Work Rate

[Wrecker46 2,975]

I just watched our goals again from last week on the website.

Tom Sparrow comes from behind the centre square and sprints to the forward pocket to tap the ball in for a goal.

Kozzie runs from well behind the centre square and kicks it to a contest where he runs into it himself and kicks a goal.

The week before Jordon sprinted from our forward line all the way too their goal square just to get a touch on it.

I haven't even mentioned Oliver, Petracca or Gawn

We look like a team of millionaires at the moment but it is our work rate that sets us apart 

 

 

[Macca 16,967]

15 minutes ago, Wrecker46 said:

I just watched our goals again from last week on the website.

Tom Sparrow comes from behind the centre square and sprints to the forward pocket to tap the ball in for a goal.

Kozzie runs from well behind the centre square and kicks it to a contest where he runs into it himself and kicks a goal.

The week before Jordon sprinted from our forward line all the way too their goal square just to get a touch on it.

I haven't even mentioned Oliver, Petracca or Gawn

We look like a team of millionaires at the moment but it is our work rate that sets us apart

Yes Wrecker, our work rate is quite incredible

It wasn't so long ago that we had a few players (in leadership roles) explaining that we needed to buy-in to the game plan!!

We've come a long way from those days to a point where, as you correctly mentioned, we have not only totally bought into the game plan but we are doing the extra's

These are the sorts of threads that we should see more of too.  Our game plan being analysed correctly with selfless individual acts being highlighted

Of the ones you mentioned the Sparrow effort was amazing.  Tom is really coming on as a player.  With so many top players in the team we have now got everyone getting in on the act.  Pressure for spots improves a team

It's out of our hands on how we keep everyone together and under the salary cap.  That's for the list managers and bean-counters to figure out

Big bright future

It's good being a Demon supporter!

Edited April 20, 2022 by Macca

[Olgreybeard49 242]

Maybe this thread should be titled Things We Value because that seems to be the coaches' perspective. Whether it's Lingers running 16km and not coming off, the examples above, Kozzie diving in about 6 times in the one contest last week or May launching himself horizontally Superman style to make a spoil, the big little things are what sets us apart at the moment.

Oh, and Choco having made a good kick out of Lingers, Hunt, Max ....................

[Dee Zephyr 19,267]

Yes, it is something else at the moment. When we put the foot down in the GF all I remember is Libba chasing our mids with his tongue hanging out. 
After Sparrow’s effort last weekend to get us a goal there were several GWS players hunched over gasping for air while ours still had the energy to sprint to Sparrow and recognise his effort. 
 I was absolutely blown away by our running capacity last Saturday night. 

[daisycutter 29,613]

work rate has a lot (but not only) to do with fitness and we owe a big thanks to burgess for raising the bar

[Cards13 9,117]

Being fit and being able to make those efforts is different from the buy in and having the courage to actually do it.

Those preseason training reports of the boys just doing running work because we were not AFL standard. Hoping in the early rounds to see this preseason effort translate to actual games and being shattered and out of the race by round 3… to where we are now… amazing.

 

[ucanchoose 1,816]

This is why Essendon are at the bottom.  No work rate

[dee-tox 4,835]

Again, our fitness seems superior to other teams.

That must breed so much confidence.

 

[leave it to deever 17,511]

16 hours ago, Wrecker46 said:

I just watched our goals again from last week on the website.

Tom Sparrow comes from behind the centre square and sprints to the forward pocket to tap the ball in for a goal.

Kozzie runs from well behind the centre square and kicks it to a contest where he runs into it himself and kicks a goal.

The week before Jordon sprinted from our forward line all the way too their goal square just to get a touch on it.

