How easy is football?

[Sir Why You Little 37,322]

G. Ablett Jnr. is very strong in the hips. Similar to Ju$$ & Chappy. They stand up in a tackle. Jonesy is looking stronger this year. Played a cracker on Saturday.

[Macca 17,118]

Agree with all you have said except regarding Ablett. Like his father he is extremely strong, I would not be surprised if he is one of the strongest midfielders in the AFL (maybe not at lifting dumbbells, but through the legs and core). It's why he is so hard to tackle, and can still get the ball off with three blokes hanging off him.

Yep , Ablett is very strong . You're right and maybe not a great example but ..............................when he puts his head over the ball he can still get whacked . Most of the little fella's these days have a bit of muscle on them so it's all relative to a certain extent . I like that little Nahas bloke at the Tigers . Got some go in him .

Last year , we didn't win enough contested footy . Especially in the midfield .

Cheers

[Fork 'em 7,046]

Excellent at contested ball , won the clearances , beat their man to the ball , put their body on the line .

Have forwards who play in front all the time and can "keep the ball in" .

Tackle well , pressure well , have numbers at the ball , create space , shepherd , block ,

Have defence's that work as a team and are miserly .

etc , etc , etc

The above could well describe footy of any era .

Exactly , John Northey instilled this in us back in the 80's and every-one thought he was a genius.

As for the standing of the mark and putting pressure on .

The 2nd rd 2010 against collingwood.

Previous week we were made look a circus against the dawks .

Rd2 against the pies we ran to the mark , bounced up and down on it and put serious pressure on the them all day and ended up drawing them.

We played like this for a few more games untill the wheels fell off again and we fell back into bad/lazy habits .

[Fork 'em 7,046]

Exactly , John Northey instilled this in us back in the 80's and every-one thought he was a genius.

Ahem .....

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/neeld-gameplan-returns-melbourne-to-1980s/story-fn7si05c-1226291152173

[rpfc 28,931]

Ahem .....

http://www.heraldsun...c-1226291152173

Yeah, saw that.

A lot of our possessions are contested - you can read that a couple ways: either we are winning more contested ball, or we are creating more contested ball by the way we deliver the footy...

And that leads into the stat that we kick the ball more than twice as much as we handball. And that will lead to more contested footy.

We will see if this is a trend, or just players getting used to playing with a new system, or possibly - kids in the NAB Cup just hoofing it and skewing data...

[Ouch! 2,269]

We will see if this is a trend, or just players getting used to playing with a new system, or possibly - kids in the NAB Cup just hoofing it and skewing data...

You would have to assume it is a trend, otherwise Neeld would not be coming out stating that he is happy with the way players are sticking to structures etc.... I would imagine if the kids were just bombing it long then the coaches would not be happy, and would say that publicly.

I recall geelong changed their style slightly in the last few rounds of last year which saw them blow collingwood apart in the last couple of rounds of the year and ultimately got them a flag. That change saw them booting the ball long and deep into their forward line and pressure around the contest deep in their forward half.... whilst they still played in the corridor and not down the flanks, you can't help but wonder whether Neeld tried a similar plan against Collingwood.

Whether that same style is used against the Hawks, I don't know.... but he did mention the need for us to have multiple styles of play, and that the very best teams can switch that up in the middle of a game, .... one reason why I am interested to see how we go against the Hawks.

Am actually very happy that we have had back to back matches against these two clubs in the preseason.... two of the best teams out there, with different styles of play. Good preparation for our boys, and managing to snag a win @ etihad against the Pies will give them enormous confidence in what Neeld and the other coaches have been drilling into them over the preseason...

[La Dee-vina Comedia 17,053]

G. Ablett Jnr. is very strong in the hips. Similar to Ju$$ & Chappy. They stand up in a tackle. Jonesy is looking stronger this year. Played a cracker on Saturday.

Warning: the following is not intended to re-start a debate about personality.

Compare the body shapes of Ablett and Tom Scully. If Scully does not build up his body size, particularly around the hips, I think he will struggle to convert his talent. And that comment would have applied whether he had stayed or not.

[Sir Why You Little 37,322]

Warning: the following is not intended to re-start a debate about personality.

Compare the body shapes of Ablett and Tom Scully. If Scully does not build up his body size, particularly around the hips, I think he will struggle to convert his talent. And that comment would have applied whether he had stayed or not.

Correct. Absolutely...$6 mill. A big gamble.