Only thing I’ve gleaned from any public speaking is that he appears nervy, articulates himself fairly averagely.
Pretty hard to get comfortable when tucked away in the shadows.
Its very,very poor.
And whatever benefits the club thinks this decision brings, it is far outweighed by the negatives.
Its s.h.i.t
Is Rutten uninspiring as a junior coach speaker because he’s got someone looking over his shoulder or; is he just uninspiring in his communication? If it is the latter, the club need to get someone in to work with him who isn’t like Woosha, once Woosha goes??? Whenever that is??? Before they sign to a three year deal!!!
this is the key and why i keep saying the way they are playing is not indicative of how they are suppose to be playing.
a bit of play stuck in my mind, cos of the herby thread, the sideways long kick part.
in the 3rd they go from side to side cos they can’t see a way through the ball, for a minute or so they do that. that part I don’t have issue with personally.
it then gets to parish, who if anyone wonders why he doesn’t get much midfield time when all players are available, his disposal and decision making is showing why atm.
he gets the ball after a min of sideways chipping, and then for some reason in his mind goes, i’m gonna kick it long. why ?
he kicked it long straight down the throat of ryder. The closest player ended up being tippa, and stewart was probably 20-30 meters behind ryder.
So what in the ■■■■■ name in Parish’s head makes him go, you know what I need to kick it long here.
Again stewart was roughly 60-80 meters away from him when he kicked the ball, and his master plan in his head is, i’m gonna kick it to him.
BY SAM MILLS 2 HOURS AGO
Former AFL assistant coach Craig Jennings says Essendon need to improve their matchday coaching strategies, branding their current tactics as “arrogant”.
Jennings, described as “one of the best minds in footy” by ex-Melbourne skipper Nathan Jones, told Gerard Whateley that the Bombers need to be more adaptable to different scenarios.
“They’re on record saying they don’t train close game scenarios, they just want to play the same way from start to finish but I find that a flawed concept,” he said on SEN’s Whateley .
“If you’re one point up with 30 seconds on the clock and they go back to that fast type, Richmond style that they were playing earlier this season and coming out of the back half – you don’t want to play like that.
“It feels a little bit arrogant to me.”
Jennings said the Essendon coaching box needs to be “strategically astute” and learn more from opposition sides.
“They’ve got to get things right in terms of their coaching group and be far more strategic in the way they apply themselves on matchday,” he said.
“Just because you’re a big club doesn’t mean that you automatically win finals or have got the right to win finals.
“They play in all the big games from the day they walk into the footy club and I just think it’s got to mean a bit more to them.”
Essendon’s last victory came in Round 8 in the form of a three-point result over the winless Adelaide Crows.
The Bombers take on Richmond at TIO Stadium in Darwin for the 2020 Dreamtime clash on Saturday night.
he potted the dees too not long ago
Well Woosha basically has said the same thing for a couple of years now, this is not how we want to play??? The last time our players hit a malaise that stripped them of energy and their ability to play good footy was in 2013. You have to ask what is really going on at Essendon?
Tonight will be telling.
Can you post?
Paywall.
A former Melbourne strategist who worked with Simon Goodwin has delivered a scathing assessment of his gameplan. He has outlined three clear flaws, and believes the Dees must move the magnets.
Sam Landsberger , Herald Sun
Subscriber only
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July 9, 2020 5:32pm
Struggling Clayton Oliver is footy’s worst attacking kick. Picture: AAP
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Former Melbourne strategist Craig Jennings has made a scathing assessment of coach Simon Goodwin’s gameplan, comparing the Demons to St Kilda’s recent mediocre sides.
Former Saints coach Alan Richardson joined Melbourne on a long-term deal as director of coaching this season and Jennings said the Demons now looked like the “St Kilda model for the last five years”.
“When you were planning for St Kilda in that time they were basically one-trick ponies,” Jennings said.
“They had a strength that was pressure. But if you could nullify that pressure, which is pretty easy to do in some ways because what beats pressure is finding a mark (you would win).
“The challenge for Melbourne at the moment is they can’t defend a mark.”
Jennings called for struggling onballer Clayton Oliver to be moved forward against Gold Coast on Saturday and for the ruck duty to be shared by Max Gawn (defensive half) and Tom McDonald (forward half).
But Jennings pointed out “three clear flaws in Melbourne’s gamestyle” and said the Dees were proving relatively easy to coach against.
