Coming by round 5 - the Roos blueprint

[CHAMP 347]

Don't forget that as recently as 2010 we had a list which many people thought might do very well, the one about which Bruce famously said "They're gonna be something aren't they" (in the growly voice). The kernel is still there and recent re-re-adjustment has been good. It's time to emerge from roaming the wilderness.

[Dinosaur Rover 197]

There is a cycle here which begins with the vilification of the past coach - no game plan, people management was shite etc.

The witch hunt, the search and then the deification of the new man - god.

Better historians than me can search our records here to see all the great predictions / promises turned to dust around one man.

At the end of the day 18 men go out and play football at one time. It would be an exceptional human being that in the era of salary caps, drafts, football departments, club mobility and statistical "money ball" that can eke out of 18 sub standard players something above tote odds, so exceptional that it is transformational.

I think Roos may succeed more because he is buying in at the bottom, a good coach in the right place.

Having said that as far as we armchair experts agree we seem to have seen our midfield issues addresed.

Do we over state the importance of the coach - is he a "man - god" (Frazier)?

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

There is a cycle here which begins with the vilification of the past coach - no game plan, people management was shite etc.

General Ralph Landry: You know, when they forced Khruschev out, he sat down and wrote two letters to his successor. He said - "When you get yourself into a situation you can't get out of, open the first letter, and you'll be safe. When you get yourself into another situation you can't get out of, open the second letter". Well, soon enough, this guy found himself into a tight place, so he opened the first letter. Which said - "Blame everything on me". So he blames the old man, it worked like a charm. He got himself into a second situation he couldn't get out of, he opened the second letter. It said - "Sit down, and write two letters".

-Traffic (2000)

[rjay 24,673]

Can't wait to see round 5 if tonight was an indication of the way we are going to play.

[rpfc 28,070]

This is the thread people. This is the thread.

Look, we will lose this game in the real stuff but we will be a real footy team this year if they can keep this up.

331 and 319.

Those two numbers have significant meaning; 331 is the number of uncontested possessions we won in Roos' first game, and 319 is the TOTAL number of possessions we averaged last year.

Uncontested possessions get tarred as being a 'soft touch' but the trust and hard work required to get them is some of the hardest work in the game.

I can't stress enough how impressive it was to see every player reward ANY player willing to run into space and/or overlap.

This is a risky gameplan that will ask for enormous effort and trust in your teammates skills (and your own) but I can see relevance from it.

And that is what I hope to see in 2014.

[CBDees 3,165]

Judging from Friday evening, by Round five we will have four wins (minimum)!

[rpfc 28,070]

Judging from Friday evening, by Round five we will have four wins (minimum)!

I think the style of play will lend itself to more wins later in the season as skills and decision making get better.

I think there are going to be some monumental, Demonland-meltdown inducing howl ups in the first 6 weeks.

[old dee 23,506]

I think the style of play will lend itself to more wins later in the season as skills and decision making get better.

I think there are going to be some monumental, Demonland-meltdown inducing howl ups in the first 6 weeks.

Agree rpfc

One swallow does not make a summer.

However it is very nice to start with a win.

[Akum 2,660]

I think the style of play will lend itself to more wins later in the season as skills and decision making get better.

I think there are going to be some monumental, Demonland-meltdown inducing howl ups in the first 6 weeks.

I thought there were quite a few monumental howl-ups that led to goals, and by some of the best kicks - Strauss, Dunn, Trengove, Frawley - and they were just about all because of misjudging the pace of kicks. It's just that with the team performing so much better overall, they're not the disaster they've been in the past.

The thing I liked was that when Richmond did apply more pressure, our game held together pretty well & we kept going, even after a bad turnover.

The game style relies on constant running by 2 or 3 players downfield to make position for a pass, and at times when we stopped doing this, it did start to look a bit shaky. As was pointed out, Frawley's bad turnover was the result of the player downfield not running hard enough towards the boundary line, so that he was forced to turn inboard and turned it over.

There was another time when Dunn did a great switch and found (I think) Trengove in lots of space on the other side, but there was clearly nobody running for him further upfield, so he had to turn and chip it sideways. It happened more than once that when the defenders switched the ball, the forwards were all caught flatfooted on the other side of the ground, rather than read what was happening and run hard to make position.

But these are just fine-tuning problems. The point is that once the right basic game style (seems to be Roos' preferred expression for it) is in place, it's not difficult to fine-tune it (but no amount of fine-tuning will help the wrong game style).

[Pipefitter 2,142]

I listened to the game on triple M. Chris Dawes was special comments in the 3rd term. What really pleased him, and myself as well, was he said they were playing like they trained. This hasn't happened for a long time. Paul Roos is such a difference. It shows how easily a game plan can be picked up if its well communicated, and tailor made to our list. Neeld failed in both aspects of this.