I haven't even mentioned Oliver, Petracca or Gawn

We look like a team of millionaires at the moment but it is our work rate that sets us apart 

 

 

And Bowey running all the way to the middle to intercept and then he boots a goal.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,754]

While we notice work rate when it results in goals or directly stopping an opponents goals, it's the seemingly unrewarded work rate which should get a special mention. That's the wingers and half forwards running back to help the defenders. Players like Spargo and Neal-Bullen who end up deep in the back half when they are nominally forwards. Or like Langdon, Jordon and Harmes (when on the wing) who continually run back and forward to create options, even if they're not being used. Effort after effort. 

[Vipercrunch 2,827]

I love watching goal celebrations now where the focus is on rewarding and congratulating the players that did the effort/work rate/1%/unselfish acts as well as celebrating with whoever kicks the goal.  The Sparrow effort leading to the Fritta goal was a great example of this.

It's also good when the crowd gets in on this.  The reception for May after some of his efforts in the third quarter by the MCC was perfect.  Our supporters are now growing in awareness of the efforts that are leading to our success and showing their appreciation.  A stark contrast to the groans that used to echo around the 'G after a turnover.

[layzie 33,796]

Having that buy in and work rate obviously doesn't just happen over night. It's every game, every training session, every moment on the job. The attitude is set from the coaching and you make it a lifestyle. 

And like La Dee-vina said it's the willingness to work to get back and keep our defensive shape that forms the basis of why we are so successful. 

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

This why Goodwin placed a premium from the start on "goers" and why guys like ANB & Harmes kept getting games even when not setting the world on fire, and guys like Watts and Hogan were shipped out without a second thought.

You can' t fake it, and other clubs can up their fitness levels and so on, but they can't catch up on that drive to contest until they recruit for it and turn over their lists.

Adelaide won their first flag like that and I wonder if it was a formative experience for the young Goodwin.

[hemingway 7,627]

A lot of intelligent posts here. 

As mentioned an amazing turnaround in team fitness and attitude. I was one of thousands of Dees supporters that groaned in the stands as we watched players stand and watch their opponents run away with the ball. Lacking fitness, application and attitude. Even teams like the Giants would brush our players aside and run away. Now we have gone past all other sides like a Formula One race car. 

What has happened ?

Great coaching. Not just in coaching application but in building a great culture. 

Great recruiting with a focus on experienced players and youngsters that fill a roll. Not just look for the best, but look for players that play a role. Building a team based skill set. 

A total commitment from coaches and players to effort, to the contest, to improving skills, to playing team first football. 

A total commitment to individual and team goals. Individual and team effort are indivisible. 

Training, training and more training. Training with purpose, but training in an intelligent and consistent manner. Importantly training as you play so it seems perfectly normal to transfer this method of training to match day. You turn up and play exactly as you train. 

Understanding that success can only be maintained by singleminded effort day after day , year after year. If you get complacent or tired then someone will knock you off. 

Reaching a point where the individual player and the team have confidence that their fitness, skills and game plan are the best in the competition. Understanding that continued success means that these things need to be maintained. 

A win at all costs attitude. Strong  bodies and strong belief. In this regard, I recommend a read of Kevin Sheedys book on Aust sporting icons. It tells you everything about application, attitude and effort.

An understanding that the development of these things take years not weeks or months. There is where you need to pick the right people and support them in times of disappointment and failure. In many cases, coaches become great coaches when they have been supported in the bad times. Likewise players. So you need a strong united Board with the same goals and without ego or pursuit of opportunistic outcomes. 

Goodwin understands all this. Even after losses, he talked about building not just a great side but building a great club with a great culture. Clearly, it’s not just Goody but everyone in the club. There is an alignment of purpose and application. 

Hopefully, all these things will be remembered when challenged and threatened after a bad loss or string of losses. 

[Sir Why You Little 37,035]

This is set in stone by Darren Burgess and Selwyn Griffiths 

FITNESS (Mind & Body)

Any new Recruits must buy in as a minimum 

Work rates with and without the ball

For years the MFC did not run and spread, now we set the standards 

There is no reason this should drop off over the years. Recruit the right kids. 
Look at Whorethorn, they are building again…..

