2015 AFL National Coaching Conference

[rpfc 28,729]

Was lucky enough to go to the AFL National Coaching Conference on the weekend and thought I would share where AFL people think coaching is at and where it is going.

Keynote Speakers: Alistair Clarkson, Brendan Bolton, Leigh Russell (http://www.leighrussell.com.au/), Shane Pill (West Adelaide) and Matt Jones (Dandenong Stingrays)

There were a couple more that I didn't attend for the sake of relevance and time management but the clift notes to what they said:

Clarkson - 'Fun and Games'

Apparently, the higher you go in the elite pyramid of footy, the less enjoyment the players seem to have playing the game. At the Hawks, they have a focus on playing games at training that look at game sense and spatial awareness and less on the usual drills that we have all grown up with in our footy lives. The games would include anything from a handball game to some soccer to some head tennis with the soccer ball to anything they can think of. He cited James Frawley as one player that was surprised to see how many 'games' they were playing at training...

Bolton - 'Creating a Learning Environment'

'Challenge the comfortable, and comfort the challenged' was the message from Bolton about how he works with the players at the Hawks. In relation to the games they play at training - he reiterated that that is how one learns quicker - not by being told what to know, but to work it out themselves. The players would then take those basic lessons into games of where to run, when to block, when to help, when to corral and not tackle etc. He noted that both Clarkson and himself have a background in teaching and it shows through in how they approach teaching the players as a participant in the knowledge gathering rather than a recipient.

Russell - 'Emotional Intelligence'

This is something that we will know a great deal about and something that I have seen the importance of since Roos has taken over. We have all seen the failure of coaches that do not have a balanced approach to those under their charge with their emotions and empathy. She said that EI stems out of self-awareness and that those that can control their emotions and display a level of empathy and build relationships can then begin to coach - before that happens, you have nothing.

Pill and Jones - 'Practical Coaching of Game Sense drills'

We were treated to a training session from the Dandenong Stingrays on Etihad on Saturday (some big boys, I think TGR was there as he mentioned he saw Jake Lovett, I saw some very solid units...). The kids did their warm up and got their skills sorted and then we saw Jones take them through a handball game that is fairly simple, then incorporated some kicking and then moved into a 'zone ball' game that looked a little like an NFL-AFL-Free Jazz hybrid. Now I have done these games before with my boys, but the difference here was that these 'drills' were the focus of the sessions that they do. There is no 'coned' drill where blokes trudge from cone to cone and stand behind a line - its all free style games with a few well define rules. Another thing is that some of these games can be AFL styled but with 12v12, or 6v6, or 3v5. etc.

Another thing to note was the way the coach talked to the players - never told them what he thought they were doing wrong - he asked them what they were doing right and what they could do better and he asked specific individuals rather than the same bloke every time.

I also had a chance to hear Nathan Basset (Ball movement and transition), Darren Crocker (Stoppage work), Stan Alves (effective training sessions), and Peter Schwab (building a game plan). I will add a bit more on these later but I can expand on anything that anyone has particular interest in.

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

That was a great read rpfc. Thankyou for passing it on

[rjay 25,062]

Thanks 'rpfc', I'm very interested in this and look forward to your next instalment. It's a long time since I've done something similar and whilst a lot has changed the one constant is the need to build relationships with the players.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,906]

'Challenge the comfortable, and comfort the challenged'

That's a good way of putting it. I suspect that's the coaching style of Roos. On the other hand, (and I admit I have no evidence no back this up) I suspect Malthouse and some of his proteges agree with the first three words but perhaps not the last four.

[Wrecker45 3,378]

_{Interesting about the fun and games bit. I saw Peter Moody speak about 2 years ago and he talked about keeping his horses stimulated. Everyday he would get them to do something different rather than the same monotonous routine and he credited that tactic as a cornerstone to his success. Mind you he wasn't under investigation for cobalt at that stage.}

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,906]

_{Interesting about the fun and games bit. I saw Peter Moody speak about 2 years ago and he talked about keeping his horses stimulated. Everyday he would get them to do something different rather than the same monotonous routine and he credited that tactic as a cornerstone to his success. Mind you he wasn't under investigation for cobalt at that stage.}

Freudian slip?

