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Crashing the pack

killawatts
in Melbourne Demons

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Watching the Richmond vs Carlton game last night i was impressed with Jack Riewoldt and Matthew Kreuzer amoungst others who, even when they had little chance

of marking the ball, continually crashed packs to bring the ball to ground. I'm only really airing my own grievances here but not since Neita left a few years ago have we

had any kind of physicality in the forward line.

When there is poor/high delivery into the forward line there should always be someone hitting the pack at pace so that it either comes to ground or makes the opposition

earn the mark. Has anyone seen anything I haven't that would suggest there might be a physical presence up there or will I be banging my head against a brick wall again all season?

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    We must've been watching different games.

    hmmm point taken. it probably only happened 2 or 3 times but i guess i notice it more cause i'm always screaming at our players to do it.

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    I guess I'm yet to catch on with this 'pack crashing' obsession around here. I'd rather our forwards led to space and took clean marks rather than the ball being thumped to a pack of players that requires someone to 'crash' and hope for a good bounce of the ball when it hits the ground.

    It's not the 80s-90s anymore.

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    I guess I'm yet to catch on with this 'pack crashing' obsession around here. I'd rather our forwards led to space and took clean marks rather than the ball being thumped to a pack of players that requires someone to 'crash' and hope for a good bounce of the ball when it hits the ground.

    It's not the 80s-90s anymore.

    Don't get me wrong I'd love to see our players mark on the lead but often the delivery to the forwards isn't good enough and it'd be nice to see some help for our

    small forwards in the air. It's probably more about having some numbers around the ball when we get it inside 50.

    Does anyone know what our conversion rate was when we went inside 50 last year?

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    I guess I'm yet to catch on with this 'pack crashing' obsession around here. I'd rather our forwards led to space and took clean marks rather than the ball being thumped to a pack of players that requires someone to 'crash' and hope for a good bounce of the ball when it hits the ground.

    It's not the 80s-90s anymore.

    This was my original thought on reading the OP.

    These players are getting the chance to crash a pack because the ball is being kicked to a pack.

    They are unable to find a clear option on a lead; not necessarily a good thing.

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    I guess I'm yet to catch on with this 'pack crashing' obsession around here. I'd rather our forwards led to space and took clean marks rather than the ball being thumped to a pack of players that requires someone to 'crash' and hope for a good bounce of the ball when it hits the ground.

    It's not the 80s-90s anymore.

    As you said ID, it's not the 80s-90s anymore. Forwards being allowed to continually lead in to space is harder and harder in footy these days.

    I agree with Killa, we definitely need a bigger body up there, not necessarily to crash packs, but just to make a contest and allow the ball to hit the ground. I don't think Miller is that person, Stef Martin could have that ability.

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    I agree with the sentiment and I suspect Bailey does also given that he constantly puts Martin down there. The problem is that Martin just doesn't move around the forward line like a forward, he look to me like he is defending our forward line, I don't think he actually believes he should be there. If they are going to persist with him there they should make him the primary target, tell him to own the forward line and demand the ball, if he doesn't mark it or can't kick straight then so be it, it couldn't be any worse than what we are doing now.

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    Forget packs... If Jamar or Miller smash Hodge standing in a "hole" early on, give them the B&F after the match.

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    I guess I'm yet to catch on with this 'pack crashing' obsession around here. I'd rather our forwards led to space and took clean marks rather than the ball being thumped to a pack of players that requires someone to 'crash' and hope for a good bounce of the ball when it hits the ground.

    It's not the 80s-90s anymore.

    We need to be able to do both, thats why we have players like Wonna & Maric etc, & why we recruited Fitzpatrick.

    We need to play all the tricks in the box.

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    I agree with the OP here. While it is clearly better to take a clean uncontested mark, if that isn't on offer we need players who will hit the pack hard and at the least force the ball to ground. Personally I look at crashing packs as about the most fun you can have on field without being suspended. I would love to see a few of our players develop that mentality and just hurl themselves in. It might not win them the ball, but at least it will stop the opposition getting a mark and an easy rebound.

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