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Is play-on at all costs still the way to go?

At the break of Gawn
in Melbourne Demons

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Need more tempo build up from the backline with switching. Clearly they midfield work rate and defensive skills aren't there to encourage that style. Getting guys back from injury and hopefully some good recruits could fix a lot of that.

The Cats are playing a very controlled style from the backline but their midfield work rate has been exceptional to allow the options to continually be created and the ball to keep moving. 

Otherwise I wonder if it's because we're having too many short angle changing kicks rather than one short kick, some handballs and then a longer kick inside 50.

In general though I'd rather we play like we did against the Eagles than how we did against the Giants. Taking the game on has to be encouraged.

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    6 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

    Need more tempo build up from the backline with switching. Clearly they midfield work rate and defensive skills aren't there to encourage that style. Getting guys back from injury and hopefully some good recruits could fix a lot of that.

    The Cats are playing a very controlled style from the backline but their midfield work rate has been exceptional to allow the options to continually be created and the ball to keep moving. 

    Otherwise I wonder if it's because we're having too many short angle changing kicks rather than one short kick, some handballs and then a longer kick inside 50.

    In general though I'd rather we play like we did against the Eagles than how we did against the Giants. Taking the game on has to be encouraged.

    I agree that taking the game on looks a lot better and it’s more exciting (just like the Eagles)

    The giants put in mechanisms to stop us from playing that style of football in the first 3 qtrs. They won the ball at the contest, and their pressure was very good. The Hawks disaster for them at the MCG basically made them wake up and realise how they have to play. 

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    It’s all about execution. First 3 quarters against west coast we took it on and looked good. The rest of the year we’ve been a fumbling mess. No game plan works when you fumble and miss your targets. Simple as that.

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    On 5/28/2019 at 7:56 PM, At the break of Gawn said:

    But to be fair, the 6-6-6 only applies at the centre bounce. As soon as the ball is bounced, the structures become completely the same as they used to.

    I feel this is more of a copy-cat thing. Hawthorn started this (they had elite ball users), then West Coast perfected it even more. Collingwood started using it as a way to beat Richmond’s pressure. 

    It feels a bit like Goody is placing all his chips on this while the rest of the table is going another way. He’s either going to be a visionary (if he gets our forward line right) or he’s mad and it’s going to go down in flames.

    6-6-6 has resulted in some great finishes to close games that would otherwise become a slog fest. I think that sides have become perhaps overly cautious to prevent opposition to score heavily off centre bounces. 

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