[Grimes Times 1,278]

A great indicator of work rate is on the AFL app in the TRACKER tab under the WORKRATE section. Since the start of last season we have had an ave speed in defense greater than ave speed in attached for all but 1 game, from memory the loss to Adel. What this indicated is we work harder defensively compared to attacking. We also consistently have the opposite to our opponents who work harder in attack compared defense.

[pineapple dee 2,892]

3 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

While we notice work rate when it results in goals or directly stopping an opponents goals, it's the seemingly unrewarded work rate which should get a special mention. That's the wingers and half forwards running back to help the defenders. Players like Spargo and Neal-Bullen who end up deep in the back half when they are nominally forwards. Or like Langdon, Jordon and Harmes (when on the wing) who continually run back and forward to create options, even if they're not being used. Effort after effort. 

This is the difference between this team and Melbourne teams of 10 years ago.

Even if the player running to receive the ball or fill a gap is not used or does not directly impact the the play 90% of the time, they will still keep doing it without dropping their heads because they know what they're doing is contributing to the team's success.

Sit back and enjoy, friends. This is going to be a long and successful ride !!!

[tiers 2,834]

21 minutes ago, pineapple dee said:

Even if the player running to receive the ball or fill a gap is not used or does not directly impact the the play 90% of the time, they will still keep doing it without dropping their heads because they know what they're doing is contributing to the team's success.

As I recall the two players in recent times who kept running to a gap but were not used were Jack Watts and Simon Godfrey. Never stopped.

 

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

21 minutes ago, pineapple dee said:

Even if the player running to receive the ball or fill a gap is not used or does not directly impact the the play 90% of the time, they will still keep doing it without dropping their heads because they know what they're doing is contributing to the team's success.

Sit back and enjoy, friends. This is going to be a long and successful ride !!!

And when they're winning, it reinforces that what they're doing is right.

Harder for our opponents to put in all that effort if they get no reward, so the effort can drop off ... within a game, and over a season. (Some have dropped off already.)

This is a tremendous advantage and I hope we ride it as hard and as long as we can.

[Its Time for Another 4,214]

2 hours ago, hemingway said:

Great coaching. Not just in coaching application but in building a great culture. 

Great recruiting with a focus on experienced players and youngsters that fill a roll. Not just look for the best, but look for players that play a role. Building a team based skill set. 

Reaching a point where the individual player and the team have confidence that their fitness, skills and game plan are the best in the competition. Understanding that continued success means that these things need to be maintained. 

An understanding that the development of these things take years not weeks or months. There is where you need to pick the right people and support them in times of disappointment and failure. In many cases, coaches become great coaches when they have been supported in the bad times. Likewise players. So you need a strong united Board with the same goals and without ego or pursuit of opportunistic outcomes. 

I reckon in the past 18 months this team has taught me more about what it takes to be a great football team than anything I learnt from any other team anywhere since 1964. 

We seem to be in the eye of a perfect storm that has taken since the end of 2007 to realise. There are so many parts to the equation that without any one part you don't end up being where we are now. I didn't know half those parts until recently. 

Roosy said before he took the job that the key elements to a successful team were :-

- list management/recruiting,

- development/conditioning,

- coaching. 

