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'Just kick the bloody thing'

Rogue
Rogue
in Melbourne Demons

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I'd like to dedicate the dying stages of the loss to Hawthorn to those who love yelling out 'just kick it' (or variations).

Example 1 - Bate bombing it into the forward line a couple of minutes before the end of the game, despite the flood Hawthorn had on.

For those who didn't see the game, Hawthorn had most of their players defensive half of the ground and we were kicking it around outside the 50 metre arc waiting for an option.

I was watching it at a public place and a Demon fan, clearly frustrated, yelled out 'just kick it long'. Bate promptly obliged, a turnover resulted and they ended up kicking a goal.

Example 2 - Bartram's turnover even later in the game.

Despite the loss there were plenty of positives from the match, and most of those relate to our younger players.

However, the biggest potential plus from this loss is no longer hearing someone yell out 'just kick it long' when I'm at the footy and there's no one to kick it to.

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      Rogue said:
    I was watching it at a public place and a Demon fan, clearly frustrated, yelled out 'just kick it long'. Bate promptly obliged, a turnover resulted and they ended up kicking a goal.

    The problem is that from watching it on TV we can't see if there is a forward line.

    Not kicking the ball long has been a problem of recent years, but not having anyone (literally) in the forward line to kick it to has been an even bigger problem as I brought up in round 1, 2007.

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      Rogue said:
    I'd like to dedicate the dying stages of the loss to Hawthorn to those who love yelling out 'just kick it' (or variations).

    Example 1 - Bate bombing it into the forward line a couple of minutes before the end of the game, despite the flood Hawthorn had on. For those who didn't see the game, Hawthorn had most of their players defensive half of the ground and we were kicking it around outside the 50 metre arc waiting for an option.

    I was watching it at a public place and a Demon fan, clearly frustrated, yelled out 'just kick it long'. Bate promptly obliged, a turnover resulted and they ended up kicking a goal.

    Example 2 - Bartram's turnover even later in the game.

    Despite the loss there were plenty of positives from the match, and most of those relate to our younger players.

    However, the biggest potential plus from this loss is no longer hearing someone yell out 'just kick it long' when I'm at the game and there is no one to kick it to (particularly when we're outnumbered 2-to-1 or worse down field).

    Gold Rogue, PURE GOLD

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      Clint Bizkit said:
    The problem is that from watching it on TV we can't see if there is a forward line.

    Sure, it can be very hard to tell when you're watching on TV. However, even on TV it was obvious they were flooding and we were kicking it around the arc for a reason.

    You do make a good point though, and that's why I said I hope I don't hear 'just kick it long etc.' when I'm at the footy :)

    PS. Thanks, big_red_fire_engine!

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      Rogue said:
    You do make a good point though, and that's why I said I hope I don't hear 'just kick it long etc.' when I'm at the footy :)

    I do, if there are players there to kick it to.

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      Rogue said:
    I'd like to dedicate the dying stages of the loss to Hawthorn to those who love yelling out 'just kick it' (or variations).

    Brilliant. Without doubt one of my pet hates.

    Nearly always called out by a genius supporter who doesn't understand the game, yet spends the entire match yelling about how shite their (reigning wooden spoon) team is & then patting themselves on the back when they lose & are (in their eyes) proved correct.

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      Enforcer25 said:
    Brilliant. Without doubt one of my pet hates.

    Nearly always called out by a genius supporter who doesn't understand the game, yet spends the entire match yelling about how shite their (reigning wooden spoon) team is & then patting themselves on the back when they lose & are (in their eyes) proved correct.

    That's me. I was the genius who told my Hawthorn supporting boss to back the Hawks when they were paying $10, with 3 min 50 secs to go, and Melbourne 15 points in front. I knew that we were incapable of winding downing the clock through short passing. We had to be proactive, and try to score.

    And btw, you forgot to mention example 3: In the final minute, Hawthorn bombing the ball to Roughhead, who was playing from behind. See, it can work.

    The only upside of the result was that my boss gave me a sling of his winnings.

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    I hear this "Kick it long" every week in the members" No concept of the game whatsoever.

    The other is "MAN UP!"

    Ever thought of a zone? gives us the spare man in defense/

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    A poor kick will probably result in a turn over regardless of it being long, short or something inbetween. Sadly we have a list full of blokes who kick poorly under pressure.

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      Jarka said:
    A poor kick will probably result in a turn over regardless of it being long, short or something inbetween. Sadly we have a list full of blokes who kick poorly under pressure.

    True Jarka, and an errant handball is even worse than an errant long kick because the ball is 50 metres closer to your opponents goal.

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      mo64 said:
    True Jarka, and an errant handball is even worse than an errant long kick because the ball is 50 metres closer to your opponents goal.

    Exactly.

    But for some reason supporters get more upset about losing possession deep in their own forward line (where the opposition are under most pressure) from a long kick as a opposed to a chip sideways or a handpass in the middle of the ground.

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    Rogue - brilliant.

    A pet hate of mine is hearing the command to "Kick the thing long!!!". Followed by "Why did you kick it there???" with equal indignation when the unfortunate servant of the club has followed the shouted instructions to the letter, and provided the almost inevitable turnover.

    Still - they have paid their money, and they have turned up. That bit I like.

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      Tim said:
    Rogue - brilliant.

    A pet hate of mine is hearing the command to "Kick the thing long!!!". Followed by "Why did you kick it there???" with equal indignation when the unfortunate servant of the club has followed the shouted instructions to the letter, and provided the almost inevitable turnover.

    Still - they have paid their money, and they have turned up. That bit I like.

