Game plans, tactics and all that jazz

[Binmans PA 25,884]

11 minutes ago, binman said:

Ta. Fixed.

https://www.zerohanger.com/footy-talking-points-melbournes-defensive-structure-and-the-plus-one-2021-84050/

Yeah, we definitely showed the +1 behind the ball will almost always work for us against any team, provided we get that post clearance pressure right.

Good analysis that too.

[Binmans PA 25,884]

Going back a little bit on my earlier post, I must say, McLuggage and his score assists this year have been outrageously elite, so they may well decide that Zorko can go head to head with Petracca or Oliver and that we look to tag McLuggage even if Neale comes in.

I still think the stopping the clearance at the source is the best method to stop Brisbane though. What have they got when we pressure their clearance and can we reduce their scores from stoppage by bringing our interceptors into play?

Edited June 1, 2021 by A F

[binman 37,722]

3 minutes ago, A F said:

Going back a little bit on my earlier post, I must say, McLuggage and his score assists this year have been outrageously elite, so they may well decide that Zorko can go head to head with Petracca or Oliver and that we look to tag McLuggage even if Neale comes in.

I still think the stopping the clearance at the source is the best method to stop Brisbane though. What have they got when we pressure their clearance and can we reduce their scores from stoppage by bringing our interceptors into play?

Apart from running harmes on a mid,  I reckon they will just go head to head. I'm pretty sure the lions don't bring an extra to the stoppages. Like us they just rely on how good their mids are at winning clearances. We'll miss viney in this game.

I reckon the problem the lions will have  against us is they are pretty methodical in transition, which gives us time to set up our defensive structure.

And they rely very much on winning around the ground stoppage clearances and scoring from them. If we can match them in tbat area they will struggle.

Funnily enough the clearances numbers might end being opposite to the dogs games ie we lose centre square clearnces and break even or win around the ground stoppages

[Fat Tony 4,349]

I know binman is happy to see us lose the clearance numbers so long as we are more effective in terms of both stopping the opposition scores and scoring ourselves. I think this is generally the right approach for stoppage clearances. However, I would be more determined to take territory (and not allow the +1) early in the game when the heat is on.

For centre clearances, I think we need to put a greater emphasis taking territory and be less worried about about maintaining possession for the perfect kick. We were really good at this on the weekend. I also like the tactic of Gawn trying to take the ball out of the ruck in the centre and doing a quick kick.

[Engorged Onion 9,215]

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

[Binmans PA 25,884]

2 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

Collingwood could do with a decent groundsman. I can't help thinking that the amount of injuries they've had over the past 4 or so years are linked to the surface on their training ovals.

With our Casey facility upgrades, as I've mentioned previously, a mate of mine who works at Casey says our training facilities out there now match the likes of Liverpool in England. It's a world class set up.

So not only have world class facilities become important for attracting players and best preparing the players already there, they've very likely become essential to avoiding mounting injury lists. 

With the loads of modern day players higher than ever before, it makes sense that the surface on which they train and play has become just as vital.

Edited June 19, 2021 by A F

[Nairobi_Demon 313]

3 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

Fascinating, thanks for sharing. 

I watched a bit of the dogs-cats match last night and noticed the dogs seemed to slip over a lot more than the Geelong players. I also remember us slipping over a lot in Adelaide. I wonder if this is related to transitioning from higher to lower quality turfs, or just different style turfs?

[DEE fence 4,414]

5 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

I'd be curious on what the relevant metrics are between stadiums. Never be published, imagine all the litigation, when it is revealed how bad Marvel used to be.

[Wrecker46 2,650]

On the pitch topic in that final Melbourne got belted by West Coast we were slipping over all day and they weren't. We were out played but I'd love to know why only we were slipping over.

[Its Time for Another 4,051]

10 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

What happened to the article?

[Redleg 37,447]

9 hours ago, Wrecker46 said:

On the pitch topic in that final Melbourne got belted by West Coast we were slipping over all day and they weren't. We were out played but I'd love to know why only we were slipping over.

That seems to happen often to us. It’s a problem.

[Dr. Gonzo 22,390]

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

That seems to happen often to us. It’s a problem.

