Why can’t we defend the ground? Not just now – not ever (well, not since we were any good)
Every season we hear the same old barbs, Essendon are leaky, they can’t defend, easy to play against. We hear the coach spout the same messages, its not lack of effort, they are all trying, we are as frustrated as you, be patient.
Maybe it’s time to look a little deeper, see if we can’t find out why systemically we just cant defend an AFL ground.
First of all, let’s not pretend defending an AFL ground is an easy thing to do, we have the largest playing space of almost any sport, there are different spaces and angles that open up at every play… in soccer or basketball you can just compress the space. We don’t have the luxury (anymore) The AFLs rule changes are all geared towards opening the game up and stopping teams dragging better teams down for a slog. Currently one player being out of positions can set of a chain reaction that makes the entire team look stupid, lazy and undisciplined.
When Scott says its not about effort, the effort is there, the GPS tells us we are running as much as anyone, I believe him, in my humble, defence relies more on system than effort. My mind casts back to when I played this old stager at squash – I had him for age, physicality, manoeuvrability… 20 minutes later I was sweating, hunched over, nearly dead, he smashed me.. I was running around like an idiot, he was almost rooted to the spot – just knew where to stand, and where and when to hit it. Structure > Effort. Of course there is a place for effort in defence, it’s the first line of defence, pressure on the ball carrier. If that happens and you can either panic them into a mistake, or get them to kick some dirty ball, your job has become infinitely easier.
The good teams barely look like they are trying or putting in any effort, they know their starting positions, they react to the play early, they trust their teammates to cover and they know when to roll up, fill space or hold shape. It’s actually a beautiful dance to watch a team that fully in sync, moving as one across the ground like a web, they aren’t doing the work, the structure is doing the work..
Clearly our biggest issue is transition defence, Most goals come from here because you are already spread out in attack formation and your defenders are outnumbered. A team who knows how to defend properly are already holding exit positions and guarding the dangerous space, while anticipating the next kick…In a nutshell, bad teams chase the error, good teams defend before the error. Guess which one we are?
Good teams recognise danger earlier, close space faster, get numbers where they are needed quicker, force dirty ball or bad kicks and force you wide, Bad teams do, or try to do all these things but at a slower rate which makes them look reactionary, lazy, not two way runners.
So why are we a bad team?
A lot of it is chemistry, we just don’t have mature leaders who read the play, we don’t have trust in our teammates, communication seems poor, we miss kicks, we take poor options, we fumble and panic under pressure, all of this breaks down any structure you are trying to maintain. In the new game of AFL, turnovers punish poor structures savagely…teams just play checkers until they score, again. I do feel for the players, they react late to danger, They have no defensive cohesion, poor skill errors destroy structure, They lack experienced readers of play. Like me playing squash, they’re running hard but running the wrong patterns or reacting too slowly makes it seem like they’re doing nothing. It's about this time you go into self preservation mode and the goose is cooked.
OK im sure we all knew most of that, we have eyes, but why us? Why does it seem that we as a club have a particular issue with defence, across eras more than most?
Number 1, ever since Matthew Knights came in, we’ve had a long term identity of attack over defence. fast ball movement, we prioritised run and gun, corridor play, drafted skill-based attacking players over defensively strong ones.
When you build your identity on “run and gun,” it creates a kind legacy where defensive habits and defensive systems are undervalued and underdeveloped, worse still, players are selected for flair more than for discipline
Once this identity is embedded, I reckon you are cooked. It even subconsciously affects little things like body positioning in contests, even whether you stand goal side or defensive side of a contest.
Number 2, recruiting. Thanks to a certain jacket wearer, we have prioritised the drafting of outside runners, smooth movers, line-breaking kicks, attacking half-backs, flashy mids, zone off tall defenders while totally neglecting defensively minded mids, disciplined half-forwards, genuine lockdown smalls, tall defenders who can win 1v1s…
Across 10–20 years, that compounds into not only a mindset, but a bloody ethos, Even if the list looks talented, it will be structurally fragile, and mentally fragile.
