Did anyone read about the Hawthorn 15 man cluster in the "Age"? Apparently they force sides to play down the boundary lines, and have a team strategy to quickly clog up the other flank if the opposition try to "switch".

Yes I did. First noticed this zone or cluster in Round 1 against the Dees. They forced us wide like you say. Then when we attempted to switch it clogged us up, we weren't able to penetrate through unless we had precision skills and fast movement.

I presume that's an over-riding rule, but often I feel our players are less inclined to kick LONG to a 50:50, than to kick short to it.

What is the down-side to this kicking-in maxim?........."when no good option exists, KICK LONG AND WIDE."

Do Demonlanders think this is an obvious rule? Do we use it?

Yes, I do. It simply makes sense to do this, and it's frustrating when we elect to kick to a short contest, or a contest in the middle of the ground.

NB: The unfortunate downside of the mods stickying your post is that it's not as obvious when there are new posts.