binman

Melksham in? On what basis?

Can't have too many fortresses

Agree. It will be fascinating to to see if Goodwin runs a tag on one of their mids. You'd have to think he will be tempted to run Harmes on one of them given the importance of negating their impact from clearances. Who would you tag?

Like it. I think you EO and AF are all right, in so far as model has elements of the three systems you each describe. The model you describe has many similarities to tacti's employed in basketball, particularly forcing the opposition to have their possession in places that are easy to defend - which in basketball is the sidelines and the end of court lines. Using the lines as extra defender is basketball 101 and it has the added benefit of reducing the exit options, so making any exit easier to defend (eg by squeezing with numbers) and more predicable. The other benefits are that it slows transition and makes any attempt to 'cross' the ball to other side of the court or middle lane side risky in terms of turning the ball over. And if it is turned over in that scenario it often results in a fast break and easy lay up basket, something that we replicate sometimes (eg our third goal of the game against the blues that started in a defensive pocket up against the boundary line and ultimately went end to end with Clarry roving and kicking a goal from 2 meters).

Fair points. You're right they are by far the best kicking team in the AFL. And yes, really good kicking technique will stand up to pressure better than poor technique. But as the tigers showed apply enough pressure and even their skills will crumble. They turned the ball over time and time again in the second half that game. The advantage we have over the tigers is we have a much better defensive system in place and all teams have struggled to transition the ball, which means we can get our defensive system in place. And as King noted in the vison that was discussed earlier in this thread, even when a team does transition the ball quickly, our structure means they often have to hold it up at their HF line because we have our deep goal keeper back, who is often supported by our two wingers (particularly Gus) and flankers. So even with their kicking skills. they, like all teams we have played, will struggle to hit a target inside their 50 becuase our zone is so strong and we give opposition forwards so little space. They will struggle to hit up leading forwards because their forwards will not have any space to lead into, particularly at the docklands. And Naughton will have to deal with May one on one and Lever floating across the contest. Good luck with that. We were playing ducks and drakes with the dogs in the preseason game. But that game gave a glimpse of why they will struggle to score against us as we did well to contain them without 3 of our best mids in. The challenge for the dogs is similar to the challenge the blues face (albeit of a different level of order) ie that they have defensive weakness. So they need to score 80 plus point to win their games. Whereas we are defensively much stronger. We can beat them without clicking offensively, whereas i don't think the reverse is true, becuase with their defence, even if we are not 100% on offensively they will struggle to contain us to under 80 points. We can bet them even with a score of say 70 points.

I said at the start of the year that i could se it working having all of Brown, Tmac, Weed and Jackson (and Fritter) in the same team - but did make the point it was unlikely the club would run all four. My thinking was that Jackson could play as high half forward, essential a medium, such is his agility, pace, skills and ability to win ground balls. In that role it would be similar to the role Melksham played. So it remains the 3 talls. Tmac could also play as high half forward, which is essentially the role he is playing now. However for that mix to work my thought was that Brown and in particular Weed would have to apply really high levels of pressure. And Brown doesn't seem agile enough to and unfortunately Weed doesn't seem keen to, as evidenced by zero inside 50 tackles last week (and rubbish pressure rating). But if they are ever going to try playing Brown, Tmac, Weed and Jackson (and Fritter) in the same team, this is the week to do it. So selection will be fascinating at 6pm tonight.

On the above, one can only imagine how the pre show phone call between McGuire and McClure went: McGuire: Sellers, mate, WTF? I've got a show to run here and our resident princess is all worked up and in tiz about you and what you bloody said on that joke of a show you are on - football from all angles, there are no bloody angles in a 360 degree circle! McClure: yeah, i know, the bloody snowflake called me and was practically in tears. Look to be honest, i actually can't really remember who said what, i'd had a couple of bevvies with Robbo pre show, well more than couple if truth be told and of course they wanted to talk about how pathetic the blues are. I watched your rubbish show with all your suits and i was sure 'Matty' said something about the coaches McGuire: Sellars, mate, it was that private school [censored] everyone thinks is your son, you peanut McClure: my son? who? Oh, you mean little Sammy boy. My son? Would have disowned him in primary school. Actually, now you mention it, it was him. Can't really recall what he said though McGuire: Jesus H Christ, Sellers, don't you think i have enough on my plate getting Browny in as Pres of the pies and all that [censored]? Alright mate, leave it with me, i'll sort it. I'll calm the princess down McClure: thanks mate. Lets catch up on the weekend for a beer.

