Gussy in the guts 

3 hours ago, BigFez said:

I think we have started taking advantage of our contested ball domination too. We have more trust in each other to win the ball so we don’t have every man and his dog trying to win it and leaving the opposition with multiple options around the contest for the quick handball. Our setup around the contest, our winning of the contested ball and lightning spread away from the contest has really sped up our ball movement and made scoring much easier than it was. 

Also choosing better options entering F50 lately has made us a much better side. 

Just a couple of ideas. Whatever it is, I like it. 

I think this is a big one.  I sense the players and coaching group may have had an honest meeting, to talk out any concerns after the last loss.

I think the players were noticeably more calm around the ball, shortly after the last loss.

I reckon from that point, things were fine tuned and then we got back some senior players which added maturity and class.

With that, we added other things like more run, and pressure around the contest, in Fritsch and Spargo.

2 hours ago, CHF said:

I have watched replays of the last few games a couple of times and the thing that strikes me is that we are hunting the ball and the players near the ball in a structured pack. Much like a wolf pack. 

There is a trust that the player contesting the ball will win it. If he falters then the next one takes a turn and so on until they are successful. further away from the ball the players are making position to make sure they either present options for the ball winner or to be in position for the next contest. The players that have come into the team have also given the rest of the team confidence.

Go the Demon Wolf Pack.

I remember Lingy saying that we were in too tight around the ball early season, and getting hemmed in by the opposition.

Things changed shortly after.

A great thread. Really interesting to read your knowledgeable opinions. 

58 minutes ago, Chook said:

In a word? TomMcDonald.

*Tomald

A lot of good points in here, great thread.

I would add better connection between Maxy and the mids. Early in the year he was getting plenty of taps but they were either going to no one or the opposition as much as to our advantage. Now we have such great connection we convert to much cleaner clearances and dominate our opponents around the Ball.

t mac back in has allowed us to play our preferred structure of two tall forwards rotating higher up and playing deeper, as evidenced during the pre-season - losing him prior to the start of the year would've thrown our whole planning for a loop

that 'third tall' has gone from pedo to weed to bull smith in five weeks plus we've also changed our structure further by dropping a patchy garlett and playing fritsch higher up the ground, meaning melksham, hannan and spargo are the nominal 'small' forwards, with petracca moving in and out of the forward system as opposed to primarily mid / fwd, he's now more fwd / mid

since half-time of the essendon game we've had brayshaw as part of the inside mid rotation, and now tyson is no longer part of it with viney's return, plus salem has done down back to a more of a defensive rebounder role, and jones who started the year more playing the wings has gone back to his traditional inside role with stints on the outside, instead of vice-versa

speaking of which, defensively we've gone quite small, and relied upon zonal coverage from the likes of lever, jetta, and hibberd in particular, and then had lewis, salem and vince providing the kicking out of the backline, with the run-and-carry roles really handed over to hibberd in particular with hunt relegated to vfl level

i would imagine we are a hard team to counter because of the diversity of roles that players can perform

2 words   Confidence and Winning 

4 minutes ago, whatwhatsaywhat said:

t mac back in has allowed us to play our preferred structure of two tall forwards rotating higher up and playing deeper, as evidenced during the pre-season - losing him prior to the start of the year would've thrown our whole planning for a loop

that 'third tall' has gone from pedo to weed to bull smith in five weeks plus we've also changed our structure further by dropping a patchy garlett and playing fritsch higher up the ground, meaning melksham, hannan and spargo are the nominal 'small' forwards, with petracca moving in and out of the forward system as opposed to primarily mid / fwd, he's now more fwd / mid

since half-time of the essendon game we've had brayshaw as part of the inside mid rotation, and now tyson is no longer part of it with viney's return, plus salem has done down back to a more of a defensive rebounder role, and jones who started the year more playing the wings has gone back to his traditional inside role with stints on the outside, instead of vice-versa

speaking of which, defensively we've gone quite small, and relied upon zonal coverage from the likes of lever, jetta, and hibberd in particular, and then had lewis, salem and vince providing the kicking out of the backline, with the run-and-carry roles really handed over to hibberd in particular with hunt relegated to vfl level

i would imagine we are a hard team to counter because of the diversity of roles that players can perform

Great comments WWWSW

Flexibility and depth through key positions keeps an emphasis on performance 

Tom McDonald turned us into a good team.

