Apologies for the long post in advance. It was a simple question with a lot to unpack given our circumstances.
The dedicated target can almost be anyone. Our gameplan is to get it within 20m to a contest and try to throttle the opposition into that area and pressure them as much as possible. Ideally we try and wait for a tall target and medium target to kick to so we can neutralise the oppositions loose man. We did this very well against Gold Coast where we held onto the ball and waited for the talls to be the target. If there is a lead up target, we honour it, but when pressure is on, we kick long to a tall target who is expecting it 15 to 20m out from goal.
This is very different to last year where we tried to kick to pockets, get it over the boundary line (worst case) and give us a chance to reset. This also gave the opposition time to reset and usually, they were more professional and ready than us in those situations.
We’d also primarily honour the lead, but our kicking skills and shepherding up the field was poor last year, so that didn’t work well and led to far more errors and rebounds.
We were also trying to get the ball high into the forward line if under pressure. Usually, the kick would come from halfway between wing and half forward landing around 30m to 40m from goal. That didn’t put enough pressure on the opposition and we were out of position too often in these attacking plays.
This year we’re trying for the kick to come from around the point of square so it gets to a deeper spot in the forward line. That’s where our gameplan is focussed on. Freeing up a midfielder, to get to those spots.
You can tell when it’s not our gameplan. If we are pushed to the boundary, it’s because the opposition is getting what they want or because players are not confident to take the opportunity. That’s what happened in the Saints game and a few times in other games. We want the ball closer towards the centre square lines than along the boundary. The only time we go ‘long down the line’ is when there is no other option.
In training, it’s predominantly one of 2MP, Flip or Drapes. I’ve seen them go for the mark but more often they actually try and get it to ground instead (especially when out of position).
At least one has been available when I’ve been there. From what I could tell, it doesn’t work as well when all three are out, but Jones and Weid can at least bring the ball to ground. They’ve done it at training against BZT and Ridley, but it’s not quite working at senior level yet.
Switch that to the next rung of forwards (Stringer, Langford, Voss) and it’s a different dynamic. When I saw Voss in similar situations, he usually will go for the mark and rarely try and get it down to the forwards. That’s okay against a guy like Kelly, but when he’s had Ridley or BZT they sort of find a way to stop his run at the pack or get it down into spots where the defence gets to it and can rebound best.
Baldwin has found his spots better in the pack as a target, but he got shifted back in middle of February.
Where Voss has smashed his opponents is when he works off a set screen and leads up to the ball carrier. If seen it work incredibly well at training at least once or twice in the drills. More often than not, there’s some mixed communication and he doesn’t get the break on his opponent he needs. It comes down to how he works with the other guys in the forward line to get himself open. He is getting better at it. In some ways, shifting Baldwin to the backline means he isn’t getting into the same spots as him during VFL (something that was happening at practise in January). But I don’t think he’ll be afforded that opportunity at AFL level with Stringer and Langford trying to play the same way.
So yes, we are screwed if all of talls are out. If Draper, Flip and Weid and Bryan are out we will have to play a slightly modified style. I know we rag on Jones, but when he has the key defender on him, he is tasked with the role of running him out of the forward line so the defence can’t use their preferred ‘third man up’. Even if there is a switch in defenders, it causes the defence to react to the play. That’s his role and at times he doesn’t perform it well. He’s still learning. I think Voss can hit the packs, but he needs more practice at it. Specifically at AFL level than VFL level. He’ll get his chance.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Reid plays forward at times if we are short on talls.
Maybe we go to a chaos ball out in front of the leading forward. If that’s the case, we’ll be attacking from different spots and more likely kicking towards pockets. We’ll also need to set up the team defensively for those situations and also probably improve our fitness base as it involves far more running than our current gameplan.
I don’t think we’re in a spot to just trial something until we are forced into doing it. Whilst it sounds like we’'re not dealing with what may occur, I think we’re not understanding that trying a different game style could cause more confusion now than just trying to stick to our current strengths. These players have struggled over the last 8 years with tweaks to the gameplan after pre-seasons of training to it. I don’t think they can handle a major shift at this point.
Another thing we’re missing is what happens outside of training and match day.
There is a lot of video the coaches and players go through in the Hangar or in the auditoriums.
Each game at the Hangar has video that we solely have access to. Each AFL senior game has additional footage handled by the AFL (behind the goals footage). They also have the capability to do the same at training sessions as well (but I’m not sure if it’s used).
The video is analysed and the coaches observe why a play broke down or worked well. They spend a lot of time going through it. Far more than we do as fans who just don’t want to look at something that deeply or prefer to just rage at the mistake.
The players also spend a lot of time taking in the feedback and learning through it all. It’s a big part of the players development.
From what I can tell, the coaches aren’t too focussed on errors and mistakes as long as they are trying to stick to the team rules. It’s when they go away from them, try something completely different when we’re not set up defensively for when something goes wrong that they get annoyed.
They also hate undisciplined actions. Yes, umpires get frees wrong. Yes, we feel persecuted. But we cannot afford to lose our composure, lose their focus and just give away more free kicks out of frustration.
The VFL side (rightly or wrongly) is littered with this problem. They are getting better at it, which is good.
We’re not where we want to be yet and our inner Essington will still pop up for years to come. We’re bound to have our terrible game pop up somewhere, but to this point in the season, I don’t think we’ve been outplayed for longer than a quarter and half in each game. And even in those periods, our field defence (while struggling) has been able to minimise the damage. In most of the games, the opposition has gotten on a quick run and we’ve been able to arrest it by the next break. This is something that hasn’t happened previously as we’d need to wait until quarter time to and then hope we get things right after the break. The players are much more prepared for the worst situations than at any time in the last decade (even under Hird and Bomber).
I think what this highlights is we need to adjust our list to suit the current gameplan. The previous list was more like the original Richmond Grand Final team where they didn’t have contested targets to kick to. I’m not sure whether this gameplan were running with now was as well developed between the time Scott was appointed and the trade period. The players certainly wouldn’t have been able to train for it in their time off. I don’t think the Players Association allow for it until they get back to the first day’s training.
We need to sort out our list so there’s enough forward targets for this gameplan and more importantly suit the evolution of the gameplan. Just because we’re doing it well now, doesn’t mean we’ll stick with it once opposition teams start picking our strengths apart and putting us into uncomfortable positions.
We were sort of hamstrung last year at the draft, because we were always going to get the two Davey’s and Munkara, Tippa was going to come back, pick 5 was going to be best available (more likely a midfielder) and that left us with 2 pick to go which we used on Montgomerie and Reid.
Hopefully we shed some deadwood and try and get the list to better suit our game style.