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Inability to kick in the wind

Rodney (Balls) Grinter
Rodney (Balls) Grinter
in Melbourne Demons

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Posted

I'm not saying this is the sole factor, but a common denominator in three very winnable losses we have had this season is the inability to handle windy conditions.  Not sure if it's skill execution, game style a failure to adapt or a combination of all three, but three games we lost that I think we could otherwise have won include:

1.  Brisbane Lions (Metricon);

2.  Western Bulldogs (Metricon);

3.  Sydney;

In all of these games our ability to hit targets by foot has been terrible, leading to horrendous turnovers and an inability to move the ball efficiently and numerous very gettable goals missed.  I know in theses game we were also badly beaten around the ball and that's a different issue, but I really do think we need to address our ability to play in windy conditions as well.  It should be under 12s stuff, but apparently not.

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    Should have done a lot more study of Cazalys

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    I think a significant part of this is the way we kick big lollipops up in the air for the wind to take a hold of when passing.  When we use it to switch the ball across the ground or into the centre in windy conditions it brings us way unstuck.

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    Interesting point, and is why training outdoors and in adverse conditions is valuable. Yet we see some clubs pushing for indoor training ovals, which you would think would set them up for poor performances on wet or windy match days.

    We will be the last club in the country to get an indoor training facility, and Casey is said to be nature's wind machine, so it is a mystery why we would be so lousy at handling the wind, when we should actually (long term at least) have an advantage.

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    Footy used to be played in the wind every Saturday 

    it was the Number 1 Tactic

    “Kick Long with the breeze”

    Todays kids play in controlled atmospheres. Not their fault 

    But i would love to see more basic training. 
    Drop punts on a windy day.....Practice 

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    13 minutes ago, Better days ahead said:

    Another learning to add to the long list of learnings

    liked the way you reached out there to share your learnings

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    57 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

    liked the way you reached out there to share your learnings

    You're welcome

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    Learnings for players AND coaches

    Goodwin has been outcoached by Beveridge and now Longmire. 
     

    When defending - put players (at least one) behind the ball and look to run the footy. Keep possession.  Know which side of the player is most likely. ie. Defending v the breeze. Stay goal side of your player.  Forwards must be in front. 
     

    When attacking - Don’t expect the breeze to kick it. Setup for higher contests around the 30-40 so you can take contested footy and still hit the goals. Need to allow for the breeze and keep a player to run on to the footy in attack. 
     

    Mostly the windy conditions SUIT SMART FOOTBALLERS WITH GOOD DECISION MAKERS AND ELITE SKILLS. That’s not the 2020 Dees!!

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    Two points. It was mentioned a couple times early on in the Sydney-Melbourne broadcast that the game was being played in straight lines down the ground - i.e. the players were too afraid to attempt inboard passes and switches in the wind. Does this impact our game-plan and level the playing field somewhat? 

    Also, it was noticeable in the first quarter that May was frequently hovering around half forward and up the wing. Does playing with the breeze force our defensive structures further up the ground in order to cut off relief kicks which are being held up? After St Kilda, our structures looked completely shot. 

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    Cant kick without wind either.

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    Yep, i can not believe a club that is supossed to be professional can keep @#*$)!* up so much?

    Not only should the coaches have done their research into the ground, you would have thought both the players and coach would have gone out before the game?

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    2 hours ago, Biffen said:

    Cant kick without wind either.

    Beat me by 2 hours Biffen.

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    Strange considering half our squad were Casey Fields specialists

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    Funny you posted this. Was thinking about it the other night too. I play tennis and am a basket case in the wind. The problem is part mental, part strategy. I get beaten by worse players in the wind because if/when they start to get on top of me I just revert to my strengths which don’t really suit windy conditions. And then I question myself more. The Dees are my windy tennis game and I am sad to say that being smart and resilient is the only way to get out of it (something the Dees and I lack!).

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    7 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    Footy used to be played in the wind every Saturday 

    it was the Number 1 Tactic

    “Kick Long with the breeze”

    Todays kids play in controlled atmospheres. Not their fault 

    But i would love to see more basic training. 
    Drop punts on a windy day.....Practice 

    It’s was such schoolyard footy to see us adopting that tactic in the first quarter, kicking randomly long without seeing what options was on then only to watch Sydney go the complete opposite direction of looking for space and targets. 

