rpfc

It’s amazing what a gameplan committed to by the whole team does for NQR players and ‘list cloggers’ and ‘pure depth’…

The ANB role was similar to what Sharp is doing but the crucial difference is what ANB did for Petracca. Essentially, CP5 would go from a stoppage and flow forward and leave ANB to take his defensive duties on the mid that was his opponent. From what I can see, all the Half Forwards push up the ground to make an outnumber at the stoppage or ‘around’ the stoppage/contest, especially defensive side so that when we get a turnover or when we win the ball in contest - we have to use hands in close to allow Sharp, Chandler, Latrelle, the mids/wings (whoever is not winning and sharing the footy) to get up the ground to provide a target by hand or foot. So the ‘ethos of ANB’ is there with the hard running from defensive stoppage but it’s more of a determined counter attack set up than ANB sticking to Petracca’s opponent. Oh and @binman - you were talking about why we had less forward handball against GC - that’s because we were setup to negate their forward handball so couldn’t do both - we opted to have extra players behind stoppage and deal with trying to use hands sideways to find the right time to kick over their HB line.

That’s fine. I made the same argument for Latrelle after Rd 2, but the larger point about ‘having to’ get games into speculative kids is not where we are at. We can have defined development of very good young talent in a competitive team that would only be adversely impacted if more kids are thrown in there. Tholstrup, Turner, Sharp, Langford, Culley, Howes, Pickett, Lindsay, and Windsor is more than a third of the team. That’s is a great many young talents to bring in and give a role to thrive in.

This year? We may build to that but our backline is helped by having lever and Salem in there having the lion share on their shoulders. The lesson from our previous ‘rebuild’ is the need to have senior players to support the development of the likely types.

Dannyz intimated that the situation of going to this man for a moral concern is ridiculous. And it is. He is not commenting on ‘whether he should ever do his job again’ which is the chosen strawman of those defending people from ‘consequence culture’. Tom revealed his character with those comments years ago, he was fired quite rightly and he has weaselled his way back into the industry and congrats to him. But one can point out the ridiculous situation of this immoral grub standing in the middle of a story with a moral concern like this one.

We don’t ’have to’ gift 10 games to Jefferson. If we are doing that we are nowhere as a club. If he is not good enough to force out JVR, Mihocek, Melksham, Fritsch et al - he can play out his career at Casey.

I hope he plays till he is 38 but he has got to get out of his own way. Either miss every 6th game or play forward (or behind the footy) for 30 minutes a game. I worry it will be over in a blink of an eye or a rupture of an ACL, and that’s when the grief really gets you - when it’s so sudd

Umm, that is our starting midfield plus Jakey F’n Melksham. Really good signs considering I thought we would get smashed in the middle against a midfield like GC.

Huh, there is too much AI slop on here

Would love to see the median - the average age is getting a prop up from Melksham, TMac, Gawn, and Mihocek.

He has great instincts in defence. That cut off that led to JVRs goal was a great read. A 12 point read.

Bad cramp. And don’t agree - I think our style suits his strengths and in the counter factual that he was playing the last two weeks we would be signing the virtues of Jiath.

Systems win flags that’s for sure. Predictability is the genesis of that axiom. You can build In creativity into your predictable plan I think - I look Gryan Miers and the way he kicks into the 50. But the dump game plan of the last 4 years turns our offensive phase (when we have the ball) into the contested phase immediately. The beauty of our current game plan is that if you have total commitment you can have a level of predictability and success WITH the space for creativity. Just be comfortable when it all goes to hell and we turn it over on the back flank and we get punished.

This can be merged with the game plan thread - can’t find it - but I wanted to talk about the engine of this ‘speed’ on the ball and why it’s different to previous years. So I was closely watching the forwards when we didn’t have the ball or when it was in contest to see what we were trying to set up when we want to defend and the when we get it. The SnapBack Essentially it’s a counter attack pose but with a team licence to push up and gegenpress when it’s something that works with defences or if we have the tickets to do it, so when the team does need a ‘breather’ the forwards neutral position is corridor and across centre/centre wing and even defensive side of wing. While that is a ‘flood’ if we can keep Mihocek and/or JVR in the forward half we will. Makes any turnover have a chest to hit running into space with players to hand to. So when we get the ball into our ‘forwards’ hands from an intercept - and this is why Sharp got a lot of footy on the wing chest facing goal - we don’t blaze away but try to maximise hands out of a contest and then kick over the ball watching defenders and run past them. Then we just free jazz from there. If you can kick a floating chip to your cousin you do that. If you want to go across goal for Culley to ‘do something with’ you do that. We can be opened up when we overcommit and make a mistake but that is something to just expect and put up with. It must be so much fun to play with If you can run…

Yeah, you’re in strife

Melksham looked so proppy in the last. He was either cramping in the groin (uncomfortable!) or twinged it slightly.

The beauty of Latrelle is that he, his teammates, the opposition, his folks, kozzy, you know them - haven’t the faintest idea what he is going to do with the ball when he gets it “Corral him!” Corral him? He just run backwards and up a flight of stairs

And the need to over share in front of partners make one wonder what are we overcorrecting for and what behaviour did we tacitly condone with silence and ‘sweeping carpets’…

So Richardson was always on the way out in my view - the nonsense new role we were trying to get Bartel into gave that intention away. Guerra is the longer term worry here - he doesn’t lead things that he should lead and he was doing the opposite when he was putting words in the mouths of others earlier this season “Max thinks blah”. Not great signs

Or blew the whistle. One man’s freedom fighter and all that…

I think the emergence of Howes as a bonafide dependable role player makes this possible. And very handy.

Tolstoy is blushing

Hmmm.

Sounds like an FD overcorrecting after a period of time of “keeping the carpets full” but not a great sign that a player or a partner felt so aggrieved that they have ‘whistleblown’ on a senior FD official for revealing sensitive info on someone that now puts that person back in the news when they don’t need to be…