08-25-2018, 10:45 PM
(08-25-2018, 10:17 PM)PaulP link Wrote:It tells you that we have figured out a pattern of ball movement to get the ball where we want it to be, which is a good thing. It also tells you that we haven't figured out the rest, which is an indication as I've said repeatedly, that we have a mountain of work to do.I think it actually means we get the ball into our forward line with meaningless entries that don't give our forwards enough to work with (but when it does get there, there also isn't enough defensive pressure to keep it there) and that our 'zone' is the worst defensive structure since the Maginot line.
No coach encourages the players to turn the ball over, no coach encourages players to allow their tackles to be broken, to miss easy set shots, to miss shots on the run etc.
Our malaise runs deeper than the coach, deeper than the supposed wussy captain, and certainly much deeper than a PP.
Our forward ball movement is virtually non-existent. When we do try and link up and run together it can be good, but it is often derailed by someone miskicking or dropping simple marks (looking at you Ed Butterfingers Curnow). We then spend most of the game kicking long down the boundary line for safety in the hope that Charlie or Big Harry can beat the 2-3 opposition players who have lined up to stop them. The brilliant part is our initiative to first slowly switch play by kicking backwards a few times, before then kicking long down the line in hope. How can we expect to move the ball forward when we have 5 players anchored in the back 50 waiting for the switch all the time? That's nearly a third of our players sitting back while the opposition sets up across the ground to outnumber us everywhere else.
As for our defence, the way players just guard space is infuriating. So many times through the season, and especially last night, we saw our guys jog into the spot they've been told to occupy in team meetings only to stand by while the opposition runs harder through all the spaces, works the ball forward with ease and kicks to someone who has managed to 'sneak' back behind our last line of defence to take an easy mark or run onto a loose ball.
Our game plan is broken and our structures and systems don't work. We can bring in all the top end talent and draft picks we like but if we don't improve our skills, work rate and game plan in 2019 we're going nowhere. We have got to abandon the zone in 2019 to play some accountable 1 on 1 footy or at worst, drop just 1 player back loose behind play.