This is a post I have noticed at most games I have been to this year.

One thing I am getting a bit jack about is this constant cry amongst our supporters to 'kick the damn ball' or to 'kick it long' when our players are trying to extract the pill from heavy traffic.
I am wondering how knowledgeable our supporters really are about the game. The last time I played was when I was in primary school but surely we must understand that just bombing it brainlessly and long into the forward line and along the wings will results in the same kind of brain dead football we saw against the Eagles. We do chip a bit I admit but I am going to crack it the next time when we are surrounded by multiple tacklers and some nuffy yells out 'KICK THE BALL!'

It's been happening for years.

I've come to grips with the fact that the majority of football supporters simply don't understand the game, especially the value of maintaining possession, calmly and patiently waiting for a decent option, or switching to the weak side in the backline.

It's amazing they don't, considering all good teams do this, but it's like they only pay attention to the goals being scored, not how they are created.

My other favourite is "Man up Watts"

Is it just us or is it everyone else too? This 'kick it long' stuff.
Yeah, the Watts stuff is there chookrat. He doesn't help his cause but a lot of the focus on him causes others to overlook other people's slack efforts.

There is a time for it, but it needs to be long and close to the boundary. Some times the long kick was the right option as there was a 1v1, 2v2 down the line.

This is a post I have noticed at most games I have been to this year.

One thing I am getting a bit jack about is this constant cry amongst our supporters to 'kick the damn ball' or to 'kick it long' when our players are trying to extract the pill from heavy traffic.

I am wondering how knowledgeable our supporters really are about the game. The last time I played was when I was in primary school but surely we must understand that just bombing it brainlessly and long into the forward line and along the wings will results in the same kind of brain dead football we saw against the Eagles. We do chip a bit I admit but I am going to crack it the next time when we are surrounded by multiple tacklers and some nuffy yells out 'KICK THE BALL!'

I suspect it's largely because our supporter base has an average age of 73 and the long kicking game is engrained in them

On the plus side, going to the footy is one of the few places where I feel young

On the negative side, we need success shortly to attract new fans. Or we'll be holding the AGM in a phone box

Is it just us or is it everyone else too? This 'kick it long' stuff.

Yeah, the Watts stuff is there chookrat. He doesn't help his cause but a lot of the focus on him causes others to overlook other people's slack efforts.

It's not just us, every club has the same supporters yelling out the same stuff.

"Just kick it!" / "Kick it long"

Often followed shortly after by

"Who was that to?" / "No-one there!"

Edited April 21, 201411 yr by Dr. Gonzo

There are times where you should handball, there are times when you should kick it and there are times when you should kick it long to clear it.
if you watched the game today you would have seen both Geelong and Hawkthorn know when to do all 3.
We mainly do the first 1 (handball) so i assume some supporters are frustrated as there a times a big clearing kick is the right way to go, which we rarely use.

This is a post I have noticed at most games I have been to this year.

One thing I am getting a bit jack about is this constant cry amongst our supporters to 'kick the damn ball' or to 'kick it long' when our players are trying to extract the pill from heavy traffic.

I am wondering how knowledgeable our supporters really are about the game. The last time I played was when I was in primary school but surely we must understand that just bombing it brainlessly and long into the forward line and along the wings will results in the same kind of brain dead football we saw against the Eagles. We do chip a bit I admit but I am going to crack it the next time when we are surrounded by multiple tacklers and some nuffy yells out 'KICK THE BALL!'

I was sick of this back when the flood first entered the game, & we couldn't break past it, especially at Etihad. must have been 2007 or 8. we were still trying to run & carry in space.

the fans cried kick it,,,, just kick it. I argued with them that we need to get our system going to break the flood/zone.

# I now wonder if I didn't understand them back then !!! as I thought they wanted us to just kick long & goals would fall into place??? Now I wonder if I Totally misunderstood what it was, they were complaining about. I was trying to be logical... BUT, were they ???

*Now I wonder if what they were really saying (subconsciously), was actually, "I hate this football flooding & zoning" ??? I just hadn't thought about this; this way, until recently.

Is this the main reason we have struggled to get crowds to our games, over the last 7 or so years ??? Other teams have been winning so they crowds would still be going, at least getting some reward from Wins... even if the poetic flow of our game has diminished.

Edited April 21, 201411 yr by dee-luded

Isn't it better for the ball to be turned over 60 metres closer to our goals than only 20?

This is a post I have noticed at most games I have been to this year.

You've only noticed that this year. Have you been overseas?

I was overseas for about 5 years from 2004-2010 but maybe I notice now as I can see there are issues with the club that are fixable and I realize that 'kick it long! or just 'kick(ing) it''is not the answer.