[ChaserJ 5,157]

That's terrific stuff RPFC, thanks for sharing, much appreciated.

[Traja Dee 108]

Martin Flannigan wrote an interesting piece in Saturday's Age about the coaching at Collingwood. He referred to the highly sophisticated structures, game plans and techniques applied in AFL clubs that almost all AFL fans cannot appreciate without access to coaches circles.

Does anyone know of books, papers, web sites or even a CAE-type course that would explore these concepts? This seminar sounds interesting.

[TGR 1,367]

Was lucky enough to go to the AFL National Coaching Conference on the weekend and thought I would share where AFL people think coaching is at and where it is going.

Keynote Speakers: Alistair Clarkson, Brendan Bolton, Leigh Russell (http://www.leighrussell.com.au/), Shane Pill (West Adelaide) and Matt Jones (Dandenong Stingrays)

There were a couple more that I didn't attend for the sake of relevance and time management but the clift notes to what they said:

Clarkson - 'Fun and Games'

Apparently, the higher you go in the elite pyramid of footy, the less enjoyment the players seem to have playing the game. At the Hawks, they have a focus on playing games at training that look at game sense and spatial awareness and less on the usual drills that we have all grown up with in our footy lives. The games would include anything from a handball game to some soccer to some head tennis with the soccer ball to anything they can think of. He cited James Frawley as one player that was surprised to see how many 'games' they were playing at training...

My recollection was that James Frawley was surprised at how little time and space he had in their drills; and Clarkson's view was when you get out into the big spaces of the MCG, it will be relatively easier to decide on which option, and execute. You would have been at the dinner as well where Crawford referred to Frawley as well and suggested that if his decision/execution with kicking did not improve, he would be the next Simon Taylor of Hawthorn.

Bolton - 'Creating a Learning Environment'

'Challenge the comfortable, and comfort the challenged' was the message from Bolton about how he works with the players at the Hawks. In relation to the games they play at training - he reiterated that that is how one learns quicker - not by being told what to know, but to work it out themselves. The players would then take those basic lessons into games of where to run, when to block, when to help, when to corral and not tackle etc. He noted that both Clarkson and himself have a background in teaching and it shows through in how they approach teaching the players as a participant in the knowledge gathering rather than a recipient.

Clarkson and Bolton have brought the inquiry-based-learning model into footy from the education sector. Bolton's definition of learning was "Being comfortable about being uncomfortable" resonated as well.

Russell - 'Emotional Intelligence'

This is something that we will know a great deal about and something that I have seen the importance of since Roos has taken over. We have all seen the failure of coaches that do not have a balanced approach to those under their charge with their emotions and empathy. She said that EI stems out of self-awareness and that those that can control their emotions and display a level of empathy and build relationships can then begin to coach - before that happens, you have nothing.

Her anecdote about how Clarko got the Russell's over to Hawthorn...as opposed to the PA response was interesting. I was waiting for her to use Rain Man as an example to us simpletons.

Pill and Jones - 'Practical Coaching of Game Sense drills'

We were treated to a training session from the Dandenong Stingrays on Etihad on Saturday (some big boys, I think TGR was there as he mentioned he saw Jake Lovett, I saw some very solid units...). The kids did their warm up and got their skills sorted and then we saw Jones take them through a handball game that is fairly simple, then incorporated some kicking and then moved into a 'zone ball' game that looked a little like an NFL-AFL-Free Jazz hybrid. Now I have done these games before with my boys, but the difference here was that these 'drills' were the focus of the sessions that they do. There is no 'coned' drill where blokes trudge from cone to cone and stand behind a line - its all free style games with a few well define rules. Another thing is that some of these games can be AFL styled but with 12v12, or 6v6, or 3v5. etc.

Another thing to note was the way the coach talked to the players - never told them what he thought they were doing wrong - he asked them what they were doing right and what they could do better and he asked specific individuals rather than the same bloke every time.

They spoke well didn't they. Look, in footy, like education and most other learning environments, we have made the late transition from chalk-n-talk lecturer to inclusive/facilitator/inquiry-based/asking questions etc.... Sounds good...makes sense...but I reckon it is over-correction at the minute......in both sectors.