Happened at Docklands a few weeks ago against the Dogs as well, very frustrating.

[old55 21,203]

I looked at the Clearances across the season:

Opponent Result CentreClearances TotalClearances

Freo W 10-12 27-35
St.K W 14-11 34-34
GWS W 13-15 45-37
Geel W 13-10 45-35
Haw W 12-15 34-35
Rich W 10-9 37-32
NM W 14-15 35-40
Syd W 4-17 37-39
Carl W 12-11 33-48
Adel L 18-13 45-22
Dogs W 13-11 27-36
Lions W 11-17 37-35
Pies L 9-14 24-34
Ess W 9-9 32-36
GWS L 6-11 24-39

The data:

• when we lose CCL and overall CL by a significant amount we lost the match against Collingwood and GWS.
• however we smashed Adelaide in both by the biggest margin in the season but lost the match
• Sydney smashed us 4-17 in CCL but we evened CL 37-39 and won
• Lions won CCL 11-17 but we evened CL 37-35 and won
• We broke even with Freo, Carlton and the Dogs  in CCL but clearly lost CL and won

What conclusions:

• If we lose both by a significant amount we're probably going to lose - Collingwood, GWS
• but winning both by a significant amount doesn't automatically mean a win - Adelaide
• lose CCL significantly but break even overall and we won - Syd, Brisbane
• break even in CCL but significantly lose overall CL and we won - Freo, Dogs, Carlton
• there's no case where we clearly won CCL but lost or broke even in overall CL.

[Engorged Onion 9,215]

Mmmm, some grist for the mill for the anti-goodwin, melbourne will fail brigade.

I have been a little concerned about the 'meaning' (if any) of our 'slow starts'

We're currently sitting at 47% for first quarters won.  8 from 17

For premiers over the last two decades - that would appear to be an anomaly to holding up the cup.

 

But... the game (and rules) have changed immeasurably.

What I love about our team (as stressful as it is a supporter) is that each time they trail (and there is plenty of exposure to that in each game), and grind their way back into the front and then hold the lead, it's the direct experience and emotional exposure to being uncomfortable, and still committing to the game plan, that will hold them in great stead in September.

Rather than (perhaps as we have seen in the last few weeks from our midfielders) moving away from the roles of the game plan (structure, or taking too much on), And what do you typically do when you're under pressure? Default back to things that don't help the game plan....

So when it's finals time - as a team, we've had all this season (and the last quarter of last season), developing the psychological tolerance to being a bit stressed because we are behind, and trusting the players and the system to beat any team.

It's not perfect, but nothing ever is.

Believe it Dee's supporters - this team is truly built for finals grinding football.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Engorged Onion
psychological waffle...

[Engorged Onion 9,215]

Useless Lockdown Nerd Stat Time.

Someone on here recently spoke about the floor and ceiling of each team. So, this arvo, I thought I'd type out all the margins for all teams in all matches played so far (aside from the current GWS/Sydney one).

Anyway, make of this what you will. 

Our spread is less then any other team in the top 4.. and by that I mean, the total points lost by divided by losses and the total points won by divided by the wins - then calculate the difference to get the notional spread.

** I counted a draw as a loss

Is it better to have a higher ceiling? Or have a smaller gap between our 'best' and our 'worst'? F.I.I.K

Does this matter? Is it meaningful? Who knows? Who even cares. It took me an hour to do whiling away this arvo with some rain, whilst eating Lindt balls.

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Engorged Onion

[Watson11 1,880]

2 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is it better to have a higher ceiling? Or have a smaller gap between our 'best' and our 'worst'? F.I.I.K

Does this matter? Is it meaningful? Who knows? Who even cares. It took me an hour to do whiling away this arvo with some rain, whilst eating Lindt balls.

 

Its probably a measure of whether a team has a defensive mindset or an offensive mindset.  If you have an offensive strategy you can smash teams, but also get exposed badly.

I don’t have time to do it, but would be interesting to see the @Pollyanna analysis for the dogs and cats.  I suspect that if they lose clearances they are toast. They both tend to run offensively.  Geelong ridiculously at times.

