keep Jones, at least his defensive pressure is pretty good and seems to win it a bit. Needs a runner on the outside of him at ALL times! Montagna, stick with Jones.

Some more marking options in the forward 50 would be useful. Riewoldt seems to be about the only target but he also seems to be the only bloke willing or able to get some space on his opponent. Kosi looks good taking a pack mark but he rarely seems to be the lead up forward that G was. Schneider could be a lead up kind of player, as he gets some space but doesn't have the grunt for the middle. Leave Milne to pick up Roo's crumbs.

Allen has looked OK with the chances he's had, so Gardiner's spot might be in doubt there.

Goddard is looking good in the middle but may not be the clearance player we want him to be, but can again be that outside, run through the lines player to help out Hayes. Could be the player Hayes handpasses to from the centre clearance, as he can then kick it long and accurately.

Don't get too caught up on Collingwood's players, as apart from Thomas they don't have a cupboard filled with "stars", but they do have a good work ethic. Swan needs to be stopped as although he looks like he's running in gumboots, he's been effective for them.

Matching up on Pies forward line is a challenge. Dawes, Anthony and Cloke will have to come down to Fisher, Gilbert and Hudghton so won't be surprised if Goddard has to take Anthony at times. Raph Clarke might end up in the back half too, but gee he needs to show some urgency in his game.
 
Midfield need to back themselves 110% even when they're down on the scoreboard. Yesterday we just bombed it long, we didn't work it, we didn't run. We curled back into our shells playing stupid footy (that needs to be sorted out because when we're down we play some of the stupidest football i have seen a side play). Gram, Montagna & Goddard need to penetrate the Pies defense. Kick it long, Kosi one out, Riewoldt one out. Whoever, as long as they have 1 defender on them not 3. Armitage needs to be brought back into the side immeadeatly. Quit playing him in the forward line, he's useless there. Throw him into the action. I have no doubt he'll thrive on the intencity. He'll go at the ball like a dog and his bone, he'll do anything to get a hold of it. We lacked players who will dive in and get the ball. IIRC Hayes was the only player.

Forward line need to seperate. Time and time again, Geelong defenders left their opponent to help out Harry Taylor. Of course when you have 3/4 on 1 you're never going to have a chance. Have either Kosi or Roo lead towards the 50, the other stay back in the goal square. Schneider comtinue to make a short leads, Milne roam around for the crumb.
Gwilt stay around the 50 creeping up towards the wing. He has the speed to break the lines, the boot to boom a goal from 55 or to kick it down to the goalsquare. We need to move the ball quickly to stop the pies from crowding our 50. Everyteam is going to do that when you have 2 towers inside your 50, we need to combat that.
Have at least 2 players down there in case there is a turnover. (Riewoldt @ 50, Kosi @ Glsq)

Goal kicking. It is disgraceful. Once again we kicked more behinds than goals....We don't have one player in our team who i can confidently say "he'll kick this"....We miss the big G, big time.
 
Kosi - decision required (not hope)
Chucky - no
Armo - yes if conditions suit. not as a forward.
Roo - more effective moving upfield and then tracking back. Otherwise attracts a crowd.
Gwilt - give him space at FF (Kosi out of F50). Doesn't tend to get outmarked and strong enough to create opportunities for Milne & Schneider.
Goddard - is as close to a dead-eye that we've got. Must play forward. His spring is back, he's got safe hands, and knows where to run. Would apply better defensive pressure than most in F50.
Eddy - not as a forward. Back pocket whilst Dempster, Baker & Attard are injured.
X - wing or half back. If not fit enough to play these roles then needs more time with Casey.

Hold the tackles - ferocity comes and goes for some reason. What is CJ doing that others can't?

Must chip the ball over heads into space more often to create run. It is not coming from handballing to someone 5m away who can be covered by the man on the mark.

Proper goalkicking practice. Under pressure and must kick over someone on the mark. Keep your bloody head down, guide it down all the way and follow through FFS.
 