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Simon Goodwin has been slammed by a former club strategist. Picture: Getty Images
“Ultimately you’ve got a defence strategy that’s flawed, a contest strategy that’s not working and definitely an attacking strategy that’s not working,” Jennings said.
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“They’re three separate strategies but when they come together they’re totally misaligned. I’m seeing strategies, one for each line, and they just don’t connect.”
Jennings said West Coast’s keepings-off game in the fourth quarter of Round 1 highlighted the “massive flaw” in the way the Demons defend.
“That (tactic) was taken to an extreme level against Geelong a couple of weeks ago,” Jennings said.
“I know that game was very unpopular but from a strategic point of view (Cats coach) Chris Scott absolutely nailed how to beat Melbourne.
“The second thing is their contest. Too many players go to the footy and teams exploit that.
“They just wait on the outside and if Melbourne do win it, they set up pretty well with their players behind the footy and Melbourne give it straight back to them.”
Jennings said the opening bounce against Richmond on Sunday exemplified that. Five Demons – Gawn, Oliver, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and Adam Tomlinson – tracked a loose ball on the wing, which was won by Tiger Kamdyn McIntosh with four teammates free on the outside.
Jennings said shifting Gawn behind the ball would help plug easy goals and feed Jake Lever with the confidence to bring back his intercept game.
Jennings believes Max Gawn should be shifted behind the ball. Picture: Getty Images
Lever averaged 3.5 intercept marks in 2017 but has taken just five for the year. Jennings said the Demons were trying to mimic Richmond’s 18-man defence by forcing teams to the boundary, but that it was overcomplicated and falling apart.
“I’ve been really disappointed in Melbourne that every team they’re playing is playing the way they look when they win and taking away all the strengths from Melbourne,” Jennings, who departed Melbourne after three seasons last year, said on SEN.
Club great Garry Lyon accused the Demons of playing at a breakneck speed that wasn’t working and it appears they do not have the cream to execute such a slick style.
The Dees have scored from just 32.2 per cent of inside 50s this year, which is the worst conversion rate on record, and Herald Sun analyst Mick McGuane said their midfield was heavy on grunt but desperately needed a splash of class.
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Jay Clark
They are the four words you would not have expected to see across the top of Simon Goodwin’s ball movement battle plans this year.
But four games into a season that is already quickly slipping away from the Demons, Melbourne’s superstar ruckman Max Gawn is currently the club’s safest kick inside 50m.
Max Gawn shadows the Demons’ entire midfield as the club’s best kick into the forward 50. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images
It seems extraordinary that the tallest bloke on the team can be the Demons’ most precise kick in the forward half but the remarkable statistic lays bare the problems Melbourne’s prime midfielders have had using the footy forward in 2020.
From Gawn’s nine kicks inside the arc this season, the Demons have retained the Sherrin six times – at a club-high retention rate of 66.7 per cent.
Of the top-10 ball users at the club, spring-heeled forward Bayley Fritsch is ranked second at 62.5 per cent.
But from there, there is a Grand Canyon-style drop-off for the red and blue ballwinners.
New recruit Adam Tomlinson (45.5 per cent) comes in third but even he is below the league average of 46.8 per cent, according to Champion Data.
MONEY MEN
Top 5 best kicks inside 50m
Chad Wingard (Haw) 83.3% retention rate
Taylor Adams (Coll) 77.8%
Travis Boak (PA) 70.8%
Mitch Robinson (Bris) 68.4%
Brad Crouch (Ade) 66.7%
SOURCE: CHAMPION DATA
Hawthorn playmaker Chad Wingard has emerged as the most lethal kick inside 50m in the league in his second season at the club with a retention strike rate of 83.3 per cent.
It has been one of the most maligned trades of the past few years but certainly this season Wingard has delivered in spades on the ‘money kick’ to Hawthorn’s forwards.
But for Melbourne, it is the same old story.
The Dees have beaten their opponent for inside 50s in three of the four games this year for only one win – after limping over the line against Carlton in Round 2.
Goodwin admitted the terrible turnovers were “killing us” after a 27-point loss reigning premier Richmond on Sunday, prompting the Demons to consider speedster Harley Bennell and veteran Nathan Jones in a bid to add more class and composure for Saturday night’s crucial clash against Gold Coast Suns.