It's fair to say we've learnt the lesson the hard way that list management/recruiting is meaningless without the right development built around it. Cale Morton & Jack Grimes in '07, Watts '08, Scully Trengove '09 were generally regarded in the industry as the players that should have gone at those picks. Who knows what the first 3 might have achieved under the development and culture we now have. There were some nasty misses in the recruiting other than them which cost us many years of development but hindsight doesn't help.  In '07 Dangerfield went 10 but 5 other teams didn't take him either. Cyril Rioli went 12 but 10 other teams didn't pick him either. In '08 I'd still have taken Watts over Nic Nat especially given we ended up with Maxy shortly after and Watts ended up being Fritsch. Blease at 17 was a bit nasty when Luke Shuey went the next pick and Jamie Bennell at 35 when we had told Rory Sloane 44, we were taking him at that pick. In '09 Dusty went the pick after Trengove but I doubt he would be the player he is today if he'd gone to us and probably would have left years ago like he nearly did at the Tigers to go to GWS on big bucks and be with his father. Gysberts at 11 was a bit nasty with Daniel Talia 13 & Lewis Jetta 14 (although Melksham 10 has made up for that) Tapscott 18 when Nat Fyfe went 20. 

When Bails was appointed at the end of 2007 the first thing he said is that it generally takes five years of a group of players playing together to become a contender. I believe this still holds true. Unfortunately that led to his first major mistake which was the philosophy of getting rid of any player that wasn't going to be there in 5 years. It's taken until probably the past 18 months to recover from the vacuum of leadership and experience that created. 

It's also 5 years of being taught and executing the same evolving gameplan, so you obviously need the same coach. (If it hadn't have been for Pert's review at the end of 2020 and the Board resisting Bartlett's efforts to remove the coach who knows where we would be now but it wouldn't be Premiers that's for sure.)

I believe it takes 5 years for players to reach their full physical development so they have the stamina to be able to match or outrun their opponents and the strength to compete against the best. I think we've learnt over the past 18 months that the player driven culture has a lot to do with training standards. 

Obviously all of this has now come together. Some outstanding recruiting and list management supported with the right development and enough players who have been around long enough to be at the top end of work rate and game style. Goody from day one defined his gameplan philosophy as hard at the contest, attack from defence and holding the ball in the forward line. That's what we've ultimately seen. But it was interesting hearing one of the players saying last year that Chappie had been "banging on" about the defensive structure for years and they had finally got it.

One of the things I've picked up the most over the past few years is how important setting up off the ball is. We were still pretty clueless about this in 2020 but there was a major transformation in this over the preseason leading in to 2021 and we are now one of the best at it in the comp which has got a lot to do with how well we are going. There's so much more to it but work rate is also a product of knowing where to be and where to get to a lot of which is off the ball. 

Go Dees

 

 

 

[DubDee 25,858]

Not quite work rate but, the selflessness and team-first attitude of the Demons at the moment is quite remarkable and is even a step up on last year.  Always celebrating the guy who puts in body on the line or runs hard, not just the goal kicker.  Like Trac going to Harmes after he got flattened and Trac got the easy goal.  Trac leads the way with this (among many others) and the younger guys follow.

I have never been prouder to be a MFC supporter.  We didn't just fluke a flag and fall away and miss finals the next year (touch wood) and we are not arrogant

Again, a lot of the credit should go to Goody and the coaches for instilling this selflessness in the squad, so easy to talk about it, but so hard to get the end result

[hemingway 7,627]

40 minutes ago, Its Time for Back to Back said:

I reckon in the past 18 months this team has taught me more about what it takes to be a great football team than anything I learnt from any other team anywhere since 1964. 

We seem to be in the eye of a perfect storm that has taken since the end of 2007 to realise. There are so many parts to the equation that without any one part you don't end up being where we are now. I didn't know half those parts until recently. 

Roosy said before he took the job that the key elements to a successful team were :-

- list management/recruiting,

- development/conditioning,

- coaching. 