Dal is very low on confidence atm i think. The ability is still there, but the lack of self belief is stopping him to be the player who came 3rd in the Brownlow. Bring in Armo, Steven, Ball and Allen for X Clarke, R Clarke, Gwilt and Chucky. We need to hold the tackles especially in our backline since they have some good smalls in Davis and Medhurst, can't give them any space. Shut down Dane Swan and Travis Cloke will go a long way to winning. Cloke is the barometre of their side, if he plays like crap, Collingwood don't usually win. Dane Swan is a very hard player to tag due to his ridiculous work rate, but we really need to make his day as tough as possible. Every player give him a bump as they go past. Dale Thomas has also given us a lot of grief in the past few games, we need to tag him out of the game as well. We need a really strong contribution from our bottom 6, we won't be winning any games with the bottom 6 not doing anything.
 
Agree - Davis, Swan and Thomas have been real problems for us. Fluoro Boy has been a particular nuisance.

I would like to see Eddy play back on Davis, with Gram on Thomas unless X pulls up well (this is the sort of job I'd like to see him do). Either way, you need someone with toe who can jump. CJ for Swan (we have ignored Swan before for some reason and he warrants more respect).
 
Finals are not the best time to bring in the Junior players. While showing promise I don't think they have shown enough to get us over the line. Even Armitage has not done all that well when given a position for a full game.

I have my faith in Armo rather than Raph Clarke.. I mean i liked him until yesterday.. BUT who the **** bounces it in the wet? dont you learn that in u12's?
 
I have my faith in Armo rather than Raph Clarke.. I mean i liked him until yesterday.. BUT who the **** bounces it in the wet? dont you learn that in u12's?

I do Milnedog. I like to live dangerously.
 

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I'm hoping Blake recovers from his thumb injury, also I hope Luke Ball can make it back and get a run before meeting the Hawks. We need him in top form if we're going to force another meeting with the Cats.

The Cats strength is their strength, they are mature and after so many seasons they do have big bodies. We don't have anywhere near the intimidation power of the Cats, so we have to adopt a game plan to beat them without trying to match their physicality.

The Pies are a great team to experiment on. We should beat them, and hopefully we can develop a few strategies that we have learned from playing the Cats.
 
One of the Saints recent tactics recently seems to have been, rather than to try to be first to the ball, run just behind the opponent and throw the tackle on as soon as they get it. This did not work against the Cats, they were, in many instances, too strong for the tackler ( except for Clinton Jones who looked like a scud missile going into the pack ) and very rarely gave up the ball.
Will this style work against the pies? I think sometimes it will, but it depends on the oponent. Last time we played the pies they were much better at gathering the ball if it spilt out of the pack. Players like Thomas stay back from the contest and dart through when the ball comes out.
 
if jones can lay hard tackles why cant neone else?? :(

i think what we need to do is
a: be alot harder at the ball through the middle and keep you opp within half arms length

b: create space in the forward line rather then sending the ball to a 2-3 on 1 marking contest.. if milne schnieder gardiner anyone is free or leading hard... hit them on the chest... not just riewoldt.

c: actually mark the easy ball :p try not kick the ball directly to the opp (also applied for handballs) and with the tackles... make them feel it, make them realise if they want the ball theyre gonna get hurt when they get it... this is where we need an aaron hamill type player
 
Proper delivery into the forward line is also a key here. Not only kicking it to a teammate, but ensuring the kick is to our advantage if a contest is presenting. We would have kicked it to Harry Taylor's advantage at least 5 times on the weekend.
 
More contribution from the senior boys on top of what you guys said. Also run and move it quicker than we did since Collingwood is such a good tackling side.
 
A better team effort than last time in the mibnor rounds where I notice that we had 7 players with less than 10 disposals and they had 2 players with less than 10.
Also, Thomas would be an important match up as I also notice he's cut us up a bit over the last few years.
It would be good for us if Burns (23 touches) and Cloke are out as although Cloke kicked 1.4 they are obviously getting a lot of the ball and may be difficult match ups for our players. However, if they are in and the mind games of Senor Malthouse suggests they probably are and he's carrying on because of the fact the Saints players had problems with these two last time, then any suggestions who we might match well on these two and Daisy Thomas?
 
dont fu**en thumbell the ball when we here footsteps:mad: and there was simply not enought support of the ball carrier in sundays game, get in there and help your teammates
 
hey Nexus, thoughts on the game? Noticed you're on right now - would be intrigued to see what you think? Genuinely interested, not having a go.
 

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