2023: A review

[DJC]

You tend to bomb long when you have a lot of tall timber, smaller forward setups tend to have the ball run into them more.
Lose a tall and we might play bit smarter given the extra talls are a get out of jail kick for players who dont have the vision or lower their eyes enough when taking the ball deep I50.

When you've got two of the best contested marking forwards in the competition, long bombs into the forward 50 must be part of the armoury.  Most of our goals this season came from long bombs inside 50 but that doesn't mean that we abandon other avenues to goal.  Our gameplan relies on our strengths and should only change if our strengths change.  Our ability to hit up players like Owies, Martin and Cottrell in space inside 50 was outstanding and we set a new world record for goals kicked from centre clearances.  We haven't quite nailed the opportunist/crumbing small forward or the forward with blistering pace.

We were ranked first for contested marks in 2023 ... but that includes intercepts and clunking long kicks down the line.

[ElwoodBlues1]

When you've got two of the best contested marking forwards in the competition, long bombs into the forward 50 must be part of the armoury.  Most of our goals this season came from long bombs inside 50 but that doesn't mean that we abandon other avenues to goal.  Our gameplan relies on our strengths and should only change if our strengths change.  Our ability to hit up players like Owies, Martin and Cottrell in space inside 50 was outstanding and we set a new world record for goals kicked from centre clearances.  We haven't quite nailed the opportunist/crumbing small forward or the forward with blistering pace.

We were ranked first for contested marks in 2023 ... but that includes intercepts and clunking long kicks down the line.

No doubt you play with what you have and construct a game plan around it.....Hardwick and the Tigers are evidence of that when they won their premierships as are Collingwood with their non traditional setup. Our talls will always be our weapon down forward but we need more from our smalls when that isnt working.

[Gointocarlton]

No doubt you play with what you have and construct a game plan around it.....Hardwick and the Tigers are evidence of that when they won their premierships as are Collingwood with their non traditional setup. Our talls will always be our weapon down forward but we need more form our smalls when that isnt working.

Another buzz word these days is connection or connectivity and often its implied that this refers to connection between lines (ie Def - Mids - Fwds). I often see a lack of connectivity between our fwds (ie talls - smalls). I feel lie they need to work on their structures and patterns as sometimes it looks bit haphazard. Thats what I reckon for what its worth.

[pew2]

my point is how many long bombs go into our F50 only to be marked by opposition .You know why this happens because every one knows how we play. eg 2 v 1 and we still kick to charlie . Going forward in 24 need to lower eyes find best option i hope

[DJC]

Another buzz word these days is connection or connectivity and often its implied that this refers to connection between lines (ie Def - Mids - Fwds). I often see a lack of connectivity between our fwds (ie talls - smalls). I feel lie they need to work on their structures and patterns as sometimes it looks bit haphazard. Thats what I reckon for what its worth.

And then you see the slo-mo replay and the likes of Owies and Martin are setting blocks for Charlie or Harry.

There's no doubt that we waste some of our forward 50 entries but a lot of our forward 50 work in the second half of the season was superb.  No other team won eleven of their last thirteen games!

Our mid season slump makes it hard to compare team rankings but, for what it's worth, we were seventh for Inside 50s.  Brisbane, Melbourne and GWS had more and Collingwood had around one less per game.  However, Collingwood managed around 1.5 goals more per game with a cobbled together forward line at the end.  Collingwood regularly bomb the ball into their forward 50 and have confidence that if Cox, McStay, Cameron, Mihocek, Elliott, DeGoey, Johnson or Hill don't clunk it, a crumber will do the job. Brisbane does much the same. We don't quite have the marking power and our medium and small forwards aren't as dangerous, but that's a work in progress.

One area where we did improve was the depth of the of our forward 50 long bombs.  Earlier in the season, many of our long kicks inside 50 were landing around 40m out. An intercept mark or spoil usually resulted in a rebound that we found hard to defend.  Later in the season, our long kicks inside 50 were landing 10-20m from goal and that made it easier for crumbers to get a shot at goal, or for our forwards to lock the ball in or force an outlet kick to a contest.

There's certainly work to do but kicking long bombs to Harry, Charlie and the King has to be one of our main avenues to goal. Kicking long bombs to Acres works quite well too 

[Thryleon]

The issue isn't where it's going its how it's put there.  Charlie often has to sit under it, ditto Harry.  We need to drop it a little shorter and bring them up to the ball.  Rather than sit it on their head.  Gives them no chance. 

[kruddler]

The issue isn't where it's going its how it's put there.  Charlie often has to sit under it, ditto Harry.  We need to drop it a little shorter and bring them up to the ball.  Rather than sit it on their head.  Gives them no chance.

This is something i've been critical of for a while.

We always bomb it ON people, rather than just in front of them.
If we can't get a run and jump at it, then it helps the opposition.

[pinot]

No problem kicking it long quickly to one on one and back in our guns to win the contest.
The problem is kicking it long to smalls when they are outnumbered in a zone.

[Sub-Zero]

Martin was excellent generally speaking after his return, but can't stay on the park long enough. Motlop is promising, but still inconsistent, had two disappointing finals matches. McGovern can be an excellent option to move down forward still.
Some more consistent players around the two talls, with more speed around there, we'll be a real contender next year or the year after, whenever it occurs. We were generally fine with ball movement and whatnot earlier in our long winning streak.

[Thryleon]

No problem kicking it long quickly to one on one and back in our guns to win the contest.
The problem is kicking it long to smalls when they are outnumbered in a zone.

Harry's concussion against Sydney might lend weight to my point.  He had 3 players converge on him because of a hospital kick.