2014 Game plan

We over handball. The players can't possibly be so stupid that they think it's a good idea to handball to a player who has someone on their hammer immediately after we've taken a mark.

 

It's obviously the game plan and it's silly.

 

Reminds me of knights' game plan getting us killed by 100 points on ANZAC day, and the bronx cheers when Reimers actually KICKED out of defence, which we hadn't done all day.

 

And many of the other points people have made also.

 

I think Stanton's comment on radio is a) obvious and b) worrying.

 

Other teams have worked out our game plan and the players know it.

 

I'm not in the "Thomson is a genius" camp, that's for sure.

Was the cats gameplan quite mysterious was it?

The cats weren't failing to shepherd, handballing out of no trouble to a player in massive trouble etc.

 

Also. Other sides know that Hibberd, Heppell, Hocking, Myers are too one-sided. They run them onto their right sides all the time and the best they can manage is a short handball.

I think the main issue is the lack of team unity from the midfield.

 

Our backmen lay shepeards for each other which is why we are often able to get the ball out of the backline. However the only midfielders I see putting their body on the line to provide protection for the ball carriers are Watson, Heppell and Howlett.

 

Stanton, Zaka and Melksham just wait for the ball to come to them and then get tackled because they have someone on their hammer.

Right now other teams know that if they clog the corridor and forward line we run scared into chipping about. But if players were running harder to space all over the ground then clogging the centre would leave one wing open. But we just aren't running hard enough for that, and we aren't brave enough in our use of the footy to go fast through the middle before it clogs, or switch fast enough (because no one has run there yet).
The players are ultimately responsible for bringing their commitment and effort to the team plan. If it isn't working then maybe they're being asked to do too much: however all the evidence to date, Hawks second half, Collingwood first quarter, North, shows they actually can do it.
They just need to stick to it, and not start playing lazy ad safe when they get scared. It's no coincidence that some of our best moments if play have been when there is nothing to lose, and that some of our worst have been when defending a lead: they don't have the confidence to stick to what they need to when they feel pressure.

I suspect coaches HATE turnovers.   Turnovers are inevitable.   However,  its the number of times you go into 50 and hit up your forward and he kicks a goal that matters ( obviously)   Even Sydney,  who went inside 50  roughly 50 times turned it over ( including behinds)  33 times inside 50.

Essendon were turned over roughly 38 times out  of 48......   Sydney were also outstandingly  accurate.   I bet they cannot do it every week.

 

Essendon were probably not that bad,  Sydney were accurate and Essendon had more bad umpiring decisions.  It all made Sydney seem very very good,  but maybe there is not too much wrong with the game plan a bit of confidence would solve.

The cats weren't failing to shepherd, handballing out of no trouble to a player in massive trouble etc.

 

Also. Other sides know that Hibberd, Heppell, Hocking, Myers are too one-sided. They run them onto their right sides all the time and the best they can manage is a short handball.

and you reckon bomber has added this to the geameplan for us?

The problem is that they handball it to someone with a player on their hammer and don’t even think about then shepperding for them and let them get mowed down.

I went down to training today and what they are doing in games is clearly not what they are being told to do.  In the match ups even our defenders were able push the midfielders wide or intercept.  When they reversed roles our defenders were able to break the pack and run the lines.  At one stage Hooker got 20 metres in the clear and strolled into the open goal.  From what I could see it was a bout clean ball handling.  Some of our midfielders were making errors even when there was no pressure and also players without the ball ran to the easy boundary line option (Bomber brought that to their attention at one stage saying you were just in a sh*t position).  Our midfielders seem to be running wide!

 

We need to run the ball usually because we have the "extra" at the contest meaning the opposition always have a lose in the back.  

 

What happens is we get Goddard, Heppel and Watson in the midfield and the clean ball handling tends to makes us look good.  Put Myers, Zaharakis and Hocking.  The skill level falls and the turnovers happen.  They need to improve their skill.

 

The other thing to watch is when the forwards lead.  If they lead too early by the time the midfield run the ball the midfielders and the forwards are almost next to each other.  What would have been a kick becomes a handball (to a guy running in the wrong direction) unless one of the midfielders has kept running through.   