Viney turned us into a great team.

Gut running.

whether it be +5m to the pack, in support of a team mate with the ball in hand, or switching from defensive zone to press and vice versa, the team-wide commitment to run and run and run has helped immensely. (Plus everything else others have mentioned above)

43 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

2 words   Confidence and Winning 

So winning has changed since our last loss. Profound. 

Some of the self-apologists in the sack Goodwin thread have suggested that Simon has renounced his stubborn, wicked ways and simplified in respect to complex set-ups, with the Simon's Tsunami ploy from half-back being the most obvious wacky innovation. I don't often register our centre set-ups due to the distraction of Max Gawn ruck-porn, but I'm curious if there's any evidential basis to support these claims, perhaps from those who can make it to games? 

Otherwise, someone in another thread (apologies to the poster who I can't presently recall) noted that almost all of those currently on the outer from earlier in the year - Tyson, Hunt, Wagner, Bugg et al - had the common denominator of questionable foot-skills. If anything especially stood out against the Crows for me, it was our absurd disposal efficiency in the first quarter - backed by our apparently league-leading stats in the department over the past five weeks.

59 minutes ago, Skuit said:

Some of the self-apologists in the sack Goodwin thread have suggested that Simon has renounced his stubborn, wicked ways and simplified in respect to complex set-ups, with the Simon's Tsunami ploy from half-back being the most obvious wacky innovation. I don't often register our centre set-ups due to the distraction of Max Gawn ruck-porn, but I'm curious if there's any evidential basis to support these claims, perhaps from those who can make it to games? 

Otherwise, someone in another thread (apologies to the poster who I can't presently recall) noted that almost all of those currently on the outer from earlier in the year - Tyson, Hunt, Wagner, Bugg et al - had the common denominator of questionable foot-skills. If anything especially stood out against the Crows for me, it was our absurd disposal efficiency in the first quarter - backed by our apparently league-leading stats in the department over the past five weeks.

The demotion of those with poor delivery skills has made a huge difference.  

There have been very few unforced errors in recent weeks.  

12 minutes ago, monoccular said:

The demotion of those with poor delivery skills has made a huge difference.  

There have been very few unforced errors in recent weeks.  

Frostie as well ...

17 minutes ago, monoccular said:

The demotion of those with poor delivery skills has made a huge difference.  

There have been very few unforced errors in recent weeks.  

And I like and have promoted what at least Hunt and Frost and to an extent Bugg can bring to the team in terms of specific attributes in certain areas despite some obvious failings. But I'm also super-happy that Goodwin has basically proven me wrong. Wait, was it you who first brought up the omissions = poor DE% Mon? 

Edited May 29, 20186 yr by Skuit

8 hours ago, KingDingAling said:

Angus into the middle, Salem more back than middle, Petracca more forward than middle. McDonald more forward than back, Viney back in is absolutely huge. Lever into form allowed more opportunities for Hibberd and Lewis.

Great points.

All of the above plus allegedly.........repeat allegedly:

A VERY frank discussion between team leaders where damaged bridges were not only mended but reinforced very strongly.

Several players being told to completely commit to both skippers and the team or enjoy Casey regardless of their ability.

Three players told to pull their heads in and play team footy or be Casey bound.

A coaching conflict remedied.

One players health issue identified, recognised and professional treatment sought and ongoing.

Great thread,   makes a huge difference to have winning form. plus a few players that are finishing great careers playing superbly and others starting careers also playing so well but unknown to other clubs.

After the Hawthorn loss I was extremely disappointed, Richmond we had a dip, up until the last quarter when we were over run. Be much different today.  But I love the positive vibes from this thread, and read all your comments with delight.

Great thread     ...    Go Dees !!

 

 

11 hours ago, demon-4-life said:

• I think the defence settling in with lever there
• tmac coming into the side.  His running capacity and the teams confidence in him allows us to go quickly knowing that we will have one of hogan tmac or bull to mark or bring the ball to ground.  Structurally has allowed himself and hogan to interchange from deep ff into further up the ground.
• and just pure grunt and competitors all over the ground.
• gus, anb, melksham coming into form together

This plus....

Lever gaining confidence and intercepting a stack more of the ball vs first 4 rounds.

Harmes lifting work rate, coming into some form and spending a bit more time inside prior to Jack returning.

