play within the constructs of todays footy, but better than how the other sides doe it.
that’s how i want us to play, good luck
The ability to vary your tactics is a fundamental to most non-American sports where you’re playing directly against an opponent.
Whether it’s soccer, with a mix of fast break, long ball up the guts, or knocking the ball around in possession, or tennis where a rally has a mix of basic returns, faster balls to the extreme corners, rushing the net, or chip shots.
In no case does it pay to go for the amazing winner every time - the percentages are against you as no one’s that dominant skills wise.
Equally, playing the same way & at the same tempo makes it to easy to defend.
In terms of football today I reckon there are three factors at play.
Firstly the Malthouse effect. Not just for his “hit the boundary line” mantra. But also as the first significant coach to adopt a moneyball like statistical approach to tactics. Yeah, it kept his teams thereabouts for a long time. It lead to a bunch of copycats amongst coaches & clubs - Ross Lyon etc etc.
But a record of 3 flags in 31 years, when 21 of those were at two of the best resourced clubs in the country isn’t actually great - it’s average.
Which is what you get when playing in a way that’s tactically only slightly above average.
The consequence was risk averse coaches, and Clubs who sacked potentially innovative coaches too soon.
The second factor I reckon is the Club expansion factor. Fewer star players per team. And I don’t think this balances out in terms of scoring- a star forward playing on a star defender doesn’t tend to result in a boring draw / ball up / stoppage.
One player will tend to win each contest decisively resulting in greater scoring opportunities. Think Van der Haar vs Knights.
The third factor is, I agree, the constant rule tinkering & interpretations. In this day & age of information availability coaches can adapt to these defensively very quickly.
But working on attacking strategies, with the players you have available, is a longer term project.
And just when you might draft a particular type to suit your evolving new game plan, the rules get tweaked again.
So the answer is for the Awful to actually have some frigging patience - it might take 3 to 5 years, but the game will change.
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Agree with this. It was on show in the State Of Origin. More talent definitely equals higher scores. The AFL need to wrap their head around the fact that high scores don’t automatically equal better games though. Some of the better games i’ve seen in recent times have been under 80 points per side. Stop ■■■■■■■ around with the rules.
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We should also play to every team members strengths.
The image above borrowed from the last list spot thread.
Dare I say it… it will become the Essendon way.
Sort of like this?
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If this guy was on our list then yes sure.
Good example.
Or even this …
Talks about a bob each way… “The Bombers can easily knock on the door of the top four or six with Caracella in the fold… Predicted finish: 12th.”
https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/03/02/afl-preview-series-essendon-bombers-vs-melbourne-demons/
Essendon Bombers
The Bombers have lost five elimination finals since their last finals win in 2004, a source of much mirth in the wider AFL community. Last season ended ignominiously with a 55-point September defeat in Perth to West Coast, having lost three of their last four coming into finals, including a 104-point loss to the Dogs in which they had only one goal on the board at the 20-minute mark of the last quarter.
Can the Dons turn such abject failure around and become a finals force at last?
Essendon best 25
B: Conor McKenna, Michael Hurley, Patrick Ambrose
HB: Aaron Francis, Cale Hooker, Adam Saad
Foll: Tom Bellchambers, Dyson Heppell, Zach Merrett
C: Andrew McGrath, Dylan Shiel, David Zaharakis
HF: Devon Smith, Shaun McKernan, Orazio Fantasia
F: Jake Stringer, Joe Daniher, Anthony McDonald-Tipunwuti
Int: Darcy Parish, Kyle Langford, Dylan Clarke, Mason Redman
Em: Matt Guelfi, James Stewart, Jacob Townsend
The Bombers rid themselves of a series of jobbers at the end of 2019 – Mark Baguley, Mitch Brown, Zac Clarke, Matt Dea, Michael Hartley and David Myers aren’t the kind of players to take a club places, even if they provided various levels of admirable service at times.
They have added premiership Tiger Jacob Townsend, Tom Cutler from Brisbane and Andrew Phillips from Carlton to replace some of this depth.
Phillips may ruck from Round 1, with Tom Bellchambers having an injury-interrupted preseason. Like many rucks throughout the league, they are much of a muchness and the difference lies only in opportunity.
Essendon would frequently get smashed around the ball in 2019, even with the addition of Dylan Shiel. The midfield lacks a physically imposing contest beast – Shiel, Zach Merrett, Dylan Heppell, Andrew McGrath, David Zaharakis and Darcy Parish are all small, slight players. All nice enough, sure, but nice guys come last.
Devon Smith has some mongrel about him, and his defensive pressure was missed last year, but he’s a pygmy too.
Boys can only mix it with men for so long before they get found out, and it’s been a problem for the Bombers for a long time. It’s why they struggle to get to finals and fail badly even if they get the chance.
Essendon’s best footy is played with blazing drive from halfback through Adam Saad and Conor McKenna after strong intercept marking from Cale Hooker, Michael Hurley and Aaron Francis. Much has been made of how sustainable this style of footy is across a long season, but Richmond won a premiership with the third-highest percentage of scores launched from the back half.
The Bombers best team has Joe Daniher and Orazio Fantasia as key components up forward, but they’ve played only 39 games between them across the last two seasons and have rarely been fully fit when on the park.
Jake Stringer and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti have carried the load well in the last two years with fluctuating support from talls like Shaun McKernan and James Stewart when fit.
Much intrigue will surround the coaching handover between John Worsfold and Ben Rutten, as always happens with such agreements. Any failure will be put down to player confusion from mixed messages.
The biggest acquisition from the off-season will be Blake Caracella, who is coming from three years at the Tigers that delivered two premierships. He is renowned as a tactical genius and ball movement specialist.
The Bombers can easily knock on the door of the top four or six with Caracella in the fold, that’s how profound his influence could be. They’re a hard team to trust though.
Predicted finish: 12th.