    Weid had a poor game back his teammates did him no favours. 

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    38 minutes ago, Pates said:

    It’s was such schoolyard footy to see us adopting that tactic in the first quarter, kicking randomly long without seeing what options was on then only to watch Sydney go the complete opposite direction of looking for space and targets. 

    Weid had a poor game back his teammates did him no favours. 

    Nothing wrong with kicking long with a true Breeze as long as the Forwards are ready and expecting it

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    Good pickup. I think it's certainly a factor, but you're right that it doesn't go the full way to explaining our performances.

    In the three games you've mentioned, our goal accuracy has been 7.7 (against Brisbane), 7.10 (against the Bulldogs) and 6.10 (against Sydney). The other games in which we've been inaccurate at goals have also mainly been losses - 7.9 against West Coast, 6.8 against Geelong, and 4.8 against Port. The only game where we've been inaccurate and won was against North Melbourne (13.14) and the only game where we've been accurate and lost was against Richmond (8.4). Granted, better defences force you into harder spots to score but I think our goalkicking in particular has looked pretty shoddy in those three games you mentioned.

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    50 minutes ago, layzie said:

    Some of the up and under kicks were embarrassing 

    I think it was Lever who short passed a ball to someone and kicked it high allowing a player to run from a distance behind him and jump up to out mark him. It was a simple basic pass. It was not only poor skill but just dumb. Worst part of it is that is a typical part of our game, we are incapable of passing the ball to retain possession. We don't seem to try and remedy it in any way. It goes on year after year.

    Don't get me started on the handballs to the ankle or to a player with a man right next to him.

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    Went and watched Claremont (My team) beat West Perth on a windy day today. Very good skills, used the wind to advantage and knew how to play when kicking against it. Very good skills and such an enjoyable game to watch. Took the family and they had a ball and enjoyed it much more than going to a stadium to watch an AFL game.

    I have been an MFC supporter for 35 years and member for 25 years...I am honestly at the crossroads. I just can’t deal with pea hearted efforts for much longer. 
     

    I reckon I have one more year left. If we ain’t a hell of a lot better next year (preferably with a new coach) then that’s it for me. I’ll just pay a Claremont membership and head along when I can...and save approximately $600 per year.

    The MFC - so disappointing and soul destroying every year...we are a weak club 

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    19 hours ago, The Swimming Dee said:

    Went and watched Claremont (My team) beat West Perth on a windy day today. Very good skills, used the wind to advantage and knew how to play when kicking against it. Very good skills and such an enjoyable game to watch. Took the family and they had a ball and enjoyed it much more than going to a stadium to watch an AFL game.

    I have been an MFC supporter for 35 years and member for 25 years...I am honestly at the crossroads. I just can’t deal with pea hearted efforts for much longer. 
     

    I reckon I have one more year left. If we ain’t a hell of a lot better next year (preferably with a new coach) then that’s it for me. I’ll just pay a Claremont membership and head along when I can...and save approximately $600 per year.

    The MFC - so disappointing and soul destroying every year...we are a weak club 

    This is what worries me about the future of this club. I wonder how many of our supporters are baby boomers. We followed the club of our dads. Our lack of success is not bringing in many new followers.

     

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    22 hours ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

    If its windy again Monday brace yourselves.

    Everyone get a brace as it is still windy in Cairns.

    Mind you this game starts latter than Thursdays - the wind dropped at 6.00pm so it may be less of an issue.  Whatever our defense when the Swans were kicking against the wind was terrible.

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    19 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

    This is what worries me about the future of this club. I wonder how many of our supporters are baby boomers. We followed the club of our dads. Our lack of success is not bringing in many new followers.

     

    It’s getting harder to pay each year and watch the crap that we serve up. I also find myself falling out of love with the game itself - over umpired, soft, rewards the player second to the ball etc.

    I will always love our club but I am trying to be more circumspect about our woes 

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