I also had a chance to hear Nathan Basset (Ball movement and transition), Darren Crocker (Stoppage work), Stan Alves (effective training sessions), and Peter Schwab (building a game plan). I will add a bit more on these later but I can expand on anything that anyone has particular interest in.

Bassett was amazing in my view. A better talker than Goodwin in my opinion. Confident and a thinker, even in his playing days (re-Barry Hall). I thought he gave away an unusually massive amount of IP. (We might post a bit more of what he had to say before our 3rd NAB match)

Crocker was great in terms of how simple stoppages are viewed and worked on at AFL level. I would never have guessed that there is invariably one target player in a centre bounce. (In ology I reproduced his opposition analysis against Melbourne for round 23 last year). Against Sandilands though, might be worth trying Ziebell and another 3 mids at the CB if Goldy aint getting a hand to it.

Alves and Schwab I passed on as I thought they were going to be too general and too 80's 90's.

Instead I went to Kingsley (Gameplan and consequences), George Stone(Assistant Coach) and the tackle man from QLD.

Where could it improve?

Other than the Medallion Club steak on Saturday night, it was all good. Lawrie needs a bit more uppers, whereas Parko a few downers IMO. I probably should have considered Nick Maxwell's leadership thing too.

Edited February 3, 2015 by TGR

[rpfc 28,729]

Agree with all that - Frawley sounds as if he will have to lift a cog or be asked to play a 'Taylor role' - and by that we mean one where he is not allowed to kick and only handball or be dropped... Crawford is a funny bloke and someone that funny isn't as stupid as he lets himself be portrayed on The Footy Show (not that I have watched it for a decade).

It was bloody awful to hear that she had a PA coach tell her (Russell) that they were going to the Hawks because she was a bad mother...

Another coach that I chatted to went to Maxwell's and said it was very good. Nick spoke about Mick and the fact that he went to 1 AFL training session in his first two years at the Pies, he said the Mick saw him as a Captain before he did himself, and baked him once in front of the group to see his reaction and started the process to get him the captaincy after that. The Pies will manage their leaders by prodding Sidebottom et al to speak about things but with advanced warning of a couple of minutes so that they can think of something smart to say and the group will see them as their leaders (not so certain that is the best way to mould your group just quietly...). He is working with the Storm and one little thing he is teaching them is to go hard for 15 metres and then reassess whether to continue or what to do; if you assess before you 'go' you have hesitated and you will be too late - said he did that with the spoil in the latter stages of the game against the Saints in the 2010 GF.

Had a chance to speak one-on-one to Parko and it is amazing how much energy he has and passion for the game - told him about the struggle up in Canberra about recruiting people to AFL and keeping the kids engaged, seemed to be interested but he would be one of the few...

I will have a look at my notes and give some depth on the Bassett and Crocker 'seminars' - there is some actionable points for coaches and players in there.

Alves was good but was simply talking about how to reach blokes at training - I got a bit out of it for obvious reasons but there wasn't a lot there.

Schwab was far too theoretical about game plans and club structure and it didn't really hit any relevant points for us (he is a List Manager for the Lions based in Melbourne) - but I won't criticise him too much; Terry Wallace was telling me that the AFL just gives people the topics and they work out what to say. Clarkson threw his out the window and told us that straight away but Wallace was stuck with List Management which would be relevant to about .1% of the attendees.

Certainly agree about the steak, it would classify as sashimi it was so rare and an off cut it was so tough...

[dpositive 1,672]

Thanks rpfc and TGR for your insightful and instructive appraisal of these sessions. It helps me appreciate the complexities and the effort people are undertaking.

I reckon your clubs whoever they are are fortunate to have people with your interest, passion and capacity.

Feel free to continue to provide your perspective on this and any other coaching and team related issues.

I will regard your posts with a degree more authority.

[rpfc 28,729]

Darren Crocker (NM Midfield Coach) "Stoppages and Bodywork"

That's my own title, the official one was 'Stoppages and Transition' but I got more transition chat from Bassett (I will get to in another post).

They want to be the iniators and agressors at stoppages and while that is all well and good for any team to say, what they mean by that is that they won't wait for contact - they will give it first, they will try to work you under the ball, push you off to give themselves room, and shepard and push you to keep you from going to where you want to go.

