Adam The God

Is that necessary? Dunno about that. I'd have ANB and Hunt in before I'd have Dunkley or Baker. Hunt's goal kicking improved last year. I still think he can make it if he can gain the tank.

Nice article, mate. The first bit jumped out to me was this: "It’s not counterattacking as such, but Flick’s approach is very characteristic of the modern Bundesliga, a game based in transitions. It is certainly not based on control: just as Barcelona created chances by getting behind the defensive line on Friday, so too did Lyon." In other words, the German league has shifted from control to transitions. I think it's fascinating to chart international sports and how trends in one game become very much trends in others. Perhaps it's mere coincidence, but I can't help but think that AFL coaches are connected with the international environment and are viewing their own 'brand' in these sorts of broad brush strokes such as 'transition' versus 'control'. Likewise, I have no doubt that forward coaches and forwards think about space in the following way: "Müller didn’t touch the ball in the immediate buildup to any of the three goals. Statistically his contribution didn’t register. And yet his movement was integral to each goal. It was his run to the near post that dragged Marçal away from Robert Lewandowski in the heart of the box in the build-up to the second. It was he who was fouled, having regained possession, late on high up the pitch, to win the free-kick for the third." It absolutely equally applies to our game. The clever movement of forwards coming up the ground, double back, and leading away from and to certain dangerous areas in the forward 50. To the casual eye some of it may look ordinary, but the more you realise how the forwards interact and the importance of space when you have zone defences, the more you realise some stats are immeasurable. It's not a like for like, but Jack Riewoldt's rise in 2017 from selfish but high scoring FF -> to middle of the road scorer but integral target within Richmond's game style (bringing the ball to ground for surging smalls), is exactly this idea. You don't have to be kicking goals or marking it, or even going anywhere near the ball to be impacting on any one play. Jackson showed this in the Adelaide game where he stepped across in front of Talia to block him and allow Weideman to read. That's overt and clever game sense and body use. The operations of the rest of the forwardline would only be known to those within the walls of a football club. I guess what we're seeing is an evolution of the modern AFL role player and AVB fits this nicely too.

Yeah, what a [censored] [censored].

I get real blockhead vibes from Adams during games, but this has made me reconsider.

Higgins is too old now. 2-3 years ago he'd be perfect to add to our side now.

Good call. I think this is the key. He wants us to play a forward half game ideally, but is settled enough if we have to counter punch from our back half. I maintain that our press is quite markedly different from what it was in 2018 and 2019, and perhaps I'm being a pedant here, but I don't think it's that aggressive. Our defensive back 6 or 7 certainly don't press anymore, but our half forwards and mids do.

I have to say this is what I've always felt SWYL looked like. I'd be taller than Skuit, but I'd probably look just as dopey in a photo as I do here, so I'll take it.

Thanks for letting us know about what was said mate. I'd just debate the bolded part. I don't think that's how Goodwin wants to play anymore. That was definitely how we played in 2018 and for parts of 2019 (if not all). I reckon since the Port game, we've been looking to score akin to on the counter, from mostly choking up the opposition, forcing them to go down the line and in the best case scenarios using the ball back through the corridor or around the opposition boundary line. I absolutely agree that turnovers in forward half are still an important trait, but I reckon we value turn overs in the back half/intercepts to mount attacks from half back or deep. IMV, Goodwin's changed the system this year and it just hasn't clicked since around the Hawthorn or Brisbane game.

Go on...?

Same with me mate.

I've definitely wavered on Goodwin last year and this year. The last three weeks, albeit against weakened opposition, has won me over again. Fickle, I know. It's not that we've merely belted sides, it's how we've gone about it. And I think the guys on the podcast discussed this. Minus the Port game, since the Brisbane game, I believe we've finally got our zones working and our defence gelling. The midfield is also finally pushing hard both ways to defend. I think the penny may have dropped. I can't remember who it was (sorry) who framed it this way a week or so ago, but our elite talent in the midfield is still a year or two off from entering their prime. However, they've all played together now for 4+ years and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses in a clearer light, and are starting to learn what it takes to properly defend and strangle sides. They are starting to see what happens when they bring the intensity and work rate for 4 quarters. They're miserly in defence and devastating in attack. And there's something about the way we're attacking that as @binman said is increasingly automated. I think we had this automation at stages of 2018, but our defence was never like this. The press was more aggressive, more could go wrong, there wasn't the same focus on defence. It was more about playing simple territory and because our press was so aggressive, it meant when teams got through, they were out the back for easy scores. No longer. I'm not saying we'll win the flag this year, but I think we've turned a corner and will make finals now. Bookmark it.