[Bedraggled Dee 336]

The game plan - The Roos Blueprint!!

We finally have one that has a workable structure that can be executed by the players on the ground.

I was at the game on Friday night and the was rapt to see the players drilled and knowing what to do an when. We consistently outnumbered them at the breakdown and have numerous options in defence. The congestion was cleared with a number of quick handballs out the back to players streaming behind the ball to provide options. A number of times the handball was instinctive because they knew there mates would be there. A big contrast to last year where the option was a long kick along the line to a contest.

The spread for the most part was outstanding providing options going forward. They had players in space and created the overlap on many occasions.

With a decent forward line and an average number of marks inside 50 we would have creamed the Tigers.

Overall the team was well drilled and managed to execute the plan far better than I would have expected at such an early stage. I would think the Coaching team would be very happy with the performance and we may be a fair way ahead of expectations. I dont like bagging Neeld and this is not intended that way but the game on Friday undescored why we have been so bad and its not because of the players. Neeld acheived sme great things, the fitness base he established and professonalism have provided the base for Friday's effort but it is obvious that the previous game plan was not right and the players were never able to execute it on game day.

I am goining early and going hard - we will be the Port Adelaide of the 2014 season, finals are not out the question. It will be interesting to see how we go against the cats but the boys would have have got plenty of confidence from Friday night and if they have not already bought in they will now.

[rpfc 28,070]

I listened to the game on triple M. Chris Dawes was special comments in the 3rd term. What really pleased him, and myself as well, was he said they were playing like they trained. This hasn't happened for a long time. Paul Roos is such a difference. It shows how easily a game plan can be picked up if its well communicated, and tailor made to our list. Neeld failed in both aspects of this.

This syle isn't tailor made for our list - it is an excellent game plan based on possession footy with hard running and honouring of that workrate, but it is a style that we are going to screw up quite a bit this year.

I don't think our skills are there just yet for this and because it relies heavily in the trust of ones own skills and others to get it to you, I can see us having some very trying times and I hope it won't sap the players fragile, newfound belief.

[Akum 2,660]

This syle isn't tailor made for our list - it is an excellent game plan based on possession footy with hard running and honouring of that workrate, but it is a style that we are going to screw up quite a bit this year.

I don't think our skills are there just yet for this and because it relies heavily in the trust of ones own skills and others to get it to you, I can see us having some very trying times and I hope it won't sap the players fragile, newfound belief.

Still think it relies more heavily on relentless running to make position, and it's only when this isn't done that the kicker is forced to choose between kicking long to a contest (i.e. giving up possession) or attempting a much higher risk pass to retain possession.

I agree that there will be "trying times", but I think this is more because the good teams will simply overwhelm us with pressure, and because they will have much more of the ball and use it better.

What we do have is a good foundation of a game style, but it's just a foundation at this stage. There's still a lot of fine tuning to be done. Even against Richmond, there were times when we were not able to move the ball forwards & were forced to keep kicking it sideways for too long, or when a promising forward move came to a dead stop, probably because nobody was running into space forward of the ball.

The forwards were slow to react to fast switches, which are supposed to catch the defence off-guard, but not the forwards as well. In soccer (which, let's face it, is the source of this game style), the whole point about sharing it around at the back is to be able to create openings and launch attacks. But, as the i50 stats show, we couldn't do this.

And as the game went on, their mids were too often able to break through the stoppage and stream forward down the corridor under no pressure, which is why it ended up such a close game despite our overwhelming possession advantage. So our stoppage set-ups need a lot more work.

[Grand New Flag 3,227]

The last 150 seconds of the 2nd quarter, were the most pleasing passage of football I have seen in a decade. It outlined the improvements we have made under Roos.

Richmond flooded back, and we simply played possession football patiently waiting for the opening. There were no stuff up, and no unnecessary risks. There was no kicking to a contest. Finally an opening was seen and we kicked a goal with the last kick of the quarter. Richmond did not touch the ball in the 150 seconds.

[binman 42,083]

The last 150 seconds of the 2nd quarter, were the most pleasing passage of football I have seen in a decade. It outlined the improvements we have made under Roos.

Richmond flooded back, and we simply played possession football patiently waiting for the opening. There were no stuff up, and no unnecessary risks. There was no kicking to a contest. Finally an opening was seen and we kicked a goal with the last kick of the quarter. Richmond did not touch the ball in the 150 seconds.

. Good call. I actually thought the last 10 mins of that quarter were great as Richmond looked getting right on top and we were able to disrupt their momentum by controlling the tempo. Terrific.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

The last 150 seconds of the 2nd quarter, were the most pleasing passage of football I have seen in a decade. It outlined the improvements we have made under Roos.