He illustrated that they train the players how to do these things using a very simple drill with the small trampoline net that every sunday cricket team seems to have these days. Just throw the ball to a pair and get one to aggressively get in front and cut off a player at the last minute (called wedging), work a player under the ball and take the ball over the top (this was illustrated with a ruckmans tap and is the player is called the 'piggy in the middle' - they try to avoid getting to close to the contest), and push an opponent off balance and receive the ball and hand it off. All of these require timing. He noted Ziebell is effortlessly well timed with all his aggressive movements (they love this bloke, seriously love him).

Stoppage Principles: Balance attack and defence, Roles, Urgency and Workrate, be predictable with the taps and create space, 3rd man up an option (and not just to punch it a distance, also as a close tap), Inside contest (get into position late, drift there, create seperation), outside contest (wings, mid fwd roles defined and very disciplined), and use the first option when you get the pill.

Point of Interest - he showed the Hawks manipulating both the Power and the Swans at stoppages in the forward half and on centre wing. With the Power, the forwards came up in a wall to the goal side of the stoppage to stop the power from going 'out the back' and through the middle. Against the Swans the made the Swans forwards push up into nothing positions following a deliberately misplaced wing that gave them one less forward, the other wing does the same and suddenly the Swans have 4 forwards (as a CHF, when this happens often, it is curtains - you can't score much when it is 4 against 6. This is using a team rule of the Swans against them. Crocker illustrated it beautifully.

And lastly, he went through a few centre clearances of the Roos including a couple against Nathan Jones. And I mean, Nathan Jones. He is our target for most of our taps and due to Jamar being a left hander and the fact that Jones gets 40% of our clearances - teams know exactly where we are going. It is testament to Jones that he continues to be so effective.

I have missed a couple of things (TGR?), but if anything peaks interest let me know and I can expand.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

With regards to "games" at training, I remember that Bailey did a lot of games at training with a tennis ball when he was coaching. I was a bit skeptical but maybe there was something to it?

[rpfc 28,729]

With regards to "games" at training, I remember that Bailey did a lot of games at training with a tennis ball when he was coaching. I was a bit skeptical but maybe there was something to it?

Clarkson says they get them playing head tennis with a soccer ball over a volleyball net...

So, who am I to tell him there is nothing there...

[TGR 1,367]

I have missed a couple of things (TGR?), but if anything peaks interest let me know and I can expand.

Actually, you remembered more than me.

The 'piggy in the middle' referred to a pair (cd) near the contest (ab). If you © are going to get sucked into the contest, you might then be exposed by the 'd' getting a quick handball receive and their out.

This goes back to the old advice that if you are going to get sucked into a contest, you have to impact it, and not let the opposition feed it out to unmarked outsiders.

[timD 994]

Great stuff from RPFC and TGR. I get drawn to the EI stuff (funny that).

Given its importance, my interest is in how you assess it. I know the current assessment of EI for draftees is pretty underwhelming. I wonder how EI is assessed when making coaching appointments? My bet is interview data. The flaws with this method are well-documented. I hope like hell the club is assessing this with something a little more sophisticated than interviews and reference checking.

[rpfc 28,729]

Actually, you remembered more than me.

The 'piggy in the middle' referred to a pair (cd) near the contest (ab). If you © are going to get sucked into the contest, you might then be exposed by the 'd' getting a quick handball receive and their out.

This goes back to the old advice that if you are going to get sucked into a contest, you have to impact it, and not let the opposition feed it out to unmarked outsiders.

Right you are - I will also add that Crocker did touch on a bit of transition from the initial kick out of a stoppage - he showed 3 Roos 'ball watchers' wondering forward and playing 'hope footy' as Ziebell and Wells realised they couldn't affect the footy and pushed defensively. I will certainly look out for that at stoppages with my boys now.

Great stuff from RPFC and TGR. I get drawn to the EI stuff (funny that).

Given its importance, my interest is in how you assess it. I know the current assessment of EI for draftees is pretty underwhelming. I wonder how EI is assessed when making coaching appointments? My bet is interview data. The flaws with this method are well-documented. I hope like hell the club is assessing this with something a little more sophisticated than interviews and reference checking.