It's fair to say we've learnt the lesson the hard way that list management/recruiting is meaningless without the right development built around it. Cale Morton & Jack Grimes in '07, Watts '08, Scully Trengove '09 were generally regarded in the industry as the players that should have gone at those picks. Who knows what the first 3 might have achieved under the development and culture we now have. There were some nasty misses in the recruiting other than them which cost us many years of development but hindsight doesn't help.  In '07 Dangerfield went 10 but 5 other teams didn't take him either. Cyril Rioli went 12 but 10 other teams didn't pick him either. In '08 I'd still have taken Watts over Nic Nat especially given we ended up with Maxy shortly after and Watts ended up being Fritsch. Blease at 17 was a bit nasty when Luke Shuey went the next pick and Jamie Bennell at 35 when we had told Rory Sloane 44, we were taking him at that pick. In '09 Dusty went the pick after Trengove but I doubt he would be the player he is today if he'd gone to us and probably would have left years ago like he nearly did at the Tigers to go to GWS on big bucks and be with his father. Gysberts at 11 was a bit nasty with Daniel Talia 13 & Lewis Jetta 14 (although Melksham 10 has made up for that) Tapscott 18 when Nat Fyfe went 20. 

When Bails was appointed at the end of 2007 the first thing he said is that it generally takes five years of a group of players playing together to become a contender. I believe this still holds true. Unfortunately that led to his first major mistake which was the philosophy of getting rid of any player that wasn't going to be there in 5 years. It's taken until probably the past 18 months to recover from the vacuum of leadership and experience that created. 

It's also 5 years of being taught and executing the same evolving gameplan, so you obviously need the same coach. (If it hadn't have been for Pert's review at the end of 2020 and the Board resisting Bartlett's efforts to remove the coach who knows where we would be now but it wouldn't be Premiers that's for sure.)

I believe it takes 5 years for players to reach their full physical development so they have the stamina to be able to match or outrun their opponents and the strength to compete against the best. I think we've learnt over the past 18 months that the player driven culture has a lot to do with training standards. 

Obviously all of this has now come together. Some outstanding recruiting and list management supported with the right development and enough players who have been around long enough to be at the top end of work rate and game style. Goody from day one defined his gameplan philosophy as hard at the contest, attack from defence and holding the ball in the forward line. That's what we've ultimately seen. But it was interesting hearing one of the players saying last year that Chappie had been "banging on" about the defensive structure for years and they had finally got it.

One of the things I've picked up the most over the past few years is how important setting up off the ball is. We were still pretty clueless about this in 2020 but there was a major transformation in this over the preseason leading in to 2021 and we are now one of the best at it in the comp which has got a lot to do with how well we are going. There's so much more to it but work rate is also a product of knowing where to be and where to get to a lot of which is off the ball. 

Go Dees

 

 

 

Interesting history (often forgotten) and great comments. 

[Macca 16,967]

Previously (not that long ago) we were told that it was going to take a couple of years to get the players fit.  At the time I didn't want to believe it but as it turns out, they were right. Done for tanking, 186, Various coaches.  Upheaval.  AFL intervention

Along with knowing deep down that we were miles off (years) from contending. It was demoralising knowing we had to wait an age and even from that low base we had to start to make every post a winner

Fast forward to now (and after a breakthrough flag) and those thoughts are gone (well, almost) 

We slip up and we're back there again so we need to get better with no let up.  So there should be no issue with motivation (at the club)

Our rise has been quite a story ... there's a best selling book there for someone with great penmanship

Hemingway? 

'The Rise of the Demons'

 

[Its Time for Another 4,214]

Just watched Burgo's Crows knock off the Dogs in Ballarat. Have to say work rate really stood out. I used to say there was a good Melbourne and a bad Melbourne. The good one ran and created options in defence and attack the bad one didn't and didn't do either. If you're not fit enough you just can't do the necessary running required in today's game. It's quite instructive to see how Burgo has weaved his magic already at Crows and how quickly they have become competitive.  

I'll never forget speaking to Flash at the 2011 B & F and he was saying Bailey was trying to get them to play a game plan they couldn't play. They were too young to have the running power to run up and down the ground the way he wanted them to. No doubt he was right about the game plan he just didn't adjust it to the players capability. This just reinforces what I said elsewhere about a big part of our success now being having a critical mass of players with enough years to be fit enough to have the stamina to compete with the best.