Never kick it sideways/backwards by 20 metres

[jurrahcane 70]

A simple fix to our games is to instruct the players to play "forwards" and look ahead.

Our first qtr agst the Dockers was where we moved the footy, kicked fwd and looked dangerous with our fwds one-on-one.

It was frustrating to see

- 1st qtr : Pavlich/Bradley goal, where we controlled across HB, then 2-3 sideways kicks, and trunover Pavlich gets it 55 out and goes bang (Bradley marked on the line). It was dispgraceful. Suburban footy like.

- 4th qtr : Grimes 55m out, should be looking for a setup goal or just a big torp. But no, he kicks it 25metres backwards to the centre and puts Joel Mcd under pressure, turnover & goal. End of game !!

I understand the switch but these were not on, and were negative plays. Neeld take note. KISS principle. Fwd and quick play on style. Try it for god sake and give us some entertainment. If you play on like Blease/Nicolson, and get caught, so be it. But watch out, it may work.

[stuie 7,374]

A simple fix to our games is to instruct the players to play "forwards" and look ahead.

Our first qtr agst the Dockers was where we moved the footy, kicked fwd and looked dangerous with our fwds one-on-one.

It was frustrating to see

- 1st qtr : Pavlich/Bradley goal, where we controlled across HB, then 2-3 sideways kicks, and trunover Pavlich gets it 55 out and goes bang (Bradley marked on the line). It was dispgraceful. Suburban footy like.

- 4th qtr : Grimes 55m out, should be looking for a setup goal or just a big torp. But no, he kicks it 25metres backwards to the centre and puts Joel Mcd under pressure, turnover & goal. End of game !!

I understand the switch but these were not on, and were negative plays. Neeld take note. KISS principle. Fwd and quick play on style. Try it for god sake and give us some entertainment. If you play on like Blease/Nicolson, and get caught, so be it. But watch out, it may work.

How's it going in Adelaide Bails? Lol...

[dpositive 1,663]

A simple fix to our games is to instruct the players to play "forwards" and look ahead.

Our first qtr agst the Dockers was where we moved the footy, kicked fwd and looked dangerous with our fwds one-on-one.

It was frustrating to see

- 1st qtr : Pavlich/Bradley goal, where we controlled across HB, then 2-3 sideways kicks, and trunover Pavlich gets it 55 out and goes bang (Bradley marked on the line). It was dispgraceful. Suburban footy like.

- 4th qtr : Grimes 55m out, should be looking for a setup goal or just a big torp. But no, he kicks it 25metres backwards to the centre and puts Joel Mcd under pressure, turnover & goal. End of game !!

I understand the switch but these were not on, and were negative plays. Neeld take note. KISS principle. Fwd and quick play on style. Try it for god sake and give us some entertainment. If you play on like Blease/Nicolson, and get caught, so be it. But watch out, it may work.

Thats agood point it happens more regularly than it should

Also aligned with that is the need for players to look forward FIRST as they often look around for ahandpass or a backward/sideways movement while a player in front of them is running into space

By the time the double take has been done the player is covered and the opportunity is lost

Watts is particularly good at going forward as his natural instinct and often he has made that reaction before anyone is ready to receive thus he is often committing a second or third option.

[Nasher 33,613]

This happens because the play ahead is too congested, so you transfer the play to the other side of the ground where players have space. Calling for the players never to do this is all well and good, but there has to be a better option and usually if there's players free behind it means those ahead are outnumbered. Not much else you can do in that situation.

[rpfc 28,279]

Look, I get the frustration and my own team is struggling with this transition from 'bomb it long to a contest' (good against bad teams, suicide against the best teams) to hitting up short, lateral targets if that is the better option.

Sometimes they screw up because we just don't have the skills to execute, and sometimes we screw up because it wasn't the right option, but if we are to compete with the best we are going to have to be methodical with how we move the footy.

It's painful to watch (and be on the receiving end of) the 'teething' as it were...

[PaulRB 6,352]

Given our tall outs (Clark, Jamar, Sellar, Watts) we had few targets for the long bomb, which probably added to the indecision (poor decisions)...

[BIG JIM 508]

This all comes back to Footy smarts it is something that will come in time.

You could be a great kick(Tapscott) but make the wrong play.

Example: Tapscott kicks long down the line to get it forward to Green but he is coverd by 2 Freo players.(wrong play)

Sometimes you need go backwards to go forward Tapscott kicks to Grimes all by himself in the backline and opens up the other side of the ground.

You get your fast mids or forwards running to space like a bail who can make the space very quickley and is a higher % of not turning the ball over.(Right play)

The problem is that at the moment our skills and footy smarts are well below AFL standard.

The point is you can be the best kick in the game but you must also have the footy smarts to make the right call.

The hawks are great at this.

Im sure Mark Neelds footy college is working very hard on this.

[PaulRB 6,352]

Tapscott didn't play against Freo.

Did he?

[BIG JIM 508]

Tapscott didn't play against Freo.

Did he?

Just an Example because he has a great kick

[sue 9,099]

I reckon look forward first. If no good option, look backwards but only kick backwards if it will open up the other side of the ground. If it won't then far better to kick forward down the line to a contest. If you do kick backwards with no opening up option to follow you loose all the initiative and the oppos time to sort themselves out. Switching twice in a row rarely works.