Richmond flooded back, and we simply played possession football patiently waiting for the opening. There were no stuff up, and no unnecessary risks. There was no kicking to a contest. Finally an opening was seen and we kicked a goal with the last kick of the quarter. Richmond did not touch the ball in the 150 seconds.

it was q3 goal to bail

really good pickup GNF I missed it at the time as did the commentary team, just watched it again from 2:38 remaining in the third:

2.38

strauss kickout barry njones georgio njones mjones strauss frawley mcdonald grimes (+50m penalty) trengove (turrnover recovered) cross vince michie strauss mjones grimes toumpas terlich frawley bail howe (via freekick) who missed a pass that was gathered by bail for a goal

that's 23 possessions in a row... seriously how long since we have done that!

even crazier is that 16 of the 18 on the park were involved in it!

[Guest]

The last 150 seconds of the 2nd quarter, were the most pleasing passage of football I have seen in a decade. It outlined the improvements we have made under Roos.

Richmond flooded back, and we simply played possession football patiently waiting for the opening. There were no stuff up, and no unnecessary risks. There was no kicking to a contest. Finally an opening was seen and we kicked a goal with the last kick of the quarter. Richmond did not touch the ball in the 150 seconds.

I noticed as well. Especially noticed when we were going backwards, which was usually a huge bugbear in the Bailey and Neeld days, there was no panic. I was getting a little shirty at times when it started as I started automatically thinking 'Oh great, here comes a turnover and a Richmond goal' but the boys thought it through and made it work. I think there will be less and less cries of 'kick the bloody ball forward!' as the year goes on as we as a supporter base will come to realize that the boys moving sideways and occasionally back is the players trying to find a loose man rather than them panicking and trying to find the first option they can find.

[1964nowMORE 480]

Had a good chat to a former Richmond board member today, he was thrilled for us and very positive in his praise for Roos. Simply said the Hardwick plan, which he doesn't like, crumbles against really good coaches in pressure, his view. He thought roos out coached Hardwick by miles and we would go somewhere. As he stated, Christ malt house has a shite collingwood team in grand finals ten years ago.....

Ah, a real coach, he can coach, teach and earn respect all at the same time!

[PartyTimeJohnny 533]

Just a thought.

Is it possible that this hard running to get into position type game plan isn't going to be suited very well to the MCG?

Isn't that the reason that the Swans and Freo of Ross Lyon don't historically play well on the G?

[Lordweaver 235]

that's a scary thought, thanks

[rjay 24,673]

Had a good chat to a former Richmond board member today, he was thrilled for us and very positive in his praise for Roos. Simply said the Hardwick plan, which he doesn't like, crumbles against really good coaches in pressure, his view. He thought roos out coached Hardwick by miles and we would go somewhere. As he stated, Christ malt house has a shite collingwood team in grand finals ten years ago.....

Ah, a real coach, he can coach, teach and earn respect all at the same time!

Been saying this for a while now, Hardwick is not a good game day coach. Will be under real pressure if the Tiges don't make the finals this year.

[dee-tox 4,835]

What worries me with this plan and we saw plenty of evidence on Friday night is short passing aspect. I counted about 30 short passes that simply missed the target. Many of the short kicks were too high or slewed off the boot. Some of our guys don't drop the ball low enough and don't stab the ball. Such kicks should never be higher than head height.

[Carrot Top 947]

What worries me with this plan and we saw plenty of evidence on Friday night is short passing aspect. I counted about 30 short passes that simply missed the target. Many of the short kicks were too high or slewed off the boot. Some of our guys don't drop the ball low enough and don't stab the ball. Such kicks should never be higher than head height.

If Roos had have worked out our low skill base by the first game of the NAB whatever cup then I'd appoint him God Almighty. GIve it time. We're coming from a low base and the players need to learn to trust each other will be in the spot they should be. If it's still like that in rnd 16 then worry, and I'll join you for a drink on that one.

[rpfc 28,070]

Just a thought.

Is it possible that this hard running to get into position type game plan isn't going to be suited very well to the MCG?

Isn't that the reason that the Swans and Freo of Ross Lyon don't historically play well on the G?

I think they are interstate teams and they struggle comparatively when away from home.

There is more room on the G, more space to work into, if the blokes stick to it and don't have tier belief sapped by their own early troubles this year, I think they will surprise themselves.

I hadn't seen us dominate a game like that for years in any form of footy. We nearly lost too, which should temper expectations of wins while this is in its infancy.

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

I don't know whether anyone mentioned on another thread.

We WON at Etihad and against a Victorian Club.

How good is that?