    Well I'll quote you Malcolm Blight's commentary during a Coll v Ess game last year when both sides were stuffing around with handball and getting nowhere, much to Blight's frustration. "Just kick the thing long and tell your forwards to play in front". Essendon proceeded to do just that, and swamped the Pies. Why, because they had numbers up forward to make a contest in the air, and crumbers on the ground.

    But Blight is just a nuffy like the rest of us.

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      Clint Bizkit said:
    I do, if there are players there to kick it to.

    It's great to kick long if that's the best option.

    Unfortunately the cry of 'just kick it long' and the like are excluding all other options - it's not about best option footy, it's a call to just kick it long, regardless of the percentages.

      Clint Bizkit said:
    But for some reason supporters get more upset about losing possession deep in their own forward line (where the opposition are under most pressure) from a long kick as a opposed to a chip sideways or a handpass in the middle of the ground.

    Do they? I've never known a supporter to act like that.

    If you're forced to kick to a 50/50 contest it's clearly better to play the percentages and choose the longest contest.

    I'm certainly more frustrated when, all other things being equal, we choose a 50/50 contest a few metres away instead of 50/50 fifty-five metres down the ground.

      mo64 said:
    Well I'll quote you Malcolm Blight's commentary during a Coll v Ess game last year

    Was this at the end of a close game? Did the opposition have a huge flood? I'm not sure I heard the quote - I certainly don't remember it - but from what you've descibed it sounds nothing like the same context.

    I don't think Blight would have recommended Melbourne just bomb it long yesterday, particularly if there were safe shorter options.

      mo64 said:
    I knew that we were incapable of winding downing the clock through short passing.

    I also think that in situations like that - and particularly given the decent amount of time left - it's better to attempt to score.

    However, we weren't chipping the ball around to 'wind down the clock' - we were chipping the ball around because Hawthorn had a huge flood happening and we seemingly had no options in our forward line.

      mo64 said:
    We had to be proactive, and try to score.

    What was the best way for us to score when the Hawks had a mega flood in place?

    A. Retain possession outside the 50 metre arc and wait for an opportunity to present itself within scoring range.

    B. Bomb it long into the heart of the flood (note that we chose this option and it didn't work).

    Of course, there's also the fact that we would in fact benefit from any time wasted looking for a decent option.

      mo64 said:
    And btw, you forgot to mention example 3: In the final minute, Hawthorn bombing the ball to Roughhead, who was playing from behind. See, it can work.

    Who are you saying 'see' to? Who said it can't work? I certainly didn't and I can't see that anyone else in the thread said that.

    Anyway, you do realise the entirely different contexts, right? Hawthorn were behind and the clock was running out so they had to score. They also had a very open forward line and a great target to kick to.

    In contrast we had time/the scoreboard on our side and were battling a mega flood with no forward the stature of Roughead (let alone pretty clear).

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      Rogue said:
    It's great to kick long if that's the best option.

    Unfortunately the cry of 'just kick it long' and the like are excluding all other options - it's not about best option footy, it's a call to just kick it long, regardless of the percentages.

    Last season we had the lowest number of long kicks and inside 50s in the comp. by a considerable margin. Why, because we didn't play with a structure that allowed for a long kick as an option.

    It seems ingrained into the mindset of the players that going long is a sin. We were totally uncompetitive last season playing a gamestyle that revolved around keeping possession. We were incapable of scoring and stopping the opposition from scoring. It was excruciating to watch. Maybe that's why some of us cry out to just kick the bloody thing.

    As for the opposition flooding our forward line, how about the coach allowing our mids to push forward occasionally to create a contest. Without looking up the stats, I doubt that any of our mids kicked more than 15 goals last season.

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      mo64 said:
    Without looking up the stats, I doubt that any of our mids kicked more than 15 goals last season.

    Our forwards barely kicked that.

    I'll admit I'm guilty of calling out the 'just kick the damn thing', but sometimes its born out of frustration from our ability to get ourselves in real trouble by overusing the handball, and more often than not handpassing to someone who is under more pressure than the giver.

    Saying that though, I just hope the long kick comes so it can provide a contest 50mtrs up the ground, in a hopefully a 50/50 situation rather than lose the ball at CHB with the most common result being a goal against.

    When we become proficient in the possesion game Ill probably tone down on the 'just kick it' but till then, I'd prefer a long kick to an area where a turnover doesnt directly result in a goal.

    Ahh football

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      mo64 said:
    Last season we had the lowest number of long kicks and inside 50s in the comp. by a considerable margin. Why, because we didn't play with a structure that allowed for a long kick as an option.

    It seems ingrained into the mindset of the players that going long is a sin. We were totally uncompetitive last season playing a gamestyle that revolved around keeping possession. We were incapable of scoring and stopping the opposition from scoring. It was excruciating to watch. Maybe that's why some of us cry out to just kick the bloody thing.

    As for the opposition flooding our forward line, how about the coach allowing our mids to push forward occasionally to create a contest. Without looking up the stats, I doubt that any of our mids kicked more than 15 goals last season.

    Last season, it was nearly impossible for us to kick long because we played the majority of the year with a 2 or 3 man forward line.

    Put it this way - if it comes down to a short pass to a contest or a long kick to a contest, I'll take the long kick every time. Especially if we have even numbers at the contest which has been our biggest issue of late.

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    Yeah I do that sometimes. A holdover from the Balme years with the chip chip chip 48 posessions to get it to center wing and then stuff it up and have a goal kicked against us with 3. I try not to do it (and I'll try harder now) but those years traumatised me and in closed games it all come rushing back.

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