Originally Posted by
wolftone57
Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Plan C who invented that? OOps. Just being being factious. Coaches have a game plan or two separate game plans sometimes. But the strategies used in those plans depend on the opposition. The basic plan stays the same but they tweak moves due to opposition moves. for instance a match up that isn't working can be changed quickly. But if the structure is wrong and you don't have the right personnel then there are deep problems that are not easily fixed or are impossible to fix. In last year's final against the Cats we simply didn't have the right personnel to combat their game plan. They also changed their game plan and personnel for that game. Our coaching staff should have been prepared for any eventuality but they weren't. They basically lost us the game at the selection table. I just wonder what sort of difference the selection of Aliir an possibly one other could have made. Even one player can make a difference when it comes to balance. we went in with a highly unbalanced line up.
What I noticed during the dreadful X and the first practice match were the trying of different tactics. some worked and some were abject failures. Our second quarter demise was as much to do with stoppage tactics as it was to do with the huge wind that was in play. Those stoppage tactics were just not working and we were being opened up. Many of the tactics used in the practice match will need tweaking, that is why you play practice matches. But unfortunately we still manage to play a lot of the game in our defensive half which is very draining on the players. We need to attack more. When we attack we need to stop just popping the ball on the head of our talls. Many leads were ignored and instead we bombed long. In the first quarter we played some good footy but still insisted on bottling the ball up for long periods. This is not the way to beat sides. We need to create a game that runs the ball quickly.
I am also worried about some of the player's disposal. I am sure this will improve as time goes on but several players are bothering me on this front. Harry for instance did not deliver well in X and he continued on in the practice match in much the same fashion. One of his major weapons for us was his ability to burst out of play and kick really long direct perfect passes to forwards. He needs to regain this ability very soon or he will be superfluous. Other will pass him by. This is only a small sample I know and we don't take the pre-season as a serious game. I don't give a rat's arse who wins this crap as it is only for trying stuff but our players need to be in good or better disposal effectiveness. This is the reason we have recruited Hewett, Florent, Lloyd, Cunningham, Hayward, Newman, Dawson, Heeney, Mills, Papley, Ling, Cameron, Maibaum, Stoddart, Bell, Fox, Melican, Amarty & Ronke. All these players have the ability to hit up targets short, medium or long distance. Even Sinclair is a pretty good field kick.
The old days of kick and miss or kick in hope must be just that, the old days and should be left in the past. We need to develop a very different, more attacking game. Our game has been built on scrimmage, extract, run, maybe deliver. It has to be about stoppage, extract, run, deliver. Our forward set up needs to be more flexible. We need to look at more options coming in than Franklin, Reid and Sinclair. when we use the free players these talls create we kick really big scores. When we don't we stagnate. With so many players who deliver the ball well coming into the squad, I think we need a far better forward structure accept the delivery. Players need to be able to lead up at the ball or turn back and lead back. They need to create space. that happens through spreading the talls. By this I mean the talls don't all go to one side of the ground or clog up the centre. I mean spread, everyone spread, some back nearer goad , some closer to the centre between CHF & centre. This allows at least one leading player to be able to complete the lead and get on the end of a pass. I saw a few examples of this in the practice match and the X but of course X doesn't really count.
Who will get the nod for the pre-season comp? I feel that Towers is in our side for first game so why not leave him, Parks, Joey, maybe Buddy and a few others out of the first game. Then play them in the second to get them match ready for the first match.
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