OFF TARGET
Worst 5 kicks inside 50m
Nic Naitanui (WC) 31.3% retention rate
Tim Kelly (WC) 31.3 %
Ed Curnow (Carl) 35 %
Jared Polec (NM) 36.8 %
Andrew Gaff (WC) 37.5 %
SOURCE: CHAMPION DATA
MORE ON DEES’ STRUGGLES:
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‘Won’t die for their jumper’: Club great savages Dees
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If the is a silver lining, the Demons have copped some decent sides early – West Coast, Carlton, Geelong and Richmond, including the postponed Essendon clash.
But Goodwin’s greatest coaching challenge this week will be how he restores the confidence and belief in some of the prime midfielders who have butchered the ball early this season.
Remarkably, Oliver, a dual best and fairest winner, is travelling at a retention rate of only nine per cent so far this season.
Of his 11 kicks inside 50m, Melbourne has retained possession on only one of them. Nine of them were won by the opposition and the other disposal resulted in a stoppage.
Hard nut backman Michael Hibberd (16.7 per cent) and midfielder-defender James Harmes (25 per cent) are also at the bottom end of the retention kick index.
Melbourne great Garry Lyon, who has been one of Oliver’s biggest fans and last year labelled him the club’s “best ever midfielder, since probably the 70s”, said the young bull had “stagnated”.
“If he wants to get to the category that many of us (believe he can reach), then he needs to get greater value for his possessions,” Lyon said.
But Goodwin has backed Oliver to respond.
“His effort and intent – I think as you can see – is outstanding,” Goodwin said.
“He has probably overused the ball a little bit and miss-kicked a couple (against Richmond).
“He is an incredible player, Clayton.
“I think it would be harsh to say we don’t get value from what he delivers. He is a pretty special player.”
Be a bitter pill to lose all that talent but I’ll be happy once this will he, won’t he heresay stuff that has dogged us in recent years about Daniher and McKenna are finally behind us next year.
Fantasia too.
Clearly Mr. Jennings has never heard of a little thing called learnings.
No matter how arrogant/terrible we are, it’s always about the learnings.
So mind your own beeswax, BUCKO!!!
“Former” Melbourne strategist.
Gee, everyone shut up and listen to this guy!
whats on tonight?
I was just about to ask the same question.
If anybody in the universe does not know that we play differently in the latter stages of a match to hold a lead then that person hasn’t been watching. Our record in close finishes for 2 years is actually good. We just suck at everything else.
Geraldine Twatley would’ve felt goosebumps from all the wonderful essendon potting this week. The win-loss ratio is a wonderful thing for fabricating a story around.
Watching teams like the Dogs, Richmond, and even StKilda coming out of D50 underlines a massive defect in “the way we want to play”
Analysts often talk about our “organisation behind the ball” and how we are not as well set up behind the ball as other teams.
It requires a high work rate across half back. A high work rate of the wingers, and mids. It requires overlap, running in waves and players honouring others who run into space to take a series of short options.
Our game relies too much on Saad and Mckenna running the lines. But last night, Saad had to 100% defend.
Perhaps we have had to spend too much time on team defence. Perhaps we have continued to give license to Hurls to take the “down the line” option.
We need to set up better coming out of defence, it needs a complete preseason of work. It probably needs a coach to organise it and teach it. Unless we fix this and get another decent key forward, we will probably not win another final in my lifetime.
Neil Craig sees shades of Eddie Jones when he looks at Essendon’s coach-in-waiting Ben Rutten.
“Ben’s prepared to ask for help,” Craig said.
“I see that exact same trait with a guy I work with now in England, Eddie Jones.
“He’s coached in four World Cups and his capacity to seek better ways at doing things and ask for help is one of the key characteristics that stands out.
“Rick Charlesworth is the same. That’s one of the reasons they’re so good.”
Craig, Adelaide’s longest-serving coach, spent eight seasons coaching Rutten and has spent the past three years working under Jones at England Rugby.
The comparison is a rich one for Rutten because Jones, 60, is a veteran.
The Tasmanian led the Wallabies to the 2003 World Cup final and returned to that stage with England last year after helping bring down the All Blacks.
He was an assistant at South Africa when it won the 2007 World Cup and has also coached Japan.
But Rutten is just 37 and still at least five games away from replacing John Worsfold in the driver’s seat.
RUTTEN’S JOURNEY INTO COACHING:
The man known as ‘Truck’ still has his training wheels on. That’s why his inquisitive and curious mind stands out to Craig.
“For a young coach, that (asking for help) is unusual,” Craig said.