Great insights to our golden era, mate. I'm surprised to hear Barassi felt his bakes didn't work in the 90s either, given the players in those days were Gen Xers and the communication shift hadn't fully occurred, but I guess it had to a degree by the sounds of it. One of my mates is in the Hawthorn FD and has been for years. He's told me of some of the bakes Clarkson has given over the years, hence I can say with reasonable authority that Clarkson is a baker and authoritarian. It's fascinating to think how the world around impacts on the coaching of the sport. Of course, it naturally follows as the AFL is not played within a vacuum from society. It is still very much apart of the world around it and reflects many of those views. Sometimes it's slower to catch up, but eventually it aligns itself with the modern society of the time.

I think his foot injury gave me context for his kicking and even the balance on the handballing. He really is a fascinating player though, because I maintain he doesn't need to even register 5 tackles before he's had a big influence on a game. And we definitely miss his hardness around contests when he's not there.

Yep, really loved his interview on the @Demonland podcast the other night. Seems like a really nice bloke.

Absolutely, but as we've seen, our ability to win clearance means nothing if the forward pressure isn't there. IMV, the first building block was the contest ('building from the contest out' was the talk at the time). We then laid the next building block, which was an 18 man aggressive press (as I've outlined in this thread and others, we no longer play 18 man press, so that's been tweaked). This was very Richmond. And with the recruitment of May and Lever we've focused on laying the next building block, which is a mean defence (where the acquisition of Langdon and Tomlinson as defensive and offensive runners help transition between attack and defence). Each block only makes us stronger. The next block I think will be mastering the gear shifts between neutral ball possession and attack or defence, and adding the irresistibly of a Richmond-like surge to our artillery. I think this mix will take us close to the ultimate success and as we've seen, once you have that ultimate success you can start to pillage other clubs through FA. This is where you might add the cherry on top of a smooth moving ball user akin to Hawthorn's acquisition of Burgoyne.

That's an interesting idea. I suspect in that situation they'd try McDonald in the ruck and play someone like Smith forward, but if it does eventuate that neither Preuss or Gawn get up, I'd like to see us try something bold like that.

Welcome back, Moonman.

Because Vanders is not playing on a wing the entire time. As for developing a backman, I'd be using Petty, but we're not sure of the extent of his injury. I reckon we need talent that can play tomorrow. Talia would fulfil that need. As long as he's not too expensive. But maybe I'm being a bit greedy here and we should just stick with what we have...

See, I'm increasingly of the belief that we're trying to combine the defensive pressure of Richmond, with the intercept marking of West Coast, driven by our own excellent midfield as the elite trait. I reckon Goodwin is using numerous traits from both of @binman's 'types', in order to go about continually refining the system and making it more powerful. The biggest challenge this season, now that we're fit, is illustrating to the players how effective the system can be when it's running at close to full capacity. So we're in the process of feeding confidence into the system and have borrowed various traits, IMV, from other elite teams, and we have improved 'the system' by incorporating our own elite midfield to exceed the capabilities of our competitors.