Return of Gus, then hits some stellar form (above) and his extra time inside. Amazing poise, agility and work rate.

Spargo's willingness and ability to push himself to contests through the middle and get back into the 30 meter zone.  Providing about 25% more work / opportunity than Jeffy (except on a very good day).

FritschKrieg same with more time spent off the wing and his ability to hit targets inside 50 or kick to advantage.

Hannan providing some extra run and finding space inside 50 offering more target options and creating some further opp / chaos.

Melk finding the goals more often and hitting targets i50.

Lewis finding form and winding the clock back.  Hit some stellar form also and easily in our top 5 players so far.

The injection of Smithy in the last two weeks has taken the forward line (read scoring potency/potential) to another level.

More players taking opponents on more often, trying to break tackles and finding short targets by hand and foot.

Improved kicking efficiency by many, meaning we hit more targets short, alowing us to control and switch more often.

The general work rate of players to present on the lead and benefiting from the former meaning the ball is in our possession more of the time vs the opp.

Fixing the press - ie, not pushing so high and ensuring there's always one or two covering the back.

Not playing Harmes in the ruck.

Not using chunk as a run with.

Edited May 29, 20186 yr by Rusty Nails

Here goes:

1. Over aggressive defensive press less aggressive. Lever used often as the last line of defence.

2. Not every player getting sucked into the contest. Now have players on the outside to provide links. Hawthorn killed us on the outside even though we won it on close.

3. New roles for Fritsch and Brayshaw. Both have been a revelation.

4. Return of TMac.

5. Return to form of ANB, Harmes, Melksham, Hibberd and Jetta.

6. Going through the centre corridor and switching the ball when required.

7. Hitting up forward 50 targets and not just bombing on Garlett's head.

8. Turnover merchants like Tyson, Frost, Wagner and Bugg dropped to the twos.

9. Playing Jones as an inside mid allowing Salem to play quarter back role.

10. Confidence in all of the above.

Some fantastic analysis on this thread, I’m not as great as some in analysing the game but I can only add what I see.

The Hawthorn game was worrying in regards to body language, a few players were simply not interested in listening to instruction from the leaders as I witnessed in the last quarter. I might have mentioned it in the post match of that game. 

In the Richmond game there was a lot of finger pointing throughout, more than I have probably seen before. It seemed players were uncertain about particular set-ups around the stoppages. 

Up to that stage of the season we were doing a lot of things right in terms of the stats that are meant to have you heading in the right direction but the reward wasn’t forthcoming.

As noted, our defensive press isn’t as high up the ground currently. I’m in awe of our current spread from stoppages around the ground, player A wins the clearance, takes two steps and passes off to player B knowing they will be positioned where they are meant to and off we go.  It’s second nature at the moment. The belief in one another is clearly evident. Team first mentality.

A healthy list certainly helps and that’s all we want as supporters. To have close to your best 22 each week and see if you’re good enough, if not, so be it but we can honestly say this group is special.

Gus revealed on the AFL exchange podcast Jones initiated a meeting between himself, Jones and Goody as to how Gus can break into the team after being left out early.  What a leader Jones is.

"We just spoke about a few things and how to turn it all around, in terms of the way I was responding.

"Goody's been great, because he was honest about why I wasn't playing … and also, which I really appreciated, (he told me) 'Here's the road map to get yourself back to playing'.

"They were huge in getting me through all that and I think now I've come out a better player."

 

 

This is like porn.  Keep it going!

Just my own observation.

But the poorer kicks are not getting games atm. I think that has helped our scoring efficiency.

I think for experience and all things being ven Bugg gets a game over Spargo. But because Spargo has been more reliable kick he's getting a gane.

And i like it. 

We need to play a in form team like pies or eagles to really see where we're at though 

Reasons for improvement?

Building the number of games played together as a core group

Jesse released from being stuck as a static target in the goal square to become a genuine CHF with licence to roam and destroy

TMac's running ability to open up a forward line

The confidence and assurance that comes with success

Multiple left footers playing through same wing - Hibbert Lewis Salem Fritsch Hannan Viney

Max still growing taller

Outstanding high draft picks finally coming good - Clarry Tracca Gus

Three talls forward line with speed, skill and flexibility causing mismatches

Press up, press down - just winning more contests to deny opposition use of the ball

Two adventurous defenders - Lever Hibbert

As the saying goes, build it and success will come.