Number 3, continuity… how many coaches have we had in the last 20 years? The great clubs have stability, a system that stays while the people and players move in and out of it. We have what appears to be a series of half learnt structures that then get tossed out for the next coach to try another one
Number 4, and this is the biggest one in my mind. We have a culture that does not reward defensive behaviours. When was the last time you saw a bunch of players go over and congratulate a player for a smother or a great tackle? Like they do after a player kicks a goal? Other teams do it. We as a culture reward: high-possession games, flashy ball movement, players who take attacking risks, attacking highlights over defensive reliability. What does this type of mentality produce? Mids who don’t defend, half-backs who run forward early, forwards who don’t press, defenders who zone off at the wrong times because they are always wanting to attack.
Ergo, This is not about effort at all, the effort is there, it’s about what the club subconsciously values. We don’t value defence.
There are three key pillars to a great team defence in my opinion, and we don’t have any of them.
A Luke Hodge style defensive general in the back half who can organise, read the play and generally set standards and crucially hold others accountable. Maybe its ridley, maybe we just got unlucky?
An elite defensive minded 2 way running mid who organises shape at stoppage and again drives defensive standards and holds others accountable.
A manic set of small forward tacklers who can pressure the ball coming out, or better still lock the ball in.
Without these three components, systems break more easily, communication is shot and players choose when they defend, its negotiable.
Defensive leadership is generational; if you don’t have it, it doesn’t suddenly appear. We have not had it for… counts fingers, have we ever had it? Dodo was too busy worrying about flair and flankers.
He consistently drafted players who are skilful but not combative, run hard but don’t crash in, can accumulate but don’t defend instinctively – over time this doesn’t just become a problem, it becomes an identity.
How do we redress it? Well ****… slowly it would seem, but part of it has to be flushing out all remnants of the old guard before it poisons the new crew. Start incentivising defensive habits and traits, I want 5 players to go and congratulate every defensive act that stops a goal. Draft the next Hodge and Dunkley, actually every player we draft MUST have defensive attributes and mindset along with leadership. We need to start this thing from ground zero. Its going to hurt, we might look like shit for a few years but will it be any worse than now?
Scott has tried and is trying – hes just playing with a loaded deck.
Every season we hear the same old barbs, Essendon are leaky, they can’t defend, easy to play against. We hear the coach spout the same messages, its not lack of effort, they are all trying, we are as frustrated as you, be patient.
Maybe it’s time to look a little deeper, see if we can’t find out why systemically we just cant defend an AFL ground.
First of all, let’s not pretend defending an AFL ground is an easy thing to do, we have the largest playing space of almost any sport, there are different spaces and angles that open up at every play… in soccer or basketball you can just compress the space. We don’t have the luxury (anymore) The AFLs rule changes are all geared towards opening the game up and stopping teams dragging better teams down for a slog. Currently one player being out of positions can set of a chain reaction that makes the entire team look stupid, lazy and undisciplined.
When Scott says its not about effort, the effort is there, the GPS tells us we are running as much as anyone, I believe him, in my humble, defence relies more on system than effort. My mind casts back to when I played this old stager at squash – I had him for age, physicality, manoeuvrability… 20 minutes later I was sweating, hunched over, nearly dead, he smashed me.. I was running around like an idiot, he was almost rooted to the spot – just knew where to stand, and where and when to hit it. Structure > Effort. Of course there is a place for effort in defence, it’s the first line of defence, pressure on the ball carrier. If that happens and you can either panic them into a mistake, or get them to kick some dirty ball, your job has become infinitely easier.
The good teams barely look like they are trying or putting in any effort, they know their starting positions, they react to the play early, they trust their teammates to cover and they know when to roll up, fill space or hold shape. It’s actually a beautiful dance to watch a team that fully in sync, moving as one across the ground like a web, they aren’t doing the work, the structure is doing the work..
Clearly our biggest issue is transition defence, Most goals come from here because you are already spread out in attack formation and your defenders are outnumbered. A team who knows how to defend properly are already holding exit positions and guarding the dangerous space, while anticipating the next kick…In a nutshell, bad teams chase the error, good teams defend before the error. Guess which one we are?