“Because young coaches think they know it all or they don’t want to be seen as not knowing it all.
“For Essendon, that’s a great quality for your senior coach to have.”
Rutten opened his coaching career by reading from the ‘Book of Craig’.
While teaching Richmond’s team defence he would often remind players that they would not always be the one to “get a lick of the ice cream”.
“He was all about that – and team success was the lick of the ice cream,” ex-Tiger Steve Morris said.
“He encouraged being aggressive in defence, being able to read the play and backing yourself in.
“You certainly see that in Rancey’s (Alex Rance) game and Dylan’s (Dylan Grimes) game compared to the way they played early in their careers.
“Not so much in Dave (Astbury), but if Dave does what he needs to do then they get the lick of the ice cream – and he’s a dual premiership player.”
Ben Rutten celebrates winning the 2017 Grand Final against Adelaide – the club he played 225 games for.
Richmond’s system has long been the AFL’s soufflé of desserts. But where did Rutten scoop the ice cream analogy from?
“That’s definitely Craigy,” former Adelaide teammate Tyson Edwards said.
The Crows found Craig’s endless list of sayings so funny that Edwards started writing them down.
“I kept them as a list in my locker, so when we needed a bit of humour we’d open them up and have a look at how many there were,” he said.
“We were going to get a shirt made up one year with all of his sayings on it.
“It was a fair list by the time I finished, and I handed it over to ‘Truck’ to carry on the mantle.”
Craig would also ask the Crows for “F1 starts” (Formula 1) and highlight the opposition’s “vulnerable players”.
If Rutten refers to Hawthorn forward Luke Breust as ‘No. 22’ as Essendon prepares for Thursday’s clash, then he might’ve gone all-in on following Craig.
“He was hopeless at remembering (opposition) players’ names. He used to call them by their numbers,” Edwards said.
“Some of them were quite well-known names, and he would just say No. 15 – because he was very much interested in us, not so much the opposition.”
GET TO KNOW ‘TRUCK’
BEN RUTTEN
(Age 37)
Nickname “Truck”
THE PLAYER
Pick No. 40 in the 2001 rookie draft (Adelaide)
Games 225 (2002-2014)
Honours All-Australian fullback (2005)
THE COACH
Richmond 2015-2018 (Backline coach)
Essendon 2019 (Backline coach)
Essendon 2020 (Senior assistant and backline coach)
Essendon 2021-2023 (Senior coach)
Rutten’s rise in the coaches’ box is unlike his emergence as a player.
When Rutten was drafted, former Adelaide coach Gary Ayres remembers “a very big lad” with a knee injury walking through the West Lakes doors from West Adelaide.
Rutten was overlooked in 2000 and then, in the 2001 ‘Super Draft’, 118 players were selected before him, starting with No. 1 pick Luke Hodge.
It was a fruitful rookie draft for the Crows, securing Nathan Bock, Rutten and Marty Mattner with their final three picks.
Rutten booted three goals with his first three kicks on debut and was soon relocated to the backline, as undersized fullback Nathan Bassett struggled containing the likes of Alastair Lynch.
With Darren Glass and Matthew Scarlett entering their prime it was, according to Warren Tredrea, an era of star fullbacks.
But the Port Adelaide premiership skipper managed just six goals from his final nine Showdowns – all against Rutten – and said he belonged in that bracket.
“He was a super quick, super strong and a super disciplined player,” Tredrea said.
Ben Rutten held the edge over Warren Tredrea.
“He wasn’t the quarterback, but the general behind the play. He sat at the back of the zone barking instructions.
“It doesn’t surprise me one bit he’s gone down the coaching path.”
In 2005, and after just 33 games, Rutten was named All-Australian.
But Craig said the “hard road” walked before that would pay dividends at Essendon.
“He had to fight to get into the AFL,” Craig said.
“He got what I would call team security – but he earnt that, he wasn’t given it based on junior talent.”
Craig remembers Rutten peppering him with questions about Adelaide’s training.
Why are we doing this? Is it specific enough to our gamestyle?,” he recalled.
“They weren’t questions as in, ‘This is useless’ it was more about the ‘Why?’ and ‘Can we do it better?’
“Ben had a great feel for the game. I had great trust in going to him at any stage and asking for his thoughts.”
Edwards said Rutten spent the second half of his career “taking pride” in helping the next wave of defenders, such as Phil Davis.
