Hobbles........................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

58 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

Its a good point. 16 goals is a few, Hogan and Garlett arent going to kick 8 every week. That leaves a lot of goals to come from elsewhere up the ground.

when we having some mini successes last year Pederson was good for a few goals.

Between him and Max G we need say 3 goals. Goldstein is near the end of his career but he cannot be underestimated around the ground.

We are a better team if we get a reasonable effort from the players. This is an above the shoulders coaching battle pure and simple.

2 hours ago, juzzk1d said:

Ben Brown gets his goals easily against us when we are pushing up, and get caught off guard. When they rebound we are always looking to scramble and get a fist in to spoil. Need a body on him constantly with great closing speed as Brown is quick off the mark. Frost suits this perfectly. Will allow Lever to zone off and play that intercept/spoiler for what he's known for.

 

 

Possibly the best strategy mentioned so far, combined with our mids cutting off the Norf Melbum feeders upon whom Brown and Co tend to depend. The talls will be the battlements; the mids will be the archers. The backline will be the cavalry sweeping up and clearing. 

2 hours ago, Demons11 said:

O Mac has stopped Hawkins and Hipwood.  He will get the job done as long as the mids put pressure on up the ground. 

O Mac is developing nicely, he has led the most distance covered for us in both games so far.

They are running him around a fair bit so far and for him to limit their output has been nothing short of impressive. 

Hipwood and Hawkins both led OMac up the ground a lot. Norf need Brown in their forward 50 so I’d put OMac on him and bring in Frost to play on Waite. Geelong exposed our lack of height and big bodies. North have a tendency to do the same thing. 

It's all about the midfield. If the ball is brought in with zero pressure as per the 2nd quarter against Geelong, Brown will kick 10. If we put pressure on the ball carrier and force them to kick under duress, we can make life very difficult for him. We also need to give Oscar some assistance by ensuring that our loose man, if we have one, is third man up in any contest Brown goes to.

Win the clearances and dominate the midfield play. Job done. 

This is about so much more than the defenders nullifying him. He is a great player and he will kick a few. But what really counts is how well we defend as a team, and how much ascendency we have through the middle. 

Gawn has a big challenge, as do Jones, Oliver and Trac.

Whilst we need to work out Brown.... lets not forget the fact that the saints were absolutely deplorable last week, and it was perhaps more about how badly they butchered the ball and how inept they were, than how strong North were. Sure some was Norths pressure, but most was horrible horrible skills by the saints!

I'm not saying we should take North lightly, nor do I think we shouldn't have a strategy for Brown, but some people are getting psych'd out before the game has even started because of Brown kicking a few goals last week.

Interestingly most of the big powerful forwards have started the season strongly (except Hawkins) There 12 players currently on track for an 80 goal season!! (unlikely I know)  

If we play our brand of football, the brand that we have played for 6 out of the 8 quarters this year we should win and win well. 

.... BTW that came out a lot more optimistically than I had planned it to be! 

12 hours ago, ignition. said:

Hello all,

As stated above, how do we stop Ben Brown this coming weekend? I'm sure the thought has crossed the minds of club staff this week.

Last year Brown kicked 4 and 5 goals in the two games he played against us. He's also in fine form of late, so nullifying his influence will be beneficial.

Aside from winning more out of the midfield, I'd like to see three tall defenders (O.Mc, Frost, and Lever) face he and Waite. Ideally I'd like to see Lever used as the loose to cut off the ball early, or block his ability to lead up forward.

What are your thoughts?

1 Win midfield and stoppages

2 Play Frost on him

3 Which releases Lever to play as designated rebounder intercept player

its that simple!

Brown is a lead-into-acres-of-space-and-mark player.  It is essential that we have a player prepared to drop into that hole between the kicker and Brown.  He doesn't have to be particularly big but courage is a necessity. Maybe ANB or Bugg?

Put big pressure on his feeders. The poorer his delivery the worse he plays.

And as some have said, chop off his leads, fill the hole

48 minutes ago, ProperDee said:

Brown is a lead-into-acres-of-space-and-mark player.  It is essential that we have a player prepared to drop into that hole between the kicker and Brown.  He doesn't have to be particularly big but courage is a necessity. Maybe ANB or Bugg?

Cou'dn't have said it any better myself, ProperDee. He isn't a contested marking beast, he is most damaging out on a lead.

Block the space and intercept the incoming ball. Time for Lever to show us why we paid him the big $.

1 minute ago, Demon Disciple said:

Cou'dn't have said it any better myself, ProperDee. He isn't a contested marking beast, he is most damaging out on a lead.

Block the space and intercept the incoming ball. Time for Lever to show us why we paid him the big $.

Play an extra man in defence (Frost?) and let Lever do his thing? 

Let Ben Brown kick as many goals as he wants. He might rack up lots of goals, but are they really that damaging?

25 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Play an extra man in defence (Frost?) and let Lever do his thing? 

Why? 

and what I mean is .... are you saying that we need Frost (instead of OMac) to man Brown? or we need both of them?  if both,... who is the other tall in their forward line that warrants his inclusion?

Do we need an extra tall to block the space? why not use the current players who can mark run and carry (and kick) better that Frost? Lever can still play that role with our current back 6 unless Nth put another tall up forward to drag him back to the goal line, but that strategy will then cause issues for Ben Brown and finding space. 

 

9 hours ago, chookrat said:

Let Ben Brown kick as many goals as he wants. He might rack up lots of goals, but are they really that damaging?

Only on the scoreboard !

How many goals kicked on O Mac this year?

North will be asking how do we stop O Mac stopping Ben Brown. 

Freeze him with Frost...

Rip his eyeballs out...

Kick him in the ankle...

Stomp his foot...

Give him the Hopoate finger...

Tell him he is not Brown. But White...

Get Oscar to take him too McDonalds...

Book him a flight to Tasmania...

Tell him there is auditions for the Simpsons this weekend...

1 minute ago, Dee tention said:

Freeze him with Frost...

Rip his eyeballs out...

Kick him in the ankle...

Stomp his foot...

Give him the Hopoate finger...

Tell him he is not Brown. But White...

Get Oscar to take him too McDonalds...

Book him a flight to Tasmania...

Have to draw the line at "rip his eyeballs out" 

 

Unless it's a complete accident!!

 

The Hopoate finger has been found to be ineffectual, so also may need to be refined.

Ben Brown wasn't the problem last year at the G it was Cunnington and Higgins who won that game. We need to win the midfield battle 

Jobs done.

On 04/04/2018 at 11:00 AM, Ethan Tremblay said:

Hipwood and Hawkins both led OMac up the ground a lot. Norf need Brown in their forward 50 so I’d put OMac on him and bring in Frost to play on Waite. Geelong exposed our lack of height and big bodies. North have a tendency to do the same thing. 

How do we stop Brown? If the above is not working by the start of the second quarter,  hit him/her hard with the full body mass of Pedo or Frost, lower down at the legs. Accidentally, of course. Shame..

1 hour ago, Kiss of Death said:

Jobs done.

Something good thinking about this...two bigger bodies. Pedo and Frost. Crunch. Time for some oldtime footy.

I was at the Arts Centre tonight to see Lano + Woodley. Guess who i saw there? ... Yep, BB himself!!!