03-02-2019, 04:07 AM
Right. I guess it is time I put my 2 cents forward, or it will be next week already.
[1] I met Amers out under the coaches’ boxes on the southern wing. It was nice to discuss things on a pretty warm night. I had some mini chocolate eggs in my suit pocket, bribes for students when and if they deserve them. They all melted into an unidentifiable mess in their plastic envelope.
Yes, it was a warm afternoon and evening.
[2] You can tell a lot about how much we’ve worked on our game plan. We still have a long way to go, but it was refreshing to see the effort, the self-belief in the players and the improved way we moved the ball forward.
(a) One really good thing was the way we handballed to get out of trouble. Last year we wouldn’t have had the self-belief to try it, let alone the skills to do that task. We were also quite good at interfering with Essendon’s attempt to try similar things.
(b) The forward pressure was really good. When we got the ball into the forward line, it rarely cam back out. The pressure made mistakes happen and allowed us a number of crumbing goals. Crumbing goals were the main way we scored.
© Moving the ball quickly from the middle was another highlight, especially as we didn’t have to depend on Cripps to do it. We still often go back for a few metres, but our handball and our following up from defence allowed us to move the ball quickly and give our forward a chance one out.
(d) We didn’t lose a lot of one on one contests, especially marking contests. Our key defenders were out-marked twice for the night. One of those was Daniher in the first 30 seconds. He didn’t beat Jones in a one on one contest after that. Similarly, Weitering lost only one contest for the night, being out-marked in a pack by Zac Clarke.
(e) One of the bad things was the way Essendon did score their goals: getting the ball over the back and getting cheap goals. Almost all of their scores came this way. As a rule, our defenders were too far forward when the ball did come out and couldn’t get back on their opponents.
(f) Another not so good thing was the way we kicked long to a pack. It was our default way of going forward and it did not result in a single mark and goal. It did produce some good crumbing goals, but nobody held the big mark.
I was disappointed that so few players led out. Mitch McGovern led only twice or thrice, with one being successful (chest mark and goal). I can’t remember H doing it even once. Jack Silvagni did it a few times and produced some opportunities.
Just kicking it a pack was silly, as there would be 8 – 10 guys trying for mark of the year. Silvagni and McGovern almost made the marks but end up with no pack marks between them. Basically, our forwards got in the way of each other. We need to open that out, and quickly, as that would give us some better forward options.
One good point was the way our smalls got around the pack and kept the ball from getting out. It was a reason we won.
[1] I met Amers out under the coaches’ boxes on the southern wing. It was nice to discuss things on a pretty warm night. I had some mini chocolate eggs in my suit pocket, bribes for students when and if they deserve them. They all melted into an unidentifiable mess in their plastic envelope.
Yes, it was a warm afternoon and evening.
[2] You can tell a lot about how much we’ve worked on our game plan. We still have a long way to go, but it was refreshing to see the effort, the self-belief in the players and the improved way we moved the ball forward.
(a) One really good thing was the way we handballed to get out of trouble. Last year we wouldn’t have had the self-belief to try it, let alone the skills to do that task. We were also quite good at interfering with Essendon’s attempt to try similar things.
(b) The forward pressure was really good. When we got the ball into the forward line, it rarely cam back out. The pressure made mistakes happen and allowed us a number of crumbing goals. Crumbing goals were the main way we scored.
© Moving the ball quickly from the middle was another highlight, especially as we didn’t have to depend on Cripps to do it. We still often go back for a few metres, but our handball and our following up from defence allowed us to move the ball quickly and give our forward a chance one out.
(d) We didn’t lose a lot of one on one contests, especially marking contests. Our key defenders were out-marked twice for the night. One of those was Daniher in the first 30 seconds. He didn’t beat Jones in a one on one contest after that. Similarly, Weitering lost only one contest for the night, being out-marked in a pack by Zac Clarke.
(e) One of the bad things was the way Essendon did score their goals: getting the ball over the back and getting cheap goals. Almost all of their scores came this way. As a rule, our defenders were too far forward when the ball did come out and couldn’t get back on their opponents.
(f) Another not so good thing was the way we kicked long to a pack. It was our default way of going forward and it did not result in a single mark and goal. It did produce some good crumbing goals, but nobody held the big mark.
I was disappointed that so few players led out. Mitch McGovern led only twice or thrice, with one being successful (chest mark and goal). I can’t remember H doing it even once. Jack Silvagni did it a few times and produced some opportunities.
Just kicking it a pack was silly, as there would be 8 – 10 guys trying for mark of the year. Silvagni and McGovern almost made the marks but end up with no pack marks between them. Basically, our forwards got in the way of each other. We need to open that out, and quickly, as that would give us some better forward options.
One good point was the way our smalls got around the pack and kept the ball from getting out. It was a reason we won.
Live Long and Prosper!