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MCG Bogey ground

bandicoot
bandicoot
in Melbourne Demons

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@Watson11 brings up a good discussion: 

“Would love some discussion on why the G is such a bogey ground for us against good teams. Since Goody has been coach we have had 4 wins and 21 losses against sides that finished top 6 that year.

Is it psychological, or is our game plan fundamentally flawed and too easy to pick apart by the best teams on the wider ground?

PS Please don’t roll out the myth that we play Optus well and it’s the same width because it isn’t (it’s 130m wide versus the G’s 141m)”

The way our defence is structured relies on intercept marking and zoning off players. The smaller the ground the easier it is to do. Unfortunately the MCG with its wider boundaries means there are more chances to isolate our defenders and play one-on-one. 
 

Larger grounds also need either very quick players or elite foot skills… we don’t have either 

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    My theories:

    Our list has a lot of ordinary kicks. 

    We only have one true winger.

    Our forwards are either hopeless in the air (Spargo and ANB) or hopeless on the deck (Brown). The MCG favours players who are less one dimensional. 

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    Get the Forward Line Functioning properly and we will kick big scores on the hallowed turf. 
     

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    Regardless of the reasons, it would seem ludicrous for any team let alone an MCG tenant to develop a game plan not suited to the home of the Grand Final.

     

     

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    Don’t buy into the theory. We started the year 6-0 at the G. Only two finalist in that group but still. 

    our form was poor and we happened to be played at the G second half of the year

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    Honestly I reckon we just choke when we play there.

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    31 minutes ago, bandicoot said:

    @Watson11 brings up a good discussion: 

     

    “Would love some discussion on why the G is such a bogey ground for us against good teams. Since Goody has been coach we have had 4 wins and 21 losses against sides that finished top 6 that year.

    Is it psychological, or is our game plan fundamentally flawed and too easy to pick apart by the best teams on the wider ground?

    PS Please don’t roll out the myth that we play Optus well and it’s the same width because it isn’t (it’s 130m wide versus the G’s 141m)”

    The way our defence is structured relies on intercept marking and zoning off players. The smaller the ground the easier it is to do. Unfortunately the MCG with its wider boundaries means there are more chances to isolate our defenders and play one-on-one. 
     

    Larger grounds also need either very quick players or elite foot skills… we don’t have either 

    Happy for the discussion but the difference between Optus and the G is like two Max Gawns on either side. Negligible 

    when we played well early in the year we won at the G. When we were poor we lost

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    10 minutes ago, DubDee said:

    Don’t buy into the theory. We started the year 6-0 at the G. Only two finalist in that group but still. 

    our form was poor and we happened to be played at the G second half of the year

    Record at the G last year was 8-2 from a quick look

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    16 minutes ago, biggestred said:

    Theyve been redoing goshs paddock to be the size of the G remember 

    Have they finished the works on the oval?

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    In the second half of 2021, our MCG form was definitely not as good as other venues. Similar story to this year.

    Scrappy win over Essendon, draw with the Hawks, largest loss of the year to Bulldogs and survived a 3rd qtr scare against lowly Adelaide.

    I don’t know if it’s possible, but could they look at tinkering their game plan to suit the G more?

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    1 hour ago, praha said:

    Honestly I reckon we just choke when we play there.

    Too much noise!

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    Our poor results have been about the second halves.

    We go into the rooms congratulating ourselves, the MCC members applauding and it must feel like we are rolling. They become self absorbed and forget that in an even league the other can at least pick up the pressure and take the game on with nothing to lose.

    We panic, kick to boundary and try to congest the area around the footy. That opens up big spaces on the G and the opposition can get one on one, or uncongested areas to play to, as they carry the ball well and hit their players. We also try to fill the area a kick behind and kick infront at stoppages, or when a free kick or mark. This give the oppo a good chance to clear into open space again and go into attack if they are effective with the disposals.

    We play a game with more freedom when we have a good lead, and if it doesn't work we get panicky, unconfident and make errors.  Then we get exhausted chasing and playing that fast, get into the defensive, offensive transition positions,  when the oppo start getting more ball.

    it starts with bathwater, and ends with exhaustion, as we get overrun. 

    Edited by kev martin

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    4 hours ago, kev martin said:

     

    We panic, kick to boundary and try to congest the area around the footy. That opens up big spaces on the G and the opposition can get one on one, or uncongested areas to play to, as they carry the ball well and hit their players. We also try to fill the area a kick behind and kick infront at stoppages, or when a free kick or mark. This give the oppo a good chance to clear into open space again and go into attack if they are effective with the disposals.

     

    Spot on 

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    10 hours ago, DubDee said:

    Don’t buy into the theory. We started the year 6-0 at the G. Only two finalist in that group but still. 

    our form was poor and we happened to be played at the G second half of the year

    No we didn’t. 

    The majority of our MCG games were pre-bye (9 of our first 13 were at the G, then 3 of our last 9 prior to finals, or 5 of our last 11 including finals). 

    We played at the G two times from Rounds 16-23. 

    Edited by titan_uranus

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    Quite often I think the majority on Demonland have no sense of humour.

    lighten up folks it is just a game of sport / entertainment.

    The Ukraine   is serious. 

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    Is it the MCG or is it fitness? Or something else completely? We're very keen to find an elephant in the room when it could just be a chicken or the egg scenario. 

    I don't have the answer but we need to focus on the controllables being our fitness program, gameplan tweaking and personnel. This will hopefully translate to better home form.

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