McGuire is one of the most self focused people in football and trades on the old school, boys club network of 'mates' to have his back and in return he has theirs. All well and good. Except when a president of a football club If you want to get an understanding of how he operates check this clip out: https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/matthew-lloyd-fumes-over-mark-maclure-claims-reagarding-carlton-coaches/5eac0ec8-9933-4660-8a32-b2f909eab364 Despite the fact that Lloydd is beyond upset AND IS A COLLEAGUE of McGuire (on the show eddie hosts), McGuire all but dismisses his concerns. He also tries to put the whole to thing to bed a couple of times by stating how great it is that McClure (who he calls a great bloke) has apologized. All nothing to see here, Sellar's a great bloke, let's move on And he blurts out that he called McClure right before the show to check it out what happened. I'll bet he didn't check with lloyd before doing so (Lloyd said he called McClure immediately after the 360 aired). Then defends him by saying he got his wires crossed and it was Sam McClure who supposedly made the comments in question. Which actually makes it less defensible, not more (ie he attributed the comments to Lloyd and implied his brother leaked him information)! And he tries to wrap it up by, predictably making it about Collingwood and the supposedly false rumors Buckley has lost the players. Classic Eddie deflection. Tone deaf and utterly pathetic. The clip end with a clearly seething Lloyd responding to Eddie's deflection with 'i know he's your mate eddie' but it is not on. if i was Lloyd i would be just as angry with McGuire. Surely the Pies can't let McGuire get back into the club via his mate, Brown. He is poison.

In terms of our pressure and how important it is to our game plan, i just read this in the Age: the Demons are ranked No.1 in the pressure factor and in post-clearance pressure

Thanks. It's intersting port's pressure wasn't at the level it needed to be. Explains how underwhelmed many were about their performance, including their coach. Agree about the importance of not letting them get on top of clearances. And when they do win them, minimising their effectiveness. Key to both, and our chances of beating them is our pressure being off the charts. Which is a potential weakness of our model, particularly in the home and away season, because it is hard to maintain that level. But it is a weakness we control not the opposition. We bring the heat, or we dont. But as you point out the dogs have defensive weakness. And rhe opposition can control that. The focus in the media and on dl when we play them will be on their crazy good midfield, and their damaging clearnces. Which is fair enough. But they really have to worry about our clearances. Because with their average backline and no real star interceptor, and our three towers and fritter we will hurt them big time with clean entries (as of course they will though not as bad becauseour defence is miles better). But unlike them, we will hurt them even with scrappy inside 50s because we will get it to ground, force stoppages and trap inside our forward half. And our small and medium will go to work. Cant wait.

I like Smith as a pressure forward

I'm confused. Viney available for selection. In two weeks?

It doesn't surprise me the Hawks are number 2 as Clarkson has always been about controlled ball movement. It does surprise me the dogs are so high as the play pretty ballistic style of footy. It goes to show how many skilled ball users they have, by hand and foot - and how brilliant they are at being able to handball their way through heavy traffic.. And it is pretty good evidence of how dangerous a side they are A team that combines winning clearance, strong contested footy, off the charts pressure and high DE is gong to cut a lot of teams up. Can't wait to see how we go against them because i'd have them as favorites for the flag if i was setting a market. Will our pressure be enough to disrupt their game and reduce their DE? The tiger's pressure destroyed them in the second half of their game. I have not seen the port dogs game. I wonder how the power's pressure was in that game?

