Shepherding- or lack of it.
Not sure if our game plan doesn't allow for it as much as other teams, or if players are busy making position to keep the flow going, but I'd like to see some more blocking
Shepherding- or lack of it.
Not sure if our game plan doesn't allow for it as much as other teams, or if players are busy making position to keep the flow going, but I'd like to see some more blocking
The difference between insanity and genius is measured only in success.
I brought this up last year. We don't shepherd a lot. We were getting into the habit after the half way mark last year and it did make a difference. It contributed to our GF win. We have regressed to the old style in quite a few areas this year. Shepherding is one area we have regressed.
Just kicking the ball long to a contest down the members wing is another. There were so many opportunities to attack on the opposite side but we just kept on bombing it long. bloody frustrating. I thought we got rid of that repetitive action after the half way point of last season.
Bombing it into the forwardline is another. Not as bad yesterday but still an issue at times.
I'm just going to say I love Mike Pyke. He is a sensational player. It is hard to believe he only took up the game 5 years ago.
In all I thought our game a lot better yesterday.
The lack of shepherding is something we just have to live with, as frustrating as it is, because it's unlikely to change. Over the years I've asked both Paul Roos and Rhyce Shaw and both suggested that players are given a role in each situation and that's rarely to shepherd. Then again I spent a weekend an Eagles supporter and I was lamenting "bloody Daniel Chick" - now there was a shepherd that won a Premiership.
Scott Watters wouldn't agree!
But we could do more.
He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)
To be honest, I don't think it's that important. We currently average 47.5 1%'rs per game, 6th in the competition. To me clearances (ranked 1st), contested possessions (1st) and tackles (3rd) have a profoundly greater impact on the game.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect... MT
I wouldn't have thought that "shepherding" is a game plan/set role sort of science. It is an opportunistic "one-percenter" effort that arises within a passage of play. It is a skill that is executed well by players who combine experience and peripheral vision to create space for a team mate and hamper an opponent's access to player or ball. Often there is a thin line between a good shepherd and illegal deliberate interference.
That shepherd by Birdy yesterday was a cracker.... came off worse for wear for a few minutes afterwards however.
"You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."
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