 

Maybe we need "Bob the Builder" as coach.  "Can we fix it?"  "Yes we can!"

There’s six or seven teams with larger numbers of way better individual players than we have. In two years you can add the two new teams without a shadow of doubt. Sad as it sounds we’ve entered that inevitable period in the AFL where being a great team will not be enough to beat a team of great individuals. I think we’ve got the makings of a very good team, will not be enough. We’ve already bought a couple of top level blokes, shows the club recognises this move from the last vestiges of amateur sport to professional (bullshit sanctions notwithstanding). We can hope some of young ones develop outrageously but the averages will apply to every team without concessions or who hasn’t tanked repeatedly. This is pessimism I know, discuss if you can be farked, or farmed as spellcheck suggests…

The problem is that they handball it to someone with a player on their hammer and don't even think about then shepperding for them and let them get mowed down.

If the handball is not to someone with a player on their hammer it is inevitably at a players feet. Frustrating to watch.

Was the cats gameplan quite mysterious was it?

i could never figure out the quick precise ball use by highly skilled well drilled players.

 

had me ■■■■■■.

we have only 3 players on our list who shepherd

 

Bags

Hocking

Howlett

 

that's terrible

Is it a concern to anyone else that the opposition seem to have learnt how to beat our gameplan before we’ve learnt to play to our gameplan?

we have only 3 players on our list who shepherd

 

Bags

Hocking

Howlett

 

that's terrible

Must agree with that

Is it a concern to anyone else that the opposition seem to have learnt how to beat our gameplan before we've learnt to play to our gameplan?

If we execute the plan correctly their extra man is in no mans land

There's six or seven teams with larger numbers of way better individual players than we have. In two years you can add the two new teams without a shadow of doubt. Sad as it sounds we've entered that inevitable period in the AFL where being a great team will not be enough to beat a team of great individuals. I think we've got the makings of a very good team, will not be enough. We've already bought a couple of top level blokes, shows the club recognises this move from the last vestiges of amateur sport to professional (bullshit sanctions notwithstanding). We can hope some of young ones develop outrageously but the averages will apply to every team without concessions or who hasn't tanked repeatedly. This is pessimism I know, discuss if you can be farked, or farmed as spellcheck suggests...

I would go as far as to say that from next year Gold Coast will be able to out play us for the next 5 years. GWS will join them in the not too distant future also. There is just no way that we can compete with them over the next 5 years with the amount of talent that they have. I actually think we need to draft and recruit over the next few years with this in mind. Youth really needs to be our policy and maybe that's where Bomber is coming from playing the kids this year and also the experimentation with the positions and game plan?  

Can someone please explain this to me.
 
I always sit on the 3rd lever at Etihad as it gives a view of the game styles going head to head & sometimes a problem becomes so obvious it just leaves you perplexed.
 
We continue to press up all our forwards which leaves our forward line completely empty when defending. And I mean completely empty. What is supposed to happen when we gain possesion? I mean in an absolute utopian outcome how is the forward line supposed to function from that point on? Is a small forward or a midfielder supposed to burst through into the space when we gain possession with the ball being kicked out in front? Because it is not happening & it's creating a problem for our midfielders who are forced to look every way but forward in an attempt to maintain possession & not kick long to a one on one.
 
Why do we need an 18 man press. Surely using a 17 man press & making sure we always have at least 1 forward inside the 50, much like Geelong with Hawkins is what we should be doing....

The coaching staff should ask Jack Riewolt - he seems to be very good at dissecting game plans.

Should ask this old guy who sits in front of me, he seems to know best, when he's not marking down disposals/goals/points/tackles/other bullshite in his record.

Our game plan,

 

  1.  Kick sideways
  2.  Kick Backwards
  3.  Switch
  4.  Get Caught
  5.  Kick a High Orbital Arc Kick that lets the defenders 3v1 Daniher
  6.  Cause a turn over
  7.  No defensive running
  8.  Opponents score a goal

Rinse and repeat