 

[Binmans PA 25,884]

It will be interesting to see whether we start to layer in some new set ups and set plays in the next few weeks in preparation for finals now that we've officially qualified.

Players of interest for me in the next fortnight are Gus, JJ and Rivers.

Starting with Gus and JJ, what are we doing with the wing position at the moment? Someone mentioned somewhere on Demonland (maybe it was @DeeSpencer?) that we might have been worried about Gus being exposed for pace on a wing against Port, hence JJ to the wing and Gus forward and into the stoppage sweeper role. This seemed to have some merit until last night, when the same plan was hatched again. I'm wondering whether they're giving JJ some rest from the bash and crash of defensive mid and playing him on the wing at the expense of Gus as a way of managing higher loads (JJ played high TOG last night of 82%), but less physicality. Either way, I don't think it's working as well as it could.

I'd prefer Gus taking higher minutes on the wing and JJ having less TOG as an impact defensive mid that racks up tackle numbers and is clean offensively and when pushing back defensively. 

Is Rivers tiring and if so, do we give Bowey a shot at it before the end of the year? Going by selection continuity and what Goodwin has consistently maintained in the media, it's unlikely we make this move, but as a second year player, is it worth jeopardising defensive cohesion for a week and giving Trent a rest? I worry that come finals he may be mentally fatigued by having to get up every week.

I know we've been managing Rivers' TOG too over the last 5 to 6 weeks (as I posted in another thread somewhere), but he seems to lack his run and carry, and dynamism off half back. Is it teams negating that or is it simply him tiring or both?

It will be an interesting watch on these fronts, because I'm not totally convinced Rivers should be rested if there are other ways we can manage him in game (and Burgess and co will know better than me), but I hope Gus back to a wing is a formality in the next few weeks.

Edited July 18, 2021 by A F

[Binmans PA 25,884]

I think we need to seriously rejig our midfield.

Why are we persisting with JJ at the moment? I’m not sure how many CBAs he had, but I don’t recall him in there. As for around the ground, he didn’t really seem to attend stoppage. He effectively played the Sparrow half forward role, but looked fumbly and tired. JJ is one of my favourites and his tackling in stoppage and around the ground, as well as his cleanness, was IMV a key reason why our midfield defended so well in the first half of the season. 

Give JJ the week or two off and get him fresh for the last few weeks prior to finals. Bring in Sparrow and reward his good form this year. 

I’d keep Gus on the wing with Langdon, but I’d keep Viney as a permanent forward. He can attend stoppage if it’s inside 50, otherwise he should play as a pressure “speed forward”. He’s dangerous around goal with his attack on the ball carrier, it protects his foot for finals (if we want to revert to Viney as a mid, which could well work in finals) and enables JJ to take his place as the defensive mid.

Harmes isn’t playing brilliantly, but I prefer him in our midfield to Viney, providing he remembers he’s not Dustin Martin. Take the right option.

I think we use JJ and Harmes as our defensive mids and rotate them forward and to the bench. They wouldn't be strictly defensive of course, because both can get it on the outside too and attack from stoppage.

Petracca needs to play somewhere between 80% mid, 20% forward IMV. We just don't have the midfield depth to leave it all to Clarry. Speaking of which, Oliver should be in there just about every time. I’d also like to see us use Kozzy more often as an attacking mid from stoppages. And as much as it pains me to say it given how he treated MFC supporters in Sydney last year, and frankly his bruise free form, I think, as you intimate, we need to find a way of getting Melksham’s ball use into the team, so I’d add him very occasionally to centre stoppages as well if we can find a place for him in the team. Who for though???

So centre bounce mids would be Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, JJ, Kozzy and Melksham. Viney should attend forward stoppages as an inside slider or pure defensive mid and Gus should attend defensive stoppages as a width receiver or ground ball get player. 

Anyone feeling any of this?

[layzie 28,473]

39 minutes ago, A F said:

I think we need to seriously rejig our midfield.

Why are we persisting with JJ at the moment? I’m not sure how many CBAs he had, but I don’t recall him in there. As for around the ground, he didn’t really seem to attend stoppage. He effectively played the Sparrow half forward role, but looked fumbly and tired. JJ is one of my favourites and his tackling in stoppage and around the ground, as well as his cleanness, was IMV a key reason why our midfield defended so well in the first half of the season. 