“He was the type of guy that wasn’t yap, yap, yap, but when he spoke players listened,” Edwards said.
He would also pass on tips to Adelaide’s goalkickers after picking up clues from manning the likes of Tredrea, Barry Hall and Matthew Pavlich.
Rutten retired in 2014, wanting to preserve his body so he could have a kick with sons Jack and Bernie as they grew up, and that role as a quasi-assistant while playing left him in demand.
Richmond conducted two interviews and decided Rutten was ready to coach Damien Hardwick’s backline, bypassing a development role.
“He hasn’t just come straight out of playing and thrown his hat in the ring, he’s been working as a coach while playing,” Hardwick said when Rutten signed.
“There’s not many key defenders that come into coaching, so we’re really excited about what he can offer our key position players – not only backs, but also forwards and the rucks.
“We’re very fortunate to have him, and glad he picked the Tigers over a number of other suitors.”
Craig said Rutten’s willingness to relocate to Victoria highlighted “a real passion” for coaching.
Neil Craig talks to current Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin (left) and incoming Bombers coach (right) Ben Rutten.
After the 2017 flag Tigers football boss Dan Richardson crossed to the Bombers and 12 months later he poached Rutten, aware Worsfold was unlikely to be at the helm long term.
Last year Rutten could’ve taken his family home when the Crows came calling after splitting with Don Pyke.
But instead he stayed true to his word at Essendon, and now Bombers fans are eager to know if their new man is the right man.
This season has been sabotaged by injury, but the learnings have flowed.
Privately, Rutten is pleased they have exposed Mitch Hibberd, Brayden Ham, Tom Cutler and Andrew Phillips.
But Rutten is likely to be the only first-year coach handicapped by next year’s $3 million budget cuts and the doubters are alarmed at this year’s gamestyle.
The Bombers are a counterpunch team that is currently playing high-possession football and moving the ball slowly.
It is system, system system and they defend deep, a contributing factor to Richmond’s 60 inside 50s last week.
“You can have whatever offensive system you want, but if you have to start in your back 50m all the time it makes it pretty tough,” former assistant Rob Harding said.
Champion Matthew Lloyd was bemused that they let Dustin Martin roam free in Dreamtime, particularly with tagger Dylan Clarke in the team.
“They’re a system-based team and that means we won’t go and hunt anyone or tag anyone,” Lloyd said.
The Bombers rank 16th for contested footy and have been conceding 30 points from their back half recently, ranked 17th.
Those cautiously pragmatic have also wondered whether chief executive Xavier Campbell and Richardson committed to Rutten prematurely.
Essendon’s defence has regressed statistically since Rutten joined the club.
Could they have had a Hail Mary crack at Alastair Clarkson this year?
Was Ross Lyon worth a phone call, as former captain Brendon Goddard suggested last year?
Worsfold has requested patience, insisting Rutten and fellow assistant Blake Caracella are teaching a game plan that can deliver Essendon’s 17th premiership.
Both brains have come from Richmond, and the Bombers are the No. 2 team for metres gained by aggressive handballs this year – behind the Tigers.
“Ben’s got a good sense of humour, which is important. He can have a laugh at himself, but he’s also serious about performance,” Craig said.
“He’s got a nice blend in that area, and he doesn’t suffer fools.”
Rutten started ‘backs camp’ at the Tigers – where the defenders head to the bush for a weekend in pre-season – and that tradition lives on.
Morris said he ticked every box.
“He was a superstar, mate. He was sensational in developing the tall backs at Richmond, and he had a really good balance between coaching and having a connection with the players.
“I’m very confident he’ll get Essendon up and firing very quickly.”
Essendon football boss Dan Richardson shared the same views.
“Ben is a very high calibre person (and) is very clear on what makes a strong club and team. He also displays great empathy, highlighted by the relationships he has developed with staff and players wherever he has been,” he said.
“Despite the unique challenges of season 2020, Ben has grown into the role and will be well prepared to take over come 2021.”
Should be the first coach to be sacked without actually officially “coaching” an AFL game.
Most of the blame has to fall on his shoulders.
Pathetic “game plan” to say the least.
Its still too early but there is clearly something wrong.
Since he arrived we have played terrible footy.
At least in 2017 & 2018 we played some decent footy.
We were a lot better the previous years. Gone backwards in all departments. Defensively were were good at the start of the season. Now that’s just as bad
The worst gameplan I have ever seen for any team.