Good teams recognise danger earlier, close space faster, get numbers where they are needed quicker, force dirty ball or bad kicks and force you wide, Bad teams do, or try to do all these things but at a slower rate which makes them look reactionary, lazy, not two way runners.
So why are we a bad team?
A lot of it is chemistry, we just don’t have mature leaders who read the play, we don’t have trust in our teammates, communication seems poor, we miss kicks, we take poor options, we fumble and panic under pressure, all of this breaks down any structure you are trying to maintain. In the new game of AFL, turnovers punish poor structures savagely…teams just play checkers until they score, again. I do feel for the players, they react late to danger, They have no defensive cohesion, poor skill errors destroy structure, They lack experienced readers of play. Like me playing squash, they’re running hard but running the wrong patterns or reacting too slowly makes it seem like they’re doing nothing. It's about this time you go into self preservation mode and the goose is cooked.
OK im sure we all knew most of that, we have eyes, but why us? Why does it seem that we as a club have a particular issue with defence, across eras more than most?
Number 1, ever since Matthew Knights came in, we’ve had a long term identity of attack over defence. fast ball movement, we prioritised run and gun, corridor play, drafted skill-based attacking players over defensively strong ones.
When you build your identity on “run and gun,” it creates a kind legacy where defensive habits and defensive systems are undervalued and underdeveloped, worse still, players are selected for flair more than for discipline
Once this identity is embedded, I reckon you are cooked. It even subconsciously affects little things like body positioning in contests, even whether you stand goal side or defensive side of a contest.
Number 2, recruiting. Thanks to a certain jacket wearer, we have prioritised the drafting of outside runners, smooth movers, line-breaking kicks, attacking half-backs, flashy mids, zone off tall defenders while totally neglecting defensively minded mids, disciplined half-forwards, genuine lockdown smalls, tall defenders who can win 1v1s…
Across 10–20 years, that compounds into not only a mindset, but a bloody ethos, Even if the list looks talented, it will be structurally fragile, and mentally fragile.
Number 3, continuity… how many coaches have we had in the last 20 years? The great clubs have stability, a system that stays while the people and players move in and out of it. We have what appears to be a series of half learnt structures that then get tossed out for the next coach to try another one
Number 4, and this is the biggest one in my mind. We have a culture that does not reward defensive behaviours. When was the last time you saw a bunch of players go over and congratulate a player for a smother or a great tackle? Like they do after a player kicks a goal? Other teams do it. We as a culture reward: high-possession games, flashy ball movement, players who take attacking risks, attacking highlights over defensive reliability. What does this type of mentality produce? Mids who don’t defend, half-backs who run forward early, forwards who don’t press, defenders who zone off at the wrong times because they are always wanting to attack.
Ergo, This is not about effort at all, the effort is there, it’s about what the club subconsciously values. We don’t value defence.
There are three key pillars to a great team defence in my opinion, and we don’t have any of them.
A Luke Hodge style defensive general in the back half who can organise, read the play and generally set standards and crucially hold others accountable. Maybe its ridley, maybe we just got unlucky?
An elite defensive minded 2 way running mid who organises shape at stoppage and again drives defensive standards and holds others accountable.
A manic set of small forward tacklers who can pressure the ball coming out, or better still lock the ball in.
Without these three components, systems break more easily, communication is shot and players choose when they defend, its negotiable.
Defensive leadership is generational; if you don’t have it, it doesn’t suddenly appear. We have not had it for… counts fingers, have we ever had it? Dodo was too busy worrying about flair and flankers.
He consistently drafted players who are skilful but not combative, run hard but don’t crash in, can accumulate but don’t defend instinctively – over time this doesn’t just become a problem, it becomes an identity.
How do we redress it? Well ****… slowly it would seem, but part of it has to be flushing out all remnants of the old guard before it poisons the new crew. Start incentivising defensive habits and traits, I want 5 players to go and congratulate every defensive act that stops a goal. Draft the next Hodge and Dunkley, actually every player we draft MUST have defensive attributes and mindset along with leadership. We need to start this thing from ground zero. Its going to hurt, we might look like shit for a few years but will it be any worse than now?
Scott has tried and is trying – hes just playing with a loaded deck.