Give JJ the week or two off and get him fresh for the last few weeks prior to finals. Bring in Sparrow and reward his good form this year. 

I’d keep Gus on the wing with Langdon, but I’d keep Viney as a permanent forward. He can attend stoppage if it’s inside 50, otherwise he should play as a pressure “speed forward”. He’s dangerous around goal with his attack on the ball carrier, it protects his foot for finals (if we want to revert to Viney as a mid, which could well work in finals) and enables JJ to take his place as the defensive mid.

Harmes isn’t playing brilliantly, but I prefer him in our midfield to Viney, providing he remembers he’s not Dustin Martin. Take the right option.

I think we use JJ and Harmes as our defensive mids and rotate them forward and to the bench. They wouldn't be strictly defensive of course, because both can get it on the outside too and attack from stoppage.

Petracca needs to play somewhere between 80% mid, 20% forward IMV. We just don't have the midfield depth to leave it all to Clarry. Speaking of which, Oliver should be in there just about every time. I’d also like to see us use Kozzy more often as an attacking mid from stoppages. And as much as it pains me to say it given how he treated MFC supporters in Sydney last year, and frankly his bruise free form, I think, as you intimate, we need to find a way of getting Melksham’s ball use into the team, so I’d add him very occasionally to centre stoppages as well if we can find a place for him in the team. Who for though???

So centre bounce mids would be Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, JJ, Kozzy and Melksham. Viney should attend forward stoppages as an inside slider or pure defensive mid and Gus should attend defensive stoppages as a width receiver or ground ball get player. 

Anyone feeling any of this?

I can't really disagree with any of this. We need to mix some things up, no use in being super predictable and easy to prepare for. I've loved JJ's work in the middle this year but I wouldn't mind seeing a different look. Maybe Sparrow?  I like the idea of Kozzie and giving us an edge to break away from stoppages.

Viney showed he can offer a bit at forward 50 stoppages, I would love to see him spend a bit more time across half forward. 

The sense is that the closer we get to finals the less experiments we'll see but we have to keep opposition guessing for me and have other clubs we can take out of the bag if needed.

[Rossmillan 473]

Is our game plan a problem in the wet?

Paraphrasing @binman, we look to pressure the ball out of the centre and hope to use our defensive setup and intercept marking to propel ourselves forward, rather than winning centre clearance (unless we can do so cleanly).

If it’s wet, it appears that the ball is less likely to be cleanly intercepted and control gained, and then we struggle with the lost territory?

[titan_uranus 22,210]

7 hours ago, A F said:

I think we need to seriously rejig our midfield.

Why are we persisting with JJ at the moment? I’m not sure how many CBAs he had, but I don’t recall him in there. As for around the ground, he didn’t really seem to attend stoppage. He effectively played the Sparrow half forward role, but looked fumbly and tired. JJ is one of my favourites and his tackling in stoppage and around the ground, as well as his cleanness, was IMV a key reason why our midfield defended so well in the first half of the season. 

Give JJ the week or two off and get him fresh for the last few weeks prior to finals. Bring in Sparrow and reward his good form this year. 

I’d keep Gus on the wing with Langdon, but I’d keep Viney as a permanent forward. He can attend stoppage if it’s inside 50, otherwise he should play as a pressure “speed forward”. He’s dangerous around goal with his attack on the ball carrier, it protects his foot for finals (if we want to revert to Viney as a mid, which could well work in finals) and enables JJ to take his place as the defensive mid.

Harmes isn’t playing brilliantly, but I prefer him in our midfield to Viney, providing he remembers he’s not Dustin Martin. Take the right option.

I think we use JJ and Harmes as our defensive mids and rotate them forward and to the bench. They wouldn't be strictly defensive of course, because both can get it on the outside too and attack from stoppage.

Petracca needs to play somewhere between 80% mid, 20% forward IMV. We just don't have the midfield depth to leave it all to Clarry. Speaking of which, Oliver should be in there just about every time. I’d also like to see us use Kozzy more often as an attacking mid from stoppages. And as much as it pains me to say it given how he treated MFC supporters in Sydney last year, and frankly his bruise free form, I think, as you intimate, we need to find a way of getting Melksham’s ball use into the team, so I’d add him very occasionally to centre stoppages as well if we can find a place for him in the team. Who for though???

