Zoning Tactics/Implementation

Remove this Banner Ad

ralu

Team Captain
Mar 7, 2007
504
7
melbourne
AFL Club
Collingwood
Hi guys, last night I sat on the 2nd level as I feel it is the most ideal place to watch footy. It was here that I noticed some very interesting things regarding zones.

Firstly, can anybody enlighten me as to why Hawthorn didn't play their press or cluster as it is known. Surely Clarkson would know how much trouble we have had with it in previous years.
The hawks played man on man for most of the night which bewildered me. Is this because he feels we have developed our players/game plan to counter it or that he simply doesnt have the men to get the job done anymore?



Secondly, it was clear that ALL of our forwards and midfielders would push into our forward 50 for a hawks kickout. The defenders would push up to about the wing, with only presti left remaining about 75m from hawks goal.

This worked brilliantly early as the hawks simply couldnt get the ball out, but once clarko decided to boot the ball long and to a 50.50 contest, we were found out with a couple of hawks goals. Will the coaches persist with this full ground press, or was it a one out tactic???
 
May 27, 2008
25,775
31,853
Wherever I May Roam
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Socceroos, Melbourne Victory
We've used this tactic all season so far. When our pressure is off and the opposition team moves the ball quickly it can really fall apart. The ball just gets moved over the top into an empty forward line and one of their players running onto it. It fell apart against the Dees when they applied alot of pressure. But it's worked pretty well as a whole against the Doggies and Hawks. I'll be interested in how these tactics progress.

As to why the Hawks went one on one your guess is as good as mine but it was perplexing. It has comprehensively dismantled us for a few years now. I don't know why they'd mess with a winning formula - it has to be personell you'd think.
 
Yeah, the s**t-down defence seems to be working pretty well. As long as we maintain a decent structure when we're kicking out and trying to move the ball down the field I'm all for it. I didn't get to see much of the first half (any of it actually) last night, but I hear we had a few scoring launches going coast-to-coast which is a good sign.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Hi guys, last night I sat on the 2nd level as I feel it is the most ideal place to watch footy. It was here that I noticed some very interesting things regarding zones.

Firstly, can anybody enlighten me as to why Hawthorn didn't play their press or cluster as it is known. Surely Clarkson would know how much trouble we have had with it in previous years.
The hawks played man on man for most of the night which bewildered me. Is this because he feels we have developed our players/game plan to counter it or that he simply doesnt have the men to get the job done anymore?



Secondly, it was clear that ALL of our forwards and midfielders would push into our forward 50 for a hawks kickout. The defenders would push up to about the wing, with only presti left remaining about 75m from hawks goal.

This worked brilliantly early as the hawks simply couldnt get the ball out, but once clarko decided to boot the ball long and to a 50.50 contest, we were found out with a couple of hawks goals. Will the coaches persist with this full ground press, or was it a one out tactic???

There's your answer....a couple of Hawks goals. They fell down with their delivery and struggled to get these long kicks to find a target.
I thought we shut down the Hawks running game completely, which left Clarkson no other options.
 

dayna36

Team Captain
Aug 16, 2009
304
21
melbourne
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
rafa,
There's your answer....a couple of Hawks goals. They fell down with their delivery and struggled to get these long kicks to find a target.
I thought we shut down the Hawks running game completely, which left Clarkson no other options.

Clarko was crap tonight, honestly even if Buddy played I don't think the ball game would've been any different
 

Anth_5

Senior List
Mar 28, 2008
155
18
Melbourne
AFL Club
Collingwood
I'm fairly certain that Hawthorn were playing the 18 man zone from the outset of the game.

What made them stop playing it was Collingwood's ability to break through it at will in the first 2 qtr's, which meant Clarkson backlflipped on the zone and played man to man defence for the rest of the game. Problem with that is, we are a faster team and once players like Thomas, Wellingham, Sidebottom, Shaw etc. got on top of their opponents we ran away from them. What I liked most was the way we hassled and corralled Cyril Rioli, we never went at him which in turn made him unable to side-step us and also made him kick over an opponent which affected his kicking efficiency.

In all that game reminded me of the game in which we pounded Geelong a few years back. Our pressure was top notch and we took it to one of the more physical sides in the comp and completely out tackled them.

I only wish Mick could get the boys up for all the games the way he has for the dogs and the hawks.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back