The EI stuff is fascinating to me now that I am coaching more - I think when I downplayed its importance around the Neeld hiring I was ignorant to the dramatic downside of hiring someone with terrible grasp of the interaction between club and coach, coach and player, and club and player.

EI in an 18 year old would be an unfinished product but would be valuable to help players with any deficiencies as they integrate into the club.

[rpfc 28,729]

Nathan Bassett "Ball movement coach"

This one was titled "Coaching attack" but his title at Essendon is Ball Movement Coach and I believe he is also the Forward coach but he said he was the Ball Movement Coach... I won't be too hard on him, as it makes sense to have a coach dedicated to how you are moving the football. I just think it is a small step to Offensive and Defensive Co-ordinators and I know many are not a fan of the US invasion of AFL...

Anyway, he was talking to us about why the Bombers struggled last year, apparently they wanted to bring it through the middle but there was an over correction from the players to the point where they would only look in the middle - teams clog it up and turn it over. Now they are looking to 'make the field big' by having players (wings, mids, high fwds) run to the fat side wing (and near side wing) to open up the whole ground. Oddly enough, he then showed a pointless practical session on one of those football field 'tarps' that was mainly about going down the middle. But I got the idea...

A number of the concepts are similar to the ones with Crocker but the mantra about constantly reassessing how you can help your team popped up again. Whether to support, isolate, provide a lead for, get behind the footy, etc.

The bombers won't be frightened to kick short to a player in a better position and, if nothing on with run or long into space, they will look short on the angle of 45, then 90, then backwards. Something I hope Melbourne look to this year (I heard that Gilbee took a kicking class and said that we and Hawthorn are both in the top 4 for Kicking Efficiency but we are last for metres gained - again, stats will lie to you if you give them the chance).

He also spoke about leading patterns with some useless video of Bombers training where he was guessing who was in it I swear... Ambrose is learning how to lead properly after clocking up 9kms for 4 touches in one half last year. For the efficiency mad Bassett he was disappointed that Ambrose did so much pointless running. The kid was subbed he was so gassed (or useless)... The other stuff was fairly basic use of space and protection of space - I am a CHF so this wasn't new to me, if anyone wants any points to take on that let me know I have my notes right here.

And that is that for the bulk of it - excellent opportunity to get some info about how things are done at the highest level, won't go every year but will certainly make the most of it when my club wants to pay for me to go again...

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

Right you are - I will also add that Crocker did touch on a bit of transition from the initial kick out of a stoppage - he showed 3 Roos 'ball watchers' wondering forward and playing 'hope footy' as Ziebell and Wells realised they couldn't affect the footy and pushed defensively. I will certainly look out for that at stoppages with my boys now.

I couldn't make it due to work commitments and I was gutted but now I've got the synopsis im stoked.

Where abouts do you coach?

[timD 994]

Right you are - I will also add that Crocker did touch on a bit of transition from the initial kick out of a stoppage - he showed 3 Roos 'ball watchers' wondering forward and playing 'hope footy' as Ziebell and Wells realised they couldn't affect the footy and pushed defensively. I will certainly look out for that at stoppages with my boys now.

The EI stuff is fascinating to me now that I am coaching more - I think when I downplayed its importance around the Neeld hiring I was ignorant to the dramatic downside of hiring someone with terrible grasp of the interaction between club and coach, coach and player, and club and player.

EI in an 18 year old would be an unfinished product but would be valuable to help players with any deficiencies as they integrate into the club.

The EI stuff caught me by surprise too. Because of the proliferation of psuedo-scientific, psuedo-psychological instruments (I'm looking at you, DISC, and you, MBTI), I heard about EI and thought it was another one of those. It just isn't. If you are on Linkedin, try to find Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. He is a guy who writes well on lots of these sorts of topics and has done a heap of work about EI. You can often catch articles he puts up (that he has written or that cite him) and it is an easy way to get a high-quality, plain english precis of the EI stuff.

EI in an 18-year old IS unfinished...but the building blocks are already well laid down. EI adults is very straightforward to assess, but you have to got to steer a course between a lot of helpful looking total nonsense. I would not by surprised that the hawks are doing this well - I've met their sports psych a few times and he is a really good (and sharp) fella.