So centre bounce mids would be Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, JJ, Kozzy and Melksham. Viney should attend forward stoppages as an inside slider or pure defensive mid and Gus should attend defensive stoppages as a width receiver or ground ball get player. 

Anyone feeling any of this?

Agree on most of this.

Harmes is not good enough right now to be in the 22 IMO. That's the opening for Melksham, I reckon, if we want to give that a go (I'm no Melksham fan and his 2019-20 form was terrible, but if we can get something like 2018 Melksham into this side it will make a huge difference).

I don't think he's capable of resisting the urge to be Dustin Martin.

Viney's best football yesterday was in the forward half and his worst was at defensive stoppages. I think that's the signal anyone needs as to his best role in the side. 

[Binmans PA 25,884]

3 hours ago, Rossmillan said:

Is our game plan a problem in the wet?

Paraphrasing @binman, we look to pressure the ball out of the centre and hope to use our defensive setup and intercept marking to propel ourselves forward, rather than winning centre clearance (unless we can do so cleanly).

If it’s wet, it appears that the ball is less likely to be cleanly intercepted and control gained, and then we struggle with the lost territory?

I think it's clear our game stands up in the wet. We accounted for at least Richmond and Sydney in the wet.

IMV, we were off 10% defensively the other night and clearly tired at ground level, which impacted on our cleanness and ability to get the ball moving back our way.

Hibberd for example would have shut Bontempelli down earlier in the year, whereas he let him kick two of the easiest goals you'll see unattended. 

If there's a weak link in the defensive chain (and there were a few the other night- Salem was poor again, JJ was fumbly, where was Jackson, Hibberd fumbled, as did Rivers), most systems won't stand up. I think it's a testament to ours that we managed to get within 4 points midway through the last.

IMV, our single biggest problem is goal accuracy and conversion. Even when we got so little out of so many, we were well in the game. Get that right and I think we'll be very hard to beat come finals. 

[BW511 2,226]

Agree with the discussion @A F, but it needs to click soon for us to keep 2021 alive.

The thing that could be our undoing is that even if we are in games and the system is holding up, the losses are creating pressure on our mental resilience. We have a long, long history of being fragile between the ears and you can see that in the way a few guys are playing. They have retreated into their shells and any confidence that we established between rounds 1-13 has been completely erased.

Goal kicking accuracy is a big problem, it's always been a problem. I can't see this changing as we are attacking in the most defensive way possible, through the pockets. It may be possible to have 1 or 2 really good goal kicking days, but because we create a lot of low percentage shots we are more likely to falter.

The midfield group is not even close to being in sync and I strongly oppose the idea of deliberately giving up centre clearances and relying on Lever, May and Petty controlling the air to stem the tide. I think it's a high risk tactic when the team most likely to be waiting in the GF has Hawkins, Cameron and Rohan. Those 3 will comfortably halve contests, at the very minimum, in a final.

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by BW511

[binman 37,722]

11 hours ago, Rossmillan said:

Is our game plan a problem in the wet?

Paraphrasing @binman, we look to pressure the ball out of the centre and hope to use our defensive setup and intercept marking to propel ourselves forward, rather than winning centre clearance (unless we can do so cleanly).

If it’s wet, it appears that the ball is less likely to be cleanly intercepted and control gained, and then we struggle with the lost territory?

Its funny you should say that.

A few minutes before reading this post I was thinking about the fact I tipped the dees, but in hindsight made a mistake in terms of the conditions.

Before the game, my thinking was they would disadvantaged by wet conditions because it would make it hard for them to flick it around and possess the ball. And make it hard for Naughton and their other tall forwards. 

But I forgot to factor in how badly the rain would impact our poor kicking and how much the gap between their superior kicking skills and ours would widen.

I also thought about the issue you noted about marks from hb.

I'm not sure it had a major difference. Sort of. The issue was they were winning so many of the ground balls. And of course inside 50 stoppages.

