I’m not sure what triggers me most, this or our kick out non strategy of the last 10 years.
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Remember Hurley? looks left,looks right and then does a bomb to ethier back pocket
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Still our best kick in strategy in a decade. At least everyone understood how it worked, even the opposition.
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Our game plan is like an ugly family heirloom which has been passed down from generation to generation!
We should play an extra man forward.
I say we kill this ‘Spare man’, before he gets us.
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Get that new cannon to just kick it beyond the centre square.
Sorry. That spelling was killing me.
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Until we get a Patrick Cripps type contested ball winner at every stoppage we will have no choice but to run the Spareman around the ball ups.
Our problem is personnel or specifically the lack of a consistent contested ball winner since Jobe’s prime.
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Jake Stringer is that man. Problem is that he is 28 and not 23.
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Until some yet to be born descendant takes it to The Antique Roadshow full of hope that it may be something of great value only to find that Great Uncles Knighter and Woosha and Uncle Truck have passed on a pile of worthless junk.
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Some of the stuff you post cracks me up
Like washing your eyes with vinegar funny?
The spare man is killing Essendon.
What’s even scarier is that Essendon is killing it’s fan base.
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It’s a pretty stupid idea. The problem with the spare man is they can sit in the space that is the most obvious kick-to region. Which leaves the forwards having to decide between:
- Holding the same position and being 2 on 1.
- Hold a less natural and dangerous position to keep a 1-on-1.
In both, if the midfield still kick it to the dangerous spot, the defence has the advantage.
Our mids then usually do kick it to that position, as to be fair most midfielders do. We sometimes put it over the top as well.
I hate it.
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We had the same strategy when Jobe, Hocking, Howlett and Myers were around the ball. I don’t think it has a thing to do with personnel.
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Yep. If we’re going to use a spare like this then your spread from the clearance needs to be elite. For some reason, even with the spare we look out numbered after winning the ball.
What annoys me about the spare man situation the most is watching a monster like Tom Hawkins always getting 1 on 1 contests at one end while our lesser forwards are outnumbered when the ball comes their way
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Hence why we should call it the spare men. We take players from both ends up to the contest rather than hold a setup forward or back. That guy who marks inside 50 & there’s no defender within 20m of him, his direct opponent is still up at the contest we just lost even with the extra numbers. You have to have the quality at the contest & back it to win enough times to even the scoring opportunities. From there your forwards & defenders can be the difference in how often you score or get scored on. We give our forwards very few advantages & 1 on 1 is usually best case scenario. Down back & again if we can gat a 1 on 1 thats about the best the defenders can hope for. When we lose the mid battle even with the extra numbers we are in for a hiding as Geelong demonstrated with ease. They have mids who can & will take on multiple opponents around the stoppage. They either break free or draw multiple tacklers only to release to the next guy who can do the same thing.
That’s a good point. Watching FC v WB last night, Curnow and McKay were both listed as forwards, but were both very mobile. One would work their way up the ground to provide a tall marking option, the other would stay i50. As soon as one marked up the ground, they could instantly kick i50 to that tall marking target. There was no waiting for the other tall forward to run back, and no risk that the defenders would get back before them and just get an uncontested intercept. Even if they didn’t mark i50, they were able to bring it to ground and let their small forwards get to work. I think Jones and Langford have the capacity to work like this; they both have tank, are good kicks, and are good overhead, if only they can both get on the ground at the same time.
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