I think that was the week before kayo started showing vfl games. The audio on the all the goals video was def the casey radio call as I listened to it live. Actually a very entertaining and enjoyable call. Perhaps mote so if a Casey fan, but they were not too over the top in their support/focus on Casey.

Possibly. Bu I think the biggest factor is our tactical model, where we look to go forward to get territory, rather then sideway kicks back and for the across the backline waiting for an opportunity to switch or pick our way through a opposition press or zone (the way the Eagles do - i'm guessing they or perhaps Geelong top the DE table?) And with our Goodwinpress and focus on trapping the ball inside our 50 as I noted in my previous post it is often super congested in our front half which means less space and increased risk of disposals not hitting their target.

I actually think you are both right. We definitely still press high when the ball is on our half. And often in a very tight formation, when the ball is inside our inside 50 meter arc. Which is at the heart of the Gengenpressing philosophy. That is really evident watching live, particularly when you sit behind the goals up high. It is crazy how often 36 players are within say 70 meters of the ball and contest when the ball is in our 50. I liken it to a fluid cell The goal is to trap it in our forward half - and if that fails create pressure on the exit kick, force a turnover and get a reentry. We have been brilliant at stopping teams switch, which is the go to way of breaking a press. Players like Rivers and Hunt, who are stationed on the edges of the 70 metre cell work super hard to get across and ideally force a turnover or at the least get to mark so they cant immediately move it on. At the same time other players have gut run to cover the down the line option, meaning the opposition often get stuck at their HB line. That was really evident against the Swans When we do force, what is essentially an offensive turnover, the kick back inside 50 is often a challenge because it still super crowded because of our press. This is definitely a factor in our inaccuracy this season. The last quarter against the blues was the was the perfect example. By that stage we were monstering them and our very effective Goodwinpressing meant the ball lived in our forward half. Which also meant our forward half was more often than not super congested. So the two options seem to be a short chiselling kick of the sort Langdon hit to Nibbler to set up a mark and goal. Or a kick to the pocket, where we look to mark it with our bigs, bring it ground for our smalls or force a stoppage so we can reset. All very predictable and if the opposition do win win the ball once again it is in traffic and under pressure creating another opportunity to create another turnover. And our tall forward line means max doesn't have to take stoppages deep inside our 50, allowing him to station himself just outside 50 on the perimeter of our cell. So if the opposition do win the ball they are often faced with kicking it to gawn or instead taking the riskier option of trying to switch and opening up the goal face. If i understand it properly, that all seems to be congruent with the Gengenpressing philosophy But you're right AF, we also zonally guard space. However what i would say is that that they do so still as part of a fluid cell that as you say requires massive work rate to constantly shift and reposition the zone. When the opposition do get past our forward press we do everything we can to slow their transition and flood back en masse to get to their designated spot in the zone they have to guard, as evidenced by that footage King showed (and all the pointing). As King noted, and you point out, we have a defender deep in goal keeper role to support the zone. That was Tomlinson, now Petty (thoughas you say they seemed to have mixed that up a bit against the blues, so it will interesting to see if that continues). However that player still presses high when we go forward, but on the outside of the perimeter and closet to the opposition goal (sometimes he might only go up the centre, but often further) and will run back to say 30 metres out from their goals as the ball is transitioned. That play that petty almost got caught out on was the perfect example. He got aggressive and pushed up super high and almost got caught out. Good thing he got back, but had to sprint super hard to do so. We have been utilizing key elments of this model since about half way through 2018 when we realized we were getting hurt too often on the counter. Omac was the goal keeper in that model and they stopped pressing so high, but still pressed. And we abandoned the players running off the back of the square too. I think we are actually more aggressive with that press now, but that's perhaps because our players are so much fitter and can get back when required. From round 12 that year we conceded the least points on the back of this change. And since that time have been defensively very strong. Your point about our stoppages is really god one. As you say we don't bring an extra to stoppages and often have a player, say 40 metres away, on the defensive side to intercept opposition kicks. Which is exactly what happened against the blues. So that tactic has clear elements of a zone system but is still consistent with the Gengenpressing philosophy because it supports our efforts to trap it in our forward half, particularly if the stoppage is within 60 metres of our goal. On Kickett guarding the corridor at marks we have been doing that all season. Nibbler does it often as does Spargo. Very disciplined. It is clever because it makes it harder to go the corridor and/or switch and so supports our model. It is also one reason why opposition teams don't seem to have been able to hurt us with the new stand rule.

