The Craig Report - Round 3

[PaulRB 6,312]

As fascinating as it is discussing Dermot's views of some Storm players view's of our players bathing habits as an indicator of progress is (sarcasm alert).

I though it would be more interesting to discuss the two examples from the WC game that Craig presented of the style of footy Melbourne is trying to develop.

See The Craig Report - Round 3

Having been at the game, he identified the two patches of play that got me most excited (except Davey missed the set shot on goal) as indicative of pressure, composure and the ability to deliver the ball through defensive structures. These passages of play made me start to believe we could be competitive again soon.

Thoughts?

[Demonised 1,323]

I'm always convinced by Craig's thoughtful approach and if we could reproduced this vision for four quarters, I'd be a happy man. The football? Good, honest, fast stuff. No stop and start. Plenty of looking for options before delivering. Lots of run from behind the ball.

[RedsoxMan 144]

Neil Craig comes acrross very well, but did not answer the direct question , of what went wrong in the 3rd Quarter.

Why cannot our team match the intensity of WC ?

Is our defense that bad that they cannot spolt opposition forwards marking?

Edited April 16, 2013 by RedsoxMan

[rpfc 28,087]

Neil Craig comes acrross very well, but did not answer the direct question , of what went wrong in the 3rd Quarter.

Why cannot our team match the intensity of WC ?

Is our defense that bad that they cannot spolt opposition forwards marking?

There is your answer - there is no excuse.

He answered by talking about the progress made in the first half.

I read it as saying that they would normally deserve a bake for their inexplicable drop off but relative to last week it was gold standard.

[Fat Tony 5,189]

Our players are clearly instructed to kick instead of handball when the ball pressure is low, particularly in the back half. Whilst the game plan works on occasion, as the clips showed, these examples are the exception rather than the rule. IMO good team defence will continue to see us kick down the line too often if we preserve with this strategy and the plan also requires a level of foot skills that most AFL players just don’t have.

As much as Neeld might view a more central, run and handball game style as Russian Roulette, at least you can win under that approach a reasonable percentage of the time. The current game plan means the opposition has the advantage when we have the ball in the back half and it looks like we are just holding the ball to waste time rather than with the purpose to score.

[Longsufferingnomore 1,622]

I saw persistence, run and courage in those clips. I'm looking forward to seing more of that on Sunday.

[Chook 15,001]

From those clips, it appears that Aaron Davey could still be a real part of our plans. He featured in both of those goals, and not just as a crumber.

[DeeSpencer 25,019]

I was most impressed by the hard work infront of the ball. That and a couple of skilled kicks and the game opens up. These were from deep in defense we manage to move the ball.

Of course football is even easier when you win the contested ball and keep it in your forward half. It wasn't perfect but the clip with forward pressure was better.

[Cheap Seats 3,310]

Our players are clearly instructed to kick instead of handball when the ball pressure is low, particularly in the back half. Whilst the game plan works on occasion, as the clips showed, these examples are the exception rather than the rule. IMO good team defence will continue to see us kick down the line too often if we preserve with this strategy and the plan also requires a level of foot skills that most AFL players just don’t have.

As much as Neeld might view a more central, run and handball game style as Russian Roulette, at least you can win under that approach a reasonable percentage of the time. The current game plan means the opposition has the advantage when we have the ball in the back half and it looks like we are just holding the ball to waste time rather than with the purpose to score.

You may think I am picking on you FT - I am not

I do agree with what you say but I do wonder if you realise the majority of the team is very inexperienced at AFL laevel and may not be AFL conditioned which is why the game plan falls apart so easily???

I am not making excuses for Neeld - but i won't buy it's all his fault at the moemnt

Craig's clip gave me a small smile for the fisrt time in a few week, i enjoyed it, even if he didn't give too much away