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Damning handball stat


jnrmac

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Sydney, Fremantle and us are the 3 teams in the negative. What do they have in common? Game plans with links to Paul Roos. It's working for the other 2 clubs. It doesn't matter if we handball backwards or forward when we're not hitting targets.

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Not quite sure if it's damning or a hint into how our players are coached to play.

Paul Roos and his assistants at the time (Longmire and Ross Lyon) both use the handball backwards as the path forward by foot. All three clubs have negative metres for handballing, but 2 of those clubs are in the top 4.

Yeah we are handballing a lot, but I suspect it's more 'what do we do next' thats the problem, where I think Sydney and Freo have that part worked out better than us.

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It doesn't matter if we handball backwards or forward when we're not hitting targets.

That's the stat that's important. Handballing or kicking backwards is not a problem if it frees up someone/provides an outlet. It is horrible if you miss the target consistently

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I'm sure this is why we hear about 2 way running all the time (I don't think they just reserve the term for offense and defense), Roos sees the value in setting up the play very methodically.

This nearly goes against the natural instinct which would be to be running forward to receive the ball. They want guys running forward but also others to run to help set up the play, first part seems to be sinking in, just need to get the skills together and hope we've got players forward to actually finish the job (and also have the confidence to kick it to them).

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I remember an article post NAB cup about our backwards handballs and they were pumping us up about it and how well it's worked. They just use stats the way they find fit

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I remember an article post NAB cup about our backwards handballs and they were pumping us up about it and how well it's worked. They just use stats the way they find fit

Seems we backed ourselves in the NAB games which we have hardly done since.

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Suppose Jones receives an out the back handball at a center clearance. Who the F does he pass it to? The ball comes out of forward line faster than it goes in.

Malceski, Shaw or Jetta who run the lines free of the packs and then delivery to Lance Franklin who's come leading out at CHF or Kurt Tippett who's got a one on one in the goal square.

Howe, Grimes and Matt Jones don't quite replace the first 3! And maybe Dawes and Hogan can replace the forwards to some extent but they need more delivery not less!

In our mid patch of the season when we won games we were still handballing backwards but we were hitting up the likes of Frawley and Dawes at CHF. Definitely think the last few weeks at least it's being a vicious cycle of no run creating no options to receive or kick to or no skill to provide incentive to run and it just repeats.

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Our most damning handball stat is how many don't hit a target from close range.

And that we handball at too closer range. If our man about to be tackled gives off and hits the target our bloke is only a foot away and gets wrapped up by the same tackler too often!

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And that we handball at too closer range. If our man about to be tackled gives off and hits the target our bloke is only a foot away and gets wrapped up by the same tackler too often!

Or the handball to the man who can break free in space but has to wait for the high looping slow handball that kills the run and the receiver get gang tackled.

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IMO one of the more damming stats this year would be total bounces for and against. I've kept an eye on it game after game and it's always horrible, will see if I can get a season total somewhere as it shows our lack of run, attack, belief in each other, and confidence, as well as our chase.

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IMO one of the more damming stats this year would be total bounces for and against. I've kept an eye on it game after game and it's always horrible, will see if I can get a season total somewhere as it shows our lack of run, attack, belief in each other, and confidence, as well as our chase.

Agreed. Have heard it mentioned on fox a few times.

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Other good sides have run backwards and win, not bounced and win. Our problem is how many times we turn it over and get punished for it as opposed to how many times opposition have lost the ball to us and we punished them, by punished them i mean we made them watch us handpass and kick it backwards woefully until the opposition fell over laughing.

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The over use of handball began with Dean Bailey trying to imitate the winning Geelong style of the time. The players couldn't do it like Geelong and instead looked like scared rabbits in the headlights, constantly passing backwards, sideways and turning it over. It's due to lack of speed, endurance, talent and guts.

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IMO one of the more damming stats this year would be total bounces for and against. I've kept an eye on it game after game and it's always horrible, will see if I can get a season total somewhere as it shows our lack of run, attack, belief in each other, and confidence, as well as our chase.

it points to our players not working hard enough to run and spread and find space.

If you watch, bounces usually come from teams "switching" deep in the back half and thus freeing up a man going out.

I have been critical of our switches - because switching relies on players running hard to get free.

We switch but don't work hard enough to free up the next man or are too slow or gunshy to pull the trigger and get the ball to the next player free.

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The over use of handball began with Dean Bailey trying to imitate the winning Geelong style of the time. The players couldn't do it like Geelong and instead looked like scared rabbits in the headlights, constantly passing backwards, sideways and turning it over. It's due to lack of speed, endurance, talent and guts.

So, just the four problems to fix then? Shouldn't be too hard.

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