So I guess if we marked more balls coming in that would have stopped them winning those balls. And we we would have more opportunities to rebound. But we have been good at wiining those contests up till the last few weeks.

I actually think the main problem we are having with scoring is fatigue related.

At our best that we generate a lot of our scoring from overlap run from half back. Those goals where we run in waves and swarm it forward, often leading to us having an outnumber inside 50 with mids etc streaming towards an unguarded goal - like two of tracc's goals against Port.

But atm only hunt and nibbler seems to be able to run and carry and offer overlap options. 

Rivers looks out in his feet. Jackson too. Same goes for Langdon. Kozzie is not getting up and down the ground nearly as much and nor is Spargo. Hibberd looks a plodder again. And Gus, never quick in the best of times is going back and staying there and offering very little in terms of run and carry.

This lack of overlap run by multiple players was the reason we couldn't take advantage of periods where were on top.

It also makes our forward line look more one dimensional, more crowded and our entries more difficult.

The swarm overlap creates faster transitions, opposition teams are less able to get back to defend and it pulls opposition zones out of shape.

Whatever the cause of the fatigue, I have little doubt it is the key factor in our performance atm.

After 9 rounds most posters were quite rightly lauding the genius of burgess. We were clearly fitter than most teams. And we were running on top of the ground. We have lost that edge.

But burgess hasn't become any less a leader in his field. And I have complete faith in his ability to make sure the team is at optimal fitness and freshness come the first final.

Edited July 25, 2021 by binman

[Binmans PA 25,884]

1 hour ago, BW511 said:

Agree with the discussion @A F, but it needs to click soon for us to keep 2021 alive.

The thing that could be our undoing is that even if we are in games and the system is holding up, the losses are creating pressure on our mental resilience. We have a long, long history of being fragile between the ears and you can see that in the way a few guys are playing. They have retreated into their shells and any confidence that we established between rounds 1-13 has been completely erased.

I'd be interested to hear who you're referring to here? If it's McDonald, I thought he showed some good leadership at the start of the third. Took a great contested mark and then converted, unlike most of his team mates. It sparked a comeback. 

I agree he's not having the same influence and it's probably a confidence thing, but I'm not sure mental fragility has been our undoing. I think clearly tiredness has. It obviously impacts on adherence to structures, concentration across 4 quarters and goal kicking accuracy.

If we're a fresher team, we're the best team in the comp IMV. I'm just hoping that the intense loading that Burgess has been putting the players through pays off and at the very end and push for finals, we get a second wind.

1 hour ago, BW511 said:

Goal kicking accuracy is a big problem, it's always been a problem. I can't see this changing as we are attacking in the most defensive way possible, through the pockets. It may be possible to have 1 or 2 really good goal kicking days, but because we create a lot of low percentage shots we are more likely to falter.

The midfield group is not even close to being in sync and I strongly oppose the idea of deliberately giving up centre clearances and relying on Lever, May and Petty controlling the air to stem the tide. I think it's a high risk tactic when the team most likely to be waiting in the GF has Hawkins, Cameron and Rohan. Those 3 will comfortably halve contests, at the very minimum, in a final.

I don't think we ever 'deliberately' concede clearances, it's just that emphasis is not all down to winning the clearance. Winning a rushed clearance is good for territory but risks interception. Pressing the opposition post clearance heightens the chance we can intercept and get the ball on our terms.

It's the Geelong model for almost the entirety of Scott's coaching career. If you look at Richmond, a similar thing. Clarkson's teams didn't always rely on them either. The most important thing is getting the game on our terms and then kicking straight.

I've felt in at least the last two weeks in the wet, it's been about taking territory and bombing long to contests. This is a good back up strategy, but we were better when we switched the ball to uncontested players or had Max taking contested marks.

As Max's dominance has diminished, we've reverted to 2019 territory, thump it forward, a bit haphazardly. It can work, but if we're just a little bit off defensively like we have been the last fortnight, then it gives the other side a chance.

That said, IMV we lost both games due to goal kicking accuracy. Obviously can't know for sure if we'd have kicked on against the Bulldogs, but given they still struggled to score against us for large periods, had we taken our chances, I'd say we run over them.

Edited July 25, 2021 by A F