I wondered about why they don't do that. I reckon it is becuase they only want transition down one wing. If forced to go to the other wing they want it as open as possible with lost of space for players like Kozzie to run into. They rarely seem to switch, at least compared to other teams. And don't use the corridor very often either. I also reckon they like having two talls contesting for that long ball from defence. It means the outcome is very predictable - it is almost never marked by the opposition and if we don't mark it hits the ground and our flankers etc can sweep it way. Like the kick to the pocket inside 50, these things suggest they are trying to be ultras predictable. Must help with disposal efficiency becuase they can be so confident where everyone is at any given time (eg the over the head handballs that go to dees player) Max said on RSN this morning that real benefit of having the three talls forward is that he doesn't have to take as many of those down the line, often bone jarring, contests as the other fellas give him a chop out and take some.

And he is such a competitor. I think back to his devestation in the rooms after I think the freo game last year. And I loved his perplexed reaction to a free given against him on the weekend. Hw also backs himself. Takes players on and takes risky options with his kicks. In doing so, like Hunt, is both a defensive ans offensive threat. And those two players playing their role has freed Salem to get further up the ground. As a result Salem has become much more of an offensive threat. Almost all of his kicks now go forward. And most hit targets. Ane because he is kicking from higher up the ground those targets are often in dangerous areas. It was interesting that. On on the couch when asked what he would do to break the dees down, lyon said clamp down on Salem.

Spot on. Which is clearly why Melksham got dropped. But he is the exception to prove the rule. And who would want to lose their spot in this team at this point in time? To that list of players add Jordon. A young player who has done everything that has been asked of him this season. And is fully, all chips in. That was crystal clear in his phenomenal performance on Saturday. He was clearly asked to play Viney's role as the hard nosed, defensive mid and was a big reason why we won the center clearance count, albeit by one, after last weeks lopsided differential. His pressure was off the charts as evidenced by his game high 37 pressure acts and 13 tackles (also game high). By the by it is interesting that Jordon's DE was 50%. He is normally up in the 80-90% range, in large part because he is an excellent kick. But more significantly, we have used him as an outside player on the flanks, so he usually has a bit of time and space to dispose of the ball. As a pure inside mid he is obviously under heaps more pressure. It is a good reminder, i reckon, to look at DE in context for players like Viney, Tracc and Oliver. Pity Brayshaw doesn't have that get out! On DE, although their disposal numbers were pretty low, May (and he kicks it out i guess) and Lever were both in the 90s and Rivers was mid 80s. Solid. And makes so much harder for them to get the ball back from us. That said Petty, who i think is an excellent kick, went at 55%. That needs to be an outlier.

I reckon Goody does too. I wonder if they, knowing jack was likely to come back against Adelaide, wanted to give Chandler a game to reward his effort, give him some more AFL experience and some confidence that the club think he is ready for the call up when it comes. If so they would have worded him up so his confidence didn't take a hit when dropped after the one game. It is a bit unfortunate for him that he had such a quiet game. But apart from being doused in milk, the experience can only be a positive.

Such calls from dees fans, who i assume actually watch our games. are headache inducing. Add calls for nibbler to be dropped to that mix. And I needed a pack of panadol to deal with the suggestion fritter should be dropped after the swans game.

Is it time for a woman to coach our AFLW team?

Or at our social club. Wait a minute....

Never heard of a flash mob? Joking. Not Joking

When we win a grand final, be it this year or next, the whole demonland community should meet to celebrate! Joking. Not joking