I think the idea of 'brand' is a prevalent construct in modern footy. It's a powerful unifier when it comes to the style that the club is going to play and what the club itself stands for culturally. That could be based on pace of ball movement, controlling the ball by foot, the contest, surge at every contest, any of these and all of these themes, and whilst some coaches will let certain very talented players get away with more, they'll usually demand that their players adhere to the philosophy the club stands for under the banner of 'brand'. So in effect, both 'types' you mention @binman, I believe enable some players to play their own way and demand that others fit into the system or ultimately fail. There isn't a strict rigidity to the modern day coach in this sense. A bit of 'let people be people' mentality. We've seen this play out with Dustin Martin within Hardwick's 'rigid' system at Richmond. But as @La Dee-vina Comedia points out, there are certainly the authoritarians and the life coaches. However, the days of authoritarian coaches are numbered IMO. Clarkson is the last one and he is running on the back of being the greatest coach of the modern era. The authoritarian coach does not resonate with how the next generation communicates in the modern world, whether that be the corporate world or otherwise. As a sports coach myself for the last 15 years (I'm 33), I see the younger coaches that come up around me and their style is very different from mine. I try to balance the authoritarian with the life coach. The younger coaches are very much life coaches. Whereas, I won't tolerate stuffing around, but I will try to offer as much personal support to my team as individuals, in order to make them grow as people and as players. I very much started as an authoritarian and have drifted more towards the life coach, or at least the balance of both, as well as being friendly and overly encouraging. I see it as just merely reading the room and the way the world is moving and how to connect with people. I think you've got to be able to take a player under your wing and they've got to know you're trustworthy and will be there for them. This to me is the modern day coach, the teacher, the mentor, but I'd agree with @Engorged Onion (I think I'm agreeing anyway) by saying that the modern day coach has all of the traits you listed across Type 1 & 2. Let's examine Simon Goodwin. I think he fits many of the Type 1 traits you list (stubbornly backs in his system and his players, and has a clear philosophy on how the game should be played), but I think he's shown Type 2 traits such as flexibility within that system, even to the philosophy that his system seems to stands for. He moved on Jack Watts because he was not combative enough for Goodwin's contested style and chose to sacrifice Jack's skill in order to do that. Yet two years later, he brings in Harley Bennell who exhibits many of Jack's traits. Goodwin has compromised here IMV, for the benefit of the list. Bennell brings a skillset that others do not and can play through the midfield. We desperately need that skillset through our midfield. FWIW, I'd also argue Goodwin substituted Watts for Fritsch in our forwardline, so we haven't lost anything there, but what this illustrates to me is that the contested style doesn't apply to everyone, clearly. So whilst I do think there's far more grey and coaches tend to exhibit many of the traits you listed, rather than either or, I do think there is some validity to your two types framework, @binman, in that some coaches are definitely more capable of flexibility than others. The spectrum that @Engorged Onion mentions is probably a better way for viewing this flexibility. I'd put Chris Scott in the very flexible category, for example. But I think all successful coaches have to believe in a brand that they've built over their time at the club. It is their blueprint, their vision and their philosophy, and goes to the heart of their integrity as a coach. They have to be willing to back it in until it's clear it doesn't work. If it doesn't work, they've got to be able to outline why and how they'll get their team to play a different way with some tweaks or major to minor surgeries. Most coaches don't get to admit this and try again before being sacked, but I reckon Hardwick and Buckley have both had chances to admit that the style they played was not adequate and have evolved as coaches along the way. They were backed in again because clearly they brought other characteristics and traits to the role of head coach that their respective clubs felt would still lead them to the ultimate success. This might sound strange, but I'd compare modern day coaching and the constant evolution of the game, with the innovation and competition within the computer software industry. When each competitor discovers a new function or operation that works, others look to incorporate into their system, what clearly works from these other competitors, whilst maintaining the integrity of their own 'brand'. This ultimately makes a stronger end product. So coaches, just like software companies, have to have the vision of Steve Jobs, but be willing to be adaptable with the competition around them, in order to be successful. For our sake, I hope Goodwin is willing to be continually adaptable, without undermining the brand he's been selling since 2017.

Good call. I wonder what a Talia would command in terms of salary and contract? Still 29 come the end of this year. We'll definitely be looking at full back options to free up May and Lever, and enable Tomlinson to play wing or half forward. I used to coach Seedsman. Arrogant little bugger, but could be handy outside run and provide decent outside ball use.

I think like Lockhart, Chandler has been modelled into a small, zippy defender. It's intriguing given a lot of these guys were drafted as forwards.

The Doc needs a tranquilliser. He doesn't know whether he's coming or going. Any excuse to have a go at the club.

Did you watch our last match (without Jackson)?

You mean, if @woz keeps posting, there will be more posts from @woz?